Tag: Moses

May Our Choices be Righteous & Courageous! (Joshua 22-24)

Thursday, September 29

joshua-24

Nikki Green

As we wrap up the book of Joshua, we find our strong and courageous leader in the last days of his life.  Joshua calls the twelve tribes together to review all God had done for His people.  Joshua states that the LORD fought for Israel and drove out the other nations.  He urges the Israelites to remain faithful to God.  He warns them not to worship foreign gods or marry outside the Israelite nation.  He cautions them not to disobey – not to turn to the right or the left.  The theme of courage is echoed again.  He reminds them that what God gave, He can take away.  The land has always been His.  Joshua’s words of wisdom lead to a choice when he says, “Choose this day whom you will serve… but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (Josh 14:15).  The Israelite people responded with the commitment, “We will serve the LORD, for He is our God” (Josh 24:18).

After the remarkable history lesson and reflection on the mighty deeds of God, we read that Joshua died at age 110.  He was buried in the land of his inheritance – the Promised Land.  Israel served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua, which speaks volumes about his leadership and authority.  The book of Joshua ends with the completion of a generation of heroes.  We are reminded of Moses and Aaron, the dynamic duo, who began this great land repossession quest.  Joshua and Eleazar, the priest, jump in and prove to be the next generation of heroes.  Joshua was mentored by Moses.  Eleazar was the son of Aaron, Moses’ brother, and received outstanding mentorship from these men as well.  The book ends with the death of these “super men” and symbolically completes the story of conquest and conquer as “The LORD Saves” (Big thanks to Moses for Joshua’s new name & the answer to what we all need)!

 

 

Consequences (Deuteronomy 28 & 29)

Tuesday, September 20

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By Jill McClain

Moses had previously told the people all of God’s directions and commands.  He gave them very detailed instructions about what type of behavior God expects.  Next Moses lays out the consequences for either following or disobeying God’s rules.  God has created all humans with a free will.  We are free to walk in his ways or to defy his directions.  However, there are definite consequences for the choices we make.  Chapter 28 first lists a series of blessings that the people will receive if they observe God’s decrees.  There are blessings for individuals and the entire nation.  Crops, livestock and children will all flourish, enemies will be defeated, and the people will be granted “abundant prosperity” (verse 11).  Conversely, there is also a list of curses that the people will face if they are disobedient.  Diseases, plagues, famine, and the loss of their land are just some of the curses listed.  Ultimately, God’s people are always free to choose if they will follow in his ways, but there will be consequences for their actions.

Forty years earlier God and his people had made a covenant.  God promised to bless the Israelites, and they in turn, vowed to love and obey God.  In Chapter 29, Moses once again urges the people to honor their commitment.  The chapter concludes with verse 29, “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.”  There are some secrets that God has not revealed to us.  However, he has shared with us all that we need to know to have eternal life. It is up to us to diligently study the Bible and apply all we have learned to our own lives.

 

Blessed 2 Bless (Deuteronomy 3-4)

Tuesday, September 13
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By Joseph Partain

Deuteronomy 3 begins again with God giving the Israelites the victory over their foe, Og the king of Bashan. After the victory Moses begins to divide the land between the tribes. The women and children were allowed to stay and settle the towns while the “able bodied men” went on into battle with their brothers. God was giving the victory but I think he was helping the tribes to fellowship with each other and enjoy God’s blessings together. God states in Hebrews that we will all enjoy his victory and blessing together in the kingdom. Moses was allowed to view the promised land but was told by God that he would not be able to enter the land but that he was to encourage Joshua for when he led the people. How many of our parents have told us, “That is enough!” like God tells Moses in v.26. God is loving and caring but he will not leave sin unpunished and this is a hard lesson that Moses is taught. Sometimes we visualize God as “the man upstairs” or the “big daddy in the sky” but he is HOLY, HOLY, HOLY which when said three times in Hebrew means unsurpassed holiness. If we remember this is who God is some of the seemingly small sins need to be taken seriously.

Deuteronomy 4 reminds us how jealous God is for us. He wants our wholehearted devotion as Caleb was described in Ch. 1. Again he reminds them to let their lives be directed by God’s laws and to impress them on their children, a theme that runs all the way through Deuteronomy. The importance of recounting God’s goodness and what he has done for each one of us should be our theme throughout life. If we share what God is doing in our lives it is hard to complain or grumble, instead a joy should shine through to others. V40 says the benefits will be a life lived well for you and your children in the Promised Land. What more could we ask for than to live eternal life with loved ones in the Kingdom of God. What a reminder that God gives us that he is blessing us to be a blessing to others. Are you up for the challenge?

Passing the Torch (Numbers 27-30)

September 9talon-fri

By Talon Paul

Once again, we have come across another section of Numbers with a number of sacrifices, laws, and other things that the ancient Israelites were expected to fulfill.  Unfortunately for us, those laws are not as relevant to us today and can seem boring. To them though, these were essentially important to living in communion with their God. But what lesson can we Christians who are no longer bound by the Old Covenant take from this section?

