Chapter 4 God Calls Moses
All of the significant characters of the Bible have flaws – none more so than Moses - yet his story is remarkable and again, like Abraham, God uses him to exercise incredible leadership in the latter part of his life. It is almost as if He deliberately chooses to use people in their weakness so that they know they have to depend on him for all things. Moses will know that he can look back on all that happens and be impressed with the greatness of God and not the greatness of Moses!
The birth of Moses is interesting. The Hebrews have been in Egypt for over 300 years. From being a respected and well settled group, they become a despised minority and are treated like slaves. By the time Moses is born, there is a terrible decree from Pharaoh to kill all of new born sons of Hebrew families. Moses’ mother gives birth and protects him for a while and then exercises the most incredible act of faith by putting him in a basket and floating him in the Nile. How her heart must have ached as she did this but she obviously believed that God would intervene. He does of course and one of Pharaoh’s daughter’s finds him and brings him up as her own. Sometimes we forget the sovereign working of God in all of this: at just the right time his mother placed him in the Nile in order to be found by a young woman with the right kind of heart to save Moses. What his mother gives away, God gives her back because she then becomes his Nanny! Moses is therefore brought up in the Egyptian palace and at the same time has the influence of a godly mother – all of this is a preparation for Moses’ future service.
Moses must have lived for some time in Pharaoh’s palace yet with a growing awareness of the injustice being handed out to his people, the Hebrews. However, rather than being smart [as Nehemiah was in the presence of a despotic King] Moses flew off the handle by taking the law into his own hands and killing an Egyptian task master. This flash point was to cause Moses to make a run for it and to swap the palace for the desert! One can imagine that Moses was glad just to escape with his life and he would have been delighted to settle down and lead an uncomplicated life. God never makes mistakes. Moses had the upbringing of a good and godly mother who would have reminded him of his heritage as a Hebrew. He would have had the love of his adopted mother and the insight of being brought up in the palace of the most powerful nation on the earth at that time – he would have learned a great deal about leadership. When he fled to Midian he ended up in the household of the good and wise Reuel and knew the love of a good wife. God was in the life of Moses at every step along the way, although it is fair to say that Moses may not always, if ever, have been conscious of this fact.
I wonder how conscious we are that the Lord is at the very heart of everything that happens in our lives. There are times of self-inflicted pain and hardship – down-right sin sometimes. There are times when we are treated unjustly and are hurt and confused by what life is throwing at us. There are long stretches of very mundane times in our lives when life could hardly be called eventful, exciting, rewarding or fulfilling. There are sometimes when life feels just down-right good and a real blessing to us. Yet the Lord has a canvas and he is helping us paint the picture of our lives and destiny. He is never far from us – he is indeed very near to us all the time. One of my favourite passages in the Bible comes from Jeremiah. Let me explain this passage within the context of a close friend of mine in Larkhall. Frances was one of my elders, married to Ian and with two children. She was a lady of great faith and understanding and a prayerful rock in our fellowship. At the age of 49 Frances was diagnosed with cancer. She went through various forms of treatment before having to face a last-ditch operation to either kill or cure her. I spoke with her on the eve of her operation and she said this to me:
“Whatever happens to me, the outcome will be good. If I die, I go to a better place. If I live, then I get to spend more time with my family. This is the verse that has given me hope and confidence, “ ‘For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’” [Jeremiah 29:11]
She saw that God was with her in everything working his own good and perfect will out for her life and the life of her family. Poor Frances never made 50 but she died in faith and was an inspiration to her family and everyone who was around her through that time. Her funeral service was full of the hope of Christ!
Everything that Moses had to face was put there for his personal development and growth. We know little about Moses and the “quiet” years between leaving Egypt and his call to lead Israel. What we can be sure about is that God, through the Spirit, would be quietly working away in Moses’ life and preparing him for the years that lay ahead. This is the normal way of the Spirit; quietly working in an unspectacular way.
