This is the second of two installments concerning Moses’ Delivering Faith. Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them. Hebrews 11:29
I hope that this will be especially meaningful to you and that you will look forward to next week! Last week we began to examine Moses’ delivering faith, a faith that not only delivered him personally from the bondage of ignorance, but also his people from the slavery of Pharaoh. We learned that a such a faith requires one to repent of self and sin so that we are able to recognize the true sacrifice of our Saviour. When that repentance occurs and our faith in God grows, the Lord richly provides for us, His people. As referenced last week: “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19). So just what are the riches in glory by Christ Jesus? We find such riches within the text of Colossians 1:25-29 where the Bible tells us, "Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; 26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: 27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: 28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: 29 Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily."
A delivering faith will produce a Reward. In Colossians 1:26 and onward, we learn that faith produces the rewards in Christ that will come in the form of: Seeing – verse 27 Security – verse 28a Salvation – verse 28 Beloved, these are three of the great benefits of having a Delivering Faith. This is the faith that lifts us from the depths of sin and shame into the favor of a loving God and rescues us from the mire of unrighteousness where mankind has resided for six thousand years.
Yet a Delivering Faith is only rendered as we are Reduced. Let's turn back to the Old Testament and read of the mighty event that is recorded in Exodus 4:2-3 where a staff in the hands of a frightened Moses became a symbol of strength. John the Baptist proclaimed that "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30) and understood by faith that he would have to submit in order for God to become pre-eminent. John had to humble himself and surrender completely to God just as Moses had to surrender himself by faith to obedience in the face of fear. God was not interested in their abilities and capabilities nearly as much as He was in their availability and dependability and was able to use them for His divine purpose, His "increase", because they had been "decreased" or reduced. For man to think that through his own intellect he can improve upon the inspired word of God is arrogant and contradictory to Scripture. Psalm 39:5 tells us that ”...verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.” Here is a perfect truth from the perfect Word as a perfect reminder of What and Who God is in our lives.
The Lord wants us to possess a delivering faith by requiring us to Rely upon Him. Moses was to cast down his own abilities in order to rely on God’s blessings and: Strength – Vs.4-5 – Once Moses put down his strength, he could take up the strength of God (verse 20) A delivering faith will lead us to rely on God on what to: Say – (verse 10-12) Such reliance on the Lord then allows us to be: Sent – (verse13)
Moses was born in approximately 1520 B.C. at Heliopolis under Egyptian rule at a time the Hebrew population had multiplied greatly which caused fear in Pharoah's heart and mind. It was at this time that the king decreed all new born Hebrew sons to be slain by casting them into the Nile River (this was also in honor of his worship of the river). My friends, it was the mother of Moses who first Relied on God to protect her child as she constructed an ark, sealed it with slime and pitch and sent it down the crocodile invested river Nile. Moses would later learn of his mother’s reliance upon the Lord which ultimately insured his survival. He obtained a great wealth of knowledge when he learned of his mother’s faith, a delivering faith that continues to touch and inspire people even today. The Chicago Daily News reported several years ago that the Standard Oil Company had discovered oil in Egypt and had begun operating productive wells there. While this became common knowledge, the reason Standard Oil chose to go to that ancient land to explore for oil was probably not so well-known. It was asserted that one of the directors of the company had read Exodus 2 with the third verse in particular catching his attention. This, of course, is the verse which describes the efforts of Moses’ mother to save her son in a basket “daubed with slime and with pitch.” This gentleman wisely reasoned that where there was pitch, there must also be oil, and that if there was oil in Moses’ time, it would probably still be there. It was with that reasoning that Standard Oil dispatched Mr. Charles Whitshott, their geologist and oil expert, to explore the area and to commence an investigation. The result, of course, was that vast supplies of oil were discovered.
If oil can come from Moses’ crib, I dare to say a delivering faith can as well! By faith Moses...
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