Summary of the Life of Moses

What a great study we have had in the Life of Moses.  We saw all the stages of his life and how God was always with him growing him to be the man God wanted him to be.    Moses had status in Pharaoh’s place for 40 years, served the next 40 as a humble shepherd and then another 40 years as a prophet of God and leader of Israel.  Moses allowed God to work and shape his life as He will do ours, if we let Him.  Just like Moses we go through easy times as well as tough times, but God is always there shaping us into the person He wants us to be.

God wants us to have a personal relationship with Him.  Moses definitely accomplished this.  Moses was the only man that God spoke to face to face. (Ex. 33:11)  There has never been a prophet risen in Israel like Moses. (Deut.  34:10)  Moses spoke with God in the burnish bush and when he received the 10 commandments.   Moses spent many hours in the presence of God.

Moses did 2 powerful things that dramatically changed the course of his life:  1. He followed God’s call and 2. He had an intimate personal relationship with God.  God can change the course of your life just like He did for Moses.  So God can do the same for you, if you are willing.

Are you a faithful follower like Moses?

Do you have a personal relationship with God?

How has God changed your life?

Moses didn’t start out as the leader of Israel.  In Exodus we saw that Pharaoh feared the Israelites, because there were so many of them.  He tried to control them with hard labor and when that didn’t work, he killed all the baby boys.  Moses escaped death when his mother hid him in a basket in the Nile for Pharaoh’s daughter to find.  She found him and raised him in the palace as her own.  There is stayed for 40 years.  One day he saw a fellow Israelite being mistreated by an Egyptian.  Moses came to his defense and killed him.  Of course Moses had to flee for his safety.

Moses then became a shepherd for the next 40 years until God called him to lead Israel.  God wanted him to go to Egypt and rescue His people.  Moses had several excuses not to go, but God had a plan and convinced him to go and the rest is history.  A baby was born to a slave couple in dangerous circumstances, but turned out to be the greatest human emancipator and law give the world has ever known.

Where has God called you?

What excuses do you make when God calls you?

The Bible says we are to be ambassadors for Christ.  We represent Him to the world.  We, like Moses must be faithful and loyal to God.  Moses had to put up with the Israelites who consistently complained even though God gave them everything they needed.  God gave them food, water, clothing, shelter, protection from their enemies, and was always with them.  Their negativity never affected Moses.  He stayed loyal, true, and on task just as God wanted him to do.  Moses even interceded for them, when God became angry with Israel for their rebellion.

When have you interceded for someone?

What were the results?

God promised Abraham and his descendants the land of Canaan, the Promised Land.  God called Moses to lead Israel out of Egyptian slavery and into the Promised Land.  He led the people for 40 years to the land, but he could not enter.  He didn’t complain.  He remained faithful to his people and to God and looked to his heavenly home.  During his last days he recounted their journey so the people would remember all God had done for them.  Even at his old age of 120 years, he was faithful and never stopped leading the people.  Before he died he blessed all the tribes.  (Deut. 33) 

Moses was a great man, but remained humble never drawing attention to himself.  He demonstrated an unshakable faith in the most shaking circumstances.  He prayed effectively and always interceded for others.  He showed great courage in his final hours.  He walked confidently up Mount Nebo and died after God let him see for the last the land Israel would inherit.  God buried Moses Himself.  No one knows where Moses’ grave is.  Maybe it’s because Israel is prone to idolatry.  If they knew where he was buried, they may have worshipped him.

Do you want to be like Moses?  To be like Moses you must have faith, be humble and courageous, intercede for others, spend time with God, keep your focus on God, be obedient, trust God, and tell others about the one true God.  Moses’ character points us to Jesus Christ, the one greater than Moses.

This finishes the study of The Life of Moses.  In the fall I will post on the book of Revelation.  You don’t want to miss that!  Throughout the summer I will be posting on various topics.  I look forward to sharing my thought with you.

Have a blessed summer and stay holy because God is holy.

Linda

NOTE:  If you want to do the study on Revelation with BSF this fall, check out their website for a class near you.  You won’t be sorry.  https://www.bsfinternational.org  If you decide to do BSF, let me know.  I would love to hear from you.

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Deuteronomy 31-32 - Life of Moses

Last week Moses prepared Israel for the renewal of the covenant and encouraged them to recommit to it.  He listed curses for not keeping the God’s laws and blessings for keeping them.  He ended by telling them they have a choice – life or death, blessings or curses.  This week Moses is about to die.  God gave him 2 final assignments: commission Joshua and write a song.

