4.2 Moses: The Path Of Growth
4-2-1 Events In The Life Of Moses
A read through the records will indicate that Moses was somewhat temperamental
in his faith. For the first forty years of his life, he scarcely let his
light show. Yet all the time his conscience was active, enabling him to
build up towards heights of spiritual achievement few of us can achieve.
At the age of 40, he had a flash of spiritual devotion; he rejected the
opportunity for greatness in Egypt, possibly the opportunity to become
king of Egypt (as Christ had the opportunity to become king of the world
in his wilderness temptations). Yet after that, he went into 40 years
of decline. In the eyes of men, he was a finished man. He had gone away
from God's people, he was living in a family of idolaters, and had married
one of them. His marriage went wrong, he divorced his wife, and picked
up some other woman. He didn't circumcise his children, and thus he despised
his covenant relationship with God. Eighty years is a long time. They
were eighty years of at best mediocre commitment to the God of Israel,
with only the occasional flash of spiritual brilliance. Yet this man Moses
went on to become one of the greatest spiritual men there has ever been,
a man who came closer to God than all others except the Lord Jesus. "
There arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord
knew face to face" (Dt. 34:10). The Lord Jesus was " like unto"
Moses (Dt. 18:18)- a high enough commendation for Moses. The following
notes show that Moses achieved this through an appreciation of God manifestation
in himself and in Israel.
Because of his weakness, we are able to relate to Moses, and see him
as our example. It is possible that Moses was not circumcised (Ex. 6:12,30);
which would make him even closer to us. The Lord Jesus encouraged us to
see ourselves as Moses: " If thou wouldest believe (in Christ), thou
shouldest see the glory of God" (Jn. 11:40) is without doubt an allusion
to Moses' experience of seeing God's glory- an experience which in Jewish
eyes marked Moses out as the greatest man who had ever lived. The
veneration in which Moses was and is held in the Jewish world is hard
for Gentiles to enter into. A glance through rabbinical commentaries on
the Pentateuch will illustrate this well. And here was the Lord Jesus
saying that through faith in him, we can share the experience of Moses,
we can rise to the spiritual heights of the man who spoke to God face
to face as a man speaks to his friend.
Main events in the life of Moses
EVENT |
REFERENCE |
SPIRITUALITY |
| (Score out of 10) |
| 1. 40 years in
Egypt, hiding the fact he was an Israelite, not preaching
the Gospel to anyone, appearing as an Egyptian. He learnt
all the philosophy of Egypt, and was a prominent public speaker,
with the possibility of becoming the next Pharaoh. According
to non-Biblical tradition, he was the leader of the Egyptian
army. |
Ex. 2:19;
Acts 7:22 |
2
(over say 25 years, from the age of 15 - 40) |
| 2. Crisis at age
40. He refused the riches of Egypt , and consciously chose
to suffer affliction with the Israelites.He really wanted
to save Israel and free them from their enemies, and make
them live at peace among themselves. |
Heb. 11:24Heb.
11:26Acts 7:23-28 |
8 |
| 3. However, he
didn't want Egypt to know that he was doing this; he thought
he could do it secretly. Once he realised that people knew
what he was trying to do, he was afraid. His fearfulness has
similarities with that of spiritually weak Jacob, who fled
from the face of Laban into the unknown, as Moses fled from
the face of Pharaoh. Thus God encouraged him after forty years
that he need no longer fear: " Return into Egypt: for
all the men are dead which sought thy life" . |
Ex. 2:14Ex. 2:15
cp. Gen.31:22; 35:7Ex. 4:19 |
2 |
| 4. But then he
rallied his faith and left Egypt, without (at the point of
leaving) fearing the anger of Pharaoh. He so strongly believed,
it was as if he physically saw God- as he asked. |
Heb. 11:27 |
8 |
| 5. Moses flees
to Midian, where he helps some unknown shepherd women from
being abused by some rough men; he did this without at first
receiving any reward, and without the women wanting him to
go with them; although they thought he was an Egyptian, showing
that he still concealed his relationship with God. |
Ex. 2:17Ex.2:19 |
6 |
| 5a. Moses "
supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by
his hand would deliver them" ; but God told Moses
at the bush: " I will stretch out my hand, and
smite Egypt...." . Moses had yet to learn the meaning
of God manifestation through men. |
Acts 7:25 cp. Ex.
