Sunday School 04: Fear

Exodus 4 opens with Moses' fear. Interestingly, God answers his hesitation by forcing him to face three very different types of fear. 

Fear of predator

The first is the snake. It's a predator. When you see a predator, you run away, and that's exactly what Moses did. Wasn't it just the last chapter when God promised to be with him? Didn't Moses remember that the God who had created the snake could certainly protect him from the snake? I would have run too. I know about fear of snakes. I lived in Africa and was taught "all snakes are poisonous until dead." The snakes I saw were too. I saw cobras and black mambas and green mambas and vipers. I had enough close calls that to this day, I can't look at a Gabon viper behind glass without feeling a twinge of fear. And then God tells him to pick it up--by the tail of all things! Moses is forced to face his fear. In a moment he'll be asked to face his fear of public speaking. The snake is a good place to start. 

Fear of physical affliction

The second is fear of physical affliction. This is a very different kind of fear. You can't run a way from this like you would run away from a snake. Moses pulls out his hand and it's white with leprosy. You don't hear much about leprosy today. It's a disease of the past. But when I lived in Africa, there was a leprosy colony not far from us. It is a current disease they still battle. A man in our village had leprosy. I would see him in the market place. He had sores on his face. He had no hands. We sometimes gave him money. As a child, I was frightened of him, of the permanency of his condition. When Moses saw the leprosy, it was the realization of his worst fear. It was more than an affliction. It would mean an entire life change, a change of lifestyle, of culture, of social status. And in that moment, the Great Physician shows his incredible power as he removes the disease as easily as he afflicted him. 

Fear of impending doom

The third type of fear is a contamination. It's the same kind of fear that stems from destruction or natural disaster. It's a large scale fear affecting not only your self, but everyone you know, everyone you love. God tells Moses that when he pours out water from the river, it will turn to blood. This would have been significant to people living in the desert. They understood the necessity of water. It was the life source of the city. A lack of water meant agonizing thirst followed by inevitable death for everyone. This is the sort of fear that turns into widespread panic. 

His lesson on fear is only the beginning. Moses has a lot to learn about trusting God.

Sunday School 03: God's Timing

God's timing is perfect.

We say that. We even say it with conviction. But oh my, it's hard to practice that. Because to be honest, my timing seems pretty good too. It's well thought out, and it makes sense to me anyway. But for some reason my timing never seems to line up with God's. He likes to toy with last minutes and completely disregard deadlines. But His timing is perfect, and mine is flawed. My timing can never be perfect because I don't know the future.  

Moses had to learn about God's timing too.

1. God's time is not necessarily our time.

God would have Moses waiting for forty more years. In all that time, Moses didn't know how long it was going to be. Sometimes God's timing doesn't make sense. He told Noah to build an ark though Noah had never seen rain. He promised Sarah a baby in her old age. 

2. God puts us in a place where we don't feel equipped to do what he wants us to do.

Moses complained that the people wouldn't believe him.

To present your body a living sacrifice means:

1. You are giving up your control.

2. You are putting your future and timing in the hands of someone else.

3. You are accepting that you don't have a say in your life.

Sunday School 02: Inferior, Self-reliant, or Reliant on God

Ever met someone who thought they were humble because they believed they were inferior? Enter Moses, stammering, stumbling, and so like us in so many ways. Some people rely on their own merit, and we know they are proud. Others think they are worthless, helpless, inept, inferior, and we think maybe they are not proud. They think they are not proud. But really, there's no difference between the two. Neither are relying on God. To be humble is to be completely and utterly reliant on God.

The first thing Moses says when the bush speaks is "Here am I." The second thing he says is "Who am I."

God has just spelled out his plan, and Moses is nervous. Honestly, who wouldn't be? But He gives him verse 12, and that changes everything. "Certainly, I will be with thee."

And then God identifies himself.

"I Am that I Am"

If there were one characteristic of God that showed him most powerful--one thing that could rise above the rest and answer every question that has ever been asked about him, It's found in Exodus 3. 

I Am that I Am

It answers the question: Is there a God?

It shows his existence spanning both directions through eternity.

It answers the question: Where is God?

It shows his presence in every place and every time simultaneously.

It answers the question: Why God?

Why did you allow this. Why do you allow pain and heartache and injustice? Because He is God. He owes no explanation.

It answers the question: Is God able?

It shows God's magnitude. He is a God as omnipotent and omniscient as he is omnipresent. He is a God as great as he is eternal. He cannot be contained by my perceptions or limited in his Godness. 

He is God.

He Is that He Is.

Sunday School 01: Reverence

My Sunday School class just began a study on Moses. We've come to the burning bush, the fiery fir, the sizzling shrub, the combustible cactus, the everlasting evergreen.

A couple of things that I found particularly interesting from this lesson...

The first was Moses' reaction to the burning bush. As soon as he realized that the voice coming from the bush was God, he hid his face and was afraid to look upon God. This is an interesting progression. In chapter 3, he's trembling and daring not to behold. But later he gets bold. Later he asks to see God's face, but God knows it would be too much for him and grants only that he witness the backside of his glory. 

Second is this. "We try so hard to fit God to us, and we are entirely misrepresenting him." Moses thought he knew what God expected of him. Here he is a Hebrew marked for death the moment he's born, raised in the home of the Pharaoh with all the prestige that comes with it, brought up by his mother and taught of the one true God. Had God asked him at that moment to deliver his people, I think Moses would have done so without hesitation. But that wasn't God's time. God made him low first. When God calls to him from the burning bush, he instructs Moses to not come hither, to remove his shoes for the ground on which he's standing is holy ground. He is telling Moses who He is. He is teaching him how to show reverence. 

It's easy to misrepresent God, to misunderstand who he is. We have an image in our minds of who we think God is, a God catered to we want him to be, what we think we need him to be. Maybe we've got it all wrong. It's not enough to serve a god. We need to know who He is so we can show reverence to the God.  

Five thoughts we were given from this lesson:

1. When God wants to get someone's attention, he knows how to do it.

2.When you have reverence, you give your best.

3. When you're in the presence of God you show reverence.

4. God does not forget his people.

5. When God is ready to act, he will tell us, and his timing is always right.