Moses and Aaron Tell Pharaoh that God Wants His People Freed -- Exodus 5:1-2

And afterward Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let My people go that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness.’”  But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go?  I do not know the Lord, and besides, I will not let Israel go.”

The first thing to note in this passage is that here are two men who belong to an enslaved group, really foreigners in the land, one with speech impediment, and they go before the supreme ruler and say out-rightly, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel.”  As I observe the Church around the world today, I don’t see that same boldness, honesty, and clarity coming from the majority of Church leaders.  Instead, we find ourselves looking for ways, if not to accommodate, certainly to refrain from angering, the anti-Christ spirit and thinking prevalent today.  We have valued our own safety and physical freedom at the expense of the truth and the light, as well as ‘the’ Truth and ‘the’ Light.

So Moses and Aaron had followed instructions once again perfectly.  And then you have to chuckle at the Pharaoh’s response only because it is exactly what we ourselves hear today, whenever we do stand up for the truth, assuming anyone is willing to reply to us, “Just Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice?  I don’t know Him.  And no, I won’t obey.”

It is possible the Hebrews were not very good “witnesses” in the decades that they were in Egypt and working as slaves.  I am not blaming them; being hard-working slaves under the watchful eye of bosses with whips left little room for telling people about God.  But thousands of years later, the way was paved for us to express our faith with protected freedom of speech.  Yet, still today, many in the world do not know the God of Israel and His Son, Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.  And they have no interest or reason to obey His word.  That is the situation that Aaron and Moses found themselves in and that is the situation we find ourselves in today.  In fact, because the Church, the Body of Christ, has let down its defenses for so long, we stand the risk today of being ignored and considered as pests that no longer need to be tolerated.  The is a movement afoot to swat us off the face of the earth.

But here is the good news, both for Moses and his brother, and for us.  God had predicted that Pharaoh would react exactly the way he did and Moses knew it.   Similarly, in His Word, God tells us that the world will indeed go the way it is going.  The New Testament (and the Old) has many references to the end times and what that will be like.  In fact, those of us that know what the Bible says on this issue, know that all that is both happening and not happening today is clearly in the radar screen of the world that God’s Eye is focused on, because He loves us so.  And He is totally in control.

Our job, like that of Aaron and Moses, is simply to be bold, honest, and clear; and to tell the world, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel.”  That is my prayer for you and I today as we venture forth at work, school, the mall, at lunch or supper with family and friends.

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Aaron Meets Moses and They Go To The Israelites -- Exodus 4:27-31

Now the Lord said to Aaron, “Go to meet Moses in the wilderness.” So he went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him.   Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which He had sent him, and all the signs that He had commanded him to do.  Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of the sons of Israel; and Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses. He then performed the signs in the sight of the people.  So the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord was concerned about the sons of Israel and that He had seen their affliction, then they bowed low and worshiped.

Much earlier in this chapter, at the verse 14 point, God tells Moses his brother Aaron is coming to meet him in the wilderness and he will be glad to see him.  And so it happens, just as God arranged and foretold Moses.  The text says they met at the “mountain of God” and there kissed as brothers.  This “mountain” because of how the text refers to it, is likely the same mountain that God had just met with Moses and tried to kill him (see earlier discussion on previous verses to this passage).  The implication is that either Aaron had made great haste to get there, or God had already got him going towards Moses before His meeting and dealing with Moses’ sin of omission.  The mountain is said to be Mt. Sinai in the Horeb range of mountains.  In case you are wondering about the “brotherly” kiss, do keep in mind that they had not seen each other for forty years as we are told in Acts 7:29,30.

Whatever was between God and Moses, God considered it all taken care of.  And God had even arranged for welcoming arms of the person who would help Moses in his task.  Now, what was left was for Moses, with Aaron’s help, to carry out all that God had instructed him to do.

He begins by telling Aaron all that God had said – what the mission was, what tools were available, and how it was going to be carried out.  Because Moses had followed the instructions perfectly, we read of no ‘flack’ from Aaron; he was totally committed.

Together, knowing their roles, they went to the people of Israel as represented through their elders from the various tribes.  Keep in mind that they needed to “assemble” them all together, first.  This could have taken days or longer.  Their numbers were great and the distances some elders had to travel could have been significant, not to mention they didn’t have cellphones with which to text each other.  Once that was accomplished, Aaron shared what God had said to Moses and Moses performed the signs that God had empowered him with in order that the Israelites would accept his authority.  This was crucial as he had left as a man forty years younger and was only now returning to his people.

[As I wrote that last sentence immediately above, an interesting thought came to my mind.  Is Moses the first of many over the ages who have this strong urge to return to their people and do ministry among them?  I have heard of many Christians who may have emigrated to a new land with their parents while they themselves were young; and then many years later, they were called to be full-time missionaries ‘back home’ among their own people.  I think God works that way, moving His workers about the earth for training and then assigning them often to their homeland where they would be most effective.]

