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february 4, 2021 winter blind camp thursday night meeting.mp3
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Introduction and Welcome
00:00:27
Speaker
Greetings, ladies and gentlemen. We now present for your pleasure. Thursday, February 4th, nighttime. Winter Blind Camp Museum 2021. Enjoy.
00:01:23
Speaker
Hello, everyone. We'd like to welcome you to the 2021 Winter Camp Meeting for the Blind and Physically Challenged.
00:01:35
Speaker
We've had a good week this week. This is Thursday evening. And due to COVID-19, Camp Asabo is closed down. So we are having this virtual camp meeting for the blind at the Holley Seventh-day Adventist Church. We're gonna have Pastor Fred Calkins continue his series tonight.
00:02:03
Speaker
on faith on Hebrews 11. We're sure glad that we have him here with us.
Song Service and Congregation Participation
00:02:09
Speaker
And at this time, we'll have Pam Nielsen have the song service. Well, good evening.
00:02:34
Speaker
You're going to start hearing some of these songs again because I'm running out of songs to sing here. We're going to do them over. How about, I've got joy, joy, joy in my heart. That is page eight and nine.
00:03:21
Speaker
Joy, joy, joy, darling. Joy, joy, joy, joy. My heart. Where? Down in my heart. Where? Down in my heart. I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy. Down in my heart. Where? Down in my heart.
00:03:53
Speaker
I'm so happy, so very happy. I've got the love of Jesus in my heart. I'm so happy, so very happy. I've got the love of Jesus in my heart.
00:04:15
Speaker
I've got the love of Jesus, love of Jesus, down in my heart. Where? Down in my heart. Where? Down in my heart. Got the love of Jesus, love of Jesus, down in my heart. Where? Down in my heart. To stay. So happy.
00:04:38
Speaker
So very happy I've got the love of Jesus in my heart And I'm so happy, so very happy I've got the love of Jesus in my heart I've got the peace that passes understanding down in my heart Where?
00:05:03
Speaker
Where? Where? Where?
00:05:13
Speaker
Down in my heart today I'm so happy, so very happy I've got the love of Jesus in my heart And I'm so happy, so very happy I've got the love of Jesus in my heart Amen
00:05:45
Speaker
Let's see. How about let's sing above all again. Page 26. 26.
00:06:14
Speaker
Yeah, that might be in your song book. Okay.
00:06:35
Speaker
above all powers, above all worlds, above all nature and all created things, above all wisdom and all the ways of man. You were here before the world began.
00:07:04
Speaker
Above all kingdoms, above all thrones, above all wonders the world has ever known. Above all depths and all the secrets of the earth, there's no way to measure what your worth.
00:07:34
Speaker
You were crucified, laid behind a stone. You lived to die, rejected and alone, like a rose trampled on the ground. You took the fall and thought of me above all.
00:08:04
Speaker
above all powers, above all kings, above all nature and all created things, above all wisdom and all the ways of man. You were here before the world began,
00:08:35
Speaker
Above all kingdoms Above all thrones Above all wonders the world has ever known Above all wealth and treasures of the earth There's no way to measure what your worth
00:09:04
Speaker
You crucified, laid behind a stone. You lived to die, rejected and alone like a rose trampled on the ground. You took the fall and thought of me above all.
00:09:36
Speaker
Amen. Thank you. Oh, theme song. Four twelve.
00:10:13
Speaker
Look upon Jesus, sinless as he. Father impute his life unto me, my life of scarlet.
00:10:33
Speaker
I sin and wall Cover with his life Whiter than snow Cover with his life Whiter than snow Fullness of his life Then shall I know
00:11:17
Speaker
Thank you. Amen. Thank you Pam.
00:11:31
Speaker
Appreciate you being here. Praise the Lord.
Prayer and Hymn Celebrating Jesus
00:11:42
Speaker
Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank you so much for watching over us some more. We thank you for being with us step by step in our lives. We ask that they'll bless us now as we participate in
00:12:00
Speaker
and worship thee, we ask that thou be with pastor as he presents our message on faith. May each of us get that faith in our heart so that we might be able to serve you better every day. We ask that thou be with David as he does the special music, or Pam as she does the special music,
00:12:30
Speaker
We ask in Jesus' name, amen.
00:13:17
Speaker
I'm like, I know I had it. A wonderful Savior is Jesus, my Lord.