Now who would have believed it – we have just seen a 75 year old man being asked to turn his life up-side-down and go on an incredible adventure with God. Now we have Moses at age 80 – what is it about God and OAP’s? No sooner has Moses received his free TV licence, used his camel pass for 20 years, got his warm winter heating allowance, enhanced pension and reduced admission to watch Midian FC, than God is calling to him to leave all that behind and rather than wind down towards death, takes Moses on a rollercoaster ride for 40 years!
Let’s look at the call and the circumstances that surround it. The first thing we see is that Moses was not expecting the Lord to speak to him – he was simply looking after his father-in-law’s sheep. It looks as if Moses has found a contented life and is happy with what he is doing. He does not appear to own much because the sheep he is looking after belong to his father-in-law. Moses is not seeking God, but God is seeking Moses and now the time is right for the Lord’s servant to enter into an incredible ministry. As far as God is concerned this is the perfect time to call Moses.
How does God speak to Moses? He first of all gets his attention and curiosity – Moses sees a bush on fire in the desert. This is not something unusual. What was unusual was that the bush did not disintegrate as a result of the fire. This drew Moses to go and look at what was happening in order to understand this unique event. Then Moses hears a voice calling him: “Moses, Moses!” This is no vision, but an audible voice. Do such things still happen? Let me go back to my friend Sandra as she tells her story:
“I was out walking Souness [Souness was a black Labrador named after the, then, manager of Rangers FC] and I heard someone call my name. I was in the middle of the park and I looked round and no one was there. I heard the voice again and I said, “Whit is it?” The voice told me that he wanted me to give my life to him. I had only just started going to church – in fact to begin with I went there just to help with the cleaning and then began going to services and heard Iain speak about Jesus. I just knew this was Jesus speaking to me in the park and I gave my life to him there and then – that is how I became a Christian.”
We have to remember that Sandra was a complete novice in the ways of God. God chose that particular method of speaking to her and it was effective. There are many other such stories – stories of people who would not naturally read the Bible or Christian books and God speaks to them in an immediate, audible voice [of course psychiatrists and psychologists might have an alternative way of explaining these voices!!].
Moses acknowledges the voice which means he believes that some being is trying to communicate with him – he does not believe that he has lost his mind. It is worth noting here that in Moses’ culture people believed in, and expected, the supernatural – that would be true even today in most parts of the world. Speak to many African Christians and they will tell you that they expect miracles. By comparison, in the West, everything has become so rational and intellectual – we expect God to speak to us through the Bible alone! Moses’ came from a culture that would not limit God to communicating only through one medium.
As Moses approaches the burning bush he begins his education about the nature of the person who is speaking to him: “Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground.” Moses has to understand that the person in whose presence he stands and with whom he will have a continuous relationship, is unique and cannot be seen in the same light as the Egyptian gods. Moses has to learn to fear and respect the Creator God. It is a sobering reality for us that, whereas we need to approach the Lord with a certain sense of the familiar and with confidence, we must never the less approach with humble hearts and the deepest respect, realising that we are in the inner presence of One who is completely different from all others and who is awesome in his glory.
What does this teach us about prayer? Surely it is a sobering reminder that when we come into the place of communion with God, we take time to consider who he is. He is the One who by his power created and still sustains universes. He is awesome in his glory, power, majesty and love. Whereas he loves us, the greater our understanding of who he is, the greater will be our confidence in asking great things from a great God. We will be more cautious about telling God what we think he should be doing and more prone to wait and ponder and listen and worship and praise.
God first of all reveals himself to Moses as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now, when he hears this, Moses immediately bows in fear. He will have learned from his mother about the Lord and what He did through these great patriarchs and know that he is in the presence of One who is without peer. It is interesting that God wants to indicate the continuous nature of his commitment and relationship to his people. Despite the fact that they are enslaved and in a terrible predicament, he is still their God. We have already seen God in his dealings with Abraham. With regard to Isaac, Isaac is a much less significant person than Abraham appears to be. Isaac does not appear to do much more than lead, in the main, a very ordinary life – yet the Lord is the God of Isaac! Jacob more than makes up for his father’s lack of notoriety – he is one of the most complex characters in the Bible. He is a liar, thief and twisted to the core – yet there is a real passion in Jacob, for all of his many obvious failings. Yet, despite all of his significant [and in many cases life-long] flaws the Lord describes himself as the God of Jacob and this is a description that will be used often in the Old Testament! What grace there is in these words when God describes his relationship with father, son and grandson – Abraham, Isaac and Jacob! In the Lord’s presence is another man much in need of a revelation of God but also in need of an understanding of the grace of God.
