Podcasts about that moses

Arcana Coelestia 141. Innumerable things might be said about man's Own in describing its nature with the corporeal and worldly man, with the spiritual man, and with the celestial man. With the corporeal and worldly man, his Own is his all, he knows of nothing else than his Own, and imagines, as before said, that if he were to lose this Own he would perish. With the spiritual man also his Own has a similar appearance, for although he knows that the Lord is the life of all, and gives wisdom and understanding, and consequently the power to think and to act, yet this knowledge is rather the profession of his lips than the belief of his heart. But the celestial man discerns that the Lord is the life of all and gives the power to think and to act, for he perceives that it is really so. He never desires his Own, nevertheless an Own is given him by the Lord, which is conjoined with all perception of what is good and true, and with all happiness. The angels are in such an Own, and are at the same time in the highest peace and tranquility, for in their Own are those things which are the Lord's, who governs their Own, or them by means of their Own. This Own is the veriest celestial itself, whereas that of the corporeal man is infernal. The desire for immediate liberation 7186. And Jehovah said unto Moses. That this signifies instruction about the law Divine, is evident from the signification of “Jehovah said,” as being instruction from the Divine (of which below); and from the representation of Moses, as being the law Divine (see n. 6723, 6752, 7014). That “Jehovah said unto Moses,” signifies instruction about the law Divine, is because at the end of the preceding chapter it was believed from the law Divine, that it would come to pass that those who are of the spiritual church would be immediately liberated from infestations; when yet it is according to order that the evil who infest should be removed by degrees, and that they who are of the spiritual church should be liberated by degrees; for such is the Divine order; and therefore such is the law Divine; for all law Divine is of order, insomuch that whether we say the law Divine, or the law of Divine order, it is the same. [2] Concerning this law they who are of the spiritual church are now instructed, and that it is from this law that they are certain to be liberated when the time and state according to order arrives. That Moses (by whom is here represented the law Divine, such as it is with those of the spiritual church when they are in a state of infestations) believed from the law Divine that it would come to pass that they would be immediately liberated from infestations, is plain from what he said at the close of the preceding chapter, namely, “Wherefore hast Thou done evil unto this people? Why is this that Thou hast sent me? And liberating Thou hast not liberated Thy people;” by which words is signified that they were too much infested by falsities, when yet the law proceeding from the Divine seems to say otherwise, and that in this way they have not been released from a state of infestations (n. 7165, 7166, 7169). [3] That those who are of the spiritual church, and who are in the lower earth, would be gradually liberated from infestations, and not immediately, is because the evils and falsities that cling to them cannot otherwise be removed, and goods and truths be instilled in their place; for this is effected by many changes of state, thus successively by degrees. They who believe that man can be immediately introduced into heaven, and that this is solely of the Lord's mercy, are very much mistaken. If this were possible, all whatsoever who are in hell would be raised into heaven, for the Lord's mercy extends to all. But it is according to order that everyone carries with him his life which he had lived in the world, and his state in the other life is according to this, and that the mercy of the Lord flows in with all, but is diversely received,

And Moses spoke thus unto the sons of Israel; and they heard not Moses for distress of spirit, and for hard service. And Jehovah spoke unto Moses, saying, Come, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and let him send the sons of Israel out of his land. And Moses spoke before Jehovah, saying, Behold the sons of Israel have not heard me; and how shall Pharaoh hear me, and I am uncircumcised in lips? And Jehovah spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, and gave them a command unto the sons of Israel, and unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, to lead forth the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt. These are the heads of their fathers' houses: the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel; Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben. And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman; these are the families of Simeon. And these are the names of the sons of Leviticus according to their births; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari; and the years of the life of Leviticus were a hundred and thirty and seven years. The sons of Gershon; Libni and Shimei, according to their families. And the sons of Kohath; Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel; and the years of the life of Kohath were a hundred and thirty and three years. And the sons of Merari; Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of Leviticus according to their births. And Amram took Jochebed his father's sister for a woman; and she bare him Aaron and Moses; and the years of the life of Amram were a hundred and thirty and seven years. And the sons of Izhar; Korah and Nepheg, and Zichri. And the sons of Uzziel; Mishael and Elzaphan, and Sithri. And Aaron took him Elisheba, the daughter of Aminadab, the sister of Nahshon, for a woman; and she bare him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. And the sons of Korah; Assir and Elkanah, and Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites. And Eleazar Aaron's son took him one of the daughters of Putiel for a woman; and she bare him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers of the Levites according to their families. This is the Aaron and Moses to whom Jehovah said, Lead forth the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies. These are those who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to lead forth the sons of Israel from Egypt. This is the Moses and Aaron. And it was in the day that Jehovah spoke unto Moses in the land of Egypt, And Jehovah spoke unto Moses, saying, I am Jehovah; speak thou unto Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I speak unto thee. And Moses said before Jehovah, Behold I am uncircumcised in lips, and how shall Pharaoh hear me? Exodus 6:9-30 Stammering Arcana Coelestia 7225. [2] From these passages it is evident that “to be uncircumcised” denotes to be impure; and as everything impure is from impure loves, which are the love of the world and the love of self, therefore by “uncircumcised” is signified that which impedes the influx of good and truth. Where these loves are, the inflowing good and truth are extinguished, for they are contraries, like heaven and hell. Hence by the “uncircumcised ear” is signified disobedience, and by the “uncircumcised heart” the rejection of good and truth, which is especially the case when these loves have fortified themselves with falsity as with a wall. [3] That Moses, because he stammered, calls himself “uncircumcised in lips,” is for the sake of the internal sense, that thereby might be signified that they who are in falsities, who are represented by Pharaoh, would not hearken to the things that would be said to them from the law Divine, because they who are in falsities call the truths which are of the law Divine, falsities; and the falsities which are contrary to the truths of the law Divine they call truths, for they are wholly in the opposite. Hence by them the truths of doctrine are not perceived otherwise than as impure; even heavenly loves appear to them impure. Moreover,