00:13:44
Speaker
A wonderful Savior to me. He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock, where rivers of pleasure I see.
00:14:09
Speaker
He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock that shadows a dry, thirsty land.
00:14:25
Speaker
He heighteth my life in the depths of His love and covers me there with His hand, and covers me there with His hand.
00:14:52
Speaker
A wonderful Savior is Jesus, my Lord. He taketh my burden away.
00:15:07
Speaker
He holdeth me up and I shall not be moved. He giveth me strength as my day. He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock.
00:15:35
Speaker
bed shadows a dry thirsty land he hadeth my life
00:15:47
Speaker
the depths of his love, and covers me there with his hand, and covers me there with his hand.
00:16:09
Speaker
clothed in his brightness, transported I rise to meet him in clouds of the sky.
00:16:25
Speaker
His perfect salvation, His wonderful love, I'll shout with the millions on high. He hineth my soul in the cloth of the rock,
00:16:50
Speaker
that shadows a dry thirsty land. He heighteth my life in the depths of his life.
00:17:07
Speaker
And covers me there with his hand. And covers me there with his hand. Amen. Once again, it's all about Jesus.
Pastor Fred Calkins on Faith and Moses
00:17:45
Speaker
We want to welcome the pastor to continue on his series at this time. Well, I was expecting an interview and then I saw Rick here. I thought maybe he was the one who was going to be interviewed, but that's all right. I'm ready. I'm very much ready. And especially right after that, that song, that's part of the Moses story, you know,
00:18:14
Speaker
the hiding in the cleft of the rock. Moses asked to seek on and God said, well, can't do that, but here's what I'll do. I'll put you in this cleft of the rock and I'll pass by and I'll take my hand off and you'll be able to see my backside. Whatever that means. But Moses response was to recognize the goodness and grace of God from that experience.
00:18:43
Speaker
But let's get started with Hebrews 11. This is the longest chunk of Hebrews 11. In some ways, Abraham has nearly as much real estate, but we used, we separated out the Sarah and the Isaac parts. So Moses is probably the biggest. Let's pray. We seek your face, Lord. We want to know you. We thank you for the story of Moses, who was clearly
00:19:09
Speaker
a prophet who was extraordinarily close to you, we recognize that as we study this story, we can learn another aspect of what it is to become like Jesus. In His name we pray, amen. You know, I usually like to read this Hebrews part first, and it's just a synopsis of the whole message, so that's okay. Then we know where it's flowing.
00:19:35
Speaker
Hebrews 11, verse 23 through 29. By faith, Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents because they saw he was a beautiful child. And they were not afraid of the king's command. By faith, Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God
00:20:02
Speaker
than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. Esteeming the reproach of Christ, greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he looked to the reward." Verse 27, by faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them.
00:20:29
Speaker
By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians attempted to do so were drowned." What a story. Clearly it indicates Moses was special right from his birth. You may remember that story. I was observing that to some extent to the first five books of the Bible are a autobiography of Moses.
00:20:59
Speaker
First book of the Bible, Genesis, which we've just about concluded, Genesis gives his backstory, his parents, grandparents, great grandparents, all the way out to Grandpa Adam and Grandma Eve, all the way back. That's, that's Genesis story. But Exodus, we started out with his birth and at the end of Deuteronomy, we will get to his death and we'll
00:21:23
Speaker
Probably look at all those by the time we're done. The Egyptians had made a marked change. You know, we talked about Joseph and under Joseph, the Israelites were a favored people. They were given really a nice position there. The land of Goshen was the best land and that's where they were settled. But in time,
00:21:49
Speaker
There are Rosa Pharaoh who did not know Joseph. And he looked at those Israelites and he said, they're getting pretty numerous. Well, yes, they were. They were multiplying very fast. And he said, what if they decided to take over? Well, such coups are quite common. In fact, in Egypt, we find coups.
00:22:11
Speaker
The Kushites from the south came over and took over Egypt for a dynasty or two. That's a very real thing that he was worried about, except we know that God had other plans for the Israelites. They were enslaved for hundreds of years. Slavery is messy. Slavery is nasty. Slavery is bad.
