Proof

DEVOTION

EXODUS

PROOF

Ex 4:1-9

4:1 Moses answered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, 'The LORD did not appear to you'?" 2 Then the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" "A staff," he replied. 3 The LORD said, "Throw it on the ground." Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. 4 Then the LORD said to him, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail." So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. 5 "This," said the LORD, "is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers — the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob — has appeared to you." 6 Then the LORD said, "Put your hand inside your cloak." So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was leprous, like snow. 7 "Now put it back into your cloak," he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh. 8 Then the LORD said, "If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first miraculous sign, they may believe the second. 9 But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground."

NIV

This is the second time Moses has come up with an excuse, or a doubt as to why he should be the one to go back to Egypt. Maybe he is not really trying to get out of going, but he certainly is doubting that the people will believe God has appeared to him. But God’s will concerning this matter will not be thwarted. He gives Moses three miraculous signs he can do at any time he needs to in order to prove he had a one on one encounter with Yahweh Elohiym, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the name he is to be remembered by from generation to generation. What we learn here is that God is more than willing to prove who he is. Although we are told that we are blessed because we believe even if we have not seen, he will prove himself to those who need that proof.

John 20:29

29 Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." 

NIV

Yet we are told in the very next verse that he did many miracles in the presence of his disciples. They certainly had to learn who he was over a period of time being in his presence. They were waiting for the Messiah, the one who would free them from bondage. But they still did not get it completely until the fullness of his time and when he rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. Yet they saw all that, God proved himself again for all generations. He will prove himself again and again, if needed to bring someone to him. This person was the chief of doubters, but also a seeker of life after death. God proved himself in a supernatural way, beyond the physical realm of this world. He proved himself over and over again, to ensure this person would never ever have any doubts ever again. Why me?  Perhaps it may never be told to me, but it is certain God proved himself. Will he do that for everyone that needs proof? Does it require a person seeking to know him? Seeking to know he is who he says he is may well be the key. Just saying, I don’t believe, or won’t believe unless he shows himself to me, may not get any results. Yet that is the excuse Moses was using. “What if they don’t believe me, or listen to me, saying you did not appear to me”? Yet the Hebrews already believed in God, although they seemed to have forgotten about him until their misery was too great. Nevertheless the proof was about him appearing to Moses rather than about his being God. Perhaps our lives are the proof of his appearing to us so we can tell others, bringing them out of their bondage, their misery. Has he given us miracles to perform in order to prove to others he is real, and has appeared to us in some way? Certainly he has not appeared in a burning bush, but have we had some other form of a burning bush experience? We do have the power from on high to do miracles or live in the miraculous in order to prove God.

John 14:9-14

9 Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? 10 Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. 12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

NIV

Do we just gloss over these words or do we actually believe them? We have the power in the name of Jesus to do greater things then he did while he was on this earth. We have the power from on high, not in and of ourselves, but if we ask in the name of Jesus we can do miraculous signs in order to bring praise, glory and honor onto God. Anything we do, any miracle, or miraculous living is only for the glory of the Father. Our task is to testify about his power, showing miracles, showing miraculous living as proof he is God, the creator of all that is created. Perhaps if we are not living in the miraculous we are living as crippled Christians, having more doubt than faith. That is a harsh thought. But maybe a truthful one. Nevertheless the truth is God is willing to prove himself.