RASHI: וימסרו SO THERE WERE HANDED OVER … [ATHOUSAND OF EVERY TRIBE] — This serves to tell you in what high esteem the shepherds of Israel meaning the Leaders-were really held — how dear they were to Israel. Up until they had heard of his approachingdeath what does it state? That Moses felt constrained to exclaim about them, “They are almost ready to stone me”! (Exodus 17:14). But when they heard that Moses' death was associated with the execution of vengeance upon Midian (cf. v. 2), they refusedto go to war until they were “handed over” against their own will (Sifrei Bamidbar 157:3). Rabbeynu Bachya ו וימסרו מאלפי ישראל, “they werehanded over from amongst the thousands of Israelites, etc.”

And Moses went and spake these words unto all Israel.2 And he said unto them, I am an hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and come in: also the Lord hath said unto me, Thou shalt not go over this Jordan.3 The Lord thy God, he will go over before thee, and he will destroy these nations from before thee, and thou shalt possess them: and Joshua, he shall go over before thee, as the Lord hath said.4 And the Lord shall do unto them as he did to Sihon and to Og, kings of the Amorites, and unto the land of them, whom he destroyed.5 And the Lord shall give them up before your face, that ye may do unto them according unto all the commandments which I have commanded you.6 Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.7 And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the Lord hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it.8 And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.9 And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and unto all the elders of Israel.10 And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles,11 When all Israel is come to appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing.12 Gather the people together, men and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and observe to do all the words of this law:13 And that their children, which have not known any thing, may hear, and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.14 And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thy days approach that thou must die: call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle of the congregation, that I may give him a charge. And Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the tabernacle of the congregation.15 And the Lord appeared in the tabernacle in a pillar of a cloud: and the pillar of the cloud stood over the door of the tabernacle.16 And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.17 Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us?18 And I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods.19 Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel.20 For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant.21 And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are befallen them, that this song shall testify against them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for I know their imagination which they go about, even now, before I have brought them into the land which I sware.22 Moses therefore wrote this song the same day, and taught it the children of Israel.23 And he gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge, and said, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I sware unto them: and I will be with thee.24 And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished,25 That Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying,26 Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.27 For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have been rebellious against the Lord; and how much more after my death?28 Gather unto me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to record against them.29 For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days; because ye will do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands.30 And Moses spake in the ears of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song, until they were ended.