Once again, we note, because God’s instructions were followed to the letter, there was no argument from the people of Israel.  The text says they simply believed.  And furthermore, it says, when they heard about the heart of God for them, they “bowed low and worshipped”.  No ifs, buts, or whys.

What are the lessons for us?  First, when God gives us instructions, we are not to try and improve on them.  They come from the master strategist who controls all things.  Our plan and our way is not better;  but it is the ‘best’ when it follows His plan and His way.

Second, when God sends us a messenger or two, and shares His heart with us telling us how much He loves you and me, do we listen, do we believe, and do we bow low and worship Him?  It is important for the Christian to be constantly open to a message from God – through His Word, or His servants (that is in keeping with His Word).  And we are to have our own souls touched by it.  We are to be moved by God’s love for us.  And then we are to “bow low” and worship Him through praise and service and total commitment to His plans for our lives.  It is my prayer today that you have the capacity by which to do that regularly.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

God Seeks To Kill Moses -- Exodus 4:24-26

Now it came about at the lodging-place on the way that the Lord met him and sought to put him to death.  Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and threw it at Moses’ feet, and she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood to me.”  So He let him alone.  At that time she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood” – because of the circumcision.

One cannot read the text above without wondering what on earth is going on.  God had just finished giving Moses an incredible assignment that required him to return to Egypt and now on the journey, God meets him (possibly, as Matthew Henry suggests, via a sword-wielding angel) and seeks to put him to death.  Well, let us see what we can make of it.

Clearly, the overwhelming opinion of almost all who write on this subject is that God was angry with Moses because he had not circumcised his son.  As this was a major instruction as part of the covenant God had made with His people, there was no way God would use Moses as long as this was the case.  Some think he did circumcise his first-born in keeping with God’s commands, but his wife, Zipporah, was so appalled at the blood-filled rite that she out rightly refused to allow Moses to have their second son go through the same experience.  So, when God attacked Moses, it was Zipporah who knew what it was all about and put a stop to it by doing what she did.

But let me go out on a limb here and suggest something very different, only as a possibility. 

The first thing that comes to our attention is that this happened “at a lodging-place” on the way to Egypt.  This phrase may suggest that this account happened during the night, while Moses was sleeping, and that it was all a dream.  We cannot be adamant about that, but the prospect exists.  We also note that the action changes very quickly, without notice or normal transition, from the Lord seeking to put him to death to his wife circumcising his son and yelling at Moses.  [Some would argue that the author of Exodus, Moses himself, did not want to give us all the details but I am not so sure, based on his usual writing style elsewhere, that he would have spared us as many details as he seems to.] All of this leads me to accept the dream hypothesis as a very plausible one.  There is lots of action, with no strong evident connecting points.  It makes even more sense when we consider that Moses was weary from his travels and had much on his mind as he considered the future.

Of course, one could also take the ‘literal’ approach.  But here are the implications -- God in the form of an angel, commences to attack Moses.  Did Zipporah actually see the actual Lord in order to put a stop to the fighting as the text may suggest?  Again, I do not think so.  Moses’ wife, Zipporah, ‘surprises’ God by, rather than coming to Moses’ defense, she actually blames her husband for what is going on.  She expresses her strong feelings by circumcising her son right there and then (could she really do this successfully especially given the fact she thought it so abhorrent? Perhaps) and throwing the foreskin at Moses’ feet (further proof of her anger) while calling him a “bridegroom of blood” which the text says refers to the fact that Moses had tried to introduce circumcision to her family but she had resisted and Moses never insisted on doing so.  As a result of her actions, God stops His attack on Moses, or otherwise, we can surmise, He would have killed him.  For all the above, I tend to think that the account here cannot easily be taken literally.

There is yet another school of thought that makes a lot of sense.  It suggests that Moses was fully aware of his sin and during the night, while examining his relationship with God, he realized its presence.  This may have driven him temporarily mad or to become mentally undone because of his failure to please God, especially as he knew he was going to lead the people of Israel for God.  This in turn may have resulted in a fever or a seizure, causing Zipporah to be greatly alarmed.  Or, this realization of Moses was followed by a one of those husband-wife discussions that turns into an argument, in this case over the matter of the circumcision of their son.  Worried about her husband as well as possibly her own future, she goes out and circumcises her son, not willing to fight it any longer.  (She uses a piece of flint rock readily available in the dessert there – evidence of which I have seen myself in a visit to Israel.)

We will not know the answer to the question of what really took place in the physical world until we can ask our Lord.  But as always, we should try to see what this account given in scripture might have to say to us.  What can we learn from it?

