Moses:
Send Someone Else to Do it!
Exodus
1-4
James
R. Davis
How vividly I remember
getting out of high school in the mid 1960's. About all most high school
boys could think about in those years was being drafted into the Army.
There were at least two options when facing the all but inevitable draft.
We could choose to let Uncle Sam draft us into the Army for two years or
we could join another branch of the armed service and serve four years.
The difference in the choices was more than just the two year or four year
commitment. It was a choice of you spending two years in the Army and have
a great chance of living at least a year of that time in front trenches
of Vietnam. To us at that time it seemed that those who were drafted into
the Army always had a much better chance ending up in Vietnam than those
who volunteered in the Army or some other branch of the service.
The other choice was
to join a branch of the Armed Forces where you would most probably spend
three to four years of your life way behind the front lines in a combat
support group. It was really a gamble with your life, choosing a two year
compulsory commitment with a great possibly of coming home dead or a four
year commitment that tremendously increased the odds of coming back home
alive. Those are heavy decisions for high schoolers. Many chose to avoid
the conflict of the front lines by volunteering for another branch of the
service. Which personally I have always thought was the only intelligent
thing to do.
Usually our motto is
"Avoid conflict" and to do this we usually choose the "path of least resistance."
The vast majority of the world rather choose the "path of least resistance."
This path offers a semblance of peace, at least as it is compared to our
other choices.
Many choose to do the
same thing when engaging the enemy in spiritual warfare. They rather be
in a combat support group that is not intimately engaged with the enemy.
Choosing to step out and obey God's call in the Lord's Army is like volunteering
for the front lines in Vietnam. You can expect soul stirring conflict.
And the rather surprising thing is that you don't have to step out to preach
or lead to engage in spiritual conflict. All you have to do is tackle the
personal spiritual problems that are preventing your growth as a child
of God. Just tackle your besetting sin and watch what happens. The Devil
will send his reinforcements and immediately our lives are placed out there
on the front lines. And if we are not careful we will retreat to a place
where we don't have to fight that intimately with the forces of Satan.
Moses was God's Man
Moses was drafted from
birth to serve in God's army. He had been separated from his mother's womb,
rescued from a papyrus basket, raised for the first 40 years of his life
in the Pharoah of Egypt's palace and spoken to by God from a burning bush
for the purpose of delivering God's people from bondage. Moses may have
grown up enjoying the pleasures of Egypt but he never lost a heart for
his people.
Exodus 2:11-15
And it came to pass
in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren,
and looked on their burdens: and he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew,
one of his brethren. And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw
that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand. And
when he went out the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrews strove
together: and he said to him that did the wrong, Wherefore smitest thou
thy fellow? And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest
thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said,
Surely this thing is known. Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought
to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the
land of Midian: and he sat down by a well.
I have noticed in spiritual
battles peacemakers always stay in trouble. They can't win. They will be
seen either as compromisers or sticking their nose in where they have no
business. They are condemned no matter what they endeavor to do. So having
failed Moses fled to Midian. I wonder how many nights he laid awake thinking
of himself as a coward and thinking, "But after all there is no use in
getting killed for nothing . . . There is no need in asking for trouble."
And of course I still believe that he did the only intelligent thing to
do.
When we step out to
do the right thing we think, "surely life should get easier?" We think
that we should automaticlly be rewarded for doing the right thing. But
that is not what happened to Moses. So Moses withdrew from the front line
approach in Egypt and spent the next 40 years in a peaceful pastoral setting
tending sheep. What bliss! Moses had 40 years to think of plenty of reasons
why he shouldn't go back home to Egypt. And now at 80 he has observed and
learned much. He is much smarter and wiser about those sorts of things.
So the Lord appears to Moses in a burning bush and tells him that he is
being sent to the trenches on the front lines.
The Lord spoke to Moses,
"Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto
me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress
them. Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou
mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt. (Exodus
3:9-10) And Moses did what the majority of us do when we are asked to come
to the front lines.
"Who am I, that I
should go . . ." (Exodus 3:11)
So Moses ask the only
rational question that any thinking person could ask. In fact he ask the
same question teenagers were asking in the 60's. "Who am I, that I should
go?" Moses simply asked, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring
the Israelites out of Egypt?" (Exodus 3:11)
There are reasons for
Moses' doubts about going. Stephen relates the story in the book of Acts.
"And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty
in words and in deeds. And when he was full forty years old, it came into
his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel. And seeing one
of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed,
and smote the Egyptian: And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended
him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian: For
he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand
would deliver them: but they understood not. [Emphasis mine] And
the next day he shewed himself unto them as they strove, and would have
set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one
to another? But he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him away, saying,
Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us? Wilt thou kill me, as thou diddest
the Egyptian yesterday? Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger
in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons." (Acts 7:22-29)
If they didn't believe
Moses 40 years prior, why should they believe him now. Who was he to tell
them anything? After all he had led a priveleged life as Pharoah's grandson.