CRISIS! Part 3 1 Samuel 13:1-15 (NIV) – [1] Saul was [thirty] years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel [forty-] two years. [2] Saul chose three thousand men from Israel; two thousand were with him at Micmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. The rest of the men he sent back to their homes. [3] Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul had the trumpet blown throughout the land and said, “Let the Hebrews hear!” [4] So all Israel heard the news: “Saul has attacked the Philistine outpost, and now Israel has become a stench to the Philistines.” And the people were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal. [5] The Philistines assembled to fight Israel, with three thousand chariots, six thousand charioteers, and soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Micmash, east of Beth Aven. [6] When the men of Israel saw that their situation was critical and that their army was hard pressed, they hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns. [7] Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear. [8] He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul's men began to scatter. [9] So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” And Saul offered up the burnt offering. [10] Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him. [11] “What have you done?” asked Samuel. Saul replied, “When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Micmash, [12] I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the LORD’s favor.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.” [13] “You acted foolishly,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. [14] But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the LORD's command.” [15] Then Samuel left Gilgal and went up to Gibeah in Benjamin, and Saul counted the men who were with him. They numbered about six hundred. 1. Saul’s support is slipping away. 2. God seems late in coming. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, 11 (NIV) – [1] There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: [2] a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, [3] a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, [4] a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, [5] a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, [6] a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, [7] a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, [8] a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace… [11] He has made everything beautiful in its time. 1 Corinthians 4:5 (NIV) – [5] Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God. 3. Saul assumes the worst. 4. He thinks he can force God’s favor. 5. He panics and feels compelled to do something. “Compelled” (apac) means to force oneself into doing something. Exodus 32:1 (MSG) – [1] When the people realized that Moses was taking forever in coming down off the mountain, they rallied around Aaron and said, “DO SOMETHING. Make gods for us who will lead us. That Moses, the man who got us out of Egypt — who knows what’s happened to him?” Deuteronomy 20:1-4 (NIV) – [1] When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you. [2] When you are about to go into battle, the priest shall come forward and address the army. [3] He shall say: “Hear, O Israel, today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not be terrified or give way to panic before them. [4] For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.” 6. He acts foolishly. 2 Chronicles 26:16-21 (NIV) – [16] But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. [17] Azariah the priest with eighty other courageous priests of the LORD followed him in. [18] They confronted him and said, “It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD. That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful; and you will not be honored by the LORD God.” [19] Uzziah, who had a censer in his hand ready to burn incense, became angry. While he was raging at the priests in their presence before the incense altar in the LORD’s temple, leprosy broke out on his forehead. [20] When Azariah the chief priest and all the other priests looked at him, they saw that he had leprosy on his forehead, so they hurried him out. Indeed, he himself was eager to leave, because the LORD had afflicted him. [21] King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in a separate house—leprous, and excluded from the temple of the LORD. “Act foolishly” (sakal) means to act without thinking because of an attitude of self-reliance. 7. He disobeys God’s commands.

How an Honour Culture Will Release Supernatural Favour In A Post Lockdown World Lessons from the foot of Mt Sinai In this current season, good church leaders are fighting for unity, making peace, casting vision, building stability, setting direction, securing safety, re engineering community….? How can the church best support their leaders during this season? Like the Israelites emerging from lockdown/captivity, the church is now on the move and we need to be lead by the Spirit of God and by God's appointed leaders….-ONE OF THE KEYS for our success as we transition into this post lockdown world…is how we/the church responds to LEADERSHIP>>>>>The Israelites really got this wrong…and we can learn from their mistakes and be prepared to lean into Godly leadership during this next phase of our journey as a church. (AS THE CHURCH) I actually believe that God is going to use this season to re-instate an Honour Culture back into the life of the local church….a lot of churches have lost this powerful kingdom principle….but just like, daily devotional time, prayer, tithing, serving, Sabbath, when we embrace an honour culture, something supernatural is released into our lives that would otherwise never be enjoyed….it is another dimension of kingdom favour…Tithing releasing supernatural kingdom favour on your financial world Sabbath releasing supernatural kingdom favour on your timeHonour realising supernatural favour on your relational world 3 Keys to help us reinstate a healthy honour culture into the life of our churches:To honour well we must understand PRESENCEExodus 19:9 MSG“God said to Moses, “Get ready. I'm about to come to you in a thick cloud so that the people can listen in and trust you completely when I speak with you.” When God wants to establish trust between leadership and the church…he will come with his PRESENCE and God will speak to leadership in such a way that the people know that it is the voice of God himself speaking. If you want to hear from God, make sure you align your life with leadership that prioritises PRESENCE…today more than ever, leaders need to be immersed in the presence of God!But as followers, we must also be aware that a key component of a leader's role is to make time for moments of encounter with the GOD. To honour well we must understand PATIENCEExodus 32:1 MSG“When the people realized that Moses was taking forever in coming down off the mountain, they rallied around Aaron and said, “Do something. Make gods for us who will lead us. That Moses, the man who got us out of Egypt—who knows what's happened to him?””What will the church do while leaders are fighting for unity, making peace, casting vision, building stability, setting direction, securing safety, re engineering community….?In this text we see some very powerful leadership lessons: 1. The danger of lobbying, and self appointed leadership - Don't let your impatience motivate you to appoint a new leader. Self appointed leadership, is a recipe for division, disaster and ultimately the unnecessary death of whatever it is that is being stewarded buy the leader, church, business, family, etc…Activity is not the same as productive, do SOMETHING is never better than doing the RIGHT THING…sometimes the RIGHT THING is waiting! People NEED to be lead…if you are a leader, make sure you being leadership…Aaron was the God appointed leader inthte absence of Moses, but when challenged by the people brought NO leadership….To dismantle God's plan, disparage God's leaders…..”That Moses….who knows what happened?” If you can upset God's appointed leadership you can dismantle God's entire agenda…You don't need to inflate the reality of the leadership you have, but you can bring stability to God's plan by honouring it. To honour well we must understand THE LEADERS HEARTAfter the people convinced Aaron to build an idol, and rebel against God's law for them…God was set on killing them all, BUT Moses advocatrd for the people, for he had a heart that was toward those that he was leading….Moses once again, saves the people….BUT…Moses then has the levites execute 3000 Israelites as punishment for their disobedience! So…Moses privately saves the nation but publicly slaughters 3000 people…We often never get to see the hard work done by our leaders in the back rooms, closed doors of their world, doing the hard work to ensure we are safe and, healthy secure, moving forward…….we can only see the leader through the lease of her actions…this tension is actually in irresolvable BUT we can chose to either trust her HEART or not….

