| Christian Life and Doctrine | May 1967 |
God’s Commission to Moses and to Us
Exodus 3:1 – 4:20
GOD spoke to Moses and commissioned him to perform a very important task, which was the deliverance of the Israelites from their bondage in Egypt. Like all truly great men of God, Moses realized his own weakness and insufficiency for the task at hand. He foresaw the difficulties which would be encountered in his endeavor to convince the Egyptian authorities that through him the God of heaven demanded the release of his brethren; and he so expressed himself to God.
The Lord, in turn, gave Moses a very important object lesson to strengthen his faith by performing a miracle in connection with the rod which he already possessed. This illustrates an important aspect of God’s dealings with those whom he is using in his service today; namely, that he overrules, blesses, and authorizes them to use whatever talents of time, strength, or means which they possess. Very seldom is it necessary for servants of God to wait until the Lord puts something special into their hands to use before they can serve him. Just as the Lord asked Moses, “What is that in thine hand?” so he wants us to note what we already possess which can be used in our work for him.—ch. 4:2
God’s dealings with Moses remind us of how he speaks to his people today. First he spoke to Moses by an angel out of the burning bush. When Moses turned aside to investigate, then God spoke to him. God speaks to us through the truth. He uses various messengers to bring the truth to our attention, but when we investigate, and discover that the “angel” has really called our attention to the divine plan, we recognize that God is speaking to us through this glorious message.
The True God
Writing of his day, Paul said that then there were “gods many and lords many.” (I Cor. 8:5) This is true today, and it was true in Moses’ day. But in speaking to Moses, the true God identified himself as “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” (ch. 3:2,6) The God of Abraham is still the only true God; and the Gospel that was preached to Abraham is the only true Gospel. (Gal. 3:8,16,27-29) Those who have not heard this Gospel have not heard the voice of the true and living God. They may have heard the voice of the torment god, or the trinity god, or one or another of the mystical gods of the Orient, but they have not heard the voice of the true God.
Identification of the voice of the true God is not difficult. To Abraham he expressed his purpose as being the blessing of all the families of the earth through a “Seed.” Have we heard this message? Is this message the great theme song of the Gospel which has reached us? If so, it means that the true God, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob has spoken to us, for he does not change. His promise to Abraham to bless all the families of the earth is still his purpose.
“Moses, Moses”
There is danger, at times, of underestimating the directness with which God speaks to us as individuals. We may think that the truth came to us by accident, that the Lord had nothing special to do with it. But Jesus said, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him.” (John 6:44) God draws his people by the truth; and while his servants sow the seeds of truth beside all waters, yet there is no doubt but that the Heavenly Father, in his own way, overrules in connection with the individuals who are attracted to it. He is still able to provide the “burning bush” and the “angel” to engage the attention of those to whom he wishes to speak.
If through the truth our eyes have been enlightened to behold the glory of the Lord, it means that the God of Abraham has spoken to us. It means also, as in the case of Moses, that God has spoken to us for a purpose. Moses’ reply was, “Here am I!” If we are to profit from his example, we too will continue to answer, “Here am I!”
Having thus responded to the voice of God, Moses was next to learn the sacredness of the position he now occupied. “Put off thy shoes from off thy feet,” the Lord said to him, “for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.” And how true this is of God’s people today! How holy and how sacred is the position into which the truth has brought us! If we have responded to it in the spirit of full consecration, it means that our entire life is now completely devoted to the holy things of God. “Old things are passed away; behold, all things have become new,” Paul wrote, adding that these “new” things are “of God.”—II Cor. 5:17,18
A Work to Do
God spoke to Moses because he had a work for him to do; and this is true of those to whom the Lord is speaking at the present time. Herein is illustrated one of the differences between churchianity and true Christianity. In the worldly church it is usually only the clergy who are looked upon as having been called to a work in connection with their Christian life. To most others, to become a Christian is merely a matter of subscribing to certain religious formulas, being a fairly regular attendant at church, and in turn being assured of a happy condition after death.
But there is no clergy and laity division in the ranks of the true followers of the Master. All are alike called to do a work for God—the amount of work they do being limited merely by circumstances and individual capacities. And it is a distinctive characteristic of our God that he “calls,” but never forces. He wants those who worship and serve him to do so willingly, gladly, intelligently—“in spirit and in truth.”
