Let My People Go

Tuesday, September 5, 2023

After this presentation to Israel’s leaders, Moses and Aaron went and spoke to Pharaoh.  They told him, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Let my people go so they may hold a festival in my honor in the wilderness.”  “Is that so?” retorted Pharaoh.  “And who is the Lord?  Why should I listen to him and let Israel go?  I don’t know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go.”  Exodus 5:1-2

If you’ve hung around God’s people for a minute or two you’ve heard how Israel was in bondage to the Egyptians, and God sent Moses to lead them away from slavery to the Promised Land.  If you’re a believer, you’ve also probably shaken your head over the way Pharaoh was so hard-hearted (and hard-headed). 

These two verses give us God’s Heavenly understanding about why Pharaoh was so cruel…and why people of all generations do such mean stuff.  The bottom line of it all is when God said (through Moses) let my people go.  Pharaoh answered with a defiant scowl:  Is that so….why should I listen…I don’t know the Lord…and I won’t let Israel go.  Pharaoh wouldn’t listen or obey, because he had no clue Who he was dealing with, or the consequences. 

The Psalmist understood this well:

Why are the nations so angry?  Why do they waste their time with futile plans?
The kings of the earth prepare for battle; the rulers plot together against the Lord and against his anointed one.  “Let us break their chains,” they cry, “and free ourselves from slavery to God.”  But the one who rules in heaven laughs.  The Lord scoffs at them.  Then in anger he rebukes them, terrifying them with his fierce fury.  Psalm 2:1-5

I’ve known some angry and violent people, a few who directed that hostility towards me.  I’ve looked into the defiant eyes of those who would have taken my head off with little (or no) remorse.  I have seen hatred which I could only describe as demonic.  I’m not an exorcist…I don’t even like movies that deal with that stuff…but I’ve seen too much to deny that spiritual evil is real.  One such violent man was part of my life during early ministry days.  After wreaking havoc on our church for a few months, his alcoholic stupor and violence ended with him committing suicide in a police standoff.  I’m no psychiatrist, but this was more than booze, and much more than angst over life’s smaller questions.  This was a man who had shaken his fist at God for so long…so angry…that anger led him to the brink of despair, and, finally over that brink into the abyss.  His last act of pulling the trigger was desperation, the mark of one who had lost all hope.  Why do the heathen rage?  Why are the nations angry?  Why is life filled with such an absence?  A void?  A tasteless treadmill of nothing? 

Let’s do the math…it is entirely the lack of knowing the Lord.  Pharaoh wasn’t the only one…name any serial-killer in history…start with Cain, make your way through Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, and all the conquerors of history, Alexander the Great, Atilla the Hun, Stalin, Hitler, Tojo, et al.  What is the thread that binds all that violent behavior?  They didn’t know the Lord of Heaven.  They would not bow before anyone but their own thrones.

Knowing the Lord is more than knowing about God; rather it is a personal relationship of friendship, based on understanding God’s love, and responding appropriately.  Cain is the chief poor example.  When he killed his brother out of envy, God’s love for Abel was assaulted.  God’s love for Cain held him responsible:

You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out!  Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. Genesis 4:7a

For You Today 

Let’s finish Moses’ words:  Let my people go….to worship God.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road library. 

Title Images:  Pixabay.com   Images without citation are in public domain. Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©   

The House of Wisdom

Tuesday, April 25, 2023

Wisdom has built her house; she has carved its seven columns.  She has prepared a great banquet, mixed the wines, and set the table.  She has sent her servants to invite everyone to come.  She calls out from the heights overlooking the city.  “Come in with me,” she urges the simple.  To those who lack good judgment, she says, “Come, eat my food, and drink the wine I have mixed.  Leave your simple ways behind, and begin to live; learn to use good judgment.”  Proverbs 9:1-6

The Proverb-writer has purposefully described the open-handedness of God in a universal invitation to gain wisdom.  There’s a great banquet of wisdom, and an army of messengers to spread the open offer to come close to the source.  It’s a house of life-giving good judgment; it’s a place to grow strong, leaving the simplicity of childish ways, for the strength of providing for others. 

The “front door” of wisdom’s house arrived early-on in the introduction Solomon gave the Proverbs…where to begin if you wish to live a life of disciplined success, knowing how to do what is right, just, and fair.

Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.  Proverbs 1:7

The foundation of wisdom’s house is fearing God…being reverent, respectful, and obedient to our Creator.  It is a small, but exceedingly-meaningful and important step to begin any journey.  If that step is in the wrong direction, the end of the journey will not be what one hoped.  That first step (surrendering every aspect of your life to reverencing God all through the journey) cannot be over-valued.

John was a retired Naval officer I met many years ago.  He attempted to side-step that first step.  He had seen much of the world and experienced many different cultures, but neglected Solomon’s advice about wisdom’s front door.  He had his own agenda, and that was his god.  Now, I do not say that with prejudice, or lightly; it’s simply an observable fact.  Whatever you do reveals that to which you give your allegiance.  If I go fishing 12 hours a day, it’s a reasonable assumption my behavior means I’m devoted to fishing. 

A living, breathing, passionate thirst for God’s Kingdom indicates you have (at least) begun the journey towards wisdom.  The retired Navy man craved experiences that pleased him.  When we met he was ready to “experience” faith.  He went through the motions, profession of faith, baptism, and church membership.  But, for John, it was like a field trip, another experience.  Soon, that brush with religious activities became boring, and then turned hostile.  In the end he became a sad footnote on the evening news, committing suicide in a stand-off with police in front of the local K-Mart store. 

I cried privately over John for months.  He had made the choice of a foolish and anguished moment, after trying to live life on his own.  In the end, experiences and the pleasure he thought they ought to bring him, just weren’t enough. 

For You Today 

It’s not enough to proclaim faith, get wet in a baptismal ceremony, have your name recorded on a church membership roster, and attend church regularly for the rest of your life.  Solomon did all of that, and also experienced every pleasure possible, and came to understood that real wisdom meant reverencing Almighty God.  Scripture tells us how we should respond to God, our maker:

“Be still, and know that I am God!  I will be honored by every nation.  I will be honored throughout the world.”  Psalm 46:10

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,500 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper explore some of these:   Standing in the Sweet Spot  and  Learning to Use Good Judgment   

Title Image:  via Pixabay.com   Images without citation are in public domain.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

Precious Seeds

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Thursday, December 14, 2017

They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.  He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.  Psalm 126:5-6^(KJV)

Meeting human needs that are significant always costs – and it should.  Human needs met in some way must be significant.  Notice how the Psalmist says we bear precious seed.  Ministry “seed” must be significant enough so that there is “preciousness” about the way we give ourselves to meeting the needs of desperate people. 

The text indicates that the sower goes forth and bears the seed; but he also weeps over it.  Do you weep over insignificant things, or precious?  I see weeping over lost loved ones, straying prodigals, health reversals and lost fortunes.

We go forth weeping, meaning we go for significant human reasons.  Have you ever wept for someone’s need?  Have you ever wept for someone’s soul, a lost person who just seems to stay out of reach of the Savior and His gospel? 

I wept over a man’s soul one time early in our ministry.  He came to Elizabeth and me in our first church out of seminary.  John was not a nice man.  He started attending our church.  He was a rough, ex-military man; if you look up the definition of bad attitude and language in the dictionary – you’ll find John’s picture there.  John was a drunk – mean and foul; he beat his wife, an all-around bad guy! 

I wept because I never really could reach John.

He made a profession of faith, and was baptized; we all thought it was genuine, but the man was as mean as they come, a serpent in sheep’s clothing.  And I wept over him. 

A few weeks after he joined our church he returned to his old ways.  During one of his drunken tirades Elizabeth and I had to hide his wife from him.  The man carried a 44-caliber revolver; the last words he ever said to me were:  I’m going to make a minister out of you.  I told him that wasn’t his job, only Jesus could work with the likes of me.  Several weeks later John made the headlines.  He committed suicide publicly, in front of a K-Mart store. 

I don’t know what happened to John’s soul; I am not equipped to look inside one’s heart – only Jesus can do that.  But I wept again for John; I wept for the precious seed I shared with him.  I also wept for the many others like John who are out there – people in the kind of anguish that only a lost soul can know. 

For You Today

There is a significant ministry out there for each of us…precious seed needs to be sown.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

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[1] Title Image: Courtesy of Pixabay.com