Jesus is Greater Than Moses
Day 1
Memory Verse: “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.” Hebrews 3:12
Read Hebrews 3:1-6
Imagine that you are an artist, and you put on an art show to which you invite me. I show up and spend hours looking at all of the artwork that you have made and the whole time talk nothing but about how great you are. That’s not really the point of the art show, is it? The point is for me to talk about how great the art is. For me to go around and talk nothing but about you, would really mess up the idea and make it awkward.
As the artist, you would deserve the compliments and praise, but that is an unnatural way of going about it. When I talk about the artwork and its wonder and amazement, I am not forgetting the idea of the artist. In fact, the artwork gives glory to the artist whether or not the artist is pointed out.
This sort of comparison is done here between Jesus and Moses. Sure, we may not struggle with the idea that Jesus is greater than Moses, but the original readers would have lived in a world where Jesus was a real dude that they know people that knew him. Therefore, the builder of the house (the artist) deserves more praise than the house (the artwork).
How is Jesus greater than Moses?
What ways do you see Moses doing things that are like Jesus, although not as great?
Day 2
Memory Verse: “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.” Hebrews 3:12
Read Exodus 15:22-27
This story, including the one verse story at the end of this chapter, are often overlooked as insignificant. Take a second and really try to put yourself in the place of the Israelites in this story. You have just left hundreds of years of slavery to Egypt and still at the front of your mind is the wonder and amazement of just how you left. Part of you is giddy and part of you is still trying to process what just happened. All of the sudden, your child says that she is thirsty and then you too realize that you are a bit dehydrated. There are no faucets, there are no streams, there is nothing in the desert. And there are not just a few of you either. You are now competing with your closest family and friends for water, because the likelihood of you finding hundreds of gallons is literally nonexistent.
When you do find your only option...your ONLY option, it is a death water that would make you sick instantly. You are almost thirsty enough. The contrast is death by thirst or death by nasty water. Now that you are there, imagine Moses finding a log and throwing it in the water and trying to convince everyone the water is fine now.
After you celebrate this miraculous provision, and your canteen is filled to the brim, imagine stumbling upon an oasis of Elim with water and trees everywhere, and you have no need of water.
How is what we are experiencing now like Marah?
How is what we were experiencing before the coronavirus like Elim?
What do you learn from this story that can help you today?
Day 3
Memory Verse: “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.” Hebrews 3:12
Read Exodus 20:18-21
This story has always framed human’s relationship with God for me. It is a small story in the Bible, at a strategic point, the giving of the Ten Commandments, that looks so much like I have experienced people and God in the real world. We want access to God, but we want it safely and logically. That is the tug of war that happens in our daily relationships. I was talking to a friend the other day, and he talked about this story in the context of what we are experiencing in our world during the coronavirus.
Here, the people wanted a model that gave them what they wanted from God (connection) but kept them safe from “too much” God. Moses was to go get the message and bring it to them and it would basically be like them getting the message from God. We know that the end of the story, Jesus coming to open the access to God for us by paying for our sins, shows us that this was not the intended method, but was the tolerated method. They, like us, asked the question “Can this give me access to God?”
We used to shop churches because of the abundance of options that were offered to us. One guy upsets us, and we will go see what is over there. A set of songs doesn’t give us the feeling we hoped for, then we will move on. The style is not what I am used to, so I will find it elsewhere. We needed an atmosphere, the perfect atmosphere, to get us access to God’s presence. If we could not feel that, we would find it in a new model.
Now life is different. Now we realize how good what we had was and how selfish our selection process really was. Now we can’t shop and we are left struggling with “access” or at least feeling it like we did before, to God.
How can you relate to this illustration?
How will this time change your perspective?
What will you do to remember these things when it all returns to the way it was?
