Bible Readings
Reading 39: God calls Moses into service
Read Exodus 3:1–4:17.
Moses spent 40 years as a shepherd in Midian (Acts 7:24; Exodus 7:7). During those years, he must have thought about God and the suffering of his people in Egypt. Yahweh got Moses’ attention by engulfing an insignificant bush with fire. But the bush didn’t actually burn—that’s why it caught Moses’ attention.
God assured Moses that He was the God of his ancestors—Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. When these three names are mentioned together, God is bringing to mind His covenant with them—He promised to give them specific land in the Middle East. He was ready to deliver Israel out of Egypt and lead them into the Promised Land, and Moses was God’s chosen leader.
Moses asked for God’s personal name. It’s not that he didn’t know God’s personal name—Yahweh. It was already familiar to Moses’ ancestors (for example, Genesis 4:26, 14:22, 15:1–2, 25:21–22, 28:13). Moses was really asking, “What kind of a God are you? What does your name mean?”
God explained that Yahweh means “I am who I am.” His name means He is the self-existent One who does not need anything. Rather, He enables all things to exist. His name means He is present with His people; and His name means He is the faithful and dependable God who acts.
Yahweh knows the beginning from the end and so He told Moses what would happen. The elders would accept Moses as their leader and believe that Yahweh would deliver them. Pharaoh would refuse to let the Israelites go, and so all Egypt would suffer terrible judgments from God. Finally, Israel would not only be delivered from Egypt, but receive the riches of Egypt as wages for all their years of slavery. Then Israel would receive the land that God promised them.
This was exciting news of a guaranteed outcome for Israel. But Moses became frightened by the job and made excuses. He made the mistake of looking at himself instead of looking to Yahweh. The God who made us is able to use the gifts and abilities He’s given us to accomplish the tasks He assigns to us.
Moses was acting like he could not be used by God. But Yahweh was saying He would do all the hard work and Moses only had to obey. At this point in time, Moses was expressing a hollow humility. True humility is thinking only of God’s glory and God’s will rather than about one’s inadequacy.
But God reassured Moses by giving him the ability to do miraculous signs. Turning his staff into a snake was significant. The symbolism was clear—the serpent had been used by Satan in the garden of Eden (Genesis 3:1) and the serpent featured heavily in Egyptian religion. Moses’ mastery over the serpent was a sign of Yahweh’s mastery of Satan and the gods of Egypt.
Despite these signs, Moses protested again about being a poor communicator. Moses called Yahweh “lord” but refused to obey His orders. We can often identify with this attitude. We acknowledge Yahweh as our lord, but we often refuse to obey the instructions found in His Word. If Yahweh isn’t Lord of all parts of our lives, then He isn’t Lord at all!
Now angry with Moses, Yahweh told him that He had chosen his brother Aaron to be Moses’ spokesperson. Later events would prove that Moses was very capable of speaking God’s words both to Israel and to Pharaoh. In future readings, we’ll see Moses delivering some of the most powerful speeches.
Here’s the lesson for us: God knows us better than we know ourselves. We need to trust and obey when He tells us what to do. We can’t surprise Him by telling Him about our weaknesses—He knows them already. We need to realise that God will never lead us where His power can’t enable us to do what He wants. We need to learn again and again how to walk by faith in His promises.
Think about what God has laid upon your heart to do. Do you feel inadequate, ill-equipped or not ready? Do you think God has called upon the wrong person for the task? Seeing the example of Moses, can you take these concerns to God to ask for His strength, wisdom and courage? God never picks the wrong person. And God can help you to take the first step in faith.