Moses is on his way to Egypt and he has his wife and two sons (Gershom and Eliezer) with him. Something startling happens on the journey.
"At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses and was about to kill him." (Exodus 4:24) We get to this verse and probably think, "What on earth is going on here?" Moses is the Lord's chosen deliverer for the children of Israel; why would He want to kill him?
I don't believe the Lord wants to kill Moses, but Moses has neglected to do something that he is spiritually required to do as a Hebrew male. I think perhaps the Lord has been dealing with Moses' heart on this matter for a long time and Moses hasn't obeyed. Moses needs to set this thing straight before he arrives in Goshen to speak to the Hebrew people. He has to have everything in his heart right with the Lord before he'll be ready to lead his people.
Moses becomes ill on the way down to Egypt. While staying at an inn, he falls sick---so sick that he's in danger of losing his life. It's often in times of desperate hardship that we start asking ourselves, "Why is this thing happening to me? Did I do something to bring this on myself? Is there something I need to repent of?" Illness has a way of causing us to examine our hearts, and we find Moses examining his heart and finding the cause of his current distress: in defiance of the Lord's command to Abraham and to all Abraham's descendants, Moses has not circumcised one of his sons. This fact will be made clear to us momentarily.
Why does it matter that Moses hasn't circumcised one of his sons? Here is what the Lord said to Abraham on the day He gave him the sign of the covenant He was making with Abraham and his descendants: "Then God said to Abraham, 'As for you, you must keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. This is My covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between Me and you. For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner---those who are not your offspring. Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.'" (Genesis 17:9-14)
Moses has not kept covenant with the Lord. We can safely assume that Moses' parents had him circumcised when he was eight days old. He may have been raised as an Egyptian but he had the sign of the Lord's covenant as a permanent mark on his body. When he became a father of two sons, he circumcised one and not the other, and this means he violated the command we find the Lord giving Abraham and Abraham's descendants in Genesis 17. Partial obedience to the Lord is still disobedience, and Moses needs to be all in with the Lord by dedicating both his sons to the Lord and to the covenant the Lord made with the Israelites. In addition, why should the Hebrew people listen to Moses or accept him as their leader if he is not in covenant with the Lord? If they find out he hasn't been obedient in a matter this important, they have the right to excommunicate him from their assembly (see Genesis 17:14 above where the Lord says a violator "will be cut off from his people").
To use a modern example of how not obeying the Lord in something as important as circumcision would hinder Moses' work with the people, would we listen to our pastor if he hadn't obeyed the Lord in a matter such as baptism? Baptism is the outward sign of what has taken place on the inside when we accept Christ as our Savior. It's a symbol of being dead to our old life and having risen to our new life. If we learned our pastor hadn't ever voluntarily submitted to baptism at some point after receiving Christ as his Savior, wouldn't that bother us? (I'm not teaching salvation through baptism; I don't subscribe to that doctrine. I believe salvation takes place on the inside and that baptism is a public ritual we undertake as a statement to the world that Jesus has cleansed us from the inside out. After all, in the New Testament we find people undergoing baptism after receiving Christ as their Savior, not before or in place of making a decision to give their hearts to Christ.) But the point is, would we let our pastor lead us if he had never undergone an important ritual of the Christian faith? A lot of us would think twice about it, that's for sure. And a lot of the Hebrew people would have thought twice about following Moses if he failed to obey the Lord regarding the covenant of circumcision.
Moses' illness causes him to have to confront his sin and repent of it. Once he's made his heart right with the Lord he's still too ill to perform the covenant sign on his son himself. His wife has to carry out the procedure. She's very bitter about what takes place in our passage today and I think this is a clue as to why Moses didn't circumcise both his sons. Zipporah was a Midianite, not a Hebrew, and she was opposed to having such a procedure performed on her baby boys. Moses obviously went ahead and circumcised one of his sons eight days after the child's birth, over his wife's objections, but didn't follow through when the other son was born. Some scholars think it was the firstborn he didn't circumcise since in the passage preceding this one the Lord spoke of the nation of Israel as His firstborn and the Lord told Moses of the coming death of Pharaoh's firstborn, but I think it's just as likely that Moses circumcised his firstborn son and Zipporah was so horrified that when the second child arrived she protested so vehemently that to keep the peace in the household Moses gave in to her wishes. We don't know which son it was and it doesn't matter in the scheme of things. But I think the Lord purposely made Moses too ill to do it himself so that Zipporah has to do the thing she prevented her husband from doing. I think the Lord wants her to repent of refusing to submit to His will, but I'm not sure she does. She does what she's asked to do but she clearly isn't happy about it.
"But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses' feet with it. 'Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,' she said. So the Lord let him alone. (At that time she said 'bridegroom of blood', referring to circumcision.)" (Exodus 4:25-26) Moses is lying ill in bed, too weak to stand. It may be that Zipporah places their son across the foot of the bed to circumcise him, then touches Moses' feet with the skin to make him aware that the deed has been done. Or it could be she touches his feet as a sign that strength is about to return to his body and that he will soon be back on his feet again. But she says angry words to her husband. She blames Moses for what has just taken place, saying bitter words such as: "If I hadn't married you I wouldn't have had to do this. A Midianite husband wouldn't have brought me to this point." She may be saying the ancient equivalent of, "I should have listened to Mother when she told me not to marry you!"
We will learn later in Exodus that Moses doesn't take his wife and sons on down to Egypt with him after this. It looks as if about a year passes before he reunites with them. Some scholars think the discord between Moses and Zipporah is so strong and unpleasant at this time that they need a cooling off period. Others think Moses sends them back to Midian to give the boy time to heal and that, due to the dangers and stress of Moses' sojourn in Egypt and due to the problems he faces in the first year after the exodus, his reunion with his family is delayed by circumstances.
What I think we can take away from what we've studied today is this: whenever hardship comes into our lives, it's always wise to examine our hearts and ask ourselves and the Lord whether we've done anything to cause these circumstances. If we've brought our own trouble upon ourselves, the quickest way to smooth our path can be to face our wrongdoing, repent of it, and get back into the Lord's will. That's what Moses does in today's passage and that's what sets him back on the road to recovery. Of course not everything that happens to us in this world is a result of our own sins. We live in a fallen world where we're surrounded by the sins of others. Sometimes they sin against us and cause us hardship. Sometimes their sins even cause natural disasters, for in the Bible we sometimes find famine and disease occurring as judgment or as an incentive to get nations to repent. We may find ourselves suffering in those times, not so much for our own mistakes, but for the collective mistakes of many of our fellow human beings. What did the prophets do in those times? What did the godly citizens do it those times? In the Bible do we find them complaining to the Lord about having to suffer as the result of someone else's sins? Oddly, no. We don't. We find them identifying themselves with the people around them, crying out to God in intercessory prayer for their nation, and saying things like, "Lord, we have sinned! Lord, we have transgressed Your laws! Lord, forgive us and heal our land!"
Keeping this in mind, and using both the prophets and Moses as our examples, what should we be doing in this present time of distress? We should be examining our hearts and repenting of any sins that come to mind. And we should be identifying ourselves with our nation and our world by identifying ourselves with our fellow man and saying, "Lord, we have sinned! Collectively, we have transgressed Your laws. Humanity has fallen short of perfection. Some have rejected You entirely. Even those of us who love You are unable to live sinless lives even though we want to. There is sin everywhere on this earth. Lord, forgive us! Lord, heal us!"
Tuesday, April 14, 2020
Monday, April 13, 2020
The Exodus. Day 15, Moses Sets Out For Egypt
The matter of the Lord's calling on Moses has been settled. Moses has agreed to go to Egypt now that the Lord is sending his brother Aaron along with him. But before he leaves he has to speak to his father-in-law.
"Then Moses went back to his father-in-law and said to him, 'Let me return to my own people in Egypt to see if any of them are still alive.'" (Exodus 4:18a) It doesn't appear as if Moses reveals his calling from the Lord to his father-in-law. I don't think we should conclude he's trying to deceive him by not sharing with him the Lord's plans. Scholars disagree on the reason for Moses keeping so much to himself. Some think he is too modest to describe himself as the man chosen to deliver the people. Others think he's afraid his father-in-law will have trouble believing the story of Moses' encounter with the Lord in the wilderness. Other scholars say he's afraid word will travel to Egypt that he's on his way to rescue the Israelites and that this would put the Egyptians on guard against him. I can't say whether any of these reasons were his motive for not telling the whole story to Jethro. It could have even been a combination of all these reasons and more.
