God is Serious about HIS Word
Exodus 4: 19-26
"… At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met him
and sought to put him to death. 25 Then Zipporah took
a flint and cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses' feet with
it and said, "Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!" 26 So he
let him alone. It was then that she said, "A bridegroom of blood," because of
the circumcision."
God groomed
Moses in the wilderness for about 40 years, equipped with power and authority, commissioned to go and free God's people, Israel, and then turned around to
kill after that heavy investment. Why. he is the reason can be traced back to;
·
Genesis 17:11-13. Any
uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off
from his people; he has broken my covenant.'"
o
Every male, related in any way to Abraham, even
every male servant, must be circumcised. Jew male children must be circumcised
at eight days old. How God emphasizes that this sign of the covenant between
God and His people through Abraham is absolutely necessary. Any uncircumcised
male is out of the covenant, Period. If he is not cut in the foreskin of
his flesh, he will be cut off from his people. God's people through Abraham
must be circumcised, or they will not be God's people.
·
Moses was to lead his people out of Egypt and be an example to the pharaoh's house, Egypt's nation, and to all the
nations that heard of those happenings (Exodus 18:10-11; Joshua 2:10-11).
· Moses' personal life had to be in order before
he could direct the spiritual lives of the Hebrew people. It seems that Moses
had neglected to administer the sacred rite of circumcision, the act that
symbolized the Almighty's covenant with His chosen people. t seems to
scripture does not contradict, 1Tim3v1Titus1v3 "This is a true saying if a man desires
the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. Bishop then must
be blameless, the …",
· Moses' great sin made him unfit to serve
as a spiritual leader, and the situation had to be rectified before he could
carry out his mission effectively. His quick action on Zipporah saved him. soon as Zipporah performed the act, the
Lord "let him go." If not, God was going to kill Moses because Moses was
supposed to teach the Israelites God's Law, yet Moses was not obeying God's Law
himself. James 4v17. Therefore to him, that knoweth to do good, and
doeth it not, to him it is a sin.
Adam and Eve Example (Gen. 2:16, 17).
At the Garden of Eden, God Judged Adam and Eve with the judgment of death in their very first sin; this aught make us fear.
·
In Heb 2:1-2" For
if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience
received a just recompense of reward; How shall
we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be
spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with
divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?"
Uzzah Example
The story of Uzzah and the Ark of the Covenant is
found in 2 Samuel 6:1-7 and 1
Chronicles 13:9-12. As the Ark was being transported, the oxen
pulling the cart stumbled, and a man named Uzzah took hold of the Ark. G d's
anger burned against Uzzah, and He struck him down, and he died. Uzzah's
punishment appears to be extreme for what we might consider a good
deed. However, there are reasons why God took such severe action. First, God had given Moses and Aaron specific
instructions about the Tent of Meeting and the movement of the Ark of the
Covenant. " After Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy
furnishings and all the holy articles, and when the camp is ready to move, the
Kohathites are to come to do the carrying. B t they must not touch the holy
things, or they will die. T e Kohathites are to carry those things that are in
the Tent of Meeting" (Numbers 4:15). No matter how innocently it was done, touching the Ark was in direct violation
of God's law and resulted in death. This was a means of preserving the
sense of God's holiness and the fear of drawing near to Him without appropriate
preparation.
Notice how David took men with him to collect the Ark, rather
than allowing the Levites to bring it to him. That was a great mistake since
it ought never to have been put upon a cart, old or new. I was to be borne
upon men's shoulders and carried by Levites only, and those of the family of
Kohath (Exodus 25:12-14; Numbers 7:9),
using the poles prescribed. Failing to follow God's precise instructions would
be seen as (a) not revering God's words when He spoke them through those such
as Moses, whom He had appointed; (b) having an independent attitude that might
border on rebellion, i.e., seeing and acting on things from a worldly, rather
than a spiritual, perspective.
Second, the Ark had stayed for a while at Abinadab's house (2 Samuel 6:3),
where his sons, Uzzah and Ahio, may well have become accustomed to its
presence. T ere's an old saying, "familiarity breeds contempt," that could
apply in this case. Having been around the Ark in his own home, Uzzah could
very likely forget the holiness that it represented. There are times when we,
too, fail to recognize the holiness of God, becoming too familiar with Him with
an irreverent attitude.
