Moses - Jeremiah's Vow

Lent 2022 | Day 21: Delivered

One of my favorite movies growing up was The Ten Commandments starring Charlton Heston. It is a retelling of the events found in the book of Exodus. The story of the rise of Moses, his exile, and his ultimate return as a messenger of God. It is one of the more compelling stories found in the Bible. In some ways, it is no surprise that it was adapted as a feature film.

One of the central themes of the movie is that of deliverance. The idea was that God would provide the means for the rescue of the nation of Israel from the slavery it endured in Egypt. This deliverance came through God’s use of an unlikely person.

Moses was spared from the annihilation of all the Hebrew male children by the ingenuity of his family. God’s protection of Moses would place him into circumstances that would prepare him for what God had in store for his life. No one could have foreknown how God would accomplish the deliverance of his people. There had been 400 years of difficulty and hardship. God remained faithful to his word.

The story of the Exodus is one of the key motifs of understanding the work of Christ to deliver us from the bondage of sin. Through the story and the events of the Hebrew people, we get a glimpse into how God brings about deliverance. There are too many facets to the story to be covered here but we will focus on the one that most closely connects the events in Exodus with Jesus. Namely that God’s deliverance of his people would involve a supernatural and miraculous set of events.

The work of Christ on the cross is the fulfillment of everything God promised for the generations of descendants of Adam and Eve. We all share in the same image that God put in them. And we all share in the same fallen nature that keeps us from having a relationship with God. But God is able to overcome this separation by entering into the world he has created. Through this entrance, God demonstrates his willingness to not only save but to be the one who leads us out of our captivity.

When I think about deliverance I find that there is a personal connection involved. That someone has come to where I am because I cannot get out of those circumstances on my own. This is deliverance. That Jesus Christ entered into the world to set us free. And that without his coming and his sacrifice we would have remained separated from God.

The season of Lent is an opportune time to remember that while we were sinners God sent his son on a rescue mission for us. And even more remarkable than this is Jesus accomplished the work God the Father had given to him.

As we continue drawing closer to Easter Sunday may remember we have been saved from the clutches of sin. We have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb of God. And we have been delivered from what seemed to be an impossible situation and have been restored to fellowship with God.

Lent 2020 | Day 32: “Deliver”

There is something powerful about the way God prepared, equipped, and sent Moses that has always been a source of comfort and challenge.

The movie The Ten Commandments may be the reason I love Moses and the story of the Exodus. But, there is something powerful about the way God prepared, equipped, and sent Moses that has always been a source of comfort and challenge.

In Exodus 3, we find the exchange between God and Moses at the burning bush. It was a miraculous event. In that moment, Moses’s life was forever changed. He encountered the one true God, and that God gave him a mission to accomplish.

The crazy thing about this is that while Moses was the physical representation of deliverance, it was God who was bringing about. In verse 8, God tells Moses this is exactly how it was going to happen.

⁷Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, ⁸and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey…” (Exodus 3:7-8a ESV)

There are several quick ideas I would like to highlight.

First, God was not blind. He tells Moses that he has come because he has seen the affliction of his people. In times like we find ourselves, I find this comforting. God does not have to remove the source of affliction for us to know he knows what is going on.

Second, God knew that suffering was taking place. Therefore, we can know that God knows that suffering is taking place now. God’s knowledge of suffering is a reminder to us that he is compassionate. God does not delight in suffering and he is not guilty of evil when he permits it. Our inability to understand the purpose of our present circumstances is not an indictment on God’s goodness.

Third, God had a greater good in mind of his people. God is a good God. He is also a good Father. He is not blind to our predicament and he is not indifferent to our tribulations. What we have to keep in mind, maybe even force ourselves to remember, is that whatever discomfort we feel (even if it includes death) pales in comparison to the promised blessings that await us. This is difficult in the middle of dark times. However, it is never too late to put our hope in God’s love and mercy, in his faithfulness and provision.

As we move steadily toward Easter, I would encourage you to take heart. We have not been abandoned. Our deliverer is nearer than we realize.

Lent 2020 | Day 4: “Serve”

My father’s often said that we live in an upside down kingdom. And most days, this doesn’t make much sense to me. It’s just that there’s something unusual about the idea that the world in which we live is upside down, and the kingdom of God is right side up. But that is part of the mystery of what we are having to deal with as followers of Christ in this world.

The word focus for today is “serve.” Jesus said that the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve. He told the disciples that if any one wants to be the greatest in the kingdom, he must become the servant of all.