Moses isn't lying to Jethro. He's just not sharing everything he knows with him. My dad used to say to me, "You don't have to tell everything you know." As a kid I was much too free about sharing private family information with others. I wasn't old enough to understand that some occurrences and conversations are not meant to be discussed outside of the home. In the same way, not everything that happens between us and the Lord is meant to be shared with others. There are some conversations the Lord and I have had that are far too private to ever tell anyone about. Describing those holy moments to others feels like a betrayal of something sacred. I do occasionally share what He's said to me or describe something special He's done for me, but a lot of what goes on between us is private family business. Moses isn't lying to Jethro when he doesn't tell him what the Lord has called him to do. He's simply chosen, at this time, not to share the private conversation that took place between himself and the Lord.
"Jethro said, 'Go, and I wish you well.'" (Exodus 4:18b) Moses' father-in-law understands his concerns for the Israelites and sends him off with his blessing. Having Moses away for a time means the manager of his flocks is not available, but by now no doubt Jethro has other sons-in-law besides Moses who can pick up the slack. Jethro likely has grown grandsons by his other daughters by now too. When Moses first arrived in Midian forty years ago, the Bible told us that Jethro had seven daughters. Moses married the oldest of them, but since forty years have passed I am sure the other six ladies long ago married and had children. The departure of Moses at this time doesn't present the hardship to Jethro that it once would have.
"Now the Lord had said to Moses in Midian, 'Go back to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kill you are dead.' So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey and started back to Egypt. And he took the staff of God in his hand." (Exodus 4:19-20) The Pharaoh who ordered the arrest and execution of Moses has died during Moses' forty years in exile. It may be that there was an Egyptian law of the time that stated any warrants executed by a king became null and void upon the king's death.
Previously we were told that Moses had one son, but since then he has fathered a second son. We will learn more about these sons later on in our study.
The staff that was once a simple shepherd's staff is now called "the staff of God". It will be used by the Lord, through Moses, and therefore it's now a consecrated object in the eyes of the Lord. This shows us that God can take a simple thing or a humble, ordinary person and use them to do something great and unexpected. Moses doesn't look like a mighty deliverer. The staff in his hand has never been used for anything but herding and protecting sheep. But as the saying goes, "Little is much when God is in it."
"The Lord said, 'When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.'" (Exodus 4:21) In some Bible verses we find the Lord hardening Pharaoh's heart, in other verses we find Pharaoh hardening his own heart, and in other places the Bible merely says that Pharaoh's heart is hard. I don't believe the Lord forced Pharaoh to be the kind of man he was. For example, I don't think Pharaoh had a desire to do what was right and that the Lord refused to allow him to be soft-hearted toward the Israelites. What we're seeing here is an example of what is known as God's "permissive will". The Lord has a perfect will for all of us, but we aren't always obedient to Him. We get out of His will for various reasons. Because the Lord created us with the ability to think for ourselves, it can also be said that He has a permissive will for our lives too. He doesn't make us serve and obey Him; that choice is ours. Pharaoh is naturally a hard-hearted man. He feels no compassion for the Israelites. To him anyone who is not a native-born Egyptian is a lesser form of human being. He doesn't think they have any more intelligence or civil rights than the oxen that plow his fields. Pharaoh is already lacking in pity. The more he resists doing what's right, the harder his heart grows. The Lord lets this hardening happen. God doesn't step in and force Pharaoh to do the right thing; He also doesn't force Pharaoh to do the wrong thing. He just lets Pharaoh be who Pharaoh wants to be. Because the Lord knows Pharaoh is going to resist doing what's right, He warns Moses ahead of time that the king won't agree to let the people go.
The Lord will have to take drastic action against Pharaoh before he will let Moses take the people out of Egypt. "Then say to Pharaoh, 'This is what the Lord says: Israel is My firstborn son, and I told you, 'Let My son go, so he may worship Me.' But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.'" (Exodus 4:22) God will say to Pharaoh, "Since you have refused to give My son to Me, I will take yours." We are not going to get into a discussion at this time about the Lord's right to take the life of the king's son. We may take a further look into this theological matter when we arrive at the section of Scripture in which we see the death of the firstborn. I will just say at this time it may have been a mercy of the Lord to take Pharaoh's son (presumed to be young) out of this world before he grew old enough to become a wicked man and a pagan idolater like his father.
Speaking of sons, join us tomorrow as we look at an incident that involves the sons of Moses. What takes place in tomorrow's passage seems sudden and shocking and even bizarre, but we hope to break it down in a way that helps us all to understand what happens.
"Then Moses went back to his father-in-law and said to him, 'Let me return to my own people in Egypt to see if any of them are still alive.'" (Exodus 4:18a) It doesn't appear as if Moses reveals his calling from the Lord to his father-in-law. I don't think we should conclude he's trying to deceive him by not sharing with him the Lord's plans. Scholars disagree on the reason for Moses keeping so much to himself. Some think he is too modest to describe himself as the man chosen to deliver the people. Others think he's afraid his father-in-law will have trouble believing the story of Moses' encounter with the Lord in the wilderness. Other scholars say he's afraid word will travel to Egypt that he's on his way to rescue the Israelites and that this would put the Egyptians on guard against him. I can't say whether any of these reasons were his motive for not telling the whole story to Jethro. It could have even been a combination of all these reasons and more.
Moses isn't lying to Jethro. He's just not sharing everything he knows with him. My dad used to say to me, "You don't have to tell everything you know." As a kid I was much too free about sharing private family information with others. I wasn't old enough to understand that some occurrences and conversations are not meant to be discussed outside of the home. In the same way, not everything that happens between us and the Lord is meant to be shared with others. There are some conversations the Lord and I have had that are far too private to ever tell anyone about. Describing those holy moments to others feels like a betrayal of something sacred. I do occasionally share what He's said to me or describe something special He's done for me, but a lot of what goes on between us is private family business. Moses isn't lying to Jethro when he doesn't tell him what the Lord has called him to do. He's simply chosen, at this time, not to share the private conversation that took place between himself and the Lord.
"Jethro said, 'Go, and I wish you well.'" (Exodus 4:18b) Moses' father-in-law understands his concerns for the Israelites and sends him off with his blessing. Having Moses away for a time means the manager of his flocks is not available, but by now no doubt Jethro has other sons-in-law besides Moses who can pick up the slack. Jethro likely has grown grandsons by his other daughters by now too. When Moses first arrived in Midian forty years ago, the Bible told us that Jethro had seven daughters. Moses married the oldest of them, but since forty years have passed I am sure the other six ladies long ago married and had children. The departure of Moses at this time doesn't present the hardship to Jethro that it once would have.
"Now the Lord had said to Moses in Midian, 'Go back to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kill you are dead.' So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey and started back to Egypt. And he took the staff of God in his hand." (Exodus 4:19-20) The Pharaoh who ordered the arrest and execution of Moses has died during Moses' forty years in exile. It may be that there was an Egyptian law of the time that stated any warrants executed by a king became null and void upon the king's death.
Previously we were told that Moses had one son, but since then he has fathered a second son. We will learn more about these sons later on in our study.
The staff that was once a simple shepherd's staff is now called "the staff of God". It will be used by the Lord, through Moses, and therefore it's now a consecrated object in the eyes of the Lord. This shows us that God can take a simple thing or a humble, ordinary person and use them to do something great and unexpected. Moses doesn't look like a mighty deliverer. The staff in his hand has never been used for anything but herding and protecting sheep. But as the saying goes, "Little is much when God is in it."
"The Lord said, 'When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.'" (Exodus 4:21) In some Bible verses we find the Lord hardening Pharaoh's heart, in other verses we find Pharaoh hardening his own heart, and in other places the Bible merely says that Pharaoh's heart is hard. I don't believe the Lord forced Pharaoh to be the kind of man he was. For example, I don't think Pharaoh had a desire to do what was right and that the Lord refused to allow him to be soft-hearted toward the Israelites. What we're seeing here is an example of what is known as God's "permissive will". The Lord has a perfect will for all of us, but we aren't always obedient to Him. We get out of His will for various reasons. Because the Lord created us with the ability to think for ourselves, it can also be said that He has a permissive will for our lives too. He doesn't make us serve and obey Him; that choice is ours. Pharaoh is naturally a hard-hearted man. He feels no compassion for the Israelites. To him anyone who is not a native-born Egyptian is a lesser form of human being. He doesn't think they have any more intelligence or civil rights than the oxen that plow his fields. Pharaoh is already lacking in pity. The more he resists doing what's right, the harder his heart grows. The Lord lets this hardening happen. God doesn't step in and force Pharaoh to do the right thing; He also doesn't force Pharaoh to do the wrong thing. He just lets Pharaoh be who Pharaoh wants to be. Because the Lord knows Pharaoh is going to resist doing what's right, He warns Moses ahead of time that the king won't agree to let the people go.
