But Moses protested to God, ‘Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?’

God answered, ‘I will be with you. And this is your sign that I am the one who has sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God at this very mountain.'” Exodus 3:10-12, NLT

Moses: Notes from the Wayfinding Bible

Moses escapes Pharaoh’s death decree and is adopted into the royal household. There he grows up, all the while knowing that he is a Hebrew. At thirty years old, embroiled in a murder scandal, Moses flees Egypt and settles in far-off Midian. He spends fifty years there herding sheep before God takes action, lights a fire, and calls Moses to be the leader of the Hebrews. It will require Moses to return to Egypt and face a new pharaoh.

Without his realizing it, Moses’ whole life had him trained for leading God’s people. He was educated as a royal prince in the palace of Egypt. He showed compassion for his own people and tried to help, but he failed. He intimately knew the desert land of Midian, where he would later lead the Israelites. At eighty years old he was well equipped to be a leader, but he protested again and again that he was not the right person. Sometimes God calls people who don’t think they are ready for the task. He sees potential that we can’t see, then strengthens us with his power.

Look inside the Wayfinding Bible

“On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability. ” Acts 2:1-4, NLT

From the Wayfinding Bible

After Jesus ascends into heaven, his disciples gather in a room in Jerusalem. Not knowing what to expect, they follow Jesus’ instructions and wait. They are about to experience another high point of the big story. God came in human form to live among humans. Now he sends his Spirit to remain with us forever. The Spirit’s presence will be a comfort and a strength to every believer throughout the world until Christ comes again.

Pentecost was an annual Jewish festival that was established during the time of Moses. Originally it was an agricultural celebration called the Festival of Harvest, falling on the fiftieth day after Passover. During the Hellenistic period (300 BC-AD 300), the Jews dropped they agricultural association of Pentecost and viewed it instead as a day to give thanks for the law of Moses (the Torah). After the coming of the Holy Spirit on this day, Christians designated it as the start of the church. Both Jews and Christians continue to celebrate Pentecost today.

Look inside the Wayfinding Bible

“So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, ‘Abba, Father.’ For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.

Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)

And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.” Romans 8:15-30, NLT

Notes from the Wayfinding Bible

Paul certainly doesn’t hold back on the topic of sin and its consequences, but he doesn’t leave the Romans to despair over their sinfulness either. He reminds them that, through Christ, God has dealt decisively with sin. Paul brings them to a point of celebration by focusing on the joy that comes with faith and the peace that comes with life in the Holy Spirit.

When Paul talks about our sinful nature, he is referring to the inclination of our natural desires toward sin. All humans are born with a sinful nature. God, however, did not create people this way. He created them perfect, without sin; but sin came into the world through Adam and Eve, who disobeyed God. Humans are sinful and God is perfect; we need Jesus to make us sinless again in God’s eyes.

Paul’s message to the Romans contains one of the most comforting passages in the Bible. He clearly states, in different ways, that nothing can separate us from God’s love. He gives us comfort and assurance that no matter what we do, where we go, or what happens to us, absolutely nothing will come between us and God’s love for us. We are super glued to God, and nothing can rip us out of his loving arms.

Look inside the Wayfinding Bible

“Peter and John went to the Temple one afternoon to take part in the three o’clock prayer service. As they approached the Temple, a man lame from birth was being carried in. Each day he was put beside the Temple gate, the one called the Beautiful Gate, so he could beg from the people going into the Temple. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for some money.

Peter and John looked at him intently, and Peter said, ‘Look at us!’ The lame man looked at them eagerly, expecting some money. But Peter said, ‘I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!’

Then Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up. And as he did, the man’s feet and ankles were instantly healed and strengthened. He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk! Then, walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the Temple with them.

