As Moses sat there by that well, he had no idea of what God had in store for him. He must have thought his life was ruined, finished, over. Yet God was getting ready to take him from the house of Pharaoh to the house of Jethro, from the house of a king, to the house of a priest. In the house of the priest of Midian, Moses would find wholeness, a picture of what God had planned for his future, and his feet on holy ground.
It is no accident that whenever God is getting ready to do something extraordinary in the life of someone, they often have to go through a time of great trial and often "hit bottom." There is no saying why this is for sure. I suspect it has something to do with humility and understanding grace, and the fact that God chooses the least things of this world to make the greatest in the Kingdom. I am sure if we asked Abraham, David, Peter, Paul, or Moses for that matter, they would tell us about coming to understand our dependence on God and that it has to do with God getting all of the glory for what He is about to do. Whatever God's purpose for doing it, He most often does, and this is where Moses finds himself.
Here is our hero, Moses, feeling scared, alone, tired, and desperate. But God was not through with him yet. In fact, he was right where God wanted him. As Moses sat there by that well, the seven daughters of Jethro, the priest of a nomadic Midian tribe, came to water their flocks. Like any desperate man, he helped the ladies out, fighting off shepherds who tried to run them off and then drawing water for them. Is this a great story or what? The daughters went home and told their father about the stranger at the well and he sent for Moses to come and eat with them. I love the Bible right here. "Moses was willing to dwell with the man, and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses. Then she gave birth to a son, and he named him Gershom, for he said, 'I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.'"
Let's not call it a comeback yet, but God has a way of putting us in a better place. Jethro was a wise man, and in his house Moses learned contentment. Moses would spend the next forty years tending the sheep of Jethro. During this time, he grew close to God. He learned to have integrity and found wholeness in his life. Moses matured as he fought off the wild beast and protected the sheep in the desert. He found a context for his life and most importantly, he found his heart in his wife Zipporah and his two sons.
Meanwhile, the Israelites were crying out because of their suffering, and the king who had made them slaves died. God heard them and purposed to keep the covenant He had made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to make them a great nation and give them a land of their own. As Moses was becoming what God created and called him to be, God was developing a picture of his future for him to see. It was time for Moses to learn insight.
We all know that while Moses was tending sheep near Mount Horeb, the mountain of God, he saw a bush burning but not being consumed. The Bible says that the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. Moses saw unbelievable circumstances but he did not yet see God. He lacked vision, divine perspective, purpose, and plan. Seeing this, God called to him.
"Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." Then He said, "Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." He said also, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
Exodus 3:4–6
Moses was about to get a clear picture of what God had planned for his future.
The LORD said, "I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings. So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. Now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me; furthermore, I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them. Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt."
Exodus 3:7–10
There is a lot to learn here about vision and how it works. First, God saw the need of His people. It did not matter that forty years before Moses had seen the need of his people. It is all about what God’s perspective and timing.
Second, God makes it clear that He has come to deliver His people from the power of the Egyptians. He is not calling Moses to set them free. We have to be careful to not take on God's role in fulfilling His plan.
I do not believe that Moses responded with false humility or lack of faith. I believe he simply remembered vividly the circumstances that caused him to leave Egypt. When Moses sincerely asked God, "Who am I?" it is in this wonderful moment that Moses learns the value of imitation. God says, "It does not matter who you are, I am with you." I love how God goes back to the vision to confirm for Moses that He will be with him. "But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain." You will know that I am with you because when you are done doing what I have called you to do, you will worship Me right here!
Moses rightly understands that he did not have influence with his people any longer because he lacked integrity before them in the past. He asked a legitimate question, "Under what authority do I tell them I come? In whose name do I go, for I cannot go in my own name?"
God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" God also said to Moses, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations."
Exodus 3:14–15
Only through imitation does Moses have credibility with the people to lead them from where they are to where God wants them to be. It was not Moses, but God with Moses. Moses will not say, "Let my people God." The Lord will say it. It is in the name of God and by His authority that Moses will do battle with Pharaoh. Now God speaks with the intensity of that battle, giving Moses a sense of urgency about what God has called him to do.
Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, "The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, 'I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt, and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.'" And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, 'The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, please let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God." But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand. So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go. Exodus 3:16–20
Here we see God give Moses those three essential elements of intensity. First, God empowers Moses and the children of Israel for the battle by giving them an assurance that He has seen their suffering and that He will act accordingly. God rightly evaluates the current reality, giving them the power of the intensity of their circumstances.
Second, God prepares the people for what He is about to do by giving them a promise for the future. God knew the people would need to be encouraged in order to persevere through the battle. So, He gives them a clear picture of what He has planned for their future in order to prepare them for battle.
