BACKGROUND CHECKS

It is a fascinating study to dig into God’s Word to find out why certain Bible characters were tagged with unique descriptive phrases. My curiosity began when I just had to discover the reason why this is said of Moses: “Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.” Slowly but surely, as I studied his life in the Old Testament and references to him in the New, an answer started to form. I decided not to refer to any other writings, but rather to learn what I could on my own.

Many passages and phrases helped me along the way, but in my mind, the answer came in Deuteronomy 9:25-29. All through his life, and pointedly in this passage, the meekness of Moses shows up in the part of his character that allowed for him to see God’s big picture and care nothing about himself. Such a miserable journey it had been, leading the “stiffnecked” Israelites! When God’s anger flashed and He declared He was going to destroy them, Moses, instead of justifiably agreeing, quickly reminded God of the fact that they were His inheritance, that He had just done awesome deeds to bring them out of Egypt, and of the covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He prayed that God might not “look upon” the great sin of the people, “Lest the land whence thou broughtest us out say, Because the LORD was not able to bring them into the land which he promised them, and because he hated them, he hath brought them out to slay them in the wilderness.”

I think Moses was the meekest man on earth because God and others were first before himself. He cared only that God’s name was honored and respected and he cared deeply for the welfare of the Israelites. I do not see him ever promoting himself.

Doing a background check on Moses was, for me, life changing. God saw fit to devote a good deal of His Word to this meek and powerful man. There is a lot to delve into, and it is worth it.

Why does the Bible call Abraham “the friend of God?” And what was it about David that caused God to call him “a man after My own heart?” When the angel visited Daniel, why did he address him as a “man greatly beloved?” Why was John “the disciple that Jesus loved?” Solomon is known as the wisest man that ever lived. Why? It’s more than just the story of the two mothers and the baby, and it’s worth digging into.

These were God’s people, His leaders. Their stories are rich and able to teach character and faith and wisdom and to cultivate a richer relationship with our great God. Years ago I read a statement that became imprinted on my heart. It went something like this: “Be sure that the heroes that your children know best are not some fictional character from a book or movie, but rather great and real heroes from the Word of God.”

What can God say to describe us? Are we His friend, or are we fickle and troublesome? Could He say about us that we are “after His own heart,” or are we “after” a thousand other things of this world or obsessed with another person instead of Him? A good way to learn how to walk with God closely and intimately is to study His leaders. Do a background check on some of them. You’ll be blessed!