Moses the Prayer Warrior

 The Prayer of Moses in the Wilderness

 Book of Psalms Chapter 90

 

 We all know that as we grow older, we become weaker, and life becomes more real!

 We look back on our lives and wonder where all those years have gone.

 Time does seem to fly away!

 Some of us have things we have wanted to do all our lives, but we have gotten too old to do them now.

 Psalm number ninety tells us how Moses felt, as he too felt he was getting too old to do the tasks God wanted him to do.

 Moses forgot that it is from God that we get our strength and most of us do the same thing.

 We forget any power we have comes from the Lord Jesus.

 Php 4:13  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. 

 Many of us will shed tears of regret over words that were not spoken or words that were spoken.

Many of us will shed tears over things we have done or things we did not do.

 In fact, these may be the tears that the Lord will wipe away when we see Him face to face.

 This is the only Psalm that was written by Moses!

 Since this Psalm was written by Moses, it makes it the oldest Psalm in the Book of Psalms.

 It is believed that Moses wrote this Psalm when Israel was wandering aimlessly in the wilderness.

 We must acknowledge God's care and God's love for us.

We must recognize the problems of human mortality.

We must appeal to God for His mercy and God's help.

 *****Psa 90:1  A Prayer of Moses the man of God. Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.

Psa 90:2  Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.  

 Moses assures us that God existed before the world, which is His creation.

 God will not lie to us.

 Heb_6:18  That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:

 We must never put much faith in those who say our world is billions of years old.

 Moses uses the word earth to distinguish it from the heavens.

 Only Earth is an inhabited, fruitful land, a land fitted for habitation.

 There has not been another place found that is like this earth!

 As the Children of Israel traveled in circles in the wilderness, Moses realized how little our earthly home matters.

 Israel was a nation of nomads, wanderers, travelers, people on a journey.

 Every mile they had traveled, they had been cared for and protected by God Himself.

 That forty-year travel came because of their unbelief, but at the end of those forty years, most of them were made aware of the truth of God.

 Those who refused to believe after witnessing marvelous miracles in Egypt and as they traveled, had now died off.

 In that forty years, they became a nation.

 Jehovah God had become their dwelling place in those forty years.

 They were truly strangers and pilgrims upon this earth.

 It is the same for the Church today!

 We are not citizens of this world!

 God is our home because God is our everything!

 It is this same God, Jehovah, who gave birth to this universe we see today.

 God is our home now and throughout eternity, which means forever and ever.

 For the saint of God, He has always been our dwelling place.

 This being true and it is, we can understand that the miseries that we have had in our lifetime were not of God but was of ourselves.

 God can only do good to His saints!

God can only do righteousness.

 God is our refuge.

God is our security.

God is our shelter.

 We can abide safely and peacefully in Him all the days of our lives if we have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior!

 *****Psa 90:3  Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men. 

Psa 90:4  For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.

 We must understand that our life is but for a day, compared to God who lives in eternity.

 We must also understand that it is our God who is the giver of the life that we have!

 Gen 3:19  In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. 

 Psa 103:13  Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. 

Psa 103:14  For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust. 

Psa 103:15  As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. 

 The sentence of death is just as a wage or a payment for our sins.

 Every one of us is going to die!

 We will die and return to the dust we are made from, or we will be Born Again and live with the Lord forever.

 Rom 5:12  Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

 Rom 6:23  For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

 Each of us has an inescapable appointment with death!

 Heb 9:27  And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: 

 We just do not know the day this thing will take place.

 This is the very reason we must prepare in advance for our day of death and also for the judgment that follows after death!

 If we were to live for one thousand years it would still be less than one day to God.

 Some say Moses was eighty years old when he wrote this Psalm, but he lived to be one hundred twenty years old before God took charge of his death.

 No doubt that we should look back over our years from time to time and if you are a saint of God, you will not see anything in those years that will make you want to go back to that life.

 The Israelites divided the night into three watches.

 Jdg 7:19  So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outside of the camp "in the beginning of the middle watch"; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers that were in their hands.

 The middle watch shows us there were only three watches.

 It was the Romans who had four watches.

 To God there is no before and after; no past and future; all is present.

 *****Psa 90:5  Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up. 

Psa 90:6  In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth. 

 Moses compared death to being swept away in a flood.

 A flash flood comes suddenly, and it will carry away almost everything that it touches.

 When we are asleep, in a sense, time has stopped for us until we wake up in the morning, but if that morning does not come, we will wake up in Hell or Heaven.

 Jer 51:39  In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the LORD. 

 Jer 51:57  And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts. 

 These were the enemies of God's people which makes them the enemies of God.

 I do not ever want to be an enemy of God again!

 We are like the dreams we have, that come to us in our sleep and fade away into the night.

 We are like the grasses that grow. Here today and withered away by tomorrow.

 *****Psa 90:7  For we are consumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath are we troubled.

Psa 90:8  Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.  

 Human life is brief and uncertain, and we do things that make our life even shorter.

 Death is the wages of sin. What did God tell Adam?

 Gen 2:16  And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 

Gen 2:17  But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. 

 Adam had disobeyed God by partaking in the fruit that Eve had given to him.

 Adam was so taken up with Eve, that he would rather die with her than be left alone again, not thinking that God would supply his needs.

 Even Moses knew that man was not a victim of his circumstances.

 We do not deserve compassion, but a penalty, when we go against any part of the Word of God.

 A swift life and a swift death are not by accident in most cases, not at all, it is God's wrath against sin.

 All the Israelites that had rebelled against God in refusing to go into Canaan land were made to stay in the wilderness for forty years until the last one died off, and their children went into Canaan without their parents and grandparents.

 Even secret sins are known by God! They may be secret to all others, but not to our Holy God!

 Even the angels that sinned know the power of God's anger.

 Everyone in Hell today is a believer, but it is too late for them.

 Those in the world today who mock God do not know the power of God's wrath!

 When the Apostle Paul reflected on the time of Moses and the children of Israel, he could come to but one conclusion.

 Rom 3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.

 And from the time of Adam, we get the whole truth.

 Rom 5:12  Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: 

 The truth is, nothing changes with God's wrath until we have a Savior!

 *****Psa 90:9  For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told. 

Psa 90:10  The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

 It does not take us long to figure out that human life is short and uncertain and that we need a Savior.

 The lives of the Israelites are still under the cloud of God's Wrath because they rejected Him, but it will not be long before this wrath turns to blessing.

 We know that Moses lived to be one hundred and twenty years old, so when he says three score and ten it seems strange.

 Aaron lived to be one hundred and three years old.

 Miriam was probably older than Moses when she died.

 Those that perished in the wilderness were all those over twenty years old and most of them did perish around seventy years old and a few of them made it to eighty, but they truly struggled with life every day.

 Many of us in this class can say that we do not really enjoy these days when we have so much pain and misery, but we can also say we will serve the Lord all the days He allows us to live.

 Ecc 12:1  Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;

 The Lord knows what we all are going through young and old.

 One thing is certain, if we have a personal relationship with the Lord, then one day will truly fly away!

 There is not much pleasure in this life in those years past seventy.

 In fact, my greatest pleasure in this life is now my great-grandchildren and trying to put a lesson together for every Sunday.

 *****Psa 90:11  Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath.

 There is no one upon this earth or in Heaven, who can know the "power of God's anger"!

 It is not so important how long we live, but at the end of our life at our death, will be the result of God's "wrath" or God's "grace"?

 Rom 3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

 No matter who we are, we should have great fear of God's power!

 God is perfect and He will execute His wrath in perfection!

 God will exercise His justice against sinners according to His fierce anger against sin!

 We see all these problems that come to the sinner, but God the Holy Spirit gives us the good news that comes in the same Bible.

 Jesus Christ solved all these issues of sin, "for us"!

 Jesus removed the sting of death to us, and He also conquered death!