3:20 |
| 6. Moses "
was content to dwell" with the father of the women. The
Hebrew for " content" comes from a root which means
weakness of mind; the implication is that he easily yielded
to this man. |
Ex.2: 21 |
2 |
| 7. " And
he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter" . She was not
one of the covenant people; she was the daughter of a pagan
priest (Ex. 18:11 implies Jethro thought Yahweh was only
one of many gods); she did not circumcise their children.
Should Moses have married her? The fact Moses did not bother
circumcising his son shows he was not really serious about
his relationship with God; God tried to kill him because
of this. God tried to kill Moses because of this; this shows
how serious this was in God's eyes. Zipporah was a Midianite,
a descendant of Abraham through Keturah (Gen. 25:1-6). Circumcision
was a sign of the covenant through Isaac, hence the resentment
and bitterness of Zipporah over the circumcision issue;
and it seems Moses capitulated to her on this. Their marriage
is sure proof that fundamental spiritual differences at
the start can only lead to anger and break up later on.
The
way the Lord "tried to kill" Moses (Ex. 4:24)
indicates how God's intentions can be changed by human actions;
and it also reflects the limitation of power experienced
by the Angel, who presumably was the one who 'tried' to
do this but was thwarted by a woman. However in our context
of Moses' weakness we need to reflect how this incident
echoes how Pharaoh sought to kill Moses in Ex. 2:15. Even
through his weakness, Moses was being taught that his personal
salvation and continuation in life was by grace. Moses was
saved on this occasion by a Gentile woman, Zipporah- just
as he had been saved as a baby by another Gentile woman-
as well as by the quick-wittedness of his own mother and
sister. As Zipporah mediated with the Angel and saved Moses
by touching his son with blood, so Moses would save Israel
through his mediation with God and through the Passover
ritual (Ex. 12:13,22,23), as well as later throwing blood
upon the people (Ex. 24:8). What are we to make of all these
echoes and connections of thought? Perhaps that Moses was
indeed weak at this time, was saved by grace alone, and
yet on that basis he was called to in his turn also save
the weak through appealing to God's grace. |
Ex. 2:21; 3:1;
4:25 |
3 |
| 8. However, Moses'
children had names which showed some faith, and a recognition
he was a stranger in the land where he was living; he lived
as a stranger in Midian. Few people live in a country for
40 years without feeling they belong to it. But his mind was
in the past, in how God had been good to his father, and how
God had saved him from Pharaoh's death threat. |
Ex. 18:3,4; Acts
7:29 |
4 |
| 9. Moses' marriage
was weak. 40 years later, Zipporah's frustration boiled over:
" Surely a bloody husband art thou to me...then she said
(again), A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision"
. As a descendant of Ishmael she was angry at Isaac's choice
and circumcision. This is probably the closest the Bible gets
to recording the real life use of taboo language. " Because
of the circumcision" suggests she despised Moses' religion.
Moses divorced her. It also seems from Ex. 4:23,25 that
God tried to kill Moses’ son because Moses was not fully believing
that God would kill Pharaoh’s firstborn. |
Ex. 4:25,26
(see N.I.V.); 18:2 |
2 |
10. He "
took" (not married) another woman, an Ethiopian- probably
a slave woman, or possibly a cheap woman. Moses' brother
and sister were ashamed that their brother was involved with
a woman like this. Whoever she was, Moses was under the one
man: one woman standard of the garden of Eden. And further,
he "put away" this woman- Ex. 18:2 LXX is the same
"put away" as in 1 Cor. 7:11-13. Moses allowed divorce
for the hardness of Israel's hearts (Mt. 19:8) and yet he
himself appears to have divorced her- for the hardness of
his heart?
|
Num. 12:1 AVmg. |
2 |
| 11. God appeared
to Moses in the flame of fire in the bush, but Moses had to
be told to take off his shoes as a sign of respect- even though
taking off shoes was understood as a token of respect and
recognition of sin (see 2 Sam. 15:30). " Draw not nigh
hither...for the place whereon thou standest is holy"
sounds as if Moses did not appreciate the holiness of God.