The Lord will have to take drastic action against Pharaoh before he will let Moses take the people out of Egypt. "Then say to Pharaoh, 'This is what the Lord says: Israel is My firstborn son, and I told you, 'Let My son go, so he may worship Me.' But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.'" (Exodus 4:22) God will say to Pharaoh, "Since you have refused to give My son to Me, I will take yours." We are not going to get into a discussion at this time about the Lord's right to take the life of the king's son. We may take a further look into this theological matter when we arrive at the section of Scripture in which we see the death of the firstborn. I will just say at this time it may have been a mercy of the Lord to take Pharaoh's son (presumed to be young) out of this world before he grew old enough to become a wicked man and a pagan idolater like his father.
Speaking of sons, join us tomorrow as we look at an incident that involves the sons of Moses. What takes place in tomorrow's passage seems sudden and shocking and even bizarre, but we hope to break it down in a way that helps us all to understand what happens.
Sunday, April 12, 2020
The Exodus. Day 14, Moses Tries To Refuse His Calling
I believe the Lord has convinced Moses that He is powerful enough to bring the Israelites out of Egypt, but Moses thinks he himself is not the best choice to lead the people when the Lord brings them out. Today Moses points out the fact that he is not gifted in speaking to groups. Making speeches is not something that comes natural to him. Some scholars believe he actually had a speech impediment but other scholars reject this theory by quoting Acts 7:22 in which it is said that Moses "was powerful in speech and in action". I don't know whether he just wasn't a good conversationalist or whether he had a stutter. It doesn't matter because the real problem is that he doesn't think the issue can be overcome. This means that he thinks it depends on his own ability to overcome the issue when it actually depends on the Lord's ability.
The Lord has just finished demonstrating miraculous signs Moses is to use to convince the Israelites that God has truly sent him to them. When the Lord concludes His demonstration, Moses brings up one more objection against going back to Egypt and announcing that he is the man to deliver the Israelites from slavery. "But Moses said, 'Pardon Your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since You have spoken to Your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.'" (Exodus 4:10)
He says, "Excuse me, Lord, but You know I've never had the gift of gab. Up until this day I've never had a way with words and since You and I have been standing here conversing with each other I've not suddenly been blessed with persuasive oratory powers. I'm not the guy anybody calls on to make toasts at weddings. I'm no politician either; I don't enjoy getting up on a soapbox and rallying the crowd. I'm a man of few words. I'm not quick to think of a witty comeback. I have to mull things over in my mind before anything comes out of my mouth. Back in the day when I visited my people in the land of Goshen and saw their misery, I didn't intend to get myself elected as their leader by spouting pretty words. I was going to get their attention by being a man of action. I was rough and tough and youthful, a general in Pharaoh's army, and I intended to lead my people to victory through physical might, not by the power of the spoken word. I'm sorry, Lord. I've listened to and respected everything You've had to say. I believe You are powerful enough to rescue my people. I believe You are going to do everything You say You are going to do. I just think You need to choose somebody else to be Your spokesperson. I don't have what it takes. You need somebody who can use grand figures of speech to stir up a crowd. You need somebody who can debate with Pharaoh and get the best of him. I'm not Your guy. I wish I was, but I'm not."
A new song came out not long ago called "Nobody" and it's by one of my favorite contemporary Christian music groups, Casting Crowns. In the lyrics it says, "Moses had stage fright." We can see that he does, and his stage fright is brought on by focusing on his own abilities (or lack thereof) and by not focusing on the Lord's abilities. Is Moses anybody without the Lord? Is anyone? The power comes from the Lord, not from ourselves. As the saying goes, "God doesn't call the qualified. He qualifies the called." Moses is worrying about letting the Lord down, as if the mighty work of the Lord depends upon the talent of Moses. It doesn't. Moses is the Lord's chosen vessel through which to display His mighty power in the land of Egypt. All of us who belong to the Lord are His chosen vessels through which He will show His love and power and saving grace to the world around us, as the Apostle Paul pointed out when speaking of his own weaknesses and of the other apostles' human frailties: "But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us." (2 Corinthians 4:7) So we see that perhaps the Lord chose Moses because of his lack of eloquence and not in spite of it. What can a common clay jar do? Not much, except contain and pour out whatever is stored within it. That's all it's designed to do. That's all it needs to do. We are the Lord's jars of clay and the ministry we are called to perform is simply to let Him fill us up (with His Spirit, with love, with grace, with mercy, with the gospel message) and let Him pour us out on a thirsty world that desperately needs Christ.
The Lord hears Moses' objections and reminds him of His promise to be with him. Moses isn't going to Egypt in his own power. He's going in the Lord's power. "The Lord said to him, 'Who gave human beings their mouths? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.'" (Exodus 4:11-12) The Lord says, "I know what I'm doing. I didn't make a mistake when I called you for this mission. It doesn't matter whether or not public speaking comes naturally to you. Can the One who created your mouth not tell it what to say?"
Moses is still struggling. His faith in the Lord isn't yet strong enough to overcome his lack of faith in himself. He can't see that he doesn't need faith in himself as long as he has faith in the Lord. In fact, faith in oneself is usually an impediment to doing anything great for the Lord, for self-reliance tends to make us prideful and overconfident. Pride and overconfidence makes us lazy in our relationship with the Lord because we fail to lean on Him in everything we do, instead counting on ourselves to get the job done through our own human ingenuity and strength. The Lord can't use someone who is puffed up with pride but instead prefers to work with those who are humble, as He says time and time again in the Scriptures. There's nothing wrong with knowing it's going to take more than our own strength and smarts to get a job done, as long as we count on the Lord to make up for what we lack. Moses is so afraid of messing up and thinks of himself as such a "nobody" that he doesn't yet have the faith to believe God can make him into a "somebody". He thinks not even the Lord can make him a success. Moses doesn't want to accept this calling on his life. He tries his best to politely and respectfully turn down the Lord's invitation to be a part of the mighty work He plans to perform for the Israelites. "But Moses said, 'Pardon Your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.'" (Exodus 4:13)
There have been times in my life when I've pleaded with the Lord, "Don't ask me to do this! I don't want to. I'm not willing. I'm not cut out for it." The things the Lord calls us to do may not include speaking to large crowds or doing things where we're in the eyes of the public. I recall a time in my life when it seemed like almost everything was going wrong. And those things went wrong for a long time. I sensed the Lord intended to use my difficulties to do something new and big in my life but I wasn't willing to endure the difficulties to get to whatever He had in store with me. I said to Him, "Lord, I don't know where this is going, but I don't want to go there. I've never asked You for anything special. I've never wanted anything more than an ordinary life. You gave me pretty much all I ever asked for and I was content with it. Why are You disturbing me? What are You training me for through these unpleasant circumstances? I don't want to do whatever it is. Call someone else. I just want my ordinary life back." And you know what He said to me? "An ordinary life isn't good enough for a child of Mine. I want to give you an extraordinary life! And I can't give you an extraordinary life by leaving you in your comfort zone." How does the Lord plan to use those experiences I endured? Well, He certainly may never call me to speak in front of crowds like Moses or the apostles. He may never ask me to do anything that much of anyone ever notices. But He's done something in my heart. He taught me I can trust Him to make up for what I lack. He's taught me that the power to accomplish anything worthwhile comes from Him and not from myself. And as I've said before, I wouldn't be studying the Bible with you right now if I hadn't endured those dark years. I wouldn't love the Lord as much as I do, and I wouldn't have so much passion for His holy word, and I wouldn't be able to tell you that when He says, "My grace is sufficient," His grace really is sufficient. Because of those long dark years of difficulty I can say what Jeremiah said, "His word is in my heart like a fire." (Jeremiah 20:9)
The Lord didn't let me get away with saying, "Go to someone else with whatever it is You're doing. Leave me to my comfortable, ordinary life." I'm glad He didn't. He's not going to let Moses get away with it either, but because Moses can't find it within himself to fully surrender his will to the Lord's he is going to miss out on some of the blessings and honor and authority that could have been his alone as he leads the people out of Egypt and across the wilderness. He's going to keep on making excuses and wasting time until the Lord grants him a helper in order to get him moving. Comforting as the thought of a helper may be in this moment, Moses is going to have moments over the next forty years when he'll see he'd have been better off accepting the commission of being the sole human leader of the children of Israel. Instead he'll share that authority and it won't always be the best situation for him, for his helper, or for the Israelites.
"Then the Lord's anger burned against Moses and He said, 'What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you. You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. But take this staff in your hand so you can perform the signs with it.'" (Exodus 4:14-17) The Lord knew all along that Moses would object to becoming His spokesperson. That's why He arranged to speak to Moses at the very time when He also arranged for Aaron to be on his way to visit Moses. But knowing that Moses would refuse to fully accept his calling doesn't make the Lord any less angry that Moses is missing out on the fullness of the blessings that could have been his. I don't think the Lord is so much angry at Moses as He is angry for Moses. It upsets the Lord when He can't give us all the blessings He wants to give us, but so often in life we deflect His blessings by not being willing and obedient.
