“Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.”
For March 5, 2010- Read Exodus 3
The people, once dignified, honored guests, considered as very important people, have been brought low. They were, at the time of the historical context of this account, slaves of the lowest kind. They were slaves to a power they could not hope to overcome. Are you a slave of anything? They were mistreated, hurt, made to work beyond what is reasonable. Slaves that they were, they were treated worse than slaves. It was a bad time. I wonder if you can relate with their pains and difficulties. Hurt repeatedly, mistreated, dignity taken away, self-esteem completely gone and hope basically a word with no real meaning to the people.
It’s in this context that God spoke to Moses. He says: Ex 3:6 He said also, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. 7 And the LORD said, "I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings. 8 So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. 9 And now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me; furthermore, I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them.
How much to you know about our God? Is He a personal God or just an idea or a concept that is not really easy to understand? Who is He and what He does He do for you and for me? From His conversation with Moses, we learn of several important truths about God.
First, note that God sees what His people are going through. This seeing is an expression of love and kindness. God says: “I have seen the affliction of MY PEOPLE.” This seeing is deliberate on His part and is motivated by His love for His people. God sees what you are going through. He is not blind with regards to what we are facing and going through in life.
Second, note that God hears what His people are saying. There is no word that escapes the hearing of God. He knows every word, whether spoken or not because He loves His people. He hears the very sound of your moaning and groaning. He hears the sound of your sobbing over a painful episode in your life.
Third, He will do something about what He has seen and heard. He told Moses: I have come down. The Lord Jesus did exactly the same. He came down from heaven that we might have life and have it abundantly. This is something that is so wonderful about God. He does not just observe what we are going through. He will do something about it. Never just an onlooker because He is always our Rescuer and provider.
Your pains? These are known to God because He sees and He hears. The mistreatment you have been subjected to? God knows about it because He sees and He hears. The betrayals you have been through? He knows that too. The future that looks uncertain to us? Don’t worry about it. God sees and hears what was in the past, what is here and now and what is still to take place.
He sees, He hears and He will do something about it. What can He do? He is Omnipotent so nothing is too hard for Him. He is Omniscient so He knows exactly what our concerns are and He knows exactly what to do. He is Omnipresent so He is with us everywhere. No place is off-limits to Him. He is all these and HE IS YOUR GOD!
Thursday, March 4, 2010
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I think that we can add that God also sends/uses someone to help us out of our mess. In here, he sent Moses...so i guest we should also be open to people helping us out of messes, but also in the same breath, be wary that not everyone who extends a helping hand has the best intentions for us. So at the end of the day, every move should be presented to God and be certain that what we hear as a response is clearly and truly from the Lord...Search our heart. For in the end, the decisions we make will be one we'll have to live with to the end..we can not afford to be wrong!
The years of the life of Moses are divided into three forties; the first forty he spent as a prince in Pharaoh's court, the second as a shepherd in Midian, the third as a king in Jeshurun. How changeable is the life of man! The first appearance of God to Moses, found him tending sheep. This seems a poor employment for a man of his parts and education, yet he rests satisfied with it; and thus learns meekness and contentment, for which he is more noted in sacred writ, than for all his
learning. Satan loves to find us idle; God is pleased when he finds us employed. Being alone, is a good friend to our communion with God. To his great surprise, Moses saw a bush burning without fire to kindle it. The bush burned, and yet did not burn away; an emblem of the church in bondage in Egypt. And it fitly reminds us of the church in every age, under its severest persecutions kept by the presence of God from being destroyed. Fire is an emblem, in Scripture, of the Divine holiness and
justice, also of the afflictions and trials with which God proves and purifies his people, and even of that baptism of the Holy Ghost, by which sinful affections are consumed, and the soul changed into the Divine nature and image. God gave Moses a gracious call, to which he returned a ready answer. Those that would have communion with God, must attend upon him in the ordinances wherein he is pleased to manifest himself and his glory, though it be in a bush. Putting off the shoe was a token of
respect and submission. We ought to draw nigh to God with a solemn pause and preparation, carefully avoiding every thing that looks light and rude, and unbecoming his service. God does not say, I was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but I am. The patriarchs still live, so many years after their bodies have been in the grave. No length of time can separate the souls of the just from their Maker. By this, God instructed Moses as to another world, and strengthened his belief of a future
state. Thus it is interpreted by our Lord Jesus, who, from hence, proves that the dead are raised, Lu 20:37. Moses hid his face, as if both ashamed and afraid to look upon God. The more we see of God, and his grace, and covenant love, the more cause we shall see to worship him with reverence and godly fear. (Ex 3:7-10)
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