NEVER QUIT

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and cruel bondage.

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his country."

But Moses said to the Lord, "If the Israelites will not listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering lips?"

Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron about the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt, and He commanded them to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.

These were the heads of their families:

The sons of Reuben, the firstborn son of Israel, were Hanok and Pallu, Hezron and Karmi. These were the clans of Reuben.

The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. These were the clans of Simeon.

These were the names of the sons of Levi according to their records: Gershon, Kohath and Merari. Levi lived 137 years.

The sons of Gershon, by clans, were Libni and Shimei.

The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. Kohath lived 133 years.

The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi.

These were the clans of Levi according to their records.

Amram married his father’s sister, Jochebed, who bore him Aaron and Moses. Amram lived 137 years.

The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg, and Zikri.

The sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri.

Aaron married Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, and sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

The sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These were the Korahite clans.

Eleazar, son of Aaron, married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas.

These were the heads of the Levite families, clan by clan.

It was this Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring the Israelites out of Egypt by their divisions.” They were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing the Israelites out of Egypt—this same Moses and Aaron.

Now when the Lord spoke to Moses in Egypt, He said to him, “I am the Lord. Tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt, everything I tell you.”

But Moses said to the Lord, “Since I speak with faltering lips, why would Pharaoh listen to me?”

Then the Lord said to Moses, "See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country. But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt, he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites. And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it."

Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded them. Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Exodus 6:9-30, 7:1-7

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In yesterday’s message, we found God replying to Moses who had wondered why things had actually gotten worse for the Israelites instead of better after he and his brother Aaron had spoken to Pharaoh as commanded. You’ll remember God providing a blessed assurance that things would happen just as He said it would, underscoring his point by referencing Moses’ ancestors – Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, former leaders who had experienced the fulfillment of God’s promises. God’s point was that the current circumstances in Egypt would be no different as He would deliver them from the burden of the Egyptian oppression and set them on a path to Canaan.

With this, we find Moses going back to the people of Israel in today’s passage, telling them. Unfortunately, things didn’t go well for we read where the Israelites "did not listen to him because of their discouragement and cruel bondage." It had to be a real disappointment for Moses but considering the mindset of the Israelites, I think we can understand where they found themselves, in a place where a life situation was so hard to deal with that one wouldn’t be receptive to words of encouragement that offer little more than faith in something that is yet to come.

As I put myself in the place of Moses, I started to wonder if this doesn’t happen to us as well today. For how many times do we try to encourage others who are going through difficult times, hoping they will be uplifted and encouraged, only to be rebuffed and rejected. This happens because the pain and anguish a person or persons experience through suffering can simply be too much for them to overcome and while in that state of mind, no one can say anything that’s going to make them feel any better. Yet, as servants of the Lord Most High, we are not to give up even though we find ourselves discouraged. We are never to quit in carrying out what God wants us to do.

In Moses’ case, we find God immediately coming to him after he is rejected by the Israelites, issuing the following command:

"Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his country."

As Moses hears this, we see where he has had enough, venting his frustration while saying:

"If the Israelites will not listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering lips?"

Here we find Moses reverting back to his feelings of inadequacy first displayed at the burning bush. By his own words, we see where he doubted himself and his ability to properly carry out what God was telling him to do.

This brings me to a question:

Have you ever been in a place where Moses finds himself here, feeling as if you are inadequate in carrying out God’s will for your life?

Through my sixty-five years of life, more than 30 in Christian ministry, I believe that this is the weapon that Satan uses against us more than any other when it comes to attempting to stop us from doing what the Lord wants, especially in carrying out the Gospel-spreading, Great Commission work Jesus called us to. Our enemy wants us to feel like we fall short and don’t possess the proper skills to be successful.

But here’s the truth the devil conveniently leaves out.

For when the Lord demands that we do something in His name, we won’t be doing it through our own strength or ability. Rather, we will achieve what He wants through His power and the ability He provides. Satan wants us to think we’re answering our ministry calling isolated and alone but the truth is that the Lord is right there with us, walking alongside as we carry out His plan to its fulfillment.

