Commemoration of Moses - 2012

Commemoration of Moses

September 4, 2012

The Lord be with you

Moses was born in Egypt several generations after Joseph brought his father, Jacob, and his brothers there to escape a famine in the land of Canaan. The descendants of Jacob had been enslaved by the Egyptians and were ordered to kill all their male children. When Moses was born, his mother put him in a basket and set it afloat in the Nile River. He was found by Pharaoh’s daughter and raised as her son (Exodus 2:1-10). At age forty, Moses killed an Egyptian taskmaster and fled to the land of Midian, where he married and worked as a shepherd for forty years. Then the Lord called him to return to Egypt and tell Pharaoh, “Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness” (Exodus 5:1). Though Pharaoh initially refused, after a series of plagues, he eventually gave in and, after the Israelites celebrated the first Passover, Moses led them out of Egypt. At the Red Sea the Egyptian army was destroyed by God, and the Israelites passed to safety on dry land (Exodus 12-15). At Mount Sinai, they were given the Law and erected the tabernacle (Exodus 19-40). The tabernacle remained the worship site for the Israelites until Solomon erected the first temple. But because of disobedience, they had to wander in the wilderness for forty years before entering Canaan. Moses himself was not allowed to enter the Promised Land, though God allowed him to view it (Deuteronomy 34). In the New Testament, Moses is referred to as lawgiver and prophet. The first five book of the Bible are attributed to him, and he is the main human character in all of them except Genesis.

Prayer: Lord God, heavenly Father, through the prophet Moses, You began the prophetic pattern of teaching Your people the true faith and demonstrating through miracles Your presence in creation to heal it of its brokenness. Grant that Your Church may see in Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the final end-times prophet whose teaching and miracles continue in Your Church through the healing medicine of the Gospel and the Sacraments, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Blessings in Christ,

Pastor John Rickert