When God speaks to Moses, what does he communicate? First of all, he assures Moses that he sees the misery of His people. He is not indifferent to the injustice of the enslavement of His people in Egypt. We often wonder what the point in our praying is – yet God, through the way he communicated with Moses is telling us that he is not indifferent to the pain of the people that we are praying about, and for, and that heaven hears and in God’s perfect time will answer. I remember at prayer meetings years ago people praying for Uganda and the terrible atrocities that went on under Idi Amin and his regime, especially towards Christians. At this moment in time we have a young lady from Uganda working with us, helping us mission in our secular society. She speaks of a vibrant church that is having a significant impact on Ugandan society – God heard the cries of his people in Uganda and throughout the world for Uganda, and is answering! He hears and cares.
It is an incredible encouragement for us to speak to the Lord – cry out to the Lord – about people and situations that are of concern to us. Does he care? – Yes! Does he listen? – Yes! Will he respond? – Yes!
Not only did the Lord assure Moses of his care and compassion – he gave Moses a promise. The promise was that he would deliver and then lead his people to the land of Promise! Jesus encouraged us to pray for the coming of the Kingdom – our problem is that we often do not see the big picture. I have often heard people pray for the Lord to do what the Spirit did at Pentecost when over 3000 people were added to the Kingdom in one day! Wow! When does that ever happen today? Well, it does, and more. In China every day more than 5000 souls come to Christ – that is every day, 365 days a year! In the world over 25,000 people become Christians every day. Correspondingly, over 20,000 people enter heaven and the glory of God every day. When we think only local we fail to grasp the big picture – we see only one or two yet every day heaven rejoices over tens of thousands who come to Christ and so when we pray, “Your Kingdom Come” – it is happening! God is working and working powerfully – he is hearing people and answering prayer.
God promises deliverance for his people. The deliverance was of course to set the Hebrews free from their slavery and create the Nation of Israel – God was going to be true to the promise he gave to Abraham. There are many parallels between the Exodus and the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus. Again and again [in particular in the Psalms] the Old Testament people of God will be asked to look back and remember the great power of God that delivered them from Egypt. By so doing they would remember how God formed them as a people and that any adversity they have to face will never be greater than that first adversity that God overcame for them – their God is a Deliverer. In looking back God speaks in the present from the past – he is the same God who can still do great things for his people and their identity is forged with God in that past event.
In a similar way to the above, the New Testament believer is always looking back – back to the Incarnation, Cross and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. By doing this we are looking back to the foundation of our salvation and God is speaking powerfully to us. What is he saying?
My coming into the world in Christ proved that nothing is impossible for me. What hard things are you facing? Nothing is impossible for me to overcome on your behalf.
Christ’s Cross is My power at work in a most fundamental way. All of the barriers are down – we are reconciled to one another and are at peace. You are forever forgiven and the object of my forever love and forever grace. You are my child and I am your Father and Jesus is your Saviour forever. Nothing can separate us, ever!
You are alive forever, even though your current body will one day have to die. My Son’s resurrection guarantees you eternal life. Not only do you look back, you can look forward to sharing eternity with Us and with all of Our people.
God shouts victory from the past. We are in the Kingdom and the glory of it will never end. As God spoke of his Being to Moses and this drew confidence and awe, so too do we hear God’s power in Exodus for us! The drama of redemption was there as God was preparing the way, at the perfect time, for Jesus to come. We look back and over the thousands of years we see God’s perfect plan being worked out – God not only speaks to us from the past – he shouts, and asks us to remember that he has never yet failed his people, even though they may have to pass through some very difficult times.
God speaks to Moses of the future. For Moses this was to ultimately, 40 years from this time, to see the Hebrews enter the land that God had promised. God is speaking to us today of a wonderful promise. One day he will take us from this earth –one of the 20,000 or so people every day who go on an amazing journey. The essence of that amazing journey is spoken about in the Westminster Catechism,
“Q. 37. What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death?
