The birth and call of Moses
The Bible shows us that everything is Christ-centric. God’s plans will be accomplished; we can try to fight His will or we can be used by God to fulfill it.
Exodus 2:13-14 NKJV| 13 And when he went out the second day, behold, two Hebrew men were fighting, and he said to the one who did the wrong, “Why are you striking your companion?” 14 Then he said, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” So Moses feared and said, “Surely this thing is known!”
A prince has the right to rule and expects your loyalty. A judge has the right to tell you what to do, and to punish you if you don’t do it. In rejecting Moses they said to him, “We don’t want you to rule over us or tell us what to do.” People reject Jesus on the same thinking, and just like Moses Jesus was rejected at His first coming.
Exodus 2:23-25 NKJV| 23 Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. 24 So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them.
God remembers us not because of who we are but because of the covenant He made with Christ. As human beings we are flawed and bound to dance to our own tune – so the covenant provides us with grace and mercy.
God did not turn His attention to Israel because they were such good people but because of the covenant He made with them. The Israealites did not have to do anything to earn the covenant. They earned it through inheritance. We also did not have to do anything to earn for God’s grace and mercy because we have an inheritance because of what Jesus did for us on the cross.
Exodus 3:1-6 NKJV| Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. 3 Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.” 4 So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” 6 Moreover He said, “I am the God of your 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.
God didn’t speak to Moses until He had Moses’ attention. Often God’s Word doesn’t touch our heart the way that it might because we don’t give it our attention.
Exodus 3:7-10 NKJV| 7 And the Lord said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. 8 So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to 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 has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”
God is separate but is not distant. God is separate yet God cares and connects Himself to our needs. Even though He is separate He calls us unto Him.
If God said He would deliver them, why did He use or need Moses at all? This shows that God often uses and chooses to rely on human instruments. Most often God’s plan works with and through people, as we are workers together with Him. This is how we make an impact. God delivers us and then sends us to do the work He has called us to.
Exodus 3:11-12 NKJV| 11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” 12 So He said, “I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”
God’s reply is intended to take Moses’ focus off of himself and on where it should be – on God. God’s identity was more important than who Moses was. When we know the God who is with us, we can step forth confidently to do His will.
Exodus 3:13-14 NKJV| 13 Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ “
I AM – There is no equivalent for God but God.God becomes whatever is lacking in our time of need. The name I AM invites us to fill in the blank to meet our needs. It announces God’s presence, and invites any interested to know Him by experience, to taste and see that the LORD is good.
Exodus 4:10-12 NKJV| 10 Then Moses said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” 11 So the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord? 12 Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.”
Here it shows that God is so mighty that He can even call the mute, deaf, and blind to do His work. Moses’ perceived inadequacies didn’t matter at all. By extension, God is sufficient for us, no matter what real or imagined inadequacies we have.