Tag Archives: Exodus 2:11-3:22

January 26, 2015 Bible Study– Faith As Small As A Mustard Seed

For today, One Year Bible Online links here.

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Proverbs 5:7-14

    Stay away from immoral people, if you allow them to suck you into their immorality you will regret it. It may seem pleasing at first, but you will lose your honour and everything of value.

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Psalm 22:1-18

    This is the psalm which Jesus referenced when He hung on the cross and cried out “My God, My God why have you abandoned me?” According to tradition, when a rabbi, or teacher of Jewish law, quoted the first line of a passage of Scripture, he was quoting the entire passage. So, let’s take a look at the first part of this passage which Jesus quoted while on the cross. I will look at the rest tomorrow.
    The psalm reflects feelings of great despair. Yet, even in that despair, it gives glory to God and acknowledges the good He has done in the past. The psalmist expresses that he is in great pain from the scorn and mockery of those around him. They ask why, since he relies on God and claims God’s love, God does not save Him? In the Gospels we are told that the crowd around Jesus echoed verse 8 of this psalm. The psalmist (and Jesus by referencing this psalm) declares that it was God who brought him safely from his mother’s womb. God has been his God since birth. This portion of this psalm is both a statement of despair and one of great faith.

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Matthew 17:10-27

    When the father brought his son to Jesus to request healing and tells Him that the disciples had been unable to heal the boy, Jesus expresses anger. It is not clear to me what Jesus was angry about. It is unclear to me why Jesus is angry. Based on what He says after healing the boy there are two possibilities that I can see, but I am not sure which is true, or whether there is some further explanation which has not occurred to me. The first possibility is that Jesus is angry with His disciples because they did not have enough faith to heal the boy. The second possibility is that He was angry because the father did not have faith that the disciples could heal the boy.
    Jesus follows this up with telling His disciples that if they had faith no larger than a mustard seed, they could tell a mountain to move, and it would move. I truly believe that this is true. However, I believe that if you have faith that it is God’s will for that mountain to move, you will do more than tell it to move. You will grab a shovel and start digging, or hire an earth mover if you can afford one. If your faith tells you that something needs to be done, you won’t wait for God to perform a miracle, you will start doing whatever is within your power to accomplish that something. If you grab a shovel and start digging, that mountain WILL     Let us look for the “mountains” in this world that God wants moved and grab our shovels! Let’s stop worrying that we do not have “enough” to complete the task and do what is within our power, trusting God to provide the difference. Remember the feeding of the 5,000 and the 4,000.

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Exodus 2:11-3:22

    In many ways this passage is the perfect counterpoint to what I just said about faith. In this passage, Moses went to visit his people. He recognized their suffering and acted in an attempt to relive that suffering. Things did not work out as he had planned and he had to flee Egypt. Forty years later, God appeared to Moses in a burning bush and told him it was time to return to Egypt and lead His (and his) people out of Egypt. The first time did not work out because it was not yet God’s time.
    When God called Moses to return to Egypt, Moses resisted the call. He had learned the wrong lesson from his earlier failure. The lesson Moses learned from his first failure was that he was not the person to lead the Israelites. As I said, this was the wrong lesson. The problem with Moses first attempt to lead the people of Israel was that he tried to do it on his own (and, perhaps, it was not yet God’s time). So, when we grab that “shovel” I talked about in the previous section, let’s remember that we are not going to accomplish the task. We are merely providing our hands to do God’s work. A second thing for us to keep in mind is that we should approach such things prayerfully to make sure that it is God’s will that this “mountain” move. Let us remember that, perhaps, it is not yet God’s time for that mountain to move.

January 26, 2014 Bible Study — Who Am I to Do What God Is Calling Me to?

     I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. In order to make that possible I read the passages and write my thoughts a day, or more. in advance. My work schedule has recently changed, meaning that I may not have time every day to complete these. As a result, I am trying to get several days ahead. I hope this does not negatively impact the quality of these posts (if that is possible). If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.