There is not much doubt in my mind that Moses may have had a conflict with
God. If God didn't show his hand to help 40 years prior, why should he
trust him now? Again it is like Vietnam, if the government did that to
young kids then can they be trusted now? Should we not be cautious when
you have generals interested in their own glory. After all Moses had stepped
out to do the right thing then and was left devastated should he not be
even more cautious now.
Exodus 3:13-15
And Moses said unto
God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto
them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say
to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto
Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children
of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses,
Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers,
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me
unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.
God said, "I Am who
I Am." God told Moses it doesn't have to do with who you are but with who
I Am. In any conflict it is important to know who is sending you into battle.
Do they know what they are doing? This is especially true in spiritual
warfare. Am I trying to accomplish God's work through the use of carnal
weapons which the Devil is more than willing to give me or will I be sent
to battle by God using the weapons he furnishes.
What shall I say?
Moses wanted to know
something else if he did decide to go. There is another question implied
by what is written in the text of Exodus chapter 3. It is certainly implied
that Moses either was thinking it or asking it, "What shall I say?" If
it didn't work then, "What do you expect me to say now?" What to say .
. . that is always hard. The hardest thing about preaching is, "What do
I say?" You have the whole Bible to preach from but should I be preaching
Exodus or Revelation or somewhere in between. What will move this audience?
Will anything move this audience? What areas are they willing to move in?
What do they need to hear? Or will it do any good to say anything at this
time?
So God said, "Go, and
gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, The LORD God of
your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto
me, saying, I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you
in Egypt: And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of
Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites,
and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing
with milk and honey." (Exodus 3:16-17)
God gives Moses something
to say and assures him that after a little persuasion that the Pharoah
of Egypt and the Israelite slaves would believe him.
Exodus 3:18-22
"The elders of Israel
will listen to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt
and say to him, 'The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let
us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the
LORD our God.' But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless
a mighty hand compels him. So I will stretch out my hand and strike the
Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that,
he will let you go. "And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward
this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed.
Every woman is to ask
her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and
gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And
so you will plunder the Egyptians."
Why Should They Believe
Me?
So Moses ask the only
reasonable question, "What if . . . they say, "The Lord did not appear
to you?" (Exodus 4:1) Personal testimonies always seem a little weak to
me. In fact most seem sort of self-centered.
Exodus 4:2-9
Then the LORD said
to him, "What is that in your hand?" "A staff," he replied. The LORD said,
"Throw it on the ground." Moses threw it on the ground and it became a
snake, and he ran from it. Then the LORD said to him, "Reach out your hand
and take it by the tail." So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake
and it turned back into a staff in his hand. "This," said the LORD, "is
so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers-- the
God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob-- has appeared to
you." Then the LORD said, "Put your hand inside your cloak." So Moses put
his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was leprous, like
snow. "Now put it back into your cloak," he said. So Moses put his hand
back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the
rest of his flesh. Then the LORD said, "If they do not believe you or pay
attention to the first miraculous sign, they may believe the second. But
if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water
from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the
river will become blood on the ground."
There is no doubt that
Moses is thinking of his own efforts and sins 40 years prior. The Pharoah
sought to kill him then and the Hebrew brethren were the ones that made
the murder known. Why should I go back? What difference can I make? Traumatic
experiences piled on top of traumatic experiences can leave one believing
that one is incompetent. We conclude after all our lives are irrevelant,
so we don't even try. We give up on life and on people.
The belief that we are
incompetent haunts us and holds us back. It keeps us from moving forward
in life. We're not alone; Moses felt incompetent. Who am I? What can I
say? Why should they believe me? I have already failed in this effort once.
And now he says, "I am not an eloquent speaker and I talk funny?" "Lord,
couldn't you send someone else?"
Peter reminds us today
that God's divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto
life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to
glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious
promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having
escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. (2 Peter 1:2-4)
Divine Deficiencies
and God's Power
Moses said to the LORD,
"O 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." Whatever
Moses had when he left Egypt he had been stripped of after spending 40
years in Midian. Stephen indicates in Acts chapter 7 that when he was in
Egypt the first 40 years of his life that he was mighty in words and deeds.
(Acts 7:22) Some make the claim that Moses learned in Egypt the skills
needed to lead God's people out of Egypt. Some contend that he learned
military stratagies to help him win the battles after he crossed the Red
Sea.
