The Making of Moses

Prayer for the Word to Be Effective

We pray, Father, that all of the Scriptures that You have bestowed on us, Your people, would be central to us as shepherds, and to our congregations, And we ask that the way You have given them to us would be manifest now in grace and in power. Help us, O Lord, to see the true nature of things as they are; to see the condition of man apart from You as well as when united to you. Teach us your Wisdom, instruct us in Your ways, show yourself as our Father, so that we may know You, worship you, and become more like you.

To you, O God only wise, we pray,

Amen.

The Making of Moses

God is the source of all wisdom, which means that if you disconnect yourself from the source of all wisdom, you will have nothing left except folly. And the only way out of folly, the only way out of that darkness, is to first admit that you are in darkness. We have to first repent of thinking ourselves wise, and turn to the only one who truly is wise, the Lord Jesus. And once you've done that, you will begin to understand what Paul was talking about in 1 Corinthians, that the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

Another way to put this is that the way God does things will not make sense to you unless He, in His grace, turns on the lights. The story of Moses teaches us this point clearly. Moses was born a Hebrew, but raised in the household of Pharaoh. Stephen tells us in Acts 7, that Moses was taught all the wisdom of Egypt, and that he was mighty in words and in deeds. According to the Jewish historian Josephus, Moses was a successful military general and leader of men. But at 40 years old, Moses made a decision. He decided that it was better to suffer with God's people than enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin in Pharaoh's palace. So Moses rose up and killed an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew slave.

From a worldly perspective, this was the perfect time and Moses was the perfect man to deliver Israel. He was a mighty general, a natural leader, he was in the prime of life at 40 years old, and he was perfectly positioned to lead a coup against Pharaoh and deliver Israel. But instead of receiving him as their deliverer, Israel rejected him, and Pharaoh sought to kill him, and Moses was forced to flee Egypt and end up in the land of Midian. So why didn't it work? It didn't work because Moses was a perfect *Egyptian* deliverer, but he wasn't ready to be the deliverer God wanted him to be. Moses was trained in all the wisdom of Egypt, so he acted like an Egyptian. Moses had earthly wisdom, earthly strength, but he did not yet know what he needed to know in order to shepherd God's people; God uses the weak, to shame the strong.

So Moses went into exile, and he spent 40 years shepherding the flocks of his father-in-law, Jethro. It was there, in the wilderness, that Moses learned how to be a *shepherd*. It is only after Moses learned this, when Moses was 80 years old and nearing death, that God appeared to Moses in the burning bush and said, "Now." Now you shall go deliver Israel. Now that you are old and gray, now that all your earthly strength is gone, now that you have forgotten all the wisdom of the Egyptians, now you are ready to shepherd my people. See, the LORD didn't want Moses to deliver Israel with the sword, He wanted Moses to deliver Israel with the shepherd's staff.

So here's the application we need to draw as under-shepherds of Jesus Christ. Don't trust yourself. Don't trust your own wisdom. Don't trust your own strength. Don't trust your own mind, don't trust your emotions, because the way of a fool seems right in his own eyes. If you follow your heart like Disney tells you to do, you will think you are serving God when in reality you are wandering around in the darkness bumping into stuff. Instead, cry out to God, the only one who actually knows what's going on, and ask Him to turn on the lights. Repent of your wisdom. Repent of trusting yourself. And instead, ask Him.

Prayer of Application

Father in Heaven, we are foolish and weak. We trust our own wisdom, we listen to our own minds and hearts. Forgive us for trusting our own wisdom, our own thoughts, and our own emotions. Teach us to be suspicious of anything that comes from us and to fully trust everything that comes from You. Please turn on the lights, LORD, give us Your light so that we may walk in the light and understand You and the story You're writing.

Lord God, we ask that you would grant to us, by faith, to conquer the world. Be pleased to use losers like us to win, so that all may see it and give glory to You. God, drown Fairbanks in the light of Your Gospel, unleash the waters of your grace and pour out your Spirit. Reform your church, revive her, deliver her. Lord, begin with us. Teach us to walk in your wisdom that is foolishness to the world. Grant us the courage to be willing to be rejected for Your sake, teach us to glory in our infirmities, because you delight to use the weak to shame the strong.