Lessons from Moses

“The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with His friend…”  Exodus 33:11

Although Moses has been dead for quite a while :), I keep finding that God uses Moses’ life to teach me really important truths.  Some of these truths are ones I learned years ago.  Some are ones I thought I learned…but I need to be reminded of these every day.  

Even this week I was struck with another truth!  So I wanted to write these down as a “stone of remembrance” as I start a new school year tomorrow!

TRUTHS from Moses’s life:

1.       The answers to the biggest questions/doubts we have in life revolve around who God is, not who we are.  (Exodus 3-6)

a.       “Who am I?”  (3:11)  - IDENTITY

                                                               i.      God replies:  “I will be with you.”  (3:12)

b.      “O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant.  I am slow of speech and tongue.”  (4:10)  - GIFTS/TALENTS

                                                               i.      God replies:  “Who gave man his mouth?  Who makes him deaf or mute?  Who gives him sight and makes him blind?  Is it not I, the LORD?  Now go, I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”  (4:11-12)

c.       “O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people?  Is this why you sent me?  Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.”  (5:22-23) – SETBACKS

                                                               i.      God replies:  “Now you will see what I will do…I am the LORD…I am the LORD…I will…I will…I will…I will….I will…I am the LORD….I will…I will…I am the LORD.”  (6:1-8) 

(**It sure seems like God’s going to take care of things, eh? J)

2.       The ability to persevere through the hard times in this life is made possible by keeping our sights on God.

a.       Hebrews 11:24-27 “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.  He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time.  He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.  By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw Him who is invisible.”

3.       It is one thing to see what God is doing around us.  It is another thing completely to trust in His ways.  (even if you don’t fully understand)

a.       Psalm 103:6-7 “The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.  He made known His ways to Moses, His deeds to the people of Israel.” 

b.      Trusting in His ways comes from knowing who He is.  (I’m sensing a theme….)

c.       Moses specifically asked God that he would better understand His ways. (Ex 33:13)

4.       This last one I’m going to frame as a question, because this is the one I have had to relearn this week.  What is most important to me in this life?

Exodus 33:12-17 “Moses said to the LORD, ‘You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me.  You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’  If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you.  Remember that this nation is your people.’

“The LORD replied, ‘My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’

“Then Moses said to him, ‘If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.  How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us?  What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?’

“And the LORD said to Moses, ‘I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.’”

This was a very important passage to me when I was graduating college a few years ago.  I read it and thought, “Yeah!  All my friends are getting married…I don’t know where I’m going or what I’m doing for you – who are you going to send with me?”  And I realized that God was going with me.  He loved me. He knew my name.  He would direct me and give me rest.

But as I looked at this passage again, I realized that being married or single is not what this passage is about (although God used it years ago to remind me of His presence going with me into the unknown).  Maybe Moses was never asking God about people to be with Him.  Maybe the whole time Moses was making sure that God would go with Him.  It sure seems like a theme throughout Moses’ life.

Beth Moore looked at this passage (Exodus 33) in her devotional book, Whispers of Hope.  Her thoughts were so encouraging to me, I wanted to retype them here:

• “Moses had a remarkable relationship with God…He experienced and indescribable level of intimacy that comes from two having their full attentions and expressions turned toward each other.”  (face-to-face)
• “So deeply involved were God and Moses that the weary servant could not bear the thought of proceeding a single step without God’s presence….Moses didn’t want good results.  He wanted God.”
• “How would you feel if God promised you success and victory but without His presence?  Would we know the difference?  Would we go on reluctantly?  Or would we trade in every victory, every dream come true – our chosen destiny – just to enjoy His presence?  Difficult questions.  But I think if we knew God – really knew Him so well He felt He could talk with us like a friend and share HIS heart with us as we share ours with Him – we would trade in everything just to enjoy His presence.”
• “…We will not want to make a move without receiving an answer to this question: ‘Is your presence going with me, God?  If not, keep me in the wilderness, seal away the milk and honey, keep the Jordan from my sight.  For if your presence does not go with me, do not send me from here.’”  (p. 103)

Moses’ life is filled with reminders that we experience the fullness when we know who He is, not who we are (but that also knowing Him clarifies who we are).  We can rest when we keep our eyes on Him.  We can trust in His ways.  We can develop a relationship where we speak with Him face-to-face.  Hopefully, someday, we can say like Moses that God speaks with us as a man speaks with his friend. 