It even seems that Moses had forgotten the significance of
God's Name, even though it had been revealed to Abraham (Ex.
3:13). Moses' fear to look upon God suggests a bad conscience.
The double repetition " Moses, Moses" may be some
kind of rebuke. " I have" seen the affliction
of Israel could suggest that Moses felt God was not sensitive
to the pain of His children; he had been living for 40 years
feeling forgotten by God.Moses " wondered" at what
he saw and heard at the burning bush- a Greek word which is
often used in a negative sense concerning people lacking faith
and insight when they should have had it. |
Ex. 3:5Ex. 3:6
cp. Gen. 3:8; Is. 6:5Ex. 3:7Acts 7:31 cp. Mt. 15:31;
Mk. 6:51; Lk. 8:25; 24:41; Acts 13:41 |
2 |
| 12. " I will
send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people...And
Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go?....And God
said...they shall hearken to thy voice...And Moses answered...They
will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice (he didn't
seem to believe God's promise to inspire him)...I am not eloquent,
neither heretofore (i.e. in the past)...I am slow of speech,
and of a slow tongue (although this was untrue- earlier Moses
had been an eloquent speaker in Egypt; actually he was
just the right man to do what God wanted)...and the anger
of the Lord was kindled against Moses" . Remember that
God is very slow to this kind of anger (Ex. 34:6).
Forty years earlier, Moses had understood, presumably from
a direct revelation from God, that God would deliver Israel
through him. But he had lost faith in that promise, and was
arguing back against God. This was the outcome of many years
of spiritual slipping. " Send...by the hand of him whom
thou wilt send" (alluding to God's Name, I will
be) can be seen as indifference; perhaps Moses was saying
'As you do what you will, your name is I will be, then if
you send by me, send by men, I can't resist'. |
Ex. 3:10,11,18;
4:1,10,13,14; Acts 7:22, 25 |
1 |
| 12. Moses does
actually leave Midian and begins to ask Pharaoh to let Israel
go
12a. He seems to make the excuse to
Jethro that he is homesick for his family who are still
in Egypt. And yet straight after this, the Lord confirms
him in his desire to return. Moses
asks Jethro for permission to return to Egypt to see whether
his Hebrew brethren are "still alive" (Ex. 4:18)-
yet God had just told Moses that there were indeed Hebrews
still alive there who he will lead out of Egypt. Of course
Moses may have been referring to his literal family;
but it's possible that his words to Jethro imply a lack
of faith in God's word. At the very least, he was shy to
share God's word to him with Jethro.In this context it may
be significant that the words God tells Moses to say to
Pharaoh at this time in Ex. 4:23 are in fact never said
by Moses throughout the dialogue with Pharaoh recorded in
Ex. 11 and 12. |
Ex. 4:29 - 5:5Ex.
4:18,19 |
|
12b.
God had explained to Moses what He wished him to tell Pharaoh:
"Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, hath met with us: and
now let us go, we pray thee, three days journey into the wilderness,
that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God" (Ex. 3:18).
But Moses actualy doesn't say those exact words. Instead he
says: "Thus saith Yahweh, the God of Israel, Let my people
go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness...The
God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee,
three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice unto
Yahweh our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with
the sword" (Ex. 5:1,3). This seems perilously similar
to the way in which Eve added to Yahweh's words when telling
the serpent that actually, God had told Adam not to even
touch the fruit. Moses appears to be painting Yahweh
as somewhat draconian and threatening of him personally as
well as Israel- as if to say 'Well sir, please do us this
favour, or else our God is gonna get mad with us'. Perhaps
this was actually how Moses misperceived Yahweh; or perhaps
he added to Yahweh's words in order to make his appeal sound
more plausible.
