By: Mrs. Strub
Moses’ story is amazing! Here’s the “Cliff Notes” version of his story, found in the Bible books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy: He was born an Israelite, and saved from death when he was a baby. He was adopted by an Egyptian pharaoh’s daughter, but his countryman were slave workers, constructing Egyptian monuments like the pyramids. He rejected his identity as an Egyptian when he was a young man and killed an Egyptian that was abusing one of his countryman. He fled a death sentence, travelling to Midian to become a shepherd. He married and had sons there. When he was eighty years old (can you IMAGINE!!) God told him to return to Egypt – the Israelites were suffering and God was going to save them. Using Moses, God unleashed ten plagues on Egypt and forced the Egyptians to release the entire nation of approximately two million people (population of Houston, TX!). As the people were leaving Egypt, Pharaoh changed his mind and decided that he wasn’t going to let the God of Israel push him around; he couldn’t afford to let his slave workers go free. He and his army chased after the Israelites. God parted the Red Sea, and the Israelites went through safely, but then God made the water come back together and the Egyptian armed forces drowned.
Through Moses, God set up a system of government, law including the ten commandments, and worship for the Israelite nation. God promised his nation that they would have their own land, too – the land of Canaan. But it took Moses and the people forty years to travel there, because the people kept disobeying God. God forced them to backtrack and basically go in circles until they respected and obeyed Him. At the end of Moses life, he stood on the edge of Canaan, and saw where the Israelites would live, but he wasn’t allowed to go in because of a sin. Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible. He died at age 120. What a life!
Mr. Jeff Broadnax, National Director of Generations Ministries, including our SEP camps, put the following quote on Facebook lately: "When I operate in my will, I get LESSONS, when I operate in God's will, I get BLESSINGS." Over the next two days, we’ll focus on two main events in Moses’ life: the blessings that happened when Moses obeyed God’s call to free the Israelites from Egypt, and the lesson he learned when he took the credit for something God did. If you hang in there to the end of this devotional, you’ll learn something important about your life, too!
READ Exodus 3:1-15 and Exodus 4:1-20
If you choose to serve and follow God, it won’t be easy. But God will use every bit of who you are to do amazing things.
A well-known pastor named Louie Giglio said “I have a deep conviction that the greatest regret any of us will ever know is that of standing before Jesus knowing we lived too safe, too comfortable, too short-sighted.”
God will give you strength and ability to do whatever he asks you to do. He will be with you every step of the way. One of the things that Jesus tells us again and again is “Do not be afraid.” Obeying and following God is a wonderful and crazy adventure. It is an awesome way to live. It will bring BLESSINGS into your life!
Apply what you learned:
1. Was there ever a time you followed God, even though it was difficult?
2. What fears has God helped you with?