 1Co 15:54  So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 

1Co 15:55  O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 

 The Lord Jesus will destroy the Devil who had the power of death over God's people!

 Heb_2:14  Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

 The generation that is living upon this earth at the return of Christ will never die and will join with all those who have gone on before us.

 Joh 11:25  Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 

Joh 11:26  And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? 

  1Th 4:17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 

 Those words "caught up" give us the meaning of the word Rapture.

 We will be yanked out of this world before anyone realizes what is taking place.

 We need for God to teach us to make what time we have left to be useful in the work He has given us to do.

 *****Psa 90:12  So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

 We should understand that human life is uncertain.

 Even those with enough money to buy a hospital and the best doctors are still subject to God's timing of their death and there is nothing they can do about it.

 Israel's life today is still under the wrath of God, and this will not change until the Rapture of the Church.

 We need a heart of wisdom to cope with this wicked world and still be useful to God!

 Deu 5:29  O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!

 Deu 32:29  O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end! 

 There is a right way to use our time and there is a wrong way to use the time that the Lord has given to us.

 One thing is certain as we grow older, we look back on our lives and see all the time we wasted doing trivial things that were truly a waste of time.

 It is the things that we cannot see that become important to us.

 Even as we grow old and having experienced a good life by our standard, we need to pray for God to teach us how to use our time better.

 The only remedy we can have in this life is "faith"! Faith in the Word of God and this is not blind faith but faith in the truth of God!

 What are the facts?

 1) Life is short.

2) Death comes speedily.

 We would be far better off to devote our time to true wisdom!

 Hear some of the wisdom from Job:

 Job 32:7  I said, Days should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom. 

Job 32:8  But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding. 

Job 32:9  Great men are not always wise: neither do the aged understand judgment. 

 Job 12:12  With the ancient is wisdom; and in length of days understanding. 

 The next thing on the Lord's calendar is the Rapture and then the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to this earth.

We will meet the Lord in the clouds!

 This is wisdom!

 *****Psa 90:13  Return, O LORD, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy servants. 

Psa 90:14  O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. 

Psa 90:15  Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil. 

 We find in the Bible three things about repentance:

 1) A complete change of mind.

2) A complete change of purpose.

3) A change in the way we live.

 In the military, the term "about face" gives us an idea of repentance.

 We have to have a sense of guilt and our sinfulness.

We must understand God's mercy is in Jesus Christ.

We must have an absolute hatred of sin.

 It seems today that we have the attitude some sins are not that bad and others are terrible, but this is not the way of God.

 We must have the same hatred that God has toward all sin or any sin!

 Does God ever repent?

 We must understand that only those who have sinned can repent.

 God has never sinned therefore He has nothing to be repentant of.

 God commands all sinners to repent, and this would include all mankind from the time of Adam till the very last soul that is sent to Hell.

 The time to repent is that time we are alive.

 The evidence of repentance is faith, humility, prayer, and obedience.

 Zec 12:10  And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. 

 We should know that there is nothing that bothers God.

There is never any uneasiness with God.

God is never sitting around wondering what He is going to do.

Nothing upon this earth can a create disturbance in the mind of God!

 God has a just and holy displeasure against sin and sinners.

 The reason we can be saved is that God has more "mercy" than He has "hatred" and He loves to show all sinners His "grace" which comes from the Lord Jesus Christ.

 God does not hate mankind, or it would go against what He teaches us.

 We are to hate the sin but not the sinner!

 For us to learn true wisdom we must pray for Divine intervention, and we must beg to be taught by the Holy Spirit.

 We should also pray for the "mercy" of God because God has more "mercy" than He does wrath.

 Instead of going about our days wasting precious time, we need to pray for the forgiveness of our sins and seek an inheritance in Heaven that is gained by telling those who are lost about the Messiah, the Savior.

 Psa 126:5  They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. 

Psa 126:6  He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.

 God will never fail us because His love will never fail!

 *****Psa 90:16  Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children. 

Psa 90:17  And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it. 

 In this passage, the word beauty means favor, grace, and pleasantness.

 As long as God's favor is upon us, we will be successful in this life that we have now and gain an inheritance in Heaven.

 When we confess our sins and repent of our sin, God "promises" to forgive us and cleanse us of any unrighteousness.

 1Jn 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

1Jn 1:10  If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 

 We must be careful and not call God a liar.

 Oftentimes when we say we do not believe in some passage God has given to us, we are in fact, calling God a liar when it is impossible for God to lie.

 When we sin, we should immediately appeal to God for His "mercy" and His "grace" and His help, and it always helps our own forgiveness by praying for all others who have done the same thing.

 Compassion and forgiveness are two of the greatest traits of our God.

 The Lord Jesus expressed these two traits many times in that little time He was upon this earth.

 Mic 7:18  Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. 

Mic 7:19  He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

We can see that along with the many things we know of Moses we also know that He was a prayer warrior.

I love you, Lord Jesus.

Amen

Obtaining the Promises of God

 Joshua Israel's New Leader

Book of Joshua Chapter 1

Who is this, Joshua?

The name "Joshua" as written can mean "Jehovah is his help" but it can also mean "Jehovah the Savior".

Joshua is sometimes written Jehoshua, and Jehoshuah but in the New Testament we see it written as Jesus.

Act 7:45  Which also our fathers that came after brought in with "Jesus" into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David; 

Act 7:46  Who found favour before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. 

We should not be confused by these things and if we study the context of the Scripture we will not be.

We see the same thing happen in the Book of Hebrews:

Heb 4:8  For if "Jesus" had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. 

Heb 4:9  There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. 

Joshua did not have it in his power to give rest to the people of God, only the Lord Jesus Christ has this power!

Again look at the context of this Scripture.

This Joshua is the son Nun to distinguish him from any other man name Joshua and there were others.

Joshua as a child was born into the slavery of Egypt and reached the age for military as he traveled to freedom with Moses and all of Israel.

No doubt as a young man He worked in the brick fields of Egypt.

We can believe all these things because it is Joshua, led by the Holy Spirit who has written all these things for us. 

It is Joshua who also wrote the final words of the Book of Deuteronomy after the death of Moses again led by the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit does not make mistakes, so there are no mistakes in the "Received Text"!

We can say the Book of Joshua was written to the Israelites to teach them their great history and the mistakes they had made.

We also know that All Scripture is written for the Church!

2Ti 3:16  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 

2Ti 3:17  That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. 

The Book of Joshua shows us how Israel conquered and divided up the land promised to these descendants of Abraham by Isaac and Jacob.

The Book of Joshua shows all readers that God is faithful to keep His promises.

The main purpose to the Book of Joshua is to teach the Doctrines of God to the Israelites and to all readers of this precious book of the Old Testament, which means the New Testament Church.

Some of those Doctrines are:

The Doctrine of Faith.

The Doctrine of the Holiness of God.

The Doctrine of Sin. God will not tolerate evil and wickedness, not forever.

The Doctrine of "Mercy and Grace". Yes, we can see the "Grace" of God in the Old Testament and His "Mercy"!

The Doctrine of the "All Powerful" God of Creation.

The Doctrine of the "All Knowing" God of knowledge.

The Doctrine of the Sovereign Ruler of all Creation.

The Doctrine that states that God places people in certain locations for His Own Purposes!

*****Jos 1:1  Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to pass, that the LORD spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying, 

Jos 1:2  Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. 

Moses at the age of 120 years old had now been taken out of the picture by God Himself, his purpose complete and God told Joshua to fill in the gap that Moses left behind.

It is our duty to answer the call of God!

Moses was a mighty man of God. How could anyone fill in for him?

Moses had already selected Joshua by the word of God and had already begun his training.

Deu 31:14  And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thy days approach that thou must die: call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle of the congregation, that I may give him a charge. And Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the tabernacle of the congregation.