Whether the action portrayed here literally happened or whether it was a direction given to Moses in a dream, does not change the ‘content’ of what God was trying to convey to him, and perhaps to us.  The fact that God is willing to use you and me to accomplish His plan for mankind does not mean that He is willing to accept sin in our lives.  Sometimes He expects us to get rid of it ourselves; other times He’ll see to it that it is eliminated.  Either way, the sin has to go before He fully engages us in executing the plan He wants us to carry out.

Maybe the sin standing in your way is not as obvious as the one Moses committed by failing to carry out a key commandment of God’s.  Maybe it is just an attitude or a desire or a stubbornness based on false premises.  Maybe it is a sin of commission, but it could also be a sin of omission.  Whatever it is, we must identify it, confess it, and end it.

The implication in our passage is that Moses had his sin dealt with – either by Zipporah at the time God was fighting with him, or by his own action afterwards, if this were a dream.  We know that for God, as later verses and chapters tell us, allowed him to live and to carry out the purpose for which He had selected him.  It is my prayer that this be true in our lives as well.  I pray we can all be ready to do whatever it takes to eliminate any sin in our lives preventing God from using us in the way He wants to.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

God Calls Israel His “First-Born” -- Exodus 4:22-23

"Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Israel is My son, My first-born.  So I said to you, ‘Let My son go, that he may serve Me’; but you have refused to let him go.  Behold, I will kill your son, your first-born."'"

We often think of God as “our Father” and there are several passages throughout Scripture that talk of His being just that.  They demonstrate His love and care for us.  But these particular two verses do much more.  They outline unequivocally God’s passionate relationship with Israel, a relationship that carries with it, not only the feelings about one’s ‘first-born’, but also the rights of the first-born.  Here are just some of the thoughts that God has brought to my mind during my study of these verses:

1.     Not everyone will agree that everything we read in the Bible that deals with a specific circumstance, such as this task that Moses has been given, is in fact ‘transferable’ to other aspects of the Christian life and to other times.  I take the position that each and every instance needs to be examined carefully to ensure we are not doing so where there is no other complimentary support for it, or just to support a particular position we may hold.  I also take the position, however, that God’s actual statements, because one of His characteristics is that of being consistent, do in fact apply to all time and all circumstances.

2.     With that in mind then, I believe that whatever God says in these verses, we can share with the world. In this case, it is Pharaoh that represents the world at the time.  The position that God took with respect to the people of Israel is to be heard by us, believed and accepted by us, and shared with others.  At the very least, it cannot be ignored or made insignificant.

3.     God clearly says here “Israel is His first-born.”  I notice in the NASB version of Scripture, at least, there is no capital on ‘first-born’.  This is important because elsewhere we read about Jesus being God’s begotten and/or only Son where the ‘S’ is indeed capitalized. I believe there is a distinction between Christ as the Son of God and part of the Godhead itself, and Israel, God’s ‘first-born’ human ‘son’ or ‘people group’.

4.     With language and emotion so strongly expressed by God, I believe we err if we start thinking that God has abandoned Israel in the 21^st century.  It is my belief He has not.  I am not suggesting He is any more happier with them now than He was with some of them in Moses’ day, or most of them in the days of the prophets and the kings, but I see no Scriptural evidence whatsoever that He has actually given them up.  But He has adopted additional sons and daughters, of which I as a Gentile am one as noted below.

5.     In the passage being studied here, God also does not say, “My only son”.  Staying with the idea of a small ‘s’ on the word ‘son’, the wording is such that there is room in the future for other ‘sons’ that will come into the family of God.  Through the “only begotten Son (capital ‘S’)” salvation and access to God was extended to Gentiles and all the peoples of the earth in addition to God’s ‘first-born’, the people of Israel.

6.     Clearly God stays very much abreast of what is going on with His children.  He knew what was happening to the people of Israel – both to those that had stayed true to Him in their worship, but also to those that were being enticed to forget Him.  He also knew that they were all in bondage.  God was making a critical point in this communication, “My child, my son, is not intended to be in bondage.  He/she is to be free.  Period.  No ifs, buts, or whys.”  And God will take no prisoners to assure us that freedom.  That is one of the greatest gifts we have from God – our freedom to worship Him and live joyful godly lives.  God knows when we are in bondage to our ‘pharaoh’ – be he a real person or some other god or idol we worship or are under the control of.

7.     This passage, as supported in so many other passages in Scripture, clearly indicates that God wants His children (in this case his first-born Israel) to “serve Him”.  There is no getting around this.  You cannot be a true child of God without having the desire to serve God, and then doing all you can to actually satisfy that positive and godly desire.  Many of us try.  But as we look around us, we see so many so-called “members of the body of Christ” living daily for themselves.  We may be one of them.  And I am not talking about having “moments of natural lapses or failures”; I am talking about day after day, month after month, totally existing for one’s own self and pleasure, without regard to what God would have this ‘child of His’ do.

