February 11, 2019
ROCK OF AGES God agreed to show Moses His glory, but had to hide him in the cleft of a rock so he wouldn’t die. Whenever I read this passage, I always find myself singing, “Rock of Ages, cleft for me. Let me hide myself in Thee.” Whatever Moses saw, it must have been amazing
February 4, 2019
THE WORD THAT SATISFIES THE TEN WORDS Did you know that God actually spoke the Ten Commandments aloud from Mount Sinai for all the Israelites to hear? Before God wrote the Decalogue down onto stone tablets, He actually spoke them aloud from Mount Sinai for all the Israelites to hear. A literal translation of the
February 2, 2019
THIS ROCK AND FOUNTAIN POINT TO CHRIST The people of Israel complained of thirst, threatening to stone Moses for leading them into the desert. Moses brought their complaint to the Lord and the Lord answered. God told Moses to take his rod and some of the elders with him as witnesses, and to strike the
January 31, 2019
JESUS, OUR PASSOVER LAMB Among the many instructions God gave Moses concerning the Passover Lamb was that it must be a male without blemish and that they were not to “break one of its bones” in sacrificing it. God was preparing the Israelites not only for their deliverance from slavery in Egypt, but ultimately for
January 30, 2019
THE LORD IS GOD Egypt worshiped a multitude of false gods. They had a god for everything. For instance, “Hapi” was their god of the Nile, yet the Lord turned it into blood. “Hekket” was their goddess of fertility and had the face of a frog. Yet it was the Lord who sent a plague
January 28, 2019
THE MOSES’ RETIREMENT PLAN The life of Moses can be divided into three 40-year phases. The first 40 years of his life, he lived as a prince of Egypt, the second, as a shepherd in Midian, and the third, as the deliverer of Israel. It took 80 years for God to get Moses prepared to
January 27, 2019
WHAT’S IN YOUR HAND? When Moses made excuses about his inability to answer God’s call to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, God asked, “What’s in your hand?” Moses replied dismissively, “A rod” (A shepherd’s staff). It was not a sword to fight with, nor a priceless object to barter, but a piece of well-worn
January 25, 2019
INFANTICIDE AND FEAR OF GOD Pharaoh was worried about the growing Hebrew population in Egypt, so he ordered the midwives to kill all the newborn boys at birth. But his decree had little effect because the midwives feared God more than they feared the king. In the midst of this terrible time of government ordered
February 11, 2018
MOSES THE INTERCESSOR
When the people sinned with the golden calf, God threatened to destroy them and start over with Moses. But Moses interceded, not according to the people’s worthiness, but according to God’s covenant and God’s reputation. Moses remained and interceded even though God had asked him to “leave him alone” to let His anger blaze against the people. Moses took God’s instruction to leave as an invitation to stay and intercede. Like Abraham who interceded for Sodom, Moses interceded for the Israelites and God relented.
February 6, 2018
The Lord commanded that three annual festivals be celebrated in His honor. These festivals were:
1) The Feast of Passover
2) The Feast of Pentecost
3) The Feast of Tabernacles
The Lord may have had other reasons for commanding these festivals, but several reasons seem apparent:
1) To perpetuate remembrance of what God had done.
2) To keep them faithful to the Lord
3) To put seasons of rest and celebration in the annual calendar
4) To offer instruction, as the appropriate Scripture was read at each festival.
5) To renew their corporate identity as they came from all over Israel to the Temple to celebrate together.
6) To pass on the spiritual legacy of God’s people to the next generation.