I'll give you a little example from my childhood to illustrate my point. I've always been like a Chatty Cathy doll. I love everything about language, whether it's spoken or written. I like to roll the sound of words around in my head and I delight in the way words look when written on a page. As a child I loved talking so much that I could never shut up even when it was in my best interests. So when my parents or a teacher asked me to be quiet for a while in exchange for a special treat, I couldn't do it. I'd miss out on the special treat because I wasn't willing and obedient. I frequently missed out on special blessings because I couldn't do what I was asked and that's Moses' problem in our study today. He'll receive some of the blessings the Lord wants to give him because he does believe in the Lord and is going to obey a lot of the instructions he'll be given during the rest of his life. But he's not going to receive all of the blessings the Lord wanted to give him. He'll have to share them with his brother Aaron. The Lord would have called Aaron to be the chief speaker if He'd wanted Aaron to be the chief speaker, but instead He called Moses. But since Moses isn't willing to be the chief speaker he won't receive all the blessings that could have been his if he'd simply said, "Yes, Lord. I'll do whatever you say."
The Lord has just finished demonstrating miraculous signs Moses is to use to convince the Israelites that God has truly sent him to them. When the Lord concludes His demonstration, Moses brings up one more objection against going back to Egypt and announcing that he is the man to deliver the Israelites from slavery. "But Moses said, 'Pardon Your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since You have spoken to Your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.'" (Exodus 4:10)
He says, "Excuse me, Lord, but You know I've never had the gift of gab. Up until this day I've never had a way with words and since You and I have been standing here conversing with each other I've not suddenly been blessed with persuasive oratory powers. I'm not the guy anybody calls on to make toasts at weddings. I'm no politician either; I don't enjoy getting up on a soapbox and rallying the crowd. I'm a man of few words. I'm not quick to think of a witty comeback. I have to mull things over in my mind before anything comes out of my mouth. Back in the day when I visited my people in the land of Goshen and saw their misery, I didn't intend to get myself elected as their leader by spouting pretty words. I was going to get their attention by being a man of action. I was rough and tough and youthful, a general in Pharaoh's army, and I intended to lead my people to victory through physical might, not by the power of the spoken word. I'm sorry, Lord. I've listened to and respected everything You've had to say. I believe You are powerful enough to rescue my people. I believe You are going to do everything You say You are going to do. I just think You need to choose somebody else to be Your spokesperson. I don't have what it takes. You need somebody who can use grand figures of speech to stir up a crowd. You need somebody who can debate with Pharaoh and get the best of him. I'm not Your guy. I wish I was, but I'm not."
A new song came out not long ago called "Nobody" and it's by one of my favorite contemporary Christian music groups, Casting Crowns. In the lyrics it says, "Moses had stage fright." We can see that he does, and his stage fright is brought on by focusing on his own abilities (or lack thereof) and by not focusing on the Lord's abilities. Is Moses anybody without the Lord? Is anyone? The power comes from the Lord, not from ourselves. As the saying goes, "God doesn't call the qualified. He qualifies the called." Moses is worrying about letting the Lord down, as if the mighty work of the Lord depends upon the talent of Moses. It doesn't. Moses is the Lord's chosen vessel through which to display His mighty power in the land of Egypt. All of us who belong to the Lord are His chosen vessels through which He will show His love and power and saving grace to the world around us, as the Apostle Paul pointed out when speaking of his own weaknesses and of the other apostles' human frailties: "But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us." (2 Corinthians 4:7) So we see that perhaps the Lord chose Moses because of his lack of eloquence and not in spite of it. What can a common clay jar do? Not much, except contain and pour out whatever is stored within it. That's all it's designed to do. That's all it needs to do. We are the Lord's jars of clay and the ministry we are called to perform is simply to let Him fill us up (with His Spirit, with love, with grace, with mercy, with the gospel message) and let Him pour us out on a thirsty world that desperately needs Christ.
The Lord hears Moses' objections and reminds him of His promise to be with him. Moses isn't going to Egypt in his own power. He's going in the Lord's power. "The Lord said to him, 'Who gave human beings their mouths? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.'" (Exodus 4:11-12) The Lord says, "I know what I'm doing. I didn't make a mistake when I called you for this mission. It doesn't matter whether or not public speaking comes naturally to you. Can the One who created your mouth not tell it what to say?"
Moses is still struggling. His faith in the Lord isn't yet strong enough to overcome his lack of faith in himself. He can't see that he doesn't need faith in himself as long as he has faith in the Lord. In fact, faith in oneself is usually an impediment to doing anything great for the Lord, for self-reliance tends to make us prideful and overconfident. Pride and overconfidence makes us lazy in our relationship with the Lord because we fail to lean on Him in everything we do, instead counting on ourselves to get the job done through our own human ingenuity and strength. The Lord can't use someone who is puffed up with pride but instead prefers to work with those who are humble, as He says time and time again in the Scriptures. There's nothing wrong with knowing it's going to take more than our own strength and smarts to get a job done, as long as we count on the Lord to make up for what we lack. Moses is so afraid of messing up and thinks of himself as such a "nobody" that he doesn't yet have the faith to believe God can make him into a "somebody". He thinks not even the Lord can make him a success. Moses doesn't want to accept this calling on his life. He tries his best to politely and respectfully turn down the Lord's invitation to be a part of the mighty work He plans to perform for the Israelites. "But Moses said, 'Pardon Your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.'" (Exodus 4:13)
There have been times in my life when I've pleaded with the Lord, "Don't ask me to do this! I don't want to. I'm not willing. I'm not cut out for it." The things the Lord calls us to do may not include speaking to large crowds or doing things where we're in the eyes of the public. I recall a time in my life when it seemed like almost everything was going wrong. And those things went wrong for a long time. I sensed the Lord intended to use my difficulties to do something new and big in my life but I wasn't willing to endure the difficulties to get to whatever He had in store with me. I said to Him, "Lord, I don't know where this is going, but I don't want to go there. I've never asked You for anything special. I've never wanted anything more than an ordinary life. You gave me pretty much all I ever asked for and I was content with it. Why are You disturbing me? What are You training me for through these unpleasant circumstances? I don't want to do whatever it is. Call someone else. I just want my ordinary life back." And you know what He said to me? "An ordinary life isn't good enough for a child of Mine. I want to give you an extraordinary life! And I can't give you an extraordinary life by leaving you in your comfort zone." How does the Lord plan to use those experiences I endured? Well, He certainly may never call me to speak in front of crowds like Moses or the apostles. He may never ask me to do anything that much of anyone ever notices. But He's done something in my heart. He taught me I can trust Him to make up for what I lack. He's taught me that the power to accomplish anything worthwhile comes from Him and not from myself. And as I've said before, I wouldn't be studying the Bible with you right now if I hadn't endured those dark years. I wouldn't love the Lord as much as I do, and I wouldn't have so much passion for His holy word, and I wouldn't be able to tell you that when He says, "My grace is sufficient," His grace really is sufficient. Because of those long dark years of difficulty I can say what Jeremiah said, "His word is in my heart like a fire." (Jeremiah 20:9)
The Lord didn't let me get away with saying, "Go to someone else with whatever it is You're doing. Leave me to my comfortable, ordinary life." I'm glad He didn't. He's not going to let Moses get away with it either, but because Moses can't find it within himself to fully surrender his will to the Lord's he is going to miss out on some of the blessings and honor and authority that could have been his alone as he leads the people out of Egypt and across the wilderness. He's going to keep on making excuses and wasting time until the Lord grants him a helper in order to get him moving. Comforting as the thought of a helper may be in this moment, Moses is going to have moments over the next forty years when he'll see he'd have been better off accepting the commission of being the sole human leader of the children of Israel. Instead he'll share that authority and it won't always be the best situation for him, for his helper, or for the Israelites.
"Then the Lord's anger burned against Moses and He said, 'What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you. You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. But take this staff in your hand so you can perform the signs with it.'" (Exodus 4:14-17) The Lord knew all along that Moses would object to becoming His spokesperson. That's why He arranged to speak to Moses at the very time when He also arranged for Aaron to be on his way to visit Moses. But knowing that Moses would refuse to fully accept his calling doesn't make the Lord any less angry that Moses is missing out on the fullness of the blessings that could have been his. I don't think the Lord is so much angry at Moses as He is angry for Moses. It upsets the Lord when He can't give us all the blessings He wants to give us, but so often in life we deflect His blessings by not being willing and obedient.