8.     God was also aware that Pharaoh was blocking the children of Israel’s ability to serve Him in addition to keeping them in bondage as mistreated slaves.  He knew Pharaoh had no plans to let them go.  God has not changed.  He knows exactly who our enemies are and/or what exactly it is that has a stronghold on us.  Our job, as it was Moses’ job, and all the people of Israel’s job, is to look to Him and lean on Him for deliverance.  But once free, we cannot lose sight of the fact that we have been “delivered” from our bondage for the purpose of “serving Him”.

9.     In the very last portion of this passage, God is sending Pharaoh a clear warning, “Because you did not let my first-born go, I will kill your son, your first-born.”  In essence, God is saying, “Did you miss the message Moses?  My first-born, my child is not intended to be bound in slavery.  I want them freed.  Now.  Or else.”   Those are very, very strong words for a loving God and many an individual skeptic will take great joy in pointing that out.  The fact remains that God indeed loves; He cares and protects His children.  He gives all mankind an opportunity to enter into that family.  But He is also a God of justice and woe to anyone who ultimately decides to take Him on.  Satan found that out when He was kicked out of heaven for wanting to be equal or mightier than God and started deceiving God’s creation.  Kings and rulers over the centuries have found that out when they start playing God.  The enemies of our Heavenly Father, our enemies, will be taken care of by God one way or another, in God’s appointed time.  You can count on that.  Sometimes, He delivers blows that hurt them greatly – like the loss of their first-born in this case as we will see later in our study – because He stills has a role for them to play in His plan for mankind (Israel in this instance); other times, He takes their own life.

This passage gives a very strong picture of God as a Father who passionately goes to all lengths to protect His children.  He does not want you and me to live as slaves.  He wants us free.  Do you realize that?   I would not want to be the one outside of His family bullying God’s children.  I want to be under His wings as one of His children.  I pray that is your desire as well.  I pray your position is safely in His everlasting arms.
 

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

“Follow All the Instructions but I’ll Harden Pharaoh’s Heart” -- Exodus 4:21

And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your power; but I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.”

Either before Moses left for Egypt with his family, or on the way, God reminds him that he is to perform all the wonders that He had put in his power once he got to see the Pharaoh.  Following only some of the instructions would not suffice any more than when we are ill, taking only some of our prescribed medicines, or every other dose, ordered by the doctor, would allow the bacterial infection in our body to be cured. We cannot partially obey God if we are to receive His blessing in the particular endeavor we are involved in.

I find the phrase “wonders I have put in your power” of interest.  Few commentaries elaborate on it.  But think of it.  The Almighty God takes an ordinary person like Moses, you, or I; calls him to undertake a task on His behalf; and then actually gives him ‘wonders’ to be used in a prescribed way but under the man’s (or woman’s) own control to provide the power by which the task will be completed.  Entire books can be written about this, but here let us simply remind ourselves that it is possible.  Let us believe it.  Let us not seek it inappropriately or for the wrong reasons, but let us not miss it, either.

In this same passage we are confronted with one of the most difficult actions of God to explain to skeptics.  God tells Moses that He was going to “harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he would not let the Israelites go”.  Now why on earth (or in heaven for that matter) would God plan to do that, and furthermore, tell us about in advance?  Did He not know the troubles this would cause us as we went about fulfilling the Great Commission in the future?

Chuck Smith, writing on this in his C200 Series commentary, presents us with an interesting perspective as to what is going on here.  He suggests that the word Hebrew word we have translated as “harden” in this case is a word that literally means “strengthen”.  Smith continues,

““I will make strong his heart”. Now as we read of Moses’ dealings with Pharaoh [later on]. . . we read “Pharaoh hardened his heart”.  The word there in Hebrew is hardened.  “And Pharaoh hardened his heart”.  And then we read, “and the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh.”  Different Hebrew word.  “The Lord made firm the heart of Pharaoh”, or “the Lord strengthened the heart of Pharaoh.”  In other words, Pharaoh set his heart and God strengthened him in that position.  “You want to be stubborn?  All right, I’ll strengthen you in your stubbornness so I can really bop you good.”  That’s basically what it was. . . . Pharaoh set his heart against the Lord, and God strengthened him in his position . . . [so that] He’ll not let the people go.”

The commentator David Guzik in his study of Exodus reminds us that whenever God hardened (or strengthened) Pharaoh’s heart, He never did it against Pharaoh’s will.  He writes,

Pharaoh never said, "Oh, I want to do what is good and right and I want to bless these people of Israel" and God answered, "No, for I will harden your heart against them!" When God hardened Pharaoh's heart, He allowed Pharaoh's heart to do what Pharaoh wanted to do - God was giving Pharaoh over to his sin (Romans 1:18-32) . . . “God does not harden men by putting evil into them, but by not giving them mercy." (Augustine)
And Matthew Henry in his commentary on this passage, writes,

That Pharaoh’s obstinacy might be no surprise nor discouragement to him [Moses], God tells him before that he would harden his [Pharaoh’s] heart. Pharaoh had hardened his own heart against the groans and cries of the oppressed Israelites, and shut up the bowels of his compassion from them; and now God, in a way of righteous judgment, hardens his heart against the conviction of the miracles, and the terror of the plagues.