Gideon and Others
Gideon was called to serve God. (Judges 6:14) So was Jeremiah. (Jer. 1:4,5) God put his hand upon Ezekiel because he had a work for him to do. (Ezek. 1:3) Isaiah was given a vision of God, and it meant that God wanted someone to serve him. (Isa. 6:8,9) Invariably these called ones felt inadequate for the work which they were called to do. But all of them, when fully convinced of the source of the call, and assured that God would be with them, responded in the spirit of full dedication to the God of Abraham.
When Isaiah saw that wondrous vision of God, he said, “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips.” (Isa. 6:5) When Moses realized the import of God’s visit to him, he felt his weakness. He was not a man of eloquent speech, yet this seemed to be a necessary qualification for one who was to appear before Pharaoh and plead for the deliverance of the Israelites. But God cleansed Isaiah’s lips, and he provided a mouthpiece for Moses. And we can be sure that he continues today to provide all the needs of those whom he calls into his service.
In the case of Moses, God used what Moses possessed in the way of talents, and then gave him a co-worker to do what he could not do himself. So it is with his people today. As individuals, we are called to perform only those parts of the Lord’s work for which, in the divine providence, we are qualified. God has “set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.” By this arrangement of divine wisdom the great cause of God goes successfully forward.—I Cor. 12:18
Deliverance
Moses was called of God to deliver Israel from Egyptian bondage. This was illustrative of the deliverance of the whole world of mankind from the bondage of sin and death—the blessing of all the families of the earth, as promised to Abraham. We today are called to participate in another phase of this great plan of God. We are now called to participate in the work of representing Christ in the earth as, under God, the calling and preparation of the future kings and priests of earth is taking place.
We are also called to share in that future aspect of God’s work, the kingdom work of blessing all the families of the earth. If we prove worthy of that future work, our privileges of service will be much more glorious and extensive than they are now. But let us not suppose that this marvelous future opportunity of service will be granted to us if we are not faithfully responding to the divine call for service at the present time by the sacrifice of all that we have, and are, and hope to be.
Have We Heard?
Like Moses, we have difficulty in grasping the immense fact that God has spoken to us, and that he actually wants us to go to work for him. Moses asked, “Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh?” And we also are inclined to wonder why we should be called to such a high calling, why we should be invited to work with God in the reconciliation of a lost race. But it is important that our faith grasp this important truth.
Have we been clearly informed, and does our faith grasp the fact, that God is calling a group of people in this age, that he might use them in the coming age to deliver all who will then become his people? And have we responded to this call and agreed to meet its terms? Have we felt the deep sense of responsibility the acceptance of this call imposes upon us, and have we grasped the blessedness of the divine promises of grace to help in time of need as we seek to do the work that God has given us to do?
Moses’ recognition of his own unworthiness for the work in hand was a good thing, in that it caused him to lean more fully on the Lord. It is only in the strength of the Lord that any of his servants are able to serve him acceptably. To Moses God said, “Certainly I will be with thee,” and this promise applies equally to us. Another promise is, “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.” (Heb. 13:5) These are but samples of the hundreds of precious promises by which the Lord assures us of success in the great undertaking to which he has called us.
A Heart-searching Question
Moses wanted to be sure of his ground before starting out on such an important mission as delivering Israel from Egyptian bondage, and his uncertainty was evident to the Lord. So the Lord asked him what it was that he held in his hand, and Moses replied that it was a rod. Then the Lord demonstrated to Moses how he would use this rod in a miraculous manner to prove that its owner had indeed been sent by the great “I AM.”
The Lord’s question to Moses, “What is that in thine hand?” seems beautifully to suggest the thought that the Lord expects us to use whatever we possess of time or talents or means in carrying out the commission he has given us. It behooves each of us today to ask ourselves this same question: What do we have in our hands that could be put to work in the divine service? It may be surprising to realize how many talents we are permitting to lie dormant. Sometimes little opportunities of service are overlooked while we are waiting for the Lord to put something more important into our hands to use for him.
