Talk of JESUS .com

Tag: moses

  • The Curse of Disease and Death – 3

    The Curse of Disease and Death – 3

    Moses & Joseph, Two Paths to the Palace

    Joseph suffered prior to his blessing more like Job than Moses. He had no choice in his suffering, except his choice of response. Isn’t that how our suffering most impacts others, by our godly response? Blessed be the Lord!

    In part two of this series about our attitude toward disease and death we examined Moses’ story from Exodus. Unlike Job, Moses chose to leave the riches of the palace of Pharaoh where he was raised. Moses could have followed a royal path which may have made him Pharaoh. He chose instead to identify himself with his people and his God.

    You may be familiar with how Moses came to live with the daughter of Pharaoh to be raised as her son.

    Exodus 1:

    15 Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, 16 “When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him…

    22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.”

    Moses’ birth story begins in Exodus 2 with a baby protected in an ark of wicker retrieved from the bullrushes by none other than Pharaoh’s own daughter. As stated previously. Moses was raised in a palace only to leave at age forty then return again at age eighty to challenge Pharaoh on behalf of the Lord. Moses would live out the remainder of his 120 years in the wilderness.

    A careful reading of Exodus 2 will reveal that the Hebrews were persecuted by the Egyptians because they were afraid of them, for they had been blessed by the Lord. A look back into Genesis will reveal a much different path to Pharaoh’s palace by a man the Lord used to bless the Hebrew nation in Egypt, Joseph.

    Jacob (Israel) From Canaan to Egypt

    Genesis 37:

    Jacob lived in the land of his father’s sojournings, in the land of Canaan…

    .. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers..

    So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.

    18 They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them they conspired against him to kill him. 19 They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. 20 Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits…

    26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 27 Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. 28 Then Midianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt.

    Joseph Sold

    The whole story contains many more exciting details for the reader (or listener). Most of us first heard of Joseph during our childhood instruction in the Bible. As for Joseph, the hopelessness of the situation would seem to be insurmountable, that is, except that the Lord redeems Joseph for His own purpose.

    Death had seemed certain more than once. Even in survival as a slave, Joseph would suffer injustice yet be redeemed by the Lord.

    Genesis 39:1 Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, had bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there…

    20 And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison.

    Genesis 41:

    After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed.. seven other cows, ugly and thin.. seven ears of grain.. he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was none who could interpret them to Pharaoh.

    An official who remembered Joseph’s interpretation of a dream now tells Pharaoh of Joseph. The Lord showed Joseph the meaning of Pharaoh’s dream. (You don’t think you could have guessed from visions of cows eating other cows and random pictures of grain, do you?)

    The Lord brings famine to both Canaan, home of Jacob and Joseph’s brothers. Jacob’s son Joseph prepares Egypt for the same seven years of severe famine ahead and manages stored resources for the people to whom he was sold.

    a 2017 famine FYI

    Mandari fishermen on Nile River in South Sudan

    I mentioned in Part 2 the importance of the 4160 mile long (6670 km) Nile River basin to life in Egypt. (The Jordan river valley was also important to Canaan and the small countries bordering the Jordan to a lesser extent.) Both crops and herds of animals must have both the water and the grain which grows in these fertile areas. Yet when drought comes and the rivers dry up many suffer. Many die, both animals and people die due to lack of water and too little food.

    Did you know:

    UN: World facing greatest humanitarian crisis since 1945

    [ctt title=”Millions suffering in famine and war. Many will die in 2017. Why does the world ignore it?” tweet=”https://ctt.ec/dNle1+” coverup=”dNle1″]

    Humanitarian groups fear this could be just the beginning: a lack of water – blamed partially on the El Nino weather phenomenon – has killed off livestock and crops, leaving 6.2 million people in urgent need of help.

    The greater causes of suffering relate to war, civil war, greed, oil, extremism, religious differences which cause one sect (of several) to oppose other sects to the death (so to speak) and in fact starve them out.

    Is genocide of African terror so different in 21st c. S. Sudan, Yemen, Somalia and so many other shoreline divided rich and poor so different from ancient Pharaohs ordering deaths of opponents?

    [ctt title=”http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-39238808” tweet=”Genocide by starvation and war. The terrors of extreme local and religious hatreds.” coverup=”1UNA2″]

    The Lord Prevails

    Returning to Joseph’s story, let us recall how we do not know or understand the ways of the Lord. Not until the end of the story of Job do we learn that the Lord brings Job double blessing. Job didn’t know why he suddenly suffered. We knew from the beginning that satan was behind Job’s suffering.

    Pharaoh caused the great suffering of the Hebrew people in Moses’ time. The Lord brought suffering to Egypt. Pharaoh opposed the Lord; not as a man, but as if a man or a leader could be a god to his own people suffering though plagues and death.

    A Nero, Hitler or Muhammed murdering innocents is no less opposed to the Lord! Even kings of Israel and kings of Judah “did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.”

    Yet Joseph, a slave in Egypt promoted to the palace, becomes a type of redeemer for the people of the lands he loved. Yes, the lands Joseph loved – both Goshen, a state of Egypt where the Lord would multiply the Hebrew people, and a promised land along the Jordan from which he unwillingly emigrated.

