Exodus 1-3
Anyone who thinks that God is not involved in earthly affairs, just hasn’t read the Bible.
Another hero enters the scene: Moses. From the time of his birth, it was obvious that God’s hand was upon him. To think that this Hebrew child was protected by Pharoah’s daughter herself and brought up in a palace! And that his own mother was brought in to be his nurse. Wow, God can really do it right, can’t He?
Once again we see that God’s plan takes time to develop. Moses has been protected and brought up with great care and discipline, but he has arrogance. So it’s 40 years on the backside of the desert for him.
Discipline and wisdom will be required for this man to lead millions of unruly Jews out of Egypt, across the desert to the promised land. He has to develop all of that. After 40 years, when he is 80, and just happy being a farmer, the Lord shows up calling him into service. He’s ready now. He doesn’t think he can do it. He will have to rely upon God.
There are some gaps in this story, which cause us to wonder about his identification with the Hebrews. To me, it seems quite obvious that his mother taught him about his heritage as she was nursing him in the palace
So now the Hebrews are bound together as a nation and are ready to take their own land as an inheritance. Time to go.
Matthew 15:1-20
Once again we see the Pharisees majoring on the minors. They are so concerned with rituals: hand washing, food laws, etc. But they are not concerned with the welfare of men.
You can see this attitude in our culture today. Many people gather on Sundays and go through a ritual of worship. In the same crowd there will be those who love God and want to live their lives for Him, and those who are just going through the motions. They may be there so that they will look good to other men.
Jesus quotes Isaiah 29:12. “These people worship Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.”
God wants our hearts. He wants us to love Him and walk with Him in reality – not in pretense.
There is such a difference!
Blessings, Suellen Estes