I'll give you a little example from my childhood to illustrate my point. I've always been like a Chatty Cathy doll. I love everything about language, whether it's spoken or written. I like to roll the sound of words around in my head and I delight in the way words look when written on a page. As a child I loved talking so much that I could never shut up even when it was in my best interests. So when my parents or a teacher asked me to be quiet for a while in exchange for a special treat, I couldn't do it. I'd miss out on the special treat because I wasn't willing and obedient. I frequently missed out on special blessings because I couldn't do what I was asked and that's Moses' problem in our study today. He'll receive some of the blessings the Lord wants to give him because he does believe in the Lord and is going to obey a lot of the instructions he'll be given during the rest of his life. But he's not going to receive all of the blessings the Lord wanted to give him. He'll have to share them with his brother Aaron. The Lord would have called Aaron to be the chief speaker if He'd wanted Aaron to be the chief speaker, but instead He called Moses. But since Moses isn't willing to be the chief speaker he won't receive all the blessings that could have been his if he'd simply said, "Yes, Lord. I'll do whatever you say."
Saturday, April 11, 2020
The Exodus. Day 13, Signs For Moses To Use In Egypt
The Lord has been assuring Moses the Israelites will listen to him and that the mission of rescuing the Israelites from Egypt will be a success. But Moses still has doubts. He's still afraid. The Lord provides some signs for Moses to bolster his faith and to convince the people that the power of God is behind him.
Some commentators are critical of Moses for needing extra reassurance but I am not at all inclined to be judgmental of him. It's human nature to want promises repeated to us more than once. It's human nature to feel apprehensive when faced with a task that appears monumental, even when in our hearts we know the Lord is calling us to perform the task. The last time Moses stood on Egyptian soil he was ridiculed by his own people right before the Egyptian king issued a warrant for his arrest and execution. It's understandable that he needs to hear the Lord say, more than once, that he's not making this journey and risking his life for nothing.
"Moses answered, 'What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, 'The Lord did not appear to you?'" (Exodus 4:1) Moses asks, "What if they think I'm crazy? Many years ago I went to them expecting them to understand I'm the man You've chosen to deliver them. They thought I was delusional then. How much more delusional will they think I am now that I've spent forty years in the hot sun on the backside of the desert? If they didn't believe You spoke to me when I was young and strong and powerful, why should they believe You've spoken to me now that I'm a nobody? As far as that goes, won't they wonder why You'd choose someone like me---who was raised as an Egyptian---instead of one of the rabbis or elders of their community?"
The Lord doesn't waste time providing more verbal assurances. He knows Moses needs more than that, so He gives Moses a visual demonstration of the mighty works He's going to enable Moses to perform in Egypt. "Then the Lord said to him, 'What is that in your hand?' 'A staff,' he replied. The Lord said,' Throw it on the ground.' Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it." (Exodus 4:2-3) Oh, Moses, I've never felt I had more in common with you than I do right now! If I drop a stick on the ground and it turns into a snake, you better believe I'm going to run from it. I'm going to run from any snake I see anywhere. When I picture this scene in my mind I can't help being amused and that's okay; some things in the Bible are funny. I think they're meant to be. Life itself and human nature are funny sometimes and it's a good thing they are because a merry heart, as King Solomon said, is like a medicine. God gave us a sense of humor for a reason---because He knew we'd need it. When I picture Moses grabbing up two handfuls of his long shepherd's robes and hightailing it to higher ground as fast as he can, dust flying from underneath his sandals, I can relate to his fear and I can laugh because I'd have done the same thing.
Now the Lord asks Moses to do something I'm not sure I'd have the courage to do. "Then the Lord said to him, 'Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.' So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. 'This,' said the Lord, 'is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers---the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob---has appeared to you.'" (Exodus 4:4-5) Moses displays more faith than I can be sure I'd have in this situation. He trusts the Lord enough to grab the snake by its tail. He's afraid but he obeys the Lord anyway. This is training for what lies ahead of him, for when he arrives in Egypt he's still going to be afraid but he's going to obey the Lord anyway.
"Then the Lord said, 'Put your hand inside your cloak.' So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, the skin was leprous---it had become as white as snow. 'Now put it back into your cloak,' He said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh." (Exodus 4:6-7) Various scholars use the various signs of Exodus 4 to symbolize various things, and they do not always agree with each other on what these particular signs represent. Why did the Lord choose the sign of the snake and the sign of leprosy? Why did He choose the next sign He tells Moses about but doesn't demonstrate at this time? I'm going to share with you the idea that came to me while studying our portion of Scripture today, and I can't be certain whether this idea is right, but I feel there's nothing doctrinally wrong with them. The snake may represent the Lord's power over the animal kingdom, since some of the plagues of Egypt are going to involve swarms of invading creatures. The sign of leprosy may represent the Lord's power over the human race, since some of the plagues involve the illness and death of human beings. The third sign, which we conclude our study with today, may represent the Lord's power over nature, since one of the plagues will involve the waters turning into blood.
"Then the Lord said, 'If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first sign, they may believe the second. But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground.'" (Exodus 4:8-9) Right now the Lord is talking about signs Moses is to perform for his own people, but these signs will be reproduced on a bigger scale for the Egyptians. The Israelites are not going to be adversely affected by the plagues that fall upon the Egyptians, but they will be a witness to them. The plagues that fall upon the Egyptians will reinforce the Israelites' trust in the Lord because these plagues demonstrate His mighty power over all the earth and everything in it. The plagues that fall upon the Egyptians will put the fear of the Lord in their hearts---well, in everyone's heart but the king's. I don't know whether any Egyptians converted to the God of Israel during the plagues of Egypt, but I wouldn't be surprised to hear that they did. If nothing else, they certainly had to accept that the God of the Israelites existed and was enormously powerful, so even if they didn't forsake the false gods of Egypt and turn to Him, at the very least they had to admit He was no figment of the Israelites' imagination.
Is Moses ready to go to Egypt now? No, he is not. He believes the Lord is powerful to accomplish great things in Egypt but he has little confidence in himself. He believes that forty years ago he might have been the right man for the job but he no longer believes he's got what it takes. In tomorrow's passage he's going to try to talk the Lord out of sending him. He's going to try to convince the Lord that he's no longer the best choice for the task at hand.
Some commentators are critical of Moses for needing extra reassurance but I am not at all inclined to be judgmental of him. It's human nature to want promises repeated to us more than once. It's human nature to feel apprehensive when faced with a task that appears monumental, even when in our hearts we know the Lord is calling us to perform the task. The last time Moses stood on Egyptian soil he was ridiculed by his own people right before the Egyptian king issued a warrant for his arrest and execution. It's understandable that he needs to hear the Lord say, more than once, that he's not making this journey and risking his life for nothing.
"Moses answered, 'What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, 'The Lord did not appear to you?'" (Exodus 4:1) Moses asks, "What if they think I'm crazy? Many years ago I went to them expecting them to understand I'm the man You've chosen to deliver them. They thought I was delusional then. How much more delusional will they think I am now that I've spent forty years in the hot sun on the backside of the desert? If they didn't believe You spoke to me when I was young and strong and powerful, why should they believe You've spoken to me now that I'm a nobody? As far as that goes, won't they wonder why You'd choose someone like me---who was raised as an Egyptian---instead of one of the rabbis or elders of their community?"
The Lord doesn't waste time providing more verbal assurances. He knows Moses needs more than that, so He gives Moses a visual demonstration of the mighty works He's going to enable Moses to perform in Egypt. "Then the Lord said to him, 'What is that in your hand?' 'A staff,' he replied. The Lord said,' Throw it on the ground.' Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it." (Exodus 4:2-3) Oh, Moses, I've never felt I had more in common with you than I do right now! If I drop a stick on the ground and it turns into a snake, you better believe I'm going to run from it. I'm going to run from any snake I see anywhere. When I picture this scene in my mind I can't help being amused and that's okay; some things in the Bible are funny. I think they're meant to be. Life itself and human nature are funny sometimes and it's a good thing they are because a merry heart, as King Solomon said, is like a medicine. God gave us a sense of humor for a reason---because He knew we'd need it. When I picture Moses grabbing up two handfuls of his long shepherd's robes and hightailing it to higher ground as fast as he can, dust flying from underneath his sandals, I can relate to his fear and I can laugh because I'd have done the same thing.
Now the Lord asks Moses to do something I'm not sure I'd have the courage to do. "Then the Lord said to him, 'Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.' So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. 'This,' said the Lord, 'is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers---the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob---has appeared to you.'" (Exodus 4:4-5) Moses displays more faith than I can be sure I'd have in this situation. He trusts the Lord enough to grab the snake by its tail. He's afraid but he obeys the Lord anyway. This is training for what lies ahead of him, for when he arrives in Egypt he's still going to be afraid but he's going to obey the Lord anyway.