Deu 31:23  And he gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge, and said, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I sware unto them: and I will be with thee. 

It was Moses that had established Israel as a nation through the guidance of Jehovah making him the father of the nation of Israel.

A band of Egyptian slaves had become the nation that had set back Egypt for many years which they have never really overcome.

It was time for Israel to leave off mourning for what was, and accept what God had planned for the destruction of the sinful nations of Canaan Land

Gen_15:16  But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

On a much smaller scale than the worldwide flood, Israel was the hand of God for the destruction of the sin full people of Canaan Land.

They needed a strong leader and God gave them Joshua.

Joshua was now the Commander-in-Chief of the new nation of Israel.

We should understand Moses was a great man of God, but his death did not affect the plan of God.

God simply selects some other human to keep the plan of God moving forward at all times!

If Joshua for some reason rejected the call of God, God would simply have chosen someone else.

When God plan is in action, He will then provide all the tools and materials necessary to keep moving forward in the work God has given all the Church to accomplish.

The "providence" of God is always in His hands, and it does not depend upon any one upon this earth, or anywhere else humans are seeking to run and hide.

*****Jos 1:3  Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. 

It was the death of Moses that opened the door for Joshua, so we see that it is God who is the giver of life and only He can take a life.

Satan may have had the power of death before the work of the Lord Jesus was completed, but he could not cause death at his will, he needed the permission of God, and he still does today.

Satan answers to God, Jehovah God and he is also condemned to Hell which is why the world is moving so fast toward wicked, immoral corrupted, iniquity.

Some of the promises God made to Abraham were becoming reality.

The walk of Abraham had defined the boundaries of the nation of Israel more than four hundred years prior to the day of Joshua.

Moses had led the children of Israel right up to the shores of the River Jordan, right at the most awkward time of the rainy season, but God had a reason even for this.

It would be Joshua that led the crossing of Jordan!

What were the boundaries that God set aside for the nation of Israel?

*****Jos 1:4  From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast. 

South: the desert of Negev.

North: Lebanon. Mount Lebanon the tallest mountain of Syria.

East: the Euphrates River.

West the Mediterranean Sea.

To this day, Israel has never possessed all this land and will not until the return of Christ Jesus.

Why? Many of them became cowards.

Many of them refused to obey the Word of God.

The closest that Israel ever came to control of all this land was in the days of King David and King Solomon.

It is at the death of King Solomon when Israel became a divided nation and disappeared from History for a time.

A divided nation cannot stand in this world of sin!

America is more divided today than it has ever been in our brief history and America could disappear from history and it is because of our corrupt, and wicked, and immoral government!

Why is this so true? Because America has booted God out!

Why did Israel begin to show dominance for many years? It was because God was with them until they demanded God to leave.

What was God's promise to Israel?

*****Jos 1:5  There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. 

What wonderful words given to a new leader.

God promised Joshua that no nation would be able to stand against him.

To us this means as a believer, we will have a full life, a victorious life, if we continue to serve the Lord with all our heart!

We know that as this new nation of Israel moved forward, they would face many obstacles.

We can also say the same thing about them today as much of the world hates them without a reason.

This tiny nation of Israel has met many a foe on the battlefield, all of them trying to erase them as a nation, but God has not allowed this to happen, and the Bible says He will not allow it to happen.

God promises those who love Him a full and victorious life, but we must also move forward claiming victory over the obstacles we face.

We can do this because we are never alone!

With the power of God there is no obstacle that we cannot overcome!

It begins with obedience!

1Jn 5:3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. 

1Jn 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 

1Jn 5:5  Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

We have the promise of our Savior that He will never forsake us.

Even on those days we may not feel our Lord God, we have the assurance that He is with us.

Our life is not about feelings, our life is about the promises of God!

This is one of the greatest promises God has given to us, that He will never forsake us!

No matter what trouble, no matter what difficulty, no matter what problem we face, God will never leave us and He will walk with us through these things!

*****Jos 1:6  Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them. 

Joshua had been an eyewitness, as these people had rebelled against Moses many times.

The challenge of Israel was very great to be a conqueror of the many nations of Canaan Land.

They needed a leader who was equipped to manage these times and it was Joshua.

Joshua was God's man!

What was Joshua first task? He was to trust God! He was to be strong and very courageous!

When God calls us, He knows that our task will not be easy. If it was easy, then anyone could do it without God!

The army of God must be strong and courageous. 

When we put on the armor of God we are not dressing for peace, we are dressing for war!

We are to be obedient to the Word of God.

We are to never stop sharing the Word of God.

We are to meditate on God's Word day and night!

The result of obedience to God will always be prosperity and success! This does not mean riches. 

It means all that we put our hands to, that is in the will of God, will prosper!

Again, it takes strength in the Lord and obedience to overcome discouragement!

*****Jos 1:7  Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. 

God did not place Joshua in this position of leadership to be lord over this people!

They would follow Joshua if he continued to follow the Lord.

Until till the last days of Joshua's life, every day brought a new enemy to defeat.

Every year brought a new enemy.

Every day he had to send the young people of Israel into battle, and he would witness the blood shed of many of them.

These things are hard on any commander. Joshua would need much courage and strength.

No matter where we are on the battlefield of the Lord, we must know that we cannot do these things in our own strength so our relationship with the Lord must be steady and enduring.

We must follow the Word of God not veering to the left or to the right.

The pathway to Heaven remains a narrow path and few will ever find it.

Mat_7:14  Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

God will reveal to us the obstacles we will face by teaching us the deep things of God!

1Co 2:10  But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 

1Co 2:11  For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. 

1Co 2:12  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 

1Co 2:13  Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 

1Co 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 

The key to our prosperity in this world is obedience to all the Word of God!

Again this does not mean riches!

How are we to study the Word of God?

*****Jos 1:8  This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. 

In order for Joshua to succeed as the Commander-in-Chief of Israel, he was to know and obey all the Word of God. (Which is a type of Christ)

This has not changed for every national leader today! They have the same instructions, no matter who they are or where they are located!

We must never turn our backs to the Word of God as we see this world do so today.

If there is a godly leader in this world today, they are noticeably quiet and ashamed of the Word of God, because they are too silent!

God will give us purpose, a sense of achievement and a fulfillment throughout our Christian Life, but only if we obey God by meditating in His Word day and night, throughout our lifetime.

In other words, we should always be doing what God says to do!

Deu 5:29  O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever! 

This is the key to our success in the plan of God!

Again, we must be strong and courageous in the things of God!

*****Jos 1:9  Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. 

If God says a thing one time, then it is enough, but when God says things three times then He knows how easy it will be for us to get discouraged when we see what is going on in our world.

We must never let these things keep us from serving the Lord!

We must be strong and courageous as we walk through our Christian Life.

We must know that when God gave these lands to Abraham, all Abraham had was his faith and he had enough faith that he could trust the Word of God is true.

Abraham trusted in the promises of God, and it is no different for us here today.

Now in this day of Joshua more than four hundred years later, Joshua is in position to begin fulfilling some of God's promises to Abraham.

We should know that the land promised to Abraham was indeed the land called Palestine. Palestine is an area and not the name of some country.

We should also know that the land promised to Abraham also refers to the New Heaven. 

Canaan Land is just a symbol of God's Promise.

Rom 4:13  For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. 

The inheritance that Abraham had so much faith in, refers to the entire world, the New Universe which God is going to recreate in the very end.

It is not this world we live in now that is so full of sin, immorality, and wicked corruptness!

This world that is wasting away, deteriorating, running down, that our world calls "Climate Change". They have seen nothing yet!

2Pe 3:4  And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. 

2Pe 3:5  For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: 

2Pe 3:6  Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: 

2Pe 3:7  But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. 

2Pe 3:8  But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 

2Pe 3:9  The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

The promise to Abraham refers to the New Heaven and the New Jerusalem, our Heavenly Home!