The amazing confrontation between the one true and only God and Pharaoh is about to begin.  The Lord is setting the stage for the second meeting of Moses and Aaron and Pharaoh.  But this time Moses is to be God to Pharaoh.  God does not say Moses will be “like a god,” but He says to Moses he will be God to Pharaoh.  Wow!!  Moses will be a in the flesh representation of the Lord, or Yahvay, the name of God.  Makes sense, though.  Pharaoh said he did not know of the God of the Hebrews.  So, God would now, through Moses, use His power to show first, the Pharaoh is not a god and, second, to overwhelm Pharaoh and the might of Egypt to free all Israel.  In a sense God would through a man, Moses, who is to act as His representative and defeat all the gods of Egypt.  Thus this affirms in God's own words that He is God alone and there is no other … “Do not tremble and do not be afraid; have I not long since announced it to you and declared it? And you are My witnesses. Is there any God besides Me, or is there any other Rock? I know of none.” (Isa 44:8)   “I am the LORD, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me.”(Isa 45:5)   A second aspect of all this relates to the fact that the Jewish people say that Moses is like the coming Messiah.  Moreover, the coming Messiah will be like Moses.  God promises this in Deut. 18:15 and 18:18.  The Messiah will be a prophet like Moses.  In Exod. 7:1 we get the connection between Jesus' words in John 5:39 and see that if Moses is like the coming Messiah, and Moses is a prophet of Yahvay, Moses is to be as God to Pharaoh, and Moses is sent to Pharaoh and, thus, we too see that Yeshua, our Jesus, is also a prophet as Moses, and Yeshua is GOD not a representation, and as Moses was sent, so Yeshua was sent.  Here's a part of a great article at the website, “You've Got Questions,” on Moses and Messiah. Jesus is like Moses in several ways. Moses was both a prophet and a lawgiver, and Jesus is, too. Jesus was widely recognized as a prophet who spoke the Word of God (Matthew 21:46), and He gave commandments for His followers to obey (John 13:34; 15:12, 17; Galatians 6:2). Both Moses and Jesus mediated a covenant between God and men—Moses the Old Covenant (Exodus 34:27; Acts 7:44), and Jesus the New (Luke 22:20; Hebrews 9:15). Both Moses and Jesus were born during perilous times, and both narrowly escaped a king bent on murdering babies (Exodus 1:22 and Matthew 2:16–18). Both Moses and Jesus had a connection to Egypt (Exodus 2:1–4 and Matthew 2:13–14). Moses was the (adopted) son of a king (Exodus 2:10), and Jesus is the Son of the Most High (Luke 1:32). Moses spent forty years as a shepherd (Exodus 3:1), and Jesus is the Good Shepherd (John 10:11, 14). Both Moses and Jesus were known for their meekness (Numbers 12:3 and Matthew 11:29).    See the entire article at this link - https://www.gotquestions.org/Moses-and-Jesus.html A great link to study this further is at the great website, Hebrew4Christains.  Here's the link to the correlation of Moses and the Messiah – https://www.hebrew4christians.com/Articles/Like_Moses/like_moses.html Also, see the picture below.  It is a visual representation of the connection between Moses and the Messiah and the Passover in Egypt in 1446 B.C. and the Passover in Jerusalem in 30 A.D. But we are to be disciples of Jesus.  This means we are to be like Him, to be like our rabbi.  That's what it meant in Jesus' day.  But, if Jesus is prefigured in Moses, aren't we also, if we are disciples, if we are to be like Jesus?  Yes. As Messiah, He was sent and so are we, just like Messiah and just like Moses.  As Jesus is given the words to teach like Moses, we are as well.  As Jesus is the Light of the World He tell us we too are to be the Light of the World.  What do we conclude?  That Moses is an example of a disciple of Adonai – one who is like the Lord.  So too then we are to be disciples of the Messiah. Check out the article by Ray Vander Laan entitled, “Rabbi and Talmideem (disciples)” at this link.  It is a great article on what it means to be a disciple in Jesus' day and not what the church teaches today.  Link - https://www.thattheworldmayknow.com/rabbi-and-talmidim Who is this guy, Rev. Ferret?  What's his background?  Why should we take time to listen to him?  Here's a link to check out his background - click here              

