Podcast appearances and mentions of moses why

Caleb Von Deylen, Seminarian was preacher for this service. Numbers 21:4-9: Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.” So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord that He take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

Order of Service: - Psalm 16: Center of My Life: O Lord, you are... / O Lord, you are... Keep me safe, O God, I take refuge in you. I say to the Lord, "You are my God. My happiness lies in you alone." / O Lord, you are... I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel, who even at night directs my heart. I keep the Lord ever in my sight; since he is at my right hand I shall stand firm. / O Lord, you are... And so my heart rejoices, my soul is glad; even in safety shall my body rest. For you will not leave my soul among the dead, nor let your beloved know decay. / O Lord, you are... You will show me the path of life, the fullness of joy in your presence, at your right-hand happiness forever./ O Lord... - Numbers 21:4-9: Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.” So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord that He take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived. - Devotion - Prayer - Hymn 341 - Awake, My Heart, With Gladness: vv. 1, 4, 6, 8 - Blessing - Postlude Service Participants: Caleb Von Deylen, Seminarian (Preacher), Cyril Palm (Singer), Rev. Prof. Dennis Marzolf (Pianist)

Caleb Von Deylen, Seminarian was preacher for this service. Numbers 21:4-9: Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.” So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord that He take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

Order of Service: - Psalm 16: Center of My Life: O Lord, you are... / O Lord, you are... Keep me safe, O God, I take refuge in you. I say to the Lord, "You are my God. My happiness lies in you alone." / O Lord, you are... I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel, who even at night directs my heart. I keep the Lord ever in my sight; since he is at my right hand I shall stand firm. / O Lord, you are... And so my heart rejoices, my soul is glad; even in safety shall my body rest. For you will not leave my soul among the dead, nor let your beloved know decay. / O Lord, you are... You will show me the path of life, the fullness of joy in your presence, at your right-hand happiness forever./ O Lord... - Numbers 21:4-9: Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.” So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord that He take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived. - Devotion - Prayer - Hymn 341 - Awake, My Heart, With Gladness: vv. 1, 4, 6, 8 - Blessing - Postlude Service Participants: Caleb Von Deylen, Seminarian (Preacher), Cyril Palm (Singer), Rev. Prof. Dennis Marzolf (Pianist)

Order of Service: - Psalm 16: Center of My Life: O Lord, you are... / O Lord, you are... Keep me safe, O God, I take refuge in you. I say to the Lord, "You are my God. My happiness lies in you alone." / O Lord, you are... I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel, who even at night directs my heart. I keep the Lord ever in my sight; since he is at my right hand I shall stand firm. / O Lord, you are... And so my heart rejoices, my soul is glad; even in safety shall my body rest. For you will not leave my soul among the dead, nor let your beloved know decay. / O Lord, you are... You will show me the path of life, the fullness of joy in your presence, at your right-hand happiness forever./ O Lord... - Numbers 21:4-9: Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.” So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord that He take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived. - Devotion - Prayer - Hymn 341 - Awake, My Heart, With Gladness: vv. 1, 4, 6, 8 - Blessing - Postlude Service Participants: Caleb Von Deylen, Seminarian (Preacher), Cyril Palm (Singer), Rev. Prof. Dennis Marzolf (Pianist)

