Wednesday, April 8, 2020

The Exodus. Day 10, The Lord Speaks To Moses, Part Three

The Lord told Moses it's time for him to go back to Egypt and deliver the Israelites. At one time Moses believed he was the one God would use to rescue the people (Acts 7:25) but he's spent the past forty years talking himself out of that notion. He has a hard time, mentally, changing course now.

"But Moses said to God, 'Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?'" (Exodus 3:11) In Exodus 2 he was thinking, "I am the one!" He expected the people to whom he was biologically related to realize he was the one. Now he's saying, "I'm not the one! I tried and failed. When I offered myself to my people as their helper, they rejected me and asked me, 'Who do you think you are?' Pharaoh wanted me dead and I fled my country in fear and disgrace. Now I've been on the backside of this desert for forty years, performing the dull work of leading sheep to pasture day in and day out, doing the endless job of looking for wells and streams for them to drink from, and continually rescuing these silly animals from one predicament after another. Do I look like a mighty crown prince of Egypt who was once a general in the army? Do I look like a man who can lead the Hebrew men in a revolt against the forces of Egypt? I'm nothing but a bearded, sunburned shepherd in dusty robes. And You know how much the Egyptians hate shepherds! Even if Pharaoh didn't loathe me personally, he wouldn't want a man like me anywhere near his court. No, Lord, You've got the wrong guy. You need to find someone else."

The very things Moses thinks disqualifies him for the job are the things that qualify him. A shepherd is exactly what he needed to be for the past forty years so he'll be ready to lead a flock of people for the next forty years. He doesn't know it yet, but the Lord isn't asking him to rally the Israelites for battle. The Lord doesn't intend to use military might to rescue the people. Moses doesn't need battle skills. He needs people skills. What better way to learn how to lead, watch over, and provide for a group of stubborn, complaining people in the desert than to have experience leading, watching over, and providing for a group of stubborn, noisy sheep in the desert? And besides all that, Moses is going to be backed by the awesome power of the living God.

"And God said, 'I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.'" (Exodus 3:12) The Lord says, "I'll bring you right back where you are now and on that day you'll worship Me here. You aren't going to die in Egypt. Pharaoh won't kill you. You'll survive and return to this mountain in victory and you'll give Me the thanks for it on this mountain."

God is promising to protect Moses from the Egyptians, but now Moses thinks of another problem. His people already refused to appoint him as their leader. What if he goes back to Egypt and they reject him again? "Moses said to God, 'Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is His name? Then what shall I tell them?'" (Exodus 3:13)

He says, "Look, Lord, they already thought I was too big for my britches when I offered to help them the last time. They asked who had appointed me as ruler and judge over them. I thought I was Your chosen deliverer in their time of need but they felt otherwise. They felt I had nothing in common with them. And You know what? They were right. They invited me to get of Goshen forthwith and scurry back to the comforts of the king's palace to continue living a life of comfort and ease. And that's what I did until the king learned I killed an Egyptian soldier and the king put a bounty on my head. I can't go back to Goshen and offer myself again as my people's deliverer on my own merit. I can't even say to them, 'God sent me,' and get them to believe it unless You give me some sort of convincing proof. If they ask me again, 'Who made you ruler and judge over us?', what am I supposed to say?"

In tomorrow's passage the Lord is going to reveal another of His names to mankind. He's going to tell Moses what to say if the people ask him, "Who sent you? What is His name?" It's going to take an entire study session to perform a detailed look at who God says He is in this conversation with Moses.











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