Bible In One Year-Day 87 (Friday, March 28, 2014)
Commentary: Deut32-34. These three chapters narrate the farewell messages of that great man, Moses. Moses went through thick and thin of ministry. A good Christian should learn from him tremendously; from his birth to the last page of his life. At birth, the sword of Pharaoh hunted him, but God secured his life in the hand of those he was created to destroy, what a mighty God we serve;
Isaiah 44:25 “That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish;” (also Job5:12). As a young man, he wanted to help God but he ended up in exile where he learnt submission and obedience; the lesson is that you should never do God’s work in your own strength; He gives the required strength and power for His assignment. We could notice these trails in Moses’ ministry after being called into ministry; he never took any action without asking God who called him; that was the meekness the Bible talked of about him. Hidden pride is not meekness. It is quite unfortunate that many went through bible schools, seminaries, colleges and universities, but the spirit of the teaching is never evident; rather pride is acquired as collars and stoles, garment of positions and pride are received instead of garment of priesthood and servitude.
John 12:43 “For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.”
Matthew 23:5-7 “But all their works they do to be seen by men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, And greetings in the markets, and to be called by men, Rabbi, Rabbi.”
A lot don’t have a tenth of the tremendous grace upon Moses, but the advert they put on themselves is quite disturbing to one who has seen a bit of His glory. A genuine vision does not glorify the carrier but the Giver. Moses feared God indeed. Moses did not just wake up to suggest the person who was to step into his shoes after his departure from earth; rather, he inquired from God and God said it was Joshua. This simply translates into his commitment to the perfect will of God. He did not play politics in God’s service. When his nephews brought strange fire and they were killed, Aaron, their father was very sad; but Moses warned Aaron to take God’s work and interest first. The rancor in ministries now, are due to politics of favoritism, ‘God-fatherism’, unholy ambitions and the like. Absolutely, such have not met the Lord where Moses met Him (he saw the leprosy hiding in his life, Ex4:6) or where Paul did (where his knowledge was made foolish and his blindness was revealed. An ordinary person prayed for him before he could see again); the point of genuine exchange is where the heart is changed and a right spirit renewed;
Ezekiel 36:26 “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.”
Moses served in three ministries in his life; the ministry of Pharaoh, that of his father-in-law and God’s ministry. Moses plugged into the real ministry which God called him at quite an old age. He experienced a very painful ministry because God sent him to the most stubborn set of people. He went through a lot of discouraging moments. Unfortunately, the last chapter of his ministry was not too good; yet he never denied God. He obeyed His commands and sought God’s perfect will unto death. In most cases, we think God is not there in our difficult times, but the truth is that all things work together for good to those who are the called according to His purpose. It was good for Moses to die at that time rather than see the corruption he predicted in Deut31:29;
Isaiah 57:1-2 “The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness.”
The peace Moses entered was revealed on Mount of Transfiguration, Luke9:30. Christian life is not about long life but about a fulfilled and accomplished life. The disciples lived fulfilled lives. Long life has nothing to do with God without being fulfilled. A worldly person seeks to remain on earth perpetually and oftenly amass wealth as if he would never die anymore. Some even desires streets and buildings to be named after them.
Psalms 49:10-12 “For he seeth that wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others. Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names. Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not: he is like the beasts that perish.”
It is good to pray for fulfilled life for the Apostles of our time and not infamous ending of a long life;
2 Timothy 4:7 “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:”
Every Christian has a course to be finished. Those who have never gotten to the point of exchange rarely finish it and, in most cases, they are the pains of a ministry or life; if you come in contact with such, you need serious prayers and fasting for them not to terminate your ministry just as they did to Moses at Pisgah. Songs and Hymns are the expression of God’s breathe over man. Moses wrote his farewell message in songs. There are three things we must notice in the songs; the truth, God’s mind and imparts on life. He finally blessed the Israelites. The end of Moses is worth studying. May your hand be sufficient for you in the name of Jesus. In our readings so far, we interwove the study of the books of the law and three of the gospel. By this we are able to see deeper into the LAW and GRACE. The law is for those who are spiritually dead while grace is for those that are spiritually alive. Whoever remains under the law has fallen from grace and whoever is under grace receives strength and power to overcome sin, i.e. dead to sin. In our next reading, we shall be looking into one of the historical books; the book of Joshua. For today, our reading is Joshua1-3. Keep the fire burning and alive.