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Dwell #4 -- You Never Walk Alone

Just after 4 p.m. on this rainy Wednesday afternoon. I would have gotten around to this sooner, but I had my granddaughter, Brandi Sunday afternoon until yesterday afternoon when Carissa came to get her. Carissa's trip to Mexico went well, at least to get her out of the "neighborhood" for a bit. And that was the main thing. Unfortunately, she and her friends stayed at the resort most of the week, so they didn't actually visit Chichen Itza, although they were in the area.

Meanwhile, Mike has seen his regular doctor again. She authorized more of the pain/sleep meds for during the day since his pain is constant. Also, he's going to be on some kind injection schedule for his diabetes and weight loss. They want him to consult about the injections, but he was a Medic in the Army, so he doesn't need help with it.

No other current news, so just continued prayers for all.

Several years ago now, I started watching some of the older Musicals, such as "Oklahoma", "Carousel", and "State Fair". These wonderful old movies have great stories and songs that have become standards in Classic American music.

Of the 3, "Carousel" has a song that specifically relates to our message this afternoon. If you've seen the movie, you'll recognize the song in the title above. While the song in the movie is about the father watching over his daughter, it's equally appropriate in terms of our Father watching over us. (I'll include the song below, as a bonus)

This past Sunday morning, July 26th, Pastor Joe changed things up a bit. Rather than keeping Communion until the end, he had us do it between worship songs. He also read Psalm 66:1-6, which is one of several in that section that talk about joyful music and worship to the Lord. If you want, you can grab a small snack and read that passage before continuing to the main message.

As has been the norm lately, Pastor Joe opened his sermon with the major thought for the day. "God doesn't just give us a mission, He gives us Himself."

(My original idea for the Message Intro was James Bond, but "Carousel" actually has the song.)

Our Scripture today is from Exodus 4 -- I will tell you the same thing here that Pastor Joe said, "Don't worry, we're not going to read the whole thing, just some highlights.". That being said, here's the whole chapter, just for reference...

Exodus 4

New International Version

Signs for Moses

4 Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”

²Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”

“A staff,” he replied.

³The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.”

Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. ⁴Then the Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. ⁵“This,” said the Lord, “is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.”

⁶Then the Lord said, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, the skin was leprous^[^a^]—it had become as white as snow.

⁷“Now put it back into your cloak,” he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh.

⁸Then the Lord said, “If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first sign, they may believe the second. ⁹But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground.”

¹⁰Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”

¹¹The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? ¹²Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”

¹³But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”

¹⁴Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you. ¹⁵You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. ¹⁶He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. ¹⁷But take this staff in your hand so you can perform the signs with it.”

Moses Returns to Egypt

¹⁸Then Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Let me return to my own people in Egypt to see if any of them are still alive.”

Jethro said, “Go, and I wish you well.”

¹⁹Now the Lord had said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kill you are dead.” ²⁰So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey and started back to Egypt. And he took the staff of God in his hand.

²¹The Lord said to Moses, “When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. ²²Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son, ²³and I told you, “Let my son go, so he may worship me.” But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.’”

²⁴At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses^[^b^] and was about to kill him. ²⁵But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it.^[^c^] “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said. ²⁶So the Lord let him alone. (At that time she said “bridegroom of blood,” referring to circumcision.)

²⁷The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him. ²⁸Then Moses told Aaron everything the Lord had sent him to say, and also about all the signs he had commanded him to perform.

²⁹Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites, ³⁰and Aaron told them everything the Lord had said to Moses. He also performed the signs before the people, ³¹and they believed. And when they heard that the Lord was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.

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As we begin reading this chapter, we take note in verses 1, 10, and 13, Moses is hesitant, and even resistant about the idea of being the one to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt.

