Conflict & Courage

We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. 2 Corinthians 6:1.  {CC 96.1}        The Lord gave an important lesson to His people in all ages when to Moses on the mount He gave instruction regarding the building of the tabernacle. In that work He required perfection in every detail. Moses was proficient in all the learning of the Egyptians;...

I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting. 1 Timothy 2:8.  {CC 95.1}        Because of Israel's disobedience and departure from God, they were allowed to be brought into close places and to suffer adversity; their enemies were permitted to make war with them, to humble them and lead them to seek God in their trouble and distress. . . .  {CC 95.2}...

And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. Exodus 16:2.  {CC 94.1}        Many look back to the Israelites, and marvel at their unbelief and murmuring, feeling that they themselves would not have been so ungrateful; but when their faith is tested, even by little trials, they manifest no more faith or patience than did ancient Israel.  {...

The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: this is my God, and I will praise him; my father's God, and I will exalt him. Exodus 15:2, R.V.  {CC 93.1}        From the most terrible peril one night had brought complete deliverance. That vast, helpless throng--bondmen unused to battle, women, children, and cattle, with the sea before them, and the mighty armies of Egypt pressing...

And the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward. Exodus 14:15.  {CC 92.1}        God in His providence brought the Hebrews into the mountain fastnesses before the sea, that He might manifest His power in their deliverance and signally humble the pride of their oppressors. He might have saved them in any other way, but He chose th...

He spread a cloud for a covering; and fire to give light in the night. Psalm 105:39.  {CC 91.1}       "And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light." . . . The standard of their invisible Leader was ever with them. By day the cloud directed their journeyings or spread as a canopy above the host. It served as a...

And he brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness. Psalm 105:43.  {CC 90.1}       With sandaled feet, and staff in hand, the people of Israel had stood, hushed, awed, yet expectant, awaiting the royal mandate that should bid them go forth. Before the morning broke, they were on their way. . . . That day completed the history revealed to Abraham in prophetic vision centuries be...

But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go. Exodus 10:20.  {CC 89.1}        How does the Lord harden the hearts of men? In the same way in which the heart of Pharaoh was hardened. God sent this king a message of warning and mercy, but he refused to acknowledge the God of heaven, and would not render obedience to His commands. He asked, "Who is the Lor...

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Galatians 6:7.  {CC 88.1}        Pharaoh sowed obstinacy, and he reaped obstinacy. He himself put this seed into the soil. There was no more need for God by some new power to interfere with its growth, than there is for Him to interfere with the growth of a grain of corn. All that is required is that a seed s...

Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt. Exodus 3:10.  {CC 87.1}        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 Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. Proverbs 2:6.  {CC 86.1}        In the wilds of Midian, Moses spent forty years as a keeper of sheep. Apparently cut off forever from his life's mission, he was receiving the discipline essential for its fulfillment.  {CC 86.2}        Moses had been learning much that he must unlearn. The influences that had surrounded hi...

By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. Hebrews 11:27.  {CC 85.1}        Moses had a deep sense of the personal presence of God. He was not only looking down through the ages for Christ to be made manifest in the flesh, but he saw Christ in a special manner accompanying the children of Israel in all their travels. God was real t...

Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. Hebrews 11:26.  {CC 84.1}        Moses had been a student. He was well educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, but this was not the only qualification which he needed to prepare him for his work. He was, in the providence of God, to learn patience, to temper his...

For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. 1 Corinthians 3:19.  {CC 83.1}        In their efforts to qualify themselves to be colaborers with God, men frequently place themselves in such positions as will completely disqualify them for the molding and fashioning which the Lord desires to give them. Thus they are not found be...

And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds. Acts 7:22.  {CC 82.1}        Moses supposed that his education in the wisdom of Egypt had fully qualified him to lead Israel from bondage. Was he not learned in all the things necessary for a general of armies? Had he not had the greatest advantages of the best schools in the land?--Yes: he felt that he...

By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. Hebrews 11:24, 25.  {CC 81.1}        In the schools of Egypt, Moses received the highest civil and military training. Of great personal attractions, noble in form and stature, of cultivated mind...

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6.  {CC 80.1}        Jochebed was a woman and a slave. Her lot in life was humble, her burden heavy. But through no other woman, save Mary of Nazareth, has the world received greater blessing. Knowing that her child [Moses] must soon pass beyond her care, to the guardianship of those who knew not G...

The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: but his bow abode in strength. Genesis 49:23, 24.  {CC 79.1}        The life of Joseph illustrates the life of Christ. It was envy that moved the brothers of Joseph to sell him as a slave; they hoped to prevent him from becoming greater than themselves. And when he was carried to Egypt, they flattered themselves that they were to...

The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding. Job 28:28.  {CC 78.1}        Joseph's checkered life was not an accident; it was ordered of Providence. But how was he enabled to make such a record of firmness of character, uprightness and wisdom? It was the result of careful training in his early years. He had consulted duty rather than inclination; and the purity a...

Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men. Proverbs 22:29.  {CC 77.1}        From the dungeon Joseph was exalted to be ruler over all the land of Egypt. It was a position of high honor, yet it was beset with difficulty and peril. One cannot stand upon a lofty height without danger. As the tempest leaves unharmed the lowly flower of t...

His feet they hurt with fetters; he was laid in chains of iron: until the time that his word came to pass; the word of the Lord tried him. Psalm 105:18, 19, R.V.  {CC 76.1}       Joseph's faithful integrity led to the loss of his reputation and his liberty. This is the severest test that the virtuous and God-fearing are subjected to, that vice seems to prosper while virtue is trampled in the dust....

How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God? Genesis 39:9.  {CC 75.1}        It is always a critical period in a young man's life when he is separated from home influences and wise counsels and enters upon new scenes and trying tests. But if he does not of his own accord place himself in these positions of danger and remove himself from parental restraint; if, without will or choi...

And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man. . . . And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand. Genesis 39:2, 3.  {CC 74.1}        Arriving in Egypt, Joseph was sold to Potiphar, captain of the king's guard, in whose service he remained for ten years. He was here exposed to temptations of no ordinary character. He was i...

Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall. Genesis 49:22.  {CC 73.1}        Joseph regarded his being sold into Egypt as the greatest calamity that could have befallen him; but he saw the necessity of trusting in God as he had never done when protected by his father's love.  {CC 73.2}        As the caravan journeyed southward toward the borders o...

And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him. Genesis 37:4.  {CC 72.1}        The sin of Jacob, and the train of events to which it led, had not failed to exert an influence for evil--an influence that revealed its bitter fruit in the character and life of his sons. As these sons arrived at manhood they developed serious faults. The results of po...