Pastor Prince

One of the many things I love about the book of Psalms is that it expresses a wide range of emotions.  We find psalms of joy, sorrow, worry, worship, and aspiration.  For me, many of the most compelling psalms are those that express unvarnished feelings.  They show that the people God used to write the Bible had the same feelings we do! One of the most sorrowful and bitter psalms is Psalm 137.  It expresses the feelings of the Israelites when they were in exile in Babylon.  They sat and wept by the rivers of that place, feeling the pain of their loss, and the words and actions of their tormentors.  They comfort themselves with the thought of someone taking the infants of their enemies and dashing them against rocks!   The exile was a critical part of God's mission to save the world because during it the Israelites wrestled with questions that would prepare the way for the coming of Christ.   A first question was, "Has our God been defeated?"  Many ancient

"When are we going to get there?"  "How much farther?"  All of us have heard those questions from our kids on long trips!  Or have said them ourselves!  Imagine how it would be if your trip took 40 years. That's how it was for the Israelites! Their journey started when God freed them from slavery in Egypt.  It continued to Mt. Sinai, where God made a covenant with them.  From there, they journeyed to the southwestern side of Canaan.  At God's direction, Moses sent 12 spies into Canaan.  They came back with a great report about the beauty and fertility of the land.  But there were big problems.  The Canaanites had soldiers that looked like giants, and their cities were heavily fortified.  Most of the spies said they couldn't take the land. The Israelites did what we often do in a crisis.  They had a meltdown!  They lamented that they ever left Egypt and griped that Moses had taken them all that way to die.  One spy, Caleb, said they could take th

The Big Story of the Bible is about God's mission to save the world.  The biggest, most important story about this mission in the Old Testament is the exodus. The book of Exodus tells us about God's mission to save Israel from slavery in Egypt, and to use it as his vehicle to save the world.   God called Moses to be his instrument of deliverance.  He used him to send a series of plagues against Egypt.  It was God against Pharaoh, who thought of himself as a god!  After the tenth plague, in which God put to death the first born of the Egyptians, Pharaoh let the Israelites go.  The Israelites packed up quickly and headed toward the Sinai Desert.   When Pharaoh changed his mind and tried to pursue them, God parted the sea for his people, but closed it on the Egyptian army, destroying it. The Lord provided for Israel as it made its journey to Sinai, the mountain of God.  When they got there, God reminded them that he had saved them and brought them safely to him. 

Moses had settled into the life of a nomadic shepherd in Midian.  He had married Zipporah, one of Jethro's daughters, and spent his days tending Jethro's sheep.  He tried and failed to be a deliverer of his people (see Ex. 2:11ff), and Egypt had become a distant, bitter memory. Then, one day, something happened that changed not only his life, but also world history.  While he was tending sheep near Horeb, the mountain of God, he saw a bush that appeared to burn, yet not to burn up! When he went to investigate it, God spoke to him from the bush.  He told Moses that he had seen the oppression of his people and was going to do something about it.  He told Moses that he wanted to use him to deliver the Israelites! Moses was stunned, and struggled with this call.  He offered excuse after excuse, and God answered each one!  Finally, Moses said, "Send someone else!"  Moses didn't want to go.  Who could blame him?  Pharaoh was one of the most powerful rulers in t

In the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), a man traveling on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho is attacked by robbers.  They strip him, beat him, and leave him half dead by the road.  A priest traveling on the road comes to him.  Priests were at the apex of the Jewish religious hierarchy.  Yet he passes by on the other side.  Somehow, his religion failed to get him to do the right thing.  The man didn't make his list of neighbors!  A Levite, who was a notch below the priest in the hierarchy, did the same. Then a Samaritan came along.  Jews and Samaritans hated each other.  They had a religious dispute. You know how they can be!  Ugly!  When the Samaritan comes along, he's moved with pity for the man.  He didn't know if the man was a Samaritan or Jew, righteous or unrighteous, rich or poor.  He just saw him as someone who needed help.  A neighbor.  The Samaritan personally gave aid to the man, took him to an inn, and paid the innkeeper for further care.