Winter 1997
Experiential Knowledge Of The Lord
By Nancy Warner

“Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law,
the priest of Midian ... and came to the mountain of
God, even to Horeb.”

"And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame
of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and,
behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not
consumed.”

"And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this
great sight, why the bush is not burnt." Exodus 3:1-3.

Residing within Moses was a sensitivity that caused him to notice and respond to the manifested presence of the Lord. Therefore, when he turned, the Lord revealed Himself to Moses as a present reality,

"I AM the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
the God of Jacob."

From this identification we can view the Lord as being the God of faith (Abraham), the God of promise (Isaac), and the God of change (Jacob).

The Lord continued this progressive revelation of Himself to Moses by telling him to go and deliver Israel from Egypt; that He would be with him and His power would move through him. The Lord caused Moses to know that He Himself would teach him these things.

In response, Moses asked the Lord, "Who am I?" At this point, the Lord did not answer him but continued to reveal Himself, as it was not a question of who Moses was, but who God is.

Because Moses still questioned God's call on his life, telling Him to send whom He would, the anger of the Lord was kindled against him. Moses was limiting himself by attempting to tell the Lord that he was not qualified because he had previously failed, when he sought to deliver an Israelite and had to flee from his brethren, and from Egypt. He feared another failure.

The Apostle Paul said,

"For I determined not to know any thing among you, except
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And I was with you in
weakness and in fear, and in much trembling ... that
your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but
in the power of God." I Cor 2:2-5.

This tells us that our response to God should not be based upon any ability of our own.

Abraham had pleased the Lord because he was fully persuaded concerning that which the Lord had promised. He recognized that the Lord could do all He had promised. Moses was having a problem with trusting the Lord at this point.

In Ephesians 3:7, Paul said that he was made a minister according to the gift of the grace of God - the gift of Divine enablement. We receive this enabling grace through the effectual working of the Lord's power, which is His ability to perform that which He has spoken.

"Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think
anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is
of God; who also has made us able ministers of
the New Covenant; not of the letter, but of the
Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit
gives life." II Cor 3:5-6.

This is the call that Moses received at the burning bush. He was to become a minister of the Spirit, and as he yielded to the Lord working through him, he would succeed. The Lord called Moses, not because he was mature in these things, but because there was a deep desire within him to know the Lord, and to be in His presence.

Therefore, the Lord said to Moses,

"Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh,
that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of
Israel out of Egypt." Exodus 3:10.

Later, because He was grieved with Israel, the Lord told Moses that He would send His angel before them to defeat their enemies and bring them into the land of promise, but He Himself would not go with them.

Moses responded, "If Your presence does not go with me, do not carry us up from here" Exodus 33:15. The Lord responded and not only told Moses that He would go with him, but He made Himself known to Moses, face to face.

After his death, it was said concerning Moses,

"And never since has a prophet like Moses arisen in Israel,
whom the Lord knew, face to face." Deut 34:10.

This is a challenge for us to come to the understanding of who God is, and to allow His transforming power to change us.

One time when the disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee, the Lord appeared to them, walking on the water. Peter said, "If it be Thou, bid me to come." The Lord responded by telling him to come. Peter stepped out of the boat and almost made it to Jesus when fear overtook him, and as a result, began to sink. The Lord reached out and took him by the hand and together they walked back to the boat.

Peter, willing to exercise his faith, had stepped out at the word of the Lord. But he began to sink in view of the disciples and probably was quite embarrassed. When this happened, Peter cried out, "Lord save me."

Here, we see a defeated Peter who did not have enough faith. But Peter immediately stepped out when he heard the word of the Lord, even as the Lord was requiring of Moses, as he stood before the burning bush. When Peter began to sink, the Lord caught him by his hand. The power of God flowed into Peter and he came up out of the water and began to walk on the water with Jesus, hand in hand.

Peter was not yet a developed spiritual Christian, but he was willing to step out by faith. As a result, he received an experiential knowledge of the power of God. It is very important to consider that the other disciples only saw what Peter experienced.

The Word tells us that the Lord had constrained His disciples to get into this ship. This was a Divine set up, as the winds were contrary and the water very boisterous. Because this was the first time that Peter would step out in faith beyond any ability of his own, it might seem that the Lord should have made a calm, smooth sea for this occasion.

The disciples had remained in the comfort of the ship. As they saw Peter begin to sink, they probably learned from his failure. But the experiential knowledge of the power of God that lifted Peter out of the water and his walking hand in hand with the Lord was worth far more than any theoretical knowledge the disciples may have gained through observation.

According to the word of God, when they entered the ship, immediately it was at the land. The Lord had accomplished his purpose. That which had been imparted into Peter could not have been gained in any other way.

Our spiritual development is a process. The Lord desires to so work within our lives that our experiences will match our confession. He does not condemn us those times when we speak out of sincere desire, but in human frailty. There is no condemnation when we come short of all we had intended, for He sees the desire of our heart.

We also can learn from the failure of Moses in delivering the Israelite, his slowness to trust the Lord at the burning bush, and from Peter who quickly stepped out, but also failed.

As the Lord stands at the door of our heart knocking, may we also respond and turn aside to stand before Him in His presence, willing to obey His word to us.