Study Helps - Lesson 3

Lesson 3 January 13 - 19

A Prayer of Supplication: Moses

Memory Text: (Exo 34:6 NIV) And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,

Sabbath Afternoon

Read Psalms chapter 90

(Psa 90:10 NIV) The length of our days is seventy years-- or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

(Psa 90:10 NKJV) The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

(Exo 3:1-10 NKJV) Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. {2} And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. {3} Then Moses said, "I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn." {4} So when the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." {5} Then He said, "Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground." {6} Moreover He said, "I am the God of your father; the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. {7} And the LORD said: "I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. {8} "So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. {9} "Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. {10} "Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt."

Sunday

Overview Of Psalms 90

(Deu 34:10 NKJV) But since then there has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,

Read Psalms chapter 90

(Exo 2:11-25 NKJV) Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. {12} So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. {13} And when he went out the second day, behold, two Hebrew men were fighting, and he said to the one who did the wrong, "Why are you striking your companion?" {14} Then he said, "Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?" So Moses feared and said, "Surely this thing is known!" {15} When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well. {16} Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. And they came and drew water, and they filled the troughs to water their father's flock. {17} Then the shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock. {18} When they came to Reuel their father, he said, "How is it that you have come so soon today?" {19} And they said, "An Egyptian delivered us from the hand of the shepherds, and he also drew enough water for us and watered the flock." {20} So he said to his daughters, "And where is he? Why is it that you have left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread." {21} Then Moses was content to live with the man, and he gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses. {22} And she bore him a son, and he called his name Gershom; for he said, "I have been a stranger in a foreign land." {23} Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. {24} So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. {25} And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them.

(Exo 3:1-3 NKJV) Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. {2} And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. {3} Then Moses said, "I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn."

(Psa 90:7-8 NKJV) For we have been consumed by Your anger, And by Your wrath we are terrified. {8} You have set our iniquities before You, Our secret sins in the light of Your countenance.

(Acts 7:25 NKJV) "For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand.

(Psa 90:9-10 NKJV) For all our days have passed away in Your wrath; We finish our years like a sigh. {10} The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

(Psa 90:12-17 NKJV) So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom. {13} Return, O LORD! How long? And have compassion on Your servants. {14} Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy, That we may rejoice and be glad all our days! {15} Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us, The years in which we have seen evil. {16} Let Your work appear to Your servants, And Your glory to their children. {17} And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us, And establish the work of our hands for us; Yes, establish the work of our hands.

Monday

Headed Home

Read Genesis 5 & 10

(Psa 90:1 NKJV) LORD, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.

(Luke 15:11-20 NKJV) Then He said: "A certain man had two sons. {12} "And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.' So he divided to them his livelihood. {13} "And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. {14} "But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. {15} "Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. {16} "And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything. {17} "But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! {18} 'I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, {19} "and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants."' {20} "And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.

(Luke 15:20 NIV) So he got up and went to his father. "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

(Psa 90:2 NKJV) Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

(Psa 90:4 NKJV) For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it is past, And like a watch in the night.

(Psa 90:3 NKJV) You turn man to destruction, And say, "Return, O children of men."

(Psa 90:10 NKJV) The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 251

As the years rolled on, and he wandered with his flocks in solitary places, pondering upon the oppressed condition of his people, he recounted the dealings of God with his fathers and the promises that were the heritage of the chosen nation, and his prayers for Israel ascended by day and by night. Heavenly angels shed their light around him. Here, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he wrote the book of Genesis. The long years spent amid the desert solitudes were rich in blessing, not alone to Moses and his people, but to the world in all succeeding ages. {PP 251.1}

Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 251 (Continued)

The deliverer was to go forth as a humble shepherd, with only a rod in his hand; but God would make that rod the symbol of His power. Leading his flocks one day near Horeb, "the mountain of God," Moses saw a bush in flames, branches, foliage, and trunk, all burning, yet seeming not to be consumed. He drew near to view the wonderful sight, when a voice from out of the flame called him by name. With trembling lips he answered, "Here am I." He was warned not to approach irreverently: "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet; for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. . . . I am the God (p. 252) of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." It was He who, as the Angel of the covenant, had revealed Himself to the fathers in ages past. "And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God." {PP 251.2}

(Psa 90:3-4 NKJV) You turn man to destruction, And say, "Return, O children of men." {4} For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it is past, And like a watch in the night.

