Paula Price

In Joel and Ezekiel, these scriptures I believe are speaking to the children of Israel, whom God had chosen to be His people to teach the world of Him. Their forefathers, were the ones who were delivered from bondage, from slavery in Egypt and while in the wilderness, witnessed the glory and the power of God, the Almighty, whom they were to serve. They were the ones who were to receive the promises that God made to Abraham and his descendants. This is the generation of them, but because they have sinned and forgotten the God their fathers served and taught them to serve, God has sent prophets to them to draw them back to him and to remind them of who they are and that they are to repent and worship him as their only true and living God. Verses 32 of Joel speaks of Mt. Zion and Jerusalem, which are the places of worship in the Old Testaments, or the scriptures. These scriptures are quoted by Jesus also in the New Testament, but it is only after his birth and his death that it applies to the rest of the world. All of the generation that came from bondage have died out and these are the next generations who have adopted other gods as they enter other lands and have forgotten the God of their fathers. God is trying to reach them to remind them of the wonders and promises He still has in store for them but they have to repent from their wicked ways and obey him and walk in His word and Worship only Him! To show His power and His might and His glory, God has promised to pour out His spirit upon them and they will never again be but to shame. We must remember that even in all their sinful ways, God still loved them and wanted to be their God and will forgive them and dwell with them again if they will just seek him and serve him and ask for forgiveness and worship him as their only God.. The Spirit is promised to those who accept Jesus and are holy and righteous, for His spirit will not live in a sinful soul, one who rejects him.

God promises a Messiah would be born of man through the seed of Abraham and David who would be his earthly father and he will have the knowledge of God through the Holy Spirit, He will have wisdom and understanding and the fear of God upon him to redeem man from sin and make him one with God again. These promises are fulfilled with the birth of Jesus.

God divides the Holy Spirit between Moses and the 70 Elders so that they can aide Moses in leading the people. When they receive the Holy Spirit, they began prophesying. Moses wish that the Spirit could fall on all the people and that way they would know the will of God and would stop complaining and just trust and obey him without all this doubt and complaint.

The people of the old testament who walked with God and obeyed his word, where selected to receive the Holy spirit to make God's presence known to them and so that God could use them for a specific purpose. God sees the heart of man and each person, before they are visited with the Holy Spirit has already demonstrated their faithfulness to God, therefore the Holy Spirit abides in them so that they can feel God's presence and aids them in doing the father's will for them to accomplish his purpose. The effect the Holy Spirit has on each one is the ability to commune directly with God and to understand His purpose and His plans for them. They each had specific duties to perform to help the people of God. God communicated with his people through them.

God's glory is important in Exodus because now the world will know and believe in an all powerful and real and living God! Who can witness this power and not believe??? God wiped out the whole army of the most powerful people of the times and their king too!!!! They refused to believe but now there is no doubt!!!! This power is unmatched and can not be denied!! No mortal or stone god can do what God just did!!! This glory of God is important to show him to be in control of all things without any doubt!!. Man has no power to match God. We did not create ourselves, or anything in this world. Man was created by God for his glory so anything we do in his name , is for his glory and praise, he gets all of the glory and praises. What mortal can explain the wonders of this world or created it from nothing? Can speak it and it is so????? God chose the Israelites as his people for this purpose, that through them the world would see his glory and his faithfulness to those who will trust in him and be obedient to his word; to serve him and worship him and do his will. God's glory is evident in the story of this people and how he delivered them and provided for them and all he asked was for them to trust in him, obey him and serve and worship him as their living God. He provided everything they would need to do just that!... Their forefathers, for 400 plus years had believed in this God who they had never seen and only had a promise of, but now they were actual eyewitnesses to Him and his power and to all that was promised. They actual see the power of their God, not just the belief in it, but the actual, physical prove of Him, and their enemies as well witness it. Moses finally realized this power and he came to know and trust in it, realizing he was only a servant, a spokesperson for it. He could not take credit for it because it wasn't his. Our leaders are to do the same. We are just an instruments. " FOR WE ARE HIS WORKMENSHIP, CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS TO DO GOOD WORKS, WHICH GOD PREPARED BEFORE HAND, THAT WE WOULD WALK IN THEM. Leaders can keep themselves from pride by being humble and recognizing that they are only to do the will of the father and that we are nothing by ourselves. It is the power and the glory of God that we are to exalt and not ourselves. He said if he be lifted up he will draw all men..... All of the glory honor and power belongs to God. This Exodus story is also proof of how God deals with disobedience in his people. The reason they were in bondage in the first place was because of disobedience and turning from God and living in sin with other nations and adopting other gods. God's wrath is just as powerful as his glory, mercy and grace!! We see witnesses here to both!!!! Which one will you choose???

