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Birth and Call of Moses

by Paul George  
2/07/2009 / Bible Studies

Moses was not born to be a slave in the land of Egypt. He was not born to serve in the king of Egypt's court. He was not born the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He was not born to be the shepherd of his father-in-law's flock. He was born to be a spokesman for God. Moses was given the honor and privilege of delivering a message from the King of the kingdom of heaven to, first the sons of Israel announcing their deliverance from bondage in Egypt and second to the king of Egypt announcing the deliverance of the sons of Israel in a diplomatic form; a request to let the sons of Israel go into the wilderness and offer a sacrifice to their God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Moses, while it is not stated in the Bible, was given a command similar to the one given to Abraham. Abraham was told to leave his country, his relatives, and his father's house. Moses is told to leave his father-in-law's flock, his family, and the land of Midian.

A promise is made to Moses similar to the one made to Abraham when the Lord told him, He is his shield. God told Moses when he returns to Egypt, He will be with him. This is a promise to protect and strengthen. God seals His promise with a sign (Exodus 3:12). Keep this sign in mind it is important.

When Moses asked the Lord, who he is to tell the people the name of the One who has sent him, he is to tell them, I AM has sent me. I AM emphasizes the power of Yahweh and His self-existence. I AM also denotes his immutability, constancy, and faithfulness in fulfilling His promises; past present and future. I AM has no beginning or ending, He not only exists in the present, He existed in the past, and will exist in the future. He is what He has been, what He is, and what He will be, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

When Moses goes to Egypt he is to gather the elders of the sons of Israel, the heads of the tribes or families together and tell them the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, appeared to him and told him He has seen what is being done to them, and He is going to bring them out of Egypt and to the land of the Canaanites, Hittite, Amorite, Perizzite, Hivite, and Jebusite, a land flowing with milk and honey. The Canaanites, Hittite, Amorite, Perizzite, Hivite, and Jebusite, were descendants of Canaan, the son of Ham, the grandson of Noah. The Lord told Moses that the elders of the sons of Israel would listen to what he would tell them, and follow his instructions. Then Moses and the elders are to go to Pharaoh and say to him that the Lord, the God of the Hebrews has met with them and they are to ask the king of Egypt to let them to go three days into the wilderness and offer a sacrifice to the Lord their God.

Remember the sign that God gave Moses? It is a three day journey from Egypt to Mount Horeb and the place where the Lord spoke to Moses from the burning bush. It is believed by some scholars the reason for the request to travel three days from the border of Egypt was to prevent the Egyptians from interfering with the offering of a sacrifice to the Lord because the Hebrews, as the sons of Israel were known in Egypt, would offer animals that were worshipped as gods by the Egyptians.

The Lord told Moses the king will not grant the request. Something more than a request must happen before the king will grant a request for the sons of Israel to leave Egypt. The same thing must happen before the conditions existing in the world will be brought to an end, and that is the mighty hand of the Lord must intervene. We are in the same position or one similar; to the position the sons of Israel were in. The sons of Israel were in a dead end situation. They had no solution to the situation, the only thing they could do was cry out to the Lord for deliverance.

There is a lesson for us in the refusal of the king to let the sons of Israel go into the wilderness to offer a sacrifice to the Lord. There comes a time when we must come to the realization that our prayers and requests for peace and the end to war and friction in the world can be accomplished only through the intervention of the mighty hand of the Lord. The governments of the nations can hold summit meetings, agree to peace treaties, cease fire agreements that are broke before the ink is dry on a piece of paper, they can gather around the table with their enemies that have vowed to wipe every child of God off the face of the earth and they will accomplish nothing except wasting billions of tax payers money.

Note what the Lord told Moses in verse twenty of Exodus chapter three. In this verse the Lord is revealing to Moses the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham that He will judge the nation that has enslaved and oppressed the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. A foreshadow of the judgment that is coming upon all the nations is the judgment that is coming upon Egypt in the days of Moses.