In the midst of our work for the Lord, Satan would tell us to give up but God has a much different message:

"I’ve got this with you. Never quit, no matter what."

In our scripture passage, we see that the Lord never quits on Moses, even when he quits on himself, saying this to him:

"See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country. But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt, he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites. And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it."

In other words, Moses and Aaron will speak a lot of words that Pharaoh will reject but God will have the last word and it’s His word that will gain the final victory of deliverance for Israel, just as He has the final word over death and the grave through His Son Jesus that grants all Christian believers deliverance and victory today.

Friends, the takeaway for us today is that we need to stay encouraged in our work for the Lord and ever seek His empowerment to make it through any and all challenges that might come our way. For our God is always with us, especially when we are carrying out what He has commanded us to do. And so we should never, ever quit, no matter how hard things get, staying the course while trusting and believing in a God who never breaks a promise, a God who ultimately brings us to victory.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

BLESSED ASSURANCES

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

 

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country."

God also said to Moses, "I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they lived as aliens. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.”

"Therefore, say to the Israelites: 'I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord."

Exodus 6:1-8

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In yesterday’s message from the fifth chapter of Exodus, we saw where Egypt’s supreme leader, Pharaoh, didn’t know God by his own admission while the Israelite foremen and Moses failed to trust God by their attitude and actions. As the chapter ends, we find Moses questioning God as to why things were happening the way they were as it seemed that His plan had only resulted in additional trouble for the Israelites with no relief in sight.

Well, in the opening verses of chapter six, we find the Lord’s responding to Moses, and while you might think He would bring a rebuke, we instead see Him offer a blessed assurance. Look again at His words here:

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country."

God also said to Moses, "I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they lived as aliens. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.”

"Therefore, say to the Israelites: 'I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord." Vv.1-8

Here, we find God reaffirming that Moses indeed witness all that He would do to Pharaoh and wants to make it clear that it would be Egypt’s leader who would let the Israelites leave. We will see this happen because God is about to make things so miserable for Pharaoh and the Egyptians that it will be in their collective best interest to allow the Israelites to leave.

To validate His presence and care for His people, we find God reminding Moses of His track record through Jewish history and how He was with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, all of which were ancestors and leadership forerunners of Moses. The Lord makes sure that Moses remembers how He delivered them to the land of Canaan, fulfilling His covenant with them, just as He would soon do for the Hebrew people enslaved in Egypt.

In fact, the Lord makes special mention of the suffering Hebrews in Egypt saying:

"I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant."

He then tells Moses to go back to the Israelites and deliver the following special message, a message meant to encourage and strengthen His people in the midst of their hardship and suffering:

"I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord."

Through His own words, God provided a blessed assurance for the people of Israel and for us as well. Specifically, He promised:

1. That He had remembered His covenant.

Always remember that God remembers His promises and He has never broken one He has ever made.

He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us, to always be with us.

He has promised us that He would never allow us a burden we couldn’t bear when we turn to Him for help.

He has promised us that nothing is impossible with Him.

And He has promised to never destroy us, even though through our sinfulness we might deserve it. We only need to look into the sky after a rain and see a rainbow to be reminded of this promise, one that has stood for more than 2,000 years after a covenant He made with His people after Noah, the ark, and the great flood.

2. That He is the Lord.

He is almighty and omnipotent, having no rival.

He is all willing, doing whatever He desires to further His kingdom here on earth.

He is all able with nothing beyond the work of His hands.

He is all loving, so much so that He didn’t wish for anyone to perish in Hell but to have the opportunity for eternal life through belief in His Son Jesus.

He is Creator and Master of all living things.

and...

He is a wonder-working, Maker of miracles. Nothing is impossible with Him and He makes the improbable probable.

Although the Israelites thought they could never escape their captivity (they were powerless to do so), although Pharaoh believed there was no power that could exceed his own (he didn’t know the God he was up against), and even though Moses doubted  that God would actually do what He said He would do (the Lord would help him with his unbelief as He will us), in the end, God would show Himself as God, working with might in accordance with His own time and in His chosen place, in accordance with His will.

The truth of the matter is that God will ALWAYS prove His naysayers wrong and show that He and He alone is God.

