Wed.’s Devo - Righteous Judges

Read: Exodus 17:8-19:15; Matthew 22:34-23:12; Psalm 27:7-14; Proverbs 6:27-35 While the Israelites were enjoying the water they had received from the rock, the warriors of Amelek attacked them. Moses told Joshua to select some of their warriors to go out and fight them. Moses stood on top of the hill to watch with his staff in his hand. Whenever the enemy looked like they were getting the advantage, Moses would stretch forth his hand. When Moses could no longer hold his arms up, they found a stone for him to sit on and they stood on each side of him holding up Moses’ hands. At sunset, the battle was over and they had won. God told Moses to write it on a scroll that God would erase the memory of the Amelekites out of the earth. God gave them another one of his names because he had revealed himself to them as Jehovah-nissi, “God is my banner.” As Moses lifted his hands as a banner for them, God was a banner for them. Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law brought Zipporah and Moses two sons to meet Moses. He had heard all the things that had happened in Egypt but now he heard them first-hand from Moses. He was delighted to hear the stories and realized himself that God was the god above all other gods. Jethro observed Moses’ day and how he spent the whole day settling disputes among the people. He advised Moses to appoint some men to help him. They must be men who were honest men, knew God’s laws and hated bribes. (That needs to be a requirement for our judges.) Moses took his advise and selected judges for the people. He would handle only the big cases. It is interesting to me that Moses knew God’s decrees and instructions even before the “Law” was given. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil taught them the difference between the two. The test was to choose the good. On the first day of Sivan, the third month, the children of Israel came to Sinai. Moses called them together and told them that if they obeyed the Lord and kept his covenant with them they would be God’s special treasure. They would be a kingdom of priests and His holy nation. They agreed to do this even before they got the requirements. God said that he would engulf Moses in a cloud, but the people would be able to hear what He was telling Moses. The people were to sanctify themselves, their clothes and their hearts for the third day. They were to set a structure so that the people could not touch the mountain. When the trumpet sounded, they were all to come to the mountain. In Matthew, Jesus had silenced the Pharisees and the Sadducees so now an expert in the law came to try to trap him. Jesus asked him what he thought about the Messiah and whose son he was. The expert answered that the Messiah was the son of David. Jesus asked him why David had called the Messiah “My Lord” if he was his son? None of them could answer so they stopped asking questions. Jesus then nailed the teachers of the law. He told the crowd that the religious teachers and the Pharisees had been give the ministry of teaching the law. They could listen to what they said but not look at their lives as examples. They were the hypocrites who tried to look holy on the outside when inside their hearts they were full of pride and self-worship. He warned them against calling anyone “Father” because they were all equal. We are all part of a body of believers where Jesus is our head. We all have gifts and none are more important than the other; our gifts are for each other to help each other advance as one. Lord, help us to become one new man in Christ. Help us to honor one another gifts and the gift that is inside each of us. Grant us righteous judges for our nation who hate bribes.