Deuteronomy 31 –Moses' Charge to Israel

Moses’ life was about to end and he wouldn’t get to cross over to Jordan to the Promise Land with the others.  I feel very sad for Moses.  He had served God faithfully for many years.  The first 40 years was spent in Egypt where he was raised in Pharaoh’s palace.  Then his life began to grow harder.  He spent the next 40 years tending sheep in the wilderness.  His last 40 years he spent leading Israel through the wilderness.  He had a hard life and now he could not cross to the Promise Land.  We may think it’s sad for him not to realize God’s promise, but I don’t think he looked at it that way.  He lived a life of faith (Heb. 11:23-27).  Faith doesn’t live with regrets of earthly comfort.  Faith is living with heavenly hope.  In the book of Hebrews several who were faithful to God are mentioned.  In Heb. 11:13-16 we see that all those faithful died in faith without receiving the promises.  “... I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”  - Rom. 8:18.

Principle:  Faith doesn’t live with regrets of earthly comfort - faith is living with heavenly hope.

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” – Heb. 11:1.

Do you live a life of regrets or do you live with heavenly hope?

How are you living by faith?

How would others describe your faith?

Moses reminded the people that it was God who got them this far not him.  God gave him 2 final assignments: commission Joshua and write a song.  Moses charged the people to be strong and courageous and not to be afraid, because the Lord would go with them.  “Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” – Deut. 31:6.  Moses then charges Joshua the same words in Deut. 31:7-8.

How are you encouraged by others?

Are you strong and courageous or are you fearful?

Where do you turn when you are afraid?

How has this promise help you when you are unsure or fearful?

Moses charged the priests to read the law every 7 years during the Feast of Tabernacles.  This was “so the people could listen and learn to fear the Lord our God and follow carefully all the words of this law.  Their children, who do not know this law, must hear it and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.” – Deut. 31:12-13.  The priests were to place the law in the Ark of the Covenant.

The most important thing we can do is keep reading God’s Word.  Why should we read and study the Bible?  The Bible is “God-breathed” (2 Tim. 3:16).  It’s His very words to us.  It’s how we get to know God and His ways.  It is a guide for us to live by and we are to teach it to our children.  God does not change and man’s nature does not change so the Bible is relevant for us as it was when it was written.  There is a lot of false teaching in the world and the Bible give helps us distinguish truth from error.  It equips us to serve God.  It helps us know how to be saved from our sin and how to get to heaven.  There are many people in the Bible like Moses that we can learn from.  We can learn from their victories and failures.  We can ignore the Bible or we can learn from it.

Do you spend time reading and studying God’s Word each day?

How do you teach your children about God and His ways?

Principle:  God wants us to follow carefully all His Words.

God knew Israel would rebel in the future and would serve foreign gods.  They would forsake God and break the covenant.  Because of their rebellion, God would bring disasters and difficulties upon them.  So God told Moses to write a song for the people were to learn and sing so it would be a witness why God would be against them. 

How have you rebelled against God?

Deuteronomy 32 – Moses’ Song to Israel

Moses recited the song for all the people to hear just as God commanded.  He began by calling upon creation to confirm his message to Israel.  He praised God by calling Him the Rock and said that His works are perfect and all His ways are just.  He is a faithful God who does not wrong.  He is upright and just.  These attributes of God show Moses’ love and trust in God.  He knew God could do anything and was totally dedicated to Him.  Moses recited how God had showed His unfailing goodness to His people; how He gave them their inheritance through Jacob, how He always protected them, and how He was always with them.  (Deut. 32:1-14)

Are you totally dedicated to God?

Is He your Rock?

Principle:  God is our Rock and His ways are perfect.

In Deut. 32:15 - “Jeshurum grew fat and kicked.”  In other words when Israel was blessed, they rejected God.  They abandoned Him and rejected the Rock.  They made God jealous by worshipping foreign gods which angered Him.  They rejected Him and He rejected them.  He would bring judgments on them.  He would bring calamities upon them, spend arrows against them, and send famine and pestilence and plagues.  He would scatter them and blot out their memory.   (Deut. 32:15-26)

When Moses spoke the words of the song to Joshua and the people, he said to them, “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law.  They are not just idle words for you – they are your life.  By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.” – Deut. 32:44-47.