Exodus 32 ; Matthew 6:24 “...Who knows what's happened to him?” These were the questions and sayings of the Israelites when to them- Moses was taking forever to come down from the mountain, when he was on the mountain to pray for 40days and 40 nights. “..., they rallied around Aaron and said, “Do something. Make gods for us who will lead us. That Moses, the man who got us out of Egypt—who knows what's happened to him?”” ‭‭Exodus‬ ‭32:1‬ ‭MSG‬‬ They made a golden calf to lead them! Imagine! The Church can be likened to the historical Biblical Israelites. Although we do not make a molten golden calf and name it our ‘God's, there are things we do, objects we adore and position as our god, putting our hope in them. Jesus mentioned in Matthew 6:24 ““No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon [money, possessions, fame, status, or whatever is valued more than the Lord].” ‭ What stands as your golden calf? What stands as my golden calf? PP: I ask for mercy for us all, in any way we have grieved Your Spirit by harbouring a golden calf in our heart. Open our eyes Lord to see our faults and wash us clean with Your Word and with the blood of Jesus so that we will continue to truly serve you with all our heart, mind and body that Your name alone be glorified. In Jesus' name. Amen. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/abimbola-arawande/message

Sermon Manuscript“Those who can't remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Those words were spoken by Spanish philosopher George Santayana, but quoted by others… like British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Let me say it in a different way. “If you forget history, you are doomed to repeat it.”In other words, the same patterns of history tend to happen over and over in different ways. Actions lead to consequences. Certain political and philosophical beliefs lead to certain outcomes. When we fail to see certain things that happened in history, we are prone to have those things happen again.That is essentially what has been happening here in Acts 6 and 7. This is our second week looking at Stephen's speech to the Sanhedrin – which was the religious tribunal. These were well educated men. They know their history. So Stephen is not trying to educate them by giving them an overview of their history. No, instead, Stephen is responding to their accusations. He's highlighting a couple very specific things in their history that answer their charges. Basically he was saying that they have blind spots. They've failed to see certain thing in their history, and they are on the path to repeat them.Their first blind spot we looked at last week. They had accused Stephen of rejecting God by rejecting the temple. And so Stephen answered that charge by highlighting their history. That God was with his people no matter where they were. We looked at the different examples that Stephen highlights. Abraham and his immediate descendants. God was present with them. God does not live in houses made by man. In fact, some of the verses this morning about Moses continue that theme. Look at verse 30. Moses was in the desert near Mount Saini… And God appeared to him in a burning bush… spoke to him. God was not waiting for him in the promised land. He was not in the temple or Jerusalem. He's there with Moses. And God says, “take off the sandals from your feet, for the place you are standing is holy ground.” That's a direct response to their charge against Stephen. The Jewish people said Stephen was speaking against the “holy place” And Stephen responded that the “holy place,” the “holy ground” is wherever God is with his people. Again from last week, Stephen was not rejecting the temple. Rather, it served a good purpose, it pointed to Christ. Yes, God presence was there in a special way - His glory had filled the temple at times in the past – but it was long gone. I didn't say this last week, but part of Pentecost – part of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit to God's people is the presence of Christ. The ongoing ministry of Jesus in us and through us. That's how we are temples of the living God.So that was last week, their first historical blind spot.And their second blind spot dealt with Moses and the law. Let me give you the summary, and then we'll work through Steven's response. The Jews here were all high and mighty. They held Moses up as their guy. He was their man. The central figure for them in their theology. And they accused Stephen of rejecting Moses. Well, here's what we'll see today. Stephen called out their hypocrisy! He's was saying to them, “You forgot your past. Your ancestors actually rejected Moses. And you are heading down the path to reject him, too… and the one that he promised.” They were the ones who rejected Moses and the law – even though they thought they were upholding them.Let's jump down to the end for a minute. Verse 51. He called them “stiff necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears,” and then he said, “you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you” Those weren't just random curse words. No, God had called them stiff necked in the past. We read one example of that earlier in Exodus 32. Have you ever ridden a horse? If you want to steer a horse, you move the reigns one way or another… But some horses are “stiff necked.” They're stubborn. They don't want to be directed. They resist the reigns with a stiff neck. That's where that comes from. Back in this day and age, it referred to steering an Ox, but the idea is the same. They were not letting God direct them through His Word and Holy Spirit. As we go through this, you'll see, Stephen wasn't the one breaking the law and rejecting Moses… rather he was being more faithful to the law and promises. But this Jewish crowd, in stubbornness, they missed the heart of the law and the promise of Christ because of their stiff necks, resisting the Holy Spirit.Let me put it this way, we need to be bobble head Christians. Not in a wishy-washy kind of way… but we need to allow God to direct us with His Word and through His Spirit. To allow God to show us our sin and our failures. To not let God's law become religious motions that we go through, forgetting God's redemption in Christ. But rather, seeking obedience as an outworking of our faith in Christ. I wanted to say that up-front… because as we work through this, Stephen highlights different ways in which they