Posts that mention Moses, the man of God

Walk in His Ways

You shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess. Deuteronomy 5:33

Imagine you were invited to a banquet.
The address, though unfamiliar, was plainly printed on the invitation.
Even so, how do you know where to go?

GPS.
A map.
Follow the signs.
Ask for directions.
Wander around and hope for the best.

But what if the host accompanies you?
What if the host tells you the best route,
Cautions you against the hazards and pitfalls,
And even brings snacks to make the trip effortless?

Wouldn’t that be a better way to go?

Israel had been given much better than just a banquet.
God gave them the Promised Land.
He accompanied them.
Told them all about the dangers as He protected them.
He fed them.

Yet, so often they chose to trust each other for directions.
“Make us a calf.”
“We should have stayed in Egypt.”
“Korah is just as good a leader as Moses.”
“We can’t take the land away from the giants.”

Walk in His ways. Stay on His path. Follow His directions.

There Is No Other

By Paula

Therefore know this day, and consider it in your heart, that the LORD Himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. Deuteronomy 4:39

Moses reminds Israel of what God has done for them.

His choice. His deliverance. His provision. His protection.
His revelation of Himself. His presence with them.

And it is in light of all that, we are also called to know and consider.

There is no other God.

So think about this for a moment for yourself. In your own life.
Has God has chosen you?
Has He delivered you?
Has He provided for you?
Has He revealed Himself to you?
Has He been present with you?

The answers:
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes and yes.

Recognize. Acknowledge. Know – Intellectually. Experientially.

Take to heart. Consider – Emotionally. Intuitively.

When you do that earnestly, what’s the conclusion?
There is only one.
There is no other God.

The Promise of a Prophet

By Paula

“The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear.” Deuteronomy 18:15

God will raise up a Prophet. Those words come in the middle of Deuteronomy as Moses recounts the exodus to a new generation of Israel poised to enter the Promised Land. Throughout the account and through the rest of the Old Testament, over and over we see the exodus as proof of God’s power and prerogative. He keeps the promises He makes and nothing will prevent those things from coming to pass.

Including this promise about a Prophet.

A few verses later, God says, “I will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him.” Deuteronomy 18:18-19.

Those words sound a lot like “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 3:18

The Prophet God promised in Moses’s day came on a Christmas morning years and years later.

We are entering a season of good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. Perhaps as we interact with people, we can follow Moses’s example. Think about the promises has God kept in your life. Maybe you’ll find yourself in a conversation something like this…

When Jesus was born, that fulfilled a promise God made hundreds of years before. But God has also been faithful in keeping promises in my life. (Here’s where you mention them.) The most important promise is the one that if I trusted Jesus’s payment for the things I’ve done wrong, I can live forever in heaven with Him.

Share those good tidings! I’ll be praying for opportunities and open doors for you.

Next week we’ll see how the angels did it. Read all of the Christmas Wonder series.

Hebron: A Promise Kept

By Paula

long shot of mount hebron today with post title

And Joshua blessed him, and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as an inheritance. Joshua 14:13

When Israel reached the border of Canaan, Moses sent twelve men in to survey the land in preparation for taking it. Caleb was one of those men. In spite of the failure of Israel there at Kadesh-Barnea, God promised Caleb that the land he surveyed would be given to him as his inheritance. In Joshua 14, after the conquest of the land, Caleb came to Joshua to claim that inheritance, including Mount Hebron. There is a city called Hebron as well. The mountain is more of a ridge or group of hills than a distinct peak. The city sits a little over 3000 above sea level.

So what happened at Hebron?

A promise realized – Forty-five years after God declared Hebron would be his, Caleb saw that fulfilled. Forty-five years. It’s tempting to shake our heads and wonder what good the promise is if you have to wait so long to see it kept. But it is a reminder that God is working an eternal plan, not a temporal one. The here and now is not nearly as important as the there and then. God, however, is as faithful to a forty-year promise as He is an eternal one.

A commitment affirmed – Hebron is evidence of Caleb’s whole-hearted commitment to follow God. It was a commitment that did not waver even when he and Joshua were the only two people in the entire nation who believed God would give Israel the land. Even when the nation demanded his death by stoning for the mere suggestion. Our commitment wavers in the face of far, far less opposition.

A reward received – In Joshua 14:9, Caleb reminds Joshua, So Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land where your foot has trodden shall be your inheritance and your children’s forever, because you have wholly followed the LORD my God.’ This was a restatement of God’s own declaration in Numbers 14:24. We don’t serve God for what we get out of it. That was Satan’s premise in his attacks on Job. However, it is undeniable that God takes note and rewards faithful obedience to Him. He rewards us with the intangible wonder of knowing Him more intimately, with the riches of His grace. At times, He rewards with the more tangible as a testimony to His goodness.

A new challenge undertaken – Caleb had no illusions about Hebron. He knew the Anakim, the giants, were there. He knew the cities were strong and fortified. But he also knew that God had kept him alive and strong, and if God continued to be with him, he would drive the Anakim out. Sometimes God responds to faithfulness, not with a promise of leisure, but the next –greater– task. May we meet them like Caleb, assured that the God who brought us to it, will bring us through it.

Read all the Mountains series

Sinai: Where God Came Down

By Paula

For they had departed from Rephidim, had come to the Wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness. So Israel camped there before the mountain. Exodus 19:2

Jebel Musa, the mount of Moses, rises 7,500 feet above the wilderness of the Sinai peninsula and is believed to be the mountain where Moses met God. A good case can also be made for Ras es-Safsafeh a 6,540-foot peak just to the north of Jebel Musa. It features a wide plain where the Israelites could have made camp.

