Monthly Archives: November 2014

A Walk Through the Wilderness (Lesson 3)

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God Reveals:

  • Who Moses Is
  • Who He is
  • His plan and promise

The two most important things for us to know as we walk through this desert is:

  1. Who God is
  2. Who I am

Once we figure this out, we can figure out who we are in God. To be more specific, who God says we are. Because that is usually very different from who we say or believe we are.

v. 1 Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.

Remember last week, the Israelites were blessed, but Now…. When Now happens, everything changes.

Moses was a Prince of Egypt. Now he is tending someone else’s sheep on the backside of the desert. It’s funny, because “backside” has a negative sound but actually this was the most fertile part of the desert.

v.2 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.

When God says behold, I think of when a magician says TADA!  2 Corinthians 5:17 says Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. Can you hear the TADA? So here Moses is on the backside of the desert shepherding, and he suddenly sees a bush on fire. It is completely engulfed, but when he looks closer, all the leaves are still intact. In my mind, I have always thought of this as being a branchy type bush, but in my research I found that the bush Moses saw burning was possibly a blackberry bush.  These blackberry bushes are hearty bushes that have small fruit on them, and a rose like flower. I am not sure why, but for me, the imagery of a hearty bush burning is quite different from a dried up branchy bush. And if it does have fruit and flowers on it, what happens when you apply heat? You get aroma.  Hopefully, you are getting a nice visual of the scene.  Moses is in the backside of the desert with stinky sheep, and all of a sudden, TADA, he sees and smells this amazing thing.  That would be something that would definitely catch your eye.

This did make me wonder….why such a show? I mean God only spoke to Abraham. Possibly this was because it was going to take some work to get Moses to believe who He (God) was, to believe in himself, and to be able to do the huge work that God was preparing him for.

Also, this verse says that an angel appeared, but we will see that it is actually God.  The word angel means a messenger, but I think the more appropriate interpretation is that God has come with a message.  An important message.  And an important message needs an impressive presentation.

v.4  And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said Moses, Moses. And he said Here am I.

This verse reveals so much.  It reveals who God is by the names used for God.  The Hebrew word for LORD is Yehovah (Jehovah) which means the Existant or the Eternal God

God is the Hebrew word Elohiym which means The Supreme God

When we know that Moses wrote the Torah, we understand that if he wrote the word LORD and God, he understood the meaning.  This was the place where the God that he had probably learned about at his mothers breast was revealed to him. The existant, eternal, and Supreme God.  There is no other.

This verse also reveals to Moses who he is in God.  Remember we talked about how important names were?  God not only addresses him as Moses, but He says it twice.  There is a reason. When God repeats something, He establishes it. Pharaohs daughter named him Moses because she “drew him out of the water”.  By repeating his name twice, He is establishing that Moses was drawn out of the water for divine purpose.  It was neither chance nor luck. “I drew you out of the water”.

v.6 I am the God of your father,

God not only reveals himself in this verse, He reveals who Moses is. When scripture uses the term your father, it usually means the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. So God is taking Moses all the way back to Jacob, which is when the Hebrews came to Egypt and reminding him of where he came from.

v.7 And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmaster; for I know their sorrows.

Isaiah 53:3 says that Jesus was a man of sorrows.  Remember when I said that God lives outside of time? When He looks at the beginning, He also sees the end. When He looked at their affliction, He could also see Himself in the flesh, and He personally knew what sorrow was. When God says I know, it represents intimacy. There is a huge difference in knowing about someone, and knowing someone.  So when He said, I know their sorrows, Moses understood that God was personally involved in, and intimately aware of their sorrows. And as we study this chapter, we can be assured that  He also knows our sorrows.  He sees it all through the lens of eternity.  Not unfolding, as in the story, but all at once. It is so hard for our finite minds to understand, or comprehend infinite.  When we say a prayer, or cry out to God, He has all eternity to decide what to do. He is not bound by our time. When He tells us to be still, He really does have all the time in the world to take care of our problem. And while I may not truly understand one single thing that I just typed, I know that it is so.