So there you have it.  I believe the skeptics will still not be satisfied but then again maybe nothing will satisfy them.  On the other hand, our goal is to have Christians be able to better understand some of the more difficult points in Scripture.  We do not have to defend God’s thinking or rationale or intentions; we just need to try and understand them.  What we still do not understand, we accept by ‘faith’ that it is indeed His Way.

Finally, I cannot leave this section without making reference to one of my favorite words in the Bible, that three-letter word once again – “but”.  God seems to be saying, “Moses do exactly as I tell you; but even though you do, I’ll still harden Pharaoh’s heart.”  Now what is that all about?  It seems that sometimes we do what God says and then He goes and thwarts our efforts. Matthew Henry may have an answer for that.  He warns us, especially those of us who are pastors or ministry leaders, to expect that our labor may often be in vain.  He writes, “we must not think it strange if we meet with those who will not be wrought upon by the strongest arguments and fairest reasonings.” And in Moses’ case, God even tells him in advance that this will happen.  Allow me to suggest something that is really difficult for us (especially those of us who are ‘type-A’ personalities who always want the ‘goal’ to be met) to accept.  The primary point of you following all of God’s instructions is often not the end result or impact your action will have on a situation – God can take care of that totally on His own.  The whole point of you following God’s instructions, and yes, sometimes with no success, is that you learn to be totally obedient to Him and trusting Him to do what is best for you, for others, and for the world.  We must get to the point where, as Charles Price said in a sermon from Isaiah 31, it becomes natural for us to “look to God” in order to “lean on God”, so that we can be able to “listen to God”.

Where are you and I on the path He wants us to travel?

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

Moses Returns To Egypt -- Exodus 4:18-20

Then Moses departed and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, “Please, let me go, that I may return to my brethren who are in Egypt, and see if they are still alive.”  And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”   Now the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life are dead.”  So Moses took his wife and his sons and mounted them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt.  Moses also took the staff of God in his hand. 

I like how this passage of Scripture begins with the phrase, “Then Moses departed.”  No more arguments, no more pleas to God.  There was only silence, followed by obedience.  Something happened in Moses’ heart.  Was it simply a desire to return to his people or was it a genuine feeling of, “I cannot argue with the Almighty any longer”?  I suggest the latter.  I believe there comes a point in our lives when we cannot challenge God any longer, we must obey.

So to put that plan into action, Moses now has to turn to his father-in-law and ask him for permission to take his daughter (Moses’ wife) and the children and go to Egypt.  In so doing, it is interesting to note that Moses does not tell Jethro a lie, but neither does he reveal God’s entire plan for the children of Israel coming out of Egypt and what his part in it was to be.  Perhaps if he did, Jethro would have had great resistance in allowing his daughter and grandchildren to go with him.  Instead, God had arranged for Jethro to bless Moses and send him and his family off “in peace”.

During all this, God is also close at hand.  While Moses is still in Midian, God gives him more assurance and comfort.  He informs him that all those who would have had him dead, from the men that eventually heard he had killed an Egyptian to perhaps the Pharaoh himself -- all of them were dead.  The way was clear for him to return and carry out his assignment.  If that had been a secret fear of Moses, that somehow he might fall again into their hands, God dealt with it.  God knows what causes us to have fear or lack of confidence and He can take care of all those things as well when He sends us to do His work.  He did that for Moses.  Robert Jamieson, writing on this verse in his commentary The Second Book of Moses, Called Exodus, says, “The death of the Egyptian monarch took place in the four hundred and twenty-ninth year of the Hebrew sojourn in that land, and that event, according to the law of Egypt, took off his proscription of Moses, if it had been publicly issued.”

And with that, Moses, now approximately eighty years old, takes his family, puts them on a donkey (or two) and he returns to Egypt, carrying with him the authority of God as represented physically by the staff he held tightly in his hand.

What we have here is a simple resolve to embark on a difficult journey, but with the knowledge that one is going on God’s business, reassured by God, and in God’s power, carrying His Word.  What a place for anyone to be in.

Where are you today?  Are you still working on your last argument to present to God in apposition to His instructions for your life?  Or are you ready to embark on a life journey with Him as a representative of His interests in the world?

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

Moses’ Fifth and Last Objection To His Calling -- Exodus 4:13-17

But he said, “Please, Lord, now send the message by whomever Thou wilt.”  Then the anger of the Lord burned against Moses, and He said, “Is there not your brother Aaron the Levite?  I know that he speaks fluently.  And moreover, behold, he is coming out to meet you; when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.  And you are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I, even I, will be with your mouth and his mouth, and I will teach you what you are to do.  Moreover, he shall speak for you to the people; and it is shall come about that he shall be as a mouth for you, and you shall be as God to him.  And you shall take in your hand this staff, with which you shall perform the signs.”

