Passing on the Faith

David Burns on June 20, 2017

Today’s post is an excerpt from Chapter Six of my latest book, Moses: In the Footsteps of the Reluctant Prophet. Click here to read last week’s post, which was taken from Chapter Five.  About the photos above: 1) Standing on the top of Mt. Nebo in Jordan, looking over the Promised Land.  It was here that Moses stood to catch a glimpse of the Promised Land just before his death. 2) With my granddaughter Stella at the lake.   Deuteronomy is set in the final days of Moses’ life. He had led the Israelites to the Jordan River, just east of the Promised Land. God told Moses that he would not actually enter the land with them; shortly he would ascend Mount Nebo, and there he would die. The book is composed of Moses’ farewell discourses—his final words to the Israelites. If there is one theme that stands above the rest in the farewell discourses of Moses that make up the Book of Deuteronomy, it would be Moses’ concern that the Israelites pass on the faith to their children. Thirty-eight verses in Deuteronomy mention children. Many passages are similar to these: These words that I am commanding you today must always be on your minds. Recite them to your children. Talk about them when you are sitting around your house and when you are out and about, when you are lying down and when you are getting up. (Deuteronomy 6:6-7) Why was this admonition important to Moses? So that “you and your children and your children’s children may fear the Lord your God all the days of your life” (6:2 NRSV). Note this same emphasis a few verses later: When your children ask you in time to come, “What is the meaning of the decrees and the statutes and the ordinances that the Lord our God has commanded you?” then you shall say to your children, “We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. The Lord displayed before our eyes great and awesome 
signs and wonders against Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his household. He brought us out from there in order to bring 
us in, to give us the land that he promised on oath to our ancestors. Then the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our lasting good, so as to keep us alive, as is now the case. If we diligently observe this entire commandment before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, we will be in the right.” (Deuteronomy 6:20-25) There is an urgency to Moses’ words. He knew that Israel’s faith, the faith he had devoted himself to, would be “never more than one generation away from extinction.” Moses’ concern is part of what makes Deuteronomy so timeless. Every generation faces this same challenge. For example, there has been a significant focus in the past few years on the declining religious affiliation among millennials and the overall decline in worship attendance among people of all ages. Some suggest, however, that the sky is not falling. Haydn Shaw, in his book Generational IQ, reminds us that young adults have always dropped out of church in their late teens and returned when they start having children. He notes that millennials are waiting much longer to marry and have children than young people did twenty years ago, which means they are also waiting longer to come back to church. I think he’s right, but that fact alone does not completely explain the decline in religious affiliation and participation that we’re seeing today. I believe that Moses’ words in Deuteronomy continue to be the key to the future of faith. In teaching faith to our children, we don’t want to be guilty of “cramming it down their throats.” But I fear that, for most of us, that’s not the problem. We may take our kids to church and even Sunday school, but we sometimes fail to have meaningful, authentic conversations with them concerning what we really believe about God, how we’ve seen God work in our lives, and what we have experienced of God in prayer and worship—conversations that are not forced but come out of our daily attempts to walk with God. As our children grow up, particularly if they move away from God and the church for a period of time, it becomes harder to have such conversations. During these seasons with my own kids, after they had graduated from high school and had gone away to college, I found it easier to write letters to them conveying my love to them, in which perhaps one paragraph out of seven or eight might be about faith. As a family we continued to pray at mealtime when the girls came home to visit, even if one or the other of them did not bow their heads. I tried to stop preaching and pushing, while at the same time praying and striving to demonstrate something real in my faith that might one day speak to them. Now that I’m a grandfather to a three-year-old granddaughter, I’m wondering if grandparents may be an important key to passing on the faith to future generations. My grandmother Sarah had the greatest impact on my faith when I was a boy. A devout Roman Catholic, she took me to church. Since I was seldom with her on Sunday, she took me to Bingo with the nuns on Friday or to light a candle and walk through the church on a weekday. She taught me to pray the Rosary and was intentional about sharing her faith. It was in reading a Bible she had given our family that I came to faith in Christ. She died when I was thirteen, but I never forgot her faith. Recently I babysat my granddaughter while her parents went out on a “date night.” My wife was out of town, so it was just Stella and Papa. We played together. I let her pick out what we would have for supper: hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, and peas. (Yes, she chose peas!) We ate sitting on the living room floor while watching cartoons together. At one point I took her outside to look at the stars; our home is in the country, so the skies are dark and the stars are bright. I pointed out various constellations and reminded her that her name, Stella, means “star.” We came back inside, had cookies and ice cream, read books, and then, two hours after her official bedtime, I put her to bed (the joy of being a grandparent!). As I lay down with her to put her to sleep, I said to her, “Stella, I want to tell you about something that is really important to Papa.” She looked at me attentively. I asked, “Do you remember the stars?” She nodded. “Do you know that Someone made them all and calls them all by name? That someone is God. He made trees and rabbits and puppies and little girls. We can’t see him, but he’s all around us. And Stella, he loves you. When Mimi and Papa pray, we are talking to him. And do you know what we say to him when we pray? We say thank you.” And with that, Stella and I prayed together. I think that’s what Moses was saying in Deuteronomy. Intentionally sharing and living your faith is crucial so that your children and grandchildren know what you believe and how it shapes your life and so that they see a real and authentic faith in you. Today’s post is an excerpt from Chapter Six, “Don’t Forget … Pass It On,” from my latest book, Moses: In the Footsteps of the Reluctant Prophet. Click here to find more information about all Moses products, including the primary book, a DVD, a Leader Guide, a Children's Leader Guide, and a Youth Study book.    

