The Bible's biggest IF

In Exodus 19, the Israelites made “the biggest mistake of their lives because they said to God, ‘We’ll trust our resources,' ” explains Jordan. “Old preachers used to call that the Bible’s biggest ‘if.’

“In verse 5, God gave the children of Israel a test: ‘Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine.’

“God said, ‘If you really want my blessings, all you got to do is what I tell you.’ Now, you know He’d never done that with them before. If they had been learning, you know what they would have said? ‘Forget it! You’ve been GIVING us this stuff; why would we want to start PAYING for it! We couldn’t get ourselves out of Egypt. We couldn’t divide the Red Sea. We couldn’t fix that bitter water. We couldn’t feed ourselves. We couldn’t get water out of the rock. You did it!’

“They didn’t say that. They said, ‘Listen, Lord, anything you want us to do, you just tell us . . . we’ll do it.’

“And you know what happened? Before the chapter’s over, before He even gave them the 10 Commandments in the next chapter, He said, ‘Boys, back up from the mountain, because it’s fixin’ to get bad up here.’

“God’s attitude immediately changed toward them and after Exodus 19, every time they would murmur, you know what He’d do? He didn’t fix it. He sent plagues among them. They’d complain and He’d send fiery serpents to bite them.

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In C.I. Scofield’s Study Bible,  he writes in the margin notes for Exodus 19, “It is exceedingly important to observe: (1) that Jehovah reminded the people that hitherto they had been the objects of His free grace; (2) that the law is not proposed as a means of life, but as a means by which Israel might become ‘a peculiar treasure’ and a ‘kingdom of priests’; (3) that the law was not imposed until it had been proposed and voluntarily accepted. The principle is stated in Gal. 5: 1-4.”

Jordan says, “If you remember, when God took (the Israelites) out of Egypt and brought them to the Red Sea, they murmured and complained. He opened the Red Sea, took them to Marah, where there’s water there but it’s bitter, and they murmur and complain. He heals the water and gives them an oasis.

“In Exodus 16, they say, ‘Hey, we got nothing to eat. We’re going to die!’ He gives them manna. They go to the next chapter, they say, ‘We don’t have any water,’ and He gives them water out of the rock.

“Every time they murmur or complain, what does He do? He gives them what they need. He’s trying to teach them what it’s like to have Jehovah as their provider. They get to Sinai (Exodus 19) and He says, ‘Okay, I’ve been giving you these lessons. Five of them. Now, let’s have a test.’

“He says, ‘I want to see how careful you’ve been listening? I brought you out of Egypt. Why? Because I remembered my covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I brought you out and I took care of you. Every time you got in a scrape; every time you complained, I took care of you. Why? Because I made a promise.’

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“The law was designed to teach them, ‘You can’t get there on your own.’ So what happened? Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. He showed up. He doesn’t stand off at a distance on the mountain and send the commandments down in the hand of Moses. He comes Himself; the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace.

“There He was in their midst and they beheld it and He said, ‘I’m the true vine. You know what you are? You’re the nation I planted to bring forth fruit and look what you did? You brought forth sour grapes. But I’ve come and I’ll come to be the one who can provide you grace and truth. I’ll bring a new covenant and take that old one out of the way and give you the capacity to be who I’ve chosen you to be; the power to become.’ ”

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Paul advises in I Timothy 3: 8-11, 8] Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre;
[9] Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.
[10] And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless.
[11] Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things.

Jordan says, “It’s interesting how many things here are going to talk about the use of the tongue. If there’s anything I know about working together in an assembly, it’s that one of the most dangerous members of an assembly is the tongue. James 5 calls it a ‘member’ and it’s ‘set on fire of hell.’

“A double-tongued person is given to slander; a person who’s willing to talk against people--a tale-bearer. Those kinds of things can sow discord like nothing else.

“One of the things it does is it demonstrates the maturity level of the people listening. When you hear someone and their tongue is slandering someone, then your ear needs to hear that and recognize it and take it for what it really is. It’s slander from a slanderer.

“It’s very important that we talk about one another, not just TO one another, but about one another, with the kind of grace that God requires of us. If you would talk TO someone in one way and then go over there and talk ABOUT them in a different way, that’s being double-tongued.”