In this verse, God continues to establish who Moses is.  When God says “my people”, Moses understands that God is talking about the Hebrews, and Moses is a Hebrew. The Existent, Eternal, Supreme God, Jehovah is intimately saying to Moses, “I possess you. You belong to Me”.  And as a Christian, Jehovah is speaking the same thing to you. God never spoke more intimately to mankind, than He did by offering Himself as a sacrifice for our sins.

v.8 And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up and out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites, and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites.

This verse reveals 4 very important promises:

  1. I will come down…
  2. I will deliver…
  3. I will bring up and out…
  4. I will give you a good and large land flowing with milk and honey.

And then in v.10 He reveals the plan. Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.

I think at this point Moses has a WHOA!! Back up the train moment! YOU’RE GONNA SEND WHO?? And I think God, likewise, thinks….Did you pay attention to who I said I AM, and who I said YOU are? AND THE BUSH????? HELLOOOOO!!!! DID YOU SEE THE BUSH??? DID YOU SMELL IT???

v.11 And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?

This verse makes me think of the Casting Crowns song, Who am I? One part of the song says, “Who am I, that the eyes that see my sin, Would look on me with love, and watch me rise again?”. I don’t think Moses ever forgot that he murdered someone. I often think, “God, You know me. How can You possibly use me?”.  Perhaps you too have felt that way. It is funny that we think as Christians, we are to be perfect, but God gave us one example after another of how He uses imperfect people. The only perfect fleshy person in the Bible was Jesus, everyone else was jacked up in one way or another.

v.12 Certainly I will be with thee.

God knows who Moses is, and the only way he will be able to accomplish this overwhelming task is because God is going to be personally involved. The only way we can accomplish our walk in the wilderness according to God’s plan is for Him to be personally involved.  He never intended for us to do this on our own. As I have said before, and will probably repeat often, God’s desire, from Genesis to the Revelation, is an intimate relationship with us. One where He is personally involved.

v.13-14 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

As I said earlier, when God says Behold to us, it is like He is saying TADA! However, when we say behold to God, it is like we are saying, But… Or perhaps Wait a minute…. Listen…. I am sure that Moses was thinking of a million reasons why God could not use him.  I think the wording is interesting. Moses asks God in v.11 “who am I?” and God answers in v.14, do you know who I AM? I AM THAT I AM.  Again, He repeats it twice to establish it.  Who we are won’t matter if we truly understand who God is.

Now that God has shown Moses who He is in v.15-16, He commands him to go tell the children and elders of Israel who He is. That is Gods command to us as well.  Once you understand that Jesus is I AM, go tell others. And tell them God’s promise is to bring us “up and out of affliction and into the good land”.

v.18 And they shall hearken to thy voice: and thou shalt come, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and ye shall say unto him, The LORD God of the Hebrews hath met with us, and now let us go, we beseech thee, three days journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.

Don’t miss this.  Not just anyone could go to the King of Egypt and speak to him anymore than I could just go into the White House and speak to President Obama.  We know the previous Pharaoh died, (Exodus 2:23), but the next Pharaoh would have most likely been either Pharaohs brother or perhaps his son. And if he had no brother or son, then his daughters son might have succeeded him. That means that this new Pharaoh was most likely an uncle, cousin or possibly even a brother to Moses.  That would be why he was able to have direct access to Pharaoh.

19And I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand. 20And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that he will let you go. 21And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians: and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go empty: 22But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.

So in closing this chapter, God assures Moses that even though He will be with him, it is not going to be easy. Jesus tells us the same thing in John 16:33, These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

To navigate this wilderness that we find ourselves in, we must understand these foundational truths:

  1. Who God is (I AM)
  2. Who we are (Who am I?)
  3. The only reason we can make it is because He promises to be with us!

This is the ultimate revelation of God.  I AM!  What do you need?

  • A savior? I AM!
  • A God? I AM!
  • A protector? I AM!
  • A counselor? I AM!
  • A father? I AM!
  • A husband? I AM!
  • Whatever you need…. I AM!
  • I AM the eternal, existant, Supreme God!