and their forefathers rejected God and His Spirit. Rejecting GodOk, let's go back to the charges against Stephen… the end of chapter 6.Regarding Moses and the law, they accused Stephen of three separate things. First they said Stephen was speaking blasphemous words against Moses. We'll come back to blasphemy in a second. Next, that he was speaking words against the law. And last, they said this… chapter 6 verse 14. “we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place [we considered that last week]… and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.”To them, Stephen rejected Moses, rejected the law that God gave through Moses, and he even taught that Jesus himself said that the customs that Moses gave needed to change.To them, it was blasphemy. Blasphemy is when someone either claims to be God or when someone rejects God or sacred things. So to them, Stephen was blaspheming God. And the penalty for blasphemy? Death. That's why this was so serious to them.So the Jews, in their minds, were exalting Moses… and they claimed Stephen was rejecting Moses.Stephen responded that it was actually the opposite. They and their forefathers were the ones who rejected Moses all along.Let's look.• First, Stephen reminded them of helpful background. Verses 17-22. That Moses was supposed to be killed as a baby boy in Egypt, just like the rest of the Hebrew baby boys. But God saved him through Pharaoh's household! The Pharaohs were the kings of Egypt's. God had a plan for Moses. That's why in verse 20, it says Moses was beautiful in God's sight. Pharaoh's daughter took him in. Moses was raised with an Egyptian education. He had all the benefits of being part of Pharaoh's family. And God gave him wisdom. • But for the Hebrews, this would have been terrible. They would probably have thought that it was be better for Moses to be dead than grow up as an Egyptian.• If you've ever seen the Disney movie Prince of Egypt. Even though it has some inaccuracies, it actually portrays this pretty well. Moses grew up in Pharaoh's household. He had access to the family – he was one of them. And God would eventually use that to save his people.• Ok, here's where Stephen began to list the ways that the Hebrews rejected Moses• Verses 23-28. Moses knew he was a Hebrew. And one day he stood up for a Hebrew slave being oppressed. And Moses killed the Egyptian to save one of his own. But the word got out, and rather than being grateful – the people rejected Moses. They said “who made you a ruler and judge over us!” Notice that's quoted in both verse 27 and verse 35. The first rejection of Moses.• In verses 30-34, Stephen reminded them about the burning bush. That it was actually God who made Moses a ruler – God had chosen Moses to redeem his people. • God spoke through Moses, God redeemed His people through Moses. God used Moses to lead them through the Red Sea . He spoke to Moses at Mount Saini, giving the people the law. All that history is summarized in verses 36 and 38. We'll come back to verse 37 • And then, here it comes: Verse 39. Despite all that, it says “Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and in their hearts they turned to Egypt.” They rejected Moses again. And how ironic! It was Moses who grew up as an Egyptian, but the Israelites were the ones returning in their hearts to Egypt. • Isn't this our same temptation? If you are a believer in Christ, you have been called out of your sin, out of your slavery, out of your idolatry – called away from all those things that replaced God in your life. Yet the idols of our day – prestige, comfort, sensuality, power – You name it. We're tempted to get pulled back to them. And replace God with them. And that includes good things that can be turned into ultimate things… like money, sports, sex, career, children, clothing, entertainment, and video games.• Going back to the Israelites… their rejection of God and Moses got so bad – verses 40-43. they made a golden calf, they offered false sacrifices, and they worshiped the false gods.• They forgot God. I mean think about it. They had witnessed amazing things. God had freed them from bondage in Egypt in a powerful way through signs and wonders. God parted the red sea. He destroyed the Egyptian army going after them. Yet despite all that, they rejected God and the man that God had used to free them - MosesStephen was saying to them: “you forgot important details of your history – your own people's rejection of God and Moses. And now you are doomed to repeat it.”Now, if they were to respond to Stephen, they probably would have said – “Even though some of our forefathers rejected Moses, we certainly don't.”But that wasn't even true. Let me give you two ways that they rejected both God and Moses:Rejecting JesusFirst, they rejected Jesus… the very one that Moses prophesied about. Let's go back now to verse 37. Stephen said to them, “This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.'” Stephen is directly correlating Moses to Jesus.I want you to notice something. In their charges against Stephen, they used the phrase “THIS Jesus of Nazareth” … and they went on to critique Jesus' teaching. “This Jesus.” The word “this” in the Greek is “houtos.” It's not a negative word, but they are using it to emphasize Jesus. “this very Jesus” is what Stephen was teaching.And notice in Stephen response: • Verse 35 “this Moses” and “this man God sent”• Verse 36 “this man led them out”• Verse 37 “this is the Moses”• Verse 38 “this is the one… who spoke at mount Saini”Stephen is rhetorically noting that “this Moses” is the one that God called. Just like “this Jesus” in their accusation. Jesus was sent by God as well.The parallel is this: Just like their forefathers rejected Moses, so they are rejecting Jesus.In fact, besides both being rejected, there are several other parallels between Moses and Jesus. • Both are deliverers. Moses delivered God's people from slavery in Egypt. Jesus delivers his people from slavery to sin. Stephen calls Moses a redeemer in verse 36.• Both are prophets. Verses 37 and 38. Moses brought God's word in the form of the law, and Jesus is the word of God, fulfilling the law.• Moses is referred to here as a ruler and judge – two descriptions that match descriptions of Jesus.