00:22:41
Speaker
Pharaoh, seeing that the Israelites still kept increasing, decided he needed to do some limitation of their population. And that's a common thing. You start looking at history and you find the people in power try to keep their power by destroying the ones who seem to be growing. And so this king told the midwives, well, when those Hebrew babies are born,
00:23:09
Speaker
if it's a boy, throw it in the river and let it drown. Well, the midwives didn't follow that direction. That's as bad as abortion. That's killing babies after they're born and abortions killing them before they're born. And if Pharaoh had known how to do that, he probably would have done that too. But the midwives, they really didn't honor that instruction. But besides that,
00:23:40
Speaker
told Pharaoh, oh, those Hebrew women, they're not like Egyptian women. The babies are born before I can get there. So there's nothing I can do about it. Now, whether that's true or not, I don't know. But that's the story they told him. And the record is that God blessed those midwives that they had big families too. So quite a little bit of story. But Moses' experience doesn't say anything about the midwives involvement. It talks about his parents.
00:24:10
Speaker
His parents, Amram and Jacobed, when that baby was born, they just had a sense that this boy is special. And they said, we can't let this boy be killed. And so they kept him hidden in the house for the first three months. And I don't know how they kept the boy quiet. I don't know how they kept the boy quiet, but.
00:24:30
Speaker
I've heard stories about American Indians who trained their children to be very silent in their babyhood. So these things might be somehow possible. But by the time he was three months old, they said, this is getting a little untenable. We need to find another solution. And so they decided to build a basket boat and put the baby in the basket and put him in the river. See how they're following the King's instructions?
00:24:55
Speaker
King said, throw the baby boys in the river. So they put him in the river and they left Miriam, 12 year old Miriam to kind of keep an eye on her baby brother. And I'm sure she watched with earnest prayer and didn't know what to think when she saw Pharaoh's daughter, the princess come down to the river and see the basket boat and send one of her maids out to the river to bring that basket boat in and look at the cute little baby.
00:25:26
Speaker
Miriam recognized that this lady wasn't ready to kill the baby. And so she eased up there and said, would you like me to find somebody to nurse this baby for you? Three months old babies, they can't eat solid food, needs somebody to nurse it. And this has got to be a God thing. This princess said, sure.
00:25:51
Speaker
Find somebody and Miriam ran home, got her mother and mother came and said, yeah, I'll nurse this baby. And right away, the princess says, well, you take care of this baby and I'll pay you. Now, isn't that something to be paid to take care of your own kid? I'll pay you. What a precious thing. And so sure enough, chocolate bed got paid to take care of this boy. And did she ever take care of him?
00:26:20
Speaker
She didn't know how much time she would have. Turned out to be 12 years. Now that boy is getting to be a young man by then. And they improved every minute of that time. That boy had learned the story of his ancestors. I think that's where he knew the story of Genesis to be able to write it. He memorized all that stuff. He understood what it was to serve God. He understood that the religion of Egypt was idolatry.
00:26:49
Speaker
So 12 years old, he gets into the palace and they start him on his high school and college education. And are they ever training him? They were training him to be the next Pharaoh.
Moses' Calling and Mission
00:27:00
Speaker
There's no question about it. He was being trained to be the next Pharaoh. So he got military training so that he could be a general. He got
00:27:10
Speaker
philosophical training so he'd be able to recognize the sophistries of his advisors. He got training in religion because Pharaoh was in title at least, the high priest of all of the gods. Now there was another high priest for each one of the gods, but they all reported to Pharaoh. Pharaoh was the top of all these religions.
00:27:40
Speaker
It's quite common for kings who are in great power to want to be worshipped. You've read about that in other scriptural stories. And Pharaoh was to be worshipped.
00:27:56
Speaker
Moses did not go along with that very well. He sat in the classes, he listened to the stories, he heard their explanations, but when they said, and now you need to do this offering, he said, nah, nah, I won't do that. He drew the line at not worshiping false gods. He was very careful. It was,
00:28:22
Speaker
for 28 years that he was being trained to be the leader of Egypt. But things came to a head when he was about 40. He'd been given this name Moses, which means drawn out, but somehow he had gotten the message, partly from his parents, partly from inspiration, that God was going to use him to deliver Israel from Egypt.
00:28:52
Speaker
And so here he is about 40 years old and he's going out through the land and just kind of walking around, looking around his land and feeling very successful and powerful and thinking that it's his job to rescue Israel. And so he sees an Egyptian.
00:29:09
Speaker
beating up on an Israelite. And he looks around and there's just the three of them there himself, this mean Egyptian and this oppressed Israelite. And Moses goes over there and kills the Egyptian.