And the crazy thing is that He promises to be with us.  He repeats this promise to Joshua in Joshua 1:9 – Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

This promise was for Moses. This promise was for Joshua. And this promise is ultimately for anyone that calls God “Father”.

A Walk Through the Wilderness (Lesson 2)

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A Bible study in Exodus

Chapter 1

Blessing

The Book of Exodus is actually called the Shemot in Hebrew. It means Names.   Which is where the book begins.

1These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: 2Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; 3Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; 4Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher. 5The descendants of Jacob numbered seventyin all; Joseph was already in Egypt.

In v.5 it says that there were seventy souls in all, but that is only counting the men. Remember that it says and his household.  So if you include the women and the children there were logically many more than 70.  God does not leave women out because they are unimportant, but because genealogy is of vital importance in scripture. Have you ever heard the saying, “momma’s baby, daddy’s maybe”?  The maternal lineage is unquestionable, but the paternal lineage is always subject to question. So lineage in the bible is critical to establish the continuity of the chosen people of God all the way to the absolute veracity of the lineage of Jesus. When Mary conceived, the bible with purpose and intent includes this scripture in Matthew 1:25 He married Mary. But he did not consummate the marriage until she had the baby. He named the baby Jesus. (The Message)  As I said before, if we begin to question certain parts of the bible, we actually make it of little effect.  We either believe it is the inspired word of God, or we put it aside as a combination of fact, fable, and myth.  In keeping with this line of thinking, it is important that we understand that much of the bible is accepted by faith. There is no other way to believe that a man poked a stick in the sea, and it parts, or that Jesus was able to rub mud in a blind man’s eyes to restore his sight. (John 9).  We gain understanding and wisdom to interpret the word through the Holy Spirit, and it is then applied to our daily life to guide us.  God’s word IS our cloud by day, and our pillar of fire by night.

v.6 Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, 7but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them. 

The bible is constant in the fact that multiplication = blessing.  The first thing God told Adam and Eve in the garden was to be fruitful and multiply.  Imagine this; Gods instructions to man after He put him in the garden was: Eat, have sex, and take care of the garden! How crazy is that?!? What is crazier is that man messed it up! But, I digress.

In Psalms 127 we read this,v.3 Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him. 4Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. 5Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.

So in reading v.5 we understand that God has done with Israel exactly what He promised to do in Genesis 46:3 God said, “I am the God of your father. Don’t be afraid of going down to Egypt. I’m going to make you a great nation there. When God says that He will do something, you can rest assured that He will do it.  He could have only told Abraham in that passage, Don’t be afraid to go to Egypt, but he adds the promise to the command. And He seals the promise with His authority, I AM.  We will talk more about this in our next lesson in Chapter 3.  We must understand that God’s commands are always linked to promises. If they were not, He would not be a kind and good God.  And if they were not, the teachings would be too hard to bear. But in order that we trust God, in the dry times of our wilderness walk, we trust that the command includes a promise for good.  One example of this would be the 5th Commandment to “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. The commandment, Honor you father and mother… the promise… that you may live long in the land.

I would like to encourage you to read Deuteronomy 28.  It is God’s word to the Israelites after they took the Promised Land.  It is a chapter of “ifs”, and “buts”.   If you do this, I( God) will do this, but if you don’t…. These promises and curses are just as valid today as they were 4000 years ago. Remember, Jesus did not abolish the laws or commandments, but fulfilled them.  He told us to obey them and to write them on the fleshy tablets of our heart.  Those promises are still connected to our obedience, and those curses are still connected to our disobedience.  The only thing that is different, is that when we mess us, we are not required to sacrifice a lamb.  The Lamb was already sacrificed.  Praise God.

Oppressing

8Now a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. 

