Tag: Hid his Face

40.q. “God called to him out of the bush”

 

 

Exodus 3:1  Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

For 40 years Moses lived as an obscure shepherd in the desert of Midian. At this point his life was so humble that he didn’t even have a flock of sheep to call his own – the sheep belonged to his father-in-law. The bush burning but not being consumed was a magnetic sight to Moses – it drew him in for a closer examination. Some think the burning bush to be a symbol of Israel, or the people of God more generally – afflicted but not destroyed, because God is in the midst of them. The bush burning but not being consumed was a magnetic sight to Moses – it drew him in for a closer examination. Some think the burning bush to be a symbol of Israel, or the people of God more generally – afflicted but not destroyed, because God is in the midst of them. God didn’t speak to Moses until He had Moses’ attention. Often God’s Word doesn’t touch our heart the way that it might because we don’t give it our attention. The burning bush was a spectacular phenomenon that captured Moses’ attention; but it changed nothing until Moses received the Word of God that came to him there.  God’s first words to Moses called him by name. This shows that even though Moses was now an obscure, forgotten shepherd on the backside of the desert, God knew who he was, and Moses was important to God. God told Moses to do two things to show special honor to this place because of the immediate presence of God. He told Moses to keep a distance (Do not draw near this place). He commanded Moses to show reverence for God’s presence (Take your sandals off your feet). God revealed Himself to Moses by declaring His relationship to the patriarchs. This reminded Moses that God is the God of the covenant, and His covenant with Israel was still valid and important. This wasn’t a “new God” meeting Moses, but the same God that dealt with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God would reveal Himself to Moses more intimately than He had to any of the patriarchs; yet it all began with God reminding Moses of the bridge of covenant they met on. Some in the days of Moses might have thought that God neglected or forgot His covenant in the 400 years of Israel’s slavery in Egypt, since the time of the patriarchs. Nevertheless, God was at work during that time, preserving and multiplying the nation. God told Moses to do what was appropriate for a creature before their Creator – to revere and recognize His holiness. Moses responded as a man who knew he was not only a creature, but also a sinful creature – he hid his face. (Guzik)

If our mind shuts out things of God and our eyes quit looking for God’s hands in things around us, and our ears quit listening for the quiet whispers of God’s Word into our lives, it is no wonder our lives have no peace and rest.  Though a foundation may have been laid there is no continual building upon it. Such a waste of a life of a child of the King of Kings.  “Turn your hearts to Jesus, look full into his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.”

183.And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, that it may go well with you

2 Kings 18:1   In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done. He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan). He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. For he held fast to the Lord. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses. And the Lord was with him; wherever he went out, he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him. He struck down the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtower to fortified city.

In the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it, and at the end of three years he took it. In the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. The king of Assyria carried the Israelites away to Assyria and put them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes, because they did not obey the voice of the Lord their God but transgressed his covenant, even all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded. They neither listened nor obeyed.

Deuteronomy 6:18    And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, that it may go well with you

Nehemiah 9:17    They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck

Daniel 9:8    To us, O LORD, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you.

Micah 3:4    Then they will cry to the LORD, but he will not answer them; he will hide his face from them at that time,

We can certainly see both sides of the coin in these 12 verses of 2 Kings 18.  Hezekiah, King of Judah, listened, believed, followed, obeyed, and did what was right in the eyes of God.  Hoshea, King of Israel, neither listened nor obeyed.  The outcomes of these two countries were very different.  Judah prospered during the time of Hezekiah and Israel was carried away.

What I make note of is how we are so easily swayed to walk paths that are not “Doing what is right in the eyes of God”.  It seems to take form when one area of life is allowed to dip its feet into what God has clearly said: “stay away from doing this”.   What we don’t realize is that once our feet hit the slippery bottom of what we are dipping into we soon are falling headlong into the pool of “Not doing what is right in the eyes of God”.  The pool does not look deep nor does it look like anything menacing, in fact, it looks inviting.  There are numerous ones who are there ahead of us and they call out with invitation too.  We might have been warned in the past to stay away from this but once we have gotten close and see others who seem to be enjoying the refreshing appearance of freedom our guard is down and our ears only hear the call of the forbidden.  We are so close now that the voice of God can not be heard over the noise of those to whom we have chosen to get close to and even join.

There is truth in “Right is Right even if only one is doing it” and “Wrong is Wrong even if everyone is doing it”  If we are going to do what is right we better know where to look to find out what right is.  If we neglect this book of truth we will not have the ability to hear the leading of the Holy Spirit, the power of the Holy Spirit, and the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to know and understand follies of man.   It is easy to follow what seems right in our own eyes and it is easy to listen to ourselves.  Both of these actions will make us deaf and blind to the Word of God and knowing what is right in His eyes.

Angel of the Lord Appeared

Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the Lord. And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, for we have seen God.”

Judges 13:2
There was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. And his wife was barren and had no children. And the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold, you are barren and have not borne children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. Therefore be careful and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.” Then the woman came and told her husband, “A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. I did not ask him where he was from, and he did not tell me his name, but he said to me, Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. So then drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’”
Then Manoah prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, please let the man of God whom you sent come again to us and teach us what we are to do with the child who will be born.” And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field. But Manoah her husband was not with her. So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, “Behold, the man who came to me the other day has appeared to me.” And Manoah arose and went after his wife and came to the man and said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to this woman?” And he said, “I am.” And Manoah said, “Now when your words come true, what is to be the child’s manner of life, and what is his mission?” And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful. She may not eat of anything that comes from the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, or eat any unclean thing. All that I commanded her let her observe.”
Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “Please let us detain you and prepare a young goat for you.” And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “If you detain me, I will not eat of your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to the Lord.” (For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the Lord.) And Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “What is your name, so that, when your words come true, we may honor you?” And the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?” So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it on the rock to the Lord, to the one who works wonders, and Manoah and his wife were watching. And when the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the angel of the Lord went up in the flame of the altar. Now Manoah and his wife were watching, and they fell on their faces to the ground. The angel of the Lord appeared no more to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the Lord. And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, for we have seen God.”

leviticus 9:24
And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the pieces of fat on the altar, and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.

1 Chronicles 21:16
And David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, and in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces.

Ezekiel 1:28
Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

Exodus 3:6
At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

Deuteronomy 5:26
For what mortal has ever heard the voice of the living God speaking out of fire, as we have, and survived?

The story of Samson.  The angel of the Lord visited the woman (his future mom) and spoke.  She went and told her husband and he asked God for confirmation.  God Listened and the angel of the Lord came and spoke again. When they offered up a sacrifice and saw the angel of the Lord go up in the flames, to be seen no more, they fell on their face and thought they would die because they thought they saw God.  I am intrigued by this and as well other scripture that speaks of the same response.  Falling on their face and thinking they would die.  They had just been witness to an act of God.  They fell on their face to worship Him and then because they thought it was God they thought they would die.  Two things come to mind.  Do we have the same reverence for God?  When we see His holy power and strength in acts around us do we fall on our face in reverence?  Do we reverence His holiness to the point where we would think we would die if we saw Him?  Are we looking for His intervention in our lives?  Do we acknowledge Him when these happen? Do we fall on our face with awe, wonder, and reverence?  Do we understand our sinful nature in light of His holiness?  I think this is something we need to be mindful of everyday.  Know God lives.  Look for and expect to see His hand at work in our lives. Give reverence to this work when we see it.  God becomes more and more alive in our lives when we stay in His word.  Our faith grows as we stay in His word. Our lives change for the better when we stay in His word.  Purpose to stay in His word!  Live in such a way that all you think, say, and do  brings honor and glory to Him!