Moses: "This Is Not What I Had in Mind?"
Exodus 5:22-23James R. Davis
Moses has just left Midian where he spent 40 years wallowing in his failed attempt to rescue the Hebrews from Egyptian slavery. But now it is different. God has appeared to him in a burning bush. He has been given Divine assurance and now it is God leading him. God has showed him his power by turning his staff into a snake, making his hand leprous and then healing it. God has assured Moses that Aaron will be there to speak for him. God has also assured Moses that the Pharaoh would allow the Israelites to leave Egypt and the Egyptians will be so kindly disposed toward the Israelites when they leave that they will give them whatever they ask. So to Moses all of this adds up to instant victory with minimum hardship.
We think that when God calls surely we should be able to step right out there on the front lines in the heat of the battle and engage in battle without worrying about losing any battles. Why a man that is fighting for the Lord shouldn't even need to dig a foxhole, after all he is Divinely guided, Divinely protected and Divinely empowered. Why on earth should he even need a foxhole? Surprise! Surprise!
I Am Going to set the World on Fire!
How many have entered into the service of the Lord and thought, "Well I am going out there to set things ablaze?" Yet they have returned asking, "Why was I so foolish, the situation is hopeless? I have caused more harm than good!" We can think of Moses, Samson and Elijah who seemly spent all their lives in defeat because they never saw the fruition of their work, but yet according to the New Testament writers they all died victorious. But in our world of overnight successes that is hard to swallow.
It is even worse when we enter Christian service. We want to think that if you have God on your side, that is all you need. We think that this single most important factor should eliminate defeat. We would like to think that sense we are God's people that things would go much smoother and success would come more readily.
Exodus 5:1-9
Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the desert.'" Pharaoh said, "Who is the LORD, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD and I will not let Israel go." Then they said, "The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God, or he may strike us with plagues or with the sword." But the king of Egypt said, "Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!" Then Pharaoh said, "Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them from working." That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and foremen in charge of the people: "You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don't reduce the quota. They are lazy; that is why they are crying out, 'Let us go and sacrifice to our God.' Make the work harder for the men so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies.""This Is Not What I Hand in Mind!"
Exodus 5:22-23
And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.It is hard to persuade people to take their minds off the way they think things ought to be? This is especially true when you have made plans that you believe should place you where you think you ought to be. This is even truer when you know that you are following God's plan. At the first sign of failure we begin to cry, "Lord, what have I done to deserve this? I have this plan and it should work, but why have I only encountered trouble? Why have you even ask me to step out and take a stand?" Immediately we begin saying: "I am a failure. I always will be a failure. Nothing has changed and nothing will change." Then at this point we ask the proverbial question, "Lord why have you treated me so evil?" We cry, "This is not exactly what I had in mind!"
Gideon was called by God to deliver the Israelites from the Midianites. But he had a few questions that he wanted to ask God before he went. "And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour. And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee? (Judges 6:12-14) Gideon was really saying, "This is not what I envision that living as a child of God would be!"
These age-old questions continue to be ask by many of us today when things don't go according to our plans. We begin asking the age-old questions: "Why did I ever get my hopes up?" "Why did I ever accept this job?" "Why was I ever born?" "If God is on my side, why has this difficulty befallen me." "If God is really good, why do things like this happen?"
It Is According to God's Plan
When Gideon asks, "Why?" the Lord responds, " . . . have not I sent thee?" (Judges 6:14) God reminds Gideon that the important thing is "Who is sending him?" Notice that this is the same basic answer that God gave Moses when Moses asks "Why?" "And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD: And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them. And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers. And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant. Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments: And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the LORD." (Exodus 6:2-8)
The unfortunate thing is that too often we place so much of our energies into thinking that this is not the way I imagined things would be that we refuse to take into account "Who is speaking to us and what He has in mind?" Too many times we focus on the difficulties of the moment that we forget about God's overall plan. We forget that it is his plan and he fully understands it from beginning to the end of the world.
Exodus 6:9-13
And Moses spake so unto the children of Israel: but they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Go in, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land. And Moses spake before the LORD, saying, Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips? And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, and gave them a charge unto the children of Israel, and unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.If things don't go according to our plans, we immediately began focusing on our own inadequacies. Moses says, "If my own brethren want listen, then why should the Egyptians listen to one of "uncircumcised lips?" You remember earlier that Moses didn't want to go speak to Pharaoh because he was not an eloquent speaker? (4:10) It seems that no matter what the Lord promises us we continue to focus on the way we think things ought to be. You see we tell ourselves "If I were a better person, these things wouldn't happen and I could make a difference?" But it is God's plan and his power that makes the difference!!!
Satan endeavors to crush our hope by crushing our faith. He has no better way to do this than to use affliction to distract us. Affliction has a tendency to plug our ears to the one that is speaking to us. We look at all this wonderful, liberating, hopeful truth in the word of God; then we look at all the painful, constricting, crushing pain in life. The Word of God begins to look like a lie, a collection of false words. Through affliction Satan is telling us: "This is not the way things ought to be. Don't believe what God is saying. Don't you trust that God is at work. Forget it. It's a lie. Don't believe God exist. Don't believe God is good. Don't believe that God has your best interest at heart. Don't believe that he has a plan to take you to a better place."
Understanding God's Purposes
We focus on our private little world, on what is going on in our hearts, on the way we think things ought to be. Many times this leaves us seeing the working of God's plan as our total defeat. We get lost in our own private worlds with no concept of what is going on around us. We have no understanding of what God is trying to do through us to reveal himself to those outside of our own little world. Moses was doing this as he was asking, "Who am I?" "Why should they believe me?" "Why, God have you treated these people so evil?" "If the Israelites won't listen, why should the Pharaoh?" God is leading Moses one step at a time in the process of delivering Israel. Moses wants to take a giant step for mankind.