3. That He is a God who delivers and redeems.

God made a solemn promise that He would deliver the Israelites out of the bondage of the Egyptians just as He promises to deliver us from the enslavement of sin today, and He does what He says He will do.

Every single time.  

As we’re going to see, the blessed assurance of God’s liberation of the Israelites would be carried out through a series of ten plagues/curses that He would bring on the nation of Egypt and its leader Pharaoh. This will conclude with death passing over the people of Israel before they are told to leave.

The blessed assurance of our salvation came when God chose to come from Heaven to earth and become flesh through His one and only Son, Jesus. Through Him and His willing sacrifice on Calvary’s cross, death also passes over anyone who has chosen to believe in Him as Savior.

Into both these situations, past and present, we find God intervening into a place of hopelessness and bringing sure, guaranteed hope. Let us give thanks today for His goodness, caring, and love.  

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

DO YOU TRULY KNOW GOD?

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Afterward, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to Me in the desert.'"

Pharaoh said, "Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go."

Then they said, "The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, or He may strike us with plagues or with the sword."

But the king of Egypt said, "Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!" Then Pharaoh said, "Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them from working."

That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and foremen in charge of the people: "You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don't reduce the quota. They are lazy; that is why they are crying out, 'Let us go and sacrifice to our God.' Make the work harder for the men so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies."

Then the slave drivers and the foremen went out and said to the people, "This is what Pharaoh says: 'I will not give you any more straw. Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced at all.'"

So the people scattered all over Egypt to gather stubble to use for straw. The slave drivers kept pressing them, saying, "Complete the work required of you for each day, just as when you had straw."

The Israelite foremen appointed by Pharaoh's slave drivers were beaten and were asked, "Why didn't you meet your quota of bricks yesterday or today, as before?" Then the Israelite foremen went and appealed to Pharaoh: "Why have you treated your servants this way? Your servants are given no straw, yet we are told, 'Make bricks!' Your servants are being beaten, but the fault is with your own people."

Pharaoh said, "Lazy, that's what you are—lazy! That is why you keep saying, 'Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.' Now get to work. You will not be given any straw, yet you must produce your full quota of bricks."

The Israelite foremen realized they were in trouble when they were told, "You are not to reduce the number of bricks required of you for each day."

When they left Pharaoh, they found Moses and Aaron waiting to meet them, and they said, "May the Lord look upon you and judge you! You have made us a stench to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us."

Moses returned to the Lord and said, "O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and You have not rescued Your people at all."

Exodus 5:1-23

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

After meeting with the Israelite elders and sharing God’s plan to free His people, we find Moses and Aaron going to address the Egyptian ruler, Pharaoh, just as God had commanded. Of note, it’s important to see that they make sure the Pharaoh knew that their message wasn’t from them but God.

"This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to Me in the desert.'"

It was a straight forward command but as we see, it didn’t resonate with Pharaoh because with his own words, he makes it clear that he didn’t believe in the God of the Israelites.

"Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go."

Well, Moses and Aaron weren’t about to give up and so they double down on God’s demand, saying:

"The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, or He may strike us with plagues or with the sword."

Here, we find Moses and Aaron adding specific consequences that could come by way of “plagues” or “the sword” if they disobeyed God, a claim that have any effect on Pharaoh’s mindset. For we find him replying with sarcasm:

"Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work! Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them from working."

In other words, Egypt’s Pharaoh was basically saying to Moses and Aaron, "What part of ‘no’ did you not understand? Stop wasting my time and holding up your people from their work."

And then, he did something much worse than speaking some crass words.

For the scriptures tell us that Pharaoh began to worsen his oppression of the Israelite people, ordering his "slave drivers and foremen in charge of the people" to no longer “supply the people with straw for making bricks”. Instead, the Israelite slaves were to “gather their own straw” but still be required to produce the “same number of bricks as before”. Overall, we find Pharaoh holding the view that the Hebrew slaves were “lazy” and this is why they were asking to leave and offer sacrifices to their God. And so the slave drivers and foremen were told to “make the work harder” so the Israelites would “keep working and pay no attention to lies."