A. The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness [a], and do immediately pass into glory [b]; and their bodies, being still united to Christ [c], do rest in their graves until the resurrection [d].
[a]. Heb. 12:23
[b]. Luke 23:43; II Cor. 5:6, 8; Phil. 1:23
[c]. I Thess. 4:14
[d]. Dan. 12:2; John 5:28-29; Acts 24:15
Q. 38. What benefits do believers receive from Christ at the resurrection?
A. At the resurrection, believers being raised up in glory [a], shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted on the day of judgment [b], and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God [c] to all eternity [d].
[a]. I Cor. 15:42-43
[b]. Matt. 25:33-34, 46
[c]. Rom. 8:29; I John 3:2
[d]. Ps. 16:11; I Thess. 4:17
These two questions with their Biblical proofs speak about the Ultimate Promises that belong to us as the people of God. It is wonderful to hear God speak to powerfully to us about the future and it also helps us to put the present in its proper context, whatever our present circumstances. In 2 Corinthians 4:17, Paul puts it all into perspective for us, "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”
The conversation is not over with Moses and the Lord – there are still two vital parts of the conversation to cover. The first is God’s self-revelation – the name He gives himself. Our names used to be very important, but that is less so today where most people choose a name simply because they like it. My name is Iain MacLeod Greenshields. The Greenshields is obviously my father’s name and so ties me to him generationally. I am therefore able to trace back my ancestry on the basis of that name. Iain is the Gaelic for John and was chosen in part to identify me with my father who was John and one of my grandfathers who was Ian. The MacLeod is my mother’s maiden name and I am as proud of that part of my name as any other. The names were carefully chosen to make a statement about who I am, who I belong to and where I come from.
When God speaks out His name it is more than simply an identity tag – it is also a statement of His essential character and nature:
He is the one who always is. Time is an irrelevance to him because he is uncreated – literally without creation or beginning. He does not need to measure time as we do because there is no need to do so – he simply is!
He always was. He exists in such a way that before time existed or the universes in which we live, he is! This therefore defines him as the Creator of all that exists, and it exists for his pleasure.
He always will be. He is the eternal one who will never cease to be. To know God, as Jesus put it, is eternal life. Eternal life is a quality of relationship that has no end. If we ask how long we will be forgiven and how long we will be loved and how long we will live – we simply answer that it will be as long as God is!
God, in speaking his name is also revealing to us essential truths about who we are in relation to him – so we look back and hear him speak in the past, but because He Is, what he is saying is being spoken to us in the present. What is true of what the Lord said to Moses, the first Disciples, first generation Christians, is equally true of us today – because He is!
He is a God who speaks and knows that He has the right to direct our lives. Most often He does this through life’s circumstances but there are times when we simply know what God is requiring of us. God is no fool and He knows what is best for us and what He requires us to do, and so we are treated to one of the most wonderful pieces of dialogue in the Bible. Let us follow this conversation with Moses and the Lord and see how topical and typical it is.
First of all the Lord simply tells Moses to go to the Hebrew leaders, tell them it is time for them to leave Egypt, and then go to Pharaoh and tell him the exact same thing. Nothing could be simpler for a wanted murderer in Egypt who had spent the last 40 years in the wilderness looking after sheep! How does Moses respond to this?
“They won’t believe me!”
Simple as that for Moses and conversation over. The Lord has asked him to do something but Moses knows better and the matter is now closed! At this point, we might be a bit hard on Moses yet we in the church suffer from the same lack of faith. Jesus told us this:
“I have been given complete authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations….”
“But they won’t believe us!” We may not say exactly that but the distinct lack of activity in our desire to go out into that part of the world with which we have been entrusted is indicative of a lack of belief in the clear call of Jesus.