    Forgiveness and Redemption

    Joseph’s story reveals first a reunion of forgiveness with his brothers who sold him into captivity.

    But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. – Genesis 50:19-20

    Joseph’s reply to his brothers from his own position and power:  “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God?”[ctt title=” A redeemer does not judge his enemies, but leaves judgment to the Lord.” tweet=”Neither Moses nor Joseph redeemed Israel, but the LORD.” coverup=”367rc”]

    The curse of sin: War, Disease, Famine, Suffering & Death

    From Adam to this very day: many hurt, many suffer, many will die.

    Who is your Redeemer, dear brother, beloved sister – who will redeem you from the enemy of your sin?

    Christ Jesus, He IS! For our Lord shed His Blood of Sacrifice for us while we were yet sinners, enemies of the Lord.

    Like Israel, a man with twelve sons and like a people enslaved by injustice, the Lord has passed over a sinful flesh condemned to die in our sin.

    Christ Jesus IS risen to eternal life and as our Redeemer and Judge the Lord pours over us the Blood of His own righteous and immeasurable outpouring of His own love for our eternal soul.

    Joseph’s brothers eventually bowed down before their brother, humble before the Lord.

    Won’t you bow down before Christ Jesus, loving Lord and Savior of the Hebrews and of the Nations?

     

     

  • The Curse of Disease and Death – 2

    The Curse of Disease and Death – 2

    Moses, Privilege of the Wilderness

    In part one of this series about our attitude toward disease and death we briefly examined a story from the oldest book of the Bible, Job. Job was well-to-do, he had then lost nearly everything including his health, yet he blessed the Lord. תּוֹרָה‎Today we examine part of a too-familiar story from the Pentateuch [Torah ], written by Moses. The Book of the Law, or the first five books of the Bible, are written about the Lord and relationship to man (adam), but within this story we find a man not unlike Job, a man of privilege and wealth, Moses.

    Moses may have been the most learned man on earth in his day, raised as a prince of privilege in a palace of a most powerful man who accumulated wealth and knowledge from the many corners of the world he ruled, conquered or traded. The house of Pharaoh, a throne perhaps to which Moses could have ascended upon his death, was a Rome on the Nile to which the peoples of the land looked in worship.

    Egypt of MosesMoses, Prince of Egypt, ruled over the important day-to-day projects in the extensive north-to-south agricultural empire whose glory was tied to management of the rich resources of the 4,160 mile [6670 km] long Nile River.

    Moses gave up much, first in fleeing for his life at age forty and later in returning at age eighty to challenge Pharaoh at the urging of the Lord, only to be led to live in the wilderness of Sinai for forty more years.

    The Torah breezes quickly over typically the most notable years of a man’s life to tell most about Moses’ life after age eighty.

    [ctt title=”The Torah is five Books about the LORD, not a book about Moses.” tweet=”תּוֹרָה‎” coverup=”U9Qna”]

    Exodus 2:

    Moses Flees to Midian

    11 One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens…

    21 And Moses was content to dwell with the man [Jethro, Priest of Midian], and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah. 22 She gave birth to a son, and he called his name Gershom, for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.”

    God Hears Israel’s Groaning

    23 During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God…

    Exodus 3 

    The Burning Bush

    Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed…

    Most of us are fairly familiar with this part of Moses’ story, yet with minimal thought of his again comfortable life with a wife and children and a good job of shepherd. We fail to remember that much time has passed and Moses has survived his own flight from Pharaoh (father of his adoptive Egyptian mother) to establish a good life in the family of a Hebrew priest.

    Now there is a new Pharaoh, perhaps a son who came to the throne of Egypt who would have grown up with Moses, a son perhaps even jealous of the many talents of the former Prince of Egypt who had fled to Midian so many years before. “Exodus 2:23 During those many days the king of Egypt died…” Easy to have missed this. Time had passed in life as always it will.

    Exodus 3:

    10 “Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” 11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” 12 He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”

    Moses is about to become (after a time) a man higher than the LORD’s High Priest, a mortal standing before the Lord as Adam had been in the very presence of the LORD! Yet first, much time would pass both in Egypt and in the wilderness.

    Exodus 4:19-20

    And the LORD said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” So Moses took his wife and his sons and had them ride on a donkey, and went back to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the staff of God in his hand…

    27 The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him. 28 And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which he had sent him to speak, and all the signs that he had commanded him to do.

    Exodus 7:

    Moses and Aaron Before Pharaoh

    And the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. 2 You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land. 3 But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt,4 Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment.

    We know well the drama to follow: plagues and suffering of both Egyptian and Hebrew. What we may have missed in the big screen dramas is how the Lord used a now ordinary old man (Moses) to lead a suffering people to the promised land. We might not see the humble weakness of old Moses in light of the powerful work the Lord would do by his own hand.

    7 Now Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.

    This, of course, was prior to the suffering of the plagues to follow or forty more years of a most difficult life dependant on the manna of God in the wilderness of the Sinai.