"Then the Lord said, 'Put your hand inside your cloak.' So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, the skin was leprous---it had become as white as snow. 'Now put it back into your cloak,' He said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh." (Exodus 4:6-7) Various scholars use the various signs of Exodus 4 to symbolize various things, and they do not always agree with each other on what these particular signs represent. Why did the Lord choose the sign of the snake and the sign of leprosy? Why did He choose the next sign He tells Moses about but doesn't demonstrate at this time? I'm going to share with you the idea that came to me while studying our portion of Scripture today, and I can't be certain whether this idea is right, but I feel there's nothing doctrinally wrong with them. The snake may represent the Lord's power over the animal kingdom, since some of the plagues of Egypt are going to involve swarms of invading creatures. The sign of leprosy may represent the Lord's power over the human race, since some of the plagues involve the illness and death of human beings. The third sign, which we conclude our study with today, may represent the Lord's power over nature, since one of the plagues will involve the waters turning into blood.
"Then the Lord said, 'If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first sign, they may believe the second. But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground.'" (Exodus 4:8-9) Right now the Lord is talking about signs Moses is to perform for his own people, but these signs will be reproduced on a bigger scale for the Egyptians. The Israelites are not going to be adversely affected by the plagues that fall upon the Egyptians, but they will be a witness to them. The plagues that fall upon the Egyptians will reinforce the Israelites' trust in the Lord because these plagues demonstrate His mighty power over all the earth and everything in it. The plagues that fall upon the Egyptians will put the fear of the Lord in their hearts---well, in everyone's heart but the king's. I don't know whether any Egyptians converted to the God of Israel during the plagues of Egypt, but I wouldn't be surprised to hear that they did. If nothing else, they certainly had to accept that the God of the Israelites existed and was enormously powerful, so even if they didn't forsake the false gods of Egypt and turn to Him, at the very least they had to admit He was no figment of the Israelites' imagination.
Is Moses ready to go to Egypt now? No, he is not. He believes the Lord is powerful to accomplish great things in Egypt but he has little confidence in himself. He believes that forty years ago he might have been the right man for the job but he no longer believes he's got what it takes. In tomorrow's passage he's going to try to talk the Lord out of sending him. He's going to try to convince the Lord that he's no longer the best choice for the task at hand.
Friday, April 10, 2020
The Exodus. Day 12, The Lord Tells Moses What To Say To The Israelites
The Lord is still speaking to Moses from the burning bush in the desert. Moses has asked Him what he should say when he returns to Egypt to tell the Israelites that God has sent him to bring them out.
"God also said to Moses, 'Say to the Israelites, 'The Lord, the God of your fathers---the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob---has sent me to you.' This is My name forever, the name you shall call Me, from generation to generation.'" (Exodus 3:15) Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob have all passed on but the people hold them in high esteem. These men worshiped the one true God and He did great things for them. The Israelites in Egypt are to be told, "The same God who protected and helped and delivered Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in all their struggles in life will do the same for you."
The Lord tells Moses exactly what he is to do when he arrives in Egypt. "Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, 'The Lord, the God of your fathers---the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob---appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites---a land flowing with milk and honey." (Exodus 3:16-17) God has not forgotten the promises He made. During the last four centuries, and especially after being enslaved by the Egyptians, the Israelites may have wondered from time to time whether God had changed His mind. The promise seems a long time in coming---but it is coming, and soon.
"The elders of Israel will listen to you." (Exodus 3:18a) I think, in many ways, what Moses fears most is that no one will listen to him. In Moses' youth, when he was at his strongest physically and politically, the Hebrew people rejected him. Now he's being told to go to them again at the age of eighty, after spending forty years leading sheep from pasture to pasture, with his long hair and long beard and his shepherd's robes and his skin wrinkled and browned by the sun. What power does he have in Egypt? What influence? The last king wanted him dead and the current king is certainly no fan of his. Moses knows he's going to be an unwelcome presence to all the native Egyptians and possibly an unwelcome presence to the Hebrews as well. All that might have been true if God had not prepared the hearts of Moses' people. They are going to be receptive to his message.
After the elders listen to Moses and agree among themselves that God has indeed spoken to him, this is what must happen next: "Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, 'The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God.'" (Exodus 3:18b) Is the Lord telling Moses and the elders to lie to Pharaoh? If Pharaoh allows them to make the three-day journey, expecting them to return, are they supposed to flee into the wilderness instead? I don't think that's what's going on here. God Himself does not and cannot lie. (Numbers 23:19, Titus 1:2, Hebrews 6:18) In the Scriptures the Lord never has anything good to say about those who tell lies. There are too many verses for me to reference here, but if you have the time you might want to google something like "Bible verses about lying". You'll find a long list of results that clearly show how God feels about telling lies. No, I don't think God is asking the people to lie to the king. I think that, if the king says yes, the Lord is telling the people to actually go a three-day journey into the wilderness for sacrifice and worship, then they are to return to Egypt.
This would accomplish two purposes that I can think of off the top of my head. One, the people could benefit from three days of rest from their work and three days set apart to worship the Lord in the desert. Such a thing would have fortified them spiritually for what lies ahead of them: moving out into the promised land and taking it over from the pagan tribes who currently inhabit it. Two, if the king agreed to giving the Israelites three days off to observe their religion, he would have been well on his way to allowing the Lord to do a great work in his heart. If the king's heart had been soft enough to grant this request, and if he'd seen that the people peacefully worshiped their God in the desert and then returned to him as promised, he might have begun to see that the prejudices and fears he harbors toward the Israelites are unfounded. Contrary to what he thinks and to what his father thought and to what kings previous to his father thought, the Israelites are not waiting for the right time to revolt against Egypt or to join with the enemies of Egypt and overtake the land. They merely want to live their lives in peace and worship their God in peace. They want to make their own living and be good citizens. There is no need to oppress them and force them into slavery. They never bothered anyone during the time of Joseph and they don't want to bother anyone now. If Pharaoh had said "yes" to this one small thing, he might have eventually and willingly said "yes" to giving them their freedom. Perhaps he'd have even said "yes" to making the one true God the Lord of his life and the Savior of his soul.
This is a pivotal moment in the life of the king. This is the hinge upon which the door of his life turns. This is the test that will make him or break him. And he fails it. The Lord knew all along that he would. "But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him." (Exodus 3:19) Though He's well aware that Pharaoh will not obey Him, He gives him the opportunity anyway. This is how the Lord deals with every human being. He gives us opportunity after opportunity to turn to Him, even when He knows some of us won't. In the final judgment, no one will ever be able to claim He never gave them a chance. Because the king of Egypt says "no" to the Lord the very first time he's asked to do something for the Lord's people, his heart is going to grow harder and harder. Each time he's asked to do something, and each time he says "no", the shell around his heart becomes more impenetrable. That's what happens to any human being who repeatedly says "no" to the Lord. The one who says "no" over and over becomes more and more difficult to reach. The shell around their heart is so thick and so hard that it's possible to reach a point where nothing will ever get through. Because the king's heart grows continually harder in the book of Exodus, the Lord has to bring plagues into the land of Egypt---each more severe than the previous plague---until Pharaoh eventually relents. "So I will stretch out My hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go." (Exodus 3:20)
The Egyptian people will have softer hearts than their king toward Moses' people. "And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed. Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians." (Exodus 3:21-22) The Israelites want to leave Egypt so badly that they'd do it if it means fleeing with nothing but the clothes on their backs, but the Lord is going to bring them out with more than they had when they arrived four hundred years ago. Jacob was a well-to-do man and he and his family entered Egypt with a fair amount of worldly goods. But Jacob's descendants are going to leave Egypt with more wealth than he ever saw in his lifetime. These people are going to number perhaps as many as two million, and they are going to be loaded down with gold and silver and clothing and household items, and they are going to be accompanied by their large flocks and herds. They need these things to survive and thrive when they leave Egypt. God is going to make certain they have what they need. The culture that's responsible for their enslavement and misery is going to be the very culture He uses to supply their physical and material needs when they leave the land of oppression.
God is going to supply what we need in our day too, even though a plague is in our land right now and even though we feel oppressed by uncertainty and fear. He's going to provide for those who call upon His name. I don't know how He's going to do it, but I bet the Israelites also wondered how He was going to supply their needs. Did they ever, in their wildest dreams, imagine He'd use the Egyptians to give them the goods? I highly doubt it. Our provision may come from sources we can't imagine right now, but it will come because God is faithful to those who love Him and who are called by His name. He has a great number of people in the United States of America who serve Him and acknowledge Him as Lord and Savior and King. For the sake of His children, He will act for the good of our country. He will come through.
"God also said to Moses, 'Say to the Israelites, 'The Lord, the God of your fathers---the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob---has sent me to you.' This is My name forever, the name you shall call Me, from generation to generation.'" (Exodus 3:15) Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob have all passed on but the people hold them in high esteem. These men worshiped the one true God and He did great things for them. The Israelites in Egypt are to be told, "The same God who protected and helped and delivered Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in all their struggles in life will do the same for you."