John 3:14-21 | Confirmation Sunday   It's not just about believing God is who God says God is. It's about believing and trusting and having confidence that God can do what God says God can do.    Movie Quote Trivia. If you don't know this about me, I'm a big movie fan. For some reason, I can remember movie lines better than a lot of other things. Often, I can remember movie lines after seeing a movie once better than I can remember what my wife just said to me ten times this morning. (Something about the trash.)    But I love movies, I love movie quotes. I love good lines. And growing up, my family loved to play movie quote trivia. And all that is, is simply, in the middle of a conversation, you could be doing anything, and something makes you think of a quote from a movie, and you just call out: Movie Quote Trivia! And then follow with the movie quote, seeing who might name the movie it comes from first. That's it. It's not much of a game. But for anyone who loves a game, or trivia, or sudden interruptions…it's great.    Let's try it… see if you can get a few.    Movie Quote Trivia: Some people are worth melting for. (Frozen) Movie Quote Trivia: If you build it, he will come. (Field of Dreams) Movie Quote Trivia: To infinity and beyond (Toy Story) Movie Quote Trivia: There's no crying in baseball. (A League Of Their Own). Movie Quote Trivia: Remember who you are. (The Lion King) Movie Quote Trivia: Show me the money (Jerry Maguire) Movie Quote Trivia: When life gets you down, you know what you gotta do? Just keep swimming. (Finding Nemo)   Some of those are pretty easy. Others may be more difficult for you. And I think if the Bible were a movie, John 3:16 would be one of those easy ones, one of those unforgettable lines. Most could get it, right?   AND, if I were to yell… BIBLE QUOTE TRIVIA: “The time is surely coming…when the one who plows shall catch up with the one who reaps and the treader of grapes with the one who sows the seed”...that's harder isn't it? Because not a lot of folks read the book of Amos.   How about, BIBLE QUOTE TRIVIA: “Like a city breached, without walls, is one who lacks self-control.” Maybe a little easier, because it sounds like it would come from PROVERBS.   But if I were to yell out  BIBLE QUOTE TRIVIA: For God so loved the world… I think many of you could name it: John 3:16.   Those words were a part of my growing up. That was probably the first verse I ever memorized (other than John 11:35 - Jesus wept). John 3:16 is the most famous verse of scripture, the most popular, and I'm sure many of you could quote it.    Harder to recall though are the details surrounding that verse. Who Jesus is talking to, and what the subject of the conversation is. And until recently, I had no memory about the snake thing that we just read.  What is that??? What is Jesus talking about there?    A Snake in the Wilderness.  (Well confirmands, I'm glad you asked!)  Jesus is in the middle of one of his more famous back-and-forths, in which he tells the Pharisee Nicodemus that he must be born again, not literally, but reborn by water and the Spirit. His inward, his Spirit has to be transformed. And Jesus reprimands Nicodemus for being a teacher of Israel and not knowing this. And then Jesus makes a weird reference to Moses.   Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him won't perish but will have eternal life.    And to any of us who don't know Moses or the stories from the Torah – the first five books of the OT – this is a bizarre reference. And one that we often don't even remember.    I felt that way a few years ago when I traveled to the country of Jordan, and I visited Mt. Nebo, where Moses is said to have looked out onto the promised land. And in present day, at the lookout point, placed by the historical society, is a huge bronze statue of a snake on a stick. And as I got my picture next to it (because how often do you see that?!), I remember thinking, I do NOT remember this from seminary. (Probably because trying to study and cram the book of Numbers at 11pm at night is not the best way to read that book).   In the book of Numbers, Moses and the people of Israel are wandering on the road, and the people get angry at both God and Moses for continuing to allow them to wander and not enter the promised land.    They yell at God and Moses (I don't know if you've ever yelled at God – don't worry God can take it)...they yell at God and Moses:    Why did you bring us up from Egypt to kill us in the desert, where there is no food or water. All we have is this awful bread to eat.   And all of a sudden, in the midst of their complaining, a bunch of poisonous snakes appear and start biting people. Isn't that a wild way to deal with complaining people? Send a couple of cobras on em? Hide a couple of rattlesnakes in their shoes?    (Makes me think of a little MOVIE QUOTE TRIVIA: “Why'd it have to be snakes?” -Indiana Jones)   So the snakes appear. And the snakes are biting people and people are dying. And so the people come to Moses and say, “Will you ask God to get rid of the snakes. We've sinned. Ask for God to save us?” So he does.    And God tells Moses, “Here's what you're gonna do. Make a poisonous snake and place it on a pole. If someone is bitten, all they have to do is look at the snake on the pole and they will live!” So Moses makes a bronze snake and puts it on a pole. And so when a snake bit somebody, they would look at the snake that Moses raised up on the pole, and they were saved from the snakes' poison.   And the point of that story seems to be that the snake that was raised up was the method by which God chose to save the Israelites in that moment. In other words, in a sort of cooperative moment, God gave them a manner by which to be saved and the people BELIEVED that God could save them in that manner. So when they looked at it, they were saved from the poison.   Back to John.  Now–for years, after their wandering in the desert, and throughout the OT, the Hebrew people asked God for salvation from various things, from sins, from empires, from suffering…    Perhaps you've prayed a prayer asking God to help you or save you from something. I remember in middle and high school I always had a save-me-from-this-test-prayer: “Dear God, if there is a way for the teacher to push this test to another day, that would be great. I really don't want to take a test today.”    Maybe you've prayed a prayer like that. OR Maybe there are other things you've asked God to save you from. Things like pain. Regret. Sadness. Busy work. Sickness. Something scary. Snakes…(Maybe even death).   The people of Israel asked for salvation from a lot of things – from Rome, from corruption, from exile.   And concerning their salvation, in John 3:14, Jesus says that similar to the event of Moses and the bronze snake, where Moses lifted up a snake and the people were saved from painful snake bites when they LOOKED at the statue, Jesus too will be lifted up on a cross as the method of God's saving action for the world, and any who look to him (like the snake on the pole), and any who believe that God can save through that action of sacrifice will be saved.    Except this time, salvation is not from poisonous snake bites or the Roman Empire, it is from ourselves, from our selfishness, from our ability to alienate ourselves from one another, from our sin.   The founder of the Methodist movement (you remember confirmands?) John Wesley referred to sin as a sickness. An illness. And the less we do to acknowledge it, the more it works itself into our system and into our systems. It's not just an individual thing, it's a systemic thing too. And the more it sickens us. The worse we get. Kind of like that poison from the snake in the wilderness. If we do nothing when we are bitten, sooner or later, it isn't going to end well. The same is with sin. If left untreated, we turn into people that God did not intend.    But we also (and Wesley too) believe in an antidote to that toxin, we believe there is a holy medicine to our sickness. And THAT medicine is the one that was raised TO SAVE US. Like the snake on the pole. But better.    And John says, just like the Israelites who believed that they could be saved by simply looking at the statue, we need to believe.    Belief. The Greek for belief is a word that means to have faith in, to trust, to affirm, to have confidence in. And in the most famous verse of Scripture (John 3:16-17), Jesus explains what he means:   For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him (who affirms, trusts, has confidence in him) may not perish but have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him.    I love that verse. I really do. But what does it mean to believe, to trust in, to have confidence in Jesus? Well, according to Jesus, and according to the comparison he is making to the snake pole, part of what it means to believe in Jesus is to trust that God can actually DO God's saving work through Jesus!   Like the snake on the stick, the Israelites believed/trusted God that to look upon the statue was indeed the antidote to the poison that they needed. So it is for us. Jesus is inviting us to believe, to trust, to have confidence that God can actually use the torture, the sacrifice, the criminal's sentence of crucifixion to save humanity.    It's not just about believing God is who God says he is.  It's about trusting that God can do what God says he can do.    But it's also deeper than THAT.   John 3:16 says that the intention of God's cosmic saving act on earth is love. “Go SO LOVED the world. God SO LOVED you. God SO LOVED me. That God raised up Jesus, himself, a manner by which we might be saved from the toxic sin that alienates us from one another and from God. And God invites us to believe, to have confidence in, to trust that God actually LOVES us that much.”    In our ladies Bible study on Wednesday mornings, (a few weeks ago) we were talking about capital punishment and the massive amount of people in prison and incarcerated. And someone in there made the comment about how many people in those situations have never heard someone tell them “I love you,” have never known from the beginning that they are loved.    Jesus invites us to believe that God so loves us. AND Jesus also invites us to trust that God's love is enough to save us…from ourselves, from our sins, from our wandering, even from snakes…   Wesley at Aldersgate. I talked about this a few weeks ago, and I've mentioned this a number of times from up here. (And many of you confirmands heard this story in the fall I think.) John Wesley knew Scripture, he knew how to pray, he knew how to care for the poor and imprisoned. He knew HOW to follow Jesus. He knew the right things to DO.    And then one night, when he was particularly low, he went to a prayer meeting, and something was said there, something happened, and because of it, he felt different. JW would later write that he KNEW (in that moment) that God loved him. Even him. He knew it. He trusted it. He had a new confidence in it. He believed that God SO LOVED him. He believed that God's love was enough to save him. And out of that feeling, he wanted nothing more than to love GOD back. And he responded by letting his actions morph and transform, his inward life had been so affected by this love of God that it HAD to shape his outward life!   In John 3:20-21, Jesus says (MSG), “Everyone who practices evil, addicted to self-denial and illusion, hates the light and won't come near it, [for fear of] painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes the light so the work can be seen for the God-work that it is.” That's just another way of saying what Wesley experienced. Having a confidence in and a trust that God loves you causes you to want to work, to do, to live that love in such a way as to respond to God's love with a simple, “I love you too.”   And ultimately, Paul would tell a church in Colossae, that this is what it means to be “in Christ.” The term Christian rarely appears in the Bible. People are more often referred to as ones who live “in Christ.”  What does that mean?    Eugene Peterson says, “‘In Christ' means that [we] are those who have heard the call of God's love and grace, responded to it, and consequently entered into a union of fellowship with God.” We are no longer spectators. We are players. And “[We] are [now] in the arena of God's working love, redeeming grace, and delivering power. [We] are in Christ.”   And when we are IN CHRIST,  we develop and pursue a trust…   1-that God truly SO LOVES us 2-that God could ACTUALLY used a cross and an empty tomb to save the world   And (3), when we are IN CHRIST, we seek to love God back in the way we live our lives.   Confirmation Introduction. Today, in the life of the church, is Confirmation Sunday. What that means is that for 13 students, they have been working together all year with Paul and others to better understand faith in Jesus and the vows of membership in the United Methodist Church (and these vows are how we love God back).   Confirmation is something that occurs in conjunction with baptism. For some of our students today and for many of us, we were baptized as infants. Other students will be baptized today!   For any who are baptized (whether today or years ago) through the sacrament of baptism we are initiated into the church. We are incorporated into God's mighty acts of salvation and given new birth through water and the Spirit. And this gift comes without price. In baptism, God essentially embraces us, gives us a hug, and says to us, “I SO LOVE you.”   And in confirmation, we renew the covenant declared at our baptism, and we acknowledge what God is doing for us (that God is working in us, sanctifying us, and we affirm our commitment to Christ's holy church (essentially saying, “We're in!”)). And if baptism is God's embrace of us, giving us a hug, telling us “I love you,” Confirmation is my decision to embrace God back, hug God back, to respond to God's “I love you,” with our own, “I love you too.”    This is an embrace, a partnership. God wants us to know that we are SO LOVED…and God desires for us to join in on his work in the world. And if we believe, have faith, set our feet in the direction of God, then our LIVES truly will show the evidence of our heart.    The confirmands will make some promises, parts of a covenant, that don't just focus on our heart, on our belief. They focus on the DOs and DONTs, our actions. They focus on the HOW of loving God back.     QUESTIONS LIKE: Do you repent? Do you accept the freedom God gives you to battle evil and injustice and oppression?   BUT after THOSE questions, THEN comes the confession of Jesus as savior and in our UMC Hymnal, faith/belief is characterized as TRUST in his GRACE.    In the end, what we do is important, but it cannot eclipse who God says that we are. And who does God say that we are? SO LOVED.    And for many, the question soon becomes, “How could I not want to love a God like that? How could I not want to be a partner in that? So that others might know that they too are SO loved.”   John Wesley: “What is salvation? The salvation which is here spoken of is not what is frequently understood by that word, the going to heaven, eternal happiness. …It is not a blessing which lies on the other side of death…it is a present thing…[it] might be extended to the entire work of God, from the first dawning of grace in the soul till it is consummated in glory.” And it all stems from the fact that GOD SO LOVED YOU. AND GOD SO LOVED ME.    How could I not let that LOVE flow from me into the world?   Amen.