Rev 21:10  And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

All these things Abraham knew and, on this day, Joshua would begin that journey with Israel as they would cross the River Jordan.

This is where Joshua would derive his courage and his strength!

It was the promises made to Abraham that drove Joshua to be the great man of God that he was, and we should be encouraged just as Joshua was encouraged.

Gen 12:1  Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 

Gen 12:2  And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 

Gen 12:3  And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. 

Joshua told this new nation of Israel, "let us go an obtain the promises of God".

This is exactly what the Church is doing today!

*****Jos 1:10  Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, 

Jos 1:11  Pass through the host, and command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals; for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which the LORD your God giveth you to possess it. 

After forty years the long-awaited command came. "prepare the people for we are going to cross the River Jordan".

We should remember that this people of Israel would have been several million people.

There is not an army on the face of the earth that can go from rest to moving forward for war in three days, which shows us how Moses had prepared this army.

This was not just the army but also all their families and livestock.

We should also think about those three days!

Three days to our Lord Jesus was the time of His death to His resurrection.

In three days, this rag tag bunch of slaves would resurrect as the nation of Israel.

We should be able to see the typology of all these things.

What do we know? We know that God had spoken to Joshua and the crossing of the Jordan was to be done at once.

As Israel had been at camp until this command came, they had certainly seen that the River Jordan was running out of its banks at this time of the year.

In our service to the Lord, we had better understand that the natural things must be exhausted before the supernatural is brought in.

At this time we believe the "manna" had ceased and the word "victuals" would mean the food that was natural to their surroundings.

Jos 5:12  And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year. 

We also believe that before this command was given, that Joshua had already sent out those spies to Jericho, and they had returned.

On this side of this flooded river was Israel ready for war and on the other side stood the walled city of Jericho, which had to fall for Israel to be successful.

Jericho had already heard of the wars Israel had already fought, and won, and the city was afraid of Israel.

Between them lay a vast expanse of rushing water.

Joshua commanded this people of God "to prepare", then "passover" and then "to possess".

We must understand as a soldier in God's Army, we must always be prepared, and we have that "Heavenly Manna" with us at all times if we are carrying the Word of God.

We must feed on the Lord Jesus Christ; He is our Passover!

No doubt that many of these people had the fear of death for war brings death!

But to the child of God, death has but one meaning and that meaning is New Life.

There would be no possessing of that land until they crossed over the flood waters of the River Jordan.

As Christians we have nothing on this side of Jordan, but the New Heaven, the New Jerusalem lie on the other side.

What lies on the other side will be the treasures of God! 

A share of the inheritance of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Still that raging river seemed unsurpassable.

But the Lord will always say:

Jos 3:5  And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the LORD will do wonders among you. 

When the flood waters of this world are raging, then this is when we need to trust the Lord the most!

Mar_6:50  For they all saw him, and were troubled. And immediately he talked with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid.

We must never forget that as we travel in this life, the Lord Jesus Christ will walk before us showing us the way!

We know that God would stop the flow of the River Jordan and several million Israelites would cross the River Jordan on dry land!

Amen

God Did Not Allow Moses to be Aborted

 Moses and Israel

Book of Deuteronomy Chapters 31 33 and 34

Most people do not realize that the life of Moses began when His mother chose to not allow the government to abort her child.

It is the same abortion process that is allowed in some states today. 

The government ordered all the male babies of Israel to be destroyed and the female babies allowed to live to become sex slaves.

Abortion after nine months is nothing but murder, in fact abortion at any stage of a baby's development is nothing but murder!

Abortion needs to be outlawed completely.

Moses grew up to be a great man and a great leader of Israel.

What is greatness?

Greatness as far as humanity can be said to be a high rank, a placed of elevation, a place of high dignity, a place of much power, a place with command of others, a place of swelling pride.

Guess what, almost every human being goes through a period in their lives when they want to feel that they are great. 

That they are far above other people.

That they are important in this world and more important than most others.

We see rulers and presidents who have this feeling of greatness.

We see governments that claim greatness because of certain laws.

Today we see politicians who think they know more of what of what people need than the people do, especially parents.

This is called indoctrination, but this is for another lesson.

It is not wealth, nor influence, nor fame that gets the attention of God. It is humility!

Humility can be described as a state of mind that is well-pleasing to God!

It is humility that preserves the soul:

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 

Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

1Pe 3:4  But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. 

The Lord Jesus Christ is our example of humility as He is our example in all things.

Php 2:6  Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 

Php 2:7  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 

Php 2:8  And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 

God greatest promises are to those who are humble in spirit!

Isa 57:15  For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. 

Those who are contrite are all those are all those who are broken hearted because they have sinned against our Holy God.

We should all be ashamed that we were such sinners!

Moses was God's man and the mediator between all of Israel and the Almighty God.

Moses was now 120 years old. His life was spent in 40-year increments.

Forty years as the grandson of Pharaoh.

Forty years as a lowly shepherd.

Forty years leading the Israelites to a promised land that he would not get to see with his own eyes.

*****Deu 31:1  And Moses went and spake these words unto all Israel. 

Deu 31:2  And he said unto them, I am an hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and come in: also the LORD hath said unto me, Thou shalt not go over this Jordan. 

Deu 31:3  The LORD thy God, he will go over before thee, and he will destroy these nations from before thee, and thou shalt possess them: and Joshua, he shall go over before thee, as the LORD hath said. 

It was finally time for these children of Israel to enter the promised land, but Moses was forbidden by God to do so.

His days had ended.

Moses said to these people that his days as a leader had ended because his death was approaching.

One of the greatest types in all the Bible was about to take place.

Joshua, Hoshea, Yehoshua in Hebrew would lead the children of Israel into the Promised Land just as Yeshua, Jesus will lead the Church into the New Heaven, the true Promised Land. 

Even in his humility, Moses was a great prophet of Jehovah.

He was the Lawgiver to the Jews.

In fact, even at the time of Jesus, Moses was known as the Law Giver.

Notice that Moses had been prepared and then performed the work of God for 120 years.

Reminds us of Noah who built the Ark and preached to unrepentant sinners for 120 years.

Moses had known that he would not enter Canaan Land.

Deu 32:48  And the LORD spake unto Moses that selfsame day, saying, 

Deu 32:49  Get thee up into this mountain Abarim, unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession: 

Deu 32:50  And die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people; as Aaron thy brother died in mount Hor, and was gathered unto his people: 

Deu 32:51  Because ye trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah-Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel. 

Deu 32:52  Yet thou shalt see the land before thee; but thou shalt not go thither unto the land which I give the children of Israel.

We must not think that Moses was on his death bed for he was not.

Deu 34:7  And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated. 

He could not go in and out. He could not perform the day-by-day function of leader to this people.

Nothing could be done to change this fact that Moses would not lead these people into the promised land, so Moses began to encourage them.

Great Spiritual leaders may come and go, but the message of God and the truths of God do not ever change!

As Christians it is our job to encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ!

As we go through these days we call life, we find that we need strong encouragement most of the time, but the fact remains that sometimes we need a strong warning, as it is today as we see the end of the Church Age approaching.

The Church needs to wake up to these facts!

We need to understand the consequences of the decisions we make in this life!

We must understand that it is our faith that will provided that encouragement and it is our faith that we need to grow!

Though Moses would no longer be the leader of this new nation of Israel, he promised them that God would still with them.

The Lord will always fulfill the promises He makes, no matter what is going on in the world.

Joshua had proven himself to Moses and to God, and Joshua would lead this people into the Promised Land just as the Lord Jesus will lead the Church into the true Promised Land the New Heaven.

Before Joshua would take over in place of Moses, Moses had to complete that first copy of all the Law he had received from Jehovah and the people would first hear the first five Books of the Bible from Moses himself.

