Mountaintop experiences

By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward (Hebrews 11:24-26).

Last week, we saw about how God took Joseph from the life of a shepherd boy and made him second in command over the country of Egypt. We read how Joseph forgave his brothers who had sold him into slavery, and invited all of his relatives to live with him in Egypt. God blessed Joseph’s relatives, giving them the best land in Egypt and large numbers of children. Over the following 400 years, Joseph’s relations grew so large in number that the king of Egypt started getting nervous. Pharaoh was afraid of the power so many Israelites could have, living in his country.

This new king didn’t know anything about Joseph or Joseph’s God. So he came up with a simple way to limit population growth among the Hebrews. He ordered the midwives to kill every male Jewish baby that they delivered. And when the midwives disobeyed him, Pharaoh ordered the parents to kill their male children by throwing them into the Nile River.

It was around this time that Moses was born. His parents feared God, and they tried to hide the boy as best they could to keep him alive. But after three months, keeping the secret became impossible. So they built a little bassinet, waterproofed it, and released Moses into the river, praying that God would protect their infant son.

Miriam, Moses’ sister, walked along the riverbank, watching to see what would happen to her brother. She came to a spot where Pharaoh’s daughter was bathing in the river. The princess found Moses in his little ark, and his crying touched her heart. When it was clear that Moses would not be killed, Miriam approached the princess and asked if she would like her to find a Hebrew woman to nurse the baby. With the princess’ blessing, Miriam ran home and brought her mother to care for Moses. Right from the beginning, God took care of Moses—not only did He protect the baby’s life, He even arranged for Moses’ mother to be paid by the princess to raise her own son!

The boy grew, was taken into the royal court, and received the best education the world could give. But he never forgot where his loyalties lay. He was deeply disturbed when Pharaoh forced the Israelites into hard labor as slaves. He even went so far as to kill an Egyptian taskmaster who was abusing a slave. This crime forced Moses to flee and live in the wilderness for many years. But in all this, God was preparing Moses for the greatest work of his life. Moses knew Egyptian politics. Moses knew how to survive in the wilderness. God would use these skills to free the Israelites from their slavery and guide them through the wilderness to a land He was giving them as their own.

Moses was involved in many spectacular events. On God’s authority, he brought ten horrific plagues upon the Egyptians before Pharaoh would finally free the Israelites. By God’s power, he opened a dry path through the Reed Sea so that the people could escape Egypt’s pursuing army. But the highest points in Moses’ life occurred on mountains in the wilderness—Mount Sinai, Mount Rephidim, and Mount Nebo. More than any other man, Moses had true "mountaintop" experiences.

The first mountain in Moses’ life is Mount Sinai, the place where God revealed Himself to Moses. For 40 days, God spoke with Moses on the mountain heights, while the mountain smoked, the earth shook, and thunder rolled from the clouds. It was here that God gave Moses the Ten Commandments as the blueprint for living a godly life.

It is important to remember that the law was brought down from the mountain by Moses, but God was the author. The law came from God; Moses was only His agent. This is why no human being has any right to disregard or amend the laws of God.

The news is constantly telling us about people who break the law. It is obvious that humans need laws in order to live together peacefully. Without rules, families fall apart, chaos disrupts schools, and crime victimizes those too weak to defend themselves.

God gave the Ten Commandments as basic rules to live by for groups of any size—families, communities, states or even nations. Where these laws are ignored, people get hurt. To be sure, the laws of God show us our sins—that is one reason why people resent the Commandments. They don’t want to see that what they are doing is wrong, or that they need a Savior from sin. Yet the Commandments do much more—they give us a guide by which to live in harmony and happiness. Take any of the commandments—for example, "you shall not give false testimony." Life is so much better in a home where truth is honored and lying is not tolerated. It's the same with every commandment—showing respect, honoring the covenant of marriage, avoiding envy. All of the commandments of God are given so that we might experience peace and happiness in our lives. That is why we impress them on our children. For Moses, being given the law was a tremendous blessing—he held in his hands the secret to a happy home and a peaceful society.