Paralyzed by Fear

David Burns on June 12, 2017

Today’s post is an excerpt from Chapter Five of my latest book, Moses: In the Footsteps of the Reluctant Prophet. Click here to read last week’s post, which was taken from Chapter Four.  About the image above: This is a portion of a map from page 128 of the book, which shows the geographical setting of the Exodus. This section corresponds to the events discussed in today's post.    By Numbers 13, the Israelites had been free from slavery for two years. They were in the Wilderness of Paran, setting up camp at Kadesh Barnea. This was exciting—they were just a few miles from the Promised Land! After two long and arduous years, they were about to inherit the land that flowed with milk and honey, which Moses had described so many times. At that point God commanded Moses, “Send out men to explore the land of Canaan, which I’m giving to the Israelites. Send one man from each ancestral tribe, each a chief among them” (Numbers 13:2). The scouts spent the next forty days exploring the Promised Land. Here was the scouts’ report when they returned: “We entered the land to which you sent us. It’s actually full of milk and honey, and this is its fruit. There are, however, powerful people who live in the land. The cities have huge fortifications” (13:27-28). Upon hearing this report, the people of Israel became anxious, but Caleb, one of the scouts, spoke up: “We must go up and take possession of it, because we are more than able to do it.” But the men who went up with him said, “We can’t go up against the people because they are stronger than we. . . . All the people we saw in it are huge men. . . .We saw ourselves as grasshoppers, and that’s how we appeared to them.” (Number 13:30-33)   Notice how the Israelites responded: they became paralyzed by fear. The entire community raised their voice and the people wept that night. All the Israelites criticized Moses and Aaron. The entire community said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt or if only we had died in this desert! Why is the Lord bringing us to this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and our children will be taken by force. Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?” So they said to each other, “Let’s pick a leader and let’s go back to Egypt.” (Numbers 14:1-4) This was the tenth incident of the people complaining against Moses and, by implication, against God. The people even planned to stone Moses and Aaron! (14:10). Their attitude roused God’s anger. After all God had done for them, the people still didn’t trust God! And so God announced to Moses, None of the people who have seen my glory and the signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have tested me these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, shall see the land that I swore to give to their ancestors; none of those who despised me shall see it. (Numbers 14:22-23 NRSV) As a result of God’s pronouncement, no one twenty years of age and older who had cried out against God and against Moses would be allowed to enter the Promised Land. Only Joshua and Caleb would go, because they had encouraged the people to enter the land and take it. This is the reason the Israelites spent the next thirty-eight years in the desert: they had allowed fear to stop them just miles from the Promised Land. At times all of us wrestle with fear—of failure, of success, of others, of being poor, of growing old, and a thousand other fears. And our fear, when we give in to it, keeps us living in the wilderness, just a few miles outside the Promised Land. It’s not that there aren’t legitimate things to fear. The people in the new land were strong and the cities were fortified, as the scouts had reported. But God was with the Israelites. And the God who parted the Reed Sea and raised Jesus Christ from the dead is also with us! That means that no matter how tall the giants may be, if God is with us we can move forward, and somehow, some way, he will lead us to the “Promised Land.” Today’s post is an excerpt from Chapter Five, “Lessons from the Wilderness,” from my latest book, Moses: In the Footsteps of the Reluctant Prophet. Click here to find more information about all Moses products, including the primary book, a DVD, a Leader Guide, a Children's Leader Guide, and a Youth Study book.  