    Forty years of suffering

    You’ve lived a good life, one longer than most in those days, eighty years. Would you now choose to go out into the desert as leader of a difficult people? Would you now choose to suffer the severe hard life of a nomad refugee in desperate need of water and food, a people without home or shelter?

    Why would God allow this – yes, even command it?

    Like Job, Moses believed the covenant promise of the Lord. God does not always call us to receive double blessing at the end of our life. The Lord does not call us to always extend our years to one hundred and twenty, with sight of the land promised to your sons and daughters.

    If the Lord calls us to suffering, the loss of a child or loved one, the loss of city and home, the devastating loss of health; it is for His own righteous will and the redemption of His own worshipers.

    Are you a worshiper of the Lord God? Would you humble your flesh,  surrender your prideful ‘self?’

    Would you sacrifice your home, your wealth and everything you have ever known before Almighty God? For the LORD IS, He will judge of our souls and redeems the lives of His own. The Lord IS and He has suffered in the flesh for your sins and for mine.

    Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. – Hebrews 3:3

    To be continued…

     

     

  • What do I do with this? – Law

    What do I do with this? – Law

    “You shall therefore love the LORD your God and keep his charge, his statutes, his rules, and his commandments always. Deuteronomy 11:1

    Think of our everyday life as a brief journey to a place of which we have only dreamed. How do I get there? (I don’t even truly know where I am now?) I know God wants me in a different place today than where I failed so miserably in sin yesterday.

    Adam failed to follow just one law in Eden. Abraham obeyed God to become a sojourner to a promised land, a sort of new Eden from where the chosen people of God would be fruitful and multiply from a place of a new righteousness.

    Moses, raised as an Egyptian prince, lived a comfortable life and at a comfortable time in life (80 years old) God commands, ‘Go back to Egypt. You will lead My people to the land I promised to Abraham.’

    Again, suppose you are Moses in that ‘comfortable’ place in life; or suppose you are no prince at all and slave away in that terrible workplace so out of your control. You struggle to find a way to lead your loved ones through this drudgery – you have just what you need, but your daily life is far distant from a dream of promise.

    God says, ‘Get ready to follow my chosen leader to the place of impossible dream.’ (Of course with God, all things are possible for those who believe. Mark 9:23) Moses returns and says, ‘The Lord says, ‘Follow me. I will make a way for you.’”

    Will you do it?

    Miracles in the land which convince even unbelievers, then the sea parts and you escape. The LORD IS all-powerful. It is the LORD, “I AM,” who leads.

    Exodus 3:13-16 KJV

    And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?

    And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

    And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.

    Now that we have GOD on our side – we have followed the LORD through the sea, of reeds and have HIS POWER – we will do great things for God.

    Let’s take the short cut. We will lead GOD to our promised land.

    Isn’t that how we would do it? Yet would the place of promise not then be polluted with that same sin of ours (never mind the evil of our enemies we will defeat)? Wouldn’t the promised land then be no different than when Israel (Jacob) led us to Egypt only to have the generations of promise enslaved?

    The LORD has a plan for the faithful: 

    God’s LAW and COMMANDMENT of righteousness.

    I AM,  ‘el yĕshuw`ah Yahh Yĕhovah

    Seven generations (of 60-year lifetimes, 430 years) the Hebrew people had lived in Egypt with scant knowledge of God and NO LAW of God to guide them.

    The righteousness expected by GOD of man made in His Image is forever etched in stone to be spoken into our heart. TEN WORDS – Ten Commandments.

    How can man live in righteousness? How can man live in community? How can we live as family in marriage?

    How can I be God-like without knowing the high standard of the Judge of all men, the Ruler of all creation? What is the will of God?

    “Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever! Deuteronomy 5:29

    Instruction in Righteousness

    Deuteronomy 5: HCSB sinai GOD speaks

    1. Do not have other gods besides Me.
    2. Do not make an idol for yourself…
    3. Do not misuse the name of the LORD your God…
    4. Be careful to remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy as the LORD your God has commanded you. You are to labor six days and do all your work… (not 5; not 7)
    5. Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you…
    6. Do not murder. (Includes babies created and conceived in the mother’s womb.)
    7. Do not commit adultery. (Includes women, though scripture points to the man.)
    8. Do not steal.
    9. Do not give dishonest testimony against your neighbor. (Against anyone. Do not lie: as a witness in your words or by the witness of your life.)
    10. Do not covet your neighbor’s wife or desire your neighbor’s house, his field, his male or female slave, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

    Ten Commands – Laws of the Land – God’s righteousness by which to judge.

    Are these not applicable in your household, your state, our nation?

    “If in this time of evil and place of slavery to sin, Supreme Justices of a land of promise add immorality to the covenant of Sinai, will we not perish in a wilderness of our disobedience?

    In our homes and our personal lives we fail to keep the Commandments, especially those which put the LORD GOD first and above all other things.

    You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your mind, all your strength and all your soul. – Deuteronomy 6:5 (and other instructions in the books of Scripture)

    “Be careful to do as the LORD your God has commanded you; you are not to turn aside to the right or the left. – Deuteronomy 5:32

    To be continued…