By Toni Ford
If there were ever two men in the Bible who knew the Lord, it would be Moses and Paul. There are actually many parallels between the prophet Moses and the apostle Paul even though they lived hundreds of years apart. Here are just a few of their similarities:
• Both were handpicked before birth to fulfill a role that would alter the course of human history.
• Both learned from some of the greatest minds of their times which helped to groom them for positions of worldly power.
• Both spent years roaming the plains of a desolate wilderness (Moses – 40 years in the wilderness and Paul – roaming throughout Rome and numerous other cities teaching the Gentiles about Yeshua).
• Both experienced an encounter with God so profound that it altered the trajectory of their lives and enabled them to forsake all earthly comfort, prestige and power to follow the path and purpose He had ordained for them. Moses met God at a burning bush (Exodus 3:2) and then saw God unleash His power on Egypt during the plagues and at the Red Sea crossing. Paul encountered God on the road to Damascus which began his intimate walk with Yeshua, learning about redemption, salvation and God’s plan for fallen humanity.
• Both authored significant portions of Scripture which reveal the nature, character and plans of God, impacting those who read these Scriptures even today for it was ultimately penned by God through Moses and Paul. Through the writings of Moses and Paul, God gave and continues to give humanity a deeper revelation of Himself. Yet in order for them to reveal God in this way, they had to first experience the revelation and intimacy of God firsthand. You see, before one can ever make one known, sharing about the character and qualities of someone, they must first know them intimately.
• Both petitioned God for something that, at first glance, seems illogical. Moses, being near the end of his life, asked God to “Show me now Your way that I may know You.” (Exodus 33:13b). Paul had the same passion and wrote in Phil 3: 8a, 10a – “Yet indeed I also count all things to be loss in comparison to the surpassing value of the knowledge of Messiah Yeshua my Lord. My aim is to know Him and the power of His resurrection.” Why would these two men who knew God as well as any human could – pray for something they already had – which was to know Him more?” I can only pray that I have a desire and intensity to know the Lord as Paul and Moses did.
In Exodus 33:13 the Hebrew word for “know” is “yada.” This is the same word also used in Genesis 4:1 when it says, “Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived.” The Greek word for “know” in Philippians 3:10 is derived from “ginosko,” the same term used in Jesus’ warning in Matthew 7:21-23 when He said, “I never knew you….” From these definitions both in the Greek and Hebrew, one can see this word, “know,” implies a relationship that goes well beyond a friendly acquaintance but rather communicates a deep intimacy, mutual love and dedication. After decades of enjoying a deep sense of intimacy with God and receiving the most astounding revelations of His love, might and glory, both Moses and Paul knew enough to be convinced that what they had seen of God were mere glimpses of His marvelous splendor. As a result, all they could do was pray for more.
Knowing God is a cycle; the more we know Him, the more we long to know Him. It is also a journey, for the initial knowing doesn’t satisfy as a one-time fix, but rather whets our appetite, giving us an insatiable hunger for more. All this to say, this level of knowing God is optional, reserved for those who are willing to invest in it. Just as there are people in our lives currently that if we choose, we could know better but in order to do so it takes time, effort, commitment, initiation, and a willingness/desire to do so.
Both Moses and Paul realized that to invest in knowing God doesn’t come without a price. In fact they both had to lay aside their dreams, ambitions, comfort, safety, and power in order to pursue a life of knowing God. For Paul, it even cost him his life and yet Paul still wrote these words in Ephesians “I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. For I pray that I may know Him.”
May I be more like Moses and Paul – pursuing God with all my heart to know Him more deeply, to walk with Him in a more intimate way day by day. Hosea 6:3 says it best, “Let us know…Him; let us press on to know…the greatness of the Lord.”
If you would like continued prayer, feel free to email me at tonif77@gmail.com. I would love to pray for you!