The Ten Commandments

David Burns on June 4, 2017

Today’s post is an excerpt from Chapter Four of my latest book, Moses: In the Footsteps of the Reluctant Prophet. Click here to read last week’s post, which was taken from Chapter Three. About the photos above: (1) The Plain of el-Raha as seen from St. Catherine’s Monastery. You can imagine thousands of tents in the plain between the mountains. (2) This was snapped by one of our videographers as I was stopped, reading the story of Moses ascending Mt. Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments. Mt. Sinai rises in the background above me.   Following God’s dramatic victory over the Egyptian army at the Reed Sea, the Israelites sang, worshiped, and feasted as they celebrated their newfound freedom. Then they followed Moses as he began the journey back to Mount Sinai where he had first encountered God. They would take three months to make the 190-mile journey, and once there they would remain camped at Sinai for the next eleven months. During those eleven months Moses would repeatedly climb Mount Sinai, and God would descend upon the mountaintop to meet him, often in dramatic fashion with smoke, thunder, and lightning. At these meetings God and Moses conversed “face-to-face, like two people talking to each other” (Exodus 33:11). Moses would then bring down from the mountain God’s commands for the people, including the ordering of their religious and civil life. Mount Sinai is the setting for Exodus 19–40, all of Leviticus, and Numbers 1–10. In these passages Mount Sinai is referred to in various ways, including Mount Horeb (though in a handful of places this name seems to refer to a separate mountain) and often simply “the mountain of God” (NRSV).  A large valley at the base of Mount Sinai is called the Plain of el-Raha, “the Plain of Rest.” Here the Israelites were said to have camped for nearly a year. It was here, according to tradition, that Moses forty years earlier had met Zipporah, his wife. And it was here, just months before leading the Israelites to this place, that Moses, while grazing his father-in-law’s flock, had heard the voice of God speak to him from the burning bush.  Powerful Encounters Towering above the valley are three mountain peaks, but the one that most people climb is referred to by those who live in the region as Jebel Musa—the Mountain of Moses. It is not the tallest of the three peaks, though it is shorter only by a few hundred feet. But it was here, tradition tells us, that God met with Moses and entered into a covenant with the slaves he had just set free. The Lord called to him from the mountain, “This is what you should say to Jacob’s household and declare to the Israelites: You saw what I did to the Egyptians, and how I lifted you up on eagles’ wings and brought you to me. So now, if you faithfully obey me and stay true to my covenant, you will be my most precious possession out of all the peoples, since the whole earth belongs to me. You will be a kingdom of priests for me and a holy nation. These are the words you should say to the Israelites.” (Exodus 19:3-6) This important passage was meant to shape the self-understanding of the Israelite people. It captured God’s purpose in delivering the Israelites and God’s mission for his people. God would enter into a covenant with them, and they with him. He would consider them his most precious possession, and they would become a kingdom of priests who represented God and mediated God’s word, God’s purposes, and God’s grace to the rest of the world.  During God’s initial meeting with Moses on Mount Sinai, Moses was told to prepare the people for God’s appearance on the mountaintop. They were to wash their clothes and refrain from sexual intimacy. Moses was to erect a fence before the mountain, telling the people not to touch the mountain. Finally we read in Exodus: When morning dawned on the third day, there was thunder, lightning, and a thick cloud on the mountain, and a very loud blast of a horn. All the people in the camp shook with fear. Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their place at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord had come down on it with lightning. The smoke went up like the smoke of a hot furnace, while the whole mountain shook violently. The blasts of the horn grew louder and louder. Moses would speak, and God would answer him with thunder. The Lord came down on Mount Sinai to the top of the mountain. The Lord called Moses to come up to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. (Exodus 19:16-20) The reader of Exodus is meant to feel the awe experienced by the Israelites in these encounters with God. The people were terrified. It was a dangerous thing to be in such proximity to the One by whose power the universe came into existence. I am reminded of the constant refrain in C. S. Lewis’s novels about the land of Narnia regarding its king, the lion named Aslan, who represented Christ: “He is not a tame lion.” Yahweh has compassion, mercy, and love for his people; nevertheless, his power and presence can’t be contained in the tame versions of God that many of us believe in today. We’re meant to take seriously the fear and awe that God inspired as he appeared at Sinai that day.  Exodus 20-24 goes on to describe a six-day period when God’s glory covered the top of Mt. Sinai, during which Moses received the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue (the ten words), reflect God’s basic ordering of Israelite society. Of the 613 laws said to have been given by God to Moses, only these ten were said to be etched on stone by the finger of God (Exodus 31:18).  These stone tablets were placed inside the ark of the covenant.  They represent the foundation of biblical ethics and the summation of the Law.   As I sat on the side of Mount Sinai, looking up at the summit as the sun rose, I took out my Bible and read the Ten Commandments, reflecting upon these pivotal commandments.  It’s worth noting that most of us don’t like rules.  We don’t like people telling us “thou shalt not,” nor even “thou shalt.”  Some see the Ten Commandments in this way – a kind of stifling set of commands.  But I see them differently.  The commandments then, as now, function as theological statements, a vision for human living, and as moral and emotional “guard rails.”  As theological statements each tells us something about God, and God’s will for humanity.  They offer a vision for how we live, love and relate to one another.  And they help us to know the boundaries as we seek to live our lives.  They functioned in this way for the ancient Israelites, and they continue to function this way for us today.  Far from stifling us, they are meant to keep us from harm, and from succumbing to thoughts and behaviors that enslave. They made it to the “top ten list” – because they address some of the key temptations or tendencies with which human beings wrestle.   Here are the Ten Commandments God was said to have etched in the stone tablets,  I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You must have no other gods before me. Do not make an idol for yourself…Do not bow down to them or worship them. Do not use the Lord your God's name as if it were of no significance; the Lord won't forgive anyone who uses his name that way. Remember the Sabbath day and treat it as holy. Six days you may work and do all your tasks, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God… Honor your father and your mother so that your life will be long on the fertile land that the Lord your God is giving you. Do not kill. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not testify falsely against your neighbor. Do not desire your neighbor's house. Do not desire and try to take your neighbor's wife, male or female servant, ox, donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.  Exodus 20:2-17 Today’s post is an excerpt from Chapter Four, “The Ten Commandments,” from my latest book, Moses: In the Footsteps of the Reluctant Prophet. Click here to find more information about all Moses products, including the primary book, a Leader Guide, a Children's Leader Guide, and a Youth Study book.