As we can obviously see, the Israelites were being tasked with making bricks to build the structures for Pharaoh’s empire and before had always been given the material to do the work. Now, Egypt’s leader had ordered that important material for the brick making process, straw, was to be withheld which forced the Israelites to have to try and scavenge to find enough to ensure they wouldn’t fall underneath the established production quote.

Well, Pharaoh’s orders were carried out and predictably, this worsened the working conditions for the people of Israel who quickly reached a breaking point with a need for something to relieve the situation.

We see the indications of this as we read that how the Israelite foremen went to Pharaoh to air their grievances on behalf of their workers. They appealed to Pharaoh, asking:

"Why have you treated your servants this way? Your servants are given no straw, yet we are told, 'Make bricks!' Your servants are being beaten, but the fault is with your own people."

Well, it should come as no surprise that Pharaoh displayed no sympathy for the Israelites. For we read him saying this in reply to the Hebrew foremen:

"Lazy, that's what you are—lazy! That is why you keep saying, 'Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.' Now get to work. You will not be given any straw, yet you must produce your full quota of bricks."

And with that, the Israelite foremen, formally rebuffed by Pharaoh, go straight to Moses and Aaron to express their anger and frustration over what was happening, saying:

“May the Lord look upon you and judge you! You have made us a stench to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us."

In other words, the foremen were placing full blame on Moses and Aaron for what was happening to them. Their point was that their current hardship wouldn’t have happened if Moses and Aaron hadn’t gone to Pharaoh in the first place. The scriptures show us that their pierced the heart of Moses who immediately went before the Lord, saying:

“O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and You have not rescued Your people at all."

I can’t help but think that Moses was going back to the burning bush and feeling affirmed that he wasn’t the right person to carry out God’s plan which seemed to be going off the rails in a big way. For the very people that he (Moses) was supposed to lead out of Egypt now hated him. Moses had done what he was told to do but instead of any positive outcome happening, there was only increased hardship falling on the Hebrew people, the people Moses deeply cared for.

So what are we to do with this passage from the entire fifth chapter of Exodus?

Well, we need to see that there are three main players who all have the same general problem.

They don’t truly know and trust God.

First, there’s Pharaoh who intentionally brings oppression on the Israelite people, fearing their burgeoning population that he sees as a threat to him and the Egyptian nation. And so he puts all the Hebrews under the yoke of slavery.

By his own admission as he speaks to Moses and Aaron, he doesn’t know the Lord and it’s obvious through his attitude and actions. For if the Pharaoh truly did believe in the God of Israel, he would have listened to Moses and Aaron, conceding to God’s desires for His people.

As we move on in our study of Exodus, we are going to see Pharaoh fully coming to know the one true God in a big way, a God of exceeding power and greatness that exceeded any god of Egypt, a God who is going to as much hardship on Pharaoh and the Egyptians as he chose to place on the Hebrews.

Secondly, I propose that the Israelite foremen also didn’t really know and trust God as they should have, displaying a problem that many people of faith have had throughout the ages. For it’s easy to have faith when things are going right but the challenge in life is maintaining faith when times get hard.

Those who truly know and trust God will never waver in their faith, no matter how hard it gets. They hold steadfast, patiently waiting for God to work things out in accordance with His perfect will and way.

Note that the Israelite foremen never go to God themselves to seek His guidance. Rather, they first go to Pharaoh and after his rejection, then rain curses down upon Moses and Aaron hoping for the Lord’s judgment to come down on them.

Perhaps, they should have been just as concerned with the Lord judging them for their unfaithful attitude.

And finally, we have Moses.

Again, going back to his initial calling by God, there were signs that Moses didn’t really trust God in his heart even though he had the benefit of a personal encounter with Him. He wavered when the Lord told him that he was to go and lead the Israelites out of Egypt and here in chapter five, we find him clearly rattled and bothered by the visit from the Israelite foremen as he goes before God and questions Him. Through his interrogation, Moses was basically asking God about His absence, about why He wasn’t showing Himself as present in the midst of everything that was happening.

After all, hadn’t Moses and Aaron done what He told them to do?

And yet, things had gotten worse, not better.

