EVEN MORE FEAR, LOVE, MOSES AND EGYPT
Thursday – May 17, 2018, Sivan 3, 5778
Greetings and welcome back to this wonderful faith building Bible Study from the Book of Hebrews. I have been teaching about the intersection of fear, faith, and love. The absolute devastation that comes into our lives due to fear and the wonderful goodness of God which is manifest by the power twins of faith and love. We are talking about faith, the unwavering belief of God (in God) and His Word. Bible (agape) love is obeying the Word of God without question whether we understand it or not. Fear is a manifestation of unbelief, no faith, and brings us into disobedience. The absence of fear in Moses’ parents preserved his life, an absence of fear in Jairus preserved his little daughter, however fear in Job resulted in the death of ten children and the loss of a fortune. Now, let’s take a look at our primary text and dive right back into our study remembering we are still keyed up on verse twenty-three and the phrase “they were not afraid”.
Hebrews 11:23-27 (KJV)
23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment.
24 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter;
25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.
27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.
As I start to wind down this study of fear at least for the time being we will be turning to what I hope is a very familiar passage of Scripture. I so hope that as we have worked down through this material that it is crystal clear that fear is destructive and even deadly.
1 John 4:15-19 (KJV)
15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.
16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
19 We love him, because he first loved us.
This is a wonderfully powerful passage and we are in it! It starts off with salvation and the reality that God is in us and we are in God. As the passage continues in verse sixteen we see a distinction being made between knowing and believing. This word knowing is a lesser level of knowing and involves natural knowledge and emotions. None the less this Apostle of love, John, a first-hand witness of Jesus, said I know Him and His love but there is far more to know. Knowing about God and what He may or may not do is far different than believing the Truth about God in a steadfast unwavering way. The word “believed” in verse sixteen is a derivative of the word for faith. So, let’s hone in on what the Apostle is telling us. He is saying that he and others have known (experienced) and have faith in the love of God, specifically the love He has for them individually. He continues saying that God is love, He does not just have or exhibit love, He is love, love that is indistinguishable from the person of God. He goes on to say that to dwell in love is to dwell in God and God in him. Love is a life of obedience to Scripture, of selflessness, and being attentive to the requirements of the Blood Covenant. This is true for us and equally true for God Himself. As we think about this idea of love, if God is love we also are love for we are in His image and likeness. Let’s look at what this means as it applies to God specifically by examining the following Scripture.
John 3:16 (KJV)
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
So, did God just look from Heaven and say Oh aren’t they just so cute let’s redeem them or was it something much deeper. God had promised a redeemer right from the Day of Sin in the Garden of Eden and down through the Old Testament. The love that God is expressing is a performance of His Word. He promised it, it was spoken by the Prophets, and He performed. He did not run away saying: “It’s too hard!” In our first John text to know the love of God is to have the experience of Him performing His Word for us as an individual. If God is anything He is obedient to His Word, therefore we can say God is love. We also must value the words of our mouth even to our hurt. Above all we must do the Word of God, an unalterable Covenant obligation. In our obedience we dwell or abide in God and He in us, therefore in disobedience we are not dwelling in Him and the door is open to the enemy to steal, kill, and destroy. The precursor to disobedience is fear. Fear is a faith and love killer. The Lord willing, I will pickup right here tomorrow. Until our next publication, I speak this Scriptural prayer for your life right now, receive it in the name of Jesus, confess it, and walk it out with thanksgiving.
2 Peter 1:2-4 (KJV)
2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
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