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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Herald, 1937-07-08, Page 7LESSON i God Provides A Leader.— exodus 2; 1.22; 3:1-12 GOLDEN TEXT — "Come now there- fore, and I will send thee." Exo- dus 3:10. THl7. LESSON IN ITS SETTING Place — The e.Y.ents surrounding the birth of Moses. took place probab- ly near the city of Tanis, one of the royal ,-esicleuees in the northeast of the'l)elta near the mouth of the Tani= tic branch of the Nile. The call of Moses took place near Mount Sinai, Ioeated an the peninsula of Sinai: Time B.C. 1578—B.G. 1499. . "Now Moses - was keepinng the flock of Jolatro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the back of the Wilderness." That is, to the west of the wilderness, the east being in front, The wilderness *as the tract of country south and west •of Midian, reaching to the east- ern shore, -of the Gulf of *Akal]a. In• these years of oblivion, when he was quietly shepherding the flocks, theme would be long hours during every day when Moses would-be by himself, face to 'face with nature and God, gaining Mental strength and vigor from his contact with the simplicity and sol- emnity of nature. At the same time; he would be disciplining his body 13 Spare and simple meals, by much con- stant walking in the open air, by the' Sleeping on the ground, short nights and early risings; while he invigorat- 4d his whole character by commun- ing with himself and with God, and by deep searchings of heart, sharp questionings of conscience, reflec- tions upon his past life and repent- ance of his sins. "And came. to the mountain of God, unto Horeb." (See als6;4:27; 18:5; 24 13) Horeb and Sinai are throughout the Scrip ares almost interchangeable This mAhtain is located- on the pen- insula of Sinai.. Tho mountain may have had previous sacred associations but we do not know. It may have been Called holy in this text because the writer knew of the great events that were later to take place on its sacred heights. "And the angel of Jehovah." We be- lieve this to bo none other than a manifestation of the Second Person of the Trinity, the Lord Jesus Christ. "Appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a busily" This bush was a bramble bush, ora form of ac- acia. "And he looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed." It should be not- ed oted that the manifestation of God was not through the majestic oak or, ce- dar, but through a common bush of the wilderness. "And Moses said, I will turn aside now; and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt." Joseph Par- ker has suggestively arranged some of the words of this verse as follows: I will turn aside, and see — why not. And he remarks that many men turn aside to see why things are. Here is a man whootu:'ns aside to see why things are not. God is always looking for the naau who asks How. When a man takes life seriously enougb to ask the reasons of things, God is all ready to grant him his desire. "And when Jehovah saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I." God calls to men in different, ways, sometimes by sending an angel, sometimes by misfortune, sometimes in great rpportuuity, sometimes in an hour of defeat, overwhelmed by a great sin, sometimes when travelling and a great vision of work is opened, often when reading a book, and most of all, when we are engaged in medi- tating upon his word. "And h' said, Draw not nigh thither and put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whoreon thou art standing is holy ground." God is about, to call. Moses to a great life -work; one thing is needed before God speaks — a bowed and reverent heart. The corn-- Bland ont-Bland of God to Moses to put off his shoes may be accounted for from the custom in the' East of wearing shoes or sandals merely as a protection from dirt. When entering holy places the Arabs and Samaritans, and all Mobaanmendans, take off their shoes that the places may not be defiled by the dirt or dust upon them. "Moreover, he said, I am the God of thy fathor„ the God of Abraham, the God of Issas, and the. God of Jacob," These words are used by our Lord (Mark 12:26; Luke 20:37' to prove to the Sadducces the truth of the resur- rection of the dead. The words imply a personal relation between God and man, which carries with it the germ of eternal life. "And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to -"look upon -God." Moses was to be the first Area- cher of the holiness of God, From his lips the people of Israel were to re- ceive the message; Be holy, I am holy .I make holy (Ex. 19:6; 22.31; Lev. 11 44,45; 10:2; 20:26; 21:8). His Prepar- ation for being the messenger of the Holy One was here." "And Jehovah said, 1 have surely. yseen the affliction of my people tli` t Are in Egypt, and have heard thir c1�ry by reason of their taskmaster"s; - 1or I know their