The Parting of the Sea

David Burns on May 26, 2017

Today’s post is an excerpt from Chapter Three of my latest book, Moses: In the Footsteps of the Reluctant Prophet. Click here to read last week’s post, which was taken from Chapter Two. About the photos above: (1) Filming the small group video on the crossing of the Reed Sea on location near Ismailia, Egypt. This is one of the small lakes some scholars have proposed was the Sea of Reeds. The Suez Canal now cuts through the eastern side of the lake. (2) Pharaoh Ramses II in his chariot marching into war – from the exterior of the Karnak Temple in Luxor.  (3)  An actual chariot that belonged to King Tutankhamun and was found in his tomb. Depending upon when Moses is dated, Moses was likely a contemporary of King Tut.   Today we pick up Moses’ story after Pharoah has freed the Israelites. Following the plague of the firstborn, Pharaoh released the Israelites, and they departed Pi-Ramesses in the middle of the night. Exodus 13:17-18 notes, When Pharaoh let the people go, God didn’t lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, even though that was the shorter route. God thought, If the people have to fight and face war, they will run back to Egypt. So God led the people by the roundabout way of the Reed Sea desert. In a strange turn of events, God commanded Moses to lead the people to set up camp in front of the Reed Sea. The Reed Sea is the literal reading of the Hebrew that is usually translated as “Red Sea.” To the Israelites, it must have seemed an odd place to camp. To the east was a marshy lake. To the west was Pharaoh’s Egypt. If for any reason Pharaoh should come after them, they would be trapped. But surely, they must have hoped, that would not happen. Pharaoh, hearing that the slaves had camped near the lake and now regretting his decision to let such a massive labor force go free, decided to go after them and to retrieve them as Egypt’s slaves. We read in Exodus 14:6-7, “So he sent for his chariot and took his army with him. He took six hundred elite chariots and all of Egypt’s other chariots with captains on all of them.” It was the elite chariots that made Pharaoh’s army so imposing. These were the latest in military technology. Examples of Pharaoh riding his chariot into battle can be seen in bas reliefs on the sides of many Egyptian temples that were built or expanded by Ramesses II. Amazingly, at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo you can see actual chariots used shortly before the time of the Exodus, which were wonderfully preserved in King Tut’s tomb. Exodus 14:9 notes, “The Egyptians, including all of Pharaoh’s horse-drawn chariots, his cavalry, and his army, chased them and caught up with them as they were camped by the sea.” Up to this point in the story, it had been Pharaoh and his gods with whom God had battled. Now, God was about to display his power against the greatest military power on earth at the time. We know from the battle of Kadesh, in which Ramesses II fought against the Hittites, that Egypt had several thousand chariots in addition to the six hundred elite chariots. The chariots were lighter and more advanced than those of other nations. One modern engineer described them as the Formula One racers of their time. Two horses would draw the chariot, which was piloted by one warrior while another, using Egypt’s advanced composite bows, fired at their enemies from a distance. As the charioteers drew closer, swords and spears were used. It is not difficult to imagine what the mostly unarmed Israelites were feeling as they saw the dust from Pharaoh’s chariots in the distance. The Israelites were terrified and cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, “Weren’t there enough graves in Egypt that you took us away to die in the desert? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt like this? Didn’t we tell you the same thing in Egypt? ‘Leave us alone! Let us work for the Egyptians!’ It would have been better for us to work for the Egyptians than to die in the desert.” But Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. Stand your ground, and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never ever see again. The Lord will fight for you. You just keep still.” (Exodus 14:10-14) Nightfall came, and the Egyptians made camp opposite the Israelites. God commanded Moses to lift his staff over the water. That night a strong east wind came blowing across the water toward the Israelites, and when morning came they found the water pushed back by the wind on either side of a path that had been cleared through the middle of the sea. Using the path, the Israelites walked through the water as if on dry land. The Egyptians tried to follow, but their chariots appeared to become stuck in the seabed, slowing them down. When the Israelites arrived on the other side of the sea, God commanded Moses to stretch back his staff over the waters. When he did, the waters returned, covering the Egyptian army and charioteers. The finest army in the land was utterly destroyed. As the Israelites stood watching this scene unfold, they were undoubtedly filled with awe. They had been utterly delivered from Pharaoh and the greatest military power of the day. A rabbi friend describing the Passover Seder noted, “This is our defining story. If you are a Jew, you’ve got to get this. It defines who we are as a people. We were slaves. God saw our suffering. God delivered us and made us his own. This is our story.” When God chose a people with whom he would have a special covenant relationship, he selected a group that was oppressed and enslaved. He delivered them by his “mighty right hand.” There was nothing they could have done to deliver themselves. There’s a word that describes this kind of salvation: grace. It was salvation that the Israelites did nothing to deserve; it was purely an act of God’s kindness, mercy, and love. What does the story mean for Christians? It means that God cares about the nobodies! It means that God will ultimately defeat the arrogant, prideful, and cruel. It means that God sees our suffering, and God will deliver us. It means that we don’t have to remain enslaved to the things that bind us. God can set us free. Today’s post is an excerpt from Chapter Three, “The Exodus,” from my latest book, Moses: In the Footsteps of the Reluctant Prophet. Click here to find more information about all Moses products, including the primary book, a Leader Guide, a Children's Leader Guide, and a Youth Study book.    

