and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
—Psalm 95:7b-9
“And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.”
—Exodus 3:9
Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you’... Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
—Matthew 4:5-6a, 7
When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.”
—John 13:31
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
—Romans 5:6
When the Lord told Moses, “...now...the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have seen...”, He wasn't implying that He hadn't been paying attention or that He had just then noticed. The time to act had come.
We probably won't know in this life everything that went into the determination that the time had come. But, in the very next sentence, the Lord tells Moses that He is sending him. And that raises a sobering question: how many times has there been no-one for the Lord to send?
Psalm 95 speaks on behalf of the Lord to His people, reminding them of the faithless grumbling of the refugee Israelites at the place named "Testing and Quarreling". The wilderness years were a time for learning to trust the Lord, who always provided for His people even when they couldn't see it coming. They had to learn that the time to hear and to know the Lord is present is always “today”.
When Satan came to tempt Jesus in the wilderness, one attempt seems to involve asking Jesus to glorify Himself—to make a spectacle of Himself that would bring attention and glory to Himself—with little cost. The disciples that Jesus would gather to Himself needed opportunities to follow Him, to spend time with Him, to learn that the Lord was and would always be present. The time for the Son to be glorified had not come.
And the time to seek self-glorification never comes.
After Jesus had called His disciples, had taught them and taught with them, had walked the dusty streets and roads beside and before them—after the iniquity of the pious power-seekers was complete—Jesus at last declared to them that the time had come. And the Father and Son were glorified at cosmically great cost.
And after He told them that the time had come for glory, He made it clear that it was always time for His people to love as He loved.
It Was Time
Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
when your fathers put me to the test
and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
—Psalm 95:7b-9
“And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.”
—Exodus 3:9
Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you’... Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
—Matthew 4:5-6a, 7
When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.”
—John 13:31
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
—Romans 5:6
When the Lord told Moses, “...now...the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have seen...”, He wasn't implying that He hadn't been paying attention or that He had just then noticed. The time to act had come.
We probably won't know in this life everything that went into the determination that the time had come. But, in the very next sentence, the Lord tells Moses that He is sending him. And that raises a sobering question: how many times has there been no-one for the Lord to send?
Psalm 95 speaks on behalf of the Lord to His people, reminding them of the faithless grumbling of the refugee Israelites at the place named "Testing and Quarreling". The wilderness years were a time for learning to trust the Lord, who always provided for His people even when they couldn't see it coming. They had to learn that the time to hear and to know the Lord is present is always “today”.
When Satan came to tempt Jesus in the wilderness, one attempt seems to involve asking Jesus to glorify Himself—to make a spectacle of Himself that would bring attention and glory to Himself—with little cost. The disciples that Jesus would gather to Himself needed opportunities to follow Him, to spend time with Him, to learn that the Lord was and would always be present. The time for the Son to be glorified had not come.
And the time to seek self-glorification never comes.
After Jesus had called His disciples, had taught them and taught with them, had walked the dusty streets and roads beside and before them—after the iniquity of the pious power-seekers was complete—Jesus at last declared to them that the time had come. And the Father and Son were glorified at cosmically great cost.
And after He told them that the time had come for glory, He made it clear that it was always time for His people to love as He loved.