“The spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing.  The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.” – John 6:63.  God’s Words are of great importance and are words to live by.

Do you live by God’s Word?

What has happened in your family or church when you take to heart God’s Word?

Then God told Moses to go to Mount Nebo to view Canaan.  There he would die and be gathered to his people just as Aaron was.  Both of them broke faith with God in front of the Israelites at the waters of Meribah Kadesh.  They didn’t uphold God’s holiness and were not permitted to go to the Promise Land as we learned back in Numbers 20.  Moses would not cross the Jordan into the Canaan, but was permitted to see it from a distance.  Moses would die, but he would live on with his family and countrymen who have died before.  (Deut. 32:48-52)

Principle:  God demands loyalty and obedience.

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Introduction to the Life of Moses

Why should we study the Bible?  It is the most valuable book in the world and of all time.  It's God's gift to us.  He has protected it down through the ages.  It is truth and its author is God.  "All scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."  - 2 Tim. 3:16.  In other words it is the speaking of God.  God uses the Bible to reveal Himself to us.  The thread of how to be saved is in every single book.  God spoke through several men as they wrote different books of the Bible.  "For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." - 2 Peter 1:21.

Its purpose is to lead us to belief in Jesus Christ.  Jesus is all through the Bible not just in the New Testament.  As we read and study the Bible, we need to apply it to our lives.  The Holy Spirit helps us to understand it.  We can't do it by ourselves.  Stop and ask God to give you the Holy Spirit to help you understand and hear God speak to you.

Are you willing to let the Bible influence your life?

Do you base decisions on what others tell you or do you seek God for answers?

Principles: 

God's Word reveals His character, His purposes, and His plans.
God's Word reveals His promises and His path to our redemption.
God's Word reveals His power in those who put their faith in Him alone.

Moses is a very important person in the OT.  His name is used 804 times in both the OT and the NT.  He was a humble, courageous, and a great leader.  God used Moses to lead Israel, establish the Hebrew people into a nation, and to lead them to the Promise Land.  Moses wrote the first 5 books.  The books of Exodus - Deuteronomy show the life of Moses.  Exodus means "to go out" or "exit".  God helped the Israelites to go out from Egypt. 

Moses was raised in the court of Egypt. He had the best of privileges and prestige and was exposed to the best educations and to the arts. This was all on the outside, but God knew his heart.  God put compassion in his heart for his people and used him to fulfill His plan in Egypt.  He had a heart full of faith.  Moses obeyed God though he did not know it all.  True faith recognizes its helplessness and has complete assurance of God's power.  God has something to teach you in the life of Moses.

Do you have a past you are ashamed of?  Moses had murder in his past.  God used Moses and He can use you, too.

Outline of Exodus - Deuteronomy

I.  Exodus - the first part of Moses' life; the Israelites trouble in Egypt; the events     and the plagues that led to the Israelites to leave Egypt; how God gave the Law to   Moses (the Ten Commandments); how the Israelites built the special holy   tabernacle; rules of worship.
II. Leviticus - laws and instructions for offerings, rules for holy living, the Sabbath, feast and seasons; conditions for God's blessings.
III. Numbers - Israel's year while camped at the foot of Mount Sinai; the journey from       Israel from Mount Sinai to the east side of the Dead Sea; the preparations for           entering and conquering Canaan (the Promise Land).
IV.  Deuteronomy - Israel about to enter the Promise Land, Moses reminded them of    their history of being God's chosen people; Moses reminded them of God's laws        including the Ten Commandments; Moses reminded them of the covenant with       God.

Principles:

Exodus - God is redeemer of His people.  He dwells in our mists.
Leviticus - God is the Holy One and sets the standards for worship and how to live.
Numbers - God organizes and guides His people.
Deuteronomy - God is the Faithful Keeper.  He is Lord and is to be obeyed.

We will begin with the study of Exodus.  The book of Exodus emphasizes that God is holy and that He looks after His people.  God is Lord.  His Hebrew name is Yahweh.  His name means "the Person who lives for all time".  He called Himself "I Am" in Exodus 3:1-4.  We cannot understand His nature completely, but He shows Himself by His acts and commandments.  He loves and He forgives and He also punishes sin.  We gain more knowledge of Him through the His Word and through His Son, Jesus.

Follow my weekly posts for insights on the study of the Life of Moses.  We will begin with the book Exodus next week. 

Note:  Most of my posts will be a result of my studies through Bible Study Fellowship (BSF).