Nu 21:5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.” 6 So the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died.Today we will look at attitude towards the Word of God.The full text of this message and supplementary study questions can be found on our website with the remaining parts of this study.

Tuesday, 7 March 2023   Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter. Acts 15:6   In the previous verse, some of the Pharisees rose and stated that it was necessary for the Gentiles to be circumcised and observe the Law of Moses. With this idea put forth, Luke continues with, “Now the apostles and elders.”   The words more correctly read, “Now the apostles and the elders.” They are two distinct categories that are being highlighted which are clearly separate offices at this time. Together, they “came together.”   Rather, the verb is imperfect and in the passive voice, they “were gathered together.” At someone's direction or maybe through prayer and the leading of the Spirit, they were gathered together. And this occurrence was “to consider this matter.”   More literally it says, “to see about this matter.” They were going to look at it, evaluate it, and then decide what should be done. For those, like Paul, who understood the magnitude of the decision, it would shape the entire future of the church and set off the importance of the cross accordingly.   If the challenge by the Pharisees prevailed, the cross would become no more than an added key in the process of opening the door of entry into law observance under Judaism. The shed blood of Jesus Christ would be considered entirely ineffectual for salvation. This is because the Law of Moses had a high priest. It also had sacrifices, including the annual Day of Atonement.   If the Law of Moses had to be kept, it means that these Gentiles would be obligated to observe those sacrificial rites, thus placing the blood of bulls and goats over the blood of Christ. Further, it would thoroughly diminish innumerable passages found in their own Scriptures that pointed to God's saving grace apart from the law.   For example, in Numbers 21, this short passage is seen –   “Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way. 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses: ‘Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.' 6 So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died. 7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, ‘We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord that He take away the serpents from us.' So Moses prayed for the people. 8 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.' 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.” Numbers 21:4-9   This account was partially given to show that faith, apart from the Law of Moses, healed the people. Jesus then spoke of it, equating what occurred to His own work –   “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” John 3:14-17   Though the book of John was not yet written, the account of Jesus' words was certainly known. But even if this were not true, the account stood as a witness of God's acceptance of faith apart from law observance. If the apostles and elders could not see this matter through correctly, the entire point of faith alone in Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sin would be nullified.   Life application: We don't need to read the account any further to know that the right decision will be made concerning the issue at hand. This is because if God is behind the message of Jesus, that message will ultimately prevail. He would not have sent Christ into the world if He knew the offer would not continue to be properly considered.   We might say, “But there are Judaizers all over the world today, standing against the truth of the cross and reinserting the law. See, the message has failed.” This is incorrect. Now, with the completion of Scripture, the truth of God in Christ and the fully effectual work of the cross is recorded there. This council in Jerusalem is a part of that body of literature, and it stands as a witness to what God had determined.   The fault is not in God, nor is it a lack in the word of God. Rather, the fault is in those who ignore, misunderstand, or purposefully twist the word. God has made proper Christian theology and set doctrine fully obtainable. Now, it is up to each person to consider what the Bible says and to follow it, in context, according to how it is presented.   This is our immediate task, our daily task, and our lifelong task. We are to learn this word and then continue to consider it always. Hold fast to the word. It is our personal love letter from the God of the universe to keep us safe and close to Him until the day He brings us to Himself.   Glorious Lord God, how precious is Your word. How sacred are its contents. How immutable are the truths it contains. Help us to cherish Your word because it is what tells us about Your love for us in the giving of Jesus. May our hearts be carefully obedient in applying its precepts to our lives for all our days. Amen.

Números 21: No olvides quien es tu guardador y proveedor.Números 21:1-9: Cuando el rey cananeo de Arad, que habitaba en el Néguev, oyó que Israel iba por el camino de Atarim, combatió contra Israel y tomó cautivos a algunos de ellos. 2 Entonces Israel hizo un voto al SEÑOR diciendo: “Si de veras entregas a este pueblo en mi mano, yo destruiré por completo sus ciudades”.3 El SEÑOR escuchó la voz de Israel y entregó a los cananeos en su mano[a]. Luego Israel los destruyó por completo juntamente con sus ciudades. Por eso fue llamado el nombre de aquel lugar Horma.4 Partieron del monte Hor con dirección al mar Rojo, para rodear la tierra de Edom. Pero el pueblo se impacientó por causa del camino, 5 y habló el pueblo contra Dios y contra Moisés, diciendo: —¿Por qué nos has hecho subir de Egipto para morir en el desierto? Porque no hay pan ni hay agua, y nuestra alma está hastiada de esta comida miserable.6 Entonces el SEÑOR envió entre el pueblo serpientes ardientes, las cuales mordían al pueblo, y murió mucha gente de Israel. 7 Y el pueblo fue a Moisés diciendo: —Hemos pecado al haber hablado contra el SEÑOR y contra ti. Ruega al SEÑOR que quite de nosotros las serpientes.Y Moisés oró por el pueblo. 8 Entonces el SEÑOR dijo a Moisés: —Hazte una serpiente ardiente y ponla sobre un asta. Y sucederá que cualquiera que sea mordido y la mire, vivirá.9 Moisés hizo una serpiente de bronce y la puso sobre un asta. Y sucedía que cuando alguna serpiente mordía a alguno, si este miraba a la serpiente de bronce, vivía.---------------------------------------Este capítulo es muy emocionante porque nos muestra varios eventos magníficos en el desierto. Primero, ellos aprendieron a clamar al Señor; levantaron su rostro al cielo y rogaron al Señor cuando se encontraron rodeados del enemigo. No solamente el Señor los escuchó pero también Dios les dio sus primeros territorios conquistados cuando se vieron emboscados. Dios les demostró que podía librarlos y darles herencia ante un ejército enemigo.Pero, después de esta gran victoria, una vez más perdieron la mirada en Dios. Ellos se sintieron miserables con la vida del desierto y la provisión de Dios. Se sintieron inconformes. Como estaban renegando de los cuidados del Señor, Dios les permitió por unos momentos experimentar la vida en el desierto sin Dios y su protección. Serpientes y escorpiones se movían alrededor de ellos y que nunca lo habían sufrido porque Dios los guardaba. Ahora que vieron manadas de ellas mordiéndolos, enfermándose y otros muriendo por su veneno, clamaron a Dios como lo habían hecho antes cuando se enfrentaron a sus enemigos. Dios, al escuchar su ruego de arrepentimiento, manda a elaborar una serpiente de bronce. Moisés la puso en una especie de madero, como en forma de cruz para poderla levantar y todos en el pueblo pudieran verla, así serían sanos. Como nota curiosa, ese es el símbolo del escudo de la medicina, una serpiente en un asta, inspirado en este evento bíblico.¡De la misma manera, Dios se levantó hace 2000 años, cuando Jesucristo vino al mundo, cuando murió en la cruz, y multitudes lo vieron y fueron salvos de sus pecados! No perdamos la mirada en el Señor, Él es el que nos ayuda a pelear nuestras batallas, nos protege de peligros y nos colma de favores y misericordias. El día que desconocemos quien es el que nos provee, nos protege y nos bendice, ese día veremos la cruda realidad de lo que es vivir sin Dios y sin su Santo Espíritu rodeándonos, cubriéndonos y guardándonos.Después de esto, Dios les siguió librando del mal, de muchos ejércitos enemigos que los atacaron en el desierto, y Dios les siguió concediendo más tierras en medio de los cananeos. No entraron a la tierra prometida pero Dios les estaba dando un propósito en el desierto y era conquistar tierra de herencia para sus hijos que habitarían en esas tierras y que serían parte de Israel. Soy tu amigo y hermano Eduardo Rodríguez. Que el Señor escuche tu oración.