We sometimes forget that Moses was one of the greatest men that had ever lived.

We know that Moses was one of the two men that appeared at the time of the transfiguration of the Lord Jesus Christ, Elijah being the other man.

God thought an awful lot of Moses and these Jews would do so also.

If anyone could offer encouragement to these people, it would be Moses.

Remember they had witnessed all their elders die in the wilderness because of their refusal to be obedient to God.

Another thing we should understand when serving the Lord is, that He will never send us into any place that He has not gone on before us to begin His work.

We see this today in places where God has called missionaries to specific places because the Holy Spirit has already been at work there.

Joshua had been prepared all his life to take the reins from Moses and he had never faltered.

These people had to realize that their strength did not come from the size of their army nor from their own abilities.

Their strength could come only from the LORD!

This is the same lesson the Church must learn and each of us that believe!

Our strength comes only from the Lord Jesus!

It should be the goal of every individual to want victory in this life and that victory can come only by the Lord Jesus Christ!

Joh 16:13  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. 

Joh 16:14  He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. 

Joh 16:15  All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you. 

It is the Lord Jesus Christ who is our refuge at all times and under all circumstances!

*****Deu 33:26  There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky. 

Deu 33:27  The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them.

That name Jeshurun could be said to be God's "pet name" or "nick name" for Israel.

It could be phrased "the righteous little people" or "the dear upright people" for we know that Israel was a small nation at this time, but they were the people of God.

They were a people without a country!

The thing this world had better keep in mind is, that true Israel will be preserved to serve God during the Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ and there is nothing that this world can do about it and before this, the Lord will have removed His Church.

It does not matter that the world does not believe this!

Anyone with plans to attack Israel had best be aware God will always be on their side!

Remember from last week, God will rejoice in the destruction of all those who try to destroy Israel!

There is nothing in this world that you could compare to the power of God!

Jehovah will always be the Eternal Refuge of Israel!

Jehovah will always be the Saving Help of these, His people!

There is none like unto Jehovah God!

There is none that can compare to Jehovah God!

It was time for Israel to realize this truth and to be honest, it is past time for the world of today to know this truth.

Why does the world keep falling into the traps of evolution?

Why does the world keep believing it can control the outcome of sin?

Sin comes by the hand of Satan and is intended to destroy us all!

Tax revenues made from sin, would not be that important if governments were better stewards of its national resources!

God is the Dwelling-place and the Refuge of His people, and this includes the Church!

It is God the LORD who is our Protector from the storms of life!

If God sends us into the storm, then He will go with us and He is never far from us!

We are always trying to figure out what God is going to do, or to allow to happen in this world, but all the major things are written down for in the Word of God!

What we know is, that Heaven is a busy place as the Lord Jesus is preparing a place for all His children.

We need to keep the Lord Jesus Christ busy building mansions!

For Jesus is truly our refuge in times of trouble!

Not for those who reject the Word of God, but only for those who are obedient to all the Word of God and who diligently seek Him!

Jehovah is glorious in His majesty.

Jehovah has absolute sovereignty over ALL His creation.

Jehovah has power infinitely beyond comprehension or even resistance.

Jehovah is Divine in His character!

Isa 40:18  To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him? 

Isa 40:19  The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains. 

Isa 40:20  He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved. 

Isa 40:21  Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? 

Isa 40:22  It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: 

Isa 40:23  That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. 

This truth is so obvious today, but the truth of God is still rejected so people can believe lies!

It does not matter what the world believes, Israel dwells in the safety of Jehovah God every day as does the Church!

Israel's God and God's Israel.

*****Deu 33:28  Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew. 

Deu 33:29  Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places. 

Egypt had so many gods that some people would say they grew them in their own gardens.

This could be said of this world we live in today!

This could be said of the USA today, as America looks more like the world every day now.

I have this question that haunts me: "Why do we even want to be like the world especially the European Union"?

We had a war to be free from the Europeans to get our nation started.

Why do we want to be like them now? They have not changed for the better!

If America is Sodom, then Europe is Gomorrah!

We should want to be more like the vision of those who came to America to serve the Lord Jesus Christ!

If America would just repent, we would see so many good changes come in the form of God's love!

2Ch 7:14  If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 

There is coming a day when all of Israel's enemies will be found to be liars.

In fact there is coming a day when all God's enemies will be found to be liars.

They are liars because they follow their true god, Satan the father of all liars!

The Lord Jesus had these words to say:

Joh 8:43  Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. 

Joh 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. 

Joh 8:45  And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. 

There are many nations today that are becoming friends of Israel and they had better be truthful and for those who swear to destroy Israel they will certainly be found liars!

It was time for Moses to disappear off the scene and Joshua to take the reins of Israel, but before this happened the Holy Spirit still had some things to say about Moses.

As we study the Scriptures, we will find that there has not been another prophet as was Moses who did speak to Jehovah face to face.

Moses has now been buried in a place no one but God knows.

Deu 34:5  So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. 

Deu 34:6  And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day. 

*****Deu 34:10  And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,

Deu 34:11  In all the signs and the wonders, which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land, 

Deu 34:12  And in all that mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moses shewed in the sight of all Israel. 

Another thing we see is that when our own work is done, God will call on someone else to continue that work.

The work for Jesus Christ will not be complete until He returns to take His Church home to the New Heaven!

To be honest there were many great prophets to accept the cause of God after the death of Moses, but God spoke to them in a different way.

Moses was a type of Christ, and this could not be said of all the prophets that followed even though they too were great men of God.

They were to be more like the preachers and Pastors of today, but they did many times show the power of God.

As it did to Moses, death will sometimes reveal to us all the missed opportunities where we made the wrong choices in this thing called life.

These things may cause us sadness, but the main thing today in the Church Age is, "to get your name written down in the Lambs Book of Life".

Moses is in Heaven because he had the "faith" of Abraham!

We can only get to Heaven if we have the "faith" of Abraham in the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Abraham believed God!

Moses had requested to see the glory of God and because he was a sinner, he could not, but he has now seen all the glory of the Lord.

Death is that place where the man of God steps into the glory world just as Moses did.

Israel was now prepared to enter into the Promised Land.

All that old bunch of naysayers had died and gone on to the grave to await their future in a burning Hell, but Moses had taken that young nation of Israel and with the help of God formed them into a mighty army.

We should understand this is the job of national leaders to prepare our nation to moved forward in a productive manner and not be brainwashed into something that suits them.

God does not want an indoctrinated youth!

Communism exist today because the youth of those nations were indoctrinated and it is happening in America today.

God wants a youth brought up having been influenced by the Word of God.

Moses drew closer to God as he had gotten older.

Moses was a liberator.

Moses was a prophet.

Moses a lawgiver.

Moses was the father of Israel.

Moses had done all these things because He had believed God and followed all the Word of God.

Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Moses had made a record of all the things God had done to make Israel a great nation.

All these things were done to Israel so that one day not too far into our own future and of Israel, there would be a King again to sit upon the throne of Israel and the promises God had made would be fulfilled.

Moses longed to know the Lord personally and intimately, and this was the driving force in his

fellowship with God and is our example of how we can do the same.

Jesus Christ said:

Joh 14:21  He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. 

All the Word of God is true, and we had better know that it is!

Amen

Always Complaining

 The Murmuring of Israel

Book of Numbers Chapters 13 and 14

As Christians we must realize that when put our own personal preferences before our focus on God and the Word of God, we are stepping toward idolatry!

We must learn to follow Jesus even when it seems things are against us! He sent the Holy Spirit to be with us all our days.

Being a Christian will never be easier than it is right now, until we get to the Glory World.

In fact we already know things are going to get worse here on Earth before the Lord returns.

Murmuring and complaining reveal to God just how far we are veering from true faith. 

