Exodus 4:18-20 – Fear immobilizes, faith liberates

Exodus 4:18-19 contain two conversations Moses had. The first conversation he had here was with his father-in-law. It was to get Jethro’s agreement for him and his family to return to Egypt. The second conversation was an assurance God gave to him. The Lord wanted to further allay his fear by telling him that those who pursued his life were dead. This conversation God had with him gives us an indication for Moses’ reluctance. The main reason he was so reticent about the mission was the fear he had for his life. Think about it this way. Moses was now 40 years older and married with a wife and two sons, hence he had more to consider. Unlike when he first acted so boldly and killed the taskmaster in Egypt, he now had a family to consider. This was probably also why he had to get the agreement of his father-in-law before he made his journey to Egypt.    

It becomes clearer to us now that Moses’ reluctance actually stamped from fear. This could be surmised from all the questions he asked God, as well as the responses God accorded him. We can see that every response of God to him was to deal with his fear. Remember, He promised to be with Him. Then He revealed His unique name, I AM, to him. He also assured Moses that it was He, the Almighty who had made his mouth and hence, would enable his speech. And as if those assurances were not enough, God also gave him three miraculous signs - the staff that could turn into a snake, the hand that was afflicted with leprosy and then healed immediately, and turning the water of the River Nile into blood. God was even agreeable to send Aaron with him. Know it or not, fear incapacitates our faith and immobilizes, and prevents us from actively obeying and serving God. That’s why God’s word of assurance most of the time is “fear not.”  We need to approach God with faith and not fear. Hebrews 11:6 puts it best. It says, “And without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”

From Moses’ conversation with Jethro, we can also tell that he had completely identified with the people of Israel. He referred to them as “…my own people.”  Moses no longer considered himself an Egyptian. This is also why, Hebrew 11:24-25 said: “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin.” Though away from the Israelites for forty years, his heart was still with them. He wanted “to see if any of them he knew was still alive,” tells us that he was still concerned for their welfare. Without concern, one will never care. Any effective mission must begin with the capacity to see the heart of God and how he cares about the plight of the people. It is almost impossible to motivate a person for a mission if he or she only cares about himself or herself. Moses had the quality of compassion so must we have if we want to be effective.  

So, Moses left Midian with his father-in-law’s blessing. Jethro wished him well. As he left, he took two important things with him - his family and his God. Verse 20 read, “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.” Moses was planning to leave for good. That account for why he took his wife and his two sons along. Apart from his family, he took the staff which is referred to as the staff of God. Remember this was the staff he used to shepherd Jethro’s flock. It is now called God’s staff, a symbol of divine power and authority. It would be this staff that Moses would use to perform great signs. It was different from a magic wand. It was the sign of God’s presence and the power to do great wonders.

Lessons we must learn as we seek to serve God. Firstly, we must share the concern God has for the people He loves. Secondly, we must proceed to serve with faith and not allow fear to immobilize us. Thirdly, remember that God’s presence and power are always with us in the venture we undertake for Him. So, go in the power of His might!  

     

Exodus 4:14-17 – Don’t opt for the second best

We could see that God had patiently interacted with Moses, yet at no point did He lose His focus on the primary purpose of delivering the people of Israel. God kept returning to the main issue to take His people out of bondage. So, none of Moses’ excuses, be it his personal inadequacy, his ignorance, his inability or reluctance was going to dissuade God from what He had set out to do for His people. Running out of excuses, he then pled with God to send another person. There is just one sad conclusion to be made from the long-drawn-out discussion that Moses had with God. He was reluctant to go.  

One truth remains until today. God had not changed. As He wanted the people of Israel free from their bondage to Pharaoh’s oppression, He also wants us to be free from the bondage of sin and the weight of guilt and condemnation that oppress our lives. As He desired the people of Israel to be led to a place to feel His presence and to worship and serve Him, He also wants us to be led to a place where we can experience His presence to worship and serve only Him. Egypt is a type of the world and Satan is like Pharaoh, who wants to keep us in the bondage of the guilt of sin. God will not allow it. He was bent on setting the Israelites free from their bondage. He is also bent on setting us free from the shackle of sin.