We're so glad you are here! Thanks for Watching our series titled "The Exodus"!-----SERMON NOTESIn this series, we'll unpack the incredible journey from captivity to freedom and promise. “Soon I will die,” Joseph told his brothers, “but God will surely come to help you and lead you out of this land of Egypt. He will bring you back to the land he solemnly promised to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” Genesis 50:24 NLT Eventually, a new king came to power in Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph or what he had done. Exodus 1:8 NLTSo the Egyptians made the Israelites their slaves. They appointed brutal slave drivers over them, hoping to wear them down with crushing labor. They forced them to build the cities of Pithom and Rameses as supply centers for the king. Exodus 1:11 NLTIf you get comfortable with your captivity you'll likely miss the miracle of freedom. “Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.”Never underestimate the lengths to which God will go to deliver you from captivity.Captive No MoreWhen Pharaoh finally let the people go, God did not lead them along the main road that runs through Philistine territory, even though that was the shortest route to the Promised Land. God said, “If the people are faced with a battle, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” So God led them in a roundabout way through the wilderness toward the Red Sea. Exodus 13:17-18 NLTPhase one of deliverance is trusting the direction of the deliverer.The LORD went ahead of them. He guided them during the day with a pillar of cloud, and he provided light at night with a pillar of fire. This allowed them to travel by day or by night. And the LORD did not remove the pillar of cloud or pillar of fire from its place in front of the people. Exodus 13:21-22 NLT Order the Israelites to turn back and camp by Pi-hahiroth between Migdol and the sea. Camp there along the shore, across from Baal-zephon. Exodus 14:1-2 NLT The process of freedom and restoration requires a path picked by God not by you. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV - GOD said to Moses: Why cry out to me? Speak to the Israelites. Order them to get moving. Exodus 14:15 MSGHold your staff high and stretch your hand out over the sea: Split the sea! The Israelites will walk through the sea on dry ground. Meanwhile I'll make sure the Egyptians keep up their stubborn chase. I'll use Pharaoh and his entire army, his chariots and horsemen, to put my Glory on display so that the Egyptians will realize that I am GOD. Exodus 14:16-18 MSGThen the angel of God, who had been leading the people of Israel, moved to the rear of the camp. The pillar of cloud also moved from the front and stood behind them. The cloud settled between the Egyptian and Israelite camps. As darkness fell, the cloud turned to fire, lighting up the night. But the Egyptians and Israelites did not approach each other all night. Exodus 14:19-20 NLTWill you trust God enough to obediently follow Him to freedom and deliverance?

We're so glad you are here! Thanks for Watching our series titled "The Exodus"! ----- SERMON NOTES In this series, we'll unpack the incredible journey from captivity to freedom and promise. “Soon I will die,” Joseph told his brothers, “but God will surely come to help you and lead you out of this land of Egypt. He will bring you back to the land he solemnly promised to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” Genesis 50:24 NLT Eventually, a new king came to power in Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph or what he had done. Exodus 1:8 NLT So the Egyptians made the Israelites their slaves. They appointed brutal slave drivers over them, hoping to wear them down with crushing labor. They forced them to build the cities of Pithom and Rameses as supply centers for the king. Exodus 1:11 NLT If you get comfortable with your captivity you'll likely miss the miracle of freedom. “Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.” Never underestimate the lengths to which God will go to deliver you from captivity. Captive No More When Pharaoh finally let the people go, God did not lead them along the main road that runs through Philistine territory, even though that was the shortest route to the Promised Land. God said, “If the people are faced with a battle, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” So God led them in a roundabout way through the wilderness toward the Red Sea. Exodus 13:17-18 NLT Phase one of deliverance is trusting the direction of the deliverer. The LORD went ahead of them. He guided them during the day with a pillar of cloud, and he provided light at night with a pillar of fire. This allowed them to travel by day or by night. And the LORD did not remove the pillar of cloud or pillar of fire from its place in front of the people. Exodus 13:21-22 NLT Order the Israelites to turn back and camp by Pi-hahiroth between Migdol and the sea. Camp there along the shore, across from Baal-zephon. Exodus 14:1-2 NLT The process of freedom and restoration requires a path picked by God not by you. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV - GOD said to Moses: Why cry out to me? Speak to the Israelites. Order them to get moving. Exodus 14:15 MSG Hold your staff high and stretch your hand out over the sea: Split the sea! The Israelites will walk through the sea on dry ground. Meanwhile I'll make sure the Egyptians keep up their stubborn chase. I'll use Pharaoh and his entire army, his chariots and horsemen, to put my Glory on display so that the Egyptians will realize that I am GOD. Exodus 14:16-18 MSG Then the angel of God, who had been leading the people of Israel, moved to the rear of the camp. The pillar of cloud also moved from the front and stood behind them. The cloud settled between the Egyptian and Israelite camps. As darkness fell, the cloud turned to fire, lighting up the night. But the Egyptians and Israelites did not approach each other all night. Exodus 14:19-20 NLT Will you trust God enough to obediently follow Him to freedom and deliverance?

The people spoke against God and Moses: “Why did you bring us up from Egypt to kill us in the desert, where there is no food or water. And we detest this miserable bread!” --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/disciplingtogether/message

Each weekday we will meditate on a prayer or a reading for the upcoming Sunday as assigned in the ELCA's hymnal.Numbers 21:4-9Then they set out from Mount Hor by way of the Red Sea to bypass the land of Edom, but the people became impatient because of the journey. The people spoke against God and Moses: “Why have you led us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread or water, and we detest this wretched food!” Then the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and they bit them so that many Israelites died.The people then came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Intercede with the Lord so that he will take the snakes away from us.” And Moses interceded for the people.Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake image and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will recover.” So Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole. Whenever someone was bitten, and he looked at the bronze snake, he recovered.