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Exodus 2:11-3:22

     When Moses had become a grown man he went to visit his people, the Hebrews. While he was there, he saw an Egyptian beating one of the Hebrews. He looked around, and when he saw no one looking, he killed the Egyptian. The next day, Moses went out to visit the Hebrews again. This time he saw one Hebrew beating up another one. Moses confronted the aggressor. The man replied by asking Moses who had made him ruler and judge over them and if he was going to kill him as he had the Egyptian. Moses was feeling convicted to do something about the oppression of the Hebrews. However, God had not yet called him to act. So, he acted out of his own initiative and things did not work out well.
     Moses gave up his idea of helping his people and fled to Midian. There he once more demonstrated his opposition to oppression by defending seven shepherdesses from bullying by other shepherds(it also suggests that Moses was a fighting man to be reckoned with). There in Midian, Moses became a shepherd, got married and raised a family. After many years, God was finally ready to take action on the oppression which the Israelites were suffering, or perhaps, Moses was finally ready to do it God’s way. In either case, God called Moses to return to Egypt and lead his people out.
     When God first calls to Moses, Moses’ initial reaction is positive, “Here I am!” However, once God explained to Moses what He wanted him to do, Moses was not so sure. At that point Moses asked God, who he (Moses) was to appear before Pharaoh or to lead the people of Israel? Is that not how we tend to react when God calls us to a new task? “Who am I to do xxx?” God answered Moses the same way He answers us, “You are the person I have chosen and I will be with you.”
     Moses then asks what name he should use for God. God tells Moses to tell those who ask the He is, “I Am Who I Am.” I am having trouble figuring out how to express the thoughts this raises for me. Moses was asking God to tell him what “box” God went into. Which sort of God was He? Was He Ra? Or Osiris? Or perhaps Baal? If we are God’s people, which culture do we belong to? Are we Egyptians? Or Canaanites? Or some other group? God’s answer was that they are not, we are not, part of some other culture. We are God’s people and we are not to model ourselves over anyone except God.

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Matthew 17:10-27

     When Jesus got back down the mountain after the transfiguration, a father came to Him and begged healing for his son. The father told Jesus that His disciples had been unable to heal the boy. Jesus’ response troubles me. Who was He talking to? At a first reading, He seems to be calling the father faithless and corrupt. However, maybe He is talking about His disciples, but even that seems harsh. Jesus then heals the boy. Later His disciples ask Him why they were unable to heal the boy and Jesus tells them that they did not have enough faith.
     When we talk about people receiving healing, from time to time, someone says that if you are sick and God does not heal you, it is because you do not have enough faith. However, Jesus did not tell the disciples that the boy was not healed because he, or his father, did not have enough faith. Jesus told them that they were unable to heal the boy because THEY did not have enough faith. Jesus explains further by telling them that if they have even a bit of faith, just a mustard seed’s worth, they can tell a mountain to move, and it will move. I fully believe that is true. Of course, if you have faith that in order to fulfill God’s will (and faith that God’s will is the path to true joy) a mountain must be moved, you will grab a shovel and start moving it. Understand, I am not claiming that you working with a shovel will be sufficient to accomplish what must be done to fulfill God’s will, but nevertheless you will start working with that shovel. No matter how pointless it may seem. No matter how overwhelming the task may seem. You will do this because you will have confidence that no matter how big the task, if it is one God wants done, it will get done. If that means that the mountain miraculously moves without human intervention, or if it means thousands of people with shovels show up and start shoveling dirt, or if it means someone shows up with earth-moving equipment and moves it, one way or another, God’s will will be carried out.

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Psalm 22:1-18

     When Jesus was on the cross, moments before He died, He cried out the first line of this psalm: “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” I have often heard Christians develop theological explanations about how Jesus cried that because God had turned away from Him at that moment (including explanations about why God did that). However, I do not think there is any reason to believe that God did turn away from Jesus at that moment. The explanation can rather be found in rabbinical practice of first century Judaism. They would often reference a passage by quoting the first line of that passage. When Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” on the cross, He was calling attention to the whole of Psalm 22.
     Today’s portion of the psalm expresses the utter despair which Jesus must have felt as He hung upon the cross about to die. Yet even in the middle of expressing despair, the psalmist acknowledged God’s love and righteousness while expressing faith and trust in God. Even in the middle of his despair the psalmist did not turn away from God. Rather he clung to his faith in God. I pray to God that I will do the same in whatever trials and tribulations come my way.

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Proverbs 5:7-14

     The writer warns us of the importance of accepting discipline and listening to the words of those God sends into our lives as teachers/instructors. If we do not accept discipline and follow the teachings/instructions which God sends to us, we will face ruin and public disgrace.

January 26, 2013 Bible Study — I Am Who I Am

     I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.

