Tag Archives: Moses

Discontent, rebellion, and the grace of God

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God led his chosen but stubborn people from Sinai to the cusp of the Promised Land, and then they believed a report that the people of the land were too strong. So they refused to go in. Months of discontent gave way to rebellion. They chose leaders to replace Moses and vowed to go back to Egypt. God’s people can be slow learners. Have you ever noticed that?

In Numbers 14, they heard the spies’ report and refused to enter the promised land. They mourned that they hadn’t died in the wilderness. God told them they’d have their way: everyone over 20 would die in the wilderness over the next 40 years, but their children would conquer the Promised Land.… Read the rest

Jehovah Nissi, a banner pointing to the cross

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Jehovah Nissi, an Old Testament name for God, points to God’s miracle working power. And above all, to the cross. The Old Testament foreshadows the cross in many ways and demonstrates that nothing else can accomplish the same purpose.

In the first battle Israel fought after leaving Egypt, Moses tried and failed to serve as banner, or battle standard.

In Exodus 17:8-16, the Amalekites attacked Israel. As Moses later described the incident in Deuteronomy 25:17-19, they attacked from the rear and killed stragglers. The Amalekites descended from Esau. They had always been bitter enemies of Israel. On this occasion, they attacked like cowards.… Read the rest

Exodus: a roundabout road to victory

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God leads us, but his ways often seem to make no sense. Consider the exodus from Egypt. Israel left Egypt armed and in battle formation. But not as ready for battle as they may have thought. They could have taken a major trade route and gotten to the Promised Land quickly. That wasn’t God’s plan. Instead, they headed to the desert, apparently aimlessly.

I don’t know about you, but I always try to find the most direct route to where I want to go. When I’m driving somewhere, I get there quickly. When I’ve tried to reach life goals that way, it hasn’t worked out so well.… Read the rest

Remember God

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Lent is a time of repentance and preparation for Easter. That Jesus died for our sins and rose again to take them away means nothing if we don’t recognized ourselves as sinners. For all our individual differences, we all have one sin in common. We forget God.

Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt to the doorstep of the Promised Land. and they refused to enter.

They had forgotten God’s power, protection, and provision. When they heard the report of fortified cities, they wailed and declared it would have been better if they had died in Egypt.

So God granted them the next best thing.… Read the rest

Burning but not consumed : Moses, God, and a bush

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Fire appears in the Bible a lot.

  • God is like a refining fire (Malachi 3:2).
  • His word is like a fire and like a hammer that breaks the rock (Jeremiah 23:29). Three friends of Daniel spent some time in a fiery furnace.
  • Elijah called down fire on the men sent to arrest him (2 Kings 1:10, 12).
  • James and John wanted to call down fire on the Samaritans (Luke 9:54).
  • Tongues of fire appeared over 120 people in the upper room on Pentecost (Acts 2:3).
  • And during the Exodus God appeared as a pillar of fire at night (Exodus 13:21-22).


Fire can symbolize destruction of evil, refinement of believers like gold, finishing of believers like pottery, the presence of God, the action of the Holy Spirit and much more.… Read the rest

A journal and a diary

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Much of the Old Testament can seem pointless. Take Numbers 33. Consecutive verses begin, “And they journeyed from.”

After a brief interruption, there are 9 more verses that begin the same way. They journeyed from some place we’ve never heard of, went some place else we never heard of, and stayed there for. . . Who cares?

I remember similar disappointment when I encountered my great-grandfather’s journal. But there is a point.

… Read the rest

Beatitudes vs Ten Commandments

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Quiet contemplation--beatitudes, ten commandments

A large store posted its core values where everyone could see them. They included friendliness and good customer service, but one clerk was providing particularly surly and reluctant service.

When a customer pointed out, as gently as he could, that she was not living up to those core values, she snapped that she considered them as just words on paper.

The Beatitudes are the core values of the church. There is probably no other passage in the New Testament that is so widely known and admired.

Some people even hold them up as the be all and end all of Christianity.… Read the rest