How would you describe Moses’ relationship with God?
Listen to what God says at one point when Aaron and Miriam speak against Moses: Numbers 12: 6 He said, "Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, shall make Myself known to him in a vision. I shall speak with him in a dream.
7 "Not so, with My servant Moses, He is faithful in all My household;
8 With him I speak mouth to mouth, Even openly, and not in dark sayings, And he beholds the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid To speak against My servant, against Moses?"
Wow! That’s an astonishing statement of God. But, do you know something? Moses didn’t start here. That’s where he ended up. But Moses’ life took several interesting turns that God used to build him into the greatest spiritual and national leader in the Old Testament. God worked on Moses patiently and persistently. Moses was faithful, but, as we see in Exodus 3-4, he was human too, and not always a willing vessel in the hands of God. Actually, by the time we meet Moses in Exodus 3-4 he is an old shepherd who seems to have lost all ambitions for leadership or greatness. And just how did Moses get to this point? We must back up again, because shepherding is not where Moses’ story begins either. Let’s go back to his beginning.
Think about this with me. At the time of Moses birth, what was going on? For one thing the king of the land wanted all boy babies of Israel to be killed. Does that sound a bit familiar? What happened at Jesus’ birth. Moses birth is told about in the beginning of Exodus chapter 2, but I want you to notice something. Almost all we have of Moses childhood to manhood is a tale of three women. Moses father is mentioned one time in verse 1. That’s it. All the rest of what God tells us about Moses childhood surrounds his mother, his sister and Pharaoh’s daughter.
It’s always amazing to me how much God’s word packs into such a small space. Moses goes from birth to adulthood in just 10 verses. What happened during those years? We only know that his mother was paid to nurse him and bring him up. We find out more in what the New Testament tells us in Acts 7: 20 "And it was at this time that Moses was born; and he was lovely in the sight of God; and he was nurtured three months in his father’s home.
21 "And after he had been exposed, Pharaoh’s daughter took him away, and nurtured him as her own son.
22 "And Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, and he was a man of power in words and deeds.
23 "But when he was approaching the age of forty, it entered his mind to visit his brethren, the sons of Israel.
Moses, a man educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, powerful in word and deed. Then, Steven says, it entered his mind to visit the sons of Israel. Somehow Moses mother must have massaged the message of his identity with God and Israel deeply into Moses’ heart and soul. These early years training in the palace would prepare him for God’s later mission for his life.
There’s one more place in the New Testament that we need to look. Listen to Hebrews 11: 23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.
24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter;
25 choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God, than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin;
26 considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward.
27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing Him who is unseen.
Did you get all that? Moses must have grown up with an awareness of his Israelite identity and a faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Notice also that the Hebrew writer sees Jesus in this: 25 choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God, than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin;
26 considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward.
What I want you to see here is that Moses had a great start. But after he killed the Egyptian and then fled to Midian and married and settled into a life of shepherding, Moses seems to have taken on a humiliation that boarded on fearfulness and self doubt.
That’s how we meet him in Exodus 3. God calls Moses and then has to build up his confidence before he will go back to Egypt.
Let’s look in on God’s leadership development school as Moses takes his first class. Leadership development 101.
Moses call begins with an unusual sight that piques Moses curiosity. It was an angel of the Lord, who appeared as a burning bush and the Lord watches Moses as he turns aside to see. Next, Moses will hear a voice! This bush not only burns and doesn’t burn up, it talks! And it knows his name! Don’t you know Moses is pinching himself at this point wondering if this is real.
Take off your shoes. This is holy ground! (All right everybody, take off at least one shoe). What happens in the desert when you take off your shoes? You have to walk a lot more carefully.
If we would only remember that! God wants us to walk carefully before him all the time.
Listen to what God says next: 3:6 I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Remember what we said last week? Those are our forefathers in Christ, too! In Christ we are the true Israel of God.
What did Moses do? He hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. This is the same Moses that will later ask God in chapter 33:18, “Please show me your glory.”
When we first come into God’s presence, it is a fearful thing. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. As we see over and over in scripture, God’s presence is both awesome and terrifying. But later, as we come to know God, we long to see him more and more.
Here, Moses is afraid of God and afraid to see him. God tells Moses that he has seen Israel’s affliction in slavery in Egypt and that he has come to deliver them. Moses heart must have jumped! Wonderful! God is going to deliver Israel! Yea!!!
But then God says, “Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring the children of Israel out of Egypt.
What does Moses think of this? Here am I send me! Your wish is my command! When do we start! Right? Wrong!
Moses words betray his insecurity and humiliated condition of heart and mind. And Moses will try several times to explain to God why he is NOT the man for this job.
Is God convinced that Moses is the man? Yes. Is Moses convinced? No. Just listen to this conversation out in the desert where Moses bows before a burning bush bear footed and scared to death. If you listen closely you might even hear your own excuses for not doing what God tells you to do.
Verse 11… Moses: Who am I?
Verse 12… God: I will be with you.
Verse 13… Moses: Who are You?
Verse 14… God: I AM WHO I AM
Verses 16-22: God tells Moses the plan
Chapter 4
Verse 1… Moses: They’ll never believe me, they’ll say I’m lying
Verse 2… God: What’s in your hand!
… Moses: A staff
Verse 3… God: Throw it on the ground
… Moses: throws it on the ground, yikes! It’s a snake! Moses runs!
Verse 4… God: Pick it up by the tail
… Moses: reaches and picks it up and it is a staff again!
Verse 5… God: 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.
Then God gave Moses two other signs as well, saying, if they don’t believe the first sign, maybe they will believe the second, if they won’t believe these two signs, turn water into blood.
Now listen to Moses in verse 10. Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and tongue.
Just think about this for a minute. Can you not see the humor in this? For a man who can’t talk, he sure is doing pretty good at offering excuses.
God is unmoved by Moses’ excuses. He will bring Moses back again and again and again to this plan. God says, “Who made man’s mouth?” Who makes him mute or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go! I will teach you what to say.
Poor Moses is cornered and he knows it. God is not letting him out of this. But Moses is still unconvinced and he cries out: Oh, my Lord, please send someone else!”
The Bible says “Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses…”
God undercuts Moses last excuse by sending Aaron with him to speak for him.
What a different man we see in Moses later. If Moses life had ended here what would be his defining characteristic? We would surely say he was an unfaithful, fearful man who would not follow God’s command. But God is not finished with Moses. And because God did not give up on Moses and Moses finally gave in to God, just think of the difference in Moses defining characteristics!
God works for good. He always has. He always will. Moses learned to listen and lead as God lead him.
What about you? What would you say is your defining characteristic? Is it faithfulness and obedience to God?