In fact these things can reveal a total lack of faith, a lack of trusting in the Lord.

Grumbling and complaining about the way God does things is dangerous!

Israel began showing their lack of faith when they did not accept that Canaan Land, the Promised Land, would be as God described it.

Lev_20:24  But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey: I am the LORD your God, which have separated you from other people.

We must understand that being negative to the truth of God will defeat us and then destroy us!

A negative attitude is always unwilling to face the facts!

A negative attitude will reject the truth of every situation!

A negative attitude will almost always lead to open rebellion!

A negative attitude will cause an unwillingness to listen and follow the truth!

A negative attitude about the Lord Jesus Christ will lead you straight to Hell!

At this time in this new nation of Israel, they had an unbelieving attitude, and it was separating them from our merciful God.

We should understand that Jehovah God will only tolerate such rebellion for a limited amount of time!

God knows our heart and God knows when our heart will never change.

Gen_6:3  And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: 

We could say that the striving of the Holy Spirit is not a physical thing but that it is the energy God uses to place the truth into our minds.

It could be called convincing or persuading, all taking place in our mind because of what is taking place in our heart.

The heart is deceitful, and this is the first place that the Holy Spirit chooses to do battle within us.

We call it Holy Ghost Conviction!

God had led these children of Israel to the entrance to Canaan Land and Israel refused to enter even though God had commanded them to and told them He would be with them.

We should understand that negativism and defeatism does not set well with God because cannot be defeated and he will never feel defeat.

The Lord Jesus Christ was not defeated when He went to that cross on Mount Calvary, He was the Victor, Satan was the loser.

Our God cannot be defeated, neither can the Son nor the Holy Spirit!

Instead of just entering the Promised Land as commanded by the Lord, this unruly mob decided they wanted more proof of the truth of God.

How many are out there today who are seeking proof for the existence of God when the sites if God's Creation is proof enough.

Anyone that believes this world came about by accident are just foolish!

Rom 1:18  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; 

Rom 1:19  Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. 

Rom 1:20  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: 

Rom 1:21  Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 

Rom 1:22  Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 

Jer_17:9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

God does not need to explain anything to us, we should be able to see the world we live in did not come about by some accident!

Israel chose out twelve men to go into Canaan Land as spies to see if the land was as God described it.

These were not just random men, but men who had leadership qualities and could be trusted, or this was what was intended.

It is at this time that Moses began to push forward a young man named Joshua (God saves).

Remember Moses could lead the Children of Israel to the Promised Land but only Joshua (Yeshua) (Jesus) could lead them into the Promised Land.

Canaan Land would include the lands of Israel today, plus Lebanon, and much of Syria.

The mission was conducted, and the spies left to make an assessment of the Promised Land for forty days.

One of the places they looked at was Hebron and God had already made a promise to Abraham about Hebron.

Gen 13:14  And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: 

Gen 13:15  For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. 

Gen 13:16  And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. 

Gen 13:17  Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee. 

Gen 13:18  Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD. 

God does not ever forget His promises!

These spies returned after a forty-day mission and a report was given to Moses.

Was the Promised Land as God had said?

*****Num 13:26  And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land. 

Num 13:27  And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.

1) The land did flow in milk and honey.

This land was fertile, very productive, and fertile. We may see some typology of our own lands here in America but especially Israel.

The proof was in some of the fruit that these spies brought back with them.

This land could easily provide food for the new nation of Israel.

Their livestock would find plenty of grazing land and water was available.

It was a wonderful land because it was land, that God had chosen for His people. 

It was the Promised Land.

What had the Lord told Moses while these children of Israel were still slaves to Egypt?

Exo 3:7  And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; 

Exo 3:8  And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 

Exo 3:9  Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. 

Some of the promises of God were ready to be fulfilled, but there are always those who see a dark side to everything.

Reminds me of some of my own family.

*****Num 13:28  Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.

Num 13:29  The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.  

Nevertheless, is a word that should never been used in the English language!

Nevertheless is a word that stands in opposition to the truth!

In other words, "even though everything is just like what Jehovah the Almighty God said and even though He will be with us at all times, the same God who destroyed the Egyptian army, which was the mightiest army in the world, those people look to be too strong for Jehovah God".

To hear ten of these spies those cities were so strong that no one could defeat them.

These men were defeated before they even started!

Putin thought that the Ukrainians would be this type of people and just melt before the Russian Army but that has not happened.

When we look out upon the world, we can see some mighty scary things and the thought of Nuclear War is a scary thing, but when you travel with the Lord there is no obstacle that is so great it can overcome God if we are obedient to Him.

No power on this earth can overcome the power of the Almighty God!

God had already given these children of Israel Canaan Land and He was not going to change His mind.

So what, there were some men that looked like giants.

The Jews are a shorter than average race of people and most every basketball player today would look like giants to them and even today there are a few men and women who are extremely large.

The Amalekites were a wicked people:

1Sa 15:18  And the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed. 

They were also warlike:

1Sa 15:32  Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him delicately. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past. 

1Sa 15:33  And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal.

God commanded the Hittites to be destroyed they were so wicked along with those other nations:

Deu 7:1  When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou; 

Deu 7:2  And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them: 

To not enter the Promised Land as commanded by the Lord God, was to reject God!

There were two, Caleb and Joshua, who saw no problem in being obedient to God.

We should understand those ten spies were exaggerating and distorting the truth saying that God had led them to their death.

God will never do such a thing, but even if I die, I will still be with Him in Heaven before this carcass of a body ever drops to the ground.

These men brought an evil report when God was seeking strength and courage like that of Caleb.

The same strength God is seeking from the Church.

Eph 6:10  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 

Eph 6:11  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 

Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 

Eph 6:13  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 

Eph 6:14  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 

Eph 6:15  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 

Eph 6:16  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 

Eph 6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

This wicked distortion of the truth turned the hearts of these people against God.

This is what is happening in our world today! There is a wicked distortion of the truth, or we could say truly little truth from the leaders of nations.

*****Num 14:4  And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt. 

Num 14:5  Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel. 

Num 14:6  And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes: 

Num 14:7  And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. 

This wicked report spread through the people like Covid 19, and the words of Joshua and Caleb were not heard at all.

They all put on their mask and waited for this virus to kill them just like this world has done for more than two years.

All they could think of were cities with such strong walls they could not toppled.

Men so strong they did not need weapons.

Even giants that could not be stopped.

No one talked about the "Grace of God".

No one talked about the miracles they had seen.

No one remembered the angel of death.

No one talked about the "fire of God" or "the cloud" that had led them there.

Fear becomes an overwhelming force, when we allow it to take hold of us and many have during these last two years of Covid 19.

Some people are still so afraid they will still not leave their homes and a new delivery mechanism has been put in place by many retailers.

Nothing brings us into bondage as quickly as fear, but the Lord teaches us how to harness our fear.

2Ti_1:7  For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

When we have the Holy Spirit living within us, we have no reason to fear anything in this world!

We do not belong to this world any longer!

Rom 8:15  For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 

Rom 8:16  The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 

Rom 8:17  And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. 

All the Israelites were grumbling in unbelief, the whole assembly!

Not a single person beyond Moses, Aaron, Joshua, and Caleb were trusting God.

They did not believe God could lead them to take control of the Promised Land.

It is said that no race of people can wail like the people of the East, and I can believe this even today!

The more this people expressed their fear the more they feared.

This people felt they would be better off to just die in the desert and God said "ok" if this is what you want, then this is what you will get.

Joshua and Caleb could not change their thoughts.

*****Num 14:8  If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. 

Num 14:9  Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not. 

These two young men did their absolute best to change the minds of this people but could not.

In the least, to rebel against the God who saved them, would bring dire consequences.

We know that even when we have the truth of God, most people will still fear what this world holds for them.

We will find that the rebellious lost of this world have such a great fear of this world they will want to destroy God's people and we see this today.

