Tag: moses bible study

13.2 Moses 13, Day 2

Reconnecting and a Willing Heart

Isn’t it interesting that the first command Moses gave the Israelites, before they began the work of building the tabernacle and beginning the next stage of their journey with God, was the command about the Sabbath.  The 7th day shall be your holy day, a day of sabbath rest to the Lord.

There are a lot of theological discussions about the sabbath and how it applies to believers today.  I am not going to get into a discussion about dispensationalism.  Instead, here is what I think is important:

If you are a photographer hired by a couple getting married, it is important to remember, the goal is not to take a lot of beautiful photos, the goal is bring those photos back to the bride and groom.  You have to bring the camera back into your home base, upload the photos and recharge the camera.

In our service for God, we sometimes forget that.  We get so focused on the activity, we don’t reconnect with God.  How much stronger and more focused would your service for the Lord be if every 7 days you stopped and plugged back in fully?  What would your life look like if every 7 days you spent the day uploading the prior 6 days activities to God?

The other part of our lesson today that I found interesting was God’s desire for a willing heart.  There are two ways of looking at the gifts the Israelites were giving:

  1. One perspecitive is to recognize that they will never see their gifts in use again.  The gold utensils are for use inside the Holy place, an area that the givers are restricted from going.  Many of us would have a hard time with this.  When we give money to an organization we want to see the results of our gift; a report back; photos; something.
  2. The other perspective is to recognize that the gold bracelets they had carried around for the past year are being crafted into the mercy seat of God.  What an absolutely amazing and honoring thing.  What would you be willing to give for use within the tabernacle of God?

The reality is that both perspectives are true, both then and now, in gifts from a willing heart.  We may never get to see how the donations we make from a willing heart are used to bring glory to God.  That isn’t important.  If it is what is important, then we need a heart check.  The key is that, while we don’t see the product of our giving, God does.  And isn’t the entire universe God’s rightful tabernacle and anything that furthers the church on this earth is a tool in the Holy of Holies.

 

My Answers:

3.
a.
7th day shall be your holy day, a day of sabbath rest to the LORD

b.
To be His people, a holy nation or priests, set apart

c.
I am called to be a part of His holy church and become holy, set apart, a priest in His service

4.
a.
The people of Israel, all who was willing and whose heart moved them, men and women alike

b.
God, the LORD – chose Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, tribe of Judah, filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills, work in gold, silver, bronze, cut/set stones, woodwork, artistic craft, Oholiab son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach others; engravers, designers, embroiderers, weavers

c.
every skilled person to whom the Lord has given skill and ability to know how to carry out all the work of constructing the sanctuary

d.
vs3-5, stopped work and told Moses the people are bringing more than enough

e.
That my gifts be viewed by God – the donations they brought were being used in such a way they would never see them again

5.
The details were important – each had a specific reason and each foreshadow Jesus and heaven

 

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04.3 Moses 4, Day 3

Whose side are you on?

The foremen/overseers were in a unique position.  On one hand, they were part of the management team.  They were overseers pushing the Israelite slaves to produce the work. They took their orders directly from Pharaoh (vs 6. “Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and overseers). They went with the slave drivers and gave the orders to the people, speaking on behalf of Pharaoh (v10-11). On the other hand, they were Hebrews themselves, not Egyptians.

Those who have chosen to follow Jesus live in a similarly unique position.  We live in a fallen world with earthly leaders and day-to-day problems.  On the other hand we are foreigners in this land because we are people of God, set apart for His glory and His kingdom.  And, like the overseers, those we live and work with every day can quickly turn on us and we are faced with a decision, do we bend to them or do we stand with our brothers?

When the foremen/overseers face oppression themselves, they chose to stand with the oppressed, their fellow servants.  They stood up to Pharaoh and asked “Why?”.  They drew a line separating themselves from Pharaoh.  “The fault is with your own people,” they told him. Clearly they knew the risk of their action: “put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

We tend to get down on the foremen for their “lack of faith”, but would we have the faith to do the same? How often do we stay silent about of faith to not be seen as “obnoxious” in our workplace?  How often do we yield to world driven forces that take us away from our commitment to God?  It may be a Sunday morning soccer game, a BSF night meeting, a work request that stands in the way.  Each is nothing more than one more straw, not a big thing, just one more brick in the wall.

But isn’t it interesting that straw and bricks were the tools of oppression of the Hebrew people by Pharaoh?

My Answers:

5.
a.
They went and appealed to Pharaoh

b.
They found Moses and Aaron and said, “may the Lord look on you and judge you! You have made us obnoxious to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

c.
Many, many times – most of the time I’m not blaming a specific person, mostly trying to shirk responsibility myself.  Like the foremen I would blame the Egyptians, Moses, other foremen, etc., etc.  Not so much to blame them but to keep from accepting responsibility.