God was so focused, though angry, yet He was willing to entertain Moses’ plea to send someone instead of him. Knowing that Aaron his brother was on the way to the wilderness, God graciously granted Moses’ request. He asked him to use Aaron as his spokesman. Moses was to take the lead and play the role of God with Aaron. So, He commissioned him to go with the staff that was in his hand, which he was to use to perform miraculous signs. We can see from all these, that God would rather that we serve Him from a willing heart. For whatever reason Moses had, we know he was kept from obeying God by fear and trepidation. What about us? Can we trust God enough to entrust our life to Him to do His mission? We must seek to hear God’s invitation to be His workmen in whatever setting we are in. When we have ascertained what He wants us to do to alleviate the people shackled by their circumstances, we must answer God and go about doing His bidding.

What's sad about Aaron’s involvement will be revealed in Exodus 32. There we will see that he had irresponsibly led the people astray. He made a golden calf for them to worship instead of encouraging them to wait for the accomplishment of the plan of God. What we can see in these verses is that in his reluctance, Moses had created a weak situation for himself. He now had to share the honor that God would have bestowed on him alone had he obeyed unhesitatingly. But we can also see that with God no man is indispensable, not even Moses. God can always resort to using someone else to accomplish His will. But the full blessing that was intended, if we have obeyed God, will be missed.  Thus, do not allow our reluctance to keep us from the full blessing of God.

Exodus 4:10-13 – We must trust and obey

Despite the triple assurances God had given Moses, yet he was still filled with trepidation. He simply couldn’t see that it was not so much about his capability as it was God’s ability. So, he called God’s attention to his lack of ability and his ineloquence in Exodus 4:10-12. He said to God, “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” Like Moses, we all need to know that God’s work is not about our eloquence. The reason is simple. The works of God are often beyond our comprehension. No amount of words, whether written or spoken, can ever adequately capture all that God wants to say. But God’s undergirding will enable His yielded vessel to speak His word and message at the right time.  

In Exodus 4:10, His assurance to Moses was, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? In effect, God was saying that He would be his enabler. This tells us that however we are made, and with what talents we are given, when we yield them to God, He can turn us into His effective instrument. None of us should ever use our lack of eloquence or lack of ability as an excuse so as not to be involved in God’s work. He promises to enable us to do and speak His truth. Through the corridor of time, we have seen many godly men who expressed to personal inadequacy yet accomplished much for God. Why? For the same reason. God enabled them to do so. And this is precisely the point. It is in our weakness that His power is made perfect. If God is with us, His grace is more than sufficient for us. Our strength will be truly made perfect in our weakness. The message we are sent to speak is best achieved with His undergirding. More than our words, our character speak more eloquently for God.  

Moses’ excuses here tell us that fear can blindside a person to a point of reluctance. Even though with God’s repeated assurances, yet he still had little faith in what he could do. So, he said to God “Please, Lord, now send the message by whomever You will.” Notice that the word “Lord” is not spelled in capital letters. He did not refer to God’s covenant name, which is always spelled with all capital letters. That’s an indication of a lack of trust. So, God became angry with him. Yet in His anger, God showed great patience with Moses. Why? Because God was very focused. He never allowed his excuses to distract Him from what He wanted to do, i.e. to deliver His people.

Repeatedly, God had told Moses to go and tell Pharaoh to let His people go. Moses’ real issue was his unwillingness to fully trust and obey. It was not really a lack of his social standing or his ignorance, for God had already promised to be with him and revealed His covenant name to him. It was also not because the elders of Israel would not believe in him, God already told him that they would. And it certainly wasn’t his speech inability for God already assured him that He would fix that. Moses’ every objection was debunked by God. The conclusion was clearly his refusal to trust and obey God. Plain and simple!