And when all of that is true – I am sure that the choice between worldly “success” and God’s presence won’t even be worth contemplating.  

In the 2014-2015 school year, may His Presence be my goal.

Passion

This past Sunday at church, someone mentioned that it was the beginning of “Passion Week.”  I admit, under my breath, I chuckled a bit – because outside of a church setting, declaring a week to be “passion week” could be a bit risqué.  If we play a word association game and I say “passion”, I am pretty sure that Jesus won’t be the first thing to pop into your mind.  My guess is that you’d probably think of romance…and if we believe all that TV and the movies tell us, then “passion” must just be a synonym for sex.

So, why do we call this Passion Week?  Have we lost the original meaning of the word passion? 

According to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11^th edition), passion is a noun.

It is an English word derived from Anglo-French, which came from the Latin word passion.  Passio meant suffering…and the Latin word pati meant “to suffer”.

If you capitalize the word “Passion”, the dictionary says it means:

a.      the sufferings of Christ between the night of the Last Supper and his death

b.      an oratorio based on a gospel narrative of the Passion

***Side note:  PASSION. FLOWERS. ARE. SO. COOL.  They were named because of the “passion” of Christ’s death.  They are also called the “flower of the five wounds.”  You should read up on that when you get a chance. J 

 

That fits with “Passion Week”.  But how did we go from there to the meaning of “passion” today?

If this article is correct, then the word passion developed through time – was affected by different languages (Latin, French, English….even the Greek “pathos”) and different authors (Shakespeare).    

Using the word “passion” for suffering is now obsolete…but we do see the word passion being used for emotion or an “intense, driving, or overmastering feeling or conviction”.  Merriam-Webster states that it can also refer to an ardent affection (love) or a strong “devotion to some activity, object, or concept”.  It can also mean a sexual desire or an object of desire or deep interest.  In other words, the dictionary now says, “Passion applies to an emotion that is deeply stirring or ungovernable.”  Passion, today, often means Love - an inexplicable emotion that takes over us and makes us do things we wouldn't normally do.

Can we think of Passion Week in those terms?  In some ways, yes. 

During this week, we remember and celebrate that Jesus “set his face towards Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51).  We are amazed that He would go to the cross for us – to take our punishment – to LOVE us that deeply.  I would say that qualifies as a strong emotion/ardent affection.  But, it was not without reason or ungovernable.  Jesus was in control of His emotions; He knew what He was heading into.  He even prayed this prayer:

“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will but yours be done.”  (Luke 22:42)

That cup included whipping, crowns of thorns, nails, a rugged/splintered cross, physical pain, spiritual separation…and He went anyway.  For us.

Passio is Latin, but so also is pati.  Pati is the root word for Patient, which is an adjective that means:

1.       Bearing pains or trials calmly without complaint

2.       Manifesting forbearance under provocation or strain

3.       Not hasty or impetuous

4.       Steadfast despite opposition, difficulty or adversity

5.       Able or willing to bear

That truly sounds like Jesus.  It sounds like Passion Week – the Lord Jesus Christ, the man who not only was able, but who was willing to bear our sins…calmly and without complaint.  That's not love as our culture portrays it.

Passion, like so many words today, has had an evolving definition.  Truly, today’s most prevalent definition would probably be a romantic passion seen most frequently in art.   

If TV, movies, and other art forms are really the cries of our culture’s heart and depict a world longing for passion…a world longing to understand what it means to truly be loved…then maybe we need to consider that there is a deeper passion than sexual passion.

And that Passion was Love displayed on a cross two thousand years ago.