I believe that 27:15-23 has very great insight for all people of all ages. This passage explains that Moses will not be leading the people into the Promised Land because of his disobedience back in 20:8-12. However, Moses is commanded to install Joshua as his successor as leader of the Israelites. Up to this point, Joshua was likely studying underneath Moses and worked with him.

The point of this lesson is two-fold: Those that are older need to prepare someone younger to take their place eventually, and those that are younger need to learn from those that are older. Unfortunately today, people have a mindset that their generation is the only one that is correct, while the truth is that there is much that can be learned from all generations, both older and younger.

To those that are older: Look for the potential in those that are younger in your church and start training them up to eventually enter ministries that you will be leaving eventually

To those that are younger: Learn from those older than you, be willing to do ministry work in your church, and develop a passion for the Lord.

How God Interacts With His People (Exodus 17-20)

josiah -moses sinai

There are many great stories in these few chapters but they are by far some of my favorite stories in the book of Exodus. Through the stories we get a very good idea of how God chooses to communicate with His people, the Israelites. If you are just hopping into the Bible reading program the main character of this passage is a man named Moses. Moses was a man chosen by God to do great works for the Israelites; Moses was the man who set the Israelites free from Egypt and led them through the desert. The Israelites wandering through the desert is where we pick up the story.

The Israelites had a nasty habit of complaining to God about their so called ‘problems’ and how they are being treated ‘poorly’. Of course, the Israelites had no idea that God always had their back and was always watching over them. The Israelites run into two problems in chapter 17; problem number one, they have no water and problem number two, they are in danger from Amalek. God is not worried by any of this, but because we have little faith sometimes God must intervene for our sake. So God provides water for all of the Israelites through a miracle and does another miracle to protect them from Amalek. The Amalek story in particular always intrigues me. I love how Moses gets support from two of his closest men to help him do his job. Also it’s just cool to see God work through his people to kick some gentile butt.

In chapter 18 we get a good view of how I think the church should be structured. Moses’ dad-in-law, Jethro, comes and sees that Moses is having a hard time coping with all the stress the Israelites put on him. So Jethro gives Moses the advice to put some trusted men in charge of smaller groups of people to handle the small quarrels and disagreements among themselves. This turns out to be great advice and it makes everyone happier. I see God was moving when Jethro came to Moses; that God once again cared for His people even when they didn’t realize that they needed it.

I can’t help but think of how amazing God is when I read chapter 19. The image I get in my head of God covering the mountain with fire and talking through thunder is incredible. What an awesome God we serve! What blows my mind though is how the Israelites didn’t even want to talk to God. They could hear God’s voice, which I think any of us would die to do, and yet they threw it all away. Now it’s not until the end of chapter 20 where we find out that the people don’t want to talk to God. I mean come on how stupid can the Israelites be sometimes? Even though God told them that they would be safe they still felt fear towards Him. This is also the time when God decided to give His people rules to follow that way they could better follow Him. I don’t think the Israelites really understood the greatness of the gifts they were given. Who wouldn’t want God to come down to them in person and tell them exactly how to live there lives. I would love for God to come down and speak to me directly on my life and how I could live better. Anyway, the Israelites said they wanted no part in talking to God, only Moses, so that’s what they got.

We can see God really striving to be with His people in these chapters. He wants so badly for us to have everything we need and be safe so He provides for us. God wants to be with us and speak to us but we, like the Israelites, shy away in fear from God. We get rules from God that He wants us to follow but we always seem to fall short. I can’t help but think that we are like the Israelites; running from God because we are too afraid to speak to Him ourselves, afraid of what He might say. We are always willing to have someone else pray for us or have a pastor talk to God for us but we need to do that ourselves. Let’s not be like the Israelites. Let us walk boldly up the foot of the mountain and talk to God just like He designed us to do. We don’t need a middle man in our lives because we have Jesus. He is our mediator and he does a perfect job for us. It’s through Jesus that we can speak to God. We should not waste this great gift like the Israelites did. We should speak to God and go to Him for everything because He is perfect and longs to provide for us.

— Josiah Cain

Who Is Yahweh? (Exodus 5-7)

Moses the 80-year-old fugitive went to the Pharaoh, the powerful leader of mighty Egypt, and declaimed, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness'” (Exodus 5.1).  Pharaoh met this bold demand with the following:

Exodus 5.2
Who is Yahweh, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know Yahweh, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.