Sometimes I think the word ‘but’ should be banned from our lexicon of words to be used when speaking to the Almighty God.  Then upon further reflection, I realize that God can well handle the ‘buts’ we so often cry out to Him, thank you very much.  He wants us to share our concerns and objections with what He may be asking or doing or not doing because He is indeed able to answer them.  He is also able to give us what we need as we move forward in faith, to carry out His will.

So, it is with Moses, as he tries for the fifth time now to change God’s mind with respect to the assignment He is giving him.   And he even pleads saying, “Please, Lord”.  And what is it Moses is begging God to do?  Well, it’s to send someone else, anybody else, anybody but Moses.  Most of you reading this know the end of the story, so you can imagine what Moses would have missed had God listened to his plea.

Can you imagine knowing the almighty God and turning down His invitation to be part of a great step in His plan for mankind?  [I recently saw the movie Lincoln and I realized that Lincoln was so in tune with not missing the opportunity God was giving him to end slavery in America.  Can you imagine where we would all be today if he didn’t take that risk to do God’s bidding?]  Can you imagine what excitement you could miss if God agreed with your objections to His assignment and gave you a day (or a life for that matter) off?  I would not to miss what He had in store for me.  God picks the very best for us when He hands out His assignments.  He does not want us to miss these opportunities to be further molded and developed in His service.

So it was with Moses and thus the Scripture says, “the anger of the Lord burned against Moses”.   Not a good place to be in, Moses.  Not a good place for any of us to be in – having the anger of the Lord raging against us.  But even at that, God continues to provide a way for Moses to understand that he could do this and that God will be with him.  God knew about Moses’ brother Aaron who did speak fluently (unlike Moses with his stuttering problem).  God knew Aaron was also eager to do what God wanted done.   God would give Moses the words He wanted him to share.  Moses would speak those privately to Aaron.  Aaron would eloquently speak them to the people of Israel and later to the ruler of Egypt.  “And by the way, Moses, don’t forget to take along this staff with which I showed you that you can perform the necessary signs.”

What is the significance of God’s mentioning that Aaron was “coming out to meet” Moses and that he would be “glad in his heart when he sees you”?  Let me suggest this. God knows about the fact that we cannot do everything He asks us to do alone.  So He gives us Brothers and Sisters who are seriously interested, not in their agenda, but in helping as achieve what God would have us do.  I see this in the missions that I am involved in and I see it in my own personal life.  These are people that rejoice in being partners with us.  But in these few verses we also find an awesome responsibility for those that are being helped – perhaps for you and I.

God says to Moses, “I will be with your mouth” and “I will teach you what you are to do”.  And later on, Aaron “will speak for you” and “you shall be as God to him.”  Consider the implication of that for us who lead.   Yes, God will give us helpers.  But we are to get our instructions from God and pass them on to them.  These are not to be the instructions we make up, but the instructions that God gives us.  The responsibility on us as leaders to be in good communion and relationship with God is great.  And the way we are to treat and deal with the partners He has given us (be it our spouse, our family, our team, our friends) is to be like God to them.  In this case, this means we are to treat them with love, kindness, godly direction, and so on.

And let us not forget that besides those that are to help us, we hold in our hands the tools God has given us to do the tasks He has assigned us.  The Word of God, His Promises, and the Holy Spirit are our “staff” which we hold and as He directs, we can do wonders and perform the signs He would have us perform.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

Moses’ Fourth Objection To His Calling -- Exodus 4:10-12

Then Moses said to the Lord, “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since Thou hast spoken to Thy servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”  And the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth?  Or who makes him dumb or deaf, or seeing or blind?  Is it not I, the Lord?  Now then go, and I, even I, will be with your mouth, and teach you what you are to say.”
 

It is easy to look at Moses and say, “What on earth are you thinking man?  Give your head a shake.”  How could he possibly give God objection after objection (this is number four and there’s one more to go after this) to God’s call on his life?  But all we need to do is consider our own hesitancy to follow God’s plan for us, sometimes to the point of it becoming an actual act of disobedience when we flatly refuse to follow His call for us.  So, let’s not be that hard on Moses.

In this particular objection, Moses turns to his physical limitations and basically tells God that he was given a speech impediment, perhaps what today we would refer to as stuttering.  And he says to God, “Look, this has been an issue for a while even before you reached me and tapped me on the shoulder for this job.”  And further adding to what God already knew, Moses says, “I am slow of speech and of tongue.”

I don’t know about you, but if I were God, I would be getting pretty steamed at this point.  Not only was this objection number four, but also this mere human was telling God what God already knew.  And perhaps there was even an element of, “Hey God, you made me this way; you can’t expect me to carry out this task for which you didn’t properly equip me.”  That would be enough for me to have blown my stack.