Sinai is the most famous mountain in Scripture. Even the non-church crowd knows the story of Moses getting the Ten Commandments on the mountain. But with the high drama of the giving of the Law with the thunder and lightning that accompanied God’s appearance, and the fact that the account is spread over several chapters, it is easy to miss all that happened at Sinai.

So what happened at Sinai?

It was a place of commitment. The Red Sea had been parted. The Egyptians destroyed. At Sinai God makes an amazing offer. “If you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people.” (Exodus 19:5.) God had demonstrated His power on Israel’s behalf through plagues, deliverance, and miracles. He affirms His covenant and His choice of Israel and asks for their commitment.
Then all the people answered together and said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do.” (Exodus 19:8) God has demonstrated His power on our behalf through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. How’s our commitment to Him?

It was a place of consecration. Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes.” (Exodus 19:10) Consecrate means set apart for God’s use. Why is laundry part of that? It looked forward to putting on the righteousness of Christ.

It was a place of meeting. For on the third day the LORD will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. (Exodus 19:11) Think of it. God Himself came down to the mountain in the sight of all the people. Through Christ, we have that kind of access available to us.

Chapters 20-23 recount the laws and regulations God gave the nation. This is where it’s easy to drop the narrative thread.

It was a place of promise. Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. (Exodus 23:20) God sends His personal representative (perhaps Christ Himself) to ensure that Israel comes into the Land God prepared and promised them. We have the Holy Spirit as the guarantee that God will keep the promises He made us.

It was a place of worship. Now He said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar. (Exodus 24:1) This is an incredible invitation. Even though it says “afar” God invites the priests and the representatives of the people to come as close as they could humanly approach. We are a kingdom of priests and the people of God. The invitation still stands and through Christ, we are privileged to draw near.

It was a place of fellowship. So they saw God, and they ate and drank. (Exodus 24:11b) A banquet in the presence of God. A wondrous as that is… we will enjoy a banquet of our own one day.

Israel spent almost a year at Sinai. We would do well to spend some time in a place of consecration, meeting, promise, worship, and fellowship. Maybe starting today.

Next up: Hebron

Read all of the Mountains series

When God Told Moses ‘No’

By Paula

But the LORD was angry with me on your account, and would not listen to me. So the LORD said to me: ‘Enough of that! Speak no more to Me of this matter. Deuteronomy 3:26

No one likes to be told “no,” whether it’s asking for time off, looking for volunteers, or seeing if there’s one last piece of cake left. It is even more significant, sometimes even faith-shattering, when we hear “no” from God. Somewhere along the line, we’ve grabbed on to an idea that because God loves us, He’s supposed to answer us with a ‘yes.’ The reality is God often says ‘no,’ and we can learn a lot about ourselves and our relationship with God in those times.

In Numbers 20, Moses is instructed to take up his rod and then speak to the rock there and God would provide water for the nation of Israel. Instead, Moses hit the rock … twice. In verse 12, God decrees that neither Moses nor Aaron would enter the Promised Land with the nation. Now that’s a rich account in itself, but let’s jump ahead to Deuteronomy 3.

Then I pleaded with the LORD at that time, saying … I pray, let me cross over and see the good land beyond the Jordan, those pleasant mountains, and Lebanon.’ But the LORD was angry with me on your account, and would not listen to me. So the LORD said to me: ‘Enough of that! Speak no more to Me of this matter.’ Deuteronomy 3:23-26

Moses earnestly, sincerely asked God to reconsider, to allow him to lead Israel into Canaan. And God said no. No, and don’t bring it up again. A cursory reading might give the impression that God is needlessly harsh and intractable. However, if we consider the exchange more carefully we find out God reveals quite a bit about Himself and His dealings with His people.

God’s holiness cannot disregard defamation. At Meribah, (besides the Christ-typology in the water from the rock) Moses communicated to Israel through his own short-tempered frustration was that God was put out with meeting the needs of His people, that He was weary of hearing their requests, that it was a hassle to fulfill the very things He had promised. God cannot simply let such distortion and disrespect slide. He didn’t then with Moses and He won’t now with us.

Intimacy with God doesn’t bring privilege. Moses enjoyed an amazingly intimate relationship with God, a fact Yahweh acknowledged in Numbers 12. “I speak with him face to face, Even plainly, and not in dark sayings; And he sees the form of the LORD. “ Numbers 12:8. I admit, reading the exchange in Deuteronomy, my reaction is, “But God, it’s MOSES… and it’s the PROMISED LAND…” But the standards God holds us to apply equally to all of us. Those who cultivate a close relationship with the Almighty are not afforded Teacher’s Pet status. We are all equally bound to obedience. Even Moses.

Grace doesn’t grant presumption. God is gracious beyond measure and understanding. However, His grace is dispensed in line with His will and His purposes and always reflects His character and His holiness. Because God is gracious and has demonstrated the grace to us doesn’t give us place to presume on that grace. The idea that we can do what we want – even if that is giving in to frustration like Moses – and then God will forgive us later because He’s gracious is contrary to the declaration that He is Lord. He is in no way obligated to show grace or to forgive. Grace, by definition, is a gift, an undeserved one. That’s what makes it amazing.

Another result of this ‘no’ was the increased humility and transparency it brought out in Moses. Since the exchange with God was private, Moses could have kept it quiet. Israel would have never known. However, in the book of Deuteronomy, he very candidly reveals what God said, and he doesn’t hide his grief and disappointment. Moses was a great leader, though, and he understood that leading Israel out of Egypt was not just a matter of geography or socioeconomics. It was a process of replacing false notions about God with revealed truth, even if the revelation came from hard circumstances.

Moses wasn’t the only one who heard God say, ‘No.’ Over the next few weeks, we’ll look at a few of them, beginning with David next week.

Consider a time when God told you ‘no.’ What was your reaction? What did you learn from the experience?