THE DAILY LESSON – March 8, 2011
From the 1955 Kailua Study Group Series –
"SCRIPTURAL PROMISES EXPLAINED" by Joel S Goldsmith
"In other words, it would have been an easy thing for Moses to fail or to succeed since he would have only had his experience to consider if he, alone, were involved. But here he had these hoards of Hebrews, these hoards of people who were in slavery whom he had been directed to lead into freedom. And what happened? Why, right while under his own guidance over and over they said, `Oh why did you do this to us? Why didn't you leave us back there in Egypt? We were slaves, but at least we had food in our stomach and a place to sleep.'
And I have a recent experience that will show you that `man, whose breath is in his nostril' will always prefer to be a slave if someone will just assure him a couple of meals a day and
a place to sleep. And it doesn't have to be a good place or good food. Just so long as he doesn't have the personal responsibility of going out and earning it or competing for it, he's perfectly willing to sign away his vote to whoever will provide that little meager living. That's human nature.
Now, here were these Hebrews pleading to go back into slavery so they could be fed, and housed and clothed. And here is a leader knowing right well he's got a hard path to give them. They may have to go without food, without housing. They may have to go through many, many dangers, but he knows that if they stick by they will be led into their ultimate freedom in slavery, and so he's got to fight the very people whom he's trying to bless.
Well, now the experience of Moses has been repeated by Elijah, by Isaiah, by Jesus, by John, by Paul. All of those people, all of those leaders had to fight the very people they were trying to bless. Why? Because
those who they were trying to bless were going to be called upon for sacrifices which they, themselves, didn't want to make. They wanted their way. They not only wanted their way, but they wanted it right now, and they were perfectly willing at every stage of history to forego a future good for a present half-good." ~Joel
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