COME AS A CHILD - LESSON 116 - SOMETIMES YOU JUST NEED A BROTHER TO HELP

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

So we left Moses standing there in front of the burning bush where he was clearly hearing the voice of God saying; GO!  Tell Pharaoh to let my people go!

Thinking about all the things that God had already said to Moses, I am reminded of the lyrics of that beautiful old hymn called “Here I Am Lord” especially when I read these lyrics:

I, the Lord of sea and sky,
I have heard My people cry.
All who dwell in dark and sin,
My hand will save.
I who made the stars of night,
I will make their darkness bright.
Who will bear My light to them?
Whom shall I send?

Well, God was definitely set on sending Moses.  Moses, on the other hand, being so very human, had all these questions; “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you?’

So God tries to help him out.  God says to Moses “What is that in your hand?”  Moses replies that he is holding a staff. The LORD said, “Throw it on the ground.”

So Moses throws his staff on the ground and right before his eyes it becomes a snake.  Yikes!  He ran from it!  But God called down to him; “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.”  So, as frightened as he was, that is what Moses did.  Instantly the snake turned back into a staff.

As Moses stood in amazement, God explained what was going on.  “This 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.”

God wasn’t through yet.  He told Moses to put his hand inside his cloak.  When Moses did this and then took his hand out again it was covered with leprosy, white as snow.  That must have felt pretty horrible! God then told Moses to put his hand back inside his cloak.  When Moses did this and pulled his hand out again,  his hand was restored! 

Well, Moses must have been amazed and God kept giving him even more instructions:  “If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first sign, they may believe the second.  If they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground.  The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground.”

All of this was astounding and amazing and it  should have convinced Moses that everything was okay; but Moses seemed to have a little confidence problem.  He brought up the fact that he had never been an eloquent speaker.  He mentioned that his speech was slow and his tongue did not always cooperate. 

God didn’t blink.  As a matter of fact, he got more aggressive with his plans for Moses. 

Moses obviously needed a few reminders!

I can imagine God’s voice becoming a whole lot louder with each statement as He addressed Moses with the obvious: 
“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?”

“Now go, I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”

Well, you would think Moses’ confidence would have greatly improved by now.  Nope!  He gets even more shy and timid and says the unthinkable back to God:  “Please send someone else.”

Oh my, all the angels in heaven must have been terrified in that moment!  God had already given angry answers.  How could Moses say such a thing?  But he did say it; and the LORD’s anger burned against him! 

Folks, you can mark this down.  God is going to do what God is going to do!  If he doesn’t use you or me or Moses, He will command the rocks to do His will.  The will of God is destined to come about.  No exceptions, one way or the other!  Why are we so stubborn to that fact?  Taking this into consideration, I would say God showed a lot of patience with Moses.

“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, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him.  But take this staff in your hand so you can perform the signs with it.”

One cannot help but remember how back in Egypt Moses had played second to his brother Ramses.  He had not wanted the responsibility of being in charge.  Now those same old tendencies were creeping back up, things he thought he had changed when he moved on to Midian.  God saw the problem and he brought Aaron to help, but he clearly told Moses to pick up the staff and keep it.  

It was Moses that God was going to use, however it took to get him there. 

They were no longer subject to Egypt, and God was calling the shots in this game.  God was about to teach Moses something he should have learned years ago; how to stand up to a Pharaoh. 

We all have Pharaohs; those people that are oppressing us against our will and holding us in bondage.  It takes God entering our lives, bringing His power to us, to give us the strength to stand up and face these people who have no rights over us.  

It never hurts when your brother knows your needs, agrees with you and goes along for moral support.  In the end you both will realize that it was the power of God that saved the day, and nothing that any man could do.  

If God is for you; who can stand against you?  Moses was about to discover the truth of this statement.  He picked up the staff and headed down the road.