I am in my third year of participating in the Renovare (https://renovare.org/) book club. The first book in this season's set of four is "How to pray" by Pete Greig. Quiet time coaching episodes will focus on his book for the next few weeks. You don't need to read it to benefit from these recordings, but you might like to get hold of a copy for yourself. I have finished the book and can thoroughly recommend it. A full review of the book will come at a later date in "What we are reading". Today we will reflect on the seventh chapter of the book, "Unanswered prayer: How to deal with disappointment". Theme scripture: “‘You will be done.’" (Matthew 6:10 NIV11) Last week we explored intercession - asking our heavenly Father for what other people need. This week we move on to the difficult topic of unanswered prayer. We all have our unanswered prayer list. It's not one we look at very often. We don't get it out to show other people. How do we respond when prayers, sincere prayers, have been faithfully offered? The Bible is way more honest about unanswered prayer than the Church. Greig, Pete. How to Pray: A Simple Guide for Normal People (p. 104). John Murray Press. Kindle Edition. We are in good Biblical company. Indeed, we are in company with Jesus whose prayer for the cup to be taken away was not answered. Most emphatically not answered. It’s an extraordinary thought that Jesus himself sits at the right hand of the Father today, carrying the pain of unanswered prayer. Greig, Pete. How to Pray: A Simple Guide for Normal People (p. 105). John Murray Press. Kindle Edition. Wherever you stand or however you feel about unanswered prayer, bear this in mind – Jesus stands with you. With these thoughts in mind, let's turn to some suggestions from the book to help us process and unanswered prayer. 1. Choose to be vulnerable with your friends He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled … ‘Stay here and keep watch.’ (Mark 14:33–34) Tough times of prayer and tough prayer topics are made more bearable when accompanied by friends. Don't isolate yourself when you're going through difficult times of prayer. If Jesus needed his friends around him, so do you and I. 2. Choose to push into prayer And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly. (Luke 22:44) We certainly need our friends, but we need our heavenly Father even more. Jesus knew he needed God. Thus he went to his knees and prayed with passion. I remember the day I got the phone call to say that one of our members, Colin, had died in a tragic work accident. I was holding the phone but fell to my knees. It was the only appropriate thing to do. 3. 'Abba, Father...' - hold on to God's love Much like a small child, we may not understand what's going on, but we know we can trust a loving parent. It’s important to remember that we are perfectly able to trust that which we cannot understand, ‘“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.’ Greig, Pete. How to Pray: A Simple Guide for Normal People (p. 107). John Murray Press. Kindle Edition. 4. 'Everything is possible for you...' - hold out for God's power Our pain can obscure God's power. Yet, no matter our confusion or disappointment, it makes no difference to the potentiality of the power of God in any particular circumstance. No matter how hard it is to keep trusting when our deepest, most desperate prayers go unanswered, getting rid of God’s love and God’s power doesn’t actually help. In fact, it makes things much worse. Greig, Pete. How to Pray: A Simple Guide for Normal People (p. 108). John Murray Press. Kindle Edition. 5. 'Take this cup from me...' - be honest Have you ever prayed a prayer like this? An honest, naked prayer. No putting on a brave face here. Jesus prays five of the most surprising words in the entire Bible. He asks God for an alternative to the cross. This is Jesus at his most vulnerable, and he appears to be praying ‘unbiblically’. Greig, Pete. How to Pray: A Simple Guide for Normal People (p. 108). John Murray Press. Kindle Edition. 6. 'Yet not what I will, but your will be done' - the prayer of relinquishment We don't always know what God's will is, and he is not about to do what we want just because we ask. THE CREATOR IS NOT A COSMIC SLOT MACHINE, WAITING TO OBLIGE OUR PRAYERS WITH A CAN OF COKE OR PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST Greig, Pete. How to Pray: A Simple Guide for Normal People (p. 111). John Murray Press. Kindle Edition. Jesus arrives at a place of relinquishment towards the end of his prayer in the garden. He may not want God’s will, but he chooses it nonetheless. Greig, Pete. How to Pray: A Simple Guide for Normal People (p. 113). John Murray Press. Kindle Edition. Conclusion Pete ends the book with this wonderful quote from John Newton: Some Christians are called to endure a disproportionate amount of suffering. Such Christians are a spectacle of grace to the church, like flaming bushes unconsumed, and cause us to ask, like Moses: ‘Why is this bush not burned up?’ The strength and stability of these believers can be explained only by the miracle of God’s sustaining grace. The God who sustains Christians in unceasing pain is the same God – with the same grace – who sustains me in my smaller sufferings. We marvel at God’s persevering grace and grow in our confidence in Him as He governs our lives. Greig, Pete. How to Pray: A Simple Guide for Normal People (p. 113). John Murray Press. Kindle Edition. Questions for discussion: What stands out to you about disappointment in prayer? How might your prayer life grow if you could learn how to respond to unanswered prayers with faith? Suggestion: Choose one of the six characteristics of Jesus' approach to prayer and make it a focus for the next seven days. Resources mentioned in the book: PRAYER TOOLS: (1) The Prayer of Relinquishment. (2) How to Lament (prayercourse.org (http://prayercourse.org/) ). FUTHER READING: Luminous Dark (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Luminous-Dark-Leaning-holding-breaking/dp/1910012459/ref=sr_1_1?adgrpid=53633398256&dchild=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA17P9BRB2EiwAMvwNyCrz5dBRSK54pQSEU-ZJnHk5aDRzHlbBLmwhTCwawUoafaE5iruwUBoCV_8QAvD_BwE&hvadid=259197466922&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=1007204&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=b&hvrand=18353852478221572257&hvtargid=kwd-380413832373&hydadcr=11909_1842189&keywords=luminous+dark+alain+emerson&qid=1605199195&sr=8-1&tag=googhydr-21) , by Alain Emmerson; God on Mute (https://www.amazon.co.uk/God-Mute-Pete-Greig/dp/0830780718/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=God+on+Mute%2C+by+Pete+Greig.&qid=1605199224&sr=8-1) , by Pete Greig. Next week we will go on to look at contemplative prayer. Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community. Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: malcolm@malcolmcox.org. If you’d like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://www.malcolmcox.org (http://www.malcolmcox.org/) . Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review. “Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.” (Psalms 100:2 NIV11) God bless, Malcolm PS: You might also be interested in my book: "An elephant's swimming pool" (https://dqzrr9k4bjpzk.cloudfront.net/images/9167082/379662794.jpg) , a devotional look at the Gospel of John mccx, Malcolm Cox, Watford, Croxley Green, teaching, preaching, spiritual disciplines, public speaking, corporate worship, Sunday Sample, Corporate Worship Matters, Tuesday Teaching Tips, Quiet Time Coaching, coaching, coaching near me, coach, online coaching, savior, quiet time, devotion, God, Jesus, Pray, prayer, malcolm’s, cox,

Read more on BishopMike.com September 27, 2020 is Pentecost 17A/Proper 21A/Ordinary 27A  Exodus 17:1-7 – The people quarrel with Moses: Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” Moses strikes the rock for water. OR Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32 – You will no longer say, “The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” Cast away all your transgressions, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Turn, then, and live. Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16 – God divided the sea and let them pass through it, and made the waters stand like a heap. In the daytime he led them with a cloud, and all night long with a fiery light. He split rocks open in the wilderness, and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep. He made streams come out of the rock, and caused waters to flow down like rivers. ORPsalm 25:1-9 – Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness’ sake, O Lord! Philippians 2:1-13 – Paul’s Christ Hymn: Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave. Matthew 21:23-32 – Jesus’ authority questioned and the Parable of the Two Sons (not Prodigal Son, but the one who says he’ll work but doesn’t, and one who says he won’t, but does)

Moses remains on the mountain interceding with the Lord for 40 more days and nights. Jewish exegesis finds three occasions where Moses spends 40 days with God on Sinai, thus it is said that Moses had a total of 120 days with the Lord. And the Lord listens. Why does God listen? Was it the prayers, the obedience, or the mercy of God that causes him to relent from harming Israel? Why did it take so long for the Lord to answer Moses? Why was his intercession not answered swiftly? The text provides no answer but simply allows the reader to ponder and contemplate divine justice and power of prayerful intercession. Led by Aaron Eime. Notes for this study can be found at http://www.christchurchjerusalem.org/sermons/study-last-words-of-moses-deut/ ‎ Blessed by our teachings? Consider saying thank you with a small (or large) donation. www.christchurchjerusalem.org/donate/

