While visiting family this summer my wife, son and I was invited to lunch by some old friends. The food was great and the conversation was pleasant. Then, out of the blue, came the Bible question. Normally I love these questions - after all, one of the reasons that I enjoy ministry so much is seeing people grow in their knowledge of God's word.
The question struck me as odd right off the bat. She was questioning Moses' decision to marry Zipporah, a woman of Midian. At first I thought that she had picked up on the danger of marrying someone from a different religious background, but that was not it. Her next comment was this; "But Mitchell, she may have been black!"
In an instant I saw the problem. She assumed that Moses was a white person like her. I truthfully, but gently directed her mind back to the truth that Moses was a Hebrew, a middle eastern man, and most likely had skin almost as dark as Zipporah's. Then, I reminded her that their problems would not be related to the color of their skin, but who they believed God to be.
But back to the problem at hand, why would someone believe that the characters of the Bible (or God for that matter!) are just like them? It is because we are sinners and sin blinds us from the truth. That is why the psalmist prays "Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law." (Psalm 119:18). Why would David, a man after God's own heart, pray such a prayer as this? Because he, just like every one of us, comes to the Scriptures with eyes that have been covered by the deceitfulness of sin.
We all read the Bible like a child playing peek-a-boo while looking through their slightly opened fingers that are covering their eyes. So let us pray that God would remove our sin -one finger at a time - from our eyes that we might see the wonderful truth of God' sword and be liberated by it!
The question struck me as odd right off the bat. She was questioning Moses' decision to marry Zipporah, a woman of Midian. At first I thought that she had picked up on the danger of marrying someone from a different religious background, but that was not it. Her next comment was this; "But Mitchell, she may have been black!"
In an instant I saw the problem. She assumed that Moses was a white person like her. I truthfully, but gently directed her mind back to the truth that Moses was a Hebrew, a middle eastern man, and most likely had skin almost as dark as Zipporah's. Then, I reminded her that their problems would not be related to the color of their skin, but who they believed God to be.
But back to the problem at hand, why would someone believe that the characters of the Bible (or God for that matter!) are just like them? It is because we are sinners and sin blinds us from the truth. That is why the psalmist prays "Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law." (Psalm 119:18). Why would David, a man after God's own heart, pray such a prayer as this? Because he, just like every one of us, comes to the Scriptures with eyes that have been covered by the deceitfulness of sin.
We all read the Bible like a child playing peek-a-boo while looking through their slightly opened fingers that are covering their eyes. So let us pray that God would remove our sin -one finger at a time - from our eyes that we might see the wonderful truth of God' sword and be liberated by it!
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