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Gleanings From The Word

Category: Exodus

  • Patron Saints, Luck, and Guardian Angels

    Patron Saints, Luck, and Guardian Angels: What Are You Worshiping?

    A lottery ticket in a hand with patron saint medallion and "lucky" angel"

    Without ever knowing it, she managed to push several of my hot buttons at once. I stood behind her at the convenience store checkout. As her purchases were being rung in, she kissed her patron saint medal and rubbed her guardian angel pin. She said to the cashier, “For luck!” Then she ordered her lottery ticket.

    I’m not a fan of lotteries and regard them as a tax on the greedy and poor. I’ve seen many families and lives ruined by gambling, including by “harmless” lottery playing. However, there is no biblical prohibition on gambling, so I recognize that as being my issue.

    I don’t believe in “luck”. I believe in a sovereign God who is ultimately in control of all things. There is such a thing as divine providence and blessing, but not luck. Again, my issue.

    Patron Saints! Now that’s a problem. It’s a man-made system of idolatry. The saints are all who believe in Jesus Christ, not a select class voted on by denominational elite. Every reference in the Bible to saints (68 of them) refers to the body of believers.  In every instance but one, the word is plural, not singular, referring to more than one person. Praying to patron saints is a direct affront to God.

     “You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
    Exodus 20:3-6 ESV

    Guardian angels? The jury is still out on the whole concept of guardian angels. You can’t prove or disprove their existence from Scripture. In any event, God is sovereign over everything, so he doesn’t need an angel to intercede for us. If they exist, their role isn’t to be worshipped or to tend to our whims. Angels are under the sovereign command of God. Certainly, their role isn’t to make us “lucky”.

    Over the past number of years, the public at large has developed a huge and unhealthy fascination with angels. There are people who track “angel sightings”. You can buy prosperity angels, good luck angels, fertility angels and more. You can go to see New Age practitioners who will give you angel readings and special messages for you from your personal angel.

    Most of it is promoted by people just out to make a buck and the odd fraud artist. I don’t doubt that some of those things are from angels. Fallen angels. Evil spirits and demons.

    The fascination with angels has become a form of worship. 

    For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. Romans 1:21-25 ESV

    What are you worshipping? God alone is worthy of our worship.

    Until next time, praise God for His love and His patience with us.

    May God pour out His abundant blessings on you,

    Kevin

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    SUMMARY

    A woman ahead of me at checkout kissed her patron saint medal, rubbed her guardian angel pin, and bought a lottery ticket “for luck.” It sent me back to Scripture on luck, patron saints, and guardian angels, and to the real question underneath it all: what are we worshiping?

    TAKEAWAY

    Luck and gambling aren’t biblically prohibited, but Scripture points to a sovereign God who governs through providence, not chance

    “Saints” appears 68 times in Scripture, almost always plural, always describing the whole body of believers, never a select class chosen by denominational vote — making patron saint devotion a man-made system

    Guardian angels can’t be confirmed or denied from Scripture, but if they exist, they serve under God’s command, not ours; today’s cultural fascination with angels has drifted into a form of idolatry

    YOU MIGHT CHECK THESE OUT

    Bible Gateway – a free online bible, easily searchable in many translations

    Got Questions – a great source for quick answers on a wide range of Christian/Bible questions

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  • Pentecost Insights: Unveiling Spiritual Connections

    Pentecost Insights: Unveiling Spiritual Connections

    Pentecost and the Exodus - two sides of the same coin

    I’ve been reading some Messianic Jewish material on Pentecost and have learned some astounding similarities between Moses coming down from the mountain and the events of Acts 2. 

    Some of the material I recognized from previous studies, and others were new to me. I don’t recall ever hearing a sermon that did a full comparison. I’m just going to touch on a few key points

     And when the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues like fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. Acts 2:1-4

    So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. Acts 2:41

    It’s a very familiar passage if you have been in the church for any length of time. The church is born with a supernatural sign and outpouring of miraculous signs. What I didn’t recognize before is that it is directly comparable to an event in the account of the Exodus. You likely know it as the story of the golden calf.

    Let me point out some parallels.

    When Moses is on the mountain, there is lightning, fire and clouds. At Pentecost, we have the tongues of flame.

    When Moses comes down, he finds the people worshipping at an altar of a golden calf. In God’s judgment, 3000 were slain. At Pentecost, by God’s grace, 3,000 were saved that day.

    Moses intercedes with God for the people and their sin. With Christ we have the true mediator for all believers.

    In many ways, with the Law’s declaration, the nation of Israel was formally born. At Pentecost, the church was born.

    The Law was given 50 days after the Passover before the Exodus from Egypt. Pentecost was 50 days after Jesus. Last Supper (in some sense, the last Passover).

    In both cases, a large assembly is gathered and waiting. The people at the foot of Sinai are waiting for Moses to return; the disciples in Jerusalem are waiting as Jesus commanded. In both cases, something dramatic descends from above and transforms the situation entirely.

    Pentecost isn’t just a “birthday of the church” moment — it’s a deliberate new-covenant Sinai, where everything that went wrong in Exodus 32 is reversed. The covenant that was broken before the ink was dry is now written inwardly, and the three thousand who fell under judgment become three thousand who receive life.

    Next time you think about the miracle of Pentecost, take a moment to contemplate the incredible ways God blesses us and how His word is a signpost pointed directly at Him. It’s all part of His redemptive plan for His creation.

    Hallelu Yah (Praise God) 

    Be blessed 

    Kevin 

    Profound Change: The Journey to New Creation

    Summary

    Pentecost in Acts 2 mirrors and fulfills the events at Mount Sinai, revealing a deliberate connection between the giving of the Law and the coming of the Holy Spirit. Where Israel’s sin at the golden calf brought judgment and death to three thousand people, Pentecost displays God’s grace as three thousand are brought to life through Christ and the new covenant.

    Key Points

    • At both Sinai and Pentecost, God’s presence is revealed through dramatic signs from heaven, including fire, sound, and a gathered assembly waiting below.
    • When Moses descended from the mountain, Israel fell into idolatry and three thousand died under judgment; at Pentecost, after Christ’s resurrection and ascension, three thousand were saved through repentance and faith.
    • Moses acted as an intercessor for Israel, foreshadowing Christ, the true and perfect mediator of the new covenant.
    • Sinai marked the formal establishment of Israel under the Law, while Pentecost marked the birth of the church through the indwelling Holy Spirit.
    • The Law was given fifty days after the Exodus events, and Pentecost occurred fifty days after Christ’s resurrection, emphasizing God’s intentional covenant pattern and fulfillment.

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