Moses

July 2, 2017 Background Scripture: Exodus 3 Lesson Passage: Exodus 3:1 – 12 This month’s focus of our Sunday School lessons is the calling of some of Israel’s greatest prophets. Christians tend to regard Moses primarily as the Law giver, i.e., the recipient and deliverer of God’s Law to Israel. However, Moses is held in high regard by the Jews as a prophet of God. One of Moses’ prophecies concerning the Messiah was that he would be a prophet like himself. Note that Moses did not refer to the Messiah as another Law giver but as a prophet. Those parts of Moses’ life that are recorded in the Bible should be of special interest to anyone called of God for service. Moses’ life is presented in the scriptures as three groups of forty years each. The first forty years were spent in Pharaoh’s household being raised by his Jewish birth mother as a son of Pharaoh’s daughter. The second forty years were spent as a fugitive from Egypt with the latter part spent living in the wilderness and tending to his father-in-law’s flock. Moses’ calling by God begins the last forty years of his life. The incidents during the last forty years of Moses’ life give clarity to the first eighty years of his life. First, note that Moses was called and commissioned by God at the age of eighty. At this point in his life, it seems as though he was in a good place in life. The troubles of Egypt were forty years behind him. He had married the daughter of a priest and they had two sons. He was working as a shepherd taking care of his father-in-law’s flock. This seems like a comfortable life for an eighty year old man. Rather than live out his life in ease, this was the perfect time in his life to be used by God. His last days in Egypt taught him that he could not have his way just because he was seen as the grandson of Pharaoh. Every great society has laws to govern its citizens and no one is allowed to live above those laws. Although Moses’ heart went out to the Hebrew slaves forty years earlier, he could not of his own wisdom and power overcome the Egyptian society and correct the injustice he witnessed. Furthermore, the previous forty years had taught him a very important lesson in humility. Rather than being seen as a ruler because of his family connections, he had relegated himself to the lowly role of being the caretaker of someone else’s flock. As stated previously, Moses was at the perfect time in his life to be used by God. He now understood that he alone could not overcome an unjust society. Furthermore, Moses now understood the virtue of being a caretaker of another’s possession. To add to his qualifications, he knew how to do this out in the wilderness. At this point in Moses’ life, God called and commissioned him for the work. Moses was called to return and confront the leadership of Egypt concerning the plight of the Hebrew slaves. This time he would do so as an ambassador from God with the full power of heaven to back him up. He would also be required to take care of God’s flock of approximately two million people in the wilderness where he had learned the trade of being a shepherd. Just as he had learned to shepherd his father-in-law’s flock in the wilderness for forty years, he would now shepherd God’s flock in the same wilderness for forty years. Eighty years of age seems like a great time to begin retirement. But in Moses’ case, it was the perfect time to begin his calling as one of Israel’s greatest prophets. Robert C. Hudson May 26, 2017

Samson

June 25, 2017 Background Scripture: Judges 13 – 16 Lesson Passage: Judges 13:1 – 7, 24, 25 As a child, I never knew whether Samson was a real person or just another superhero like Hercules. For many years into my adulthood, I thought the two were of the same ilk. After all, both were known for their superhuman strength. I admit to being surprised when I learned that Samson was a real person after all. He wasn’t just someone who showed up to fight the bad guys when trouble arose and then quickly disappeared. Samson served as a judge—a military and civil leader of God’s people. His exploits are legendary as if he were a superhero. He even had the background that is so befitting of a superhero. He was groomed from a baby to be a special person dedicated for the Lord’s use. His birth was special because his mother was barren unto the angel of the Lord told her that God was going to give her a child but she had to adhere to some very strict prenatal instructions. She could not drink strong drink or eat unclean food during her pregnancy. The child at birth had to be separated unto God and reared as a Nazirite. This was unusual because normally a person would make a personal vow as an adult and set himself apart as a Nazirite. Instead, this was done for Samson by his mother who followed the instructions from the angel of the Lord. She was cautioned to keep a razor from his head and he would become a deliverer of Israel to overthrow the oppression of the Philistines. Samson was destined to be a real-life superhero type. Even before conception, his path in life had already been chosen for him by God. In spite of all of this, Samson was still a real person. He had his share of personal issues and hang-ups. That’s one of the things I really like about the historical narratives in the scriptures. Those narratives allow us to see the real side of people—even though they were handpicked and chosen by God. The scriptures do not attempt to hide their human frailties. Two of Samson’s personal challenges—that we can perceive from the scriptures—were his overconfidence in times of peril and his weakness for women. Satan used both flaws to attack and eventually bring Samson’s ministry to an end. In spite of his tragic death, Samson had a reasonably long tenure as a judge in Israel. He served in that capacity for twenty years. Throughout this time, Israel remained at war with the Philistines. This was complicated by the fact that Samson had taken one of the daughters of the Philistines to be his wife. After the Philistines murdered her and her father, Samson killed one thousand men of their army. It was his desire and love for her that caused him to despise the Philistines. After this he met another woman who was an untrustworthy harlot. (Samson really knew how to pick them.) The Philistines used her to bring Samson down by convincing her to discover the secret of his incredible strength. At the end of his tenure as judge, Samson killed more Philistines in an act of suicide than he killed during his twenty years as a judge. So, he even died a superhero’s death. Robert C. Hudson April 20, 2017

