Moses and the
Excuses He made.
For the
last two years I have completed reading the BIBLE end to end. During the course
of last year, I got myself a new Bible which has extra margins for taking
notes. So, this year I have decided to
meditate more closely on the word. The
following was highlighted to me while going through my morning routine of
meditation on the word of God a week back.
Before I get to that just a few quick
pointers.
1 Moses was the great grandson of Levi Exodus 2:1
2.
Amram and Jochebed were his parents. Amram
married his father’s sister (aunt) Jochebed
3.
Three children- Moses, Aaron and Miriam. What a privilege to have all your
children working in the ministry.
4.
Parents faith recounted in Hebrews 11:23
5.
Shiprah and Puah, the two Egyptian midwives were blessed by God-because they
feared God and did not obey Pharoah
When we think about Moses the first things
that come to our mind Is the mighty Man of God, standing at the red sea while
it is being parted, Or Moses coming down with the Ten Commandments. Let us look
now look at something else.
Moses lived 40 years with Pharoah and was being trained for a life of royalty. Somehow,
he wanted to redeem the Israelites early and, in the process, ended up
murdering someone. So, he had to flee and this brought him to become a
shepherd. He was tending the flocks of his father-in-law Jethro. This also
continued for 40 days. So, he had
decided to live his sedentary life of being a shepherd and taking care of his family,
but God had plans for him when he was least expecting it.
One
day he saw something strange – a burning bush, He might have passed that bush
many times or even daily in the 40 years that he lived as a shepherd. He turned aside to see what it was. I am sure
if Moses lived today, he would be concentrating on his mobile phone and the
social media and would not have looked at the bush.
The
Bibe says that He was afraid to look at God and covered his face – Exodus 3:6
This is when God revealed who He was to Moses. God Explains to Moses that He
has seen the oppression of His people and heard their cry and that He is going
to bring them out of that slavery to a good and large land. Imagine Moses
listening to this story being told to him from the bush. But he gets a rude
awakening when God reveals to him “Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring
My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” Exodus 3:10.
He suddenly gets to his senses and like many of us today when something is
asked of us to do it- we refuse.
This leads to the FIRST
EXCUSE by Moses
And Moses said unto God, who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh,
and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? Exodus 3 :11
Moses
probably because of the earlier failure in his mind. Thought that he could do
nothing significant. He probably did not believe in himself and had poor self-esteem.
The
FIRST ANSWER from God
“I will be with you. And this
will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought
the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” Exodus 3 :12
The answer form God was very straight forward
and short and a promise.
Moses then comes up with Excuse no 2 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of
Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you;
and they shall say to me, What is his name?
Exodus
3 :13
Moses during his 80 years of life had not encountered God. He knew there was
God, but did not know God on a personal level.
He was yet to see and hear about mighty things that God can do.
The Reply from God And God said unto Moses, I AM
WHO I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM
hath sent me unto you….. Exodus 3:14-22
God’s reply was a statement of His name and
also telling Moses in brief about what is going to happen till they are
redeemed from Egypt.
While listening to God tell him in brief
Moses thought about his next Excuse. - Moses disbelieved God's Word and said, “suppose they will not
believe me or listen to my voice” suppose they
say, ‘The Lord has
not appeared to you.’ ” Exodus
4:1
Moses like
most of us today was assuming the worst or had unnecessary imagination. What if
they thought about me…? What if they don’t believe??
The Answer So the Lord said to him,
“What is that in your hand?” He said, “A rod” …. Exodus 4: 2-9
God answered Moses with two miracles, Rod
being turned into a snake and also his own hand becoming leprous when put into
the cloak that is he wearing. And also, the reversal of the same.
God is also telling him that I will show the miracles you just need to go there
and present yourself and speak what I am telling you to do.
Then the LORD said to him,
“Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So, Moses reached out and took
hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand.5“This,” said the
LORD, “is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers—the
God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.”
6Then theorised, “Put your hand
inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it
out, the skin was leprous—it had become as white as snow….. Exodus 4:4-6
Excuse 4
Moses said to the LORD,
“Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor
since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”..
Exodus 4:10
Moses thought he did not have
the ability
Answer
The LORD said to him, “Who
gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them
sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Exodus 4:11
Excuse 5
But Moses said, “Pardon
your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”….Exodus 4:13
Moses did not want to go
forward with this assignment -give up responsibility
Answer:
Then the LORD’s anger burned against
Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can
speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see
you. Exodus 4:14
Excuse 1 Did not believe in himself
Excuse 2 Did not know God
Excuse 3 Assumes the worst –unnecessary imagination
Excuse 4 Did not have the abilities or resources
Excuse 5 Shirk off responsibility
The bible later records Moses
as being a transformed man.
1 He was humble.
Numbers 12:3 3Now the man Moses was very humble,
more than all men who were on the face of the earth.
2 He talked with God like a friend.
3 The glory of God was reflected
on his face so much that he had to cover his face in front of the Israelite
community
4 He used to intercede regularly
for the people.
All this happened when he stopped
giving further excuses and submitted to the PLAN OF GOD.
Are you today working up EXCUSES?
Are you today Shirking away from
the plans that God has for your life?
God Bless you and guide you in thinking through the solutions for your life.
Email: crowngeorgekoshy@gmail.com