|
|
2 |
| 13. Moses is easily
discouraged by the fact that Israel reject him: " Moses
returned unto Yahweh, and said, Lord...why is it that thou
hast sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh...thou hast not
delivered thy people at all" . The Yahweh / Lord difference
may suggest that he got over familiar with the Angel, forgetting
the degree to which that Angel carried God's Name. |
Ex. 5:22,23 |
2 |
| 14. God replied
by telling him to declare the covenant Name to Israel, and
remind them that therefore God would surely save them. But
they again failed to respond. " And Moses spake before
the Lord, saying, Behold, the children of Israel have not
hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am
of uncircumcised lips?" . Yet God had promised Moses
earlier that Israel would hear him (3:18). God solemnly
told him to go and speak to Pharaoh, because God had told
him to do so. But Moses has the cheek to say exactly the same
words to God a second time. In a chapter which speaks much
of Moses' reluctance, the record encourages us: " These
are that Aaron and Moses...these are they which spake to Pharaoh...these
are that Moses and Aaron" (Ex. 6:26,27). |
Ex. 6:12,30 |
2 |
| 15. Moses and
Aaron agreed to continue speaking to Pharaoh and Israel; they
" did as the Lord commanded them, so did they" .
This is saying the same thing twice- stressing their obedience. |
Ex. 7:6 |
6 |
| 16. The record
of the miracles is framed to show God commanding Moses to
do certain things to bring and end the plagues, and him obedient
to this. But Ex. 8:9 RV contains a strange sentence: “Have
thou this glory over me: when shall I intreat for thee...to
destroy the frogs?”. It could be that, in the words of Bro.
Mark Vincent, “Moses with an excessive and sarcastic politeness,
is asking, ‘And (pray tell me!) when exactly would you like
the frogs to be gone?’, as though Pharaoh might miss them
and fondly wish them to stay around for a couple more days”.
This to me doesn’t score very highly in spiritual terms. |
Ex. 7,8,9 |
73 |
| 17. " By
faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest
he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them (Israel).
By faith they (Israel) passed through the Red Sea"
. Yet at this time Israel were weak in faith, they passed
through the Red Sea cuddling the idols of Egypt, from the
day God knew them they were rebellious against Him; so runs
the refrain of the prophets. It seems that due to Moses' faith
Israel were saved by the Passover lamb, through his faith
they passed through the Red Sea; his faith was so great, his
desire for their salvation so strong, that God counted it
to the rest of Israel. Thus " he (Moses, in the context)
brought them (Israel) out" of Egypt (Acts 7:36,38). This
points forward to Christ's redemption of us, and also indicates
how quickly Moses' faith rallied. And yet just prior to crossing
the Sea, God rebuked Moses: " Wherefore criest thou unto
me?" - even though Moses calmly exhorted the people to
have faith (Ex. 14:15 cp. 13). Yet by faith he brought them
through the Red Sea. Therefore as with his first exit from
Egypt (he feared the wrath of the King, and then he didn't),
his faith wavered, but came down on the right side. |
Heb. 11:28,29 |
8 |
| 18. Moses' song
of triumph after the Red Sea deliverance shows a fine spirituality.
However, note his possible misunderstanding in Ex. 15:13,17-
that Siani was to be “the place” where God would dwell with
Israel. |
Ex. 15 |
8 |
| 19. Israel's murmurings
about the lack of food did not discourage Moses; " the
Lord heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him:
for what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against
the Lord" . Here we see the beginnings of some real humility
in Moses, due to his appreciation of God manifestation in
him. |
Ex. 16:8 |
8 |
| 20. Moses' victory
against Amalek due to his faith, in which he typified our
Lord's crucifixion. |
Ex. 17:8-16 |
8 |
| 21. Moses becomes
reconciled to his ex-wife Zipporah whom he had divorced, and
has the humility to accept the advice of his ex-father in
law Jethro. This all indicates an increasing humility. 21a.
Moses accepts Jethro's advice on the basis that he will "
surely wear away" (Ex. 18:18); even though his natural
strength never abated (Dt. 34:7), and God surely would not
have asked him to do the impossible. Jethro at this time seems
to have seen Yahweh as only one of many gods; he was a pagan
priest. He prophesied that if Moses followed his advice, "
all this people shall go to their place in peace" - which
they didn't. Num. 10:31 suggests Moses saw Jethro's knowledge
of the desert as better than the Angelic " eyes"
of Yahweh (2 Chron. 16:9; Prov. 15:3) who were going ahead
of the camp to find a resting place (Num. 10:33 cp. Ex. 33:14
cp. Is. 63:9). It seems Moses recognized his error in this
on the last day of his life, when he admits Yahweh, not Jethro's
wisdom, had led them (Dt. 1:33). Likewise Paul in his final
communication comments on the way that Mark with whom he had
once quarelled was profitable to him (2 Tim. 4:11). |
Ex. 18:2-27Ex.