The Lord tells Moses exactly what he is to do when he arrives in Egypt. "Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, 'The Lord, the God of your fathers---the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob---appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites---a land flowing with milk and honey." (Exodus 3:16-17) God has not forgotten the promises He made. During the last four centuries, and especially after being enslaved by the Egyptians, the Israelites may have wondered from time to time whether God had changed His mind. The promise seems a long time in coming---but it is coming, and soon.
"The elders of Israel will listen to you." (Exodus 3:18a) I think, in many ways, what Moses fears most is that no one will listen to him. In Moses' youth, when he was at his strongest physically and politically, the Hebrew people rejected him. Now he's being told to go to them again at the age of eighty, after spending forty years leading sheep from pasture to pasture, with his long hair and long beard and his shepherd's robes and his skin wrinkled and browned by the sun. What power does he have in Egypt? What influence? The last king wanted him dead and the current king is certainly no fan of his. Moses knows he's going to be an unwelcome presence to all the native Egyptians and possibly an unwelcome presence to the Hebrews as well. All that might have been true if God had not prepared the hearts of Moses' people. They are going to be receptive to his message.
After the elders listen to Moses and agree among themselves that God has indeed spoken to him, this is what must happen next: "Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, 'The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God.'" (Exodus 3:18b) Is the Lord telling Moses and the elders to lie to Pharaoh? If Pharaoh allows them to make the three-day journey, expecting them to return, are they supposed to flee into the wilderness instead? I don't think that's what's going on here. God Himself does not and cannot lie. (Numbers 23:19, Titus 1:2, Hebrews 6:18) In the Scriptures the Lord never has anything good to say about those who tell lies. There are too many verses for me to reference here, but if you have the time you might want to google something like "Bible verses about lying". You'll find a long list of results that clearly show how God feels about telling lies. No, I don't think God is asking the people to lie to the king. I think that, if the king says yes, the Lord is telling the people to actually go a three-day journey into the wilderness for sacrifice and worship, then they are to return to Egypt.
This would accomplish two purposes that I can think of off the top of my head. One, the people could benefit from three days of rest from their work and three days set apart to worship the Lord in the desert. Such a thing would have fortified them spiritually for what lies ahead of them: moving out into the promised land and taking it over from the pagan tribes who currently inhabit it. Two, if the king agreed to giving the Israelites three days off to observe their religion, he would have been well on his way to allowing the Lord to do a great work in his heart. If the king's heart had been soft enough to grant this request, and if he'd seen that the people peacefully worshiped their God in the desert and then returned to him as promised, he might have begun to see that the prejudices and fears he harbors toward the Israelites are unfounded. Contrary to what he thinks and to what his father thought and to what kings previous to his father thought, the Israelites are not waiting for the right time to revolt against Egypt or to join with the enemies of Egypt and overtake the land. They merely want to live their lives in peace and worship their God in peace. They want to make their own living and be good citizens. There is no need to oppress them and force them into slavery. They never bothered anyone during the time of Joseph and they don't want to bother anyone now. If Pharaoh had said "yes" to this one small thing, he might have eventually and willingly said "yes" to giving them their freedom. Perhaps he'd have even said "yes" to making the one true God the Lord of his life and the Savior of his soul.
This is a pivotal moment in the life of the king. This is the hinge upon which the door of his life turns. This is the test that will make him or break him. And he fails it. The Lord knew all along that he would. "But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him." (Exodus 3:19) Though He's well aware that Pharaoh will not obey Him, He gives him the opportunity anyway. This is how the Lord deals with every human being. He gives us opportunity after opportunity to turn to Him, even when He knows some of us won't. In the final judgment, no one will ever be able to claim He never gave them a chance. Because the king of Egypt says "no" to the Lord the very first time he's asked to do something for the Lord's people, his heart is going to grow harder and harder. Each time he's asked to do something, and each time he says "no", the shell around his heart becomes more impenetrable. That's what happens to any human being who repeatedly says "no" to the Lord. The one who says "no" over and over becomes more and more difficult to reach. The shell around their heart is so thick and so hard that it's possible to reach a point where nothing will ever get through. Because the king's heart grows continually harder in the book of Exodus, the Lord has to bring plagues into the land of Egypt---each more severe than the previous plague---until Pharaoh eventually relents. "So I will stretch out My hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go." (Exodus 3:20)
The Egyptian people will have softer hearts than their king toward Moses' people. "And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed. Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians." (Exodus 3:21-22) The Israelites want to leave Egypt so badly that they'd do it if it means fleeing with nothing but the clothes on their backs, but the Lord is going to bring them out with more than they had when they arrived four hundred years ago. Jacob was a well-to-do man and he and his family entered Egypt with a fair amount of worldly goods. But Jacob's descendants are going to leave Egypt with more wealth than he ever saw in his lifetime. These people are going to number perhaps as many as two million, and they are going to be loaded down with gold and silver and clothing and household items, and they are going to be accompanied by their large flocks and herds. They need these things to survive and thrive when they leave Egypt. God is going to make certain they have what they need. The culture that's responsible for their enslavement and misery is going to be the very culture He uses to supply their physical and material needs when they leave the land of oppression.
God is going to supply what we need in our day too, even though a plague is in our land right now and even though we feel oppressed by uncertainty and fear. He's going to provide for those who call upon His name. I don't know how He's going to do it, but I bet the Israelites also wondered how He was going to supply their needs. Did they ever, in their wildest dreams, imagine He'd use the Egyptians to give them the goods? I highly doubt it. Our provision may come from sources we can't imagine right now, but it will come because God is faithful to those who love Him and who are called by His name. He has a great number of people in the United States of America who serve Him and acknowledge Him as Lord and Savior and King. For the sake of His children, He will act for the good of our country. He will come through.
Thursday, April 9, 2020
The Exodus. Day 11, The Lord Speaks To Moses, Part Four
We concluded yesterday with Moses asking the Lord, "What shall I tell them?" if the Hebrew people ask him who sent him to deliver them. In today's passage the Lord gives Moses this answer: "God said to Moses, 'I Am Who I Am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I Am has sent me to you.'" (Exodus 3:14) He says in Hebrew, "Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh".
"Eyheh" means "to be" but is frequently translated as "I am" because this is the less awkward form of the phrase. A literal translation of the Lord's words in verse 14 would be something like, "I am the being One," or "I am the self-existing One", or "I will be who I will be," or "I am the One who has always been and who always will be". The Lord Jesus Christ---God the Son---said something similar of Himself in Revelation 22:13: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End."
This name that the Lord shares with Moses---and with the Israelites--- has so many deep potential meanings that it would be impossible for us to think of and discuss them all, but we are going to take a look at the four top translations that I mentioned already in today's study.
"I am the being One" refers to God's permanence. He has always existed and always will exist. We never have to fear that He's a fair weather friend. He's not here today and gone tomorrow. No matter how far back into eternity we go, God is already there. No matter how far we go into the future, God is still there. It's difficult for the human mind to comprehend anything that never had a moment of non-existence, but there was never a time when God wasn't there. He didn't suddenly start existing somewhere way back in the distant past. He didn't need anyone or anything to create Him. Somehow He just always was. We may not understand this, but that doesn't make it any less true. The One who has always existed and always will exist is One we can count on to always be there for us.
"I am the self-existing One" means that God is all-powerful. He needs nothing from outside Himself to sustain Himself. That ought to humble us in a beneficial way when we realize that God didn't create us because He needed us. He was entirely complete and fulfilled and whole long before He ever formed the first human being out of the dust of the ground. He wanted us to exist, but He didn't need us to exist. That means we have Someone so much greater than ourselves to lean on. We ought not make the mistake of thinking everything depends on us when instead everything depends on Him. As He says in the Scriptures, He is the One who existed before all things, who created all things, and who holds all things together. (Colossians 1:17) When we fall into the trap of thinking things depend on us more than they actually do, we're in danger of making little gods of ourselves, and when we think more of ourselves than we should, we think less of God than we should. I remember sitting in women's Bible study one night at church and suddenly feeling like I might be coming down with something. I was already completely worn down and exhausted by some personal struggles that were going on in my life, and I thought, "Oh, no! If I get sick, then what? Things are already starting to fall apart and they'll really fall apart if I'm not at my best and in charge." Immediately the Holy Spirit brought to my mind the words of Colossians 1:17 where the Lord says He holds all things together by His powerful word. I didn't even know I knew that verse! But I'd read it and it was stored someplace deep in my mind and the Holy Spirit brought it to the forefront at just the right moment to remind me that the Lord is the One holding all things together, not me. We're going through a time of disaster in our world right now, and we may experience moments of feeling like things are falling apart, and we need to remind ourselves that God is still in charge and is still holding all things together.
