This week’s Parsha, titled by the Rabbis as “Judges,” starts at Deuteronomy 16:18 and I this was the antecedent that started my journey to teach our children the truth’s of God’s Word.
Why?
Because I was so amazed that Moses wrote these words by God’s hand: “ADONAI your God will raise up for you a prophet from your midst – from your brothers. To him you must listen.” Over a decade ago, THIS is that week, the week I started writing Children’s curriculum because I just couldn’t believe Moses prophesied about the coming Messiah in Deuteronomy, and that the life of Joseph hidden in Egyptian clothes 400 years before Moses is much like Yeshua being hidden in Christian clothes to those of us awaiting His return even today!
I remember thinking, do most Christians even know this prophesy is right inside the JEWISH TORAH? Can you believe it? Who told Moses that ‘a prophet like him’ would be needed? I believe that had to be God revealing HIS nature to Moses while he was trying to teach them to follow God. Moses had watched an entire generation of complaining former slaves struggle to believe God day after day without seeing Him or even being able to utter His name out loud like the pagan nation of ancient Egypt. Have you ever met a Jewish person that does not profess Yeshua, but you know they believe in the God of Israel? What a conundrum! I believe Moses knew God so well, spent so much time investing himself in BELIEVING the Words He recorded in the Torah that he knew the God He loved would not have saved a people for Himself without a secure plan for their future – even after his own life was over.
Moses was saved from infanticide, raised by an adoptive family and was sent by God to free his own people after being painfully rejected by both his adoptive family and mocked by his own kin! Moses heard the voice of God, taught them His commands, passed judgement on disobedience, put leaders in place, and was trusted to govern a nation through miraculous signs and wonders for 40 years. This prophet saw God’s big agenda, and his own life became a living sacrifice for the goal of pleasing the invisible God He adored and trusted. But, Moses didn’t enter the Promised land, in fact only two witnesses made it in – a Jew and a Gentile.
Sometimes, when I am feeling especially tender toward the sufferings of Moses, I try to imagine putting up with complaining and rebellious children year after year. I sometimes catch my breath when I think about the joy of each new birth that would be critically needed to survive the daily grief of watching an entire generation die on his watch. I wonder if he was relieved when the last one passed, and I wonder how very many times Moses had to ‘let go and let God.’
I believe that Moses did not fear death the way we often do, because he knew the God of the Universe was full of compassion and mercy, while also just and righteous. Moses had ‘RELATIONSHIP EQUITY’ sown into his life daily by God for over forty years. God transformed Moses’ temporal reality into an eternal future with His Maker. AND the prophet Moses spoke of was not just embodied in the person of Yeshua over 2000 years ago. The prophet Moses spoke of was the promised One – the One enrobed in flesh that the lost must see with supernatural eyes – beyond what the physical world can explain away.
Our ‘flashback approach’ to the Holy Scriptures makes it easy to match up Messiah Yeshua’s miracles with those of Moses. Yeshua was saved from infanticide, raised by an adoptive father, sent by God to free His own people after being painfully rejected by both His family and the Jewish leadership and even a some of His closest disciples. He was HEARD both talking and listening to Bat Kol (the Voice of Heaven)! Yeshua taught them God’s commands, passed judgement on disobedience, put leaders in place, and was trusted to be the final Passover lamb for all who would trust in Him. He walked on water, healed the sick and delivered people from captivity to sin and death – no wonder those with ‘eyes to see’ knew who He was. Or, did they?
I meet so many people and rarely do I have enough interaction to know who they are – I mean – who they really are. Each person matters to God. I have seen God’s hand on individual people He has chosen for a divine appointment. I see God offering Himself, person by person, as a living sacrifice to those interested in playing a role in God’s big agenda. I believe, with my whole heart, that God came into the world looking for me, yes – even just me. Yeshua was sent by God for YOU – yes, Jesus whom we crucified – though even His apostles didn’t fully KNOW He was God until He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. Believing in Yeshua is a daily miracle in my journey that creates the lenses through which I experience eternal life.
I choose to believe I am loved by the God of the Universe, just like Moses, and Elijah, and Deborah and even EVE. When I read the Bible, I don’t look for the character development of the humans – I look for the steadfast and amazing love of God that keeps being activated through faith born in the hearts of His Children who trust Him. God created me to save me, to adopt me, to comfort me with His love. If He did not come for me personally, what impact could my life ever make on my neighbor searching for answers?
This week, we begin the week of Elul on the Jewish Calendar. This is the time we reflect, repent and return to the God of the Universe for a season of thankfulness and harvest time. The fall’s crisp air is just around the corner, heralding the hearts of men to open their ears to the sound of the ram’s horn and the coming of our Messianic King. This is the time to take notice of the seasons changing, the seed bearing plants preparing to yield their increase. This year, as the future is bright with possibilities – a new crop of souls ripe for harvest are coming into view. Can’t you see it? Ask God to show you!
Comments