God Uses The Mundane
To Produce The Miraculous
Mention the name “Jochebed” and most people give you a blank look. But refer to Moses’ Mother and the light comes on.
Everyone knows the story of Moses. He features prominently in Exodus through Deuteronomy and, in fact, wrote all four books. There is little question that he edited the Book of Genesis also – with God’s guidance, of course.
There is also little question that Jochebed should get a lot of credit for everything Moses did.
Of the many unusual things about the life of Moses, the one that is rarely mentioned is the fact that the Bible covers his complete bio from birth to death. Very few have that distinction: Samson, Samuel, John the Baptist and Jesus to name a few. It is also interesting that the lives of these people are accompanied by miracles, at least at birth.
Unlike the others, however, Moses’ conception wasn’t miraculous. His survival immediately following birth was.
Pharaoh, the reigning monarch when Moses was born, decreed that all male born Israelites be sacrificed to the Nile. Not only did Moses survive that decree he was also protected in the safest possible place, the palace of Pharaoh.
It was a miracle, yes, but not in the normal sense of the word. This miracle required a large dose of human activity by someone with a lot of courage, tenacity and ingenuity.
Enter Jochebed, a little known figure otherwise, but one that will forever be associated with the miraculous survival of Moses. The question is, did God speak to this woman and if so, how?
The story unfolds like this: Read more
Filed under: Abraham, God Speaks, Religion
Abraham Didn’t Find God
He Recognized Him
Abraham is usually recognized as the founding leader of the Jewish religion and he definitely was one of the more prominent contributors. The interesting thing is, much of what he did religiously he received from his ancestors and, other than Abraham’s descendants being selected as the guardians of God’s revelation, there were only two new developments in this religion during his lifetime.
He didn’t wear different clothes or “move his affiliation” or modify his diet. The only additions were the institution of circumcision and the naming of Canaan as the eventual home of those who followed. Taken together, these additions don’t add up to massive religious changes but both were an inconvenience to Abraham, especially the land issue. It was a constant source of irritation.
On a religious level, not much changed during his life but on a personal level, his world was turned upside down. Read more
Filed under: God Speaks
He Isn’t In Your Face
But God Is Still Close
People often complain that God is neither visibly present nor audibly perceived and they are correct on both counts. I have never seen Him with the naked eye nor heard His voice and I’m okay with that. I’m a little unbelieving when others say they have. It’s a little scary.
That, however, doesn’t mean that God is distant or uninvolved or uncommunicative. He made extensive efforts to communicate with us, not just on the odd occasion, but throughout history. In fact, one New Testament writer captured the full extent of God’s effort to communicate in one very brief statement:
“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son.” (Hebrews 1:1-2)”
In other words, God has spoken to us consistently over a long period of time (most of human history) and has used a variety of methods to do so. He didn’t sit idly by, watching while history and the people in it stumbled along. Read more