Righteous actions will produce godly fruit. This is why Jesus says, "You will know them by their fruits" Matthew 7:16: You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn-bushes or figs from thistles?
The fruits of a person's life will show what a
person believes, producing in him a resolution that his actions are God-ordered
and he dare not turn aside or change them.
Moses was sent by God to the Hebrew nation for a deliverance. And he did
take that step forward but not in God’s timing. Exodus 2:11-15 NKJV Now it came
to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren
and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of
his brethren. 12 So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he
killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 And when he went out the second
day, behold, two Hebrew men were fighting, and he said to the one who did the
wrong, “Why are you striking your companion?” 14 Then he said, “Who made you a
prince and judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?”
So Moses feared and said, “Surely this thing is known!” 15 When 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; and he sat down by a well.
In that reading of the Exodus, you find Moses jumping the gun so to speak and actually killing a man and then hiding him in the desert sand. Yeah, this dead Egyptian would not stay covered up, no matter how much sand Moses put upon that dead person! Moses leaves quickly from that place that he has known as home among the Egyptians for years.
We know of
Moses first years among the Egyptians that he was cared for by his own mother when
taken in by Pharaoh’s daughter. His life was spared! And his mother had daily
opportunities to give him detail of the God they served! The time with his own
mother most likely covered about 35 years. He was raised in royalty, and he rode out on
the finest chariots. He would have had the best of the best in clothing,
education and friends. A trip down the Nile would prove a vessel worthy to
carry Pharaoh’s own family.
As a member
of Pharaoh’s family, he would have been instructed in many subjects like that
of astronomy, chemistry, mathematics, engineering, music, and art. Whatever he learned, God knew well that this
young man’s steps had been ordered to walk for the purpose God set for him.
By killing
the Egyptian, he only proved he had anger issues against a group of people.
When he would go through that “wilderness process” that anger would be changed
to confidence in God who would handle the situation: sand or no sand!
And here in
the wilderness, Moses would meet God face to face: Acts 7:30-32 NKJV And when
forty years had passed, an Angel of the Lord (Jesus) appeared to him in a flame
of fire in a bush, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai. 31 When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he drew near
to observe, the voice of the Lord came to him, 32 saying, “ I am the God of your fathers----the God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’” And Moses trembled and dared not look.
The
fugitive from Pharaoh’s court and an exile in a faraway place of family, Moses
had come home to God. Submitting to God’s plan, he is set apart for that good
thing in God, and walking those Hebrews through a desert would take someone who
put time in that desert! And would you consider this would be forty years ahead of Moses, Aaron and those who would survive that wilderness adventure!
When Moses
tried to relieve the oppression of the Israelite's in his own strength forty
years before, nothing happened. He ran to do the work of the Lord, but God was
not in it.
I wonder
how many run to do something and God is not in it! What Moses did in his first
40 years proved futile in his own strength. We can learn new subjects: like
learn a new language, maybe take up drafting or architectural design or even
become a first responder as a firefighter, or police officer. Still, what you
have in you must align with God and His purpose for you in His kingdom. We have
all heard of some doing a great work, a person noble and pure in heart but all
their efforts fell short or completely ineffective because God was not in it
with them!
You can
hear many individuals and couples who take off for the far coasts of foreign countries
only to find that noble and pure heart aged them in their minds, their bodies
and wore a hole in their pocketbook or savings account!
Moses had a “fear of the Lord”. You can see it in everything he speaks to with Pharaoh. Moses took God into account in every action! Moses would encounter the very kingdom he was raised in. He would come back to those leading and the Pharaoh he would meet with, would be the one who had a plague of the heart. Pharaoh served many gods. His heart was set on creatures on the earth that had everything to do with the great Nile River.
Moses was called and then sent to free the Hebrews from the
Egyptian slavery:
Exodus 7:14-18 NKJV 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning, when he goes
out to the water, and you shall stand by the river's bank to meet him; and the
rod which was turned to a serpent you shall take in your hand. 16 And you shall
say to him, 'The LORD God of the Hebrews has sent me to you, saying, "Let
My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness"; but indeed, until
now you would not hear! 17 Thus says the LORD: "By this you shall know
that I am the LORD. Behold, I will strike the waters which are in the river
with the rod that is in my hand, and they shall be turned to blood. 18 And the
fish that are in the river shall die, the river shall stink, and the Egyptians
will loathe to drink the water of the river." ' "
b. fish
died and the river smelled terrible.
c. the
people had no drinkable water or useable water.
d. The
Egyptian false god offended……probably Hapi (the spirit of the Nile, (Khnum ,
guardian of the Nile)
Announcements were made only in plagues, one and two, four and five,
seven and eight to Pharaoh. But three, six and nine came without warning.