Rejoice, everybody! It is Friday, and if you live in sunny central California, you get to enjoy temps in the 70s today with sunshine and no humidity. If you're in the area, come visit us at Valley Baptist Church in Salinas! If you're not, then I am sorry to brag on our weather - your's probably isn't as nice. After 1.5 years as a native Californian, I've learned that the four most California things possible are: #1 Mentioning how great the weather is #2 Eating Avocados #3 Skateboarding #4 Buying bags at the grocery store because I am literally incapable of remembering to get them out of my trunk and bring them into the store. Enough nonsense - Today's Bible passages include Job 21, where we see Job at his best: a man of sorrows that maintains an excellent sense of dark sarcasm in answering his mean friends: Pay close attention to my words; let this be the consolation you offer. 3 Bear with me while I speak; then after I have spoken, you may continue mocking. Job 21:2-3 In Luke 7, we see the remarkable example of the Roman Centurion's faith, and Jesus' compassion and power on full display as He resurrects the only son of the Widow of Nain. 1 Corinthians chapter 8 is focused on eating food sacrificed to idols - not a big deal in much of the West - but also discusses how to NOT be a stumbling block to people when we use our freedom to eat and drink. It also contains this powerful nugget of wisdom, " Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up " (1 Corinthians 8:1) Our focus passage remains in Exodus today, and our Bible question concerns what might be one of the most mysterious (and totally unexplained!) events in all of the Bible. Let's read the whole of Exodus 4, and be on the lookout for the mysterious happening. Notice how there is not pretext or postscript that explains our event in question. Did you catch it?! There, right at the end of Exodus 4, almost IMMEDIATELY after God has called and pushed Moses into leading the Exodus out of Egypt, God goes to Moses to KILL HIM! Yes - I said kill him, because that's exactly what the Bible says! WHAT IN THE WORLD?! Here's the text again, in case you missed it:  On the trip, at an overnight campsite, it happened that the Lord confronted him and intended to put him to death. 25 So Zipporah took a flint, cut off her son’s foreskin, threw it at Moses’s feet, and said, “You are a bridegroom of blood to me!” 26 So he let him alone. At that time she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood,” referring to the circumcision. Exodus 4:24-26 SO MANY QUESTIONS! The foremost question is: WHY does God seek to kill Moses, but there are other questions too: HOW was God going to kill him? WHY did Moses' wife circumcise her son, and throw the tip at the FEET of Moses? WHY did that appease God? And finally, what in the world did she mean by, "surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me?" Let me begin our answers with a strong caution: I think we can offer an extremely plausible explanation for much of what is happening here, and we can offer an explanation that is sound in a biblical sense. However, our explanations will AT BEST be CONJECTURE. (conjecture is an opinion or conclusion that comes from incomplete or missing information.) Biblical conjecture is ok - I think - as long as we say right up front that we are speculating - making educated guesses at best. Putting all of the pieces of the puzzle together, it would appear that God was going to bring the most severe discipline possible to Moses, because Moses was willfully refusing to obey God's commands and have his son circumcised. Let's turn to our French friend John Calvin for a good speculation/conjecture about what is going on here: The expression, “the Lord met him,” is here used in a bad sense, for an adverse meeting, or hostile encounter; as though Moses should say that the hand of the Lord was against him to interrupt his journey. In what form He appeared we don't know, except that the words pretty plainly imply that Moses was assured of His anger, so as to be aware that his death was near... The cause is not [directly] expressed for which he perceived that God was so angry with him; except that we may gather it from what follows. For why should Zipporah have taken a sharp stone or knife and circumcised her son, had she not known that God was offended at his uncircumcision? It is sufficient for us to know that he was terrified by the approach of certain destruction, and that, at the same time, the cause of his affliction was shown to him, so that he hastened to seek for a remedy. It would never have otherwise occurred to himself or his wife to circumcise the child to appease God’s wrath; and it will appear a little further on, that God's anger was satisfied by this offering, since he withdrew his hand, and took away the signs of his wrath. I therefore unhesitatingly conclude, that vengeance was declared against Moses for his negligence, which was connected with still heavier sins; for he had not omitted his son’s circumcision from forgetfulness, or ignorance, or carelessness only, but because he was aware that it was disagreeable either to his wife or to his father-in-law. Therefore, lest his wife should quarrel with him, or his father-in-law trouble him, he preferred to gratify them than to give occasion for divisions, or enmity, or disturbance. In the meantime, however, for the sake of the favor of men, he neglected to obey God. This false dealing was no light offense, since nothing is more intolerable than to defraud God of his due obedience, in order to please men. There was a mixture too of distrust and ingratitude in it; for, if the favor of God had had its proper weight in the eyes of Moses, he would not have been stopped by the fear of man from this holy duty. John Calvin and Charles William Bingham, Commentaries on the Four Last Books of Moses Arranged in the Form of a Harmony, vol. 1 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 105–106. Slightly modernized I agree with John Calvin (my agreement shouldn't carry much weight!) The issue appears to be that Moses, though aware of God's command to circumcise, REFUSED to circumcise his son in order to appease his wife, and possibly his father in law too. This would explain Zipporah's cryptic "bridegroom of blood to me" comment. Very likely, she is expressing distress and possibly even disgust at the necessity of performing such an operation on an infant. For a more complete and deep explanation of the practice of circumcision, please refer back to episode 16 of this podcast, in which we spent a good bit of time exploring the topic, and the fact that New Testament Christians are NOT required to be circumcised. As a reminder - God commanded Abraham to institute circumcision for all males born to his descendants as a way of setting them apart from all of the other peoples of the land. Perhaps the best reasoning for circumcision I've ever heard was quoted in depth on episode 16 of the show, but basically amounts to this: Abraham's son Isaac was born in a miraculous way to a mom and dad who were way beyond the age of childbearing. As such, the entire nation of Israel was the miraculous doing of God - it didn't happen in a natural way, but a supernatural way. Every time a Hebrew male would begin to be intimate with his wife, in order to produce a child, they would both be reminded - by the sign of circumcision - that they were a people uniquely created by God. This miraculous birth also foreshadowed the birth of the soon coming messiah Jesus - born to a virgin to save His people - and the entire world - from their sins. In the Old Covenant, circumcision was SUPREMELY important - as a sign and a reminder of God's goodness. That Moses would compromise on this most important commandment demonstrated that he would compromise on other important commandments too, and I speculate that God could not allow one of His major leaders in all of human history to lead His people into compromise. Thus did God come near to force Moses to repent, or to take His life if He stubbornly maintained his refusal to obey God. We might think this a bit over the top on God's part, but it is worth remembering a dynamic that we learn about in the New Testament: God's leaders and God's teachers WILL BE JUDGED MORE SEVERELY. Why? Because when they compromise and sin, they lead more people away than just themselves. Not many should become teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive a stricter judgment James 3:1 As John Calvin rightly pointed out, Moses should have been more full of the fear of God than the fear of what his wife or father in law might say to him. God is a consuming fire - He is awesome, mighty and powerful, and Moses was attempting to be a people-pleaser, and not a God-pleaser - a dangerous road to go down - LITERALLY! for a man of God. You might be tempted to read such passages as this, and think as many do - that God was more harsh in the Old Testament, and more merciful in the New Testament, but such a view would be completely inaccurate. God is ALWAYS Holy. He is ALWAYS merciful. Consider Ananias and Sapphira - killed in the New Testament for their sin of lying to God's apostles. Consider the danger that Paul warns about in 1 Corinthians 11 (a topic we will cover in 3 days!) where he suggests that it is possible for people to DIE if they do not properly honor God in the way they partake of the Lord's supper. Finally, consider Jesus' stark and important warning about the fear of God in Matthew:   Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:28 It is not at all hyperbole when Proverbs 9 tells us that the "fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." May we take His commands with the utmost sobriety and seriousness! Allow me to close with an encouraging word from Charles Spurgeon: Again, as Jesus did not utter a word against his adversaries, so he did not say a word against any one of us. You remember how Zipporah said to Moses, “Surely a bloody husband art thou to me,” as she saw her child bleeding; and surely Jesus might have said to his church, “You are a costly spouse to me, to bring me all this shame and blood-shedding.” But he gives liberally, he opens the very fountain of his heart, and he does not scold us. He had counted on paying the ultimate price, and endured the cross, despising the shame. “This was compassion like a God, That when the Saviour knew The price of pardon was his blood, His pity ne’er withdrew.” C. H. Spurgeon, “The Sheep before the Shearers,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 26 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1880), 350–351.