Amaryllis In Full Bloom
Amaryllis In Full Bloom

Exodus 2:11-3:22

     When Moses became a grown man, he went out to watch his people, the Hebrews, at their labors. While there, Moses saw and Egyptian beating a Hebrew. carefully checking that there were no witnesses, Moses killed the Egyptian and hid his body. The following day, Moses saw one Hebrew man beating another. Moses chided him for hitting his fellow Hebrew. The man replied by asking Moses if he was going to kill him as he had the Egyptian. Moses became fearful that what he had done had become known and indeed it had. Moses fled from those Pharaoh sent to execute him. In a story vaguely reminiscent of the story of how Abraham’s servant found Rebekah to become Isaac’s wife, Moses meets a Midianite priest. After fleeing Egypt, Moses stopped and sat by a well. While he was there the seven daughters of a priest of Midian came to water their sheep. However some other shepherds drove them away from the water. Moses got up, rescued the daughters and watered their sheep. While the story does not make much of this these two accounts (killing the Egyptian and rescuing the priest’s daughters) suggest that Moses was not a good man to cross and that he had a sense of justice. The priest invited Moses to stay with him and in time gave Moses one of his daughters to be his wife.
     Years went by and the Israelites continued in their slavery and suffering. They cried out to God for deliverance and God heard their cries. One day when Moses was tending his father-in-law’s flocks, God appeared to Moses in flames of fire within a bush. When Moses saw that the bush was on fire, but was not consumed by the fire, he approached to investigate. As he approached the bush, God called out his name. Moses responded, “Here I am.” God then identified Himself to Moses as the God of Moses’ father and the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This caused Moses to hide his face because he was afraid to look at God. God then tells Moses that He has seen the misery of His people and heard them crying out to Him. Now God was sending Moses to Pharaoh to bring His people out of Egypt.
     Moses’ response to God’s instruction was to question how he could accomplish this task. Moses wanted to know who he was that God thought he could do it? He’d tried once to help the Hebrews in Egypt, failed and been forced to go into exile. He’d built a life for himself outside of Egypt, now God wanted him to go back to the scene of his previous failure. What was going to be different this time? God’s answer was that He would be with Moses this time. To which Moses replied, “Well, when people ask me who You are, what do I tell them?” God answered this question as well, and it is clear (to me anyway) from His answer that Moses was not just asking what he should tell people about the God who had sent him, Moses was asking, “And who are you?” God’s answer was, “I am who I am.” God then instructs Moses to tell the Israelites that he has been sent by the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God further instructed Moses to go before Pharaoh and request permission to take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to God. God told Moses that Pharaoh would refuse, but that God would not only compel Pharaoh to let the Israelites leave Egypt, the people of Egypt would give much of value so that when they left Egypt it would be as if they had plundered Egypt.
     How often when God directs us to do something do we respond as Moses did? I know that I do. All too often I respond with, “I tried and it didn’t work. Why would it work if I tried a second time?” All too often, I look at a task that God has set before me and say, “I don’t have what it takes.” God’s answer to that is, “I am who I am and I will be with you.” The first step to serving God is doing as Moses did, when God calls we need to answer, “Here I am.” There are still going to be times when we ask God, “How can I do that?” when He tells us what He wants us to do, but He promises that He is not sending us out alone. He will be with us. The one who is “I am who I am” and who is “I will be what I will be” will walk with us when He sends us out to do His will.

Reflections Of a Chandelier
Reflections Of a Chandelier

Matthew 17:10-27

     Yesterday’s passage concluded with the Mount of Transfiguration story, which I did not cover in my devotional. Today begins as Jesus comes down from the mountain and rejoins the bulk of His disciples. When Jesus got to the crowd that was waiting for Him a man approached Him requesting Jesus heal his son, whom he had brought to the disciples but they were unable to heal him. Jesus expressed frustration over the unbelief of those around Him, then He healed the boy. I believe that Jesus’ frustration was directed at His disciples, not the father of the boy or the other people bringing the sick to Him for healing. This seems to be supported by Jesus’ answer when the disciples ask why they could not heal the boy. Jesus tells them that they had too little faith. He goes on to tell them that if they have faith as small as a mustard seed they could say to the mountain, “Move from here to there” and it would move. I believe that part of how that works is that if we truly believe that it is God’s will that the mountain move from one place to another, we will not wait for it to move. We will start moving it, even if we have to take a shovel and start filling a wheelbarrow. I am not saying that the mountain will not be moved by a miracle. I am saying that if we have faith that God’s purpose in this world will be served by that mountain being moved, we won’t wait for the miracle. We will do what we can, starting now, no matter how futile that effort may seem. How often do I frustrate Jesus by my lack of faith? How often do I fail to act because I do not believe I can make a difference? Am I willing to act to accomplish God’s will, even when I know that my efforts are insufficient to the task? The fact is that my efforts are always insufficient to the task, but God does not expect me to accomplish it by my own efforts.

A Splash Of Red Among the Office Greenery
A Splash Of Red Among the Office Greenery

Psalm 22:1-18

     This is the psalm Jesus alluded to when He cried out “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” while He was being crucified. There are other references to this psalm in the Gospel accounts of the crucifixion. It is my understanding that when a first century rabbi quoted the first line of a passage, they were referencing the entire passage. So, when Jesus cried out “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” from the cross He was, in essence, crying out the entirety of psalm 22.
     Today’s portion of the psalm is one of utter despair. The psalmist references being mocked and tortured, suffering pain and humiliation. He tells us that people mocked him for his trust in God. In all of the suffering the psalmist references in today’s passage, he still acknowledges that God made and formed him from his very birth and that he will continue to worship God. Am I prepared to remain dedicated to God in the face of mockery and suffering?

Another Amaryllis Begins To Bloom
Another Amaryllis Begins To Bloom

Proverbs 5:7-14

     The writer advises us to stay away from adulterous relationships or we will lose our honor and likely all that we have worked for will come to naught. Adulterous relationships make one susceptible to many diseases and one will likely regret them later in life.