18:1,18,23 |
8 |
| 22. Moses is called
up into Sinai and speaks with God. While there, Israel turn
away from God, and God wants to make Moses' family His people
and reject Israel. But Moses argues with God against this,
again showing his humility and his appreciation of God manifestation
in Israel, and his earnest desire that God would save Israel.
" He said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his
chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath"
. This was only months after his weak faith and reluctance
to lead Israel out of Egypt. He says that he will " go
up (and) make an atonement" (Ex. 32:30). And yet he knew
the principle that atonement was impossible without shedding
blood. Yet he goes further than that: " Blot me, I pray
thee (he really wanted to do this) out of thy book"
(Ex. 32:32)- i.e. the book of salvation (Ez. 13:9; Dan. 12:2;
Lk. 10:20; Rev. 20:12). Moses is willing to give his physical
life and also his eternal salvation so that Israel can enter
the land. Surely he reached matchless heights of selflessness.Note
how God’s anger “waxed hot” and so did that of Moses. But
Moses asks God not to wax hot in anger (Ex. 32:10,11,19).
What are we to make of this? Surely, positively, Moses was
totally in tune with the feelings of God. And yet he does
himself what he asks God not to do. What score would we give
Moses for this? |
Ex.32:10-14, 30-32;
Ps. 105:23 |
10 |
| 23. God spoke
to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. God
knew Moses by name (Ex. 33:12,17) and so He shews Moses His
Name (Ex. 33:17,19)- there developed a mutuality between
the two. Yet God
told Moses that because Israel were stiffnecked, therefore
He could not go up with them (Ex. 33:5). Moses agrees the
people are stiffnecked, but he knows God well enough to ask
Him to still go up in the midst of them (Ex. 34:9). And God
did! He acted according to how broad was Moses’ conception
of God’s grace. If Abraham’s conception of grace had been
even broader, perhaps Sodom would’ve been saved… Moses’ achievement
is all the more remarkable because he himself struggled with
grace. God assures Moses that he has found grace in His eyes
[i.e. before the Angel with whom Moses met?]. And yet Moses
says: “If I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy
way that I may know thee, to the end that I may find grace
in thy sight” (Ex. 33:12,13 RV). Despite having been told
that he had found grace, Moses still wanted confirmation…
as if the voice of God wasn’t enough! And maybe there is even
the implication that he mistakenly thought that he needed
more knowledge of God before he could find that grace…
as if it depended upon his own mental faculties. And yet God
patiently assures Moses yet again: Thou hast found
grace in my sight”, and goes on to proclaim His Name to Moses.
“I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious” (Ex.
33:19) was surely said specifically to Moses, given the context
of Moses’ doubts about his receipt of God’s grace. The coming
down of Yahweh to pronounce His Name was, in the context,
to show how far God would go to assure Moses that yes, His
grace towards Moses was real. We too struggle with grace,
and are given, also by grace, this undeserved assurance upon
assurance. |
Ex. 33:11 |
9 |
| 24. Moses has
the spiritual ambition to ask to see the face of God Himself.