(Gen 3:19 NIV) By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."

(Gen 3:19 NKJV) In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return."

Tuesday

Living Under God's Wrath

(Psa 90:7 NKJV) For we have been consumed by Your anger, And by Your wrath we are terrified.

(Psa 90:9 NKJV) For all our days have passed away in Your wrath; We finish our years like a sigh.

(Psa 90:11 NKJV) Who knows the power of Your anger? For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath.

(Psa 90:8 NKJV) You have set our iniquities before You, Our secret sins in the light of Your countenance.

(Exo 2:12 NKJV) So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

(Psa 90:13-14 NKJV) Return, O LORD! How long? And have compassion on Your servants. {14} Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy, That we may rejoice and be glad all our days!

(Psa 143:8 NIV) Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.

(Psa 143:8 NKJV) Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, For in You do I trust; Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, For I lift up my soul to You.

Wednesday

Midian remembered

Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 248, 251

Moses had been learning much that he must unlearn. The influences that had surrounded him in Egypt--the love of his foster mother, his own high position as the king's grandson, the dissipation on every hand, the refinement, the subtlety, and the mysticism of a false religion, the splendor of idolatrous worship, the solemn grandeur of architecture and sculpture--all had left deep impressions upon his developing mind and had molded, to some extent, his habits and character. Time, change of surroundings, and communion with God could remove these impressions. It would require on the part of Moses himself a struggle as for life to renounce error and accept truth, but God would be his helper when the conflict should be too severe for human strength. {PP 248.1}

In all who have been chosen to accomplish a work for God the human element is seen. Yet they have not been men of stereotyped habits and character, who were satisfied to remain in that condition. They earnestly desired to obtain wisdom from God and to learn to work for Him. Says the apostle, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." James 1:5. But God will not impart to men divine light while they are content to remain in darkness. In order to receive God's help, man must realize his weakness and deficiency; he must apply his own mind to the great change to be wrought in himself; he must be aroused to earnest and persevering prayer and effort. Wrong habits and customs must be shaken off; and it is only by determined endeavor to correct these errors and to conform to right principles that the victory can be gained. Many never attain to the position that they might occupy, because they wait for God to do for them that which He has given them power to do for themselves. All who are fitted for usefulness must be trained by the severest mental and moral discipline, and God will assist them by uniting divine power with human effort. {PP 248.2}

Shut in by the bulwarks of the mountains, Moses was alone (p. 251) with God. The magnificent temples of Egypt no longer impressed his mind with their superstition and falsehood. In the solemn grandeur of the everlasting hills he beheld the majesty of the Most High, and in contrast realized how powerless and insignificant were the gods of Egypt. Everywhere the Creator's name was written. Moses seemed to stand in His presence and to be over-shadowed by His power. Here his pride and self-sufficiency were swept away. In the stern simplicity of his wilderness life, the results of the ease and luxury of Egypt disappeared. Moses became patient, reverent, and humble, "very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth" (Numbers 12:3), yet strong in faith in the mighty God of Jacob. {PP 248.3}

"And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them." The time for Israel's deliverance had come. But God's purpose was to be accomplished in a manner to pour contempt on human pride. The deliverer was to go forth as a humble shepherd, with only a rod in his hand; but God would make that rod the symbol of His power. Leading his flocks one day near Horeb, "the mountain of God," Moses saw a bush in flames, branches, foliage, and trunk, all burning, yet seeming not to be consumed. He drew near to view the wonderful sight, when a voice from out of the flame called him by name.

Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 248, 251 (Continued)

With trembling lips he answered, "Here am I." He was warned not to approach irreverently: "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet; for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. . . . I am the God (p. 252) of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." It was He who, as the Angel of the covenant, had revealed Himself to the fathers in ages past. "And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God." {PP 251.2}

(Psa 90:16 NKJV) Let Your work appear to Your servants, And Your glory to their children.

Thursday

God's Answer To Moses' Plea

(Psa 90:15 NKJV) Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us, The years in which we have seen evil.

(Psa 90:17 NKJV) And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us, And establish the work of our hands for us; Yes, establish the work of our hands.

(Exo 3:1-12 NKJV) Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. {2} And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. {3} Then Moses said, "I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn." {4} So when the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." {5} Then He said, "Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground." {6} Moreover He said, "I am the God of your father; the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. {7} And the LORD said: "I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. {8} "So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. {9} "Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. {10} "Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt." {11} But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?" {12} So He said, "I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain."

(Exo 3:14 NKJV) And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"

(Exo 4:2-5 NKJV) So the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" He said, "A rod." {3} And He said, "Cast it on the ground." So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. {4} Then the LORD said to Moses, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail" (and he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand), {5} "that they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you."

(Exo 4:12 NKJV) "Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say."

(Exo 24:18 NKJV) So Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

(Exo 34:28 NKJV) So he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.

(Exo 34:30 NKJV) So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.

Friday

(Exo 32:11-14 NKJV) Then Moses pleaded with the LORD his God, and said: "LORD, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? {12} "Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, 'He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth'? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and relent from this harm to Your people. {13} "Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, 'I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.'" {14} So the LORD relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people.

(Deu 9:25-29 NKJV) "Thus I prostrated myself before the LORD; forty days and forty nights I kept prostrating myself, because the LORD had said He would destroy you. {26} "Therefore I prayed to the LORD, and said: 'O Lord GOD, do not destroy Your people and Your inheritance whom You have redeemed through Your greatness, whom You have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. {27} 'Remember Your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; do not look on the stubbornness of this people, or on their wickedness or their sin, {28} 'lest the land from which You brought us should say, "Because the LORD was not able to bring them to the land which He promised them, and because He hated them, He has brought them out to kill them in the wilderness." {29} 'Yet they are Your people and Your inheritance, whom You brought out by Your mighty power and by Your outstretched arm.'

Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 471 - 480 (Not included with lesson help)

Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 318

God's covenant with His people had been disannulled, and He declared to Moses, "Let Me alone, that My wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation." The people of Israel, especially the mixed multitude, would be constantly disposed to rebel against God. They would also murmur against their leader, and would grieve him by their unbelief and stubbornness, and it would be a laborious and soul-trying work to lead them through to the Promised Land. Their sins had already forfeited the favor of God, and justice called for their destruction. The Lord therefore proposed to destroy them, and make of Moses a mighty nation. {PP 318.1}

"Let Me alone, . . . that I may consume them," were the words of God. If God had purposed to destroy Israel, who could plead for them? How few but would have left the sinners to their fate! How few but would have gladly exchanged a lot of toil and burden and sacrifice, repaid with ingratitude and murmuring, for a position of ease and honor, when it was God Himself that offered the release. {PP 318.2}

But Moses discerned ground for hope where there appeared only discouragement and wrath. The words of God, "Let Me alone," he understood not to forbid but to encourage intercession,

Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 318 (Continued)

implying that nothing but the prayers of Moses could save Israel, but that if thus entreated, God would spare His people. He "besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why doth Thy wrath wax hot against Thy people, which Thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand?" {PP 318.3}

God had signified that He disowned His people. He had spoken of them to Moses as "thy people, which thou broughtest out of Egypt." But Moses humbly disclaimed the leadership of Israel. They were not his, but God's--"Thy people, which Thou has brought forth . . . with great power, and with a mighty (p. 319) hand. Wherefore," he urged, "should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did He bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth?" {PP 318.4}

Read Psalms chapter 90

(Psa 90:17 NIV) May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us-- yes, establish the work of our hands.

(Psa 90:17 NKJV) And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us, And establish the work of our hands for us; Yes, establish the work of our hands.