Rejoice, everybody! It is Friday, and if you live in sunny central California, you get to enjoy temps in the 70s today with sunshine and no humidity. If you're in the area, come visit us at Valley Baptist Church in Salinas! If you're not, then I am sorry to brag on our weather - your's probably isn't as nice. After 1.5 years as a native Californian, I've learned that the four most California things possible are: #1 Mentioning how great the weather is #2 Eating Avocados #3 Skateboarding #4 Buying bags at the grocery store because I am literally incapable of remembering to get them out of my trunk and bring them into the store. Enough nonsense - Today's Bible passages include Job 21, where we see Job at his best: a man of sorrows that maintains an excellent sense of dark sarcasm in answering his mean friends: Pay close attention to my words; let this be the consolation you offer. 3 Bear with me while I speak; then after I have spoken, you may continue mocking. Job 21:2-3 In Luke 7, we see the remarkable example of the Roman Centurion's faith, and Jesus' compassion and power on full display as He resurrects the only son of the Widow of Nain. 1 Corinthians chapter 8 is focused on eating food sacrificed to idols - not a big deal in much of the West - but also discusses how to NOT be a stumbling block to people when we use our freedom to eat and drink. It also contains this powerful nugget of wisdom, " Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up " (1 Corinthians 8:1) Our focus passage remains in Exodus today, and our Bible question concerns what might be one of the most mysterious (and totally unexplained!) events in all of the Bible. Let's read the whole of Exodus 4, and be on the lookout for the mysterious happening. Notice how there is not pretext or postscript that explains our event in question. Did you catch it?! There, right at the end of Exodus 4, almost IMMEDIATELY after God has called and pushed Moses into leading the Exodus out of Egypt, God goes to Moses to KILL HIM! Yes - I said kill him, because that's exactly what the Bible says! WHAT IN THE WORLD?! Here's the text again, in case you missed it:  On the trip, at an overnight campsite, it happened that the Lord confronted him and intended to put him to death. 25 So Zipporah took a flint, cut off her son’s foreskin, threw it at Moses’s feet, and said, “You are a bridegroom of blood to me!” 26 So he let him alone. At that time she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood,” referring to the circumcision. Exodus 4:24-26 SO MANY QUESTIONS! The foremost question is: WHY does God seek to kill Moses, but there are other questions too: HOW was God going to kill him? WHY did Moses' wife circumcise her son, and throw the tip at the FEET of Moses? WHY did that appease God? And finally, what in the world did she mean by, "surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me?" Let me begin our answers with a strong caution: I think we can offer an extremely plausible explanation for much of what is happening here, and we can offer an explanation that is sound in a biblical sense. However, our explanations will AT BEST be CONJECTURE. (conjecture is an opinion or conclusion that comes from incomplete or missing information.) Biblical conjecture is ok - I think - as long as we say right up front that we are speculating - making educated guesses at best. Putting all of the pieces of the puzzle together, it would appear that God was going to bring the most severe discipline possible to Moses, because Moses was willfully refusing to obey God's commands and have his son circumcised. Let's turn to our French friend John Calvin for a good speculation/conjecture about what is going on here: The expression, “the Lord met him,” is here used in a bad sense, for an adverse meeting, or hostile encounter; as though Moses should say that the hand of the Lord was against him to interrupt his journey. In what form He appeared we don't know, except that the words pretty plainly imply that Moses was assured of His anger, so as to be aware that his death was near... The cause is not [directly] expressed for which he perceived that God was so angry with him; except that we may gather it from what follows. For why should Zipporah have taken a sharp stone or knife and circumcised her son, had she not known that God was offended at his uncircumcision? It is sufficient for us to know that he was terrified by the approach of certain destruction, and that, at the same time, the cause of his affliction was shown to him, so that he hastened to seek for a remedy. It would never have otherwise occurred to himself or his wife to circumcise the child to appease God’s wrath; and it will appear a little further on, that God's anger was satisfied by this offering, since he withdrew his hand, and took away the signs of his wrath. I therefore unhesitatingly conclude, that vengeance was declared against Moses for his negligence, which was connected with still heavier sins; for he had not omitted his son’s circumcision from forgetfulness, or ignorance, or carelessness only, but because he was aware that it was disagreeable either to his wife or to his father-in-law. Therefore, lest his wife should quarrel with him, or his father-in-law trouble him, he preferred to gratify them than to give occasion for divisions, or enmity, or disturbance. In the meantime, however, for the sake of the favor of men, he neglected to obey God. This false dealing was no light offense, since nothing is more intolerable than to defraud God of his due obedience, in order to please men. There was a mixture too of distrust and ingratitude in it; for, if the favor of God had had its proper weight in the eyes of Moses, he would not have been stopped by the fear of man from this holy duty. John Calvin and Charles William Bingham, Commentaries on the Four Last Books of Moses Arranged in the Form of a Harmony, vol. 1 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 105–106. Slightly modernized I agree with John Calvin (my agreement shouldn't carry much weight!) The issue appears to be that Moses, though aware of God's command to circumcise, REFUSED to circumcise his son in order to appease his wife, and possibly his father in law too. This would explain Zipporah's cryptic "bridegroom of blood to me" comment. Very likely, she is expressing distress and possibly even disgust at the necessity of performing such an operation on an infant. For a more complete and deep explanation of the practice of circumcision, please refer back to episode 16 of this podcast, in which we spent a good bit of time exploring the topic, and the fact that New Testament Christians are NOT required to be circumcised. As a reminder - God commanded Abraham to institute circumcision for all males born to his descendants as a way of setting them apart from all of the other peoples of the land. Perhaps the best reasoning for circumcision I've ever heard was quoted in depth on episode 16 of the show, but basically amounts to this: Abraham's son Isaac was born in a miraculous way to a mom and dad who were way beyond the age of childbearing. As such, the entire nation of Israel was the miraculous doing of God - it didn't happen in a natural way, but a supernatural way. Every time a Hebrew male would begin to be intimate with his wife, in order to produce a child, they would both be reminded - by the sign of circumcision - that they were a people uniquely created by God. This miraculous birth also foreshadowed the birth of the soon coming messiah Jesus - born to a virgin to save His people - and the entire world - from their sins. In the Old Covenant, circumcision was SUPREMELY important - as a sign and a reminder of God's goodness. That Moses would compromise on this most important commandment demonstrated that he would compromise on other important commandments too, and I speculate that God could not allow one of His major leaders in all of human history to lead His people into compromise. Thus did God come near to force Moses to repent, or to take His life if He stubbornly maintained his refusal to obey God. We might think this a bit over the top on God's part, but it is worth remembering a dynamic that we learn about in the New Testament: God's leaders and God's teachers WILL BE JUDGED MORE SEVERELY. Why? Because when they compromise and sin, they lead more people away than just themselves. Not many should become teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive a stricter judgment James 3:1 As John Calvin rightly pointed out, Moses should have been more full of the fear of God than the fear of what his wife or father in law might say to him. God is a consuming fire - He is awesome, mighty and powerful, and Moses was attempting to be a people-pleaser, and not a God-pleaser - a dangerous road to go down - LITERALLY! for a man of God. You might be tempted to read such passages as this, and think as many do - that God was more harsh in the Old Testament, and more merciful in the New Testament, but such a view would be completely inaccurate. God is ALWAYS Holy. He is ALWAYS merciful. Consider Ananias and Sapphira - killed in the New Testament for their sin of lying to God's apostles. Consider the danger that Paul warns about in 1 Corinthians 11 (a topic we will cover in 3 days!) where he suggests that it is possible for people to DIE if they do not properly honor God in the way they partake of the Lord's supper. Finally, consider Jesus' stark and important warning about the fear of God in Matthew:   Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:28 It is not at all hyperbole when Proverbs 9 tells us that the "fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." May we take His commands with the utmost sobriety and seriousness! Allow me to close with an encouraging word from Charles Spurgeon: Again, as Jesus did not utter a word against his adversaries, so he did not say a word against any one of us. You remember how Zipporah said to Moses, “Surely a bloody husband art thou to me,” as she saw her child bleeding; and surely Jesus might have said to his church, “You are a costly spouse to me, to bring me all this shame and blood-shedding.” But he gives liberally, he opens the very fountain of his heart, and he does not scold us. He had counted on paying the ultimate price, and endured the cross, despising the shame. “This was compassion like a God, That when the Saviour knew The price of pardon was his blood, His pity ne’er withdrew.” C. H. Spurgeon, “The Sheep before the Shearers,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 26 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1880), 350–351.

