God Encourages Moses

Exodus 3:13-16; 1:10-17

GOLDEN TEXT: “Certainly I will be with thee.”—Exodus 3:12

OUR lesson continues the conversation between Jehovah and Moses following the manifestation of God in the burning bush. God had made the remarkable statement to Moses that His time had come to deliver the children of Israel from their Egyptian masters, and invited him to become the divine representative in accomplishing their deliverance. The prime essential for the carrying out of such a commission would be reverence for the Lord and humility as respects one’s own talents and abilities.

It was so with Moses. Moses was overwhelmed with the thought that the Lord would deign to use him as His messenger, and promptly disclaimed any special qualifications therefore. Doubtless it was this very appreciation of his own unworthiness that helped to make him suitable for the Lord’s business.

And so it is with us.

We may be sure that when we feel strong, then we are weak; and when we feel tweak in our own strength, then we are best prepared to accept God’s provision for us, and, strong in the Lord and the power of His alight, to be used of Him as His instruments.

Feeling the great responsibilities of the work suggested, Moses protested to the Lord that he had riot the qualifications, and the Lord’s answer implied that this was true, but that his weakness would be supplemented by God’s power, saying, “Certainly I will be with thee.” This being true, how could the mission fail? It is equally true with us today: if the Lord be with us and for us, who could be against us? How could His work fail?

The members of the body of Christ, the antitype of Moses, are now permitted to share as the Lord’s representatives, in the work of declaring the fall of Babylon, the presence of the King, and the gathering together unto Him of all who have made with Him a covenant of sacrifice. While feeling our unworthiness of so great an honor, and our inability with respect to so great a mission, let us remember that the Lord Himself is with us, and that since it is His work it will go onward and accomplish His design.

Not only did the Lord assure Moses of His presence and power and cooperation in the mission, but also that it would result successfully. So the Lord’s assurances to us, that the results will come anyway, are an encouragement to us to go forward and do our part. The Lord will do the work, and the whole question is whether or not we shall have a glorious share in it as His members and representatives.

Whatever confidence Moses had in his brethren, their readiness to believe the promises of God and to accept deliverance from Egypt, he seems to have lost. Evidently awhile God was telling him of the success of the mission upon which he was being sent, Moses’ mind was reverting to the attempt he had made forty years before, and so he asks: “Lord, when I come unto the children of Israel and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers sent me unto you; and they shall say unto me, What is His name? what shall I say unto them?”

The people of Israel, long in association with the Egyptians, had doubtless lost much of their faith in the one God of their fathers. Their heathen neighbors and masters recognized various gods, and seemed to be greatly prospered, and it is probable that the Israelites had by this time come to wonder which god they could count as theirs and what his name might be. Moses’ question seems to imply that his thoughts ran in this line. God’s reply was to give His name, Jehovah, for the words, “I am that I am,” signify the same as the name Jehovah—the self-existent One, the One who always exists.

Perceiving that the question only covered a part of Moses’ meaning, the Lord proceeded to prove to His servant that this name would not be an empty sound in his mouth, but that He would be with Moses and would demonstrate His greatness, dignity, and ability to deliver the people through miraculous signs, which He there permitted Moses to see in advance.

These demonstrations of divine power strengthened Moses’ confidence in God. But he had a further misgiving as to his ability. He said, “I am slow of speech.” Evidently he felt that he was not qualified to answer and reason out this matter with Pharaoh. Meeting this objection, the Lord told Moses that He would give him his brother Aaron as a mouthpiece. Thus strengthened and encouraged, the meekest man in all the earth set out upon his mission to meet the greatest king of earth at that tine, Pharaoh Menephtah.

Let each of us impress upon our hearts the essence of this lesson, that if God be with us and for us, however humble and weak of ourselves, we may be mighty in Him for the accomplishment of His service, the deliverance of God’s people from the bondage of error, and the building up of our brethren in the most holy faith. Let His words, “Certainly I will be with thee,” be our strength in every effort in His name and cause.

QUESTIONS:

What was one of Moses’ chief qualifications for the task God gave him to do?

Does God help His people today who recognize their own weaknesses?

What is the work God has commissioned His people to do at the present time?

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