At this point, Moses had digressed. Remember at Mount Horeb when he first encountered the burning bush and heard the call of God, his answer was “Here I am.” At that point, he was willing to take off his sandals and submit as he stood on holy ground. Now he was not responding as wholeheartedly to the call as of when God first appeared to him. If God’s anger speaks anything to us at all, it will be that He knew that we humans are made of feet of clay. We have fear and trepidation when confronted with the unknown. And one thing is clear. God is patient. He will deal patiently with us like how He dealt with Moses. But we must not test His endurance and press his patience too far. It may be alright when we are new in our faith to ask questions. God understands we need to know as we progress with Him. But when we have reached a certain point in our walk with Him, there must come a time when we stop asking and start obeying. Obedience is the best indication of trust. The more we trust Him the more we will obey Him. That’s undeniable. So, let's trust and obey! 

   

Exodus 4:1-9 – Being a vessel in God’s hand

In Exodus 3, Moses’ initial response to the call of God to go and set the people of Israel free was with two questions. Firstly, doubting his own standing he asked: “Who am I?” Then secondly, he wanted to know more about God, so he asked him, “Who are you?” God did not lose his patience with Him, but instead gently disarmed his fear by assuring him of His presence and made known His covenant name to him.

Now here in Exodus 4:1, Moses asked the third question. He wanted to know, “What if they will not believe me or listen to what I say?” This seems like a very reasonable question for, after all, no one except him saw the burning bush. Besides in his last conversation with a Hebrew recorded in Exodus 2:14, he was asked: “Who made you ruler and judge over us?” The only problem we see in this question is that it directly contradicts what God had already told him in Exodus 3:18. God told him to go to the elders of Israel and tell them that he was sent by God and assured him that the Israelites would listen to him. Moses here leaves us an example that we should not do when God has promised us something in His Word. We must trust Him explicitly.

God’s patience was further demonstrated when He did not chide Moses but instead gave him three visible signs to help him convince the people of God’s power. He began by asking Moses what he had in his hand. “A staff,” Moses replied. The Lord then told him to throw the staff onto the ground and immediately it became a snake. Moses was frightened by it so he ran away from the snake. The Lord told him to grab it by the tail and he did. Immediately it became his staff again. In this God had demonstrated that He could use something as ordinary as a shepherd’s crook and made it into an extraordinary instrument. Moses would eventually use that same staff to open the Red Sea and to bring water out of the rock. This underscores for us that there is no talent too ordinary that God cannot or will not use for His glory. However small we may think our talents are, if we are willing to surrender them to God, He can turn them into an extraordinary instrument for His glory. This first sign was so convincing and it would have been enough, but God did not stop there. He gave Moses two more signs.

In verses 6-7, God gave Moses a second sign. He was told, “Now put your hand into your bosom.” So he put his hand into his bosom. When he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow. Then He said, “Put your hand into your bosom again.” So he put his hand into his bosom again. When he took it out of his bosom, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. This second sign was just as miraculous as the first. Leprosy was known to be incurable and infectious. Lepers were expected to live a lonely and secluded life. God knew that a sudden appearance and then disappearance of leprosy on a person’s hand would surely be a convincing sign. It would clearly show that apart from the true God, no one else had the capacity to do that.  

As if two was not enough, God gave him a third one in verse 9. The last sign would eventually be the first plague that was inflicted on the Egyptians. God told Moses, “…you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground; and the water which you take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.” God knew that the River Nile was the Egyptians’ source of life. And only God has the ability to deprive them of their source of life. God gave Moses these three signs to authenticate his ministry. Interestingly, God in Exodus 4:1-9 was affirming the principle that any matter should be authenticated by two or three witnesses.   

The rod that Moses held in his hand was something that signified his career. It was an indispensable part of his work. The call to throw down the staff in his hand was a call to yield the one task he thought he was made to do. It was not until he yielded that staff did it become an extraordinary instrument. Similarly, unless we yield whatever we have and hold in our hands, we cannot be God’s effective instrument. Whatever we hold on and not let go will become a liability. Whatever we release to God become a spiritual asset!    