Third, the account tells us the oxen stumbled. The cart didn't fall, and neither did the Ark, just as the boat carrying Jesus
and the disciples rocked fiercely in the storm, though it wasn't necessarily in
danger of sinking (Matthew 8:24-27). A d yet, just as with the disciples who failed to put their faith in their
Master, Uzzah, for a moment, felt it was his responsibility to save the
integrity of God and that our almighty God somehow needed Uzzah's assistance. H presumed that, without his intervention, God's presence would be dealt a
blow. A Job asks, "Can you fathom the mysteries of God?" (Job 11:7). " is greatness no one can fathom" (Psalm 145:3). " is understanding no one can fathom" (Isaiah 40:28). M ses lost his right to enter the promised land because he felt his
intervention was needed when he struck the rock instead of speaking to it as God
had commanded (Numbers 20:7-12). W need to listen carefully to what God has to say to us and strive to do all He commands in obedience. Yes, God is loving and merciful, but He is also
holy, and He defends His holiness with His power, and affronts to His holiness
sometimes bring about His Holy wrath. " t is a dreadful thing to fall into the
hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10:31).
Something of God's presence in the Ark of the
Covenant seems to be lost in the church today. In the time of Moses, the people
knew the awesomeness of God's absolute holiness. They had witnessed great
miracles when the Ark was with them. T ey respected that God's ways and
thoughts are much higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9). In truth, the more we try to bring God down to our worldly way of thinking or
reasoning, the further away He will seem to us. Those who would draw near to
God and have Him draw near to them are those who approach Him in reverence and
holy fear. Uzzah forgot that lesson, and the consequences were tragic.
God's Admonition to Moses: Your righteousness is your
obedience Deut 6:20-25 - Be
Careful to Obey all His Law: 20. In the future,
when your son asks you, "What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees, and
laws the LORD our God has commanded you?" 21. t ll him: "We were slaves of
Pharaoh in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 2 . Before our eyes, the LORD sent miraculous signs and wonders – great and terrible
– upon Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household. 2. But he brought us out
from there to bring us in and give us the land that he promised on oath to our
forefathers. 2. The LORD commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear
the LORD our God so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the
case today. 2. A d if we are careful to obey all this law before the LORD our
God, as he has commanded us that will be our righteousness.
God's Admonition to Joshua: Joshua 1v7: Your success is
Obedience to His Word: 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.
Paul
Admonition
1 Cor9:27: But I keep under my body, and
bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have
preached to others, I myself should be a castaway (rejected, disqualified,
disapproved).
Paul, an apostle, a teacher,
a prophet knew the importance of the sacrifice of Christ for us that he did
not fail to warn believers and the elders of the church: Act 20v28 "Keep
watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you
overseers. B shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own
blood." Colossians
1:20: and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on
earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the
cross.
Ephesians
1:7: In him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in
accordance with the riches of God's grace
o I
believe Paul's concern is, he should be careful how he
handles the gospel so as not to bring reproach on the Gospel, Christ; lest some
corruption of his nature or other should break out, and thereby his ministry be
justly blamed, and be brought under contempt; and so he be rejected and
disapproved of by men, and become useless as a preacher:"
1 Corinthians 3:13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall
declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every
man's work of what sort it is.
God warning to youth.
·
(Ecclesiastes 11:9):
"Rejoice, young man, while you are young, and let your heart be glad in
the days of your youth. And walk in the ways of your heart and in the sights of
your eyes; but know that for all of these things, God will
bring you to judgment!" (Ecclesiastes 11:9)
·
(Ecclesiastes 12:14): "For
God will bring every act to judgment, including every hidden
thing, whether good or evil." None are so high as to rise above this
accountability to God; none so low as to be beneath it. John saw the
dead, small and great, standing before God to be
judged.
The word of is a law: -
What he says comes to pass; this is why His word is potent and powerful, enduring forever.
Ø By faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by
the word of God, Heb 13V3.
Ø Ps 138v2: I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise
thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy
word above all thy name
Ø 1 Peter 1:25: But the word of the Lord endureth forever. A d
this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
Ø Psalm 119:89: Your word, O LORD, is everlasting; it is firmly fixed in the heavens.
Ø Isaiah
55:10-11: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it
shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and
it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
Ø Matt
24:35: Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.
Ø Num
23:19: God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should
change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?
Ø John12v48:
He that rejecteth me, and receiveth, not my words, hath one that judgeth
him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.
When
men transgress the laws of their country, they are led on by the hope that they
shall not be detected or brought to trial—they calculate the chances of escape and indulge the expectation of impunity. But there is no room for such a hope,
in reference to the judgment of the great God—this it will be impossible either
to evade or resist. It is as certain that you will stand before the tribunal of
Christ and be tried for your life! You
will certainly be brought before that tribunal, whether willing or unwilling. Rocks
and mountains will not hide you; no power on earth will shelter or detain you. God has declared that he will undertake this matter himself. Where will you hide? Where will you go from God's presence? Go where you will—you will be surrounded
still by God! Will you resist God's arrest? " or do you have an arm like
God's?" The whole universe is represented as brought together to judgment,
with the same ease as a shepherd collects a flock of timid sheep. No ! No!
Nothing can prevent being placed at the tribunal of heaven!