Through his attitude, we see Moses showing an impatience that is not uncommon. For if we’re honest, we want God to do everything right away ourselves, acting in accordance with the timeline we believe is appropriate. And by doing this, we miss the things He is trying to do in, around, and through us in the midst of difficulties, suffering, and hardship.

And so the Word of God would ask us today:

Do you know God? Do you really KNOW God?

Do you trust in Him fully, knowing and trusting in all His assurances and promises as found in His holy Word? And do you even know His word so you can understand His promises for you?

Brothers and sisters, my prayer today and every day after is that we all will make a commitment to know God better, not superficially but intimately. My hope is that we will dedicate ourselves to the study of His Word for this is where He reveals Himself. And I wish we will all connect fully to the power and influence of the Holy Spirit that dwells within every Christian believer.

Ultimately, let’s all seek to build a stronger and steadfast faith along with an enduring patience that refuses to waver in the midst of adversity but stays firm and resolute, no matter our circumstances, all because we truly know our God.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

THE ONLY APPROPRIATE RESPONSE

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

The Lord said to Aaron, "Go into the desert to meet Moses."

So he met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him.

Then Moses told Aaron everything the Lord had sent him to say, and also about all the miraculous signs he had commanded him to perform. Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites, and Aaron told them everything the Lord had said to Moses. He also performed the signs before the people, and they believed. And when they heard that the Lord was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.

Exodus 4:27-31

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

How do you respond when you realize that the Lord has cared for you in the midst of difficult times?

In our scripture today, we see the only appropriate way to respond as we study the actions of the elders of Israel from the closing verses of Exodus, chapter 4. Look again at those words here:

The Lord said to Aaron, "Go into the desert to meet Moses."

So he met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him.

Then Moses told Aaron everything the Lord had sent him to say, and also about all the miraculous signs he had commanded him to perform. Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites, and Aaron told them everything the Lord had said to Moses. He also performed the signs before the people, and they believed. And when they heard that the Lord was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped. Vv.27-31

In today’s passage, we are picking up where we left off in yesterday’s message as Moses narrowly escaped death at the hands of an angry God after he had failed to circumcise his son which was a disobedient violation of the covenant God made with Abraham years earlier. You’ll remember that it was only the quick action of Moses’ Midianite wife, Zipporah, that saved him as she quickly circumcised their son with a flint knife.

And so Moses, now safe from God’s judgment, departs the lodging place and goes to Egypt where he meets up with Aaron “in the desert”, an encounter initiated by the Lord. The scriptures tell us that the brotherly reunion happened “at the mountain of God".

Now, in the previous chapter of Exodus, you’ll remember where Moses had received his calling at the burning bush and we read where this was near Horeb which was called “the mountain of God” (Exodus 3:1). And so, Moses meets with Aaron in that same location.

After they greet with a kiss, Moses then shares with Aaron everything that the Lord had told him, including "all the miraculous signs he had commanded him to perform", some of which would involve the special "staff of God" that Moses had in his possession. You’ll remember that the first task was to go to the elders of the Israelites and the two brothers do this, just as God commanded.

So how did the elders respond to Moses and Aaron?

Well, God had already foretold this when he gave Moses his marching orders, saying:

“Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’”

“The elders of Israel will listen to you. Exodus 3:16-18

With this, there’s little to no suspense as Moses and Aaron spoke to the elders, sharing with them "everything the Lord had said”. Moses also "performed the signs” God had prescribed and when he did, we read where the elders “believed”, knowing that God was indeed in the midst of the plan being presented. And after hearing more about how the Lord “was concerned about them” after seeing “their misery", the scriptures tell us that the elders “bowed down and worshiped". They rejoiced and were glad in knowing their God cared for them enough that He wanted to deliver them from their hardship.

Friends, we need to grasp that the God who cared for the Israelites in the midst of their difficult life circumstances is the same God who sees and is concerned for us today. In this, He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Ultimately, our Lord wants the best for us and that’s reason to rejoice, no matter what we’re going through.  

When the Israelite elders heard of God’s compassion and willingness to deliver them, they bowed down and worshiped Him in praise. It was the only appropriate response toward their Lord.