sorrows." Now for ilte first tina, God calls Israel "iffy @eople" thus making himself their • king and the champion of their, cause, "And I :fin come down to deliver them oi.it of the hand of the Egypt- laus, and to bring than tip Out of that land] unto a good land and a large unto a land k, lowing with milk and honey." This last clause is a fro- quent designation of Canaan in book of Bible see Ex. 13:6; .33:3; and Deut, 6;3; 11;9, etc), Milk is an es- senti41 article of diet in the Nast, es peoiaily :among agricultural people; honey included, probably, not only the honey of bees, but also a grape juice boiled down to a golden brown syrup used as a condiment for food. `Unto the place of -the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the.Amorite, and the Per- izzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebus- ite." There were the six ,principle tribes occupying the land of Canaan at the time when Moses was called. Their various geographic boundaries need not concern us here. "And now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me; moreover I have seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them." We may . bo almost sure that Moses, way out in the desert, was not fully acquainted: with the increasing suffering of his Hebrew brethren in Egypt at this time. and: even if ho was, he could do notbdag about it. God is never ignorant of the things which his own people are suffering, and he will never allow the tribula- tions' of his people to continue one moment beyond the perfect time when he willbring them to an end. •"Colne now therefore; and I will .send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayeet bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt." And when the call of God comes to a man or to a woman to. any kind of definite work, whether it be of public position or to some private piece of work more difficult to' do, when the call comes, it is always perfectly clear. It. will sure- ly come in some uncommon Fay. I am sorry to think that, in these days, we have grown so much away from de- finiteness. Mon think God does not speak; but the trouble is, not that God does not speak, but tbat men will not listen. "And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?" If the former self-confidence of Moses had been suck as to take the whole matter into his own hands, his self -diffidence now went the length of utmost reluctance to act even as only the Lord's mes- senger and minister. His first and deepest feelings speak themselves in the question hero asked. "And he said, Certainly 1 will be with' thee." (Cf. Gen. 28:15; 31:3; and Josh. 1:5; 3:7; Judges 6:16). There are two wonderful parallels to this promise in the New Testament one from the lips of Jesus to all of his followers — "Go ye, therefore — and lo, I am with you always" .(Matt. 28: 19, 20) ; and like last words of the ap- ostle Paul - All forsook me but the Lord stoodby me and strengthen- ed me. (2 Tim. 4:16, 17). "And this shall be the token unto thee, that 1 have sent thee; when' thou hast brought, forth the people out of Eg- ypt, ye shall serve God .upon this mountain." This sign which was to be a pledge to Moses of the success of his mission, was one indeed that re- quired faith itself; but, at the same time, it was a sign adapted to inspire both courage and confidence. Goats are such useful animals that there is a saying that all but their whiskers can be used. Now even these can be utilized! The whiskers found on the goat's chin are stronger and of finer quality than those found elsewhere, and an enterprising ex- perimenter has discovered that ex- cellent carpets can be made from then. Ite is rearing thousands of Angora billy goats chiefly for their whiskers, which are woven into strong, (hir- able carpets that clye well. Thous- ands have been sold and there is a growing demand; scores of men are employed in what niay one day de- velop into a fairly big industry. Louis Bertrand, distan urs author and member of he A,c d'ieniy, arrived a ab'44ard tl}e�'+mpr�SS of T31i ,•v, ll teine� tli� k'rexxeh Languti„e gross at the Ancient Capital. This trackless train, using storage batteries for motive power, was one of the features at a recent railroad convention. It is shown being demonstrated. Although high altitude flying of-, fords many advantages, it also pre-,' sents many problems. At an alf tude of 50,000 feet, the cooling effect of air is only about 70 per cent. of what.' it is at sea level, and,, in spite of the fact that the pilot must use great precaution against ,freezing, the mo- tor heats up readily in the rarified air, 'What is a hamlet?" asks a head- line. A place so small that the in- habitants never gossip. They know. —London Punch. Dictatorships today have long pass- ed the climax. People ruled by them are getting tired of false prophets.