HEBREW WORD STUDY – MARCH – YANASA  ינסע  Yod Nun Samek Ayin

Exodus 14:14-15 The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. (15) And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward:

This is an interesting story.  The children of Israel are blocked by the Red Sea with the Egyptians and mountains on either side.  They are trapped and it looks as if Moses led them right into it. They start complaining that Moses really pulled a fast one on them, now they are going to be killed off by Pharaoh’s army.  Moses tries to calm them down, reassuring them that God would fight for them and to hold their peace.  Then, in the midst of this revolt, Moses goes crying to God.  What does God say? “Why are you calling on me, you’re in charge, I’ve given you all you need. You know I can part the Red Sea, but these people have not been to the school of faith like you. Teach them some faith,”  

Actually, God simply said yanasa – move forward.  The rest is implied.  In Hebrew that word yanaca means to march, move forward. However, this verb is in a Hiphal imperfect form.  My Online Hebrew students who are members of our All Access should immediately recognize that: 1. This is not in an imperative or command form. It is, in fact, in a Hiphil that does not have a paragogic. 2. God is, therefore, not commanding Moses to make the children of Israel move forward but in a simple Hiphil form God is telling Moses to cause them to move forward, do something that will cause them to trust in me.  Do you job Moses, show some responsibility to the weaker brethren.

You know God seems to be more understand that most of our church leaders. He understands our struggle with faith and I don’t believe He is too pleased with the stronger believer who does not help the weaker in his faith.

Someone comes to their pastor and say: “I lost my job, I can’t pay the mortgage, my family is going hungry and I don’t know what to do.”  There are some preachers who will actually tell the old boy to donate what money he has to the church (pastor’s salary) and watch God perform a miracle.  Some pastors may take the Moses approach: “There, there, the Lord will take care of it, just hold your peace, sit back, and watch the miracle God is going to bring. Here, let me pray for you (so you can get lost and I can attend to more important things).”

Or you can take the God approach: “You’ve prayed, you sought me and I have come to deliver you.  I sent Moses to lead you out.”  Then on the aside: “Well, Moses, don’t stand there asking me to do something. I already did my part, now take your rod and lead these people into the Red Sea, you know full well what I can and plan to do.”

In other words, the pastor could say, “Look, we prayed about this, committed it to the Lord, now let me take my rod  (cell phone) and make a few calls. You get back on your computer and send out some more resumes and together we will see how the Lord answers our prayers. Let’s connect tomorrow and compare notes unless one of us comes up with something then call right away. 

One of the key points in customer service is that when a customer comes to you with a problem you take possession of that problem, you own that problem and you do what it takes to resolve that problem.  I believe that is exactly what God is telling Moses.  “Look, I’m just your supervisor, I have given you all you need, all the training you need so don’t come crying to me if someone gets a little too demanding.  Use the gifts and/or influence I have given you.  Take possession of the problem. This young believer came to you with his problem now take possession of it.  If you are lacking in anything to resolve this problem then come to me and I will give you need.” 

On occasions when I consult a real customer service they immediately take possession of my problem.  First, they ask for my phone number so if we get disconnected (which as you know happens often) they can recontact me which they most often do.  Then they take the time, however, long to address my problem and work through the issues.  Rarely, do they consult their supervisor and if they do they continue to be my main contact.  I have even had the customer service rep call me the next day to be sure the problem was resolved. 

Far too often our Christian customer service is a Moses approach.  “Relax, have faith, let’s pray.”  Then you never hear from them again.  How about: “What can I do to help?”  “If I can help in any way, please let me know.  In the meantime, let’s pray.” Then after an appropriate amount of time make a quick phone call: “I’ve been praying for you, how is it going? Again if there is anything I can do, do not hesitate to call me.”  

God doesn’t ask much. To Moses he simply told him, yanasa – move forward, take your rod and hold it out.” If someone comes to you with a problem, perhaps God expects you to take possession of that problem rather than send him to God.  Like with Moses, God may say: “Hey, I chose you as the customer rep, take possession of this and use what I have given you.” 

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