 

This week, as I remember THAT Passion, may my heart echo with thankfulness the words of Charles Spurgeon:

"Come in, O strong and deep love of Jesus, like the sea at the flood in spring tides, cover all my powers, drown all my sins, wash out all my cares, lift up my earth-bound soul, and float it right up to my Lord's feet, and there let me lie, a poor broken shell, washed up by his love, having no virtue or value; and only venturing to whisper to him that if he will put his ear to me, he will hear within my heart faint echoes of the vast waves of his own love which have brought me where it is my delight to lie, even at his feet forever"  (Morning & Evening, April 12).  

 

Dwell: To sit or circle?

Roses give off a beautiful aroma, don’t they?  Just last week I had a bouquet of roses in my hand…and life was just…well…rosy. J  Haha.  I realized that sometimes it really is good for the soul to stop and smell the roses.  Beautiful smells are comforting, aren’t they?  

Jesus tells us to consider lilies…if he cares for those, how much more will he take care of us?  But it is hard to smell the roses unless you stop.  It’s also hard to consider lilies unless you slow down enough to look at them. 

I would submit that the majority of our lives look like a mixture of marathons and sprints.  We are constantly running, doing, serving, working…  Busyness isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  But always being busy is.

So how do we stop?  Can we stop?  Where do we dwell? 

Here’s something God just taught me this weekend – and I hope it’s a blessing to you.

Psalm 84

“¹How lovely is your dwelling place,
    Lord Almighty!
² My soul yearns, even faints,
    for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out
    for the living God.
³ Even the sparrow has found a home,
    and the swallow a nest for herself,
    where she may have her young—
a place near your altar,
    Lord Almighty, my King and my God.
⁴ Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
    they are ever praising you.

⁵ Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
    whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
⁶ As they pass through the Valley of Baka,
    they make it a place of springs;
    the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
⁷ They go from strength to strength,
    till each appears before God in Zion.

⁸ Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty;
    listen to me, God of Jacob.
⁹ Look on our shield, O God;
    look with favor on your anointed one.

¹⁰ Better is one day in your courts
    than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
    than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
¹¹ For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
    the Lord bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
    from those whose walk is blameless.

¹² Lord Almighty,
    blessed is the one who trusts in you.”

 

Isn’t Psalm 84 encouraging?  I really love this psalm.  And as many times as I’ve heard the words of verse 10 – even in song form – I never really pieced together what it might have meant for those who wrote it.

The Bible tells us that David didn’t write this Psalm.  Instead, the sons of Korah wrote this song.  And I just happened to be reading about them in I Chronicles yesterday when a description of their work reminded me of this psalm.

I Chronicles 9:17-34

¹⁷ The gatekeepers:

Shallum, Akkub, Talmon, Ahiman and their fellow Levites, Shallum their chief ¹⁸ being stationed at the King’s Gate on the east, up to the present time. These were the gatekeepers belonging to the camp of the Levites. ¹⁹ Shallum son of Kore, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, and his fellow gatekeepers from his family (the Korahites) were responsible for guarding the thresholds of the tent just as their ancestors had been responsible for guarding the entrance to the dwelling of the Lord. ²⁰ In earlier times Phinehas son of Eleazar was the official in charge of the gatekeepers, and the Lord was with him. ²¹ Zechariah son of Meshelemiah was the gatekeeper at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

²² Altogether, those chosen to be gatekeepers at the thresholds numbered 212. They were registered by genealogy in their villages. The gatekeepers had been assigned to their positions of trust by David and Samuel the seer. ²³ They and their descendants were in charge of guarding the gates of the house of the Lord—the house called the tent of meeting. ²⁴ The gatekeepers were on the four sides: east, west, north and south. ²⁵ Their fellow Levites in their villages had to come from time to time and share their duties for seven-day periods. ²⁶ But the four principal gatekeepers, who were Levites, were entrusted with the responsibility for the rooms and treasuries in the house of God. ²⁷ They would spend the night stationed around the house of God, because they had to guard it; and they had charge of the key for opening it each morning.