Exodus 3:16-22 – Our wonderful God

God’s answers to Moses’ initial two questions assure us, believers, that the Omniscient God is never absent from our lives. He is the great “I AM”, the ever-present One who will always be with us. However, people often forget this truth and conduct life as if He is not around at all. To live effectively, we should learn to live in the perpetual presence of God. The secret to King David’s confidence was his realization of God’s presence with him all the time. So, in Psalm 16:8 he said, “I have set the Lord continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”  

In Exodus 3:16-22, God outlined His deliverance plan to Moses. There were four steps in this plan. Firstly, Moses was to go to the elders of Israel and make known to them that God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had appeared to him. And that this God was totally concerned for them and their plight. He would be bringing them out of Egypt to a land of great promise, the land He had promised to the Patriarchs. God assured Moses that the elders would believe his words.   

Secondly, Moses and the elders would then go to Pharaoh and let the king know that God had appeared to them. They were to request for a three-day journey into the desert to make sacrifices to their God. But He warned him that Pharaoh would resist the proposal. Thirdly, He told Moses that He would then judge the Egyptians with great wonders. The deliverance they would experience would be through the mighty hand of God. And finally, God said that they should plunder Egypt. This was the wages owed to them for the years of work without pay.

Four things about God can be known from these four steps given to Moses. Firstly, our God makes known His purpose. His instruction to Moses was: go to the elders and make known God’s plan. Hence, we confidently conclude that He communicates His purpose and plan before it happens so that we will know nothing happens to us by coincidence. We can be assured that nothing happens to us by chance. In everything, God works together for good to them that love Him and are called to His purpose.  

Secondly, our God desires our worship. Interestingly, Moses and the elders were supposed to tell Pharaoh that they would go on a “three-day” journey into the wilderness to worship God. Was the request ruse? If it was then wouldn’t it impinge on the character of God? The answer is no. The expression, “a three-day”, was a common expression for a long journey. It was not literally three days. Anyway, in that instruction, there was no indication that they would return. What’s more important was their intention and not the duration of travel. God’s intention was for them to go and honor, offer sacrifices, worship and glorify Him. Today, there are some people prevented by distance from going to church. Think of what the Israelites had to go through to honor and worship God. It is true that when our heart is rightly oriented, worshipping God is a life priority, and distance is not a problem. Between us and God distance should not dissuade us.

Thirdly, our God delivers through great wonders. He knew beforehand that Pharaoh would resist and not let the people of God go, not even if it meant just three days. He said to Moses in verse 19, “But I know that the king of Egypt will not permit you to go, except under compulsion.” He knew exactly what it would take before Pharaoh would let the people go. God was in effect setting us the condition for what would take place in the next eleven chapters of Exodus. He is indeed the God of wonders. Know it or not, we are all God’s miracles going somewhere to happen. 

Fourthly, our God shows justice. In what the Israelites should receive from the Egyptians for the years of unpaid wages, God told them to claim it on their way out. He would deal with the hearts of the Egyptians and make sure that they release what was due to the Israelites. God will not let us suffer injustice. The way He had shown justice for the cruelty the Israelites endured, also gives the assurance that He will ensure we are justly rewarded. God will never allow us to be short-changed. He makes sure that whatever is due to us will be given in ways beyond our wildest dreams. So, take heart, trust the just God! 

Exodus 3:13-15 - Our LORD, the Great I Am

It was quite obvious that fear had led Moses to ask his first question. And God knew it well, that’s why He was not angry with his first question but promised to be with Him. Moses’ greatest plus to accomplish the mission God wanted him to do would not be in his status or his training. If it were, God would have used him while he was strutting as a prince of Egypt. Or God would have reminded him of how he was trained in Pharaoh’s court and even helped him to identify his gifting and talents. But God did not. Instead, He totally ignored that part of Moses’ life and went on to promise His own presence in the task. The reason is simple. The mission he was about to do has nothing to do with Moses’ ability but everything to do with God and His ability. The question was not about Moses as it was about God.