Day 4
Memory Verse: “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.” Hebrews 3:12
Read Exodus 32:30-34
I think that this story shows what kind of a person Moses really was. This is his character in the rawest, and strangely enough, most isolated time. It is not on display for everyone to see, but rather is played out in between him and God. What a leader! That sort of passion and sacrifice is what I only wish I could live out as I lead those that I lead. Moses has no strategy, just a load of character and that is the mark of the best leaders...character before strategy.
But it wasn’t accepted. It wasn’t accepted because it wasn’t enough for the situation at hand. Sin is much greater than we can atone for. The life of our leaders is not enough. Our own lives are not enough. There has to be payment that makes it right and that payment is a death greater than we realize.
Jesus is the better version of this story. He is the leader that climbed the mountain and offered the perfection that Moses could not offer. He was the sacrifice that God accepted on our behalf. He was enough! This story highlights even more so, why Jesus is the better Moses.
What are things that we offer up to atone for our sins?
Why are these people, ideas, or things not what Jesus is?
Day 5
Memory Verse: “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.” Hebrews 3:12
Read Exodus 33:12-23
We saw yesterday the greatest leadership strength you could imagine from a leader like Moses. But now we get a contrast...the confused, scared, and reluctant Moses. You are experiencing a lot of these feelings right now I am certain. You talk to your children or those around you like everything is ok and try to calm fears about all of the coronavirus situations. But when you are inside your head or alone, you are feeling more than you let on. Fear, anxiety, worry, and the sickening feeling of moving toward the unknown is occupying at least a large part of your mind.
Is it not comforting to “see” Moses in this moment. He surely knows that he is not enough to lead these people. But no one likes to see a leader's weaknesses. But all leaders are weak. ‘That is the beauty of submitting all things to God, the perfect leader with no fear or anxiety. We get to have these moments that don’t disqualify us from leadership positions. These breakdown moments remind us that we need to be in God’s presence, we need to be reminded of what we are doing and why. If we go without God’s presence, then it is not worth going.
How are you seeking God’s presence?
What is it that you need to pour out to God as you remind yourself that He is the great leader, not you?
How does this help you start your day today?
Memory Verse: “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.” Hebrews 3:12
Read Hebrews 3:1-6
Imagine that you are an artist, and you put on an art show to which you invite me. I show up and spend hours looking at all of the artwork that you have made and the whole time talk nothing but about how great you are. That’s not really the point of the art show, is it? The point is for me to talk about how great the art is. For me to go around and talk nothing but about you, would really mess up the idea and make it awkward.
As the artist, you would deserve the compliments and praise, but that is an unnatural way of going about it. When I talk about the artwork and its wonder and amazement, I am not forgetting the idea of the artist. In fact, the artwork gives glory to the artist whether or not the artist is pointed out.
This sort of comparison is done here between Jesus and Moses. Sure, we may not struggle with the idea that Jesus is greater than Moses, but the original readers would have lived in a world where Jesus was a real dude that they know people that knew him. Therefore, the builder of the house (the artist) deserves more praise than the house (the artwork).
How is Jesus greater than Moses?
What ways do you see Moses doing things that are like Jesus, although not as great?
Day 2
Memory Verse: “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.” Hebrews 3:12
Read Exodus 15:22-27
This story, including the one verse story at the end of this chapter, are often overlooked as insignificant. Take a second and really try to put yourself in the place of the Israelites in this story. You have just left hundreds of years of slavery to Egypt and still at the front of your mind is the wonder and amazement of just how you left. Part of you is giddy and part of you is still trying to process what just happened. All of the sudden, your child says that she is thirsty and then you too realize that you are a bit dehydrated. There are no faucets, there are no streams, there is nothing in the desert. And there are not just a few of you either. You are now competing with your closest family and friends for water, because the likelihood of you finding hundreds of gallons is literally nonexistent.
When you do find your only option...your ONLY option, it is a death water that would make you sick instantly. You are almost thirsty enough. The contrast is death by thirst or death by nasty water. Now that you are there, imagine Moses finding a log and throwing it in the water and trying to convince everyone the water is fine now.
