Audio recordingGod did many important things through Moses. God did many “new” things through Moses. We are not accustomed to thinking about things being “new” when it comes to God, and that is not a bad attitude to have. When it comes to God, new things are probably lies, coming from the father of lies, who loves to deal in all things spiritual. Nevertheless, with Moses God did all kinds of new things. First of all, the number and power of miracles that are done through Moses is a definite difference from the time of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God did miracles for them too, but they were much more connected to their family life. God caused Abraham and Sarah to conceive and bear Isaac even though they were both extremely old. God gave Isaac his wife at the well. God caused Jacob to flourish with his flock of sheep when he lived with his father-in-law Laban. These signs and wonders should not be poo-pooed. Every time the sun rises and gives its warmth, every time a flower blooms, God’s wonder-working power is what is behind it. Every day we are the beneficiaries of God working and working. We would have a better sense of what is going on if we understood that miracles happen every day and every moment as God does his work, but that is not how we normally understand the word “miracle.” We take the word “miracle” to mean that God does something unusual. He doesn’t use the ways and means that we are accustomed to him using. With Moses God does things that are very unusual. God called him to be his servant at the burning bush. From that time forward there is practically one unusual thing after another. God does signs through him before Pharaoh. God pours out one bowl of wrath after another on the nation of Egypt until Pharaoh decides to let his slaves go. God opens up the Red Sea for his people to pass through on dry ground, but Pharaoh and his army and destroyed by those same waters. He rains down bread from heaven and makes quail fly into camp with the wind. He causes water to flow out of the rock. God manifests his glory with the pillar of cloud and fire. When he takes up residency at Mt. Sinai it is with fire, smoke, thunder, earthquakes, and all manner unusual things. God sends fiery serpents. He opens up the ground to swallow his enemies. There is just one thing after another that God does. How can we explain this? One explanation might be that it was necessary. Pharaoh had to have his stubborn will broken. The Israelites needed to be gathered together as a nation numbering many hundreds of thousands. (God wasn’t just dealing with a family anymore.) Plus the Israelites themselves were stiff-necked and hard-hearted. They had to have their own will broken over and over again, and this was done by God’s miracles. So the number and power of miracles that God does through Moses is something that was unprecedented. These sorts of miracles have not been done since that time, as our reading from Deuteronomy said. The other thing that is new with Moses is all manner of religious things. God reveals his name to Moses at the burning bush. God gives his people their first festival, which is Passover. God gave his people a succinct statement of his Law with the Ten Commandments. God instituted worship for the Israelites down to the smallest details. He gave them the tabernacle, sacrifices, blessings, and the Aaronic priesthood to carry this all out. From the time of Moses onward God blessed his people and they returned their prayers and praises according to the way God set things up through Moses. The Old Testament is dominated by what God did through Moses. The word “testament” or “covenant” is about an arrangement between two or more parties. God made an arrangement with his people whom he had chosen. The most extensive covenant was set in place through Moses. Even at the time of the New Testament, all the people we hear about—including Jesus—are still doing things that God set in place with Moses. With the coming of Jesus, howev