tribesofsinai2024

Today’s full moon signals that we are halfway through Ramadan. Well done if you are still with us journeying through the Sinai and praying for the tribes who live and visit here! 

Today I went to the barber and congratulated them on reaching halfway through the fast. The guy who cut my hair is normally quite uptight about Western colonialism, corruption, and injustice but today he became joyfully animated as he told me about how easy this year’s fasting has been because Ramadan is early, and the weather is not too hot! 

We are also halfway through our journey through Exodus at the foot of Mount Sinai. The Lord has delivered them from Egypt, sustained them through the desert, delivered them from their enemies and is now about to give them his law. In preparation, Moses renews the Abrahamic covenant with the people of Israel, and they agree to obey it. 

‘’Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all the nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’’^[1]

What is remarkable is the development from Abraham’s offspring blessing all the nations to being a kingdom of priests to the nations.

Priests are mediators between God and people. They both bring the needs of people to God and bring the teaching, healing, and blessing of God to the people. This was to be Israel’s role among the nations. They were to be a holy nation living, demonstrating, and teaching the law of God to all the nations.  

There was however a clearly stipulated condition. ‘’Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then …. 

At the Passover meal, Jesus also renewed the covenant offering his disciples to drink and eat him. They too were to go and make disciples of all nations teaching them to obey everything he had commanded them. 

The key is to being a blessing to the nations is to obey the Lord Jesus Christ fully. Yes, it is totally by grace, yet grace without the response of obedience is disobedience and misses the blessing of God for the nations.  

Reflection 

To what degree have Israel and the Church been a blessing to all the nations through:  

1. Being the people’s representative before God bringing their disputes to him? 

• Teaching them his decrees and laws?

• Showing them the way to live?

• And the duties they are to perform?

• Selecting capable men from all the people – and appointing them as officials?^[2]

Prayer 

Please pray for faithful capable men who are able to teach others to come to faith. 

Please pray for Abuna Matta who pasters the Coptic Church here. The Copts are not perceived by many as a blessing to the community but as second-class citizens. There may be 120 families many of whom are in the middle of their 40-day Coptic fast leading up to Easter. Father Mathew is tired, yet I notice the children like to be around him. He asks for prayer for himself, his wife, his children, and his congregation, many of whom have significant domestic problems. 

The Coptic services are long yet with little teaching. Please pray earnestly for a revival of Biblical teaching and preaching so that people may know the truth and the truth set them free. 

Please pray for a Middle East youth ministry who would like to come here in June to worship, have fun with and teach the children. The Copts are quite insular, so it needs the hand of God for such fellowship to be possible. Please pray the Lord will make a way were there appears to be no way.

Trust and Obey

^[1] Exodus 19:5-6. 

^[2] Exodus 18:19-21.