The people blamed Moses out of fear, perhaps thinking that Moses had taken them in the wrong direction or had made a error in judgment allowing the enemy to catch up with them. Fear makes us loose perspective often times and we panic in the face of trouble or danger. They were not aware of what God's plan was and had no knowledge of it. They only saw the results and lashed out at their leader. They are aware that Moses receives all instructions from God so they are really complaining and blaming God. Moses doesn't need to depend himself because he knows he is only doing what God has commanded him to do and that God will handle the people himself and does not need any help from him. Moses tells them not to be afraid and to stand firm and still and watch God fight your battle. The people need to learn to trust God and do what he tells them. They needed to have faith and they eventually did .

Obedience was important to the people because it was what God required of them for their deliverance. We were created to do His will and when we obey his commandments and walk in his word he has promised to bless us and take care of us. God has a plan for his people but only when we trust and obey him and do what he has ask us to do. Obedience to Him is required and it is not up for discussion or debate. Every prophet or leader in the bible had instructions from God and when they did not obey, they were punished and things didn't go well for them, but when they obeyed God they were rewarded. The scriptures are the example of the faithfulness of God and what he does for those who trust and obey is word. Jesus quoted the scriptures, which we call the old testament, during his teachings and his walk on earth because it teaches man what God requires of us and what he has promised and foretold when we follow their example and do what he tells us to do. The bible is full of stories of obedience and faith to God as well as what happens to those who are not faithful and obedient. It is a road map to heaven. There is no other way to get to heaven and to be with the Father but through obedience. It is what He requires of us. When we say we love God and we want to be in his presence and want eternal life, obedience is necessary and the only way. God said so and his word is the only one that counts...." Not my will but thy will be done"...... thy will be done on earth is it is in heaven....for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory,, forever and ever...... AMEN!

Jesus is our Passover lamb ,chosen by God to die for our sins so that we may be redeemed back to him.. There needed to be a way for man to be forgiven of sins and that way is Jesus. God did not mean for us to die for he created us in his own image to worship and glorify him. Since man disobeyed God in the garden, he was lost in sin. But God, being forgiving and loving and merciful made a way for us to be forgiven and Jesus is the way, he is our Passover Lamb, the sacrifice for our sins. We are marked with his blood when we believe, confess, repent and are baptized.. When we call upon his name and ask for forgiveness and turn from sin and walk in his word, he adds us to his church and we are saved, therefor we are marked with his blood and death passes over us. We Christians are participants in Christ's blood through the Lord's Supper, therefor our names are written in the lamb's book of life. We are not condemned for our sins, we have been forgiven and the wrath of God will pass over us." Hallelujah to the Lamb that was slain! "HE THOUGHT I WAS WORTH LIVING. SO HE CAME AND SAVED MY LIFE, HE THOUGHT I WAS WORTH KEEPING, SO HE CLEANED ME UP INSIDE, HE THOUGHT I WAS TO DIE FOR, SO HE SACRIFACT HIS LIFE, SO THAT I COULD FREE, SO THAT I COULD BE WHOLE........AND I WILL TELL EVERYONE I KNOW........WE DON'T HAVE TO SLAY THE LAMB ANYMORE..... WE DON'T HAVE TO BUT NO MORE BLOOD OVER THE DOOR.....SOMEONE HAS TAKEN THE PLACE OF THE LAMB,....HIS NAME IS "JESUS " THE GREAT I AM.