Finally, God gives them a plan of attack. He tells them not only what He is going to do for them, but exactly how He is going to use them to do it. "This is what you will do, this is what he will do, then, this is what I will do and this is what will happen! I will work all things for good to those who love me and are called according to My purpose."
It is no accident that whenever God is getting ready to do something extraordinary in the life of someone, they often have to go through a time of great trial and often "hit bottom." There is no saying why this is for sure. I suspect it has something to do with humility and understanding grace, and the fact that God chooses the least things of this world to make the greatest in the Kingdom. I am sure if we asked Abraham, David, Peter, Paul, or Moses for that matter, they would tell us about coming to understand our dependence on God and that it has to do with God getting all of the glory for what He is about to do. Whatever God's purpose for doing it, He most often does, and this is where Moses finds himself.
Here is our hero, Moses, feeling scared, alone, tired, and desperate. But God was not through with him yet. In fact, he was right where God wanted him. As Moses sat there by that well, the seven daughters of Jethro, the priest of a nomadic Midian tribe, came to water their flocks. Like any desperate man, he helped the ladies out, fighting off shepherds who tried to run them off and then drawing water for them. Is this a great story or what? The daughters went home and told their father about the stranger at the well and he sent for Moses to come and eat with them. I love the Bible right here. "Moses was willing to dwell with the man, and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses. Then she gave birth to a son, and he named him Gershom, for he said, 'I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.'"
Let's not call it a comeback yet, but God has a way of putting us in a better place. Jethro was a wise man, and in his house Moses learned contentment. Moses would spend the next forty years tending the sheep of Jethro. During this time, he grew close to God. He learned to have integrity and found wholeness in his life. Moses matured as he fought off the wild beast and protected the sheep in the desert. He found a context for his life and most importantly, he found his heart in his wife Zipporah and his two sons.
Meanwhile, the Israelites were crying out because of their suffering, and the king who had made them slaves died. God heard them and purposed to keep the covenant He had made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to make them a great nation and give them a land of their own. As Moses was becoming what God created and called him to be, God was developing a picture of his future for him to see. It was time for Moses to learn insight.
We all know that while Moses was tending sheep near Mount Horeb, the mountain of God, he saw a bush burning but not being consumed. The Bible says that the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. Moses saw unbelievable circumstances but he did not yet see God. He lacked vision, divine perspective, purpose, and plan. Seeing this, God called to him.
"Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." Then He said, "Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." He said also, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
Exodus 3:4–6
Moses was about to get a clear picture of what God had planned for his future.
The LORD said, "I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings. So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. Now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me; furthermore, I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them. Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt."
Exodus 3:7–10
There is a lot to learn here about vision and how it works. First, God saw the need of His people. It did not matter that forty years before Moses had seen the need of his people. It is all about what God’s perspective and timing.
Second, God makes it clear that He has come to deliver His people from the power of the Egyptians. He is not calling Moses to set them free. We have to be careful to not take on God's role in fulfilling His plan.
I do not believe that Moses responded with false humility or lack of faith. I believe he simply remembered vividly the circumstances that caused him to leave Egypt. When Moses sincerely asked God, "Who am I?" it is in this wonderful moment that Moses learns the value of imitation. God says, "It does not matter who you are, I am with you." I love how God goes back to the vision to confirm for Moses that He will be with him. "But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain." You will know that I am with you because when you are done doing what I have called you to do, you will worship Me right here!
Moses rightly understands that he did not have influence with his people any longer because he lacked integrity before them in the past. He asked a legitimate question, "Under what authority do I tell them I come? In whose name do I go, for I cannot go in my own name?"
God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" God also said to Moses, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations."
Exodus 3:14–15
Only through imitation does Moses have credibility with the people to lead them from where they are to where God wants them to be. It was not Moses, but God with Moses. Moses will not say, "Let my people God." The Lord will say it. It is in the name of God and by His authority that Moses will do battle with Pharaoh. Now God speaks with the intensity of that battle, giving Moses a sense of urgency about what God has called him to do.
Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, "The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, 'I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt, and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.'" And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, 'The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, please let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God." But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand. So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go. Exodus 3:16–20
Here we see God give Moses those three essential elements of intensity. First, God empowers Moses and the children of Israel for the battle by giving them an assurance that He has seen their suffering and that He will act accordingly. God rightly evaluates the current reality, giving them the power of the intensity of their circumstances.
Second, God prepares the people for what He is about to do by giving them a promise for the future. God knew the people would need to be encouraged in order to persevere through the battle. So, He gives them a clear picture of what He has planned for their future in order to prepare them for battle.
Finally, God gives them a plan of attack. He tells them not only what He is going to do for them, but exactly how He is going to use them to do it. "This is what you will do, this is what he will do, then, this is what I will do and this is what will happen! I will work all things for good to those who love me and are called according to My purpose."
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