Mark 12:26 reads, “And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” God recognized Moses as the author of the books of Moses and refers to the burning bush found in Exodus 3:6.
God’s blessings for man are found in the first book of the Bible and continue throughout the entire Bible. In Genesis, God creates the world and the first man and woman. Both man and woman failed to keep God’s laws and were almost completely destroyed in a flood. Noah and his family were the only ones to survive the flood and to start a new generation. Later, God continued to bless man with a covenant with Abraham and his descendants (Isaac and Jacob).
Genesis 1:28 reads, “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”
Genesis 9:1 reads, “And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.”
Moses was a man of God. God molded Moses into the humblest man on earth so that he may be acceptable as a vessel to be used by God in unfolding many of God’s miracles. God also infused into Moses great courage so that great miracles were accomplished. Man is a vessel that can be filled by God’s Spirit, but only to the degree that he is free from sin. Self love and pride can be a major obstacle in allowing man to realize greater blessings from God. We have free will that allows us to make decisions based on whether we allow good or evil in our daily lives. It is important that we identify both God’s blessings and Satan’s evil in our daily lives and ask for forgiveness and the strength to push sin out each day. Moses was not free of sin and struggled with his anger throughout his life. His sin cost him dearly as he was not allowed to enter the promise land. As Moses, we may experience the penalty for our sin in some form (e.g. discipline) at some time and at some point in our life. God will discipline His children because of His love for us just as we discipline our children in love. However, a belief and confession of faith will allow us to spend eternity in heaven with our Lord even though we are all fallen in nature and will face our Lord and God for the judgment for our sins.
God heard the prayers of the Jewish people who were brutally enslaved in Egypt and blessed them by allowing for a means of escape. Moses in the book of Exodus explains how the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt and were released by Pharaoh after God sent 10 terrible plagues that destroyed the land and Pharaoh’s rule. The Israelites escaped their bondage by following Moses through the wilderness for the next 40 years. While in the wilderness God provides the Israelites with the 10 commandments and made a covenant with the Israelites that if they follow these laws they would be given Canaan the promised land. Moses’ appearance and character was transformed after spending time with God on the mountain.
Exodus 15:13 reads, “Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation.”
Exodus 15:26 reads, “And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statues, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee.”
Exodus 23:25 reads, “And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.”
Exodus 33:17 reads, “And the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.”
Exodus 34:5-7 reads, “And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth. Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sins, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.”
In this situation God’s blessings were given in a number of different forms. God heard the prayers of the Jewish people and He lost patience with the Egyptian Pharaoh. The consequence was that God’s wrath virtually destroyed Egypt by destroying the Pharaohs’ credibility and status as a God. His military was lost at the bottom of the Red Sea, all the food, livestock, and crops were destroyed and the Egyptian people suffered from many types of diseases. God reacted to the Jewish people’s prayers and blessed His people by providing for their freedom and the promise to fulfill the covenant of a promised land. Prayer is an extremely important key to receiving blessings from God. All things are possible with God.
God at one point was contemplating the destruction of all of the Jewish people because of their disobedience in building a gold idol. The worship of idols will provoke the wrath of God.
Exodus 32:10 reads, “Now therefore let me alone that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.”
It was only because of Moses’ prayers, pleading, and begging that God spared the Israelites from complete destruction. Moses sited the promises and covenants God made with Abraham, Isaac, and Israel that their seed would multiply as the stars of heaven.
Today man’s worship of self and man’s achievements has created a man that is full of pride and self worship. The worship of man, his achievements and knowledge has left a man that is void of any soul or moral compass. Man’s idol is himself and his ability to explain all blessings as manmade and created by man. Satan’s fall was due to his love of self and the miracles he could perform. His pride grew like a cancer that resulted in him challenging God and receiving God’s wrath. Man’s refusal to acknowledge God’s blessings will end in the wrath of God for all those who refuse to accept and believe in God and His Son.
We worship a just and sovereign God who hates sin and has invoked His wrath in the past. God is also extremely patient, loving and has showed His mercy and grace in many ways. Unfortunately, our daily lives are engulfed in sin that needs continual prayer. The importance of prayer and confession cannot be stressed enough. A Christian’s life begins with the belief and trust in God’s only Son, Jesus.
God loves man and His creation and wants to bless us in our daily lives. However, God will not tolerate sin and will not commune with those who are involved in sin. The book of Leviticus defines what is holy and what actions need to be taken to maintain a holy relationship with God. Exodus 19:6 reads, “And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.” Israel became a great nation because its people honored and obeyed God’s laws. God in Leviticus explains to the Israelites how to worship God and how to conduct themselves around the Tabernacle. God requires man to be obedient to His word and to honor Him in their words, actions, and worship.
Aaron was Moses’ brother and the first high priest for God’s people. He accompanied Moses as they both confronted Pharaoh for the release of the Israelites from slavery. Aaron was also allowed access to God and shared with Moses God’s instruction for leading the Israelites to be a holy country and a kingdom of priests. It is difficult to understand why Aaron a man who had experienced God’s miracles and blessing first hand had failed God so miserably. Moses left the Israelites to pray in the mountains and did not return for a number of weeks. The Israelites determined that Moses had died and that God had left them. Unfortunately, out of grief and fear the Israelites fell back into idol worship. The Israelites again and again fell into the same pattern of blessings, disobedience, discipline, confession, and blessings. In this case Aaron’s disobedience resulted in Aaron losing two sons and being denied access to