We are flesh and blood so we tend to behave as flesh and blood. We are weak even though we trust and believe that God will fight our battles. It is the human nature of us.. We must learn to pray always and ask and seek God in all things. Jesus in his human form was tempted also by satan and by fear of death, for he was in a mortal body, but his constant communion with the Father in prayer, seeking his word and his will in all things is what got him through his difficult times. God always sent angels to strengthen him... He never did anything without talking and praying to God, his father. The disciples ask him why they could not drive out that demon and Jesus told them it was because they lacked the strength in prayer that was need. Man forget that God is in control so when we attempt to do things on our own, God will not answer because he wants us to turn and depend on him to meet each and every need. it is his will that we are to do and when we try to insert our will, nothing gets accomplished. God will fight our battles when we call upon him do so. We must trust in him and do his will and do what he tells us to do. Trust and obey. Love and honor and worship and praise him in all things. Go to him in prayer. Believe it . Have faith and courage to stand still and watch God work miracles.

Moses was there to do the will of God. God said let my people go, not, can we compromise??. There is no compromise when it comes to doing the will of God. It is his way or no way! We should never compromise when it comes to the spiritual things of God. There is a difference between doing man's will and God's will. Compromises can be made with doing man's will or what man wants to do, but man can not compromise the will of God. We need to know the difference and make sure that we are doing the will of God in all things.. His word never changes and his will is to be obeyed, there is no compromise.

it is difficult for church leaders to confront their congregation because they are elected by them and are expected to do the will of their members. Churches are run by a majority of members who decide on certain business of the church. Every denomination has bi-laws and rules that has nothing to do with the spiritual leadership of it's Pastor. We forget or do not recognize that the church is the people of God who have been added by Him once we become saved. The church is not the building that we gather in to worship. Likewise, a Pastor is chosen to direct the people in the way of the Lord. His role is a spiritual one, but we seem to want to control what he does because we hired him to lead us as a Pastor. When members are not doing the will of God it is the responsibility of the Pastor to confront them and to lead them back to the right path. Of course we are more interested in doing our will, rather than God's will, so confrontation is a given. God is not pleased with us when we do not take a stand for righteous and holiness. We are not to stand idly by while sin is being committed. We are suppose to draw souls to the throne of God and if confrontation is needed to do that, then that is what God expects us to do. Jesus never backed down from his accusers and from the religious leaders who did not believe Him to be the son of God. He fought them with scripture and they could not even argue their point! They set traps for him in the public meeting places and still were not able to catch him saying or doing anything wrong. Jesus was the most confrontational leader of his time and even thought they crucified him, they could never find any fault in him. He never stood by and let anyone get away with sinning.. He was forgiving of those who asked for it and told them to go and sin no more.

Moses blamed God for his troubles because God was the one telling him what to do!! Unknowingly, and not realizing or understanding that God had harden Pharaoh's heart, so that he would not obey his command which Moses was given. In 7: 3 God tells Moses that he has hardened Pharaoh's heart, but Moses is so distraught and discourage that he totally overlooks this. It is God's plan to teach Moses a lesson of being patient and to persevere even in difficult times. They expected for Pharaoh to obey God's command without delay and when that didn't happen, they became discourage and disillusioned. The more they demanded, the harder Pharaoh became. All in Gods plan!!! God does things in his own time, not in man's time. We must learn to be patient and faithful in waiting on God and trusting in him to fulfil his promises as he said he would do. God finally commands them to do what he tells them to do, taking all authority from them and inserting his dominance and power and authority over them, they have no choice but to d his will. God gives us choices in some things, but ultimately his will is done regardless. It is always his will not ours. We forget this basic fact.