As Christians today, God has delivered us from the bondage and penalty of sin through His Son Jesus, and He did it out of love. Because of Jesus, all who believe in Him won’t perish in Hell but rather gain the eternal life of Heaven (John 3:16).

So how will we respond to this ultimate good news?

My prayer is that we’ll model the reaction of the Israelite elders in our text for today, bowing down before our Lord with a holy attitude of unending worship, praise, and gratitude. For brothers and sisters, this is our only appropriate response to our God after He has given us His goodness, grace, and mercy along with the salvation gained through His Son.

As the Apostle Paul proclaims in his second letter to the Corinthian church:

Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! 2 Corinthians 9:15

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

EXPEDIENT ATONEMENT

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Then Moses went back to Jethro, his father-in-law, and said to him, "Let me go back to my own people in Egypt to see if any of them are still alive."

Jethro said, "Go, and I wish you well."

Now the Lord had said to Moses in Midian, "Go back to Egypt, for all the men who wanted to kill you are dead."

So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey and started back to Egypt. And he took the staff of God in his hand.

The Lord said to Moses, "When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.” Then say to Pharaoh, “This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son, and I told you, ‘Let my son go, so he may worship me. But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.'"

At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses and was about to kill him. But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses' feet with it. "Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me," she said.

So the Lord let him alone.

Exodus 4:18-26

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As we see in Exodus, chapter 4, God sends Moses back to Egypt to act as His spokesperson, first to the elders and people of Israel and then to Egypt’s supreme leader, Pharaoh.

In today’s passage, we find Moses going to his Midianite father-in-law, Jethro, and asking permission to “go back to my own people in Egypt to see if any of them are still alive", a request that Jethro approves. Further, we read where the Lord had assured Moses that "all the men who wanted to kill Him” were now, a message assuring him that he and his family would be relatively safe once arriving in Egypt.

And so Moses begins the journey back “with his wife and sons on a donkey” and the "staff of God in his hand." Once in Egypt, he was to carry out the following instructions given to him by God:

"When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.” Then say to Pharaoh, “This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son, and I told you, ‘Let my son go, so he may worship me. But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.'"

Essentially, God would use Moses to communicate what lied ahead for Pharaoh and the Egyptians but of interest, God doesn’t mention one important thing that was to impact Moses’ immediate future. Through His words, we see where God is forecasting the future to Moses. But there is one thing the God fails to mention and as we see, it involved Moses’ immediate future.

At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses and was about to kill him. But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses' feet with it. "Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me," she said.

So the Lord let him alone.

The scriptures tell us that when the traveling party stopped “at a lodging place on the way”, the Lord “met Moses” and was “about to kill him”.

Huh?

Why in the world would God send Moses on a specific mission in Egypt only to take his life before he even got there?

I mean, in one moment, He’s talking about all the important things that He wants Moses to do in the future but then He completely reverses field and wishes to remove Moses from His plan altogether.

What could have possibly made God to be so angry that He wanted Moses dead?

Well, the answer comes in the matter of disobedience.

You see, Moses had failed to follow one very important Hebrew religious custom, one instituted by God. For when his son was born, he failed to circumcise him.

Go back to the seventeenth chapter of Genesis and you will see where circumcision was out in place by God to be a sign of His covenant with the Israelite people and in verse 13 of this chapter, we read this:

"Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant."

Obviously, Moses’ son was too young to carry out his own circumcision. That responsibility was on his father and so this is why we find God’s wrath falling upon Moses.

So what happened that saved Moses’ life?

As we see in the scriptures, it involved some quick action by his wife, Zipporah, the Midianite daughter of Jethro.

For we read where she "took a flint knife, cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses' feet with it, saying, "Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me." And through this act, the Lord left Moses alone. His life had been spared.

Within our scripture passage and its associated message, we find some critical takeaways to apply to our own lives:

First, we are to be obedient in carrying out God’s commands.

Moses knew the Hebrew culture and customs and yet he decided to not adhere to them, possibly because he was in the midst of the Midianite culture that didn’t practice circumcision.

Nonetheless, God expected him to stay true to the covenant He had established with Abraham and when Moses failed to keep it, he ended up in poor favor with God.