The Burning Bush

David Burns on May 18, 2017

Today’s post is an excerpt from Chapter Two of my latest book, Moses: In the Footsteps of the Reluctant Prophet. Click here to read last week’s post, which was taken from Chapter One. About the photo above: Part of the oldest section of St. Catherine’s Monastery, built atop the traditional location of Moses' encounter with God at the burning bush. Mt. Sinai rises behind in the background. Exodus tells us virtually nothing about the period of Moses’ life between age forty (when he killed the Egyptian) to age eighty (when Moses met God at a burning bush); in fact, this time period comprises only twelve verses. Exodus 2:23-25 marks the author’s transition from Moses settling in Midian to God’s call for him to return to Egypt: A long time passed, and the Egyptian king died. The Israelites were still groaning because of their hard work. They cried out, and their cry to be rescued from the hard work rose up to God. God heard their cry of grief, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God looked at the Israelites, and God understood. I love this passage. It tells us that God “heard” the cries of the Israelites; God “remembered” his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; God “looked” at the Israelites; and God “understood.” God then acted to get Moses’ attention, calling him to be God’s leader who would deliver the Israelites from bondage. Exodus 3 begins with these words: Moses was taking care of the flock for his father-in-law Jethro, Midian’s priest. He led his flock out to the edge of the desert, and he came to God’s mountain called Horeb.
 (Exodus 3:1)  On this particular day, when Moses was tending Jethro’s flock near Mount Horeb, he saw something most unusual—a bush that was burning but not being consumed—and a voice called out his name.  The Lord’s messenger appeared to him in a flame of fire in the middle of a bush. Moses saw that the bush was in flames, but it didn’t burn up. Then Moses said to himself, Let me check out this amazing sight and find out why the bush isn’t burning up. When the Lord saw that he was coming to look, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” Moses said, “I’m here.” Then the Lord said, “Don’t come any closer! Take off your sandals, because you are standing on holy ground.” (Exodus 3:2-5) In the Old Testament, the “Lord’s messenger” appears at some points to be a separate being (the word messenger is also translated as angel) while at other points this seems to be a way of referring to God’s direct appearance to an individual. God’s appearance at Mount Horeb was in the form of flames in a bush. God often appeared in Scripture in the midst of flames. In Genesis 15:17 God appeared to Abraham as a “fiery flame.” Beginning in Exodus 13, God would lead the Israelites as a “pillar of fire” (NRSV). Later, when God appeared to the Israelites in Exodus 24:17, “The Lord’s glorious presence looked like a blazing fire on top of the mountain.” In Daniel 7:9, God sat on a throne ablaze with flames. In Acts 2, when the Holy Spirit descends upon the disciples, the Spirit appeared as flames of fire. And Hebrews 12:28-29 (NIV) tells Christians to “worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ‘God is a consuming fire.’”  Consider what God says next to Moses: He continued, “I am the God of your father, Abraham’s God, Isaac’s God, and Jacob’s God.” Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God. Then the Lord said, “I’ve clearly seen my people oppressed in Egypt. I’ve heard their cry of injustice because of their slave masters. I know about their pain. I’ve come down to rescue them from the Egyptians. . . . So get going. I’m sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”  (Exodus 3:6-8, 10) Notice how, having seen, heard, and known the pain of the Israelites, God responded. He did not send a legion of angels to liberate the Israelite slaves from Egypt. No, God showed up in a burning bush to an eighty-year-old shepherd! And not just any eighty-year-old shepherd. He found a shepherd who was fluent in the Egyptian language, who had been an insider when it came to Egyptian power and rule, and who knew philosophy, religion, law, governance, and leadership. He called an eighty-year-old shepherd who once had felt such indignation at the oppression of the Israelites that he killed a man to stop it. God didn’t send an angel; he sent a person. God said to Moses, “Get going! I’m sending you!” We’re not meant to miss this: God sometimes chooses, calls, and uses the most unlikely of people to do his work in the world. This is such an important point that I want to make sure we get it. God’s usual way of working in the world to alleviate suffering, injustice, and pain is not to intervene miraculously, suspending the laws of nature, violating the principle of human freedom, or sending angels to make things right. No, God works through people. God sees, hears, and knows the suffering of others. God expects his people to do the same. And God’s response is to call us to step up as instruments of his aid.  Occasionally, we may have the kind of burning bush experience Moses had when we hear the audible voice of God or when events clearly reflect God’s call on our lives. But in my experience, God’s call most often comes in a whisper or through a feeling, nudge, or compulsion that I can’t shake. I hear the voice of God most often when I’m reading, praying, or discussing the faith with others or when I’m worshiping, singing, or listening to the Scriptures read aloud or preached.  Today’s post is an excerpt from Chapter Two, “Two Moments That Defined the Man,” from my latest book, Moses: In the Footsteps of the Reluctant Prophet. Click here to find more information about all Moses products, including the primary book, a Leader Guide, a Children's Leader Guide, and a Youth Study book.  

