“Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.” (Exodus 3:1)
With these words the story of the Exodus actually begins. And here are the lessons we can learn from them as we prepare to celebrate Passover.
1. God’s purposes are achieved by God’s power
We know that Moses was forced to flee Egypt because he tried to save the Jewish people on his own and failed. This is one of the lessons of our preparation for Passover: we need to recognize our inability to achieve God’s purposes through our own efforts. Of course, we must make our efforts and try . But God’s purposes are achieved by God’s methods and God’s power. Now is a good time to pray and ask the Lord to show us where we rely more on ourselves, our knowledge and our experience, than on God.
The same principle is important regarding God’s presence. Often it is our experience of God’s presence that prevents us from opening up to God’s new action. Therefore, let us learn to give up something of our own, even good things, for the sake of knowing more in the Lord.
2. Each next step in our life is important
Moses tended Jethro’s sheep, and then he became, probably, one of the greatest shepherds of the people of Israel. First he came as a man of influence and power, with his experience and his power, to save. But he had to come to Israel with the heart of a shepherd. And for this, the Lord needed to lead him through time in the land of Midian as a shepherd, so that he would develop those qualities that would help him shepherd the entire people of Israel.
Often, in order to rise to the next, new level, we must acquire certain skills and our character must somehow change at the very level at which we are now. Even if it’s not where we want to be.
3. The Lord will place the faithful in the small “that belongs to others” over the large of “his own”
Moses tended his father-in-law’s sheep. I think this is a reference to the New Testament, where it is written: “He who is faithful in small things that belong to others will I set over great things that belongs to him.” It also reminds me of the parable of the talents—the faithfulness in using what belongs to someone else. Sometimes God tests our heart by giving us some ministries and activities that seem to us not to be our calling and not what we would like to do. But if we are faithful and multiply the work of God that God has entrusted to us in someone else’s, He will in due time raise us to a certain level so that we can achieve more of “ours.”
Wherever you are, do what you can do. Accept every assignment your teachers give you as an assignment from the Lord. And know that even if it doesn’t feel comfortable, it shapes you and prepares you for the next step.
4. Every ministry where we serve builds our character
I think that this time in the land of Midian prepared Moses spiritually, because it is written: “One day he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.” It was illogical to lead the herd far into the desert. But I think Moses was led by the Holy Spirit to do this against all logic. After all, the experience of the shepherd should have prompted him to lead the flock not into the desert, but to where there is pasture. Perhaps Moses experienced fear and confusion. But it was precisely by obeying this impulse that he met there with God’s incredible presence and revelation, which turned his life and the life of all Israel upside down.
Each of our ministries, even small and in someone else’s, but faithful, shapes not only our character, but also teaches us spiritual discernment. This is how we become more sensitive to the Holy Spirit. After all, revival can only come if we learn to be led by the Holy Spirit and capable of even illogical things.
I think this is what true Passover is all about. This is not just an outcome, but an outcome from one’s good into God’s best, an outcome from one’s fears and one’s efforts into God’s flow, into God’s calling. It is important for us to come to the place where the Lord has appointed us to meet. After all, sometimes we simply do not reach the point where the Lord has prepared the revelation of His power, His presence and His revelation. We fail not only physically, but also internally – in prayers, in ministry and in internal expectation.
I hope that these thoughts will help each of us experience Passover not just as a seder, as a good family fellowship, but as a time of our personal encounter with God. Let’s internally tune in to get to the place where God has assigned us a date.
Andrey Lugovsky, KEMO elder / kemokiev.org
Source: https://ieshua.org/moisej-pas-ovets-u-iofora-4-uroka-v-podgotovke-k-pesahu.htm
"I trust in God" is easy to say. But doing so is a completely different matter. Each of .....
The rabbis and their followers often accuse us, believers in Yeshua the Messiah, of disregarding the Torah while .....
Many people have heard about the Talmud, but aren’t too sure what is is, exactly. To have a .....
There was a song we used to sing about God piercing our ears as a mark of willingly .....
God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The LORD, the God of your .....
Sanctification is a state where values change. Sanctification is a process that begins with God Himself, through the .....
Former Israeli army officer and Reformed pastor David Zadok will never forget the call from his wife. She .....
Seulgi Byun (PhD, University of Cambridge) is chair of the biblical and religious studies and philosophy department at .....
Led by Zwingli, the church in Zurich studied the Old Testament at a level of care which will .....
"And Cain said to his brother Abel, ``Let us go out into the field.'' And while they were .....