— Thomas Mann. D-3 Truck Ark in Flood f.; This truck was ,swept fr.orn*•`the road by raging waters cased by heavy rains. The two men in the driver's cab managed to climb to the top, where they were marooned for nearly rive hours be- fore waters subsided ent ugh. for them to reach saf ety. Miss Mary Walker and Miss Louise Cleverley, aged 79 and 80, of Nottingham, England, retired school mistresses, are fond of flying. They take to the air with Miss Cleverley's nephew, Sidney Cleverley, president of the Toronto Flying Club at whose home in Toronto they are visiting. " Fire small boys have just about 'dis. related Hollywood, They are the youngsters who played on the stage in New York In "Dead End" and who now are in Hollywood playing the' same roles in the picture. They don't like Hollywood, they think acting in movies is pretty silly, and their complete lack of reverence for the glamorous stars frequently makes the girls furious or tearful. One of them will go up to a famous star, and out of kindness let us call her "Miss X," and say politely, "Is it true that you get paid two thousand dollars a week?" At her nod of as- sent, the little tough will look her over criically from head to foot, and say "But why?" "This Is My Affair," ' a Twentieth Gentry -Fox picture, has Barbara Stan- wyck and Robert Taylor as its stars, c•,r,? which is enough to cause a stampede at, the box office any time, but in addi- tion this has some gripping historical scenes. It must be thrilling enough to the old' folks who can remember Ted - Barbara dy Roosevelt and Stanwyck Admiral Dewey to sae them represented on the screen, but for those to whom these two great historical figures are just a legend, it is .downright throat -choking. Barbara, as usual, gives a beautifully sincere and moving performance, As for Tay- lor, he is his usual •charming self. If you like Navy pictures with lots of gold braid, humming engines and 'wonderful marine views, and terrific drama, there is "Wings Over Hone - 'lulu" for you. It is a Universal Picture with Wendy Barry, Ray Millard and Bill Gargan and it is so exciting that I just had to stay and see it a second time and any day now I may go back again. Incidentally, Bill Gargan is now making a picture on the Universal lot called "Reporter Missing" and he has been taking the thrills of the picture so seriously, that when a burglar -al- arm salesman walked to his house he found Bill a willing customer. Bill had an electric eye also installed so that any one entering the house in the dark late at night would pass it and set gongs and bells to ringing an alarm. Any week now Don Wilson may have to break down and sing a few songs on the Jack Benny radio pro- gram. When Jack had to bow cwt of his usual Sunday night radio appear- ance because of flu, Wilson subbed for him, and threatened to sing. Phil Harris, Kenny Baker and the rest of them implored him not to — and a few days later protests by the bushel poured in from Dertoit listeners. They didn't realize it was all kidding and they resented it. They remember, you see, that Don Wilson used to sing in a vocal trio at a Detroit station and they know that he has a g'oricus and beautiful voice. When Fred Astaire goes off the air for the summer, Trudy Wood, his singing partner, will stay on with the new program, which includes bary- tone Jimmy Blair and a sixteen -voice rhythm choir. Trudy is only twenty- one years old, so you can't blame her for being so happy she went home to' sing and shout for hours the day the contract was signed. A Morgan Wedding that we can't :how you the bridal couple, but guards kept the cameramen away. Anyhow, Louise Converse Morgan and Raymond Clark skinner were married in St. John's of Latimer, Locust "Valley, L. T. To prove it, here are guests. Gracie Allen d.rfal idea for r Gracie Allen has a perfectly won-, aising a lot of money for charity. She wants to send her, husband George Burns, and his bridge -playing cron- ies, Tony Martin, Bert Wheeler and Denny Rubin -on a tour of the eount'Y to stage bridge games in public. She maintains that they 'play the worst, tho loudest and the and that everyone chance to see and to' bridge au•^;nt to have a hoar them. ODDS AND ENDS — Folks who - scribble on the tablecloths in the Paramount studio restaurant aro now fined thirty-five cents. Jack I3onny's debt ran so high that Mary Living- stone gave him a few old tablecloths from home to use on his table at the studio — When Dick Foran was ,given a new contract and told that he wast going to graduate from Westerns to ' Trig, spectacular, expensive produc- tions, he asked wistfully 11 he could not make a Western now and then. "Don't you want to be a big, important star of the best picures?" he waS asked. "No," he said. "I wan to ride my horse." -- Big Boy Williams shud- ders when he thinks of the jeering fan mail ho Is going to get soon. He had to eat 18 cream puffs for a scene, in "Let's Talk of Love,"