Introduction - The God of coming and going!
About 11½ years ago, the study that made the biggest impression on me as I looked at the Christian faith was one taught by a talented minister called Neil Blake. Neil was no professional clergyman then but was already a gifted teacher. He taught Mark 4:35-41 which is the story of the Storm on the Lake. Expert fishermen began to fear for their lives, and were angry and shocked at the seeming indifference of Jesus to their predicament.
At the start of the story is an interesting comment from Jesus however. He says, "Let us go across to the other side of the lake." God had spoken, and to all intents and purposes made a promise, and they would get there, but it didn't make the perilous journey any more comforting for his disciples. They felt they had been given a hopeless task.
We have already seen in the last study that God is a God who comes down to be with his people. God is also a God who sends. He sends angels, he sends prophets, he sends Jesus, he sends the Apostles and he sends us. So he says first, "Come!" and then, "Go!"
When my Bible study group looked at the last study, Bernard Palmer posed the question, "Is every Christian commissioned?" It's a good question. Let's think about it a little.
It seems to me that there are two elements to this. First, there is a general commission for all believers. Secondly, there are specific commissions for individual believers.
The general commission that applies to the who Church is to serve Jesus and his gospel by proclaiming the good news to 'outsiders', and by teaching 'insiders'. In the light of the Great Commission this is anything but optional. In fact it is obligatory. That is what the Church is all about, and when it is not focused on this then it is straying into error by heretical teaching and inappropriate action.
The specific commission is dependent upon the giving of gifts. Paul explains all this in 1 Corinthians 12 and 13, where his main point is that the gifts are given by the Holy Spirit to build up the Body of Christ. Paul says there is one Spirit but many gifts. The Spirit' s one aim is to point people to Jesus and he does so through dispensing different talents to people. We all have different roles but the aim of each is to ensure that the general commission is carried out.
In Exodus 3 and 4 we observe the commissioning of Moses as an individual.
Moses' specific commission is to go to the Israelite Elders with a promise of redemption (3:16-17). Also, he is to go to Pharaoh with a request to leave Egypt (3:18 and 4:22).
Word as Guarantee
Moses is given an incentive and a guarantee to take to the Israelites. It is a spoken word of God in the form of a promise of redemption. Redemption is one of those Bible buzz words - let's define the mechanics of it very briefly. Remember that redemption is a two phase process.
Phase 1 is taking out of a bad situation and,
Phase 2 is taking into a good situation, which is exactly the construction we get here in verse 17.
God has also provided Moses with two personal incentives, one for his mission to the Israelites and another for his visit to Pharaoh:
Israelites (Verse 18) "They will listen to you." In other words a spoken promise of God.
Pharaoh (Verse 20) "I will..., I will..., then he will let you go." Yet another promise of God that victory is certain.
Lessons: God's word as guarantee. In the 21st century we look back to this ancient history and reading through the remainder of the story we see that God's promises are delivered. So we must conclude that the promises he makes to us about Jesus and a future eternal life are also as good as delivered.
But traveling and arriving are two different things. The road is going to prove difficult for Moses, as it may well do for the modern Christian, and God acknowledges in verse 19.
Despite God wanting to take his people away and them wanting to go, Pharaoh and the Egyptians do want them to go. In our modern situation we see this mirrored in the way the world does not easily relinquish its grasp on us. We still have to live and do our business in the world, by the world' s rules. We are still tempted by all Satan's deceits and pulled back constantly by sin.
In chapter 4 Moses starts to bicker with God about his commission. He objects in three ways.
1. verse 1 - what if hey don't listen to me?
2. verse 10 - I am not eloquent.
3. verse 13 - send someone else!
Imagining ourselves in his shoes for a moment it is easy to see why Moses objects and tries to wriggle out of God's plans.
First there is the seeming impossibility of the task. "God, let me clarify the plan," says Moses. "You want me to persuade the Elders who don't know me from Adam (2:14), then to get Pharaoh to agree to economic suicide, and then to plunder the Egyptian people of their wealth. Correct?"
Then there is simple fear, both internal and external. Moses looks at the mountain he has to climb with human eyes and is daunted to the point of fear. Firstly, he asks himself, "have I got the guts to do this?" and secondly, "how will other people respond?" Of course verse 1 betrays the fact that Moses expects the Elders to hear, 'my voice' , and to 'believe me'.
Next comes feelings of inadequacy. We are never actually told that Moses is not slow of speech and his second objection may be perfectly true and reasonable.
Then their is the tricky matter of Sinful Disobedience. In verse 14 God becomes angry with Moses when up until now he has not been. God's anger is prompted when Moses has run out of legitimate excuses and says what amounts to two words - 'No Lord.' He does not want to do the task. This amounts to a lack of faith. In the story of the Storm on the Lake in Mark, Jesus berates the disciples for their lack of faith. God has fully equipped him for the job, there are no more practical impediments. It's stripped down to pure disposition at this stage.
Where do you and I draw the line between a practical and legitimate objection of inadequacy and lack of ability as against sinful disobedience? This is probably something you have to sort out for yourself, but we do have to draw boundary lines as Christians and we need to ensure we stay on the right side.
More pertinently, where does God draw the line?
The NIV Application Bible says, "God does not ask us to go where he has not provided the means to help." Remember that earlier in chapter 3 we saw this pattern: God says, 'I have come down', 'I am sending you', 'I will be with you'. Coming to chapter 4 we can now see what this means.
In answer to Moses' first objection God provide an answer in the shape of signs (vv2-9). Note there are three of them. Three is an important number in Exodus. For example, when we come to the plagues, you will see that they are arranged in three lots of three, excluding the final one of course.
Responding to Moses' second objection God promises to provide the words (vv11-12). "I will teach you what to say," says God and in 3:18 we see that these words will carry the authority of God.
There are other means by which God encourages and provides for Moses as he undertakes this difficult mission.
He provides other people. Exodus centres on relationship as we've already seen in an earlier study and here it is again. There is Aaron who is blood family (v14), Jethro in verse 18 (note the contrast between Moses' in-law family and his adoptive family as represented by Pharaoh in 5: 2. Jethro blesses Moses despite the loss of a worker but Pharaoh is selfish and angry), the Elders (3:18) who we might call a fellowship family, and lastly there is Zipporah from his own family.
So, three ways in which God helps: Signs, Word, and Community. These days, Word we have in the Bible, Community we have in our fellowships, but what about signs? Are we are given signs today? Where are they? What are they?
The staff of Moses was an everyday object that he used in his work. For us it could be the skills that we are given, our gifts, our music, our speaking, our hospitality etc. We do not need to look for the miraculous. Indeed, at the end of the day the biggest sign is us ourselves. Each believer is a miraculous sign of new life.
4:24-26 is a rather odd section in this story. It seems to suggest that Moses had not had Gershom circumcised and this made God angry. It seems to me that the reason is failure to meet the terms of the Abrahamic Covenant. Moses can hardly fulfill his duties of leader of the Hebrews if he has been disobedient in his own family.
For us to do an effective job, somehow we have to be properly prepared for it, to have come to God in repentance, to have sought his will and asked his involvement and blessing, and to live obediently under his rule.
The effective minister of Christ lives a blameless life.