FAITHFULLY WAITING FOR THE LEADER TO RETURN

Moses was coming down the mountain with the commandments of God in his hands and Joshua, Moses’ faithful assistant was waiting for him half-way down the mountain.  Joshua stood right there where Moses had left him last; there at the summit; in the exact spot where Moses had last seen him 40 days ago.

On that day Moses had gone on up into the cloud to talk with God.

Joshua had loyally waited behind until Moses returned.

You know I can’t write those words without thinking of the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven after the Resurrection; and then I think of the return of Christ to earth for the second time.  Christ is coming back for His faithful followers just as Moses returned down that mountain for Joshua.

Will He find us prepared to return to the camp, ready for battle and waiting prayerfully for his leadership?

Or will he find us worshiping a golden calf that we have made for ourselves?

INTRODUCTION

Thank you for joining our Thursday bible study called COME AS A CHILD.  This is an ongoing chronological walk through the bible.  Today’s study comes from Exodus 32.  If you missed our last lesson you may view it here:  https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/the-great-intercession-lesson-177-come-as-a-child/.

JOSHUA WAS AN OVERCOMER

Sometimes when people talk of the way this happened they often wonder how it was that Joshua survived those 40 days alone without food.

Usually they think it was a great miracle.  They often imagine that he might have been feed with manna from Heaven.

Anything that God wants to do He can do; so that is not a totally unreasonable thought, and it would have been quite possible for Joshua to have received manna from Heaven; but we also know that Joshua was a man with a military mind.  He was the general of the great army of Israel.

Joshua was a trained soldier and he  had keen survival instincts.  He was very capable of surviving in the wild and the wilderness on his own.  Joshua was very strong and adventurous and he probably enjoyed the time of the challenge there while he was waiting on Moses; at least until he heard those sounds of shouts that seemed to be coming from the area of the camp of the people.

THE SOUND OF GREAT SHOUTING

Joshua must have stopped dead in his tracks and wondered what those shouts were all about.

Could they possibly be the sounds of war?

At that point Joshua might have been curious to know exactly what had happened in the camp during all that time that he and Moses had been away.

As I said before; Joshua had a military mind and he probably imagined armies of enemies surrounding the camp of the Israelites.  He must have been very anxious at that point for Moses to return quickly from the mountain; because Joshua would have wanted to hurry back and join his men in any battles that might be taking place.

A DIFFERENT KIND OF WAR

Little did Joshua know that there was a spiritual battle going on; instead of a physical battle.

The enemy of God had surrounded the people of God and had successfully deceived them and clouded their thinking.  They had fallen right into his trap.

While God had been busy with Moses, the devil had been busy with the people.

Some things never change.

Those sounds did sound like battle cries to Joshua; but he wasn’t sure if they were cries of victory or defeat; and he must have vividly expressed this to Moses as he reported to him:   “There is the sound of war in the camp.”

NOT VICTORY OR DEFEAT BUT THE SOUND OF SINGING

God had already prepared Moses for what was happening in the camp and Moses must have been slightly amused at Joshua’s thoughts that they might be in a physical war.  It felt like a battle alright; but not the type that Joshua was imagining.  This was even worse than a physical battle from the experienced and older thoughts of Moses.

As Joshua pondered whether the sound was the sound of victory or defeat; Moses replied by stating:  “It is not the sound of victory.  It is not the sound of defeat. It is the sound of signing that I hear.”

Joshua must have looked really puzzled at that point.

Had Moses lost his mind?

The sound of signing?

THE OPPOSITE OF THE SONG OF MOSES

But actually Moses was most likely remembering the great day that they crossed the Red Sea and God had given them a song of joy.  How ironic to be remembering that on a day like today.

The sound falling upon Moses ears was the same tune to the song that they had sung after God had delivered them from Pharaoh and allowed them to cross the Red Sea unharmed.

They had sung a song to praise God and to exalt Him as the only God of all Gods.

Now they were perverting this song as they danced and shouted around an idol that was a golden calf made from the jewelry obtained from Egypt!  Same song; wrong worship!

The people had ruined Moses’ song of praise and joy.  It was the song of his life; his banner before God.  It was the song of his heart toward God.  It was even called The Song of Moses!

Now it felt like only like a song of defeat.

How dare they do this?

How could they?

But they did.

SHATTERED PIECES OF ROCK ON THE SIDE OF A MOUNTAIN

Moses saw the people dancing and singing the song to the golden calf and his anger burned like a furious furnace.

He threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them into pieces at the foot of the mountain.

There they lay at the foot of the great mountain, the words that had been written by the very finger of God now lay at the feet of very, very broken and perverted people.

Moses’ heart was as broken as those stone tablets; but it was nothing to compare with what was going on in the heart of God the Father.

A PEOPLE FOUND UNFAITHFUL

Those that He had loved, taught, forgiven, and delivered had once again turned their backs on Him and they had been totally and completely unfaithful.

What could ever be done to correct this?

Moses had interceded and obtained the mercy they needed from God;

but he was struggling with being as merciful himself.

How could he look on this scene of these people and know what they had done and ever be the same again?