#GOFAMINTDailyDevotion Sun. 8/11/2015
LESSON 10 8/11/2015
MOSES MINISTRY: FROM SINAI TO KADESH BARNEA (PART 2)
Suggested Hymns: G.H.B. 243, 244
Devotional Reading: Exodus 32:7-14
Topic For Adults: Be A Compassionate Leader
Topic For Youths: Speak No ill Of Your Leader
Topic For Intermediates: Grow To Lead Well
Scripture Lesson: Exo. 20:1-21; 32:1-16; Num. 12:1-16
Memory Verse: And God spoke all these words saying “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exo. 20:1-3) NKJV
DAILY DEVOTIONAL READING
Sun. 8/11/2015
Touch Not God’s Anointed
Num. 12:9-16; Ps. 105:13-15
Believers must know that ministers of God are His representatives on earth. God cares for them and He is ready to defend and fight for them anyday, anytime. This is the reason why we must be wary of backbiting and carrying about tales of woes about God’s ministers. Aaron and Miriam did not go scot free. Though that of Aaron did not come immediately but Miriam became leprous for seven days. Were it not for the intercession of Moses, Miriam would have died of leper. Some people’s problem may not be from the devil, it may be a result of ill-treatment of servants of God. You cannot fight God and win, stop fighting ministers of God. Kicking against the thorn is deadly.
Point of Emphasis: God will not allow any man to do wrong to His ministers.
Prayer Point: Lord, help me not to humiliate Your ministers to avert Your wrath.
BACKGROUND
After the crossing of the Red Sea, Moses faced so many leadership challenges from the Israelites (Exo. 15:22-27; 16:1-15) but in each of these challenges, he turned to God for solution and God did not disappoint him. At Sinai, he was called up by God, and this week’s lesson highlights some of the events in his ministry from Sinai to Kadesh Barnea where he sent out some men to spy the land of Canaan before they occupied it.
NOTES ON THE TEXT
PART 1: MOSES RECEIVED THE TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR ISRAEL (EXO. 20:1-21)
A leader has the responsibility to get direction from God so as not to misdirect his followers. God understands the importance of rules and regulations if a relationship between two people or groups is to be properly defined. It is these rules and regulations that will help in guiding the conduct of both parties, thereby preserving the sanctity of that relationship.
God knew the people of Israel well and to be able to regulate their conducts, He called up Moses to Mount Sinai where He gave him series of laws and commandments. But the first and most important of these laws was the Ten Commandments. All other sundry laws are just interpretation of any part of the Ten Commandments. The first four of the Ten Commandments deal with man’s relationship with God {(i) You must not have any other God apart from the living God, Yahweh (v. 3). Anything you love more than God, or His things amounts to your God (ii) You must not represent God with any carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven or on the earth or in the water. This is rampant in the pagan worship but it is forbidden by Yahweh (v. 4-6) (iii) You must not call God’s name in vain so as to make people believe you, God said you must desist from such act. Let your yes be yes and your no be no (Jam. 5:12). (iv) Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy (vv. 8-11). Sunday is the first day of the week and regarded as our New Testament Sabbath day for Christians. Sanctify the day for the use and worship of God, not for your personal life.
The remaining six commandments are meant to regulate human to human relationships. They encompass honouring of parents, preservation of life by not taking others’ life not engaging in sexual immorality, but to be sexually pure and hold your vessel in sanctification (1 Thess. 4:4), not stealing or taking anything without permission that belongs to other people, not witnessing falsely against a person because you hate him or her and want the person to suffer unjustly, not coveting or defrauding what belongs to your neighbour, both human and materials (vv. 12-17).
When the people heard the thundering, lightning flashes, sound of the trumpet and saw smoke on the mountain, they trembled and were afraid (v. 18). They stood afar off and told Moses that God should not speak to them directly but to Moses, and whatever Moses said they would hear (v. 19). But when the people were running away from God, Moses as a courageous leader, drew near the thick darkness where God was (v. 21). As a leader, you must strive to acquire the holy boldness to come to God’s presence.
PART 2: MOSES: A GREAT INTERCESSOR (EXO. 32:1-16)
A leader that will be successful in the ministry must be a great intercessor. He must have a compassionate heart for the people he or she is leading. The reason is that the people may do what is bad and deserve punishment or even death. A good leader must not say “go and face the music for what you have done” but must show some concern, intercede for the person, who knows whether God may hear and give the person another chance?
Moses was still receiving sundry laws from God and delayed in coming to the people, but the people had already broken the first and second laws by making a molten calf for themselves regarding it as the god who brought them out of the land of Egypt (vv. 1-6). When God saw this, He asked Moses to go down to his people whom he brought out of Egypt, for they had corrupted themselves (v. 7). At this point, God rejected Israelites as His people. He disowned them and called them Moses’ people. God is the Creator of all but not the Father of all. He is only the Father of those that believe Him and do His will. No matter who you are in the Church, if you keep on dipping your hands into sin, God will disown you.
God decided to consume the Israelites out of anger because they were stiff-necked people (vv. 9-10). But Moses, as a good leader, started interceding on behalf of the people so that God would not do as he had determined (vv. 11-13) and the Bible says “the Lord relented from the harm which He said He would do to the people (v. 14). Moses was not a selfish leader. God gave him an open cheque when He told him that He would make Moses a great nation (v.10) Some would jump at that offer to make a name for themselves. But Moses was not that kind of person, he interceded for the people and God hearkened to him.
PART 3: GOD FOUGHT FOR MOSES (NUM. 12:1-6)
Many of the followers usually expect more than necessary from the leaders. They have forgotten that they are human beings with blood running in their veins. They are not spirits and they are not angels. They are human beings just like us, only with a special mandate to lead the people. As such, they may make mistakes. But when such a thing happens, it is not for the followers to judge them and speak ill of them, we must rather pray for them.
Moses married an Ethiopian woman and Aaron and Miriam spoke against him (v. 1). This was Zipporah whom he had married in Midian before God later gave a command that Israelites should not marry Gentiles. Moses did not marry a second wife. But the way Aaron and Miriam went about it was wrong. They were only looking for the way to discredit Moses’ leadership out of jealousy. They spoke against him. What they said in verse 2 revealed envy against Moses’ leadership and not concerning the things of God and holy living.
God, therefore, stepped in and defended Moses. God assessed Moses and gave His recommendation of him as very humble and meek (v. 3); a prophet per excellence with whom God spoke face to face, a faithful man (vv. 4-8). God said, “why then are you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses (v. 8). God defended Moses and caused Miriam to become leprous for the offence. Could you see that God spared Aaron from the punishment because he was the Lord’s anointed and Miriam bore the brunt of the offence. (vv. 9-12). Even when Moses pleaded for her with God, God said she would be shamed for seven days (v.14). Never join anyone to speak against God’s anointed, God will not take it lightly. He has not put the judgment of servants of God in the hands of the laity. Your duty is to be praying and interceding for them and leave their judgment to God. Servants of God should also not take liberty for license to indulge in anything that will bring dishonour to the name of God.
CONCLUSION
God gave testimony of Moses’ faithfulness in the ministry. We must emulate Moses in his leadership qualities of giving godly direction to people, interceding for people and caring for them. We must desist from rebelling or speaking against God’s ministers, for God will fight for them.
QUESTIONS
- Mention the Ten Commandments.
- Which of the laws did the people break before Moses’ arrival from Mount Sinai?
- Why did God disown the Israelites and call them Moses’ people?
- What is the offence of Aaron and Miriam against Moses?
- What should we do when a man of God errs from God’s standard?