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Kindle Notes & Highlights
“For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His” (2 Chronicles 16:9).
God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” (v. 14)
“I AM WHO I AM,” are the very characters in Hebrew that spell out the name Yahweh.
“My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power” (vv. 4–5, NIV).
Do you know when He gives
us words and wisdom and insight? Right when we need them. At the very instant they are required.
As good King Jehoshaphat prayed, “O our God . . . we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you” (2 Chronicles 20:6, NIV).
I think it is highly significant (and sad) that people often seek the counsel of their pastors before they seek the counsel of their parents.
Moses’ meeting with God can teach us much about our own meeting with God. We will discover that the time we spend with the Lord as His children must become Priority Number One.
mentioned God’s Wilderness, the large, pictorial volume my sister gave me.
The LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you and may also believe in you forever.” Then Moses told the words of the people to the LORD. (v. 9)
The LORD also said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments; and let them be ready for the third day, for on the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. . . . So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people, and they washed their garments. (vv. 10–11, 14)
Immortal, invisible, God only wise, In light inaccessible hid from our eyes, Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days, Almighty, victorious, Thy great name we praise.
Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light, Nor wanting, nor wasting, Thou rulest in might; Thy justice, like mountains, high soaring above Thy clouds which are fountains of goodness and love.
“How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (Ps. 119:103-105, NIV).
May our eyes be opened to the astonishing privilege that is ours to hold the complete written Word of God in our very hands.
These verses suggest that the number one priority for you this year, the one factor that will determine more than anything else your ability to live a life of victory, is meeting regularly with Almighty God.
As believers, we draw our very life from Him. He’s the Vine; we’re the branches. Apart from Him, as Jesus bluntly told us, we can do nothing (John 15:5).
“Lord, I’m willing to obey You. I’m here not to play games, but to invest at least
thirty solid minutes in listening to Your voice. I want to be sensitive. I don’t care if anybody else knows I’m here; I want to hear what You’re saying in Your Word.” The Israelites had to consecrate themselves, remember? In the same way, you need to be forthright and explicit about the areas that aren’t right between you and the Lord. Deal directly with Him, and in doing so, keep short accounts with sin. The Israelites even washed their garments.
“So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have” (2 Peter 1:12, NIV).
Shadow of the Almighty.
who determine to walk with God become the target of the enemy.
“Lord, I want to spend time with You consistently. I want to meet with You. I want my life to become godly. I desire to honor Jesus Christ.”
“All who are determined to live a devoted, godly life will meet persecution (that is), will be made to suffer because of their stand.”
“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings” (1 Peter 5:8-9, NIV).
Our great hope and assurance is that the One in us is greater than the one in the world.
“But know that the LORD has set apart the godly man [and woman] for himself; the LORD hears when I call to Him” (brackets mine).
He says He “sets you apart” for Himself. And the verse adds, “The LORD hears when I call to Him.” Those two thoughts fit together.
Even though you may be a godly person, you can hear that kind of depressing stuff
only so long before it begins to demoralize your spirit, dragging you down. You want to walk with God, but you’re with a few people who just won’t. Invariably they’re vocal, petty, and negative. They don’t want to go God’s way, they want to go their way. And they’re always looking back to how great things used to be (before you came along).
If you focus on those confrontations, however, you will stay discouraged. That’s what happened to Moses. He heard weeping behind one too many tent flaps and finally whimpered, “Lord, take my life.” That’s the ultimate expression of depression.
Let me assure you, you will be misrepresented. You will be misunderstood. But when that happens, don’t try to cover all the slanderous things said against you. Let God be your defense.
But not Moses. This humble servant replied, in effect, “But Lord, Your testimony’s at stake here. The Egyptians will hear about it, and what will the nations say?” No resentment, no revenge. Not even a mild offense. In fact, Moses actually defended this stiff-necked nation and asked the Lord to stay His hand against them. And the Lord did so.
Psalm 34 says, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all” (v. 19).
Look at what Moses did. He took the precious documents of God, and, in a moment of fury, “he threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the foot of the mountain” (Exodus 32:19).
speak to the rock
but then deviates to his own angry course:
But Moses, when did you ever bring water out of a rock? Isn’t God the one who summons water? True enough. But when you give in to rage, you sort of black out; you set aside your right mind and are driven by the unchecked emotions of anger. So the text states, Moses “lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod” (20:11, italics mine).
But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” (v. 12)
If you read on into Deuteronomy, you will find that Moses prayed three times that the judgment might be reversed. Finally God said, “Don’t pray for that again. My answer is no.” The words came with finality.
He writes, “Everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God” (James 1:19–20).
1. An act of disobedience stems from unbelief.
I can’t explain why it happens, but to my shame, I must admit I’ve done the same thing. Haven’t you? There are times that I get so angry and become so determined to do my will that I block out God’s better plan. I do it out of sheer stubbornness. My jaw is set and my teeth are clenched. Looking back later, however, I invariably admit the act held no satisfaction for me. With deep remorse I realize my sin was rank unbelief, not mere disobedience.
2. A public act of disobedience diminishes God’s glory.
One man wrote, “The plain and sobering lesson is that God deals more stringently with the sins of leaders, especially when their public actions involve His glory.” There are times when that thought haunts me.
3. Any such act, though forgiven, bears painful consequences.
And I do not want my testimony for Jesus Christ to be shattered by a single moment of indulging my flesh. I don’t want one moment of rage or pride or arrogance to cast a shadow over a lifetime of walking with my Lord.
So why didn’t God name Caleb as Moses’ replacement? Why Joshua? I think Numbers 11:28 reveals the likely reason for His choice. Scripture calls Joshua “the attendant of Moses from his youth.”
Then Moses spoke to the LORD, saying, “May the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation, who will go out and come in before them, and who will lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the LORD will not be like sheep which have no shepherd.” (vv. 15–17)
