LET'S GET STARTED WITH A LESSON IN OBEDIENCE |
LESSONS FROM ISRAEL Ministry of Hope is not interested in political controversies, nor is it stating that one nationality is superior to others. People of faith accept God's right to take a small group of people, who were slaves, and turn them into a nation that would be used to carry His word to others despite Satan's determination to either destroy them or make them ineffective. As the Creator of all mankind reached out to these children of His, working great miracles, announcing prophecies that would take place hundreds of years later, providing for their needs and even leading them in battle against their enemies, one would expect them to develop a devout faith relationship with Him. Instead, we discover that only God has perfect love for His children. The 'kids' regardless of nationality, prove to be headstrong and determined to do things their own way. Nevertheless, there are many lessons for all those longing to be children of God as we observe how He deals with His family and listen to His words through Moses, the prophets and other Scriptures inspired by our heavenly Father. |
| Here is the first lesson we need to learn as those desiring to fellowship with our God. The salvation of mankind was God's idea, not human beings. Israel could not have decided that they would be freed from Egypt and serve the Holy One all on their own. They were helpless slaves, and many of them were worshiping the gods they came to know in Egypt while they were slaves. It is obvious that Moses did not think of the idea of setting the 'Hebrew' slaves free when we read Chapters 3 and 4 in Exodus. It certainly was not the whim of the slaves to become servants of the living God. In fact, they did all they could to do their own thing. Let's be honest with ourselves, we are more like Moses and his 'gang' than we care to admit. We do not like anyone, including God, to interfere in our plans. We have our own ideas on what we want out of life. We resent anyone daring to question our religious beliefs even if they are at odds with the revealed word of God. It is most comfortable to fashion our lives after that which is most familiar, that with which we have come to use to guide our choices. Moses loved the uncomplicated life of a shepherd. He enjoyed being part of Jethro's family and the routines he had come to know until his curiosity got the best of him. He saw a bush that looked like it was burning and still did not burn. He just had to go over and check this out. We are told in Ex. 3:5, that God spoke to Moses saying, "'Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.' Moreover He said, 'I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.'” Imagine how you would feel if you suddenly heard a voice speaking to you from a bush like this. I would wonder if I was losing my mind, but I certainly would not think all that was happening was my own idea. No wonder God had the full attention of this man who thought he was just going to pass the time by investigating this strange event. Let's ask another question. Can you imagine anyone choosing an eighty-year old shepherd to go to Egypt to command the mighty Pharaoh to let two million slaves go free? (Especially when he had fled Egypt when accused of being a murderer?) There was a further complication in this task God handed to him. He was expected to walk into the midst of all these slaves to tell them God chose him, a perfect stranger, to lead them out of an impossible situation. We would expect these people to ask, "Why should we accept you as our leader, and what makes you think an old man like you can get Pharaoh to let us go?" It is doubtful any sane person would go to China and declare, "I have been chosen by God to tell you to free all the political criminals in your jail." Anyone attempting to do this would be joining the people he sought to free. Take this a little further. What kind of response would you expect if you chose to go to your denominational leader announcing God had chosen you to bring the true word to all people ? Chapters three and four of Exodus has Moses trying every excuse he can imagine to get out of this task the Holy One has given him. Eventually he resisted too much and we read, So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and He said: “Is not Aaron the Zipporah your brother? I know that he can speak well. And look, he is also coming out to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. Now you shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth. And I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you what you shall do. So he shall be your spokesman to the people. And he himself shall be as a mouth for you, and you shall be to him as G-d. And you shall take this rod in your hand, with which you shall do the signs.” Moses would have been a fool to think up the idea of returning to Egypt to demand Pharaoh let the Hebrew slaves go. After all, what could an eighty-year old man do to make the mightiest ruler of the day kow tow to him? One would think that having met G-d's presence in the burning bush would have turned Moses into an obedient man, but this is not the case. G-d has to continually work i our hearts to mold us into the servants He wants us to be. In Moses' case, his wife Zipporah had refused to have their second son circumcised, and Moses submitted to her wishes instead of obeying G-d's command to Abraham demanding all males to be circumcised at eight days old. (Any married man knows how tempting it is to comply with the wishes of one's wife once her mind is made up.) Moses and Zipporah both had to learn to fear G- d first. We are told, And it came to pass on the way, at the encampment, that the Lord met him and sought to kill him. Then Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it at Moses’ feet, and said, “Surely you are a husband of blood to me!” So He let him go. Then she said, “You are a husband of blood!”—because of the circumcision. (Ex. 4:24-25) Every human being must take G-d's authority seriously. Prayer: "Open my eyes and ears that you might speak to me through your revealed word given to us through Israel. Amen." |
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We invite you to make this site one of your favorites. This will allow you to return for the added studies that we are going offer. We have provided a page where you can easily contact us. We respond to all serious questions. We do not engage in political matters since this is not our purpose. We invite all of our readers to pray for the peace of Jerusalem as G-d's word says. We use G-d to avoid disturbing those who do not want it written out in full lest one take the name of the Lord in vain. It in no way is meant to show anything but the greatest respect for the King of kings. May the Lord bless you and keep you in His love. |
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| Ministry of Hope is a faitth mission seeking to share God's great love for all of His children. We depend on men and women of faith to help support this work so we can expand our ministry which reaches out to people in Asia, Africa, Europe, Canada and the U.S. We hold God's word to be divinely inspired, We consider all of these writings as copyrighted, and request that permission be given before any of it is reproduced. When used, we do request that MOH is given credit for what is written. If permission is given, please send copy of how it is used before it is published to finalize this use. You may read more about us in 'Contact us.' |