Another mountain in Moses’ life was Mount Rephidim, the place where Moses prayed for the people. One of the first obstacles blocking the way to the Promised Land was the tribe of the Amalekites. This tribe was determined to prevent the Israelites from crossing through their territory. Moses instructed Joshua to gather a force of men and turn back the attack of the Amalekites; while Joshua was doing this, Moses climbed Mount Rephidim to pray for the Lord’s assistance in battle. While he prayed, Moses held his hands raised towards heaven, and as long as he prayed this way, the Israelites prevailed. But when Moses’ arms grew tired and began to drop, the Amalekites rallied. When they realized what was happening, Aaron and another man supported Moses’ arms as he prayed, until God granted Joshua the victory.

Think how many victories God’s people could win in our time, if we upheld each other more in prayer. James tells us the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective (James 5:16). But many people do not think to offer a pray before dealing with a problem, let alone ask for the support of others in praying for them. Another problem is that we often do not take sin and the devil as seriously as we should, and so we become lazy in asking Jesus for help. On Mount Rephidim, Moses learned the wonderful lesson that God does great things when we support each other in His name.

The final mountain that Moses climbed was Mount Nebo, the mountain where God brought Moses into eternal joy. Moses had spent 40 years in the royal court of Egypt, 40 years in the wilderness, and 40 years leading the Israelites through that same wilderness. For 120 years, Moses had received awesome responsibilities, crushing disappointments, and glorious visitations from our Lord. Eventually he was not only gray, but tired. He was glad that he need not live in this sinful world forever.

God summoned Moses, alone, to the top of Mount Nebo. Behind him, the people of Israel in their hundreds of thousands, eager to finally enter the land that God had promised them. Below him, the Jordan River and the Salt Sea. Beyond this final barrier, he could see Jericho with its palm and banana trees; he could see the sleepy little caravan town of Bethlehem; he could see the mountains covered with olive groves that would one day be crowned with Jerusalem, God’s Temple, and a place of sacrifice called Calvary. It was a magnificent sight—a land which, at that time, was described as a land flowing with milk and honey. There was a touch of sadness in that moment, as Moses would not be permitted to enter that land. Like all of us, Moses was a sinner, and he had disobeyed God’s direct orders during his leadership of the Israelites. Although he was forgiven, he would not live to cross the Jordan River.

But on Mount Nebo, Moses was permitted to enter a far better Promised Land. Moses entered a land where there is no more death or mourning or crying or pain, the land where the residents live with God and His angels in never-ending pleasure. Our Lord took Moses into this country from Mount Nebo, not because of what Moses had done, but because of his dedication to God. Like Enoch, Noah, Abraham and Joseph, Moses believed that God would keep His promise and send a Savior from heaven, who would rescue the people from their sins. In his final speech to the nation, Moses said, The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him (Deuteronomy 18:15). In Acts chapter 3, Peter makes it clear that Moses was speaking about Jesus. Moses had saving faith in the promise of the Christ, the Son of God who would die in our place for our sins. Because of this faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a few brief years on earth. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his ultimate reward. Because of this faith in the promised Savior, God took Moses from Mount Nebo into the Promised Land of heaven.

All those who dedicate themselves to Christ will find a Mount Nebo at the end of their lives. It is true that we are all sinful people. Like Moses, we have disobeyed God and angered Him. But also like Moses, we have a Savior in Jesus. Our Lord Himself gives this assurance: I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life (John 5:24).

Like Moses, the world is testing your loyalty to God. Living a life dedicated to Jesus is a constant upward struggle. Do you want to live the easy life and stay in the valley of the shadow of death, where it is easy to become lost in the darkness and lose sight of God? Or will you climb mountains at our Lord’s invitation, seeking the places where God’s will is revealed, where prayer is offered and answered, where sinful distractions are left behind because they make the climb too difficult? Our Lord is there on the mountain heights to help you in your ascent. When you dedicate yourself to serving Christ, your life can be a series of mountaintop experiences, as it was for Moses. You can live from peak experience to peak experience until Jesus Himself takes you to Mount Nebo, the mountain leading to Paradise.