The first thing Moses brings up is of people not believing him. Which, if you recall what happened the last time he was there, 40 years earlier, he has a point.* We see this referenced in the New Testament by Stephen, in his speech to the Sanhedrin when on trial. We find this in Acts 7:23-25, where he mentions about Moses' attempt to save one of his countrymen from an Egyptian slave driver and his hope that the people would see him as the rescuer for them all; but they didn't, and he had to run. Now, he's standing in the desert arguing with God about going back. The perspective here is that Moses was both rejected by his fellow Hebrews, but at the same time wanted as a criminal by the Egyptians. But, as Pastor Joe showed us, God doesn't reject him. As we discover in this passage, He leans in to help.

The second point Moses tries to make is that he doesn't speak well. Pastor Joe had an insight here that I'm not sure I had heard before. While we have generally always thought about this issue in relation to speech impediment, Joe mentioned the fact that Moses had grown up in the Pharaoh's house, so he would have learned all the most proper ways of speaking. So this brings in the possibility that Moses feels like he has forgotten those lessons. The other likely scenario here might have been that Moses had forgotten much of the Hebrew language, after having been away from it for so long. Honestly, it was probably a combination of all 3 of these that was on Moses' mind that day!!

Now, when Pastor Joe started going through the 3 signs that God was giving Moses here, to convince the people to believe him, he had a couple of visual aids. That's where things got interesting!! 😄😄

Staff -- For this, Pastor Joe had borrowed Pastor Matt's, as seen in our earlier Psalm 23 Series. Okay, cool!! But then God tells Moses to toss it on the ground... Pastor Joe has a bright green animatronic snake!! (As he said, it can be such a blessing having 4 boys under the age of 9 for Sermon inspiration. LOL) Looking to the serious side, however, the staff here, represents identity, authority, protection, and guidance. At the same time, the snake brings us 2 places. One, the Garden of Eden. There, the snake was a source of deception. Two, in Egypt, and other surrounding areas, the snake symbolized wisdom, healing, and knowledge. In this, the extraordinary act of God proved His authority over the Empires of man.
Hand -- In Ancient times, the hand was considered an extension of authority.* Verses 6 and 7 of our passage above tell us that God had Moses tuck his hand in and out of his cloak 2x. The leprosy that showed up was not only a sign of impurity, but represented a slow death. In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve used their hands to take the fruit. This illustration for Moses, proved God's power over disease, illness, and death.
Water -- The first place we see water mentioned in the Bible is in the first few verses. Genesis 1:2 tells us that, "...the Holy Spirit was hovering over the face of the deep.". As we all know, water can be either a source of life or death, it just depends on quantity and control. In Egypt, the Nile River was the "god of life". At the same time, in our Biblical narrative, Pharaoh was using it as a tool of death for Hebrew boys under the age of 1 year. This shows that God is the only TRUE source of life.

We now find ourselves at verse 10, which we noted earlier as being one of the places where Moses is arguing with God. This is the bit where he talks about being "slow of speech", etc... Yet, as Pastor Joe pointed out here, the words of that verse are actually very eloquent. The question is raised again of whether Moses' complaint was more about language or physical issues. We see God leaning in even further after Moses has said this. This shows all of us that our weaknesses don't disqualify us from being used of God. Here Moses is, trying to disqualifying himself, but God won't let him. Rather, He says, "Moses, I'm with you.". Although we see God getting riled, He still shows mercy.

Pastor Joe paused in the message here to briefly talk about how this all relates to small children and transitions. As any of you know who have had a toddler in their lives, just leaving the house to visit friends can take FAR LONGER than we think it should, amiright?? LOL "Where are your shoes?? Oh, your brother threw one out the door..." "Do you have your jacket?? Where is it??" "What, you pooped your diaper??"* -- Texts friends: "Sorry, running late. Too long to explain. See you soon." (This has got to be among the most relatable scenarios among parents of young children, EVER!! Except for the texting bit, of course.)

Meanwhile, back in our story above, God has already sent Aaron and the rest of the Hebrew leaders out to meet Moses in the desert. Moses was going to have plenty of help. He was not in this alone. It wasn't by his own power, but God's, with Aaron's and the others' help.

