Moses, deeply troubled, sought solace in consultation with God. The children of Israel refused to believe the message that God had seen their distress and planned to deliver them from the tyranny of Pharaoh. At first excited by the news, they had expected instant deliverance which, when it did not materialise, resulted in utter despair. They began to rationalise and blamed Moses and Aaron for making their situation worse. They were content to be Pharaoh’s “servants”, yet God declared that they were His “people” (Ex 5:1, Ex 5:15-16).
God instructed Moses to tell Pharoah to relent from his enslavement of Israel. Moses, discouraged and dejected from his first encounter with the proud monarch of Egypt, replies (paraphrase): “Israel itself won’t listen to me; why should Pharoah listen to me. I can’t even speak properly.”
Sometimes the ministers of God are faced with the same dilemma. The very people to whom they bring glad tidings of freedom in Christ are the ones who reject the message. They have become accustomed to the slavery of sin, or are just in a comfort zone from which they refuse to move.
After years of being told what to do, and how to do it, slaves understandably fear freedom and the opportunity it brings. The open prison door is a step into the unknown for a prisoner who has been held captive for years. It is not unheard of that prisoners sometimes commit petty offences to get back into prison, just to experience the familiarity of the routine it affords them. Sometimes they commit suicide in advance of their impending pardon and release. “Stockholm syndrome”, a term coined after a major bank robbery in Stockholm, is a psychological phenomenon where captives bond with their captors, developing feelings of familiarity and sympathy for them. Elements of this can also be observed in victims of abuse, who sometimes defend their abusers or refuse to move away from them.
Moses was the perfect candidate for God to use to deliver Israel from Egypt. He was educated in Pharaoh’s own house, yet also identified with the people of Israel. When Moses was told to go back to Egypt by God, he was told that the men who sought to kill him were dead. However, there may have been people in Pharaoh’s royal court who did not seek to kill him, but were acquainted with his upbringing as the adopted son of Pharaoh’s daughter. Moses may have been to them an item of mockery and ridicule. After all, who in their right mind would relinquish a place in the royal house of Egypt, choosing instead to be the spokesman of an enslaved nation suffering from Stockholm Syndrome? So it is with ministers of Christ who relinquish wealthy lifestyles or worldly living to proclaim the Gospel of freedom. They may be mocked and ridiculed by those closest to them, yet God approves for them the honour of employment in His service.
It was God’s arm that would pluck the Israelites out of Egyptian slavery, yet He would accomplish this through the rod of Moses. By the time Israel left Egypt, that humble rod would be more feared than the scepter of Pharaoh himself. God would refer to Jesus Christ our King, Saviour, Great Prophet and Good Shepherd as “a prophet like Moses”. (Deut 18:18, Ex 7:1-5, Jn 6:14, Acts 3:22-23)