• And both are mediators between God and men. We read and we sang about Moses mediating. And Jesus is the great meditator between God and menSo you see, by rejecting Jesus, they were rejecting Moses. In verse 52, Stephen even says they “betrayed and murdered… the Righteous One”This is why he called them “uncircumcised in heart and ears.” Basically Stephen was saying they were unbelievers. Circumcision was the sign of the covenant promise. And by rejecting Jesus, they were no longer people of the promise. First, it was a heart matter. Now, heart in the Bible does not mean feeling. Today we say, “I'm following my heart” and we mean our feelings. Heart here is our will – what we hold on to dearly, what motivates us deep within.If you are not embracing Christ…. Meaning he is not the center of your life. If you haven't come to him for salvation, turning your life over to him… then you are “uncircumcised in heart” You need to embrace him and receive him.And part of believing is hearing. “Uncircumcised in heart AND ears” That means hearing the good news, that Christ died for sinners. That means filling you mind with truth and grace… not philosophies and worldviews that are not aligned with the Word… but rather with Christ and the Gospel.Rejecting Jesus is rejecting God and Moses.Rejection of God Law.Ok, the second way they rejected Moses… is they rejected his law.The Jews were the ones saying that Stephen rejected the law and rejected the customs of Moses. But in reality, they were the ones who rejected the law. The very last verse we read this morning, verse 53 says “you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.” By the way, that word “angels” is the same word in the Greek for messenger.Earlier this last week I was thinking about this - which law is Stephen referring to them breaking? We categorize the Old Testament law into three kinds:1.) the moral law, meaning the 10 commandments – its about morals, do this, don't do that, etc.2.) the ceremonial law. That's the sacrificial system –all the regulations about when and how to atone for sin with the blood of animals. That kind of stuff.3.) the civil law – that's like the various customs and criminal penalties, and what is clean and unclean.The moral law, The ceremonial law, and the civil law. And I was going back and forth trying to figure it out. I mentioned this to Coleman last Wednesday evening at youth group… and he had a very insightful comment. He said, “well back then, the Jews didn't have those categories of the law. The law included all the them.” That was like the “aha” moment. Thanks Coleman.And actually, there are allusions to all 3 types of law. In their accusations against Stephen, they referred to the customs of Moses – the civil law. Stephen brought up the sacrifices in verse 42 that their forefathers weren't doing – the Ceremonial law. And the moral law, the 10 commandments, were alluded to back in verse 38 regarding Mount Saini and the oracles of God given through Moses. Which they were outright breaking in their false witness and idolatry.They were breaking the whole law, all of it. And by doing so, they were rejecting both Moses and Jesus.You see, Jesus fulfilled the law. All of it. The civil and ceremonial law were no longer needed. Just like last week… remember, the temple was a shadow of the full reality of God's presence through Christ. So also all the sacrifices and the priests. They all point to Christ, to Jesus sacrifice on the cross. Christ is the Great High Priest… we don't need priests anymore. We have access to God through Jesus and His Spirit in us.And the moral law? Jesus submitted to it in perfect righteousness. He accomplished what we couldn't accomplish… perfectly obeying the moral law for us. Unlike the other laws, the moral law doesn't go away. No, it's still there for our instruction and sanctification, but Christ fulfilled it in His righteousness.So, Stephen was not rejecting Moses, no, he saw Christ as fulfilling Moses. Instead, they are the ones who rejected Moses, failing to see the law's fulfillment and breaking it.And we know the rest of the story. We looked at it a couple weeks ago. Stephen's martyrdom and the scattering of the church, all for God's purposes.Overall, Stephen's speech is a beautiful portrayal of the whole counsel of God applied to a situation. One commentator I read said this, “Deep knowledge of the Scripture allows one to have a worldview that differentiates what is in the world from what a child of God should think, be, and do” He goes on, “It is a particularly powerful moment when the Scripture is applied in such a way that it exposes what is really going on.” When God's Word, all of it, becomes central to your life – when you believe it and know it – God will use His Word directed by His Spirit… to help you discern the world around you… and to know how to respond and live faithfully to God in Christ.ConclusionAs we come to a close, let's step back and consider the significance of this moment in Acts. Stephen's sermon is a big transition point in the book. A couple weeks ago we explored the scattering of the church. We saw that God used Stephen's martyrdom to send the church to the rest of Judah and to Samaria.Well, there was also a break at this point. From this point forward, Christianity was no longer a sect of Judaism. No, this was the separation. Stephen made clear that Christ fulfilled the Temple and the Law, and the old was to pass away because the new had come. With Stephen's martyrdom, the persecution, and this clear divide on these central matters of faith - the church would now launch forth to bring the Gospel to the world.And remember who was there, who was listening in on Stephen's eloquent defense. Saul, himself… who would become the apostle Paul. And even though God hadn't turned Saul's heart yet to Christ... Stephen's speech, no doubt would come to Paul's mind as he connected all the dots from all of his knowledge and training in the Hebrew Scriptures and their fulfillment in Christ.And today… even though most if not all of us don't have Jewish heritage, we can still look back on Abraham and Joseph and Moses and all the faithful men and women of the Old Testament…. And we can celebrate their role in God's plan of salvation. We've been grafted into Christ. And all of these dear saints our now our spiritual ancestors, through Jesus. We can see and embrace their history as our history, fulfilled in Christ, so that we don't repeat the failures of the past. And one day, we will be worshiping God with them – with these saints, and with Stephen, in eternity with our savior.