This leads to the second takeaway: God hates disobedience.

God didn’t just want to punish Moses; He wanted him dead. In this, we’re reminded that our Lord isn’t just a God of love and mercy but also a God of judgment and that judgment might include the death sentence if He so chooses.

So if we are openly sinning in disobedience against God’s word and will, we had better wake up, repent, and do whatever we need to do to abandon wickedness and exchange it for righteousness.

And this leads to our final life application point:

Expedient atonement can save you.

I think I can say with full confidence that without Zipporah’s actions, God would have indeed killed Moses and someone else would have been selected to lead Israel out of Egypt. As it turned out, her quick and decisive circumcising of their son appeased God and saved her husband.

Friends, like Moses, we too live in a world that has a completely different set of principles and customs than what God expects from those who place their belief and faith in Him. And just as Moses was adversely influenced by living amid the Midianites, so too can we be negatively impacted when we live by way of the world and its standards, standards that are centered on self and fulfilling one’s desires.

Through our Lord, Christians are called to a higher set of values, values established by God, the Maker and Master of all living things, and then lived out perfectly by Jesus, His Son. Believers are accountable to live as Christ lived and that means being fully obedient to everything he commands, commands that aren’t optional.

So if you’re living in violation of God’s Word, will, and way today, I implore you to turn away from your sin immediately and seek the expedient atonement that happened between God and Moses in our message today. Just as quickly as we get in trouble with God, we can gain His forgiveness and grace through confession and repentance.

If you’ve gone down the wrong path, reverse course this moment and don’t delay in getting right with God. Your very immediate and eternal future could be at stake.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

TRUST THE LORD

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Moses answered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, 'The Lord did not appear to you'?"

Then the Lord said to him, "What is that in your hand?"

"A staff," he replied.

The Lord said, "Throw it on the ground."

Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the Lord said to him, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail."

So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand.

"This," said the Lord, "is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you."

Then the Lord said, "Put your hand inside your cloak."

So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was leprous, like snow.

"Now put it back into your cloak," he said.

So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh.

Then the Lord said, "If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first miraculous sign, they may believe the second. But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground."

Moses said to the Lord, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue."

The Lord said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."

But Moses said, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it."

Then the Lord's anger burned against Moses and he said, "What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you. You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. But take this staff in your hand so you can perform miraculous signs with it."

Exodus 4:1-17

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Excuses, excuses, excuses.

This would perfectly sum up the conversation we find between God and Moses in our passage today, taken from the first seventeen verses of Exodus, chapter 4. Look again at those verses here:

Moses answered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, 'The Lord did not appear to you'?"

Then the Lord said to him, "What is that in your hand?"

"A staff," he replied.

The Lord said, "Throw it on the ground."

Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the Lord said to him, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail."

So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand.

"This," said the Lord, "is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you."

Then the Lord said, "Put your hand inside your cloak."

So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was leprous, like snow.

"Now put it back into your cloak," he said.

So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh.

Then the Lord said, "If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first miraculous sign, they may believe the second. But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground."

Moses said to the Lord, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue."

The Lord said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."

But Moses said, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it."

Then the Lord's anger burned against Moses and he said, "What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you. You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. But take this staff in your hand so you can perform miraculous signs with it."

Here, we find Moses revealing an internal problem, a problem that is not uncommon in believers and non-believers alike.

What was the problem?

Put simply, Moses didn't trust that God could truly do what He said He could do and what makes this completely unbelievable is that Moses had already witnessed a bush that was burning and yet unconsumed, an obvious sign of God's miraculous power, a power that clearly displayed that He would make the unconventional conventional and the impossible possible.

Further, Moses had heard God speaking to him directly from the burning bush, providing assurance that He would be with him as he returned to Egypt in order to carry out the plan he was given.

Yet, despite all this, we read Moses saying this to God:

"What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, 'The Lord did not appear to you?’"

