Getting a new perspective of what is Holy
Do you realize that the same word Holy (Heb.qodesh) in verse five is translated Sanctuary fifty six times in other places in the Old Testament? And it's translated as dedicated, twelve times also in the Old Testament
If there was anything that Moses had learned in His eighty years, 40 in pharaoh's court and 40 in the dessert was "The Fear of the Lord".
To move unto Holy Ground we need to do the same thing
It's a good place to start, after all, the Bible does say that; "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom".
If you want to be wise in the eyes of the Lord, You want to do things for God, you want to move to a higher Spiritual level in your life?; "YOU NEED TO LEARN WHAT MOSES LEARNED IN THE DESSERT, THE FEAR OF THE LORD!".
He certainly had plenty of time to reflect on His life in the dessert.
He was born at a time when all the Hebrew newborn baby boys were being killed and God had spared him by a clever plan from his mother and sister.
While his people and the family that he was born to were slaves in
Moses' mother hid him for three months, and then one day she tucked him in a basket and took him to the
While his sister was watching near by joshebed placed the basket in the river and let the basket flow downstream while she knew that pharaoh's daughter was swimming in the river.
Pharaoh's daughter saw the basket, picked it up.
And then; Josephus the Jewish historian says that pharaoh's daughter wasn't able to have children of her own so she adopted him..
She named him Moses which means drawn out. YOU SEE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT HAPPEN IN OUR LIVES ARE NOT A COINSIDENSE! God had a destiny for Moses just like He has a destiny for you.
WE ARE PEOPLE OF DESTINY!!!(Tell your neighbor).
Let's look at the life of Moses:
One day he was out feeding the sheep in the
And he stumbles on something that he had never seen before. He had been here many times but this he had never experienced.
God had to change his surroundings a little bit to get his attention. We become so familiar to our surroundings that we can bump into God and look at him in the face and not even recognize Him.
The house of God is not the House of God any more. It has become just another room in the house or an auditorium where people meet.
People don't go to church any more to hear a word from God but they would rather go to a place where they can socialize (so many churches are not churches any more but social clubs).
The prayer service in the church is the service that is least attended and after that its Bible studies (that's because it takes time and commitment).
You see, God has to change our surroundings to get our attention.
Why was the fire not consumed in the burning bush?
#1. Because God knew that to capture Moses attention He would have to do something out of the ordinary.
#2. He wanted Moses to know that this was not just another piece of real estate but it was God's real estate.
A. We need to start treating the things that belong to God as such.
- (Psalm 111:10) says that; "The reverent fear and worship of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and skill; a good understanding, wisdom and meaning have all those who do the will of the Lord.
- The way to be truly wise is to have reverent fear of God.
- Being philosophical and reading many books may make you wise before man. But the word says;" If you want to be truly wise you must revere God".
- God has to be your #1 source of wisdom!!! If He is not you will make foolish decisions. DON'T BLAME GOD!!!
#2. (Look at Proverbs
B .Three blessings of the fear of the Lord (Proverbs
#1. The fear of the Lord leads to life.
- Why? Because all of your decisions are based on His word.
- When your decisions are based on Gods word. You speak life to every situation.
- You offer life to others(The Gospel)
- You have the giver of life living in you.
#2. A healthy fear of God gives rest and personal satisfaction.
- There is nothing in the world like knowing that God is using you to impact the lives of other people
#3. When a person has the fear of God, he is not touched by trouble.
- This does not mean that trouble does not come our way but when it does;
- But we are not touched; we are not affected by it the way that the rest of the world is because we have the solution.
Look at prov.8:13, it says; "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; pride and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the forward mouth".
- If you reverence God, you will hate evil
Prov.
- Why? Because we don't have to get ulcers or a heart attack worrying about stuff.
- Healthy fear of God is when you know that God is in control No matter what the prognosis may be or what the situation looks like. "GOD HAS A BETTER PLAN THAN YOU HAVE!!!"
Prov 14:26-27 says; "In the worshipful and reverent fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, and His children shall always have a place of refuge. Reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, that one may avoid the snares of death".
- Moses may have been a little doubtful of his own abilities to rescue the people of God from pharaoh but He put His confidence in God.
- He allowed God to be His refuge.
- He avoided death many times because; God was his fountain of life.
The Hebrew word in all these verses is really "Yirah" in the Hebrew which means "Religious Reverence".
· A healthy fear of God is really Reverence. "IF WE WHAT TO MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND WE WILL PRACTICE REVERENCE TOWARDS GOD!".
· Reverence is awareness that God is present. So we do everything we can to bring Glory to Him (this is the fear of the Lord).
Closing;
· What if we start today to cultivate a discipline of remembering that we live every day on Holy Ground?
· The character of you faith and of your life will rise as high as your awareness of the presence of God.
· Most of us know what its like to offer a kind of gesture when we feel His presence in the church or when we are praying (lifting your hands or kneeling or closing our eyes and thanking Him.
· What if that awareness was with us at all times:? It would surely change our lives as it did Moses' life. (Lets pray)