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.

Moses, yes ...THAT Moses ...had a smart father-in-law (Jethro) who pulled the prophet aside and gave him sound wisdom that can apply to family caregivers. In my book, 7 Caregiver Landmines and How You Can Avoid Them, Landmine #7 is "...thinking that it's all up to you!" Read what Jethro told Moses.  "Moses' father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone."  Exodus 18:17-18 This theme, plus calls rounds out our 10/19/2019 show. Brought to you by Standing With Hope

Intro We have made it to Moses, If you have been joining us in Sunday School, you will be familiar with what I am going to be speaking about today because it was a major theme of our Sunday School material this week. The idea that Jesus is a greater Moses. That Moses served a very important role in God's…

Intro We have made it to Moses, If you have been joining us in Sunday School, you will be familiar with what I am going to be speaking about today because it was a major theme of our Sunday School material this week. The idea that Jesus is a greater Moses. That Moses served a very important role in God’s…

After multiplying the bread and fishes, Yeshua says something controversial: That Moses did NOT give them the bread from heaven, but rather it is the Father who brings forth bread from Heaven. This teaching was so controversial that much of the crowds left His audience. It can become so easy for us to get fixated on the bread that God gives to temporarily satisfy, that we miss what the bread is actually pointing to. These people were dependent on the manna from Moses to save them, yet Yeshua said their ancestors partook in that manna and still died in the wilderness! God calls us to look upon the true bread that He has provided, the true bread from heaven that everything else points to. If we worship the shadow instead of the substance it points to, we will likewise die in our wilderness - and that substance is Yeshua - not the laws of Moses.

This week we continued our in-depth study of Stephen’s defense speech before the Sanhedrin. Once again, Stephen focused on leaders who worshipped God pre-Temple and outside of the promised land. As he recounted Moses’ defining moments, he made it clear that: he was not anti-Moses; Moses met with God outside the promised land; and Moses... The post Acts 7:17-38 ~ This is THAT Moses appeared first on Laura L. Zielke.

This week we continued our in-depth study of Stephen’s defense speech before the Sanhedrin. Once again, Stephen focused on leaders who worshipped God pre-Temple and outside of the promised land. As he recounted Moses’ defining moments, he made it clear that: he was not anti-Moses; Moses met with God outside the promised land; and Moses... The post Acts 7:17-38 ~ This is THAT Moses appeared first on Laura L. Zielke.