He is given the greatest God manifestation any man has seen
except the Lord Jesus. It's a delightful essay in the possibilities
of spiritual growth that the man who once forgot God's Name
later came to so finely appreciate it that he was given the
finest revelation of it. Despite this, Moses still has the
humility to question whether in fact he has found grace (overlooking
of his sins) in God's eyes. However, there is maybe a connection
between Moses hiding in the " cleft of the rock"
(Ex. 33:22) and Elijah hiding in a similar place to witness
a theophany whose aim was to humble him. Is. 2:10-12
makes a similar connection. |
Ex. 33:13-23; 34:9 |
9 |
| 25. Ex. 39 and
40 each contain a marked repetition of the fact that the whole
Tabernacle was built and arranged by Moses exactly as God
commanded him. It was in this sense that Moses was faithful
in all his house- as the writer to the Hebrews twice stresses |
Ex. 39:1,5,7,21,26,29,31,32,42;
40:16,19,21,23,25,27,29,32; Heb.3:2,5 |
8 |
| 26. Num. 10
and 11 seem to portray Moses in weakness. He pleads with
his brother in law not to leave them, because without
him they would not know where to camp in the wilderness;
" thou mayest be to us instead of eyes" . Yet
the Angels are God's eyes, they were seeking out resting
places for Israel in the wilderness; the record reminds
us of this straight afterwards (Num. 10:33). Jethro elsewhere
suggested that Moses needed more help in leading the people
because otherwise fading thou wilt fade away’ (Ex. 18:18
A.V.mg.); at the end of his days, the record seems to highlight
the untruth of this by commenting that his natural strength
was not faded (Dt. 34:7). So Jethro’s advice wasn’t always
spiritual. Moses is depressed by Israel complaining at how
boring the manna was. He doubts God's earlier promises to
him: " Moses said unto the Lord, Wherefore hast thou
afflicted thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favour
in thy sight (God said he had, in Ex.33:17)...have I conceived
all this people? have I begotten them, that thou shouldest
say unto them, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing father
beareth the sucking child unto the land which thou swearest
unto their fathers (not " our" - notice
the uncharacteristic separation between Moses and Israel).
Whence should I give flesh unto all this people...if
thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand,
if I have found favour in the sight (as God had
earlier promised him that he had)" . God was the father
and conceiver of Israel, the one who would carry them to
the land (Ex. 19:4; 33:15; Dt. 32:11,12; Hos. 11:1); it
is as if Moses is saying: They're your children, you look
after them, don't dump them on me. Although compare this
with his earlier love for them, willing to sacrifice himself
for them. God then says that He will provide more food for
Israel. But Moses almost mocks God: " Shall the flocks
and herds be slain for them, to suffice them?" . And
the Angel angrily replied: " Is the Lord's hand waxed
short? thou shalt see whether my word shall come to pass
unto thee or not" . If he had faith, Moses surely would
have realised that if God could provide manna, he could
provide any food. Moses seems to have suffered from fits
of depression and also high spirituality.
Joshua
urged Moses to “forbid” or [Heb.] ‘imprison’
Eldad and Medad for prophesying (Num. 11:28). He fell into
the mistake so many have done; shut up or silence a genuine
man of God, for fear that the institution, the existing
administration, would be undermined. Perhaps they were prophesying
of Moses’ death? Whatever, Moses’ refusal to
shut them up seems to indicate an openness to God’s
Spirit and way of working, even if it threatened to undermine
his authority. He shows such a genuine spirit when he replies
that he wished that all God’s people were the spiritual
leaders. |
Num. 10: 29-32;
11:11-15, 21-23
Num. 11:28 |
|
| 27. Miriam and
Aaron try to humiliate Moses because of the Ethiopian woman
he had palled up with in earlier days. But his response was
humility itself; so much so that the record comments: "
The man Moses was very meek (some suggest the Hebrew implies
'made very meek', as a process), above all the men which were
upon the face of the earth" . What a compliment! The
most humble man that was then alive; and humility is of great
value to God, according to the Proverbs and 1 Pet. 3:4. That
the leader of 3 million people for forty years could be the
meekest man is a sure wonder. Perhaps this comment is made
at this point because Moses weakness in the previous chapter
had perhaps further developed his humility. He truly cries
unto God to heal Miriam of the punishment she was given for
criticising him. |
Num. 12:1, 13 |
9 |
| 28. Israel want
to return to Egypt. God again wants to destroy them and make
Moses' family His people. But Moses successfully asks God
to forgive Israel for this rather than take the personal honour
God offered him. |
Num. 14:11-20 |
9 |
| 29. God openly
declares His acceptance of Moses to all Israel. |
Num. 16 |
9 |
| 30. God again
wants to destroy Israel and make of Moses' family a new people.