00:29:25
Speaker
Now, remember, I told you he was trained in military arts? He knew how to do this very quickly and quietly. Those sorts of trainings are very well done, even in modern military. So he killed him and buried him and thought everything was cool.
00:29:46
Speaker
Surely that Israelite's not going to squeal on him. Well, when your life has been rescued, how can you keep from talking about it? And so he was talking about it among his Israelites. And well, you know, you don't keep these things quiet. Once it starts to go, it just keeps on going.
00:30:04
Speaker
So, another day Moses is out, he sees a couple of Israelites fighting, and clearly one of them is in the wrong. And he comes here and says, brother, you shouldn't be treating your brother like that. We're family. And the Israelite in the wrong, trying to justify himself and trying to make himself look like he's okay, accuses Moses.
00:30:31
Speaker
What you gonna do? Kill me like you did the Egyptian? Moses knew. This story has gone wild. And pretty soon he became aware that Pharaoh had heard it, Pharaoh was ready to kill him, and Moses split. Time to leave the country. 40 years old. We find that Moses' life breaks into three 40-year periods.
00:30:57
Speaker
These first 40 years, he's being trained in all the arts of Egypt to be a good, strong king. Well, some of that was useful, but much of it needed to be forgotten for the main job that God had for him. So he ran away. So we begin the second 40 years, fleeing in disgrace. Exodus 2, verse 15, we have
00:31:23
Speaker
Pharaoh heard of this matter. He sought to kill Moses, but Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian, sat down by a well. While he was there by the well, he saw some shepherd girls bringing their fox. And I'm sure he was reminded of the story of, well, both Eliezer and Jacob.
00:31:51
Speaker
going by well and watering or being watered.
00:31:56
Speaker
by the shepherd girls and it being a good deal. And so he, being a very strong, healthy man, he says, well, here, let me do this. And he rolls this big rock off from the well, and he helps the girls water their flocks when they get home. Their daddy says, you're home early. What happened? Oh, we met this Egyptian, and we brought him home with us. It wasn't long before Moses was married to one of these girls, Katura.
00:32:26
Speaker
He busied himself at the work that lay near. There's a lesson. Some people ask me, well, Pastor, how do I know what God wants me to do? Well, he'll tell you. If he has something specific, he can make it abundantly clear. But a good practice is
00:32:45
Speaker
to be looking around at what is in your immediate situation and say, what can I do to help somebody? And so Moses busied himself in the work that lay around him. That work started with helping as a shepherd, but he also began to write down scripture. Now the
00:33:09
Speaker
Archaeologists and scientists study when writing began, and they have pretty well figured out that writing began, oh, with Moses in that Sinai desert, Arabian desert, where he was helping with these sheep. I believe that the first writing was scripture, just like the first book that was printed was the Bible, Gutenberg Bible, that God designed, God knew that it's time
00:33:40
Speaker
People are not getting smarter. We're getting, we have some things to help us remember and writing is one of them and we've used a lot of computers to help us with that now. But God knew that we just weren't remembering the Bible stories like the generation of Moses and before. So he had Moses write it down while he was there in the desert. He wrote the book of Genesis. I believe he also wrote the book of Job.
00:34:11
Speaker
He also developed a habit of communion with God, connecting with God. And even though he remembered that God had told him, I've got to work for you to do, to deliver Israel, he kind of saved his conscience and said, well, you know, I'm doing good. I tried and it didn't work out. I'm doing good with what I'm doing. I'm just going to keep on doing. And he kept on doing for 40 years.
00:34:41
Speaker
very successful 40 years. And then God said, it's time, which begins, he's 80 years old now, this begins the next 40 years of his life, what he'd been praying for all along, what he'd been preparing for all along. God says, now you're ready. Somehow herding sheep had taught him more of what he needed to know to lead Israel than learning to be a general.
00:35:09
Speaker
It's a little bit profound. I have a pastor friend who told me, he said, I learned more about pastoring when I was a dairy farmer than I did when I went to the seminary. I understand what he's saying. People need guidance, careful, gentle guidance. But the way God called him,
00:35:37
Speaker
Very, very impressive story. Oh, I didn't write down that verse, and I thought I had. Yeah, my marker goes a little bit too far ahead. Moses saw a bush in the desert with flames coming out of it, but the bush remained green and lush. And he said, that's not the way fireworks.