They do not want to hear what God has to say.

God will not tolerate unbelief and rebellion from any person for very long, and remember, they are already sentenced to damnation unless they repent.

Joh 3:36  He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. 

When we fear this world more than we fear God, then one day God will show us why we are wrong, when He shows us why we should have feared Him.

Jud 1:5  I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. 

God condemns rebellion:

1Sa 15:23  For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king. 

Gal 5:19  Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 

Gal 5:20  Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 

Gal 5:21  Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 

We should understand that God is serious about the truth versus the lies of this world.

As Christians we have the truth of God!

We do not have to argue or run from the lies of this world!

All we need do is stand upon the truth of God and He will take us home one day to our true home the true Promised Land!

Amen

You Can Have All Your False gods

 Rebellion and Renewal

Book of Exodus Chapter 32

Rebellion and Renewal

Book of Exodus Chapter 32

Rebellion is the attempt to have things your way.

We should keep in mind that never before this, had any people been so privileged, as the Children of Israel!

Never before had Jehovah so blessed any people as He did these people.

Remember Adam and Eve were removed from the Garden of Eden for far less than what these children of Israel had done!

Jehovah had only been known to them as Elohim, the true God.

His name Jehovah was being much more personal with them.

We should completely understand that our LORD wants a personal relationship.

Even then, they chose to call Him Adonai saying His name was too sacred to pronounce.

We do not have to have so much fear to not call our Lord by His name, but we must not ever take His name in vain!

We must respect Jehovah at all times! He is a Mighty Awesome God!

It should be noticeable that it was Elohim as Jehovah, who made first contact with humanity.

He had watched, only speaking to a few men such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and I believe Job since the time of the flood that covered this entire world.

Remember we hear almost nothing from Noah after the flood.

Now through Moses, Jehovah wanted to speak to all His creation and offer His Testimony.

This nation of Israel had been chosen to be witnesses of God's testimony to all the other nations in this world.

Their first message was that there was only One True God and He had spoken to them and given His Testimony.

Moses had now in His possession the words that God had written with His own finger.

Exo_31:18  And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.

Deu_9:10  And the LORD delivered unto me two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on them was written according to all the words, which the LORD spake with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly.

It is human nature to rebel when we think we can get away with it!

Even babies will do this.

In fact, the worst of our enemies is our own flesh!

Gal 5:16  This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 

Gal 5:17  For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

This is not saying our good side is fighting with our bad side. This is saying our flesh is fighting against God's Holy Spirit who abides in every believer.

We do not have a good side!

Rom 8:8  So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. 

So let us see what Jehovah thinks of rebellion.

1Sa 15:23  For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king. 

Samuel was speaking to King Saul here in this passage.

We could say God does not like any rebellion against His Words.

Chapter 32 verse 1

*****Exo 32:1  And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. 

We should keep in mind that these people had already agreed to do everything that Jehovah had told them to do.

They had made a Covenant with Jehovah.

But this obedience did not last very long!

Most of the people on this earth do not believe there is a God, and you can add to that, all those that do not believe that God keeps a watchful eye upon us. 

It is a fact that Moses had been in contact with Jehovah for forty days continuously and these people had all sort of imaginations about what might have happened to him.

Mount Sinai was a rough old mountain, but these mountains cannot be compared to high mountains.

So, we see these people had no patience and we can see that this was Jehovah's first test.

We can be sure the Lord will test our sincerity and our faith from time to time!

They may have been anxious to get to the Promised Land, but they would have been slaughtered if they even made it there without God.

So they decided they needed some gods and they had seen the Egyptian make their own gods for centuries.

All a false god had to do was to ride in a wagon in the front and go wherever the driver went and then get the driver to wipe the dust off occasionally.

This is all the power a false god has.

To worship false gods is to have Spiritual ignorance and a willful turning away from the Spiritual knowledge and worship of Jehovah.

A group of these people gathered unto Aaron.

The next Scripture has confounded many people.

*****Exo 32:2  And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. 

Exo 32:3  And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. 

These same people wore earrings because they had seen the Egyptians wear them.

It is a sad thing that if a few people do something stupid and ridiculous, it is not long before many others will do the same thing.

In a sense they wanted to be like the free Egyptians.

Reminds me of our government today who at one time were bound to the Constitution, but who now want to be like the European Union and use those laws. How foolish can we be!

The EU is the most liberal group of nations on the face of the earth and who is foolish enough to be like them, many of our own politicians. Fools.

We have to understand that our hearts are full of sin!

Jer 17:9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

What makes them so foolish?

Psalms 36:1 The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes.

These Israelites were proud of their gold, but they wanted a false god the more.

There are some who believe that Aaron asked for their gold thinking they would not give it up, but they did willingly.

Exo 3:22  But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians. 

So what did they do?

*****Exo 32:4  And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. 

So, silver and gold and idols became the gods of the children of Israel!

The Book of Psalms, the song book of the children of Israel had this song in it:

Psa 106:19  They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image. 

Psa 106:20  Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass. 

Psa 106:21  They forgat God their saviour, which had done great things in Egypt; 

Psa 106:22  Wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red sea. 

There can be no doubt that Satan was involved in these things.

We see that Jehovah made them sing about it when they gathered together in the Tabernacle and Temple.

There can be little doubt that this calf was similar to the false god Apis, of the Egyptians.

We know that the Holy Ghost caused Moses to write all these things down because Jehovah does not hide anything from us.

I am sure Moses was ashamed to write these things as instructed.

These things were written for us here today!

Many Christians today want to see a visible God.

It is a fact that I am sure that Jehovah has shown up at many to our services at Gethsemane where I attend.

If you worship Him in Spirit and in Truth, the Lord will show up.

I do not need to see some object that tells me what God would look like!

These people had worshipped the false gods of Egypt.

Jos 24:14  Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. 

Aaron had been one of those who had worshipped this false god.

We may not know who made the mold in the earth, it does not point out individuals because they were all guilty.

It does point out that Aaron took a graving tool and finished the work when the work of the mold was complete.

In reality we again see a type of Christ!

Just as Moses was away and upon the Mount; so Christ is away from this earth.

Before Christ went away, He told His disciples these words.

Joh 14:1  Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 

The Lord Jesus Christ is to be the only "object" of our faith!

Even after we have studied and seen all the things in the Scriptures including future prophecies, the Lord Jesus Christ says, "let not your heart be troubled".

In other words, we have no reason to worry about anything!

The Lord Jesus has all this world under His direct control! 

He has been gone much more than forty days, but it is not time to make some idol resembling Him to worship.

We do not worship the cross we worship our Lord Jesus who took our place on the cross.

We do not worship the virgin, Mary; we worship her son Jesus as named by Jehovah and whose Father is the Holy Ghost.

We do not worship the Bible, we worship the God of the Bible, the Lord Jesus Christ.

These children of Israel had been taught to do the same thing by Moses before he went upon on Mount Sinai and these people should have patiently waited on him just as we are to patiently wait on the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Aaron made another mistake which was even worse.

*****Exo 32:5  And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD. 

Exo 32:6  And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. 

What is the cause of terrible sin?

We have seen that these Children of Israel: They were not patient enough to wait on God.

1) They lost "Faith" in God.

2) They turned away from God.

3) They chose to do things their own way.

They broke the Commandments of God, the same commandments that were explained to them by Moses and that they had agreed were good commandments and they had agreed to follow.

These children of Israel were already on their way to the Promised Land.

They had only stopped at Mount Sinai under direction of the same God, Jehovah who had released them from bondage.

Moses had stopped under the direction of Jehovah because the Pillar of Cloud had stopped at this location and Moses and the elders of Israel could receive the laws that would guide and govern their nation.

It had been nearly six weeks that Moses had gone up onto the Mountain and neither he nor Joshua nor those elders had been heard from though Moses had been with Jehovah all this time.