Moses is a lot like many people today; they are more concerned about how people will react to what the Lord has given them to say to an ungodly, evil wicked people. They more concerned over offending some one with the truth than they are with the destiny of that individual's soul. It is true we must not intentionally do or say some thing that will be offensive, however we must also remember when the Word of God is compromised the offense is not against a man or woman, it is against God.

It might be a good idea if the Lord would do what He did with Moses, when he asked the Lord what he should do if the people do not believe him. The Lord told Moses to throw his staff on the ground and when he did it became a serpent; this was no harmless garter snake or blacksnake, it was a deadly viper that is why Moses fled from it. When the Lord told Moses to catch the serpent by its tail and Moses did as the Lord told him the serpent became a staff in his hand.

If that is not enough evidence to convince the people the Lord has sent Moses, the Lord tells Moses to put his hand into his bosom, what he is telling Moses to do is put his hand under the robe he is wearing, and when Moses took his hand out, it was leprous. When Moses put his hand under his robe the second time and removed it, the hand was normal.

If turning a staff into a serpent and back to a staff; turning a healthy hand into a leprous and back to a healthy hand is not enough evidence to prove the Lord has sent Moses, the Lord tells Moses to take some water from the Nile River and pour it on the ground, when he pours it on the ground the water will become blood. The sun breaks through the clouds and Moses realizes this evidence is more for his benefit than for the people the Lord is sending him to, and he changes the subject and addresses the real source of his questions and objections, self. Moses is content living a life of a shepherd. His heart's desire is not going back to Egypt.

Moses' next objection is in a form of lack of ability; this is coming from a man who was educated in the schools of Egypt; who better to send to the king of Egypt, he knew the language of the Egyptians and court procedures. When Moses turned his claim he is slow of speech and slow of tongue, referring to speaking the language of the Hebrews, into a plea, the Lord became angry and asked Moses "is not your brother Aaron a Levite?" and then the Lord told Moses, He knew Aaron speaks fluently and he is coming to meet Moses. Moses is told to tell Aaron all that the Lord has told Moses he is to do and say. Moses is told he is to take his staff with him that he shall use to perform the signs that proves the Lord has sent Moses to the sons of Israel and to Pharaoh.

Moses returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, "Please let me go and return to my brothers who are in Egypt, and see whether they are still alive." Jethro told Moses to go in peace.

There seems to be an appearing of the Lord to Moses after his returning to his father-in-law and requesting permission to go to Egypt. In this appearing of the Lord Moses is told to return to Egypt; for all the men who sought his life have died. Moses takes his wife, his sons, and God's rod in his hand, and begins the journey back to Egypt. We are also told, the Lord told Moses when he goes before Pharaoh, he is to do all the wonders that the Lord has given him the ability to perform; it is not clear, if the Lord spoke these words to Moses before he began his journey back to Egypt or when after he began his journey back to Egypt. In this command to return to Egypt the Lord told Moses, He would harden the heart of Pharaoh and he will not let the people leave Egypt. In response to Pharaoh's refusal to leave the sons of Israel to leave Egypt, the Lord told Moses to say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says Yahweh, Israel is my son, my firstborn, and I have said to you, Let my son go, that he may serve me; and you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn."

Some people have a hard time in accepting what is written in the Bible concerning the killing of the son of Pharaoh. What they have to recognize is, what the enemies of the Lord do to His son, Israel, He will do the same to their son/sons. Remember what the Lord told Abraham, I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you.

Moses went into the wilderness as the Lord commanded him and met Aaron on God's mountain, and greeted his brother according to the custom of his day and told Aaron all the words of Yahweh that He had spoken to Moses and all the signs with which he had instructed him. Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. Aaron spoke all the words which Yahweh had spoken to Moses, and Moses did the signs in the sight of the people and the people believed, and when they heard that the Lord was concerned about the sons of Israel and seen their affliction, they bowed before the Lord and worshiped Him.

Retired pastor,Church of the Nazarene

Author of web site Exploring God's Word

www.thewordofgodonline.net

New American Standard Bible

King James Version

The World English Bible

Sermons and Bible studies preached and taught by author

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