The word Now in this verse, is the divine divider that will begin God’s great plan for deliverance.  In verse 7 they were fruitful and increased abundantly, but NOW things have changed. The were and the now happen to us all.  And in truth, many times, we will never walk toward God’s plan for our lives until the NOW happens.  This is definitely the case with the Israelites.  Unless NOW happened, they would have been completely content to stay in Egypt.  After all, they were doing well. As I said in the first lesson, they were blessed while all of Egypt was in bondage to Pharaoh.  But God had made a promise to Jacob in Genesis and God is faithful to keep His promises.

v.9“Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. 10Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.” 11So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. 12But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites 13and worked them ruthlessly. 14They made their lives bitter with harsh labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly. 
So with that one word every thing changes.  They go from being abundantly blessed to having taskmasters and being afflicted  (v.11). When God allows oppressing, He is still blessing! It grieved the Egyptians, and I guarantee that it grieved the devil. He can’t stand God’s people. As much as God loves us (more than we can ever comprehend), Satan despises us (more than we can ever comprehend).

v.15The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, 16“When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.” 17The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. 18Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?” 19The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.” 20So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. 21And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own. 22Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.”

It is a serious thing to understand 1 Peter 5:8 that Satan prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. He wants to devour your marriage, your children, your happiness and anything else that God blesses you with. And devour is just what he tries to do to the Hebrew people. Pharaoh orders the midwives to kill all the male children born to the Hebrew women. When that fails, it appears he commands ALL the Egyptians (v.22) to kill every male baby by throwing him into the river.

Chapter 2

1Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, 2and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. 3But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. 

As I said earlier, God does not think less of women than He does men. Women are precious to Him and we are made in His image, just as men are. But we are made in the gentle image of God. The compassionate image of God.  In Genesis 1:2 it says…and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.  This word moved, is the Hebrew word rachaph (raw-kawf) and it means to brood.  Think of a hen when she sits on her eggs.  This also reminds me of Jesus as He looks out over Jerusalem in Matthew 23:38 and cries out Jerusalem, Jerusalem…. How often I’ve ached to embrace your children, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you wouldn’t let me. (The Message).  We see a very tender side of God, and His cry for a wayward child.  This is what we see as Chapter 2 continues. In Matthew Henry’s commentary on Exodus 2, he writes…”The parents of Moses saw he was a goodly child. A lively faith can take encouragement from the least hint of Divine favor.  It is said in Hebrews 11:23, that the parents of Moses hid him by faith; they had the promise that Israel should be preserved, which they relied upon. Faith in God’s promise quickens us to use lawful means for obtaining mercy (they were told to put all the male babies in the river, and that is what they did). Duty is ours, events are God’s. Faith in God will set us above the fear of man. At three months’ end, when they could not hide the infant any longer, they put him in an ark of bulrushes by the river’s brink, and set his sister to watch. And if the weak affection of a mother were this careful, what shall we think of God, whose love and compassion is boundless. Moses never had a stronger protection about him, no, not when all the Israelites were round his tent in the wilderness, than now, when he lay alone, a helpless babe upon the waves. No water, no Egyptian can hurt him. When we seem most neglected and forlorn, God is most present with us“. Wow! That is a powerful commentary.

v.4His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him. 5Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. 6She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.

So Pharaohs daughter is bathing in the river, and she sees the little ark floating on the river and sends her maidens to get it. You can just hear her compassion in v.6.  Not an Egyptian. Not Pharaohs daughter, but a woman. Made in the image of the God of unfailing compassion. This evil Pharaoh apparently has a soft spot for his daughter, because on the one hand he has commanded that all the male babies be murdered, yet his own daughter brings a Hebrew baby into the castle to raise as her own, and it appears that this is tolerated. Apparently Pharaoh also noticed Moses was a “goodly” child.

Because this Bible study was originally for a group of women, one of the things that I want to add at this point is this. I have always thought of man being made in the image of God. But in Genesis 1:27 it says So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Women are made in the image of God too. How are we like God? There are many ways. *We are relational to our core. We should always be attempting to nurture and protect our relationships. *We love beauty. God could have made the world black, white and grey, but His love of beauty is clearly seen in all of creation.  We are not being vain or conceited to look for and create beauty all around us, and in ourselves.  *We are compassionate, loving, forgiving and kind. Our relationship with our children and our husbands should be modeled after the relationship that God desires to have with us. Loving, gentle and full of grace.  There is nothing more unappealing than a harsh, demanding woman and it is hard to see the beauty in a woman that is constantly complaining. I assure you that at this point in this study I am addressing myself even though it may seem as if I am pointing the finger at others.  Sometimes I catch myself actually looking for something to fuss about. I walk into a room, and think, “I bet she left that curling iron on”, and if she did, I am ready to pounce. I don’t understand what drives me to this, but it is a struggle that I have, and that I ask God to help me be aware of.

