A Changed Demeanor

Moses is listed as one of the "heroes of faith" in Hebrews 11, and yet he was a man who only became such as he aged in God's service. We know Moses as the baby in the basket, as the man who delivered Israel from Egyptian bondage and ultimately as the meek and effective leader of millions of wandering Jews...but if this is all we know of Moses, our knowledge of him is far from complete. There was, in other words, a time when Moses had to find his identity as a servant of God.

In Exodus 2, Moses, having been raised in an Egyptian palace, saw the plight of his brethren, the Israelites. He clearly had a heart for his people and wanted to help them in some way. One day, when he saw an Egyptian taskmaster brutalizing a Hebrew slave, Moses intervened. He killed the Egyptian and buried him in the sand (Ex. 2:11-12). The following day, he attempted to mediate a problem between two Israelites (vs. 13). They didn't respond well to his efforts, but nonetheless, we see Moses' repeated attempts to aid the Hebrew nation.

Thanks to the New Testament record, we are given divine commentary of Moses' actions. In Acts 7:25, we're told that Moses "supposed that his brethren understood that God was granting them deliverance through him; but they did not understand." So Moses, understanding the unique position he was in (i.e. prominence, power, etc.) proactively sought to deliver his brethren from bondage.

Of course, his actions fell short. When it became known that he had killed an Egyptian, he fled to the land of Midian where he started a new life.

Until...God appeared to him several years later and asked him to do what he himself had already tried to do once before: deliver the Israelites from Egyptian bondage. God said to him at Mount Horeb, "Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of bondage" (Ex. 3:10).

Based on his earlier attempts and his prior zeal to accomplish this same task, you'd think that Moses wouldn't jumped all over the opportunity. But as you know, he didn't. He made excuse after excuse and did everything he could to escape God's command.

Here's the question: why the changed demeanor?

Why is it that Moses was so passionate about this cause before and so resistent to it now?

In his younger days, Moses had a desire to deliver the Israelites from bondage, but it's clear that he had his own way of going about it. He didn't go into the courts of Pharaoh. He didn't stand on the street-corner and preach political reform to the masses. Instead, he was handling the process delicately; he was intervening in squabbles and "starting small." He had a good heart and his motives were pure, but he was basically fighting a forest fire with a single pale of water. He was doing enough to make himself feel useful and productive, but it wasn't enough to render significant reform.

Furthermore (and more importantly), we have no record of Moses praying for God's will in this matter. He simply had his own ideas and tried to implement his ideas apart from the counsel of the Lord.

When his efforts were rebuffed, he lost all confidence. His zeal was squashed by rejection and he fled not only from Egypt but from his former ideals to a new land and a new life.

In Exodus 3, when God called to Moses from the burning bush on Mount Horeb, not only was He speaking to a man whose former spirit had been crushed, He was calling this man to do something that ran counter to his character. So Moses resisted.

The lesson for us is twofold.

We first of all learn that when we rush into plans without first seeking the counsel of God, not only will we fail, but there may be long-lasting mental and/or spiritual consequences. We may bring shame upon Christ, or we may, like Moses, lose our confidence and decide to abandon our goals altogether. It is critical that we approach all that we do prayerfully and with great deliberation.

We secondly learn that our approach to a task is not always the same as God's approach. It's easy to become content in doing things our way. Like Moses, we might take a very soft and diplomatic approach, and we might feel good about it, but God may be calling us to something far greater and bolder. Take evangelism for example. It's easy to invite folks to church, and it makes us feel productive...but God is calling us to spread the gospel (Mt. 28:19-20) which takes far greater boldness and courage.

Let us seek God's will, not our own. And when God's will is manifested to us through prayerful deliberation and biblical reflection, let's act with all courage and boldness.