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Tag: moses

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
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…
May 11, 2015
What do I do with this? – LORD

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 2 Timothy 3:16 KJV

Don’t we ever-so-briefly ask of our Bible verses and stories: “What do I do with this?” Of course we do. And if it is true of Jesus’ parables and illustrations of teaching God’s doctrine, reproof of His Disciples and correction of Pharisees, we certainly ask ourselves about righteousness – instruction on HOW to apply the LAW and the Ten Commandments. (Of course Christ Jesus also shed great light on the Law for us with perfect instruction recorded in the Gospels.)

Once again let’s put the giving of the Law into the context of when and how God gave the Law to Moses.

For a brief moment imagine in the 20th century that some brilliant archaeologist exploring the pyramids of ancient Egypt had made the discovery of a lifetime: instead of finding the royal sarcophagus of King Tut from just three centuries before King David of Israel, he unearthed an even older tomb of a Pharaoh God-King of the ancient Egypt which dominated their world like a later Rome. And the hieroglyphs read: Pharaoh Moses!

Even though the fantastic scenario above is pure fiction; in fact, Moses was born into a royal household, raised as a prince of Egypt and could have realistically become the new Pharaoh of Egypt upon the death of the Pharaoh familiar to us in the book of Exodus.

Had Moses (at age forty) not chosen to identify himself with his Hebrew blood of the line of Egypt’s great savior Joseph, who ruled under an earlier Pharaoh, Moses could just as well have ruled the Egyptian Empire from which he was forced to flee.

Once comfortable in the household of a King, Moses flees to Midian; he marries, works and has a family. Things are going pretty good again for a middle class Moses in Midian. [Exodus 2]

Moses names their first son, Gershom, which means, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.” Moses has lived a good life for eighty years.

If we think of our everyday life as a brief journey to a place of which we have only dreamed, then Moses had left the palace of dreams and settled for an ordinary life in a new place. (Even Abraham’s journey did not end in Eden.) Eighty years, a wife and kids, a job, a home… a good life for Moses – and then God finally shows up and says something like, “Go back to Egypt. You, Moses, are headed on an unexpected journey.” (Just like Abraham.)

“I AM the LORD your God. I have something in mind here for you and your descendants.” (Sound familiar?) [Exodus 3]

I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

3:6 וַיֹּאמֶר אָנֹכִי אֱלֹהֵי אָבִיךָ אֱלֹהֵי אַבְרָהָם אֱלֹהֵי יִצְחָק וֵאלֹהֵי יַעֲקֹב וַיַּסְתֵּר מֹשֶׁה פָּנָיו כִּי יָרֵא מֵהַבִּיט אֶל־הָאֱלֹהִֽים׃

‘elohiym ‘ab ‘elohiym ‘Abraham ‘elohiym Yitschaq ‘elohiym Ya`aqob

Before the fire of the LORD in the bush, where ‘elohiym instructs Moses that he is on holy ground, GOD comes to an eighty year old shepherd with instructions.

How many times has the LORD asked you to do something after you were in the comfortable place?

Or again, how many times have your own misguided plans brought you to your knees before the LORD asking, ‘Where did I go wrong? What do I do now… Lord? Where do I go with this? Show me the way… please… Lord?’

And ALL is silent… No answer (even for eighty years). And again we cry out to the LORD.

And the Lord is faithful in His answer. Yet we do not like it. It is not the ‘comfort’ we expected. In fact, it makes us even more uncomfortable and will require even more faith than we believe possible – faith to ‘believe God’ and have it counted as righteousness.

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Exodus 3: ¹³Then Moses said to God, “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?”

¹⁴God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I am has sent me to you.’” ¹⁵God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.

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What next? (Isn’t that always the question from the comfortable place or the house of desperation?) What next, Lord?

How can the LORD instruct you in His Law of Righteousness unless you are obedient to allow the LORD to lead you to next place of the LORD’s choosing?

To be continued…

May 7, 2015
Reflections: Knowledge vs. Life

Man – adam, and woman made from man to be one with man and with God – Eve: now have knowledge of good and evil.

NO more Paradise on earth – NO more Eden; no more garden of pleasure hedged in by the boundaries of righteousness. We must judge good and evil for ourselves (rather than simply obey God’s command).

James 1:23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.

Man is no longer the perfect, sinless mirror image of the Living God. Sin has clouded our vision and our judgement.

Yet the Lord is still near to those who will seek Him. Remember, the Lord God is a loving Father of all mankind; Creator of all that is good, corrector of all that is evil in the rebellious child.

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Genesis 4: ⁶The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? ⁷If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”

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The relationship has changed because of evil. Man is no longer naked in paradise, but revealed in our sinfulness to our Father of righteousness. And the loving Father advises those who would hear. Yes, obedience to God remains our option of doing what is good in the eyes of the Lord.

Yet we fail. As in Adam, so also in Cain and in the deceitful hearts, sinful flesh and rebellious spirit of every Adam… the misled heart of every Eve.

Our willingly broken relationship with God leads us further and further from Eden.

Genesis 6: ³Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” …

⁵The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. ⁶And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. …

Do your intentions and choices of your heart ever grieve the heart of your heavenly Father?

Genesis 6: ¹²And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. ¹³And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

What is God’s judgement of the wickedness of these last days?

Will God much longer endure sinful men without love and sinful women with callous hearts toward the love and righteousness of Christ Jesus?

God continued in faithfulness to those faithful in love and worship of the Father of all that is good. The LORD gave man a new hedge of protection in the Law – the Law of Moses, as it is called – The Ten Commandments.

Deuteronomy 4: “And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live…”

⁶Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ …

¹¹And you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom. ¹²Then the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but saw no form; there was only a voice. ¹³And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten Commandments, and he wrote them on two tablets of stone…

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The LORD no longer walks beside Moses or the leaders of God’s people. The LORD appears to the Hebrew people as an awesome and fearful sight! The LORD speaks from the darkness of what they cannot see and commands obedience.

The people confirm their faith; they make their solemn promise – a covenant not unlike the covenant of marriage – with the Lord their God.

Yet do they obey?

Is it so hard for us to NOT commit adultery?

Is it so difficult for us to follow even TEN clear Commandments of the LORD God?

To be continued…

March 23, 2015