Exodus 34:15-20: a reflection

15“Don’t make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, lest they play the prostitute after their gods, and sacrifice to their gods, and one call you and you eat of his sacrifice; 16and you take of their daughters to your sons, and their daughters play the prostitute after their gods, and make your sons play the prostitute after their gods. 17“You shall make no cast idols for yourselves. 18“You shall keep the feast of unleavened bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month Abib; for in the month Abib you came out of Egypt. 19“All that opens the womb is mine; and all your livestock that is male, the firstborn of cow and sheep. 20You shall redeem the firstborn of a donkey with a lamb. If you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. You shall redeem all the firstborn of your sons. No one shall appear before me empty.

Among the instructions God gives Israel comes a brief but pointed rule about coming before him: No one shall appear before me empty. Whether in the offerings of the firstborn or the keeping of the feasts, the people were not to come before God empty-handed, bringing nothing; they were to bring an offering, to come before him with something. To appear before God was to bring him an offering, an acknowledgment that all we have is from him, a giving of something back to the God who gives us everything. The people were not to come before God taking everything and giving nothing; they were to bring an offering, not appearing empty.

Notice the rule: no one shall appear before God empty. Coming before God was not to be a matter of taking without giving, of receiving all his blessings while bringing nothing in return; the people were to come with an offering, not empty-handed. To bring an offering was to acknowledge that all we have comes from God, to give something back to the Giver of everything. It was fitting to bring something when appearing before God, not to come empty. The offering was an acknowledgment, a giving back, a not-coming-empty before the God who gives us all. To appear before God was to bring him something, however small, as an acknowledgment of him.

That is worth taking to heart, for we do well not to come before God empty, but to bring him an offering. We can come before God only to receive, only to ask, bringing nothing, giving nothing back to the God who gives us everything; but the rule was that no one should appear before him empty. To bring God an offering, of our gratitude, our praise, our substance, our selves, is to acknowledge that all we have is from him, to give something back to the Giver. Do not come before God only to receive and ask, bringing nothing; bring him an offering, not appearing empty. Bring God an offering when you come before him, of your gratitude, your praise, your substance, your very self, not appearing empty-handed, as the rule was that no one should appear before him empty; for to bring God an offering is to acknowledge that all we have is from him, and it is fitting to give something back to the Giver of everything rather than coming only to receive.

Lord, among the instructions you give Israel comes a brief but pointed rule about coming before you: no one shall appear before me empty. Whether in the offerings of the firstborn or the keeping of the feasts, the people were not to come before you empty-handed, bringing nothing; they were to bring an offering, to come before you with something. To appear before you was to bring you an offering, an acknowledgment that all we have is from you, a giving of something back to the God who gives us everything. Show me the rule: no one shall appear before you empty. Coming before you was not to be a matter of taking without giving, of receiving all your blessings while bringing nothing in return; the people were to come with an offering. To bring an offering was to acknowledge that all we have comes from you, to give something back to the Giver of everything. The offering was an acknowledgment, a not-coming-empty before you who give us all. Take that to my heart, for I do well not to come before you empty, but to bring you an offering. I can come before you only to receive, only to ask, bringing nothing, giving nothing back to you who give me everything; but the rule was that no one should appear before you empty. To bring you an offering, of my gratitude, my praise, my substance, my self, is to acknowledge that all I have is from you. Keep me from coming before you only to receive and ask, bringing nothing; help me bring you an offering, Lord, not appearing empty-handed, of my gratitude, my praise, my substance, my very self, acknowledging that all I have is from you.