God Calls a Leader

Exodus 3:1-12

GOLDEN TEXT: “Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth My people the children of Israel out of Egypt.”—Exodus 3:10

UNDOUBTEDLY God’s providences had to do with the shaping of the general character of Moses for the great work he was intended to perform. Nevertheless, we see it would be quite contrary to the divine method to have coerced him into entering upon the service of God’s people. The character and qualifications being developed, it was necessary for Moses himself to decide respecting his course. The secret of Moses’ success lay in the fact that God was with him and was the real Deliverer of Israel. Moses was merely His servant and representative. The Lord Himself declared to His people, “I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt and out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.”

When we consider that eighty years of Moses’ life were passed in preparation, it helps us to appreciate the fact that God is never in haste. Thus, also, 4,000 years had passed before Jesus was born, and yet the Scriptures assure us that it was in due time that God sent forth His Son, born of a woman.—Galatians 4:4

We may feel certain of the development of all God’s plans in their proper time, and with this thought, all His true people may rest in confidence. Although so much time was spent in preparation for the deliverance of Israel, yet when the appointed hour arrived the whole nation started to move.

The life of Moses is divided into three parts of equal length, The first forty years were spent in Egypt, and made him familiar with all the learning of that civilization. The second forty years began when he fled after killing the Egyptian, and ended when he returned to Israel under divine direction and successfully led them forth from Egypt. The third forty-year period terminated with his death at the end of Israel’s wanderings in the wilderness and just as they were about to cross over the Jordan into Canaan.

The period of Moses’ life from forty to eighty years was spent as a shepherd in the service of his father-in-law, Jethro, otherwise known as Reuel. Doubtless like David, Moses while tending the sheep learned to think of God as the Great Shepherd, and perhaps often wondered why, after giving such great promises to Abraham and his seed, He had left the children of Abraham apparently in hopeless bondage.

Here our lesson opens, showing Moses at eighty years of age, caring for his flock in the vicinity of Mount Horeb. Moses perceived a bush in flames, yet not consumed, and he turned aside to observe the remarkable phenomenon. It was then God spoke to him from the midst of the burning bush, and Moses at once knew that this was a miracle by which the Lord designed to attract his attention.

The first point of instruction given to Moses at this time was a lesson in humility and reverence: “God called to him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And He said, Draw not nigh hither; put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.”

The Prophet David writes, “Keep thy foot when thou goest into the house of God,”—take heed to your walk, take heed to your conduct. If Moses, the “meekest man in all the earth,” needed as his first instruction this lesson of humility and reverence, shall we not accept a similar lesson for ourselves and realize its great importance? Let us honor the Lord in our hearts, in our outward demeanor and conduct. Whether we bow to give thanks for our daily bread, or bow the knee night and morning to acknowledge God’s care and providences in our life, or in meetings with others of like precious faith, let us see that reverence marks our conduct and our words as well as ruling in our hearts.

The Lord then assured Moses that He had not been oblivious to the sufferings of Israel, but had “seen their affliction,” had “heard their cry,” and “knew their sorrows.” With these words He enabled Moses to understand that not until this time had the appropriate moment come for interference on behalf of Israel. He tells Moses He has come down to deliver Israel from the Egyptians, and then adds, “Come now, therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh that thou mayest bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

How wonderful it seems that God throughout all His dealings, past and present, has been willing to use His consecrated people. Telling them on the one hand that they are unworthy, He assures them on the other hand of His willingness to disregard their unwilling imperfections and to overrule and guide in respect to their services for Him and His cause.

QUESTIONS:

Did God coerce Moses into accepting leadership in Israel?

Was Moses the real deliverer of God’s people from Egyptian bondage?

What was the first important lesson given to Moses at the burning bush?

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