²⁸ Some of them were in charge of the articles used in the temple service; they counted them when they were brought in and when they were taken out. ²⁹ Others were assigned to take care of the furnishings and all the other articles of the sanctuary, as well as the special flour and wine, and the olive oil, incense and spices. ³⁰ But some of the priests took care of mixing the spices. ³¹ A Levite named Mattithiah, the firstborn son of Shallum the Korahite, was entrusted with the responsibility for baking the offering bread. ³² Some of the Kohathites, their fellow Levites, were in charge of preparing for every Sabbath the bread set out on the table.

³³ Those who were musicians, heads of Levite families, stayed in the rooms of the temple and were exempt from other duties because they were responsible for the work day and night.”

 

Isn’t it interesting that those who had to spend their time at the doors/gates of the tabernacle wrote Psalm 84?  The psalm talks of the loveliness of God’s dwelling…the desire to be near the altar (and there were two of them – together they picture the finished work of Christ’s death and resurrection)…that those who dwell in God’s house are ever praising him (like the musicians day and night)…that it is better to be one day in God’s courts than a thousand elsewhere…that it is better to be a doorkeeper in the house of God than dwell in the house of the wicked.

Wow.

They were praising God for the opportunity to be with Him – even if their job by today’s standards was quite menial.  Baking bread?  Being security?

And a few things struck me:

1.      God names the security guards and bakers by name.  Their job might not seem important to us – but they were working for Him, and He recognized it.  Seemingly menial jobs are important.

2.      Seemingly menial jobs can bring blessing.   And sometimes that involves our choice to recognize where God has placed us.  These men worked in the tabernacle!  They were with God (just as we are – because He is always with us).  And these men wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else.  They wanted to dwell with Him. J

3.      The word:  DWELL.  I love words (as evidenced by my long posts).  But…I looked at the different times the English word “dwell” was translated from Hebrew.  And what I found surprised me.

a.       Psalm 84:1 – “dwelling place” – also translated “tabernacle” – from the Hebrew word mishkân, meaning residence.

b.      Psalm 84:4 – “blessed are those who dwell in your house” – from the Hebrew word yâshab, which means to sit down, remain, settle, etc.

c.       Psalm 84:10 – “I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.”

                                                              i.      Doorkeeper – Hebrew word sâphaph- “wait at the threshold”

                                                            ii.      Dwell – 2 Hebrew words

1.      min  minnîy or  minnêy - “a part of”

2.      dûr - to gyrate, move in a circle; to remain; dwell

 

I love this.  “Dwell” is the English word used for two seemingly very different Hebrew concepts. 

1.      If you dwell in the tents of the wicked, you are essentially moving in a circle. And let’s face it….moving in a circle is pointless.  You are going nowhere –  and you expend lots of energy doing it.

2.      BUT, if you are a doorkeeper in God’s house, waiting at the threshold, you are sitting.  You are resting.  And that Hebrew word seems to signify those who aren’t trying to do life on their own…but rather resting in the finished work of Christ.

This doesn’t mean that the people who sit don’t have jobs or responsibilities – but to me it seems that those who dwell with the Lord have lives characterized by “a sitting soul”…one that can rest amidst busyness…because that the work of salvation is done.

Those who dwell with the wicked are running in circles – always running, never being satisfied…because nothing can truly satisfy the soul except for Jesus.   

I want my life to be characterized as someone who sits with the Lord.

As someone who truly dwells in his presence.

And if I do, if all of us learn to dwell in the presence of Jesus, we might be just as comforting to others as a bouquet of roses.  J   

A Persian fable says: One day

A wanderer found a lump of clay

So redolent of sweet perfume

Its odors scented all the room.

 

“What art thou?” was his quick demand.

“Art thou some gem from Samarkand,

Or spikenard in this rude disguise,

Or other costly merchandise?”

 

“Nay, I am but a lump of clay.”

“Then, whence this wondrous perfume, say!”

“Friend, If the secret I disclose—

I have been dwelling with the rose.”