So, back to our study.  We know that Moses is raised by Pharaoh’s daughter in his very own castle.  I find that humorously ironic. But the irony doesn’t stop there. Moses mother puts him in that basket with the faith that God will protect him. And God certainly does.

v.7-9, Moses sister says to Pharaoh’s daughter, Shall I go and call a nurse of the Hebrew women that she may nurse the child for thee? 8 And Pharaohs daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child’s mother. 9 And Pharaohs daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the woman took the child, and nursed it. 

How is that for irony? I love the way God works. In faith, trust me with your child, and I will not only return him to you, but I will work it out so that you are paid to nurse and take care of your own child.  These things (among so many others) is what makes me love God!

10And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water.11And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens: and he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren.12And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.13And when he went out the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrews strove together: and he said to him that did the wrong, Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow?14And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is known.15Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian: and he sat down by a well.

Moses does what many of us do when we sin, he ran. Pharaoh vows to kill him and Moses runs and hides in Midian.

16Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters: and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock.17And the shepherds came and drove them away: but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock.

Up to this point, the only information we have about Moses is that he was a “goodly” child.  Now we are beginning to see the “goodness” in Moses. We see that he was concerned about his  fellow Hebrews being mistreated and now he stands up for these young women and even waters their flocks.

18And when they came to Reuel their father, he said, How is it that ye are come so soon today?19And they said, An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and also drew water enough for us, and watered the flock. 20And he said unto his daughters, And where is he? why is it that ye have left the man? call him, that he may eat bread. 21And Moses was content to dwell with the man: and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter. 22And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land .23And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. 24And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them.

So in wrapping up this chapter, Moses marries one of Jethro’s daughters, Zipporah, and they have a son and he is perfectly content (v.21) to dwell there.

But, meanwhile, Israel is still in bondage and v.24 says that God remembered them. Does this imply that God forgot them?  This passage in Isaiah 49 answers that question. But Zion said, “I don’t get it. God has left me. My Master has forgotten I even exist.” “Can a mother forget the infant at her breast, walk away from the baby she bore? But even if mothers forget, I’d never forget you—never. Look, I’ve written your names on the backs of my hands. (The Message)

The Hebrew word for remembered is zakar (zaw-kar) which means He was moved on their behalf and in response to their groanings. It is a word that means God was actively involved in their situation.  And when God “remembers” Israel,  He is also about to make Moses get actively involved in their situation.

God’s mercy is so amazing. God’s plan was to use Moses before there ever was  a Moses.  He didn’t change His plan when Moses committed murder. He already knew this. God never uses perfect characters in the Bible.  He uses very real people, just like you and I.  He used Moses because the heart of Moses was to protect. When Moses uses the words “Let my people go” to Pharaoh in a later chapter, He begins to take ownership of these people who God has given him. And in spite of the frustration he will feel with them, he will at times be the only reason that God doesn’t completely wipe out the Israelites because of their disobedience and stubbornness. This is a beautiful type and shadow of what Jesus does for us. He stands in the gap for us when we are disobedient and stubborn, and keeps God from completely wiping us out both individually and as a nation.

A Walk Through the Wilderness (lesson 1)

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Hello! Yeah it’s been a while…. I have spent the better part of this past year writing a bible study on the book of Exodus and sharing it with a wonderful group of women. It is called A Walk Through the Wilderness. We have almost finished this bible study, but with the holidays, and everyones busy schedules, I have decided to finish this on my blog. Please feel free to join me in these bible studies. I will post them from the beginning. So strap on your desert sandals and join us on this journey. I have learned a lot of things and my hope is that you will too. Please feel free to comment and let me know what you find interesting, or share some of your own insights on these desert musings.