Some commentators believe that Moses was not like this from birth and use the reference in Acts 7:22 in the New Testament that speaks of Moses being “learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians”, and that he “was mighty in words and in deeds” to make their point.  It was after killing the Egyptian who was beating up on a Hebrew, that he fled into the wilderness, and there started to be depressed, which brought on his stuttering.  I personally do not believe that the verse excludes the possibility of his being a stutterer from birth for one could be “mighty in words” without the ability to speak well.

Nevertheless, what does God do when Moses issues this objection?  He answers him with a series of questions more like a loving Father and less like an angry parent.  God basically asks Moses to think it through.  “Who made man’s mouth?” and implying his mouth in particular.  “Who makes a person dumb, or deaf, or blind, Moses?  I do, don’t I?”  The inference is clear – “Moses, don’t worry about that.  I’m fully aware of it and I’ll take care of it.”

We need to stop here for a moment because this introduces a very difficult concept for many to accept.  Why would a loving God make children that cannot hear, speak, or see?  I mean it does say that, does it not?  But why is that?  Well, first of all, we agree that God says it.  From there, for me at least, if God said, I accept it.  I am not prepared to challenge Him on what He does or does not do or say.  I believe He has His reasons that I do not understand.  If I understood everything that God did or said, I would not need any “faith” – it would all be logical, rather than supernatural, to me and I would not need even the faith of a muster seed.  Everything would be rational or obvious and thus acceptable.  Finally, is it not also possible that God here, in His anger, is really saying, “Moses, who allows a child to be born deaf, dumb, or blind?” while still taking responsibility for doing that?  I think so.  David Guzik suggests that this declaration is all about, and should be understood from the perspective of, the “sovereignty of God”.  He writes, “ . . . the point here is not to analyze the origin of evil, but to show that God is so mighty that He can even call the mute, the deaf, and the blind to do His work.  Moses' perceived inadequacies don't matter at all.”  Amen.

And then when God finishes setting Moses straight with respect to his fourth objection, He once again issues His call and now His command to him.  “Moses, just go now, and I, the Almighty, will be with your mouth and teach you what to say.”  God did not get angry.  He provided answers to Moses’ objection through rhetorical questions that Moses could easily answer for himself even though he might not like the answer.  And then God adds this wonderful reassurance that He Himself would be with “Moses’ mouth” and would “teach” him what to say.  Wow – what more could anyone ask for.  Not only does God promise to be with us, but also He is willing, if we let Him, to give us the words to utter in a difficult circumstance.  I do not know if you have ever been in that kind of situation where you need that kind of help, but I have, and to know that God will and does give us the right words is one of the greatest gifts that God gives to His children who seek to do His bidding.

And yet, Moses still has some doubts, and is about to issue his last and fifth objection, as we shall soon see.

What however, is the lesson for us so far?  I believe it is twofold.  First, I think that sometimes when we are looking for a message from God, we often miss it because the messenger He has chosen is not an eloquent speaker.  That really is a tragedy.  Oftentimes, one remembers the eloquence of the speaker or pastor or preacher much longer than the message he or she brings from God.  I can name more than one such speaker of years gone by in our city.   On the other hand, we tend to remember the message given to us, when the Spirit of God, lays it on our hearts, regardless of the lack of eloquence of the messenger He may use.  Extra-blessed is the man or woman who carries the message of God, and can also deliver it eloquently, but that is not a requirement to qualify as a messenger of His.

The second lesson for us is equally as important.  I think that oftentimes many Christians seek out the will of God but miss it because they are looking for a “perfect fit”.  We want something that we are absolutely confident we can handle and that we will enjoy.  Maybe something we have done before in our ‘secular’ work.  If we got that kind of an assignment, the question arises as to whether or not we would need God to be with us in performing it.  Whether we would move ahead on our own confidence or be reliant on Him?  Whether or not in the end we would take some or all of the glory and perhaps only give Him some honorable mentions or none at all?

What kind of calling from God are you looking for?  If you have been looking for a long time and still have not done anything, may I humbly suggest, you’re looking for a “perfect fit” when God wants to give you something that will build up your reliance on Him.  If any of us are there now, we need to prayerfully reconsider His existing, and still unanswered call, on our life.

[Are you looking for a speaker at your church, your club, school, or organization? Ken is available to preach, teach, challenge, and/or motivate. Please contact us.]

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It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

More Signs To Accompany Moses -- Exodus 4:6-9

And the Lord furthermore said to him, “Now put your hand into your bosom.  So he put his hand into his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow.  Then He said, “Put your hand into your bosom again.”  So he put his hand into his bosom again; and when he took it out of his bosom, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh.  “And it shall come about that if they will not believe you or heed the witness of the first sign, they may believe the witness of the last sign.  But is shall be that if they will not believe even these two signs or heed what you say, then you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground; and the water which you take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.”