Time, strength, money, and ability to teach are the talents most generally used to serve the Lord and his people. Time is a very important talent with which to serve the Lord, especially if coupled with a measure of strength. Some may say that they have both time and strength, but have no ability to teach, hence are not able to serve the Lord. But this is not a bona fide excuse in this day of the printing press, when the Gospel is made available in printed form and supplied free to all who will use their time and strength to distribute it.
Some may say that they have time, but not sufficient strength to distribute literature. But we know of those who are confined to their homes by illness, yet use their time in addressing messages of truth to others, far and wide, and the Lord is richly blessing them. Moses wanted God to send someone else to deliver the Israelites, and frequently we may feel like shifting the responsibility of the truth to the shoulders of others. But the fact that God has given us the truth means that he expects us to use it.
By the Spirit
Our commission to serve is clearly stated in Acts 1:8: “But ye shall receive power [authority], after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.” There is no scriptural authority to show that this divine commission is to be withdrawn while a single member of the church remains this side of the veil. True, the work has changed from sowing to reaping, but the reaping, like the sowing, is accomplished by the dissemination of the truth.
But how are we to know that we have received the Holy Spirit, and by that Spirit have been anointed (authorized) to speak for God? There are many witnesses of the Spirit by which we may know of its indwelling in our lives. A very important one is mentioned by Paul in Romans 8:16,17—“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God; … if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.” The Holy Spirit, through the prophets, had foretold the sufferings of the Christ; hence those who have the privilege of partaking of this suffering have the testimony of the Spirit that they are a part of the anointed company who are authorized to lay down their lives in the divine service, with the assurance that the sacrifice of their lives in this way will be “holy, acceptable unto God,” their “reasonable service.”—Rom.12:1
Do we, then, see our privilege of sacrifice? Or is the Christian life to us merely a matter of high moral standards, and a certain satisfying of our emotional nature? If we are to be loyal to the truth, we must be willing to sacrifice all that we have in its interests. It is not enough to say that we believe the truth. We must also serve the truth. God spoke to Moses and thenceforth his life was lived for God, and so it has been with all the truly faithful servants of God to whom he has spoken. Saul of Tarsus inquired, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” This is the true desire of all to whom God speaks.—Acts 9:6
The sacrifice of the church, made in response to the vision of truth, is her part in the great offering that is being made in order to deliver the world from sin and death. When the acceptable time for these better sacrifices has ended, no longer will there be an opportunity to suffer and die for the truth. But while the way of sacrifice is still open it is our privilege not only to receive and believe the truth of the divine plan as it is centered in Jesus, the Redeemer, but to die for it. Paul said, “Unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake.”—Phil. 1:29
Individual Responsibility
If we have heard the voice of God and have entered into his service, then we have an individual responsibility to him to be faithful. We cannot all do the same things in so far as the details of the service are concerned. We do not all have the same place in the body of Christ. There are many members in the body of Christ. (I Cor. 12:12) Let us endeavor to find out what there is that we can do—what the Lord has placed in our hands.
Do we meet with others of like precious faith? Then let us be watchful of ways and means of serving them. Let us be on the alert for opportunities to serve the class as a whole, as well as individual members of the class. Not all can be elders, but even so there are plenty of ways of serving the general interests of the ecclesia. Let us not take for granted that someone else will look after the affairs of the ecclesia so that all we need to do is to attend the meetings—when we are not too tired.
As individuals and as ecclesias let us be watchful to do all we can to spread the truth in our area—through our own local efforts, and through co-operation with the general work. There are tracts and cards to be distributed. There is the opportunity of co-operation with The Bible Answers television programs and the “Frank and Ernest” radio broadcasts.
What a happy lot is ours! What a privilege it is to serve the Most High God—the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob! It is not for us to weep because the way before us is a way of sacrifice. As the sacrificial death of the saints is blessed in God’s sight, so we should esteem the privilege of dying with Christ a blessed one. Indeed, we are the happy warriors of today, who, by the grace of God will be the church victorious tomorrow. And it will be the church victorious that will do that great work for God of leading forth the whole world from the bondage of sin and death, thus being the instruments in God’s hands of fulfilling that wondrous Abrahamic Covenant to bless all the families of the earth.