Rev. Patrick Vincent
“And the LORD passed before Moses and proclaimed, ‘The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth,'” – Exd. 34:6
Some have a view of God that He is cruel and distant. However, this is the true nature of God.
“always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.” 2 Tim. 3:7-9
There will always be those who resist. They will oppose. They will study, but never come to an understanding of God’s truth.
Jannes & Jambres were like that. They were Pharaoh’s top magicians. But, they were men of corrupt minds. They resisted Moses, they opposed Moses. They could never come to an understanding of the God of Moses.
We will have our own personal Jannes & Jambres in life, but rest assured: their folly will eventually be manifest to all.
Note: In Dreamworks’ splendid, The Prince of Egypt, two magicians oppose Moses. (“You’re playing with the big boys now.”) They called them Hotep and Huy, but these were obviously Jannes and Jambres.
Why didn’t they just keep the historical names?
Ref:
https://www.biblestudytools.com/encyclopedias/isbe/jannes-and-jambres.html
“Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, Fearful in praises, doing wonders?” – Exodus 15:11
Moses saw God’s plan firsthand.
He saw Pharaoh hardened his own heart seven times and then God harden His heart seven times. He saw God’s long suffering in delaying judgement. Ultimately, Moses saw God bring judgement to unbelievers.
Did Moses question God? Did he criticize God’s motive, ways, or plan? Did he accuse God of being unjust, cruel, or unfair?
Far from it. In fact, the opposite.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” – Gen. 1:1
“in the beginning” in Hebrew is one word: reshith.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” – John 1:1
John here is connecting Jesus to the Creation event. At Creation was the Word, which is to say: Jesus.
Skip over to Prov. 8 (verses 22-31).
“22 ‘The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way,
Before His works of old.
23 I have been established from everlasting,
From the beginning, before there was ever an earth.
24 When there were no depths I was brought forth,
When there were no fountains abounding with water.
25 Before the mountains were settled,
Before the hills, I was brought forth;
26 While as yet He had not made the earth or the fields,
Or the primal dust of the world.
27 When He prepared the heavens, I was there,
When He drew a circle on the face of the deep,
28 When He established the clouds above,
When He strengthened the fountains of the deep,
29 When He assigned to the sea its limit,
So that the waters would not transgress His command,
When He marked out the foundations of the earth,
30 Then I was beside Him as a master craftsman;
And I was daily His delight,
Rejoicing always before Him,
31 Rejoicing in His inhabited world,
And my delight was with the sons of men.’”– Prov. 8:22-31
This is Wisdom personified speaking. All scholars agree that Wisdom is, in fact, Jesus. Christ is the wisdom of the Father. Jesus is saying He is eternal, He was there with the Father at Creation, and that He delighted at His Father’s handiwork.
Jesus mentioning Himself as being “at the beginning” is the same Hebrew word: reshith.
So when Moses says “in the beginning,” he is not just referring to the start of time, but to a Person; Jesus. One could substitute “in the beginning” with “in Christ.” In essence, the very first words of the Bible are “in Christ.” Right from the start, the Bible begins by alluding to the Son. It’s a pretty amazing little nugget.
“For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” – Col. 1:16-17 (also note Rom. 11:36 and 1 Cor. 8:6).
There have been many great prayers prayed by many great men. Notable supplications have been made by Solomon (1 King 8), Abraham (Gen. 18), and Moses (Exodus 32).
Naturally, the all-time greatest prayer was made by Jesus Christ, Himself.
You might be thinking of the prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 & Luke 11:2-4. You know, the one that starts out with: “Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed by Thy Name…” That’s the one commonly known as “The Lord’s Prayer.” However, a more accurate title might be “The Apostle’s Prayer” seeing as it was the prayer Jesus gave the apostles when they asked how they should pray.
I am talking about Jesus’ prayer in John 17. This one is sometimes called, “The High Priestly Prayer.” Take a second to look it up and read it today. I’m not going to quote the whole prayer here, but I will give you a quick outline.