Jesus had a pattern of raising early before day break to seek a quite place to commune with his father. This was his time to receive instructions from God and to just talk and express his desires and seek guidance. Jesus often spoke of doing only the will of him who sent him, so in order for him to know the will of the Father, he had to commune with him daily. This prepared him for his ministry because he received instructions from God on what to do for each day and each phase of his ministry. The disciples desires was for Jesus to attend to the those who were seeking healing and miracles from him. Although Jesus healed many, he only did the will of the Father, and on this day the father's will for him was to go and preach or teach, not heal. The disciples thought that Jesus should attend to the needs of the massive crowds that followed them and came knocking on their door. They did not understand that Jesus is not doing his will or anyone else's, only what God, his father is telling him to do! Thy will o Lord be done. Not my will, but thy will be done. We are God's creation and He created us for His pleasure, to do His will. " For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before hand, that we would walk in them." (Ephesians 2:10). In order to know the will of the Father, we have to talk with him and commune with him and in doing so we will hear from him and know what his desire is for us. We should follow the example of Jesus in choosing a quite place of solitude, where there are no distractions, so that we can focus all of our attention on hearing when the father speaks to us.

Being human, there is no concept of eternity that is understandable, rather it is a spiritual experience that we are looking for and working to obtain. To be with Jesus in heaven is to be without earthly constraints and to be surrounded in his glory and his light and in his presence. That presence is joyful, peaceful, holy, righteous and all consuming. Jesus is the light that we are to walk in and he has promised us a place to dwell in with him , in him, for he is the light. For those of us who are suffering physically and mentally here on earth, it is a comfort to know that there will be relief from all of this when we go to this place that he has promised. And it is really not a place maybe, but just a presences, his presences. We see and read everything scripture as being something we can touch or see with our human form through our minds eye. But the things of the scriptures, such as what are being descripted in Isaiah and Revelations are just symbols to help us visualize a picture of what it will be like in heaven. Even heaven is presented as an object for us to see so that we can understand with our human minds, however being in God's present is spiritual, it is not to be seen but felt and experience. Can any of us remember anything before we were born???????? We see now evidence of the world and things that happened before we were born, so that place where we were before we were born...........can you feel it? can we comprehend it? Can we see it?? Can we experience it??? do we understand it????? This presence with the Lord is an experience of peace and joy and happiness that we are not experiencing on earth in our physical form but will enjoy with God in our spiritual form when we entered into his presence. "I want to be in that number when the Saints go marching in".!!!!!!

Moses blamed God for his troubles because he was being blamed by the Israelites for theirs additional work and woes so it was a matter or passing on the blame to the one who is in charge in the first place. Moses is impatient and discouraged with being told no by Pharaoh, he is expecting his task to be done with no trouble not realizing that God is testing him and teaching them all a lesson. God has allow Moses and Aaron to become stubborn, as well as Pharaoh to show his might and to show them his greatness and that no matter what obstacles, His will is done, not theirs. God gives them the choice to obey without complaint, and the chance to trust him to do what he has asked and in their failure to do so, he finally commands them which takes their choice away! Now it is a commandment that they do the word of God! there are no NO's to that!

God's name Yahweh means Lord. He is the God of Abraham Jacob and Isaac. He is the only God, the beginning and the ending, the first and the last, the which is , the which was, the which is to come. the Almighty, the King forever. besides him there is no other. Egyptians idols are not living Gods, they have no power and no spirit. Yahweh is the only true living God. He is. Don't even have to have a name! He IS, the Great I Am Egyptian gods are made my mans hand. Yahweh is the beginning of all things. before anything He WAS!!! He IS!!! Egyptian gods have names given by man....Yahweh revealed himself as the Almighty, Everlasting, King and God forever. There is no god but Him. "I AM" he told Moses to tell them when that asked who sent him, tell them "I AM" sent you, that's all they need to know, there is no other!!

