Exodus-The Sign of the covenant

In Exodus 4:1-13, Moses debated with God over his suitability for the appointed task of leading Israel out of Egypt. Even after all the wonderful signs God gave him, Moses asked God to send someone else (v13).

The book of Exodus reveals the Lord as a compassionate God,  slow to anger and abundant in mercy, yet not to be taken advantage of  for He is also a consuming fire. The anger of  the Lord was kindled against Moses, yet God did not strike him dead. Instead He assigned Aaron, Moses’ brother to be a helper to him and a spokesman to the nation of Israel (v14-17).

From the time Moses was attracted to the burning bush, God spoke directly to him in a very personal way. It seems confusing then, that the very God who had so mightily commissioned him a little while before would seek to take his life as he made the arduous journey to  Egypt with his family (Ex 4:20-24).

Ex 4:25-26 reveals that it was Zipporah’s quick thinking in circumcising her son that saved  Moses, and appeased the Lord’s anger against him. Moses had been appointed to lead the nation of Israel out of Egypt. As a young boy born to Hebrew parents, he had no doubt been circumcised on the eighth day as was customary. However, being raised in the palace as Pharoah’s adopted son had caused him to be estranged to his own people and he had neglected to circumcise his own son.

Genesis 17:9-14 reveals the significance of the rite of circumcision. It was a sign of the everlasting covenant which God had made with Abraham. Verse 14 reveals that the uncircumcised man-child would be cut off  from his people for not carrying the sign of the covenant. God knew that  the nation of Israel would not accept a leader who would not circumcise his own son, so He made provision for Moses’ son to be circumcised. Moses would have no doubt in his mind regarding his place among the nation of Israel after the circumcision of his son. He no longer had a double identity; he could  no longer play “double-agent.” He  had a singular purpose to surrender to God’s Will and, by the power of  the Almighty, to lead the nation of Israel out of Egyptian slavery.

Circumcision was just the sign of the covenant, a means to an end and not the end in itself. It was an important sign to the nation of Israel, indicating their position as the people of God. It was not circumcision that made  them God’s people, but rather they were circumcised because God had chosen them for His very own. In the same way, God’s people  in this age must have their hearts “circumcised”, always  pliable to His commands. Although salvation is not obtained by obedience, but by acceptance of Christ’s atoning sacrifice, obedience to God’s commands reflects our love for the God who first loved us. Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” Satan is against the people of God who keep God’s commandments and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Scripture refs: Ex 4:1-26, Rev 12:17, John 14:15, 1 John 5:1-3, James 2:17-26

Exodus-The Reluctant Leader

Exodus 2 ended with Moses  in exile in the Midianite desert. By his show of sympathy to his enslaved nation, he had traded his lofty place in the palace of Pharoah with  its attendant pomp and privileges to become a lowly shepherd in the deserts of Midian. He could have chosen to live a sheltered life of ease in the palace of Pharoah, but he chose instead to remain loyal to his people. God honoured Moses’ loyalty by choosing to use him as an important agent in His plan of deliverance for the embattled nation of Israel.

With his detailed knowledge of the harsh desert terrain, Moses would be the ideal candidate for God to use to lead His people out of the land of Egypt. God sought to attract his attention by appearing in a flame of fire in the midst of a bush. The bush burned, but was not consumed and Moses, with great curiosity, turned aside to examine it. (Ex 3:1-3)

The Lord conversed with Moses from the burning bush, ordering him to remove his shoes for he was standing on holy ground. It was God’s Presence that made the ground holy for only God has the ability to sanctify and make anything holy.  God introduced Himself as the “God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob”, divulging to Moses His great plan of deliverance for the Israelites which He had aforetime shown in vision to Abraham in Gen 15. He then commanded Moses to go to Pharoah to speak on behalf of His beloved people.

Moses was a shepherd in the desert. He had no desire to be a leader. The responsibility seemed too great and he counted himself  unworthy to be chosen by God for such a task. Little did he realize that it was God, the omniscient and all-powerful One, who was choosing him and God does not make mistakes. God comforted Moses with a promise that both he and the people he would lead would know that he was sent by God once they were out of Egypt worshiping God on Mt Horeb. Moses was not content to believe, despite God disclosing to him the entire plan of deliverance, including its victorious culmination. “What will the people say?”, he asked God. “They will not believe me.” God demonstrated to Moses the signs that He would use to cause the Israelites to believe his words. At the Lord’s command, Moses threw down his rod and it became a serpent and when he picked it up, it became a rod again. At God ‘s command, Moses’  hand became white with leprosy and then whole again. Moses was still afraid.

He complained to God, citing his speech impediment as a problem which would render this a “mission impossible”. Little did he realize that he was talking with the Supreme Creator of the Universe, the one who knew him intimately before he had even been born. God knew Moses’ limitations and still called him into His service despite them. Is God calling you into His service today? Remember, he does not call the equipped but he always equips those He calls!

Scripture refs: Exodus 3:1-22, Exodus 4:1-13

Exodus-The Cry for Deliverance and the Ark of Salvation

Exodus 1 ended with the defiance of the two Hebrew midwives who refused to kill the Hebrew boys at birth. Pharoah, enraged by their defiance and the continuing strength of the Israelite nation despite his best efforts to subjugate them, ordered that all Hebrew boys should be cast into the Nile river.

During these troublous times, a young woman from the tribe of Levi gave birth to a son. Seeing that he was a handsome child, she hid him three months and when she could no longer hide him, she put him in an ark of bulrushes lined with pitch and left him in the bulrushes along the river. The young boy’s older sister watched protectively over him from afar off to see what would become of her beloved brother. (Ex 2:1-4)

It wasn’t long before Pharoah’s daughter came to bathe along the river Nile and on finding the young child, she had compassion on him. His sister seized the opportunity to ask if she see should find him a nurse and his mother was brought to him. Not knowing that the “nurse” was his own mother, Pharoah’s daughter offered her wages to care for him and he was adopted into the palace as her own son. She called him Moses, which means “to draw out.” (Ex 2:5-10)

During the time of great tribulation among the Israelites, God was working His Plan of deliverance. Just as He did with Noah, He used an “ark” in his plan. It is not coincidental that the little ark was dabbed with pitch, which in the Hebrew language means “atonement.”  You will remember that the Ark in the Genesis flood account was also dabbed with pitch! (Gen 6:14)

God made provision for Moses to be raised in the palace of Pharoah, in the very house of the man who sought to destroy Israel. He received the best international education of the times, as Egypt was the greatest superpower of the time. This education would stand him in good stead when he would be chosen by God to lead Israel out of Egypt.

However, it was not long before Moses was expelled from the palace after showing sympathy to the Israelite nation by killing an Egyptian who strove with an Israelite. He sought refuge by fleeing to the desert of Midian where he settled, marrying a priest’s daughter who gave birth to his first son. (Ex 2:11-22)

Moses did not know it, but God’s Plan was slowly coming to pass. Moses was an educated, intelligent man. Now God sought to teach this future leader humility by making him a shepherd in the desert. God first entrusted him to the keeping of his father-in-law’s flocks before He would entrust to him the keeping of His people, Israel. (Ex 2:23-Ex 3:1)

God heard the cry of the Israelites and raised up a deliverer to lead them out of slavery in Egypt. In like manner, He gave us Jesus Christ to lead us out of the slave-house of sin. The Ark of our salvation is  sealed not with pitch, but with the blood of Christ Himself. Our salvation is sure!