A Study in the book of Exodus

The Exodus is a story about a nations total dependence on God.  It required the Israelites to follow God when they had no idea where He was leading them. It required absolute faith. As we walk through the wilderness with God’s chosen, we will see God’s grace, the law, discipline, and even death.

The Bible, from the book of Genesis to the book of The Revelation, reveals Jesus Christ. We first see Him when God says, “Let there be Light” (Genesis 1:3). When you look farther into Genesis, you find that God did not create the sun, moon and the stars (which is the things that provide light for the earth) until Day 4 of creation. So to find out what this Light was we will go to the gospel of John and read in the first chapter.

1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 
6There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 
9The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. 
So, Genesis is the beginning of the Bible, and the first words of the first book of the Bible that God speaks is “Let there be light”, and then John makes sure we realize that the light was Jesus Christ because He says the word was God. Please feel free to go back to the book of Genesis and take a look. God did not create the sun, moon and stars until day 4, so the light was not those things. And we know that Jesus said four times in the book of Revelation that He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.

The way it reveals Jesus in the Old Testament is through types and shadows. He is revealed through the actions of men, or inanimate objects, and sometimes He is even physically revealed, as in Daniel 3:25 when Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were thrown into the fiery furnace and King Nebuchadnezzar saw a fourth man like the Son of God walking in the fire with them. This is called a theophany. A theophany is when God takes human form.  Now consider that a  Christophany is an appearance of Christ before He was born of the virgin Mary.  As Christians we know that Jesus is God in the flesh, so they are basically one and the same.

Consider this verse:

1 Corinthians 10:1-6 1For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3They all ate the same spiritual food 4and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.

Let’s look at the 3 locations of the book of Exodus and how they apply in our lives.

  1. Egypt – Egypt is most often a symbol of bondage or slavery in the bible. However, there are times when it is a place of refuge and blessing. One example of this would be when the Israelites were saved during the famine by going to Egypt. In the New Testament, Joseph and Mary were told to take the baby Jesus to Egypt because Herod was having all the baby boys killed.  Ironically Moses was placed in a basket in the Nile River as a baby because Pharaoh, too, was having all the baby boys killed. Egypt is also a representation of our state of bondage before we are saved.
  2. The Wilderness – This is our time on Earth. This is where we live our lives. The wilderness is where we make all of our choices. This is where we, like the Israelites, follow God in obedience and faith, or we go our own way, and grumble the entire time.  Many people are not even aware that they were not created to wander aimlessly through the wilderness. When we accept Christ, we can rest assured that every step that we take is ordered by God. The Israelites were led by a cloud during the day, and a fire at night. They never just wandered without direction. We are never meant to wander without direction. If we will follow God and trust Him, we have this promise in John 12:26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.              .
  3. The Promised Land – This is what we are promised if we faithfully follow God. It is our reward. Everyone that journeys through the wilderness will not see the Promised Land.  As a matter of fact, it is interesting to note that all of the older people died in the wilderness and only the young ones were able to go into the Promised Land. In Matthew 18:3 Jesus says, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Little children have a trusting heart. They believe things that they are told. As we get older, we have a tendency to become just the opposite. And even worse than untrusting, we can become very cynical. It is sobering that unless we remain trusting in our Heavenly Father, and not faithless and cynical, we are assured we will not inherit the kingdom of heaven.

So, before we begin in Exodus, lets go back into Genesis and find out exactly how the Israelites ended up in Egypt.

In Genesis 37 we find the story of Joseph.  He is the favorite son of his father Jacob and definitely spoiled. While his brothers are out taking care of sheep, Joseph is at home with daddy. While his brothers are in some stinky shepherds clothing, Jacob makes Joseph a beautiful, elaborately embroidered, coat.  And Joseph is a dreamer. One day He dreams that all his brothers bow down before him as servants, and if you are an older sibling, you can almost hear the naner naner way he retells the dream.