00:36:03
Speaker
Fire burns things up. It doesn't just hover around and leave the leaves green and healthy. So he said, I need to go look that over. He was drawn to this burning bush. When he got somewhere near close, he heard a voice from that bush saying, take off your shoes. The place where you're standing is holy ground. Moses realized he was in the presence of God. He took off his shoes.
Exodus, Passover, and Miracles
00:36:30
Speaker
He probably got on his knees as he's in this presence of God.
00:36:34
Speaker
This was, I believe, the first, and let me use a $10 word here, theophany, an experience where Moses hears God and sees the evidence of God. Now he had many more of those through his life, but I believe that was the first one when God said, okay, I'm coming close to you. I'm calling you to be a prophet and I'm telling you what to do. Moses didn't like everything that he was told, but he recognized that he must obey the sweet voice of God.
00:37:04
Speaker
He had an interaction with him. He even asked God what his name was and he was told, my name is I am. And Moses, okay, you are the self-existent one. You are the God I want to serve. He had other names for him. Elohim was one of the names we find used in Genesis. And we have this Yahweh name a little bit too. But he recognized, I'm talking with the God. And God told him what to do. He said, go back to Egypt.
00:37:33
Speaker
And Moses fussed, he tried to get out of it. He said, I don't remember the language. I made your tongue. I'll give you the language. What can you say about a God like that? He tried every which way and finally God said, okay, I've already got Aaron on his way. He'll help you. You tell Aaron and Aaron will speak to Pharaoh and this will all get done. Well, Aaron wasn't the best help, but he was a big help most of the time.
00:38:03
Speaker
When they got to Egypt, and we've got to move the story along, but it's such a story. When they got to Egypt, a number of signs for Pharaoh and some signs also for the Israelite leaders. And through Moses, God handed Pharaoh 10 plagues, 10 plagues, 10 devastating experiences for the whole land that convinced Pharaoh that God was powerful.
00:38:33
Speaker
It was enough to convince the Israelites that it was time to go too. Now they fuss and complain for the next 40 years, but they were willing to leave, partly because of these.
00:38:43
Speaker
First plague was water becoming blood. Second plague was frogs. Frogs in Egypt were worshipped as sacred. So here these people are having the frogs come into their houses, coming into their cooking pots, getting into their beds and they can't kill them. It's against the rules to kill these things. I was over in India once and I'd heard about these sacred cows and I see the cows walking down the street and
00:39:10
Speaker
stopping at a, at a vendor who's got some, some vegetables out and the cow decides to eat some and the vendor can move it back, but he can't swat the cow away. That's against the rules. It's, they're sacred, sacred. These frogs were sacred. Can you imagine what you do when the frogs get into your soup? Oh, oh, it was messy. But Pharaoh said, please get rid of these and
00:39:40
Speaker
Moses prayed and God killed all the frogs, killed them all at once. They had to stack them up in piles and what a stink! What a stink! But then came lice. Now, if you think frogs are bad, I haven't had lice. I've had treatment to protect me from getting lice, but I've never found any lice on me.
00:40:04
Speaker
Yeah, it's come close enough. It's been in my church. It's been in my church school. Yeah, we deal with it when it comes. All three of those plagues infected the Israelites as well as the Egyptians. But with the next plague, God said, I'm going to put a difference between the Egyptians and the Israelites. They needed some discipline so that they would learn to trust me.
00:40:32
Speaker
but now I'm going to make a change so that they can recognize that I'm the one who brings blessing. So the next, the plague number four was flies. Big flies, venomous flies, their bite hurt a lot. It was a mess. After that fifth, fifth plague was, they call it Myrian, M-U-R-R-A-I-N. I am not particularly familiar with that, but it explains what was going on.
00:41:02
Speaker
the cattle, a lot of the cattle died. Apparently not all of them, but a lot of them died. And that really starts hurting the economy, folks, when your livestock are dying. And after that, it was boils on the people, and that was very painful. Then for plague number seven, Moses said to Pharaoh, you better bring the animals that are still alive
00:41:29
Speaker
into your barns because the hail is going to kill them. And Pharaoh says, I'm not believe that. Well, some of the Egyptians said, I'm listening. And they brought their cattle into the barns and rescued them. The ones that were out, those big chunks of ice falling from the sky killed people and cattle. It was a mess. And now the whole country is
00:41:54
Speaker
in a disaster zone. And everybody's trying to get Pharaoh to kick those guys out of here. All of the wealth that we accumulated by this slave labor has already been destroyed by these plagues that have come. It got worse. After the hail came the locusts. The hail had beat the crops all to the ground and killed a lot of animals, and the locusts
00:42:23
Speaker
ate whatever they could find. And I've read stories of locusts that have plagued us here in America, and they would even eat the axe handles. So it wasn't just green stuff. It got really messy. And these locusts, the record is that it was worse locusts than have ever happened before or since. Once the locusts were gone, a thick darkness.