Again, for the third time, Moses knows God well enough, he
has enough faith, enough humility and enough true love for
Israel to ask God- successfully- to relent from this. That
God wanted to do this three times shows His great love for
Moses. |
Num. 16:44-50 |
9 |
| 31. God again
openly declares His acceptance of Moses in front of all Israel
in the incident of the rods. |
Num. 17 |
9 |
| 32. Moses' faith
slips for a moment; his spirit is provoked by Israel, so that
he speaks unadvisedly with his lips and is therefore barred
from entering the land (although maybe such an apparently
temporary slip was the reflection of deeper problems?). Yet
it does seem uncharacteristic, a tragic slip down the graph
of ever rising spirituality. There must have almost been tears
in Heaven. Being easily provoked was one of Moses' characteristics;
consider how he turned himself and stormed out from
Pharaoh (Ex. 10:6; 11:8); how his anger waxed hot when he
returned from the mount, how he went out from Pharaoh in great
anger, how he first of all feared the wrath of Pharaoh and
then stopped fearing it; how Moses was " very wroth"
at Israel's suggestion that he was appropriating the sacrifices
for himself; how he was " angry" with Eleazer (Ex.32:19;
11:8; Num. 16:15; Lev. 10:16,17). This temperament explains
his swings of faith. Was the Lord Jesus likewise afflicted?Note
carefully the process of failure here. Moses and Aaron were
told to both speak to the rock, and this would result
in Moses personally bringing forth water: “Gather thou [singular]
the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak
ye [plural- both of them] unto the rock before their eyes;
and it shall give forth his water, and thou [Moses personally]
shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt
give the congregation and their beasts drink” (Num. 20:8).
But Moses seems to have dismissed Aaron’s intended involvement
and assumed that he alone could bring the water out with his
rod. Yet Aaron was also condemned for this incident- presumably
because he didn’t speak to the rock but just let Moses smite
the rock with his silence meaning consent. |
Num. 20:12; Ps.
106:32,33 |
1 |
| 33. The people
again complain, and God punishes them with serpents; Moses'
prayer for them is accepted. These prayers for others' salvation
must have required intense faith and acceptability to be heard. |
Num. 21:7 |
8 |
| 34. Moses did
not get bitter at his rejection, nor disinterested in Israel's
future because he would not be with them in the land. He asked
God to provide a replacement for him. |
Num. 27:16,17 |
8 |
| 34a.
Moses seems to express his own weakness in his final speeches
to Israel in Deuteronomy. He recalls how even towards the
end of the wilderness journey, God told him to contend with
Sihon in battle (Dt. 2:24); and yet Moses admits: "I
sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth unto Sihon
king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying, Let me pass through
thy land: I will go along by the highway, I will turn neither
unto the right hand nor to the left. Thou shalt sell me food
for money, that I may eat; and give me water for money, that
I may drink: only let me pass through on my feet" (Dt.
2:26-28). And yet God by grace to Moses hardened Sihon's heart
so that there was a battle in which, again by grace, he gave
Israel victory. |
Dt.
2:24-28 |
2 |
| 35. The love of
Moses for Israel as reflected in his final address to them
in Deuteronomy, his knowledge of them, his sensitivity to
their weakness, his constant desire for them to be spiritually
strong and to enter the land; God's respect of him at the
end of his life, shown in his burial and in subsequent comments
about him. Although Moses is at a spiritual peak in Deuteronomy,
he does repeatedly comment- almost under his breath as it
were- that he was not going to enter the land “for your
sakes”, and that he was thereby bearing the anger of
God against Israel (e.g. Dt. 4:21 etc.). Whilst in a sense
this was true, God’s anger was against Moses personally
regarding the sin of striking the rock. Given that “that
rock was Christ”, his inappropriate striking of it was
some kind of symbolic crucifixion of Christ. He was in the
wrong- the record of the event makes that clear. And yet at
the end of his life, Moses is blaming Israel for his sin and
his exclusion from the land. Perhaps he was indicating his
understanding of how his prayer to not enter the land for
their sakes was being answered. On the other hand, one could
argue that even on the last day of his life, Moses never came
to terms with that sin, sought to justify himself in the eyes
of Israel, to shift the blame… and yet even then, God’s
grace was big enough to accept him. Quite how to score Moses
on this point will always be debatable, but the exercise certainly
provokes a lot of introspection about our own attitudes to
public confession of sin, both in ourselves and in others,
and its relationship to God’s ultimate acceptance of
a person. |
Deuteronomy |
10 |
|
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