After you celebrate this miraculous provision, and your canteen is filled to the brim, imagine stumbling upon an oasis of Elim with water and trees everywhere, and you have no need of water.
How is what we are experiencing now like Marah?
How is what we were experiencing before the coronavirus like Elim?
What do you learn from this story that can help you today?
Day 3
Memory Verse: “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.” Hebrews 3:12
Read Exodus 20:18-21
This story has always framed human’s relationship with God for me. It is a small story in the Bible, at a strategic point, the giving of the Ten Commandments, that looks so much like I have experienced people and God in the real world. We want access to God, but we want it safely and logically. That is the tug of war that happens in our daily relationships. I was talking to a friend the other day, and he talked about this story in the context of what we are experiencing in our world during the coronavirus.
Here, the people wanted a model that gave them what they wanted from God (connection) but kept them safe from “too much” God. Moses was to go get the message and bring it to them and it would basically be like them getting the message from God. We know that the end of the story, Jesus coming to open the access to God for us by paying for our sins, shows us that this was not the intended method, but was the tolerated method. They, like us, asked the question “Can this give me access to God?”
We used to shop churches because of the abundance of options that were offered to us. One guy upsets us, and we will go see what is over there. A set of songs doesn’t give us the feeling we hoped for, then we will move on. The style is not what I am used to, so I will find it elsewhere. We needed an atmosphere, the perfect atmosphere, to get us access to God’s presence. If we could not feel that, we would find it in a new model.
Now life is different. Now we realize how good what we had was and how selfish our selection process really was. Now we can’t shop and we are left struggling with “access” or at least feeling it like we did before, to God.
How can you relate to this illustration?
How will this time change your perspective?
What will you do to remember these things when it all returns to the way it was?
Day 4
Memory Verse: “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.” Hebrews 3:12
Read Exodus 32:30-34
I think that this story shows what kind of a person Moses really was. This is his character in the rawest, and strangely enough, most isolated time. It is not on display for everyone to see, but rather is played out in between him and God. What a leader! That sort of passion and sacrifice is what I only wish I could live out as I lead those that I lead. Moses has no strategy, just a load of character and that is the mark of the best leaders...character before strategy.
But it wasn’t accepted. It wasn’t accepted because it wasn’t enough for the situation at hand. Sin is much greater than we can atone for. The life of our leaders is not enough. Our own lives are not enough. There has to be payment that makes it right and that payment is a death greater than we realize.
Jesus is the better version of this story. He is the leader that climbed the mountain and offered the perfection that Moses could not offer. He was the sacrifice that God accepted on our behalf. He was enough! This story highlights even more so, why Jesus is the better Moses.
What are things that we offer up to atone for our sins?
Why are these people, ideas, or things not what Jesus is?
Day 5
Memory Verse: “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.” Hebrews 3:12
Read Exodus 33:12-23
We saw yesterday the greatest leadership strength you could imagine from a leader like Moses. But now we get a contrast...the confused, scared, and reluctant Moses. You are experiencing a lot of these feelings right now I am certain. You talk to your children or those around you like everything is ok and try to calm fears about all of the coronavirus situations. But when you are inside your head or alone, you are feeling more than you let on. Fear, anxiety, worry, and the sickening feeling of moving toward the unknown is occupying at least a large part of your mind.
Is it not comforting to “see” Moses in this moment. He surely knows that he is not enough to lead these people. But no one likes to see a leader's weaknesses. But all leaders are weak. ‘That is the beauty of submitting all things to God, the perfect leader with no fear or anxiety. We get to have these moments that don’t disqualify us from leadership positions. These breakdown moments remind us that we need to be in God’s presence, we need to be reminded of what we are doing and why. If we go without God’s presence, then it is not worth going.
How are you seeking God’s presence?
What is it that you need to pour out to God as you remind yourself that He is the great leader, not you?
How does this help you start your day today?
Posted in Devotions
Devotions
Archive
2024
January
March
2023
January
February
July
October
2022
October
November
2020
2019
November
No Comments