God’s Concern for His People

GOLDEN TEXT: “Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation.” —Psalm 68:19

EXODUS 3:1-12

GOD’S concern for his people, the Hebrews, was manifested by the wonderful manner in which he preserved the life of the child Moses, and brought him into Pharaoh’s court where he became learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. That his own mother should be his nurse was also by the Lord’s arrangement, and we can be sure that she informed him well concerning father Abraham, and the promises which God had made to him.

When grown to manhood, Moses knew that he was not an Egyptian, but one of the Hebrew people, and when the opportunity presented itself he demonstrated his sympathy for them in their oppression by slaying one of the Egyptian taskmasters. When Moses found his act had become known he realized what this would lead to, so far as his own position in Pharaoh’s court was concerned. But he had made his decision to identify himself with his own people.

Paul wrote, “By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of [margin, or, for] Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.”—Hebrews 11:24-26

Moses was forced to flee from Egypt, and he went to the land of Midian, where in due course he married the daughter of the priest, or prince, of Midian. He occupied himself in attending the flocks of his father-in-law, an occupation very different from the one he had in Egypt.

But this experience was necessary for Moses. He seemed to be rather haughty and self-assured when, on behalf of one of his people, he slew the Egyptian. But the fact that he had to leave Egypt because of this would in itself teach Moses that his way of helping his people would not be a successful one. And now at the age of eighty, having been forty years in Midian doing nothing but caring for sheep, God had completed the process of making Moses realize that he could do nothing by himself, and apparently he had given up the idea of even trying.

God identified himself to Moses at the burning bush by saying, “I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” (vs. 6) This made Moses realize who it really was that was speaking to him; that it was the God of his people, the God who had promised that through Abraham’s seed all the families of the earth were to be blessed, the God who had promised the land of Canaan to the Hebrew people. Yes, all that his mother had told him would now come flooding into his mind. The record says that he was afraid to look upon God, and no wonder.

After identifying himself, the Lord informed Moses that he had now come to deliver his people ‘”out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land flowing with milk and honey.” (vs. 8) The Lord informed Moses that the cry of the Israelites had reached his ears, and that he had seen the terrible manner in which they were being oppressed.

And then the Lord said to Moses, “Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.”(vs. 10) Perhaps forty years previous to this Moses might have felt that the Lord had made a good choice, and would have responded immediately to the call. But Moses had changed, and sincerely, and in true humility he asked, “Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?”

We can put ourselves in Moses’ place. For forty years he had done nothing but tend sheep. He had lost all contact with the ways of Egypt. He was a fugitive from Pharaoh’s court, and how could he go back there and demand his people be allowed to leave the country?

One thing Moses overlooked, which was that now the Lord’s time had come for the deliverance of his people. The Lord assured him, “Certainly I will be with thee: and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.” (vs. 12) What more assurance could he give Moses than this!

The task assigned to him by the Lord was to be successful. The people would be delivered, and afterward they would be right back where he received his commission, safe, and with the task accomplished. And, of course, it turned out that way.

QUESTIONS

Relate the circumstances in Moses’ life prior to the Lord’s appearance to him at the burning hush.

Why was Moses reluctant to accept the commission which the Lord gave to him to deliver his people from Egypt?

What assurance did God give Moses?

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