For the next portion of our passage above, be sure to check out the podcast, "Dive in with Matt and Joe", where they have a special guest to help untangle this difficult section. (I guess that means I should listen too... probably tomorrow, at this point.)

Skipping down to verses 27-31, we see that Aaron and the others believed and worshipped. While we may relate with Moses, being hesitant in some way to follow God's plan, specifically where it involves us, Pastor Joe brought it to our attention that God's plan for us is actually MUCH LARGER than Moses' was. While God had only assigned Moses to free the Hebrews from Egypt, we, as Believers, are responsible to free the ENTIRE WORLD in light of His Salvation.* (Thankfully, there are millions of us, right!!??) But that's part of the good news for each of us. Like Moses, we don't have to do it alone. We have God, and we have each other.*

Turn with me, now, if you will, to Luke 10:27 --

Luke 10:27

New International Version

²⁷He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’^[^a^]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[^b^]”

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The full passage here is titled, "The Greatest Commandment". This is where Jesus condensed the entire Law of Moses into just two things. Love God. Love others. The same story in Matthew 22 confirms this by Jesus' saying, "all the Law and Prophets hang on these.".

In relation to this, we turn to Matthew 28:16-20 --

Matthew 28:16-20

New International Version

The Great Commission

¹⁶Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. ¹⁷When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. ¹⁸Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

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As stated above, our mission is greater than Moses'. Where he only had to deliver "a people", we are assigned to deliver "ALL people".* Like Moses, we all may feel unworthy in some way. Whether it's our chronic health issues/disabilities, our lack of time, our lack of knowledge, or even our person history. God meets everyone where we are at, just like He did with Moses.

What's important to notice in our short Matthew passage of Scripture is the last bit. Look at the second part of verse 20. "And surely I am with you always, even to the very end of the age."* Just as God told Moses in Exodus 4, He will be with us to the end. We don't have to do anything alone. God is with us. Amen??

In closing, Pastor Joe showed us, by photo on the screen, what is carved into the top end of Pastor Matt's staff. It is the letters "YNWA", reminding any who use it, "You'll never walk alone.". The timing of this, on the heels of the World Cup Soccer Tournament is perfect, as Pastor Joe is a huge fan. He shared with us the fact that a team from Liverpool, Wales, has this for their motto.

What step of faith is God prompting you with this week?? What is one thing you can do towards it today??

-- God Bless!!

Footnotes:

My own thought in relation to the fact that Moses had been away from Egypt for 40 yrs at this point is to question who would even remember him?? Or the situation that sent him away??
When he was talking about the hand being extended, Pastor Joe mentioned that, when his own hand is outstretched, he's never opposed to having dark chocolate placed in it. (I'm the same way!!) LOL
The diaper scenario... one day, when my oldest was still a baby and we were getting ready for church, she messed her diaper 3x IN A ROW!! Lesson learned, wait longer before changing the girl!! LOL
To be 150% clear here, this IN NO WAY is meant to suggest Universal Salvation. The Bible makes it very clear that NOT EVERYONE will be Saved. (See Matt. 7:21, John 3:16, and Romans 10:8-10, among others)
The idea of having each other as Believers speaks not only of numbers; but of Christian unity. Rather than wasting time arguing the details, we should just be happy that we worship the One True God. Without the drama, we can more effectively present the world with a united front. At least as it concerns the Gospel. Amen?? (In relation to this, you'll notice that I've stopped alerting other Believers such as Catholics and SDA, to points of Dogma in which they differ from my own.)
See note 4.
The fact that Jesus tells them that He will be with them, "... even until the end of the age.", supports the truth that He was not talking about returning in their lifetimes, as some think He meant in Matt. 16:28. Rather, the word used here is not "kronos"; but "kairos". While the first speaks of clocks and calendars, the second is about eras and conditions. Jesus was not talking about the next several decades, He was talking about the Church Age.