The story of Joseph is a beautiful type and shadow of Christ. It is one of my favorites. His father sends him to his brothers like Christ was sent by the Father to His brothers. He is hated by his brothers. When Joseph goes to his brothers, they want to kill him but instead he is sold  into slavery, just as Jesus was hated to the point of death and sold by Judas for the price of a slave. Joseph ends up the ruler over all of Egypt, with only the Pharaoh above him, just as Jesus is second in the Godhead, (The Father, the Son, and The Holy Spirit).  Because of the wickedness of Joseph’s brothers, many are saved, just as the wickedness that killed our Lord on the cross resulted in salvation for all that would ask.

After Joseph is sold into slavery by his brothers, God continues to bless him. He ends up in charge of Potiphers house. After being falsely accused by Potiphers horny wife, he ends up in prison, but even in prison God continues to bless him. While in prison, two of Pharaohs servants that are imprisoned have a dream, and Joseph, the dreamer, is able to interpret their dreams.

Later Pharaoh has two disturbing dreams and Joseph is brought from prison to interpret his dreams. He tells Pharaoh that his dreams mean that 7 years of plenty are coming which will be followed by 7 years of severe famine. He suggests storing grain during the years of plenty so that they will have it during the years of famine.  When Pharaoh realizes that Joseph understands dreams and is full of wisdom, he puts him in charge of everything.

So during the years of plenty, all of the people of Egypt are required to bring to the storehouses 20% of everything that they grow. And during the famine, this is what saves the people from starvation.  But it is during this famine that Josephs brothers have to go to Egypt to get food or they will starve.  They come to Joseph, and not recognizing him, they ask to buy food.  After some interesting things happen, Joseph finally reveals himself to his brothers and moves his entire family from Canaan to Egypt.

In Egypt, Joseph’s family is given the land of Goshen to live in, which is the finest of all of Egypt.  Ironically, as the famine continues, the Egyptians run out of money to buy grain. They offer to sell their livestock to Pharaoh to buy grain. When they run out of livestock, they ask Joseph if they can sell their property and all they own to Pharaoh for food.  So, ironically, all of Egypt ends up in bondage except Joseph’s family. They continue to be prosperous in the land.

And this is where we start our story in Exodus.

The book of Exodus is the second book of the bible written by Moses. It is a part of the Torah, which is the first 5 books of the bible. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

I mention that it is a part of the Torah, because as Christians we have lost the Jewish roots of our religion.  Jesus was a Jew. All 12 of the apostles were Jews. Jesus and the apostles did not go to a Christian church, they went to Jewish synagogues. Their bible was the Old Testament or the Tanakh.  They did not have a New Testament because it had not been written yet. Their lives as they served the risen Jesus became the New Testament.

During this journey, we will often use Torah teachings to help us to understand much of the story. Because the King James Version Bible was written during the 16th century, some of the Hebrew words that were translated at that time do not have the same meaning in todays English. So we will look at some of the original Hebrew words to help us  understand what may have literally gotten lost in translation. Our English and the English spoken in the 16th century can differ greatly, and those differences can completely change the original intent or thought of those writers.

A humorous example would be when my youngest son Austin was in grade school, he brought home the Chronicles of Narnia, written by C.S. Lewis.  I love the writings of C.S. Lewis, but had never read his children’s books. I was very careful about what books I let the boys read, but knew that these stories were not only wholesome, but presented a type and shadow of Christ as the Lion Aslan. When I told Austin that I wanted to read these books after he was done, I sensed that he did not want me to read them. When I asked him why, he said that the book said gay and queer a lot. Those two worlds definitely have a much different meaning today then they did when the writer used them in the 1940’s. I had to explain the difference in the meaning then and now.  I am sure the book took on quite a different meaning after letting him know this.

I would like you to think about what it is that you struggle with most as you wander through this wilderness of life.  As you study Exodus with me and on your own, please feel free to comment on some of the things that you feel like spoke to you or that you have questions about. I may not know the answer, but I will definitely look until I find it.

My next blog will get us started in our study in Exodus. I am so glad that you have decided to take this journey with me.