Others believe that
he was left Divinely deficient. It seems that the Midian experience was
to strip him of whatever he may have had in Egypt. Whatever self-confidence
he had when he left Egypt he lost in Midian. I believe the latter. I don't
think you find Egyptians fighting the way Moses fought as recorded Exodus
17:9-13. Winning a battle by holding up the rod of God. As long as Moses
held the rod up Israel prevailed and when his arms grew tired and drop
Israel lost.
Francis Frangipane wrote,
"The Lord took a self-assured world leader and reduced him to the point
that he became a useful servant. After first convincing Moses of his unfitness
for leadership, God then was able to fit him into His plan." (Francis Frangipane
in Charisma, Mar 1995)
Here we arrive at the
heart of the matter for Moses, the reason he thinks he can't enter into
the area of conflict. He is not naturally gifted to tackle the task at
hand. He is not persuasive. Even if he knew what to say, he wouldn't know
how to phrase it.
"And the LORD said unto
him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the
seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD? Now therefore go, and I will
be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say. And he said,
O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send.
[Emphasis mine] And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and
he said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak
well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth
thee, he will be glad in his heart. And thou shalt speak unto him, and
put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth,
and will teach you what ye shall do. And he shall be thy spokesman unto
the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth,
and thou shalt be to him instead of God." (Exodus 4:11-16)
"God has done many things
for Moses up to this point on Mount Horeb. God has revealed himself, told
Moses of his holiness, faithfulness, compassion and activity; promised
success; and given him three signs that the people will believe him. Despite
all this revelation, it's not enough for Moses." (Scott Grant, Divinely
Deficient, http://www.pbc.org/dp/grant/exodus/exo004a.html)
It is amazing that on
Pentecost God gave the apostles the ability to speak so that Jews from
every nation under heaven heard them in each of their languages. Yet here
God leaves Moses Divinely deficient.
Moses is stripped of
anything he may have learned or earned in Egypt. He is left void of any
natural ability to lead in such conflict. He has been leading sheep in
Midian. There is probably not a more docile role in the entire world. Sheep
aren't like people; they naturally follow. Moses has absolutely nothing
to offer much less any self-confidence. He has been out of touch for 40
years. Who would want to hire a CEO who had been out of touch for 40 years?
Deep down this is the
crucial heart of the matter for each of us . . . we are convinced, deep
down, that there is at least one absolutely crucial attribute that we lack.
We think that if we are to be received by people, something about us has
to be more compelling. But God doesn't give us what we think we need. Amazingly
God is not interested in furnishing what we think we lack. His only concern
is to give us what we need and that is faith. Today the church is in a
headlong pursuit of what we think we need to make God's plan work. All
we really need is faith in God. God's work is not dependent on your competence.
If it were it would not be of faith. We would depend on our own competence.
And too many of us do.
"O Lord, please send
someone else to do it." (Exodus 4:13)
Exodus 4:12-17
Now go; I will help
you speak and will teach you what to say." But Moses said, "O Lord, please
send someone else to do it." 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 his heart will be
glad when he sees you. You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth;
I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. He will speak
to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if
you were God to him. But take this staff in your hand so you can perform
miraculous signs with it."
It is little wonder
that Moses ask God to send someone else. Yet, we don't need someone else
to do what God is calling us to do. If we let others do what we are afraid
to do we are probably letting them do what God is calling us to do. Do
you realize the harm you are doing God's cause when you retreat in fear?
Do you realize how this discourages others? (Scott Grant, Divinely Deficient,
http://www.pbc.org/dp/grant/exodus/exo004a.html)
So God gives Moses his
brother Aaron to be his mouth. Any time God ask you to do something for
him it is more of a demand on him than it is you. This is true because
he must provide a way to do whatever he is asking you to do. He must give
you the means to do it. He must enable you. He must protect you. He must
provide physically whatever is needed to do it. So God tells Moses that
Aaron is already on the way to meet him. It seems as though God was in
the process of bringing Aaron to Moses before Moses began asking the questions.
Conclusion:
Commenting on our need
for patience, M.H. Blount has said, "God's best gifts come slowly. We could
not use them if they did not. Many a man, called of God to...a work in
which he is pouring out his life, is convinced that the Lord means to bring
his efforts to a successful conclusion. Nevertheless, even such a confident
worker grows discouraged at times and worries because results do not come
as rapidly as he would desire. But growth and strength in waiting are results
often greater than the end so impatiently longed for. Paul had time to
realize this as he lay in prison. Moses must have asked, `Why?' many times
during the delays in Midian and in the wilderness. Jesus Himself experienced
the discipline of delay in His silent years before His great public ministry
began." (Via, InfoSearch Database, http://www.infosearch.com)
Ephesians 6:10-15
Finally, be strong
in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that
you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is
not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities,
against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces
of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God,
so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground,
and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the
belt of truth buckled around your waist,
with the breastplate of righteousness
in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from
the gospel of peace.