"I will be who I will be" means that God is able to meet the needs of our changing lives. Who I needed Him to be yesterday may not be who I need Him to be today. Who I need Him to be today may not be who I need Him to be tomorrow. This doesn't mean that God changes but that there always has been and always will be elements of His personality and of His power to supply whatever we need at any particular moment in time. Some days I need Him to be a father to me. Other days I need Him to be a deliverer. At other times I need Him to be my healer or my counselor. You see where I'm going with these examples. He's always had the ability to be each of these things, but I may not need Him to be all these things to me all at once. If Moses presents God to the Israelites as the One who will be who He will be, Moses is saying, "God is whoever you need Him to be today. Right now you need to trust that He's going to deliver you from Egypt. That may mean some of you need to regard Him as a father figure. Some of you may need to consider Him as a mighty warrior. Others may need to think of Him as the One who sustains you and supplies your needs. God is able to be whatever each individual person needs Him to be. He will meet you where you are and interact with you in a way that works with your personality and with your needs in that moment in time."
"I am the One who has always been and who always will be" means we can never lose God. There's nothing we have in this life that can't be taken from us in an instant. If we've placed our trust and confidence in our own strength, we need to remember that our continued health is not guaranteed. If we've been finding our security in our marriage, we need to keep in mind that marriages fail every day of the week. If our confidence is in our jobs, or in the economy, or in the government, or in the media, all we have to do is look at what's going on in our nation right now to remind ourselves that businesses sometimes fail entirely or sometimes have to lay off employees, that the stock market can crash and the economy can tank, that fake news abounds, and that the normal day-to-day things that typically go on in a nation can come to a grinding halt because of the sudden emergence of a new virus that we can't even see with the naked eye. What do we have that's permanent in this life? Who can we trust to the uttermost? Friends, we can't even trust ourselves to the uttermost! I've let myself down a number of times in my life. Haven't you? Haven't we all made mistakes we didn't foresee ourselves making? So who can we really trust if we can't even trust ourselves? What can we count on when it feels like the world has gone mad? Who will be with us not only in this life but throughout the eternal ages to come? No one but the everlasting God! No one but the "I Am"!
I went through a time in my life a little over a decade ago when it felt like each thing I'd ever trusted in was being taken away from me one at a time. My marriage? Falling apart and headed for divorce. My health? Experiencing a new odd symptom almost every day and catching every virus going around. My mind? Losing it, it felt like, with frequent panic attacks and so much depression and anxiety I could barely get out of bed in the mornings. My friends? Some whom I'd treated like family shockingly betraying me. My finances? Facing bankruptcy. It felt like each of these things had been a rug under my feet and that, one by one, each of these rugs had been pulled out from under me. I was wobbling on my feet, desperately trying to find some unshakable ground upon which to stand. But you know what I found once all these temporary and impermanent rugs were snatched from under me? The One known as the Rock of Ages and the Solid Rock was Who had been beneath them all the time! But I couldn't see Him for all the things I'd placed between Him and myself. I'd obscured Him by all the things I'd erroneously placed my trust in. When at last nothing lay between the Lord and me, I learned that the things I'd heard and read about Him were true. He was the supplier of my needs, the sustainer of my soul, the strength of my life, and the all-sufficient One! He was and is and always will be the "I Am"!
"Eyheh" means "to be" but is frequently translated as "I am" because this is the less awkward form of the phrase. A literal translation of the Lord's words in verse 14 would be something like, "I am the being One," or "I am the self-existing One", or "I will be who I will be," or "I am the One who has always been and who always will be". The Lord Jesus Christ---God the Son---said something similar of Himself in Revelation 22:13: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End."
This name that the Lord shares with Moses---and with the Israelites--- has so many deep potential meanings that it would be impossible for us to think of and discuss them all, but we are going to take a look at the four top translations that I mentioned already in today's study.
"I am the being One" refers to God's permanence. He has always existed and always will exist. We never have to fear that He's a fair weather friend. He's not here today and gone tomorrow. No matter how far back into eternity we go, God is already there. No matter how far we go into the future, God is still there. It's difficult for the human mind to comprehend anything that never had a moment of non-existence, but there was never a time when God wasn't there. He didn't suddenly start existing somewhere way back in the distant past. He didn't need anyone or anything to create Him. Somehow He just always was. We may not understand this, but that doesn't make it any less true. The One who has always existed and always will exist is One we can count on to always be there for us.
"I am the self-existing One" means that God is all-powerful. He needs nothing from outside Himself to sustain Himself. That ought to humble us in a beneficial way when we realize that God didn't create us because He needed us. He was entirely complete and fulfilled and whole long before He ever formed the first human being out of the dust of the ground. He wanted us to exist, but He didn't need us to exist. That means we have Someone so much greater than ourselves to lean on. We ought not make the mistake of thinking everything depends on us when instead everything depends on Him. As He says in the Scriptures, He is the One who existed before all things, who created all things, and who holds all things together. (Colossians 1:17) When we fall into the trap of thinking things depend on us more than they actually do, we're in danger of making little gods of ourselves, and when we think more of ourselves than we should, we think less of God than we should. I remember sitting in women's Bible study one night at church and suddenly feeling like I might be coming down with something. I was already completely worn down and exhausted by some personal struggles that were going on in my life, and I thought, "Oh, no! If I get sick, then what? Things are already starting to fall apart and they'll really fall apart if I'm not at my best and in charge." Immediately the Holy Spirit brought to my mind the words of Colossians 1:17 where the Lord says He holds all things together by His powerful word. I didn't even know I knew that verse! But I'd read it and it was stored someplace deep in my mind and the Holy Spirit brought it to the forefront at just the right moment to remind me that the Lord is the One holding all things together, not me. We're going through a time of disaster in our world right now, and we may experience moments of feeling like things are falling apart, and we need to remind ourselves that God is still in charge and is still holding all things together.
"I will be who I will be" means that God is able to meet the needs of our changing lives. Who I needed Him to be yesterday may not be who I need Him to be today. Who I need Him to be today may not be who I need Him to be tomorrow. This doesn't mean that God changes but that there always has been and always will be elements of His personality and of His power to supply whatever we need at any particular moment in time. Some days I need Him to be a father to me. Other days I need Him to be a deliverer. At other times I need Him to be my healer or my counselor. You see where I'm going with these examples. He's always had the ability to be each of these things, but I may not need Him to be all these things to me all at once. If Moses presents God to the Israelites as the One who will be who He will be, Moses is saying, "God is whoever you need Him to be today. Right now you need to trust that He's going to deliver you from Egypt. That may mean some of you need to regard Him as a father figure. Some of you may need to consider Him as a mighty warrior. Others may need to think of Him as the One who sustains you and supplies your needs. God is able to be whatever each individual person needs Him to be. He will meet you where you are and interact with you in a way that works with your personality and with your needs in that moment in time."
"I am the One who has always been and who always will be" means we can never lose God. There's nothing we have in this life that can't be taken from us in an instant. If we've placed our trust and confidence in our own strength, we need to remember that our continued health is not guaranteed. If we've been finding our security in our marriage, we need to keep in mind that marriages fail every day of the week. If our confidence is in our jobs, or in the economy, or in the government, or in the media, all we have to do is look at what's going on in our nation right now to remind ourselves that businesses sometimes fail entirely or sometimes have to lay off employees, that the stock market can crash and the economy can tank, that fake news abounds, and that the normal day-to-day things that typically go on in a nation can come to a grinding halt because of the sudden emergence of a new virus that we can't even see with the naked eye. What do we have that's permanent in this life? Who can we trust to the uttermost? Friends, we can't even trust ourselves to the uttermost! I've let myself down a number of times in my life. Haven't you? Haven't we all made mistakes we didn't foresee ourselves making? So who can we really trust if we can't even trust ourselves? What can we count on when it feels like the world has gone mad? Who will be with us not only in this life but throughout the eternal ages to come? No one but the everlasting God! No one but the "I Am"!
I went through a time in my life a little over a decade ago when it felt like each thing I'd ever trusted in was being taken away from me one at a time. My marriage? Falling apart and headed for divorce. My health? Experiencing a new odd symptom almost every day and catching every virus going around. My mind? Losing it, it felt like, with frequent panic attacks and so much depression and anxiety I could barely get out of bed in the mornings. My friends? Some whom I'd treated like family shockingly betraying me. My finances? Facing bankruptcy. It felt like each of these things had been a rug under my feet and that, one by one, each of these rugs had been pulled out from under me. I was wobbling on my feet, desperately trying to find some unshakable ground upon which to stand. But you know what I found once all these temporary and impermanent rugs were snatched from under me? The One known as the Rock of Ages and the Solid Rock was Who had been beneath them all the time! But I couldn't see Him for all the things I'd placed between Him and myself. I'd obscured Him by all the things I'd erroneously placed my trust in. When at last nothing lay between the Lord and me, I learned that the things I'd heard and read about Him were true. He was the supplier of my needs, the sustainer of my soul, the strength of my life, and the all-sufficient One! He was and is and always will be the "I Am"!
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.
"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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