Now go back to when God initially tasked Moses in chapter 3. There you will find Him saying this:

“The elders of Israel will listen to you.” v.18

God had told Moses that the elders were going to listen to him and yet, we find Moses fearing they wouldn’t believe him. So either God was lying or Moses wasn’t trusting, and since God is perfectly true in every way, then we know who is at fault here. And yet, we find God being patient with him. In fact, He doubles down on showing His wonder working power to try and instill confidence and faith in Moses that he could indeed do what he was being called to do because His God was with him every step of the way.  

First, he tells Moses to throw down his staff and when he does, the scriptures tell us that it turns it into a snake before reverting back to a staff after Moses grabbed the snake by its tail.

Then, God tells Moses to stick his hand into his cloak and then withdraw it. When he does, Moses finds his hand afflicted with leprosy which miraculously disappears when he sticks his hand back into his cloak and removes it.

Two miracles, back to back, that could only be done by a power beyond that of any person, the power of God Himself.

Now, these two incredible personal experiences by Moses should have been enough for him to surrender any doubt within, subscribing himself to God’s service but we find the Lord providing yet a third example of His astounding power for Moses to tap into if need be. This involved drawing “some water from the Nile” and pouring “it on the dry ground” for when he would do this, God promised Moses that the water would “become blood on the ground."

After all this, surely Moses would surrender any disbelief, right?

Not exactly. For as we see, Moses still hasn’t used up all of his excuses as he still tried to wiggle out of doing what God was ordering him to do. We read him saying this:

"O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue."

Again, we shouldn’t lose sight of how patient the Lord is with Moses, and we need to remember this as He is dealing with us as well when we have a litany of excuses for not fulfilling His plans for us. In response to Moses’ latest excuse, we find Him saying this:

"Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."

In other words, God is telling Moses that He was the One who created every man and woman in all creation. It was He who crafted every part of the body to carry out its special functions and therefore He was the One who organized and ordained them to work in harmony in order to carry out His will and way.

And so when God asks Moses, "Who gave man his mouth?", He's talking to us as well. We need to understand that saying the right things, the things that honor our Lord, will only happen when we seek Him first so to get the words to speak through the mouth He gave us. When it comes to our Christian walk, we need to seek the path He wants us to walk using the feet that He placed under us. And in regard to carrying out His purposes, we only need to place our full trust in Him to do whatever he wants to do in and through us, believing that all He does in partnership with us will work out to His glory.

That’s all we need to do and yet, we, like Moses, still fail badly in carrying this out as we allow our fears to override our faith.

We're afraid to speak about the Lord to others because we're afraid that we might be rejected or ridiculed or persecuted. And so we remain silent, even though the Lord wants us to speak out.

We are too often afraid to go where the Lord wants us to go because the way ahead might feel uncertain with potential dangers. And so like our reluctance to speak, we allow our anxiety and fear to get the best of us and end up standing still when the Lord wants for us to go and do what He demands.

And I am sure that we, like Moses, can test the limits of God’s patience to the point where He becomes angry over our stubborn resistance and refusal to let go of our excuses and place our total confidence in Him.

Well, indeed the Lord gets frustrated and mad at Moses, finally telling him that He would speak through his brother Aaron as well as him, adding that anything that Aaron said would still be received as if it came from Moses himself.

In other words, God is making it clear that His will is going to get done, no matter who speaks the words that He provides. With this, we had better understand that if we stubbornly refuse to allow the Lord to use us to accomplish His will, then He will just find someone else to use instead. The bottom line is that His will is going to be accomplished one way or another.

Now, I don't know about you but I don't want to let the Lord down, the same Lord who has given us everything to include the guarantee of eternal life through His Son, a guarantee we gain simply by believing in Jesus as Savior. As we consider His calling for our lives, we need to ponder this:

If God has given us His all, shouldn’t we be willing to give Him our all in return?

It’s a convicting question, for sure, but one we all need to be challenged with as believers.

My prayer is that we’re fully grasping what the Lord is saying to us today through His Word. For the message here us that we need to trust Him, not just with some of ourselves but with all our heart and soul and mind, understanding that He will never lead us anywhere to do anything without being right there alongside us.

Friends, as we have clearly seen through these past three messages.

We’re not alone.

God has a plan.

Let’s believe these things in trust and surrender ourselves to Him and His purposes.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.