In the plague 2 of the frogs, the marshes of the Nile have a
great amount that fill that area, but even in this, the frogs were found in the
fields, courtyards, and even in the bedrooms! One frog hopping away from you
might be cute, but many hopping toward you, in your home and one your bed is no
way cute nor is it funny!
In the plague 6 of the boils,…this was aimed at the
commercial and artistic wealth of Egypt at that time. The first started at the
river and now industry was a source of trouble for the Egyptians.
The ninth plague was darkness………experiencing the
darkness………that wraps itself around you……..the commentaries write that they
thought it was one of the fiercest of sandstorms in that area ……Yes, have you
seen those Haboobs ( those violent dust storms like in the Middle East, Africa
and even Arizonia and New Mexico)?
Plague 10 was the death of the firstborn……of man and
beast…….again this is related to idol worship.
THE PLAGUES OF THE HEART…………where do we stand in all of this? Do we harden our hearts when God refers to correcting us?
Because like Moses, he had to come under God’s leadership in
his character, his humility and influence. Moses had started out like he was in
charge, took another man and killed him.
Here we see Pharaoh had a hardened heart. He wanted things done his way. Exodus 5:2…2 Pharaoh said, "Who is the LORD, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD and I will not let Israel go." NIV
Pharaoh was considered to be the embodiment of the god Horus, king of the gods of the earth. The
fortified city of which he called home, was also home to a great garrison of
soldiers and charioteers. Even their horses were the Arabian, that was bred for
endurance in harsh dry climates like the Egyptian desert!
But even in all the wealth seen in this
great fortress, from the wines to special desserts, and fabulous dressing
gowns, diseases were rampant and many people died. No incantations could be
done……..there was no cure! Was it possible that their idolatry gave way to a
plague of their heart?
For every step Moses took side by side
with God and Aaron, Moses held onto to every word God spoke. He obeyed everything
given him. Even in the wilderness way, Moses faith was in God. Found in Exodus
13:17 Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by the way of the land of the
Philistines, although that was near; for God said, “Lest perhaps the
people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt?” 18 So God
led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children
of Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt. 19 And Moses took
the bones of Joseph with him, for he had placed the children of Israel under a
solemn oath, saying, “God will surely visit you and you
shall carry up my bones from here with you.” 20 So they took their
journey from Succoth and camped in Etham at the edge of the wilderness. 21 And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud
to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to
go by day and night. 22 He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the
pillar of fire by night from before the people.
A man of the wilderness, who most
likely knew this way too, but did not quarrel over it with God, but went as he
and Aaron were told. They all went up in orderly ranks, not as fleeing people,
like Moses had once done, but now in order, a people in a fighting formation,
they are led in a direction where there is the lesser armed resistance.
In Exodus 14, it is God who delivered
the Hebrew nation. It was Pharaoh who was afraid Israel would turn and fight
them. But in truth, it was something greater that would occur. God the Lord
would fight for Israel and fight against Egypt for them. It is seen in Exodus
14:13-14, Exodus 14:14, 25 that they would see the works of God in their favor.
The Egyptians would know God as Yahweh! Exodus 4:4, 7:3-5, Exodus 14:4, and
Exodus 14:15-18.
What started out as a sandy situation
turned after many decades of learning to follow. Being ready to see God and
know when He is present sets us in a motion of knowing God is real, He is
powerful and His is to “be feared”. For
without a fear of the Lord everything falls apart. YOU may have the Holy Spirit
in your life, but without fearing God the Lord, He will not be there in that
wisdom and understanding, that council and might, nor that knowledge because
the fear of the Lord is absent from us!
I like what Oswald Chambers wrote............ Oswald
Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest.. If we have never had the
experience of taking our commonplace religious shoes off our commonplace
religious feet, and getting rid of all the undue familiarity with which we
approach God, it is questionable whether we have ever stood in His Presence.
The people who are flippant and familiar are those who have never yet been introduced
to Jesus Christ. After the amazing delight and liberty of realizing what Jesus
Christ does, comes the impenetrable darkness of realizing Who He is.
May each of us be God’s instruments that will develop a community
that lives right, where we communicate
His love to others being submitted to His plan in that love, respect and honor
to Him first and then to others. Setting priorities in place to be
followers of Jesus, we choose to align ourselves with His Word that speaks and
directs us to the Kingdom of God that is endless, blessed, and active. Now
thanks be to YOU, Father Who
always causes us to triumph in Christ Jesus. Amen.
New teaching at: Voice of Prayer
Reflecting the Lord in Favor
