June, 1937
THE K I NG ' S BUS I NE S S
224
There in the quiet of the hills he stayed for forty years. God had much to teach him that he had not learned in Pharaoh’s palace. When he had left Pharaoh’s palace, he had tried to help his people. But he had tried to help them in his own way. He needed to learn to “ wait on the Lord.”- At last God knew that the time was ready. He spoke to Moses. But now Moses was afraid to go ahead. Forty years ago, he was ready to do anything. Now he was not so sure that he could lead this people forth. It was not until God said, “ I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say,” that Moses was willing to go. This time he went, not of himself, but in God’s strength. Object Lesson M oses and M atches Objects: Tw o matches and a large bright nail. Lesson: Is there any one strong enough to break this match? Billy is one of the smallest boys here this morning, and we will let him try. It is easily broken, and I am sure that any one of you could have done it. Did you know that Moses, the great law giver and leader of Israel, was like a match? There was a time in his life when he did not live close to God, and he got himself into all kinds of trouble. He even killed a man and had to leave Egypt for fear of the king. As we see Moses bravely facing Pharaoh and then leading Israel out of bondage, we Lesson Text: Ex. 12:21-28. Golden Text: “The Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto him self” (Deut. 7:6). Outline and Exposition I. T he I nstitution of the P assover (21-23) H aving received of the Lord directions for keeping the Passover, Moses gave the instructions to the elders of the children of Israel. They were to take a lamb of a size to be determined by the size of their families (v. 21)—a lamb “ without blemish.” This requirement of perfection was clearly stated; and afterwards, when the offerings and sacrifices were instituted, the truth was further emphasized (cf. Lev. 1 to 7). The Passover lamb prefigured our
chase, and lived in the country -where the woods abounded with wild deer. One morn ing as he was walking across his field, he heard the sound of hounds in the distance; as they approached, looking through the cracks of a high fence, he saw a little fawn, very greatly wearied, its tongue hanging- out, and its sides lathered with foam. The little thing had just strength enough to leap over the -fence, and stood there for a mo ment, with its great liquid eyes gazing about in a frightened manner. When it saw a hound leap over the fence not far away, its first impulse seemed to cause it to run again, but instead of funning away, it came and fell down in a heap at the feet of the young man. He said: “ I stood there and fought the dogs for nearly half an hour. I just felt that all the dogs in the country could not capture the little fawn, after its weakness had appealed to my strength.” So the Christian’s weakness appeals to the strength of God. If you had gone to that farm ten or twelve months afterward, you would have found a beautiful deer playing with the children on the lawn; for the young man, after he had beaten off the hounds, took the fawn on his shoul der and carried it home, to make it a pet in the family. Yes, our Shepherd taketh the sheep on His shoulder, limp weakness rest ing without holding on, or even able to hold out, upon the shoulders of omnipotent love. And He brings us into His own household.—A. C. D ixon in the Christian Herald.
wonder what has changed him. We find that when the Lord told Moses to go down into Egypt to deliver His people, Israel, He said: “ Certainly I will be with thee.” W e will let this bright nail remind us of the Lord, and this match will represent Moses. I will put them close together. Now, we find that it is impossible to break the match. You cannot break the match unless you break the nail, and you cannot do that. This explains why Moses was a strong leader. God was with him, and he stayed close to God. If this match should be removed from the nail even an inch, it would be an easy thing to break it, Its safety is in staying close to the nail. We need to be strong like Moses, but we can be strong only as we stay close to Christ. The Apostle Paul .realized this, and he wrote: “ I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Phil. 4:13). Stay close to Christ and you will be strong. Awajt from Christ, even a short distance, you ^vill be broken easily. Lord Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God tak ing away the sins of the world (cf. John 1:29). He was “ spotless” and “ without blemish.” Not only did God the Father accept Him as the Spotless Lamb, but even demons, Roman soldiers. Pilate, and Judas, as well as all the apostles and many others —were compelled to unite in declaring Jesus of Nazareth to be without blame. No one could, and no one can, find any blemish in Jesus Christ. It is by the blood of this Lamb that we are redeemed (cf. 1 Pet. 1:18, 19). The lamb was to be killed (v. 21). For purposes of protection from judgment about to fall upon Egypt, the living lamb was useless, however perfect and admirable it might be. It was the slain lamb which alone could preserve from judgment. Mod ernism makes much of the perfect life of our Lord Jesus and declares that salvation is imparted through this means. Our Lord’s example, His teaching, His perfect walk, His gentleness, His wisdom, are freely lauded. His vicarious death is often un stressed; yet this truth is the very heart of the gospel, In the observance of the Passover, the blood of the slain lamb was to be placed upon the lintel and the side posts (v. 22). It was to be seen from the outside, for God had promised: “When I see the blood, I
When Moses Was Afraid E xodus 3:13 to 6:1
JULY 25, 1937 GOD PREPARES A PEOPLE E xodus 11 :+ to 12:36
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Memory Verse: “The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace” (Psa. 29:11). Approach: It was about eighty years after the baby Moses was born before he became the leader of the children of Israel. Many
things happened to prepare him for this work. You remember that i t w a s Pha raoh’s daughter, the princess herself, who rescued th e b a b y Moses from the water. He became her son and lived in the pal ace as one of the royal family. If he
had stayed in his own home, he would have been only the son of an Israelite slave. Now he was Pharaoh’s son and there he learned all of the things that a king’s son should know. God was preparing him to be a leader. Lesson Story: But Moses did not forget that he was an Israelite, a member of the family that God had called His chosen people, and who were now slaves-in Egypt. One day as Moses was walking along, he saw an Egyptian beating an Israelite. It made him very angry. He took up the whip and beat the Egyptian until he died. When Moses found that people knew what he had done, he was very much frightened. He turned and fled away to the desert.
BLACKBOARD LESSON
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