Moses: In the Footsteps of the Reluctant Prophet

David Burns on May 3, 2017

Moses. He is the single most important figure in the Hebrew Bible (the Christian Old Testament). His presence is felt throughout the Christian New Testament. The epic account of his life, together with the deliverance of the Israelite slaves from bondage in Egypt, is the defining story of the Jewish people. For Christians, Moses’ life serves as the backdrop for much that is found in the Gospels, including the story of Jesus’ flight to Egypt, the Sermon on the Mount, many of Jesus’ sayings in the Gospel of John, the activities of Jesus around Jerusalem, the Last Supper, and the Crucifixion. In the Gospel account of Christ’s transfiguration, Moses actually appears to Jesus and speaks to him. He is mentioned by name more than seventy times in the New Testament, and his life, story, and commands are alluded to in nearly every New Testament book. Throughout history, his story has continued to speak to each successive generation. American slaves composed songs about Moses as they yearned for freedom. Moses is enshrined in the architecture of the U.S. Supreme Court—inside on the south frieze as one of the great lawgivers of history and outside on the eastern pediment. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., in his final sermon delivered the night before his death, drew upon the story of Moses ascending Mount Nebo. King proclaimed that he had “been to the mountaintop,” where, like Moses, he claimed to have seen the Promised Land. Moses’ story has been captured in art, music, literature, and film.  Among the many things I appreciate about Moses’ story is what an unlikely hero he was. He was a Hebrew adopted into Pharaoh’s family. He was a murderer and fugitive from the law. He was an elderly sheepherder from the desert whom God called to deliver the Israelites. He appears to have had some kind of speech impediment, yet became Israel’s greatest prophet. He was imperfect, afraid, reluctant, and often frustrated, all of which makes him so very human. Yet, despite all of this, the Book of Deuteronomy closes with these words: “No prophet like Moses has yet emerged in Israel; Moses knew the Lord face-to-face!” (Deuteronomy 34:10). During the next few weeks on the blog, I’ll be sharing excerpts from my latest book, Moses: In the Footsteps of the Reluctant Prophet. As I prepared to write this book, I traveled to Egypt with a film crew to see the places associated with Moses and the Exodus.  We filmed the small group videos there – the footage is amazing.  In the small group DVD  I’ll take your group to the pyramids and into the Luxor and Karnak temples.  We’ll sail down the Nile, and travel up to the Land of Goshen.  We’ll pass by the Red Sea, through the desert, and up Mount Sinai before completing our journey on Mt. Nebo in Jordan where Moses died. The book includes maps, charts, photos and historical material that will help illuminate Moses’ life.  Then in each chapter I hope to help the reader see how Moses’ life, and the story of the Exodus, still speaks to our lives today. I have included a promo video that you might find a helpful introduction to the book. Just click on the triangle on the image at the top of the blog post.  Click here to find more information about all Moses products, including the primary book, a Leader Guide, a Children's Leader Guide, and a Youth Study book.