Exodus 3:6 Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.
7 And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;
8 And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
9 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.
10 Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.
11 And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?
12 And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.
In verse 6 God reminded Moses that the eternal God was speaking to him. This was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Moses rightly humbled himself and realized he was not worthy to be in the presence of this eternal and holy God. It would be very helpful for religious people today to understand that the true God is not a puppet on a string. He is holy and righteous and He does not flip flop like a politician. What He told Abraham is the same thing that He told Isaac which is the same thing He told Jacob. He was telling Moses the same thing as well. Moses’ call was from this same unchanging and omniscient God.
In verse 7 God continued to lay out His plan for Moses. He knew all about the affliction that Israel was currently living under. Moses knew some of that from his time in Egypt. God knew more about it than Moses did. Moses could not wash his hands of that trouble by fleeing the country of Egypt. He was still a Jew and God still had a plan for him in this matter.
In verse 8 God told Moses that He was going to deliver the Hebrews from the bondage they had been living under. You notice that the Hebrews did not get out their placards and protest what was happening to them. They cried unto the true God. They hoped He would hear them and do something to help them. The Hebrews did not have a very clear relationship with God at this time. They still cried out to Him. They needed to learn of His greatness. They had heard of it, but they also needed to know it for themselves. God is not the God of yesterday. He is the God of today. What He has done in the past, He is able to do today. He does not always use the same events, but He provides the same hope and help.
God further told Moses that He was going to bring the Hebrews into a land flowing with milk and honey. There were nations living in that land at present, but God was going to remove them from the land and give it to the Hebrews. It is important to note that the world belongs to God. He created it. He allows people to live on it, but He can remove a people and put others in that place. The only people He ever promised to give a parcel of land to was Abraham. Abraham’s descendants would live in that land, but the land belonged to God. The nation of Israel needed to take care of that land according to His plan. Israel has not done that for most of its history and thus they have faced challenges in that land. There have been times when it was truly a land flowing with milk and honey, but most of the time that has not been true because of their rebellion against God.
In verse 9 God again reminded Moses that He had heard the cry of the Hebrews and that He was about to act forcefully to change their plight.
In verse 10 God invited Moses to be the man He would send to Pharaoh to speak to him about letting the children of Israel go. Moses’ duty was simply to be the mouth piece that God would use to speak to Pharaoh. God was not going to try to make some kind of a deal with Pharaoh. He was going to demand that he let the people go.
In the eyes of man, this would seem like an overwhelming task. The children of Israel were not trained in war. They had no weapons. They were not organized. Pharaoh and his armies were powerful. They had the upper hand. Why should Pharaoh listen to what Moses had to say.
In verse 11 we see Moses begin to show his imagined humility. He claimed to be a nobody, and yet as a nobody he was opposing the God of his fathers. If he truly believed he was a nobody, he would not be arguing with the true and almighty God.
It was true that Moses was not trained in leadership. He had observed Pharaoh’s method of leadership. That was of no value to him though. God does not need to take lessons from a pagan leader. Moses needed to humble himself and take his direction from the true God.
In verse 12 God assured him that He would be with him. God never calls a person and then leaves them to try to figure out how to succeed. If God calls a person to a task, He also provides the wisdom and direction to succeed in that task. Success with God does not mean popularity among people. We will see that Moses would soon be despised by his own people and he would also be despised by Pharaoh. Moses was not called to be a people-pleaser. He was being called to serve the true God.
God continued to encourage Moses by telling him that when he would have succeeded in bringing the nation of Israel out of Egypt, they would serve God on that very mountain that Moses was standing on.
Again we see that God does not make idle promises. He is well able to keep every promise that He makes. We noted already that He sets up kings and He removes kings. He created the mountains and thus it was no problem for Him to control what would take place on His mountains. He could also control who would meet on His mountains. All that God was asking of Moses is that he believe God and trust Him to lead him. God does the heavy lifting. He does not ask us to invent some story line. He does not ask us to blaze our own trail. He knows the way. He knows every obstacle along the way. He also knows that the blessings He has in store both now and in eternity are much greater than the trials along the way.
As we see in Moses’ life, we have much to learn. We do not tend to learn well when everything is handed to us on a silver platter. Some people want that. They look at what others have and they want the same. They miss out on God’s blessings when they reject Him for material gain.
We will see that God provided all that Moses needed. He will do the same for those who humble themselves before Him and trust in Him.
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
Jeremiah did not have an “easy” life. He faced persecution. There was nothing that he faced that God did not know about. God was with him through all his trials. God would be with Moses through all his trials and challenges. God will be with each one that truly knows Him and follows Him.
Where are you at today? Are you without God wandering around in the wilderness of life? If you are, why not turn to God and trust Him to forgive you and give you eternal life today?
If you know Him, but are fighting against Him like Moses was, stop fighting. You cannot win against God. You can miss out on blessings He wants to give you. However, you cannot win against Him. The wise person surrenders to God and trusts Him to be the all wise God Who will lead His children safely now and into eternity. There will be trials. They are designed to draw us closer to Him. There will be blessings as well. They are there to encourage us along the way.
Pastor Bartel