"And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD: And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them." (Exodus 6:2-3)
God was known to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as "El Shaddai" that is the Almighty God. God has proved that he was almighty when he gave Abraham and Sarah a child when they were well passed the age of child bearing. But now he reveals himself as "Jehovah." By this God means that he is going to show Israel his unbounded freedom in the carrying out the promises that he made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
God will reveal himself as their deliverer. He will adopt Israel as his national theocracy. He will with outstretched arm lead Israel from bondage into the land promised to their fathers. Israel is to be an eyewitness of God's name exploding across the pages of history. God reveals himself as Israel's redeemer and deliverer. Three times God tells Moses: "I am the LORD" (6:2, 6, 7, 8). It is in these difficult times that God's name is now ready to be revealed.
God is in the process of revealing himself not only to the Israelites but also to Egypt. Egypt is the most powerful nation in the world at this time. When God does what he has set out to do he wants the whole world to know Israel's God. What better way to do this than humble the most powerful nation on earth? God has a purpose in everything that he does. He has a purpose in hardening Pharaoh's heart. The purpose is that it would allow him to multiply his signs and wonders for the whole world to see.
Exodus 7:3-6
And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them. And Moses and Aaron did as the LORD commanded them, so did they.God was also in the process of revealing himself to the surrounding world. Rahab came to the Israelite spy's forty years later and spoke of the God who had revealed himself in Egypt. Rahab said, "I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. [Emphasis mine] And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath. (Joshua 2:9-11)
The amazing thing is that God said that he would lead his armies out of Egypt. "But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments." I want to ask what armies, what a rag tag army this must have been. But God wanted the world and us to know that it was his judgments on behalf of this rag tag army that would always lead his people to victory.
We Must Remember Who We Are
How do you lead people who have spent 430 years in bondage? Egypt has been stripping them of their dignity for 430 years; generation after generation has been enslaved. How do you lead persons who have lost their dignity of self-esteem because they have spent most of their lives in slavery or failure? Even in our world we are discovering that it takes more than crucial legislation to change our world.
How do you lead people today who have spent their entire lives enslaved in sin and mistreated by the consequence of their sin and the sins of others? How do you reach children today who have grown up feeling unloved and unwanted? How do you lead churches that have really never known anything but defeat? It is hard to trust when there has never been anyone you could really trust! And this is especially true when you know deep down inside that you have never been able to trust yourself!
When you do endeavor to lead these people the ones following are usually expecting instant gratification they want instant change. They have in mind the way things ought to change immediately. This makes it even more difficult when they want it done overnight. When success doesn't come overnight we questioned the validity of what we are doing. Well we have a lot we can learn from the Israelites!
It is in times like these that we must be reminded of who we are and of what God has promised us. God reminds the Israelites of his promises and who they are.
Exodus 6:7-8
And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the LORD.Throughout the wilderness wanderings Moses reminded Israel of who they were and who was their God and that alone should persuade them to trust in God's promises.
Deuteronomy 14:2
For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.To begin trusting God we must understand that God cares for His people, for all of us and God cares about all those who have not yet called upon him for salvation. God cared for Moses and Israel. When I look at God's concern for the Israelites I am reminded that no matter how crushed, broken and desperate we may become, God is concerned. He has great compassion for us, and He will help meet our need. No matter what our problem, sin, or shame is, God longs to help us. God is the LORD, our great Redeemer and Deliver. He will redeem and deliver us from all our troubles and enslavement's to the world. Notice the encouragement of the following Scriptures.
Jesus Christ reminds us that to all that receive him, "to them he gave power to become the sons of God, even to those that believe on his name . . . " (John 1:12) Paul tells us that God's Spirit bears witness that we are joint-heirs with Jesus Christ and that if we suffer with him we will also be glorified with him. (Romans 8:16-17) The Psalmist says, "The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song." (Psalms 28:7) Isaiah wrote, "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." (Isaiah 41:10) Paul wrote, "The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen." (2 Timothy 4:18)
The Bible makes it crystal clear that who we are is much more important than what we have done or accomplished. This is difficult to accept in a world that measures us by our accomplishments or lack of them. It was just as difficult to deal with in the Egyptian world in which Moses lived. Moses allowed his difficulties to overshadow who he was and who had called him. The Devil is the master of causing us to take our defeats personal. We begin to doubt ourselves and this makes us doubt that God can use a failure like me. You see how we come full circle to doubt the power of God. You began believing that he is powerless to do what he says he will do with our lives.
Conclusion:
In 2 Kings 5:10-14 Naaman a leper went to the prophet of God in Israel in hopes of being cured of his leprosy. The prophet told him to go dip seven times in the River of Jordan. But Naaman went away in a rage saying, "I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than any of the waters of Israel? Couldn't I wash in them and be cleansed?" (Vv. 11-12) But his servants were smarter and they went to him and said, "My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, 'Wash and be cleansed'!" So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy." (Vv. 13-14)
In our day of difficulty we must forget the way we think it ought to be and endeavor to see God's plan in the midst of it all. And even if we can't see the outcome or never see the fruition of our labors we must remain faithful in the present. Many who have left the service of the Lord because things are not the way think they ought to be need to get back in service as they strive to deal with things the way they are. Eternally this is my only hope and it is your only hope.