00:42:50
Speaker
darkness so deep that it could be felt. I believe it was also cold. And with that Pharaoh said to Moses,
00:43:00
Speaker
You're never going to see my face again. If you see my face again, you're going to die." Well, Moses says, whatever you say. He still went back again and warned him about the death of the firstborn. He told Pharaoh that the firstborn sons of everybody in the nation was going to die. And he told the Israelites,
00:43:22
Speaker
that if they did not want their firstborn children also to die, they needed to do a special ceremony. The ceremony included killing a kid or goat, a baby lamb or a baby goat, that they would kill it and they would take the blood from that and put it on the doorposts of their house.
00:43:46
Speaker
We need to have Jesus not only die for us. He already has done that. He's given us that gift. But we must allow Him, His high priestly ministry in the heavenly sanctuary, He applies His blood in our life, cleansing us from sin, not merely forgiving our sin, but giving us victory over sin. That's the work of Jesus in the most holy place. And that was the symbolism in this Passover experience.
00:44:12
Speaker
The blood must be applied. It's, I keep saying this thing, righteousness by faith, but as a righteousness by faith, that works. That is, we demonstrate our faith by what we do. Well, with that whole scenario, largely before the death of the firstborn, but even subsequent,
00:44:38
Speaker
God told the Israelites to go to those Egyptians that had been enslaving them and ask for payment. They plundered the Egyptians. They took all the money, all the jewels, all the special stuff that these Egyptians had and the Egyptians are paying them. Here, let me give you this stuff.
00:45:00
Speaker
They got paid for their 400 years of labor by what the Egyptians gave them. And many of the treasures that they were given ended up being a part of the tabernacle. But then Moses began to lead the Israelites as they left Egypt. What an experience, miracle after miracle after miracle.
00:45:24
Speaker
Can you imagine the scene at the Red Sea, mountain on one side, sea on the other side, and Pharaoh's army coming behind him? I know. You would have thought that Pharaoh, once his son has died and, well, a large percentage of his soldiers have died, that he would say, we need to just let those
Wilderness Journey and God's Provision
00:45:43
Speaker
folks go. But no, Pharaoh in his greed musters what armor he has, gets folks in chariots and goes chasing after Israelites. We're going to go bring them back.
00:45:54
Speaker
Well, God has already manifested himself with a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire. It became a pillar of fire to light the way for the Israelites, a pillar of cloud to obscure the way for the Egyptians. So the Egyptians couldn't find the Israelites. Meanwhile, the Israelites are looking at this sea and mountain and saying to Moses, how can we go anywhere? We're trapped. We should have stayed in Egypt. Moses says, watch to see the hand of God.
00:46:24
Speaker
And under the inspiration of heaven, he walks down to the Red Sea and raises his staff. He still carried that shepherd staff that he had been using for 40 years. He raised it over the sea and God parted the sea. It says that the water stood up on both sides and there was a way that they could walk through on dry land. The Israelites walked through the Red Sea. Once they were through, God clouded
00:46:53
Speaker
dissipated enough that the Egyptians could see where the Israelites had gone and they said, after them guys, after them, we're going to get them. And so they rushed through with water on each side. You'd think they would be smarter than this, but they rushed through with the water held up on each side. And when they get about halfway through, God starts letting the water come up through the sand at the bottom and the wheels of the chariots are getting stuck and the people are finding it hard going.
00:47:22
Speaker
It's not hard to walk on well-packed sand.
00:47:26
Speaker
But when it's mushy sand, it becomes quicksand and it was getting really dangerous for them. So they all get into the middle of the sea and then God lets the waters come back with a rush. And the Egyptians all died. Remember Pharaoh had said, Moses, you're not going to see my face again? Right. Not because Moses was going to die, but because Pharaoh died.
