By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel. Hebrews11:27-28
Moses let his anger get the better of him when he murdered the Egyptian slave-driver who was beating a fellow-Israelite. This resulted in a forty year exile in Midian, but Moses persevered.
We tend to think that Moses only met God at the burning bush. We tend to think that these forty years were wasted and that it is only when God appeared to him that Moses' life really gained direction. The Hebrews Hall of Fame indicates otherwise: It says that "Moses persevered because he saw Him who is invisible."
This gives another perspective - the burning bush becomes a visible culmination of Moses' long-term trust in an invisible God. Sometimes faith is a patient waiting process!
The other dimension of faith that is portrayed here is the fact that Moses instituted the Passover with its unusual rituals of unleavened bread, bitter herbs and sprinkling of blood on doorposts and lintels because he trusted God.
One is reminded of:
-Naaman who bathed in the Jordan and was healed of Leprosy.
-The blind man who washed in Siloam and was healed.
-The leper who stretched out his hand and was healed.
-The lame man who looked up to Peter and John and was healed.
-The servants who took water from the jars and served up wine
-Peter who threw his net over on the other side and it was filled.
Sometimes faith is waiting and sometimes it is doing.
When we don't hear anything from God, we wait.
When we hear from Him, we must do.
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
