God seeks to kill Moses, and that ought to make everybody slow down. Moses is the man God used to write Genesis through Deuteronomy by the Holy Spirit. Moses is the man who helped lead Israel out of bondage. Moses is the man who will stand before the people with the commandments of God. And yet Moses is lying there deathly sick because God takes hypocrisy that seriously.
Genesis 17 had already made the command plain. Jewish sons were to be circumcised on the eighth day. Gershom, Moses’ son, was old enough to be a big brother, maybe even a teenager or older, and he still had not been circumcised. Moses knew the command. Moses would later tell the people the command. Moses would record the command. But Moses had not obeyed it in his own house. That is hypocrisy, saying one thing and living another.
Hypocrisy is not a small problem. Hypocrisy is one of the greatest threats to the people of God because people see what happens behind closed doors. Children see what happens when parents stub their toes, sit in traffic, gossip, and live at home. People do not usually reject worship because pagan religions are so convincing. People often pull away because those who say they love Jesus do not act like it.
Hell is real, but God does not need to be pictured as dragging people there against their will. Hell was made for the devil and his angels. Hell is, at its deepest horror, the absence of God. Heaven is the very presence of God. God loves people and respects their decision enough not to barge down the door of the heart. Christ knocks, but the heart must be opened.
The thief on the cross shows how simple and serious grace is. That man had no Sunday school record, no polished theology, no theory of atonement, no end times chart. All he had was, “that guy on the middle cross, he told me to come.” Christ Jesus invites hypocrites, sinners, and failures to come, not because they are perfect, but because he is merciful.
Godly examples matter. Children notice fathers and mothers who love Jesus not just on Sunday mornings, but at home. A faithful life does not say, “I am better than anyone.” A faithful life says, “Here is a sinner in need of a Savior.” There is room for another hypocrite in worship, and there is room for another hypocrite in heaven.
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Key Takeaways
- 1. God Takes Hypocrisy Seriously [48:07] God did not treat Moses’ disobedience as a minor private issue. Moses was about to represent God publicly while ignoring God privately. The passage shows that hidden inconsistency can become a holy confrontation, especially when a person carries spiritual responsibility. [48:07]
- 2. The Home Reveals Real Faith [48:32] Children and family members often see the parts of life that public worship can hide. Sunday language means little when traffic, pain, frustration, and gossip tell a different story. The household becomes one of the first places where faith is either made believable or exposed as acting. [48:32]
- 3. Hell Is Chosen Separation [50:34] Hell is real, and Scripture describes it with dreadful seriousness. Yet the deepest terror is the absence of God, the final answer to a heart that refuses his presence. God knocks rather than barges in, and that respect makes human response weighty. [50:34]
- 4. Grace Welcomes Empty Hands [54:07] The thief on the cross had no record to lean on and no religious language to impress heaven. His hope was simply that Christ Jesus invited him. Salvation rests not on polished understanding, but on the mercy of “that guy on the middle cross.” [54:07]
- 5. Godly Examples Leave Marks [57:43] A faithful mother or father may never see every seed taking root, but children notice steady love for Christ. A life that admits sin and depends on grace can become a doorway for another person’s faith. Christian witness is strongest when it refuses pretending and quietly keeps pointing to the Savior.
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