The established goal for the mission entrusted to Moses was twofold. Firstly, he was to deliver the people out of Egypt, the land of bondage. Secondly, he was to lead them to the mountain of God’s presence and there to worship Him. But who is this God? This was precisely Moses’ second question. He could go and tell the children of Israel that God had sent him to lead them out of Egypt, and to lead them to Sinai to worship Him. But what should he do if they wanted to know who this God really was? Moses anticipated that the people would ask that question, so, he asked God what should he tell them should that question pop up. Let’s rephrase what Moses said in verse 13. He asked God, “Supposed I go to the people and tell them exactly what you have just asked me to say to them. And they ask me in return, ‘Who is this God who sends you?’ What am I supposed to say to them?” God then revealed His covenant name to Moses.

God said His name shall be “I AM WHO I AM” or just simply “I AM”. Notice God’s name is not “I was” or “I will be” but the “I AM”. He is the ever present-one and self-existing one. He is also the timeless one, the eternal God with no beginning or end. God further established in verse 14 that He is the covenant-keeping God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This name “I AM” has since been translated as Yahweh or Jehovah or the “LORD” with all capital letters in the Bible. It is by this name, the LORD, Yahweh or Jehovah that the Israelites would identify Him for all generations henceforth. The “I AM” is the unfinished name of God. Notice this name has a noun, a verb but no object. Perhaps God had left it that way for the sake of His people. He will be the God to His people whatever their needs may be. He will be Jehovah-Jireh, our provider; or Jehovah-Shalom, our peace; Jehovah-Rapha, our healer; or Jehovah-Tsidkenu, our righteousness and etc, according to what our needs may be. Glory to His name!

Exodus 3:10-12 – God qualifies the call

Right there at Horeb, after revealing His knowledge of the plight of His people and their indescribable oppression, God told Moses He was sending him to deliver them. Moses did not exactly seize the opportunity at God’s call to leadership. Instead, he showed great inhibition. He was no longer that person, who so boldly took matters into his own hand and killed the taskmaster who ill-treated a fellow Hebrew. No longer was he that self-assured person who tried to resolve a dispute between two Hebrews. After 40 years of looking after sheep in the wilderness, he must have been humbled. He was not so cock-sure as he was. Moses felt he lacked the social standing to accomplish the task. The purpose of these verses is not to show the unwillingness of Moses to serve God, but that he needed a proper orientation concerning serving God.

So, in verse 10, we see his doubt over his own social standing. His response to God’s call was, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?” He doubted his personal standing. He did not even take the time to process that call before he responded. The reality of God’s call is that He is no respecter of a person’s social status. Like Moses, we need to know that it’s not our status that will commend us to the work of God, but our availability. We need to know that there is nothing in us that will qualify us for God’s call, not our education, not our capability, nor our position. Our qualification to minister on God’s behalf is found in Him alone. He Himself qualifies the call into any ministry.

God did not buy Moses’ reason. He gave Him the key qualification that he needed to succeed, i.e. His own presence. The surest key to success in any ministry is the presence of God Himself. Let’s hear again what God said to Moses, “Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you….” This is the surest sign of a God-sent, God-approved ministry. People tend to look at the wrong measuring yardsticks. Some think that the attendance at a meeting is the yardstick to measure success. Others use the activities or the programs as a gauge. But the true yardstick is really His presence. God’s personal attendance at any gathering will be the marked difference between what’s of God and what’s not.

One more thing needs to be clear. The objective of any call of God is always a call to lead others from their “Egypt” or bondage to the place where they can experience God personally and worship Him. That is the objective God gave to Moses. He was to bring the people out of Egypt to the mountain of God’s presence, to worship Him. This defines the goal of our ministry: to lead others to God to worship Him.

Two things to bear in mind as we seek to serve God. Firstly, the most important qualification is not our position but His presence. Secondly, the key objective and goal of our ministry are to lead others from the peripheral to the core, to leave the mundane to the crux. We must lead others to worship Him and Him alone. That’s the measure of success!