Devotion in war time – 15 October 2023

“Now it came about in those days, when Moses had grown up, that he went out to his brethren and looked on their hard labors; and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. So he looked this way and that, and when he saw there was no one around, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand… Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters; and they came to draw water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. Then the shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and helped them and watered their flock” (Exod 2:11-12, 16-17). Moses is not just Israel’s deliverer, he is also a microcosm of the people of Israel as well. Just as God safely enabled Moses to escape through the waters of the Nile (Exod 2:3-6), so God safely rescues Israel’s through the waters of the Reed Sea (Exod 14). Just as God reveals himself to Moses from a fiery bush at Mount Horeb (Exod 3:1-2), so God reveals himself to Israel from the fiery mountain top of Mount Horeb (Exod 19-20). And when I consider the person of Moses before he met God face to face, I see one particularly obvious similarity with our people today. When Moses saw helpless people being oppressed (a Hebrew slave, Midianite women), he fearlessly rushed towards the danger to do everything in his power to help. Israel’s enlistment percentages are currently at 150%. Israelis living outside and/or traveling around the world, are dropping everything to return to defend our only home. Volunteerism has skyrocketed. Men, too old to serve in the IDF, are staying up all hours of the night doing civilian patrols. This passion to help the helpless is not just a phenomenon of wartime. We are always the first among the nations to send emergency relief teams to disaster areas; and this, absolutely regardless of the country (friend or foe) and ethnicity of those in need. Because Moses is a microcosm of Israel, we can full expect that just like Moses, we will truly discover our calling and full potential as a nation when we finally meet the Lord face to face. And then God will use our national passion to help the helpless to bless the entire world! “When the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, ‘Moses, Moses!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ Then He said, ‘Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.’ He said also, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'” (Exod 3:4-6a). “Now if their transgression is riches for the world and their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be!” (Rom 11:12).