Cover to Cover
Reading: Exodus 1:1-4:31
Focus: Exodus 3:11-4:17
As Christians, I wonder if we have any idea who we’re dealing with sometimes… We claim to believe in God Almighty; that we are saved by the Lord Jesus Christ; that we live life empowered by the person of the Holy Spirit… but, sometimes, just sometimes, I wonder if we know who and what we’re actually dealing with. This God we claim to believe is the all-power, all-mighty, all-knowing God which created all of the universe, created all that we see, created all that we are. Yet, do we live as though this were the God we believe in? Do we live lives of faith reflecting an awesome God? I wonder…
In the well-known story of Moses and the Burning Bush, God called Moses to return and set his people free from the enslavement in Egypt. This episode, however, finds Moses in doubt and not realising that the voice from this burning bush is, indeed, the great Lord God Almighty. Let’s just take a few steps back, we should understand that while Moses was likely to hear stories about God in the early days of his childhood, his later years were spent within the walls of the palace, treated and reared as a prince of Egypt. If the voice in the bush had introduced itself as one of the gods of Egypt, maybe Moses may have been more responsive, but that’s not the case. Anyway, now we’re just speculating.
Back to the point, Moses had no idea who God was and what He was capable of. However, even after an introduction and a series of signs (for Moses; my Bible adequately titles chapter 4: “Signs for Moses”—rather than, “Signs for the people” or otherwise), Moses was still shy of what God wanted him to do. Just picture it, here is the God of the universe making Himself known to Moses, revealed Himself in power through various signs and Moses still had the nerve to go and say, “O Lord, please send someone else to do it.” And you wonder why God got angry?!
Yet, aren’t we just the same? We’re in a better position in relation to where Moses was, and yet, we still say, “Um…someone else, please?” Are we so thick-headed and dumb-witted that we forget what God has already done in our lives? Wake up! (And I say this to myself also!) Open your eyes and see, God is good and He is trustworthy. The repeated words of Jesus to his disciples, “You of little faith” ring true of us today. Seriously, even if God appeared in a burning bush today, even if He gave us great signs, I wonder if we would be any different to Moses… I sure hope so, I really do hope that we have an idea of who we’re dealing with.
Next Reading: Exodus 5:1-8:19