God has given us his assurance that whatever we ask in his name he will supply. We should have confidence in his word. He supplies all of our needs. During our trials and tribulations he is with us, holding us, strengthening us, comforting us, fighting for us. We should put all our cares at the cross, at his feet and he will take care of us. That is his promise to us. We are to trust and obey and depend upon his word. If we say we love Him then we should do what he tells us to do. Stand on his promise and his word and trust that he will do what he said he would do. This is his will for us. We need to put God's will before our own. His will is all that matters. He comes before everything. he is the head of everything. He will not fight our battles if we are not doing His will, if we are not walking in his word and living our lives according to his purpose.

The scripture of Exodus 4: 24-25, dealing with God's anger with Moses is a puzzle that is not understood. I know there is no explanation of it but would like to ponder it and perhaps get some more feed back on it from the forum and from Pastor if possible. I read the statement in the lesson concerning it but still I'm left unable to understand and maybe we are not suppose to understand it but to say that it is not important to understanding Moses character is not enough for me. I have a few questions on this scripture. Why did the author include this knowledge of God's plan to kill Moses and how was Zipphora, Moses wife made aware of it??? Perhaps it was included to show the magnitude of God's anger and disappointment in the man he chose to lead his people from bondage???? Perhaps to show His willingness to forgive when it is asked of him, no matter how bad our sin is??????? Perhaps because although Moses agreed to go to Egypt he still had doubts and questions and was thinking of backing out???????? I was shocked the first time I read this scripture and had to go back and reread it many times because I thought I misread it and thought, surely this is a misprint???? God does not make mistakes, so in choosing Moses, did He instill his stubbornness and unwillingness to obey and fear and doubt in him to prove a point??????? The fact that Moses was 80 years old before he was even called by God to go back to Egypt..... it seems that this time should have been spent preparing him and removing all doubt from his mind and instilling in him all the qualities that his ancestors had in their faith. Perhaps this is just God showing His greatness and his might and his power and His sovereignty and His greatness and his will to do whatever He wants however He wants.... Perhaps it is His way of telling us that we are not to ponder on all things of God and we are not to know of all things of God. He does not have to explain himself to us and it leaves us wondering and in awe of Him and fearfully of Him and respectful of him so that we will honor, trust and obey him in all things whether we understand them or not???????. Moses was the right person to delivery God's people because he got a taste of his own medicine with that crowd!!!!!! He found out and understood what God went through trying to get him to go to delivery them from bondage. Just like him, the children of Israel did not believe and had doubt in God before and even after they witness the many miracles he performed for them in Egypt and in the wilderness... They, like Moses grumbled and complained and whined the whole way!!!! Moses had to finally put his faith and trust in God to be able to show his people that if he had to do it, they had to also and that God is a promise keeper! God showed His greatness and might and power through Moses weaknesses. Moses did not have to be strong are capable, He just had to do what God told him to do and God did the rest. Moses got so mad and tired of his complaining people in the wilderness that he struck the rock and lost his right to go to the promise land! Perhaps that is why God was going to kill Moses, he was tired of hearing him complain, he didn't need Moses anyway! He could have delivered His people without Moses! AH......... but God..........so merciful and compassionate and loving and forgiving. it was all in his plan from the beginning! What a mighty God!!!!!!

This question hits home to me and I am unable to answer. I know all the right things to say and I know what the bible says and I know what God requires. I have a fear of bridges and I will not drive across one. I prayed and asked God for a church to use my talent of playing piano and he gave me one for each Sunday. One requires me to cross two high rise bridges twice a month. I have found a friend to go to church with me on those Sundays so she drives me across! Thank you Lord.... but I have not mastered my fear to be able to drive myself across. I am praying continually and quoting my scriptures that He will remove this fear. I have not allowed it to hinder me in doing his service, however I found away around the fear to continue to be a servant in his service. " I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me."........ " for God has not given man the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."