Jesus “lifted up His eyes.” We tend to bow our heads and close our eyes, don’t we? Whether we lift or bow our head doesn’t matter as long as we are praying with humility, praise, and love. Customs are not essential. A right heart is.
First, Jesus prays for Himself. Do you pray for yourself? I know, it may seem selfish. But it’s OK to pray for yourself. Jesus did. But notice that He prayed for Himself so that the Father would be glorified. If we are petitioning God for ourselves with the end result being the glorification of God, then by all means, pray for yourself!
Second, Jesus prays for His disciples. He taught them all that He could and now He commits them to His Father. Often we are hard on the Apostles, but here Jesus gives His assessment. “They have kept Your word, they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You and they believed that You sent Me. I have been glorified in them.” Not too bad. I hope Jesus can say the same about me!
Third, Jesus prays for YOU. Say what now?! Me? How is that? He extends that scope of His prayer to all who would come to faith by the testimony of these disciples. That would include you and me! It’s pretty cool to think that Jesus prayed for us specifically.
There is a common thread throughout this prayer. Did you notice it? Oneness. “That they all me be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.” Jesus prays that every race of every social class of every language would be united. We are to be equally unified just as the Trinity is equally unified. We do this not just for our benefit, but also so the world may believe in Jesus. If we are always fighting among ourselves, how can we be one? The world is watching.
Finally, Jesus ends His prayer in triumphant love. “That the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” Jesus and His Love lives in every believer. We serve a living God. We serve a loving God.
Simple. Beautiful. Perfect.
May God’s Love be with you
God sends.
He sent Abraham to Canaan. He sent Moses to Pharaoh. He sent Nathan to David. He sent John the Baptist to pave the way. Then He sent His Son to this world. He sent His Holy Spirit after that. He sent the Apostles to the rest of the world. And now?
Now, God sends us. Now, we are the sent ones (Mark 16:15).
He sends us out to spread the good news of His Risen Son. He sends us out to love in a world filled to the brim with hate. He sends us out to bring hope to the hopeless and to set the captives free (Luke 4:18)!
He sends us out to represent Christ.
Sent ones carry the authority of the Sender (Romans 10:15). The US Ambassador to the United Nations is just a man, but with that title, he represents the United States, it’s president, and it’s people. We are just men and women, but clothed in the precious Blood of the Lamb, we represent Jesus’ Love, Mercy, and Peace.
What a privilege! What an awesome responsibility! It is joyous and terrifying at the same time, isn’t it?
Now more than ever, the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand (Matt. 10:7). Just as Jesus submitted to His Father, We must submit to Jesus. (John 17:18)
God sends you. Are you sent?
God Bless!
#SentOnes #KingdomofHeaven
Sometimes I think I should’ve become an Astronomer. I love to look at the sky. I love the clouds in the day. I love the stars at night. God’s vast creation never ceases to move me.
I also love to look at the moon. Sometimes the moon can be so bright that it lights up the whole night. Especially a full moon… which (fun fact) in November is called the Beaver Moon.* You might even think, “Wow! The moon is bright tonight!”
But the moon is not creating that light by itself. It is reflecting the light of the sun. On it’s own, the moon could never produce any light… ever. On it’s own, the moon is just a cold rock floating aimlessly in space. In fact, the only way we can even SEE the moon is because of the sun.
In 2 Cor 3:18, Paul addresses the modern Christian. “We all who contemplate the Lord’s glory are being transformed into His image with ever-increasing glory…” We are to reflect Christ “as in a mirror.”
Close your eyes and think about that for a minute: We are to reflect Christ. (Seriously. Stop. Close your eyes. Think about that for a minute.)
Just as the moon reflects the sun, we are to reflect the Son! When people look at you, they are supposed to see Christ. We transform and radiant God’s warmth, love and compassion. When Moses saw God, he glowed. His face shone so much that he was forced to shroud himself so he wouldn’t scare people. And Moses only saw a glimpse of God’s back! (Exd. 34:29-35).
That is why it is said: Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. (Eph. 5:14)
Not to sound too corny, but: Wake up and Shine! BE THE MOON!
God Bless!
*Farmers’ Almanac