00:47:55
Speaker
Oh, and then the rock, the water. First time Moses was told to strike the rock. The second time he was supposed to speak to it, but instead he hid it. The rock that provided water was a symbol of Christ who died once for us. So Moses striking of the rock confused the symbol. We find God supplying food. The manna came.
00:48:21
Speaker
a triple miracle with that manna. Exodus 16 tells that story. For 40 years, God fed them with manna.
00:48:31
Speaker
Every morning when they went out, there was the manna. And it tastes like wafers with coriander seed. It was just a tasty food. And they would gather about a quart for every one of them, every person. If they waited too late in the day to get it, it had dried and there was nothing there. But if they went out promptly.
00:48:53
Speaker
If they were, if they would try to keep it overnight, it would spoil. Maggots would come in and it was really ugly and messy. So they didn't dare keep it overnight. Had to go up fresh every morning. There's a lesson on this. You need to get your devotional time fresh every morning. There's a real strong lesson on that. But then something special happened on Friday. There was more mana.
00:49:14
Speaker
And when you started collecting, you found that you could get two courts for everybody and they said, what am I going to do with this? Moses said, you're supposed to save a court for tomorrow because you're not going to be going out for manna on Sabbath. What a lesson on Sabbath keeping. Of course, somebody tried to keep it over. No, they tried to keep it over and it spoiled.
00:49:36
Speaker
Well, now somebody's trying to go out on Sabbath morning to see if there's any manna and they get scolded very soundly for going out because it's not there and they'd been told not to go. So they were acting out a distrust of God. So that was pretty serious stuff.
00:49:52
Speaker
twice, God supplied quail to them because they said, we're getting tired of eating this vegetarian food. We want some meat. And God said, okay. He gave him quail. But when God does something, he doesn't necessarily just give you enough. Pray that God only give you enough.
00:50:12
Speaker
There's more danger in having too much than there is in having just barely or not quite enough. Better to be a little bit hungry than to be overfed.
00:50:25
Speaker
gluttonized themselves on these quail and many people died from that. Enemies attacked them. First was Amalek and Joshua was sent out to fight Amalek and Moses is standing up on the hill watching and as long as Moses is raising his hands and praying for the people
00:50:48
Speaker
they're winning. But when his arms gets tired and they start to sag, then Amalek seems to start winning. And so finally, Aaron and her, friends of Moses,
00:50:59
Speaker
They recognize what's going on and they find a rock for Moses to sit on and then one on each side, they hold his arms up so that Israel could win this battle and they do later. And I move quickly through this story. When they get to the near the promised land, both Sihan king of Ammon and Og king of Bashan come out against them. And some of these are giants.
00:51:27
Speaker
warriors and giants, extra tall. And they're the ones that 40 years before the Israel was afraid of. But now those ones who were complaining and fearful had died off. And so Israel attacks these two countries that are east of the Jordan River and takes them over.
00:51:54
Speaker
Another thing that happens during this 40 years is the Ten Commandments. God gives the Ten Commandments to Israel. It's given at least three times to them. We have the thunder from Mount Sinai where they hear God's voice and Israel says, Moses, this is a bit intimidating. You go and listen to God and you just tell us. We don't want to hear His voice. I think they sold themselves short by that decision.
00:52:21
Speaker
But Moses did go and he did get the tablets written on both sides. And so he took those tablets and brought them down. But then Israel, while he was 40 days up in the mountain fasting, communing with God, seeking God's face, Israel
00:52:42
Speaker
got involved in idolatry at the foot of the mountain. When Moses got down there, he said, you've broken the commandments. And with that, he smashed the rocks that he'd been given that had the Ten Commandments printed on them. That was a very powerful symbol that they had broken the commandments. And what a mess that made. That's when the tribe of Levi got elevated to be the priests because they
00:53:05
Speaker
quickly assembled themselves on Moses' side to execute those who were most involved in the orgies that was a part of this false worship. Moses oversaw the building of the tabernacle, that desert movable church building. It was the clearest representation of the heavenly sanctuary.
00:53:31
Speaker
three temples were built to kind of replace, take the place of this wilderness sanctuary tabernacle. Solomon's temple was the grandest. We call it the post-exilic temple, the temple that was built after Israel had been in Babylonian captivity. That was
00:53:52
Speaker
probably the shabbiest, it was smaller, but then Herod rebuilt that temple. It took him 14 years to rebuild it, but he rebuilt it and made it really quite a showcase. Not as nice as what Solomon had done, but it was quite the showcase. It was one of his most ambitious building projects. They, in all three of these, they tried to upgrade and glorify the
00:54:22
Speaker
the elements of the tabernacle service, but it really served to dilute and confuse. So that's just the way it went. A significant part of the story that helps us understand Moses better, when he had spent time with God, his face had a glow.