God is angry with Moses for his lack of faith in him and for his constant questioning him and for his refusal to be obedient, with him trying to get out of doing what he has told him to do! Moses basic sin is putting his fear and doubt of his abilities, is will or unwillingness to do what God is asking, before what God's will is. He does not trust God to do the things he is telling Moses he will do. Even after the miracle with his hand and the rod, Moses still doubts God. He has let his fear overrule the will of God and is being disobedient to what God wants him to do. God is merciful with Moses to allow him to continue questioning him and making excuses why he shouldn't go. Moses is afraid and when we are frightened we do things that we may would not normally do. Moses does not want to return to Egypt, he is afraid because of what he did and perhaps he doesn't realize that God knows what he did there. Moses has to learn to put his faith in God and to be obedient to Him even in the face of fear and short comings. Moses finally sees that God was not going to be disobeyed and He was not going to allow Moses to back out of this task. Moses finally accepts the will of God and goes to Egypt.

This is Moses first encounter with God. He must have been filled with awe, wonder and fear as well some unbelief to see a bush burning as such and then hearing the voice of God! Moses was not raised in the Hebrew faith, though he surely had heard of the stories of this God of his ancestors, this was his first experience of direct contact with Him. Moses did not think of himself as being qualified to be a servant of God, to perform the task given him, it was too great for him, he did not have the experience or capability to lead a people out of bondage; he did not believe he was worthy of the position and obviously did not think he had the strength and courage to go against a mighty king of Egypt!. Moses response to God's call is normal for a man who is not prepared to perform such a task. It had to have caught him off guard! Surely he wasn't expecting to be called upon by God or anyone, for that matter to do such a great feat. Moses was not aware of the power or greatness of God and this was his education of it. He was thinking only of his abilities to perform this task and not of the abilities of God. Now Moses will be witness to the power and might of an awesome God. From this he will learn to trust and have all faith in a mighty and powerful God. Moses will see the power of God first hand and feel the existence of God in himself and will learn to obey him and trust him thus learning what God expects from him and learning to depend on him for all things. Moses will learn that he doesn't have to do anything, but do what God commands him to do and God will do the rest. We all have to learn this. God reassures Moses by telling him that he is God! He IS the God of his ancestors and He has heard their prayers and has come to delivery them. He assures Moses that he will not be alone and that he will be with him in all that he is require to do. That he will never leave him or abandon him.

Let us not forget that Moses, unknowingly , had been chosen and was being molded by God to be the deliverer promised to a people. We learn here in these verses of the kind of man he was before he becomes aware of his purpose. He is a man born a Hebrew but raised with wealth and knowledge and advantages. In killing the taskmaster, he is hot headed and although he felt justified in doing it he knew it was wrong. He is unassured of himself and now fearful for his life. He has sympathy for his people but does not know what to do to help their situation or even if he is capable of doing so. He has the knowledge to be a leader but he does not have the confidence to apply it. God has place him in this situation for a reason.. We need to keep our minds focused on God's will in all things when we study the word as well as in our own lives. We have the habit of thinking that we live to ourselves, but we don't! We live to God and his purpose for us. His will is all that matters. He molds us and shapes us to do his will. That is what we agreed to when we accepted him as our savior. So although we think we are in control of our lives, we are not. Our lives belong to God and everything we do and say is for His glory and used to serve him. This is what Moses is facing and being prepared for....doing the will of God.

This rod represented God's presence who fought the battle for the Israelities . Moses obeyed God and as long a he held the rod up the battle would be won. God is our banner in our times of trouble and tribulations. He has instructed us in how to fight and face our troubles. We are to lean and depend on Him. We are to trust and obey Him and cast all of our cares on Him because He promised He would take care of us as long as we were faithful to him and call upon His name.

Jesus was not doing his will but the will of his father, who sent him. Had he called for help he would have been going against his father's will. For it was God's will that Jesus die for the sins of the world. He was the only way for man to be redeemed from sin back to God. Jesus knew that he could call for help and it would have been provided but that was not the plan!!! "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have every lasting life... for God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved"... The scriptures would not have been fulfilled had Jesus called on the heavenly host, for every time Jesus ask of the father, it was given. Even in his weakest hour during his prayer in the garden he asked that the cup be passed from him but never-the -less, not my will but thy will be done. He never claimed anything he did but always gave glory to the will of God his father. He knew he was doing the will of God in all things.