Numbers 21:4-9 (NKJV) 4  Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way. 5  And the people spoke against God and against Moses: "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread." 6  So the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died. 7  Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, "We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD that He take away the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people. 8  Then the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live." 9  So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.    

El desanimo nos debilita - Discouragement weakens us by Roberto San Martín on Sun Sep 15 at 11:00am Números 21:4-5 Reina-Valera 1960 (RVR1960) 4 Después partieron del monte de Hor, camino del Mar Rojo, para rodear la tierra de Edom; y se desanimó el pueblo por el camino. 5 Y habló el pueblo contra Dios y contra Moisés: ¿Por qué nos hiciste subir de Egipto para que muramos en este desierto? Pues no hay pan ni agua, y nuestra alma tiene fastidio de este pan tan liviano. Numbers 21:4-5 New King James Version (NKJV) 4 Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way. 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.”

So many ambiguities, so little time. Who is the "na'ar" - the young man or lad - referenced in Numbers 11, who reports the unknown prophecy of Eldad and Medad to Moses? Why does Joshua intervene? And what does Moses' response teach us about his greatness, despite the people's apparent rejection of his leadership?

TRIAL NUMBER 9. Numbers 21:5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.” So the Lord sent fiery serpents (fiery - from the copper colour plus the poisonous inflammation) among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died.So the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord that He take the serpents away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived. NOT TRUSTING GOD ALLOWS THE SERPENTS TO BRING DEATH. ‘The Lord sent fiery serpents’. The serpents were already out there – copper coloured poisonous desert snakes. Because the people could no longer trust the goodness of God to them God lifted his protection from Israel and the snakes came in to bite and cause death.In the Garden of Eden the serpent was also already out there, and God let the serpent in to do his tempting with the forbidden fruit to show that Adam and Eve no longer trusted the goodness of God. And that allowed the serpent to bring death and separation. The fruit was seen by them as good and pleasant and desirable. But when the desire to grasp and eat the fruit was fulfilled in them the drastic separation of sin occurred. ‘In the day that you eat of it you shall surely die’ (Genesis 2:17). The desire for self gratification overcame their desire for God. GOD SETS ABOUT TO OVERCOME THE SEPARATION OF SIN IN US. Isaiah 59:2 Your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you…Sin comes from the lurking mindset of separation that was always resident in humanity and causes us to miss the mark, looking in the wrong direction. Isaiah 45:22 Look to Me, and be saved, All you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. This looking is directed at our minds (Isaiah 12:6 – ‘you will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed upon you). The Law was designed to get people to walk closely with God and not be separate from him. David loved the Law for this reason - but the lurking separation mindset remained, always at the door. David’s sins came back to bite him. The law was unable to fully deal with the mindset of separation. THE STRATEGY OF THE SERPENT’S TEMPTATION IS TO BRING SEPARATION AND DEATHJames 1:14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires (longing) and enticed (trapped). Then, when desire (longing) has conceived (is grasped), it gives birth to sin (missing the mark, going off course); and sin, when it is full-grown (totally off course – 180), brings forth death (separation) In this trial (NUMBER 9) he sent serpents to bite them to get them to look in the right direction – to turn back to God and not live in separation from God in their minds and hearts. We look to Jesus (Hebrews 12:2, 2Corinthians 10:5) who became sin for us on the cross and caused the serpent to be judged (John 16:11). John 3:12 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. Looking to Jesus is bringing our thoughts into captivity to him – from separated to non-separated.  

Overview – The Jews Who Were Zealous For The Law Of Moses. Acts 21:15-30. In our message today we read of the fact that the apostle Paul finally makes it to Jerusalem. He’s been heading that way for a while now. Once there, day one, he meets with some Christians, day two he meets up with the original apostles, and immediately he tells them some of the exploits that he has had serving the Lord Jesus Christ since the last time they had met. And, they are excited to hear what he has to say on one hand, but have some bad news for him on the other hand. That good and bad news is that they tell him that a multitude number of Jews had turned to the Lord Jesus Christ as God’s Messiah, which was good news, but the bad news was that these same Jews were also zealous for the law of Moses. Their being zealous for the law of Moses is really bad news for Paul. Why? Because these Jews are angry with Paul because they hear that he is teaching the Gentiles that they don’t have to follow the law of Moses. Why is it bad news that these Jews are zealous for the law of Moses? Why do these Jews think that they need to be zealous for the law of Moses even after they had turned to Jesus Christ as Messiah? Should someone that has turned to the Lord Jesus Christ be zealous for the law of Moses? Come and learn the Bible with us here at Gospel Saving Church, and may the Lord bless you as you diligently seek Him. Pastor Ed Spagnoli

If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny who he is (2 Ti 2:11–13, NLT)     21 When the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming on the Atharim road, he fought against Israel and captured some prisoners. 2 Then Israel made a vow to the Lord, “If You will deliver this people into our hands, we will completely destroy their cities.”  3 The Lord listened to Israel’s request, the Canaanites were defeated, and Israel completely destroyed them and their cities. So they named the place Hormah.  4 Then they set out from Mount Hor by way of the Red Sea to bypass the land of Edom, but the people  became impatient because of the journey. 5 The people spoke against God and Moses: “Why have you led us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread or water, and we detest this wretched food!” 6 Then the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and they bit them so that many Israelites died. 7 The people then came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Intercede with the Lord so that He will take the snakes away from us.” And Moses interceded for the people. 8 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake image and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will recover.”  9 So Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole. Whenever someone was bitten, and he looked at the bronze snake, he recovered. (Nu 21:1–9, ESV)     You need Someone Praying for you.   God’s faithfulness is revealedin what Jesus did and what He is doing now.   Jesus paid for our sins on the cross.   Jesus is praying for us right now.   Look to Jesus and be restored.

Why did God choose Moses? Why did he appear as fire? Why wasn't the bush consumed and what does all this show us about God and how we relate to him?

Why did God choose Moses? Why did he appear as fire? Why wasn't the bush consumed and what does all this show us about God and how we relate to him?

Why did God choose Moses? Why did he appear as fire? Why wasn't the bush consumed and what does all this show us about God and how we relate to him?