00:54:46
Speaker
Sometimes that glow, it gets translated as a horn when you're reading some translations of the scripture. But what it's talking about is the glow of the presence of God that has infused itself into Moses' face.
00:55:00
Speaker
I have met people who had a peace on their face, but not light shining from them. I have met some very godly men and women. They tend to have some seasoning on them, older than I am. But you could see they have spent their time with God.
00:55:23
Speaker
Moses is called the meekest man who ever lived. And we wrestle with that, especially since he penned those words. And we say, how's that being meek? Well, he was inspired to say these things that are written. And his meekness is demonstrated in his trusting in God, even when people were criticizing and complaining. He was attacked how many times and how many ways.
00:55:52
Speaker
His brother and sister attacked him one time.
00:55:56
Speaker
God took a hand in that one, allowing Miriam to have instant leprosy, which was healed quickly, but she still had to spend a week outside the camp because leprosy makes one unclean. Nadab and Abihu, his nephews, offered strange fire on the altar and they were killed. Corodath and Abiram tried to
00:56:24
Speaker
stage and insurrection and tried to get all the people to criticize Moses. And Moses, I can just picture this, Moses says, well, you guys and your clan, you stay with your tents and the rest of us will stand back and watch and we'll see what God does. And then he said, if God allows you to live, then we know that what you're saying and doing is not wrong.
00:56:51
Speaker
But if God does a new thing, opening up the earth and swallowing you, then we'll know that what you're doing is wrong. Sure enough. Once he'd uttered those words, there was an earthquake that just opened up a place underneath where the tents of those rebels were and their families, and it all went down into the earth and then it closed up
Moses' Legacy and Closing Reflections
00:57:14
Speaker
behind it. They were gone. What a statement. Moses was right and they were in the wrong.
00:57:22
Speaker
The poignant story, let me finish with this one, his death. Moses has lived a good life, a strong, long life, and he has chapter 33 of Deuteronomy. It gives a blessing where he echoes the blessing that Jacob had given to his 12 sons, 13, and now Moses gives a blessing to each of the tribes of Israel.
00:57:50
Speaker
And then in 34, so he said goodbye. He is 120 years old now. That third 40 year period is coming to its end. And Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, top of Pisgah, which is across from Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead as far as Dan. Verse five, Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab.
00:58:17
Speaker
according to the word of the Lord. And God buried him in a valley in the land of Moab. Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eyes were not dim. He could still see very well at 120 years. Nor was his natural vigor abated. And the children of Israel wept for him for 30 days. That's why you know that's the pattern that established how long we mourn for
00:58:43
Speaker
political leaders who die 30 days because that was established time there. Now Jude verse nine tells us that God claimed Moses resurrecting him and taking him to heaven. We have also in New Testament when Moses appears with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. So we know that Moses, he took that dirt nap for a while, but we don't know how long. I like Randy's phrase dirt nap.
00:59:12
Speaker
he got buried, of course he got buried, but God did not leave him there. God needed Moses as a representative of those who will go to glory through death first and then be resurrected. God needed to do that for our understanding. He is the parallel to our study of Enoch
00:59:37
Speaker
Some of us are going to go to glory without seeing death. Some of us will go to glory after we've had a little bit of a dirt nap. But both are rescued by the blood, by the grace of Jesus for His glory. It's okay. God is well able to raise us up. We can trust Him. It's for us
01:00:00
Speaker
to put our whole trust in Jesus and let him do in us for his glory. Gracious Lord, we thank you for the story of Moses, a man of faith, a man of courage, a man of boldness. We recognize that he was indeed your prophet, the man of the hour.
01:00:19
Speaker
And we know that even today you're calling some of us to speak the word in season, to touch hearts and lives for good. We invite you to use us to finish this work so we can go home. We would see Jesus. This is all we're needing. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
01:00:45
Speaker
You're welcome. Our next meeting will be 7 AM in the morning. So have a good rest. Good night.
01:01:19
Speaker
Mike on. Well, ladies and gentlemen, I hope you found this a blessing. Thanks for listening until the next episode. Bye bye.