Notice how Pharaoh answers Moses.  He doesn’t know Yahweh.  Who is Yahweh to tell him me what to do?  The rest of the ten plagues answer this one question.  You see, Egypt was full of gods.  They believed in Ra, Apis, Hathor, Nut, Isis, Osiris, and Heqet, but not Yahweh.  Pharaoh can’t imagine that the god of his slaves–the Hebrews–could possibly be more powerful than the revered and ancient deities of Egypt.  Consequently, Pharaoh decides to press the issue.  Not only will he not them go, but he decides to oppress them even more than before.  Since these Israelites have so much time to worry about going off into the wilderness to have a feast, they obviously don’t have enough work.  Pharaoh decides to increase their labor; now they will have to forage for their own straw to make bricks without diminishing productivity.  That will teach them not to fantasize about introducing new gods to give them time off.

Naturally, the elders of Israel were furious at Moses for making them “stink in the sight of Pharaoh” (Exodus 5.21).  Moses feels discouraged and God has to work with him by reiterating the promises.  He tells Moses he will liberate them from the Egyptians; he will deliver them from slavery; he will redeem them with great acts; he will take them to be his people; he will be their God; he will bring them to the promised land that he swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Exodus 6.6-8).  After he convinced Moses of his plan to harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he can perform his mighty deeds, Moses marches right back into Pharaoh’s presence.

To start, Moses had Aaron throw down his staff so that it became a serpent.  However, the Egyptian sorcerers did the same so Pharaoh’s heart was hardened and he sent Moses away.  Now a third time, God tells Moses to go to Pharaoh in the morning, while he is at the Nile river, and say, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘By this you shall know that I am Yahweh: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood” (Exodus 7.17).  After he struck the water, the Nile river, the life source of Egypt, turned into blood.  Amazingly, Pharaoh turned and went home and didn’t give the miracle a second thought.  The Egyptians began digging along the banks to draw water since for seven days the river ran red with blood.

What Pharaoh did not yet understand is that this was just one of ten plagues through which the God of the Hebrews would answer his question, “Who is Yahweh that I should obey his voice.”  Now he begins to learn, that Yahweh is the God who can slit the veins of Osiris, the protector of the Nile, and cause him to bleed.  Stay tuned for the rest of Pharaoh’s education…

When Genocide Comes (Exodus 1-4)

For centuries Egypt served as an incubator for Israel; there they multiplied from a few dozen to hundreds of thousands.  However, they did not integrate into Egyptian society, but retained their distinctive Hebrew identity.  As a result the Pharaoh worried what would happen if an enemy attacked.  He thought the Israelites would surely aid any attackers, turning the tide against the Egyptians.  As is so often the case, fear led to persecution under the guise of “preemptive self defense.”  At first they set taskmasters over the Hebrews to afflict them with heavy burdens.  Next they completely enslaved them, making their lives bitter with hard service.  Then Pharaoh initiated a clandestine project of ethnic cleansing by ordering the midwives to murder Israelite newborn boys.  When this policy failed, he made a new public mandate whereby every Egyptian became duty bound to cast Hebrew boys into the Nile river.

In the midst of such a genocide a baby boy was born, named Moses.  Through a miraculous turn of events, he grew up under the protection (not persecution) of Pharaoh’s household.  He enjoyed the lavish lifestyle of the top 1% of Egyptians, including getting “instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians” (Acts 7.22).  However, when Pharaoh found out Moses had murdered a man, he fled to Midian, a far away wilderness, and became a nomadic shepherd.  While his first forty years were in the lap of luxury, his second forty years were spent toiling in obscurity.  He got married and worked for his father-in-law until that fateful day when he encountered the burning bush.

While he stood before this unusual spectacle, God spoke to him.  He identified himself with these words, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Exodus 3.6).  Next God commissioned Moses to go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt.  Instead of taking the job, Moses was incredulous.  He came up with an excuse, asking, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name? what shall I say to them?” (Exodus 3.13).  Moses probably thought this question would get him off the hook, but instead God answered him directly, revealing his covenant name in the process.  He told Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers…has sent me to you'” (Exodus 3.15).  The words “the LORD” are hiding the true Hebrew name for God–Yahweh.  It is a sad fact that nearly all English translations do this.  They would be better to just honestly put God’s name into the text rather than hiding it.  (Understanding the rest of the ten plagues without knowing God’s name is Yahweh makes everything a little blurry.)

Moses tried over and over to get out of God’s call on his life.  However, God was persistent and overcame Moses’ objections one by one.  What’s so striking about Moses is that he is probably the least qualified person in the world to carry out this mission for God.  He’s an 80 year old, inbred, fugitive with a speech impediment.  He knows how unqualified he is and therein we find God’s reason for choosing him.  Moses was the humblest man on the face of the earth (Numbers 12.3).  He knew he couldn’t do it on his own, and this is why God was able to do such spectacular marvels through him.  He went from a Bedouin herder to the founding father of a nation, the one who brought down the most powerful empire of the time, the great giver of God’s holy law, and the one who had the most intimate relationship with God of all time, excepting Jesus.  Maybe your intelligence, your attractiveness, your athleticism, your creativity, or your relational skills aren’t holding you back.  The problem is not that you are under qualified, but over qualified.  If you can only cultivate humility and depend on the Almighty, he can do great things through you today.