Exodus notes will continue next week, until then here is another thought:
38. “Remember Whose you are and Whom you serve. Provoke yourself by recollection, and your affection for God will increase tenfold; your imagination will not be starved any longer, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright.” –Oswald Chambers
“The Christian life is not a constant high. I have my moments of deep discouragement. I have to go to God in prayer with tears in my eyes, and say, ‘O God, forgive me,’ or ‘Help me.’” – Billy Graham
“Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.” – Francis Chan
“God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supplies.” – Hudson Taylor
“God loves each of us as if there were only one of us” – Augustine
I will be continuing our journey through Exodus in a few days time. Until then a little thought for each day : “Don’t be dependent on man, because they change like the wind. Depend on the Lord, and know that He is faithful to keep His Word.” – Matthew Hagee
18 Then Moses went back to Jethro 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.”
Jethro said, “Go, and I wish you well.”
19 Now the Lord had said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kill you are dead.” 20 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.
Verse 19 shows what preceded Moses’ request to Jethro, namely God’s instruction. Moses still observed what I presume was a courtesy in that culture. In so doing, he received his father-in-law’s words of blessing and found he had an ‘open door’.
If you believe God has told you to do a certain thing, you will likely find circumstantial confirmation: i.e. things will start to open up for you to do that thing. God will make a way; the Red Sea will part; a relative may affirm your direction! (Just one word of caution though: when Jonah was running away from the Lord, he went down to Joppa and found a ship bound for Tarshish – the very destination he wanted to run to. It could have been seen as providential. However, Jonah knew what God had said to him, and was aware he was being disobedient. So the opportunity alone doesn’t make it right).
A preacher said he stood on the bridge of a ship one night as it headed into a harbour. The captain said to him, ‘Do you see those three lights? They have to come into alignment and then we know we are heading in the right direction.’ At least three lights must come into line for us to be sure of God’s guidance: a.) His word to our hearts; b.) the written Word of God, the Bible, and c.) the providential ordering of circumstances.
13 But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”
14 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. 15 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. 16 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. 17 But take this staff in your hand so you can perform the signs with it.”
Moses now revealed his true feelings. He didn’t want to do what God was asking. (‘Here am I Lord, send Aaron!’). He called Him “Lord” but didn’t want to do what He said. However, lest any of us start to feel superior to Moses, let’s remember he recorded all of this. He was an honest and humble man. (We see a similar pattern with Peter who, it is believed, was the eye-witness behind John Mark’s account in the second gospel).
How merciful God is, that He could be angry with Moses (“burned” seems quite a strong word: v.14) and yet condescend to make provision for him in his timid unbelief.
The humbling truth is that none of us are complete in ourselves. We need the help, the gifts, the abilities of others. None of us is an island. We are called to co-operation – to teamwork.
Leaders often want to be ‘super-heroes’, but even Batman needs Robin!! Even Moses needed Aaron, and both of them needed God (15). (But was it God’s ideal, in this case, that Moses should speak through Moses???)
Although the concentration of this section is on speaking God’s Word, remember God’s pattern is that “signs” should “follow” (or “accompany”) it (17; see Mark 16:17ff.)
Having said everything, we will do well to consider these wise words from Warren Wiersbe, who points out that Aaron was not always a help to Moses:
‘When God in His anger gives us what we selfishly want, that gift rarely turns out to be a blessing (Num.11:33; Hos.13:11). One of the most painful judgments God can send is to let His people have their own way.
Subsequent events proved that Moses was very capable of speaking God’s words with mighty power, both to his own people and to the king of Egypt. As the history of Israel unfolds, you find Moses delivering some eloquent messages in the power of the Lord. The book of Deuteronomy records his magnificent farewell speech.’ ‘Old Testament Commentary’, p.151.
10 Moses said to the Lord, “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.”
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.”
Verse 12 is an encouragement to every preacher. God will give the content of the message and the courage to speak it.
But Moses really didn’t want to do this thing did he? His next excuse concerned a supposed deficiency in speech:
‘Moses no doubt had lost most of his eloquence after forty years of tending sheep! (Acts 7:22,29-30).
Patiently, through a series of rhetorical questions, God revealed to Moses that if He had given him his mouth, He surely would help him use it (Mark 13:11). Whatever inability Moses thought he had, God would overcome it.’ Tom Hale: ‘Applied Old Testament Commentary’, p.213.
Acts 7:22 says: “Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.” What he had once been, and maybe was no more, God could make him again – and even more so.
‘Moses completely missed the message of God’s name and God’s miraculous power. “I AM” is all that we need in every circumstance of life, and it’s foolish for us to argue, “I am not.”…The God who made us is able to use the gifts and abilities He’s given us to accomplish the tasks He assigns us.’ Warren W. Wiersbe: ‘Old Testament Commentary’, p.151.