Did God think that Moses’ throwing his staff on the ground, having it turn into a snake, then picking the snake up by its tail, and having it turn back into his staff was not going to be sufficient for convincing the children of Israel that he had heard from the God of their fathers?  Perhaps.  Or perhaps God was just showing a little bit of frustration here when He then told Moses what else he could do to prove that his authority was coming from on high.

Whatever the case for more proof, God told Moses to put his hand on his chest (one imagines through his outer coat) and then to take it out again.  As Moses obeyed, the hand became leprous and turned white.  We don’t know what Moses’ reaction to that was.  Was it fear similar to when he saw the snake?  Or was he now willing to expect and accept anything that God would do or could do?

It really does not matter, for God did not require him to dwell long on the situation and immediately told him to put his leprous hand back on his chest and to pull it out again.  Although, if Moses were as sharp as we believe him to have been, then what happened next was less of a surprise to him, and more of an re-assurance of God’s power.  The leprous flesh on his hand returned to its normal look, similar to that of the rest of his body.

And then God says something interesting, perhaps beating Moses to another question.  God says, “Look, and if they don’t believe this sign or the first one, here’s a third one.”  God then proceeds to tell Moses what he will need to do at that time.  In examining that statement more closely, I find its structure a little puzzling.  The ‘western’ mind would ask, “Why would God say ‘if they will not believe you’?  Did God not know whether they would or not?  Does God not know everything?  The ‘Judaic’-thinking mind, however, would have no problem with this.  Of course God knew and knows everything that has, is, and will occur.  Judaic-thinking would lead us to say that God here was projecting himself into the circumstance from Moses’ point of view.  Moses is really the one asking, “what if they don’t believe even this?” and it is just that God was asking it for him and answering it as well.

For his final display of proof that God had met with him, Moses was to get some water from the Nile River and pour it on the ground and it would turn into blood.

These three miracles that Moses was given warrant some further comment.  The first two – staff to snake and back again; and his own hand turning leprous and then back to normal – were indeed miracles of what David Guzik in his Study Guide on this text calls “miracles of conversion”.  The third – taking water from the Nile and turning it into blood but not back again into water – was a “miracle of judgment”.  Guzik says the first miracle also conveys to Moses that if he obeyed God, his enemies would be made powerless.  The second miracle, involving his own hand, was to convey to Moses and us who read of it, that his own sin (his own polluted body or self) could be made pure.  There is an inference here as Matthew Henry suggests, that the Israelites had polluted their lives in Egypt, turning to other gods and worshiping them.  Are we guilty of the same thing?   Here God is showing that they can become pure again.  If we ourselves have any doubt in God’s power to defeat our enemies and to make us pure, then there is no way we can minister to others, or on behalf of others.  So, God shows that to Moses (and through him, to us) first before Moses (and by inference, us) was to convince others of the same truths.

There is also a possibility here that the first miracle was somehow symbolic of how Moses was going to take the ‘governing power’ away from Pharaoh (when Moses first held this own staff), through God’s help, and vest it in himself (when the staff was given to him at the end of the miracle), in order to be able to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt.

With the second miracle, the leprous hand, there is also the possibility of a symbolic foreshadowing of some of the plagues that were going to impact the land of Egypt.  Matthew Henry points out that this second miracle might also have been intended to make sure that Moses understands that he could not boast about anything that results and that all the glory should always go to God – for his hand too was leprous.

But taking water from the Nile and turning it into blood was a little different.  It was not to be turned back into water.  Guzik writes, “if the miracles of conversion (the first two) did not turn the hearts of the people, then perhaps the sign of judgment will.”  Matthew Henry reminds us also that later on in our story of Moses, God does turn the entire Nile into blood, later making it a plague, and perhaps this miracle was a foreshadowing of that event.

Moses now had his three miracle-weapons intended to destroy both his own doubts, and those of the children of Israel.  And with that, Moses’ latest objection (number 3) is refuted.  [You will remember, objection number one was, “Who am I to go to Pharaoh?”.  Objection two was “What if they ask me your name?”]   Has he had enough?  That remains to be seen.  But let us focus on you and I for a moment?  How many ways, and how many times does God need to refute our objections to something He wants us to do?  If we each stop long enough to ask ourselves that very question as we read this, then I think that we have gained much from the text.

[Are you looking for a speaker at your church, your club, school, or organization? Ken is available to preach, teach, challenge, and/or motivate. Please contact us.]

Thanks for dropping by. Sign up to receive free updates. We bring you relevant information from all sorts of sources. Subscribe for free to this blog or follow us by clicking on the appropriate link in the right side bar. And please share this blog with your friends. Ken Godevenos, Church and Management Consultant, Accord Consulting.  And while you’re here, why not check out some more of our recent blogs shown in the right hand column.  Ken.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.