All the people saw him walking and heard him praising God. When they realized he was the lame beggar they had seen so often at the Beautiful Gate, they were absolutely astounded! They all rushed out in amazement to Solomon’s Colonnade, where the man was holding tightly to Peter and John.” Acts 3:1-11, NLT

Notes from the Wayfinding Bible

Throughout the big story God has revealed his power through miracles. He showed his control over nature through the ten plagues in Egypt and by dividing the waters of the Red Sea. He provided food and water for his people while they wandered in the wilderness. He displayed his power through the Old Testament prophets and, most clearly, in his Son Jesus. Now that same power is with the apostles. The apostle Peter, one of Jesus’ original twelve disciples, continues the tradition of performing miracles, displaying God’s power in Christ’s name. He then boldly preaches in the Temple about Jesus’ life and death.

In Jewish society, imperfection of any kind made a person an outcast. In the Old Testament, God commanded his people to sacrifice only animals that “have no defect of any kind” (Leviticus 22:21). God also required priests to be without blemish. God’s law held other people to a high standard as well, but over the centuries Jewish culture had generalized these rules in a was that was harsh and unrealistic. A person had to be practically perfect to be part of the Jewish community. Peter’s healing was a great gift. It restored this man physically and socially.

Peter and John had been empowered by the Holy Spirit and were energized to see God working through them to spread the Good News. God’s power flowed through them so that Peter even healed a lame man in the name of Jesus Christ. This is a wonderful example of how God can do more than we can ask or imagine. The beggar was merely hoping for a coin or two to help him survive one more day. The possibility of being whole again and walking out of the Temple didn’t even enter his mind. But it happened. God can, will, and does do what we perceive as impossible.

Look inside the Wayfinding Bible

Taken from the Wayfinding Bible

As Paul continues his letter, he explains to the churches what it really means to live in Christ, free from the law. The burden of following the Jewish law has been lifted by Christ, who fulfilled the law entirely. This is the joy of Christianity. Paul writes that we are free to live out the love of God through the power of the Spirit, experiencing joy and peace as we trust in Christ completely for our salvation.

OBSERVATION POINT
The Galatians thought they would please God more if they followed the law while believing in Christ. They had it all wrong. Christ had freed them from the obligations of the law. By his grace, his free gift, they were saved. Salvation is free. God gives it to us out of love for us, not because of what he gets out of us in return. In response to his generosity, we live a life of gratitude and thanksgiving to glorify him.

EXPLORATION POINT
Christians are free from the law, but we do not have a license to keep on sinning. We have a choice, either to rely on the Holy Spirit or to yield to our sinful nature. The power of the Spirit within us will guide us to a life filled with peace, love, and joy. If we allow our sinful nature to dominate us, we will live in chaos, strife, and bitterness. We don’t have to battle sin on our own. We have the Spirit’s power to fight our sinful desires and to change our hearts to follow God’s will.

Taken from the Wayfinding Bible

In Revelation 22:16, Jesus clearly identifies himself and ties the past to the future. Long ago God promised his people that a star would come from Jacob (Numbers 24:17). To Isaiah he promised that a shoot would come from “the stump of David’s family” (Isaiah 11:1). When Jesus walked the earth, people knew he was the son of David (Matthew 22:42). What was promised so many centuries before has come true. In one statement, Jesus unites thousands of years of prophecies and history.

John’s thinking and writing were steeped in the Old Testament. The book of Revelation adopts imagery that appears everywhere from Genesis to Malachi. Understanding the meaning of these images in the Old Testament can help make sense of what John meant in Revelation. Check out the graphic below from the Wayfinding Bible to see the connection of Revelation imagery to the Old Testament.

Before the events in the book of Genesis even begin, Jesus is there. Jesus, the Word, already existed with God before the creation of the world (John 1:1). God created all things through his Son, Jesus.

You will catch glimpses of Jesus throughout the book: He is Eve’s promised offspring who will crush the serpent’s head (Genesis 3:15); he is Abraham’s descendant who will bless the whole world (12:2); and he is the ultimate king promised as a descendant of Judah (49:10). In the book of Hebrews, Jesus is likened to Melchizedek, the priest-king who appears in Genesis 14.

When Abraham climbs Mount Moriah, prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac on an altar, a ram is found to take Isaac’s place, prefiguring what Jesus would become for us: our substitute.

Look inside the Wayfinding Bible