The Life of Moses

Last week's sermon was on the life of Moses. The theme was "Right Thing, Wrong Way - The Fallibility of the Faithful" based on Exodus 2:11-25. Moses' life was neatly divided into three phases each lasting 40 years. I once heard that the three phases of his life were:
Phase I   - first 40 years Moses lived believing that he could do anything by his own strength
Phase II  - next 40 years Moses didn't think he could do anything; he lived life aimlessly
Phase III - last 40 years Moses learned that he could do impossible things by God's strength

Moses was living as an Egyptian prince in the first 40 years of his life. He was taught and trained by the Egyptians as a nobleman having access to the finest of modern culture. We don't know how he came to know that he was a Hebrew (Jew). When he tried to help a Hebrew slave being beaten by an Egyptian he took the matter in his own hand and killed the Egyptian (Exodus 2:11-12). But the Hebrews rejected him when he tried to help them (verses 13-14) and reported him to the Pharaoh. Moses feared for his life and escaped to Midian in the dessert region where he spent the next 40 years living a quiet and nomadic life. He married a shepherd girl and had a son who he named Gershom, which meant “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land.” (verse 22).

Moses had a sense of right and wrong. He tried to live according to human principles. He did what seemed right at the time, even if it meant killing someone. It would take him 40 years to learn that there was a God, a personal God for that matter, and that God had a purpose for him. There is something to be said that we all need to learn to wait on God. It may take a long time but when God finally reveals His plan to us we will know it. In the mean time we may live a mundane life but we keep our eyes open. For one day we will see God. In Moses life he met God in a burning bush: "Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up." (Exodus 3:2). What a perfect metaphor for someone whose life is consumed by God's passion, yet knows that his life will never burn up by that passion. We know that Moses was called to go back to Egypt to take his people out of slavery. It would take many miracles but with God's strength Moses did it. He set his people free!

Moses would eventually spend his last 40 years wandering in the dessert trying to reach the promise land. It took 40 years because the Isrealites were disobedient. An entire generation of those who left Egypt would perish in the dessert without entering the promise land! Disobedience is a bad thing!!! When Moses and the young generation of Israelites finally reached the promise land he could only look at it from a distance (on Mount Nebo - see my previous blog "Learning to finish well"). God did not let him in because of one incident when he disobeyed God (Numbers 20:1-13). Did I not say "Disobedience is a bad thing!"? He let anger take control over him. (Anger is not our friend! We tend to take matter into our own hands instead of trusting God doing the right thing.) God told Moses: “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”. So Moses died without entering into God's promise land. It doesn't mean that he never entered into eternity with God. In fact there are lots of evidence that he is with Jesus (see Matthew 17:3).

I used to be bothered by this story. How could God reject Moses based on just one incidence of bad behaviour? The pastor explained this well:
"God will always keep his promise to us AS A WHOLE, but not necessarily to each one of us as individuals, not in this life. Your choice: You can live a life as an individual and feel ripped off, or you can live as part of the full body of Christ, the people of God, and be filled with gratitude each day for the part we play." (From the sermon series: Chosen One - Part 2 Right Thing, Wrong Way)