Jephthah

June 18, 2017 Background Scripture: Judges 11 Lesson Passage: Judges 11:4 – 11, 29 – 31 If ever there were a judge who threw caution to the wind it was Jephthah. I know many would have thought about Samson, who always seemed just a bit arrogant when I read about his exploits. However, Jephthah owns this distinction in the worst way. No matter what you name this award: “Foot-in-Mouth”, “Don’t-Look-before-You-Leap”, or “Talk-first-then-Think-Later”, Jephthah owns it. The short version of the story is that Jephthah made a pledge before he had any idea how much the pledge would cost him. Jephthah served as judge for the shortest period of time recorded for the judges. He served for six years. Prior to Jephthah being raised by God to judge Israel, the nation had again slipped back into idolatry and sin. They did not worship just one of the idol gods but they worshipped all of the major idols of the pagans around them. Sadly, they worshipped everything but God. God allowed them to be punished by their enemies for eighteen years. Then Israel repented and turned to God and began to seek a leader from among them to lead them in battle against their enemy. Jephthah was an outcast in the land of Gilead because he had been born to his father by a harlot. He was an “outside child”. His brothers by his father’s wife ran him away so that he would not receive any of his father’s inheritance. When Israel found herself in battle against the Ammonites, the elders sought out Jephthah to come and lead Israel’s army. Jephthah agreed when the elders offered to allow Jephthah to become their leader after the battle was successfully decided in Israel’s favor. Jephthah showed that he was quite knowledgeable about Israel’s history when the Lord first led them into the land. Their history proved that the Ammonites did not have any right to the land they were attempting to dispossess Israel of. In spite of the accuracy of the historical facts, the Ammonite king chose to ignore Jephthah’s reasoning and to continue to press on. God anointed Jephthah with His Spirit and sent him into battle against the Ammonites. It was at this point that Jephthah made the crucial error I wrote of earlier. Jephthah made a vow that if the Lord would give him victory against the Ammonites, then he would sacrifice to God whatever came out of his house to meet him when he returned home after the victory. He did not merely offer to give it to God but to offer it to Him as a burnt sacrifice. Because of God’s Spirit upon Jephthah, he completely routed the Ammonites. When Jephthah returned home, his one and only child came out of the house dancing with a tambourine to greet him. Jephthah’s little girl was the only child he had and he had foolishly pledged her life as a burnt offering to God. With much grief and distress, Jephthah resented the vow he made to the Lord. His daughter displayed more wisdom than her father by telling him to keep the vow he made to the Lord but to allow her a four month period of mourning first. This was done and the rest is history (or “her story”). Robert C. Hudson April 20, 2017

Gideon

June 11, 2017 Background Scripture: Judges 6 – 8 Lesson Passage: Judges 6:11 – 18 Gideon can be described as the reluctant judge who complained about what God was not doing rather than realizing that God could use him to do whatever Israel needed of God. The Midianites’ oppression of Israel had deflated the nation’s esteem and caused many to attempt to hide their grain or produce during the time of harvest to prevent the Midianites from taking it. This is the scene when we first learn of Gideon. He is threshing grain in a winepress to avoid being detected by the Midianites. When the angel of the Lord approached Gideon and addressed him as a mighty and brave warrior, it seemed more like irony than true accolades. Gideon’s response informs us as to what was truly on his mind. Gideon felt that Israel had been abandoned by God. He questioned what had happened to the God who loomed large in Israel’s history during her golden years of national pride and dominance. Like many children of God today, Gideon seemed oblivious to the fact that God had not changed but Israel’s behavior certainly had. God had not turned His back on the nation but rather Israel had turned her back on the God who had delivered her from Egypt and brought her into the land of promise, Canaan. Israel’s oppression by the Midianites was the result of the spiritual behavior of the nation when she abandoned God’s ways. During the time of the judges, every man in Israel did according to what was right in his own eyes. This was done in spite of the fact that God had shown them what was right by providing them with the Law that described righteousness. Gideon’s complaint was answered with a surprise, God would again show Himself to be among His people—and He would do it through Gideon. The one who complained about having no hero would become the hero for the nation. Gideon’s first assignment was to destroy the idol god his father had erected. This he did at night. His second assignment would not be so easy but would require total dependence on God. Gideon needed to confront the armies of the Midianites and the Amalekites. Although the Spirit of the Lord was upon him, Gideon did not readily accept the assignment but instead responded with skepticism and doubt. Gideon wanted concrete proof that God would deliver them through him and therefore he requested a sign as God’s assurance. When the sign was granted according to Gideon’s request, he requested a second sign. (Note that he did not require this before destroying his father’s idols. We often respond quite differently to the true enemy.) After the second sign was granted, Gideon was ready to proceed. However, God further reduced Gideon’s chances of winning this battle using his own abilities. After following God’s plans and successfully defeating their enemy, Gideon continued to judge Israel for forty years. Gideon, the one who had complained that God had abandoned Israel, became one of the most successful and longest serving judges in Israel’s history as a result of submitting himself to God’s lordship and direction. Robert C. Hudson April 20, 2017