One of the great mysteries of the Christian faith is that service is the highest goal. Service is the measure by which we determine who has properly understood and who has properly received the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus is a king. When he was born, he was born King of kings and Lord of lords. On the inscription over his cross as he was crucified, it listed him as the King of the Jews. But the world did not receive him as a king, because the world did not understand that he was a king of those who lived in service to each other.

One of the most amazing passages of Scripture that Jesus ever told His disciples was when he said to them, that the world will know that they were his disciples by their love one for another. How is this love supposed to be expressed? How is the world ever going to know what this love looks like?

The reality is that the love that God has given to us in and through the person and ministry of Jesus Christ can only be expressed in service. When we give of ourselves to one another we are serving and embodying the fullness of what God desires for us. When we surrender our rights, and we look for the good of others, even if it costs us something that we are not ready or even unwilling to give, we are truly serving one another.

This is the power of this season of Lent. We are going to be challenged each and every day for the next few weeks to consider, what is it that we are unwilling to surrender in order to serve one another? The greater the challenge, the greater the opportunity for us to demonstrate what we have learned, how we have grown, and how God has transformed us into persons who are more willing to give than to receive. This is the great wonder of the gospel.

The Gospel challenges us to consider that there are things greater and have greater worth than we could ever have ever imagined. If we would just surrender ourselves to the reality and maybe even the possibility that what God has for us is so much better than we could ever have accomplished for ourselves. But because our imaginations are so small, all we can see is what’s in front of us.

I don’t know about you, but I want to serve better. I want to serve more intentionally. I want to serve more deeply. But if that’s going to happen, I have to let go of what I think it means to be a servant. I have to look to Jesus as the primary example of my life. I need to turn to him and trust in Him to teach me, to lead me, to help me to see that service is not just something I do. It is who I am becoming.

Lent 2020 | Day 2: “Wilderness”

The focus of today is the idea of wilderness.

Whenever I hear this word, I am always reminded of the journey that the people of Israel took after the exodus into the wilderness. They were on their way to the promised land. And in the middle of that journey, they would find themselves face to face with their God, who would proclaim His Word and His truth to them, and give them instruction for how they should live and exist one with another.

What is difficult about the wilderness is not that it can be harsh, or even that it will test you. What makes the wilderness difficult is that we have a hard time accepting its purpose. The purpose of the wilderness is to break us from the patterns that we have previously developed.

One of the great examples of this is when the people of Israel went to Moses and they complained that it would have been better for them to stay in Egypt, in slavery and captivity, than to die out in the wilderness. But God had to break them of the patterns that they had developed over 400 years of indentured servitude. God had to break them of the identity that they had developed in the time that they have spent as slaves, and as servants, to unkind and unjust masters.

The truth of the matter is that the wilderness is not supposed to be easy. It’s not supposed to be something that we enjoy. The wilderness is the place where the things that we have accepted, that are wrong, are exposed. And the way that God works his miracle in us is to reveal to us that we can survive, that we can make it, that we are not alone, that he is with us.

God wants to show us that if we would submit to being his people, he has promised to be our God. That when we are in the place of our greatest need, he will provide his greatest supply.

This is the power of the wilderness, it exposes that which is wrong in us, and that which we have accepted and must now reject. The wilderness sheds light on all those areas of our lives that are not who we truly are. And it takes us to that moment where we can trust, truly trust, maybe even for the first time, that the God who has saved us, who has delivered us, has brought us into the wilderness for this very reason: that we might come face to face with who we thought we were, and actually discover who we are supposed to be in him.

I hope that you will continue to follow along in this season of Lent as we prepare ourselves to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Word to the Wise | “Fellowship with God”

Most of us are familiar with Moses and his extraordinary faith. This is the man that confronted the most powerful ruler of his time without a single soldier or even a personal weapon for self-defense. All he had was a shepherd’s staff. And with it he beat Pharaoh’s pride.

The story, however, includes a very short statement that is often overlooked. God said to Moses, “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagle’s wings, and brought you to Myself” (Exodus 19:4-6). Wow! God’s primary purpose was to establish an intimate relationship with the people of Israel–He brought them to Himself. Over the following decades and centuries God’s desire to fellowship with the people was rejected. But, in spite of the rejection God sent His own Son, Jesus, to reconcile us back unto Himself.

John quoted Jesus’ words in the book of revelation, “I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20). From Genesis, when God had an intimate relationship with Adam and Eve, to the exodus when God called the people of Israel unto Himself, to the book of the Revelation, God continues to call men and women to open the door of fellowship to Him. Have you opened the door of your heart to Him? If you have, enjoy your invitation to dinner in God’s Kingdom.

Pastor Luis Scott
Ambassadors of Christ Fellowship
(03/11/09)