God had a plan for the good of His people in the times of Moses, to rescue them from bondage. He calls a leader, communicates His plan, reveals Himself, and enables preparation, promises and grace for the mission. The book of Exodus, or the second book of Moses, describes how the Israelites became enslaved by the Egyptians and how God rescues them from the oppression of Pharaoh.
Through this deliverance, God reveals His name—Yahweh—and gives His divine presence to His people. He intends to designate them as His own and set them apart as the earthly family of people from whom would come the Messiah. The Israelite people would be given much—yet first, God visits Moses, a shepherd, in the wilderness to communicate His plan and call him to action (Exodus 3:1).
As God sets out upon initiating His plan to rescue the Israelites from slavery, we can note at least six facets of His character and of His work with regard to Moses, who was selected to lead this deliverance. Examining principles from God’s calling of Moses of how He interacted with His people can help us understand God better. Though one Old Testament story does not dictate how God will interact in specific ways with His people across all times and places, learning about His character and manner of work with Moses can help us. We can be enabled to watch for His kind of work in our lives as we grow to know Him better through what He has revealed in Scripture about His interchanges with man.
We can first note that God is one who sees the oppression of His people. He does not remove Himself from witnessing our suffering: “Then the Lord said, ‘I have observed the misery of My people in Egypt, and have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I know about their sufferings’” (Exodus 3:7). He observes the hardship of His people; He hears them crying.
Further, He wants His people to know and understand that His eyes and ears are with them. God instructs Moses: “Go and assemble the elders of Israel and say to them: Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has appeared to me and said: I have paid close attention to you and to what has been done to you in Egypt…” (Exodus 3:16). He wants Moses to tell others of His attentiveness to them—to bring this message of care and hope.
God generates the plan, the mission, for Moses to rescue the Israelites from the suffering He has been observing. God commands Moses: “Therefore, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh so that you may lead My people, the Israelites, out of Egypt” (Exodus 3:10). God has specific requests for Moses that are not intuitive for him; they require an extension of his effort and, we will later note, challenge his willingness to obey. God desires Moses to be careful to follow His Word and instructions; God expects Moses’ obedience and faithful actions.
God rewards those who seek Him with knowledge of who He is. Moses knows that the foundation of his mission and calling is being sent by God Himself, without whom Moses would certainly not be going to Egypt for a confrontation with Pharaoh. So, Moses asks for more understanding of this rescuing God: “Then Moses asked God, ‘If I go to the Israelites and say to them: The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they ask me, ‘What is His name?’ what should I tell them?” (Exodus 3:13). As Moses engages with God’s plan, his sense of neediness to know about God increases.
God reveals to Moses His Name: “God replied to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM’” (Exodus 3:14). This divine disclosure of greater knowledge of God is a way Moses’ confidence can be increased for the task ahead. God graciously builds and strengthens the knowledge-foundation from which Moses can build his future work for the Lord.
Moses continues to prepare for his obedience to the sending of God through a prayer dialog. Moses is given opening to ask his questions of the Lord about his calling. One question he asks is this: “What if they won’t believe me and will not obey me but say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?” (Exodus 4:1). The Lord replies by giving Moses a miraculous sign to perform before the Israelites. In Moses’ questioning of the Lord in preparation for his calling, God replies and provides.
Moses also inquires with the Lord about his ineloquence. How would he address Pharaoh and the Israelite people when he was not an able public speaker? The Lord replies with a promise: “Who made the human mouth? Who makes him mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now go! I will help you speak and I will teach you what to say” (Exodus 4:11-12). Just as God’s character is the foundation of Moses’ confidence, so God’s ability and willingness to act on Moses’ behalf to accomplish His purposes is intended to deliver relief to Moses’ fears.
Finally, we see Moses’ questions push outside of the boundaries of obedience when he seeks to shrink from the calling and command of God. Moses asks for another to be sent instead. God is righteously angry: “Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses, and He said, ‘Isn’t Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, he is on his way now to meet you. . . You will speak with him and tell him what to say” (Exodus 4:14). Without punishment, God gives Moses yet another kind provision of Moses’ new partner. God gives Moses tremendous grace—embedded in the kind nature of this response.
If Moses is any example, following God certainly can, at times, involve significant upheaval—outwardly in our lives and inwardly in ourselves. In this, we can do well to follow Moses’ example of bringing our concerns directly to our God—one after another after another. The calling of God is met with the provisions of God: throughout Scripture, God promises to provide His people with what they need to accomplish His plans. While keeping our requests within the bounds of His commands, let us ask God for what we need for His work!
Finally, we can thank God for grace notable every time our disobedience has been met with only a next layer of His provision and not disenfranchisement from His work and calling upon our lives.
When are seeking to pursue a life entirely obedient to God, we can take heart in God’s interactions with Moses. God is attuned to our suffering and pain, and we can anticipate His deliverance. As our God, He expects our obedience to His words and commandments. In striving to trust Him fully, we have His Word and prayer to which we can apply ourselves—His Word builds the roots of our knowledge of Him and prayer as the way through which we prepare, question, and mature.
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