The Church of Scotland has, I believe, a wonderful Parish System. The whole of Scotland is divided up into geographical districts [Parishes] – some 1400 and there is a church given the responsibility for the spiritual care of each parish. Our parish in Dunfermline has nearly 7000 people in it. It is a wonderful challenge and responsibility to have placed before us by God a call to go out into our parish and proclaim the gospel in as many ways as we can in order to bring people to faith and discipleship. But most churches do not take this challenge seriously, saying to themselves, whether by deed or action – “But, they won’t believe us!” So, most of our parishes remain un-evangelized and the church continues to decline.
What is God saying to us? Clearly, and beyond doubt, what he was saying to Moses – “GO!”
Now the Lord has a long conversation with Moses and He promises him that he will give him miraculous powers to accompany his task. Now, you would think that that would clinch it for Moses. “Give us power, signs and wonders to help us demonstrate your power,” we might say to the Lord. Well, Moses never even asked for that – it was offered! Here is his response:
“O Lord, I’m just not a good speaker. I never have been, and I’m not now, even after you have spoken to me. I’m clumsy with words.”
You and I might be tempted to say, “What a humble man – I understand perfectly where he is coming from!” However God has already clearly indicated:
The nature of who He is.
The power that He is laying at Moses’ disposal.
The fact that He will be with Moses all the way.
God does not therefore honour “false” humility but rather challenges Moses’ unbelief with some cutting sarcasm and realism [and a tinge of humour?]
“11 The LORD said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the LORD? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” [Exodus 4:11,12]
There can be no argument with what God is saying to Moses. God has given Moses the instrument with which to speak and he commands Moses to go and do what he has been told.
How does that stand with us? Any excuse is a poor excuse not to speak for God. The New Testament recognises different types of speaking ministries – evangelists, teachers, apostles, prophets, and so on. However it is the responsibility of all believers to intelligently confess Jesus Christ to the world they live in so that people might know what they believe and become aware of the Gospel. [Some will immediately start to argue that the Gospel should be known by what we do and how we live and not by what we say. That is only half the truth and a bit of a cop out! We are very clearly told by Jesus and Paul that people have to hear a distinctive, intelligently [not intellectual] thought through form of words that explain what we believe and who we believe in].
In chapter 4 verse 13 of Exodus this is Moses’ response:
“Lord, please! Send someone else!”
Now we are at the heart of the issue as far as Moses is concerned. It is not just that he feels inadequate for the task or that he feels he is not a good speaker, he just does not want to do what God is asking him to do! The following quote is thought to come from the Middle East and has been used by many different people including Mikhail Gorbachev – “If not us, Who? If not now, When?” In other words, if we are challenged to be the people of God and to take action on His behalf, there is no room for excuses – no excuse is greater than the ability and power of God!
God is saying to Moses – you are the person; and Moses is saying – send someone else! God doesn’t want someone else, he wants Moses and the consequence of Moses’ not going is the continued and worsening plight of the Hebrews – an injustice that so once burned in Moses that he killed an Egyptian soldier when he saw him abusing Hebrew slaves. Perhaps like Moses, there was once a spark there in us that was untamed but now there is indifference and inaction. We don’t want to hear God speaking to us in case he takes us way out of our comfort zone! Is he coming to us and saying, “If not you, Who? If not now, When?” only to be met with excuses and indifference?
Or we may try to comfort ourselves by putting off for another day what God is asking us to do today [notice I am not being specific about the “what” of what God is asking us to do because I feel that he, through his Spirit will fill in the blanks as he speaks to us]. Most of us are “tomorrow” people and God who “is” is a today person:
“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.”[Hebrews 3:15]
Paul reaches back and uses the example of the rebellious nature of the Jews and of the “Tomorrow” people. What is God asking you to do today? Do it!
God accedes to Moses' request to send someone else but it is a compromise. Moses’ brother Aaron will go with him and be his mouthpiece. Moses will tell Aaron what to say and Aaron will relate these words to the people and to Pharaoh. This in practice was not how it worked out because Moses eventually warmed to his calling and attacked it with enthusiasm, but we are told that the Lord was angry with him for his constant excuses. Aaron was to be a thorn in Moses’ side as time progressed – Moses was getting what he wanted but was going to regret, on many occasions, having asked for someone else to go with him.