Again we can see "in type" that is what we are seeing today. The Lord Jesus Christ has not yet returned to take us to the true Promised Land.

What is patience? 

1) We can learn patience by studying these Old Testament teachings!

Rom 15:4  For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. 

Rom 15:5  Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: 

Rom 15:6  That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

2) We can learn patience by keeping our faith.

Jas 1:3  Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 

Jas 1:4  But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. 

Jas 1:5  If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 

Jas 1:6  But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 

Jas 1:7  For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 

Terrible sin can also be influenced by weak leaders as we see today in our own government.

Aaron was a weak leader who should never have been left in charge!

Aaron did not have enough backbone to stand up for God nor even for his brother Moses.

Terrible sin is believing in false gods!

We can say that none of these things have changed today.

Our world has not gotten any smarter in fact, we could say our world has gotten dumber, still seeking false gods.

Still placing weak leaders in place, leaders that have no fear of Jehovah God.

We do not know why Aaron built an altar, but to build an altar before an idol is a terrible sin.

Aaron had heard his own brother teach the Word of God and he too had agreed to it.

Exo 20:1  And God spake all these words, saying, 

Exo 20:2  I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 

Exo 20:3  Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 

Exo 20:4  Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 

Exo 20:5  Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 

Exo 20:6  And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. 

It did not take much time for these children of Israel to sink in sin and immorality.

Guess what, God was watching all these things even as He was speaking with Moses.

*****Exo 32:7  And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: 

Exo 32:8  They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. 

We must clearly understand that Jehovah sees everything that goes on in this world at all times.

You can say that this is impossible, and I will tell you that I serve the God that does impossible things, and His name is Jehovah, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jehovah is not blind to the things of this world!

Jehovah saw terrible sin and He became angry.

We should also understand that even though Jehovah knows what will take place before it takes place, He still can be angry to show us His feelings.

The purpose of the Bible is to teach us about our Heavenly Father and His Savior!

People need to understand that we cannot hide corruptness!

We cannot hide wickedness!

Our own government thinks we are blind to corruptness, but we are not, nor are we blind to their wickedness!

Jehovah states "they have corrupted themselves".

Gen 6:11  The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 

Gen 6:12  And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. 

People think our world has changed, but in reality, nothing really ever changes!

The entire world is corrupt before God today in fact, more corrupt than it has ever been because this world has denied God's Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.

People are always quick to turn away from the commandments of God because the Word of God exposes their sin in fact, all of our sin.

Rom 3:10  As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 

They still think that the Word of God is a book of suggestions and not a book of commandments!

These children of Israel had in fact become children of false worship!

They had bowed themselves before a manufactured piece of metal that resembled a cow.

They were making the statement that salvation and deliverance are manufactured! How foolish.

The only thing this home-made cow could do was shine if someone took the time to keep it clean.

How many times have we seen lost souls go to the altar and be led in the sinner’s prayer and never change their ways?

They say yes to committing to the ways of the Lord Jesus and then, return to their old ways.

How does the Word of God compare this?

Pro 26:11  As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly. 

We cannot deliver ourselves!

We have no goodness within us!

We cannot reach the Heavenly Father without the Lord Jesus Christ!

We cannot please the Heavenly Father without "Faith" in His Holy Words!

We are certainly fools to sacrifice to manufactured gods!

Jehovah pointed all these things out to Moses because these children of Israel needed a true leader, one who would also be their “Intercessor”.

Again, Moses would become a "type" of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Exo 32:11  And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand? 

Exo 32:14  And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people. 

We must all be "Intercessors" for our family, for our friends, for the lost, and sometimes even for our brothers and sisters in Christ!

*****Exo 32:15  And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. 

Exo 32:16  And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables. 

Exo 32:17  And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp. 

Exo 32:18  And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear.

Does Jehovah have the right to be angry with us? You better believe He does!

Anger against sin is justified!

Anger against sin can even be said to be righteous!

Joshua did not know what Jehovah had said and he thought his brothers and sisters of Israel were being attacked, but Moses knowing what Jehovah had said, told him that the noise was not that of war but of singing and partying.

They were indeed dancing and drinking, some intoxicated and even immoral conduct and Moses was indeed angry, so angry that he cast the Word of God to the ground, breaking those tablets.

These are the same tablets that would be placed inside the Ark of the Covenant. The broken laws.

We all have broken the Commandments of God just as these children of Israel!

Rom 3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 

We always see pictures of these two tablets showing the Ten Commandments and that may have been all they contained. 

They could not have been exceptionally large for one man to tote them both.

We see in verse fifteen that these tablets were written on both sides and that they were the work of Jehovah in verse sixteen.

What does God teach us about anger?

Eph 4:26  Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: 

Eph 4:27  Neither give place to the devil. 

The Devil will take advantage of our anger if that anger lingers.

Eph 4:31  Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: 

Eph 4:32  And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. 

Ecc 7:9  Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools. 

Psa 37:8  Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. 

Pro 19:11  The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression. 

We need to get rid of our anger as quickly as we can and work toward presenting the truth of a "loving God"!

*****Exo 32:19  And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. 

These children of Israel had served the false gods of Egypt and the government of Egypt gave them little choice, but we must keep in mind that we always have a choice, and that choice must always be to serve and worship our Creator, the One True God!

The vast majority of these same children of Israel had little or no faith!

Deu 32:19  And when the LORD saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters. 

Deu 32:20  And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith. 

We should understand that just like Moses, our Lord Jesus is going to come down from the mountain and right now if He came, He would see little faith even in His own house and the people would be playing around false gods being full of immorality and wickedness.

Exo 32:6  And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. 

We are warned as the Apostle Paul writes to the Church.

1Co 10:7  Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. 

1Co 10:8  Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. 

1Co 10:9  Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. 

1Co 10:10  Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. 

1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

The Book of Revelation:

After destroying the two prophets of God who came with God's message of repentance.

Rev 11:10  And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. 

They tormented them with the truth of a Holy God!

If we read our lesson Chapters, then we know that Moses returned to the Mountain to meet Jehovah and again as a type of Christ he returned to the people.

In type we know that our Lord Jesus will return in two stages. First to get His Church and take them home and a second time seven years later He will return in wrath!

And Moses saw the calf.

*****Exo 32:20  And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.

What is an idol, something that can be beaten into dust?

Something that be burnt into nothingness!

Deu 9:19  For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure, wherewith the LORD was wroth against you to destroy you. But the LORD hearkened unto me at that time also. 

Deu 9:20  And the LORD was very angry with Aaron to have destroyed him: and I prayed for Aaron also the same time. 

**Deu 9:21  And I took your sin, the calf which ye had made, and burnt it with fire, and stamped it, and ground it very small, even until it was as small as dust: and I cast the dust thereof into the brook that descended out of the mount. 

What is Jehovah's commandment to Christians?

1Jn 5:19  And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. 

1Jn 5:20  And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. 

1Jn 5:21  Little children, keep yourselves from idols.

Idol worship is sowing to our flesh!

Gal 6:8  For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 

Moses then turns to Aaron.

Aaron was allowed to become the High Priest, but he lost two of his sons who also did not listen to the Word of God and Aaron was not allowed into the Promised land.

Our Preachers and Pastors need to take heed. God makes these men responsible for many things of the Church Age!

Rev 1:20  The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches. 

Notice who are those held responsible:

Rev 2:1  Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; 

Rev 2:8  And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive; 

Rev 2:12  And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges; 

Rev 2:18  And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass; 

Rev 3:1  And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. 

Rev 3:7  And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; 

Rev 3:14  And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; 

It was time for these children of Israel to decide if they were on the Lord's side or not!

This is the same message we have today. When the Holy Spirit comes calling it is our time to decide if we are on the Lord's side or not! 

Amen