“And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD.”
~ Exodus 6:8
Hi James and Ellen,
How do you feel when you are convinced that no one really wants to listen to you? How do you feel when you sense that no one really cares whether or not that you are alive? How do you feel when you just cannot seem to say exactly what you really want to say? If you are convinced that no one really wants to listen to you, if you are sure that no one really cares whether or not that you are alive and if you just cannot seem to say exactly what you really want to say, you are pulling a Moses. Exodus 6 is about the Israelite people groups guys and gals refusing to listen to what Moses had to say. Moses has a very unique life history as an Israelite people group guy. When Moses’ ma decided after Moses was born that she did not want to kill her kid – which she was required to do per a Pharaoh’s edict, Moses’ ma built and put Moses in a tiny bulrush ark that she hoped would be found by the Pharaoh’s daughter. Moses for forty years got to enjoy the amenities and opulence of living in an Egyptian palace. When Moses was forty years old, Moses saw an Israelite people group guy being badly maltreated by an Egyptian guy. Moses was so angry with what the Egyptian guy was dong that he killed the guy. Because having been seen killing the Egyptian guy, Moses fled to the Horeb Desert to escape from being killed himself. Moses for the next forty years lived in the barrenness and inhospitableness of a hot, arid desert with Midianite people group guys and gals. After Moses lived for forty years in the Horeb Desert, God – using a burning bush, met with Moses to tell Moses that he was to lead his people group of guys and gals back to the land of Canaan. When Moses told God that he knew that he was not capable of doing what He was asking him to do because . . ., God insisted that Moses do what He was telling him to do and Moses acquiesced into doing what God was telling him to do.
The Israelite people group guys and gals were living in Goshen, Egypt. The Israelite people group guys and gals had become discouraged because of having to live constantly under cruel, brutal Egyptian oppressors. Verse 8 is what God told Moses to tell the Israelite people group guys and gals, “And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD.” When Moses passed on to the Israelite people group guys and gals the message that he had been told by God to tell them, the Israelite people group guys and gals refused to listen to what he had to say and acted like they did not care that he was alive. This left Moses feeling like he was speaking with ‘faltering lips’. After Moses had the Israelite people group guys and gals snub what God had told him to tell them – which was what He was going to do for them, God told Moses to tell the Pharaoh to let the Israelite people group guys and gals return to the land of Canaan. Because of how the Israelite people group guys and gals had responded to what he had told them about what God was going to do for them, Moses was sure that the Pharaoh would not listen to him either. Moses thought of himself as being completely incapable and ineffective – because of his ‘faltering lips’, to lead over two million guys, gals and kids from one land area to another land area. Do other kids listen to what you have to say? Do other kids communicate to you that they are glad that you are alive and that you are there doing something with them? Do you articulate with transparency and clarity what you say? Do you like to be the ascribed class leader? If you say yes to these questions, you are not pulling a Moses.
What do you think makes a good leader? Because he did not feel adequate at all in his speaking skills, Moses did not think that he would make a good leader. Do you think a good leader should be able to speak well? Your grandpaa knows that he does not speak very well. Your grandpaa is tone deaf. Because your grandpaa often speaks with a soft or low voice, guys, gals or kids sometimes have not been able to get what your grandpaa is trying to say. When your grandpaa was in grade school, he stuttered. Your grandpaa had a real hard time pronouncing a word that had a d in it. When your grandmaa was a little kid, she would get stage fright. When it was your grandmaa’s turn to say something – like during a Christmas program, she would not be able to say what she was supposed to say – even though she had memorized it perfectly. Have you ever stuttered? Have you ever gotten stage fright? Your grandmaa and grandpaa do not mind speaking now in front of large groups of guys and gals. Even though your grandpaa knows that he is not fluent in Spanish, your grandpaa really enjoys interacting in Spanish with Hispanic guys, gals and kids. When your grandpaa has spoken to Bolivian or Guatemalan Christ-follower guys and gals, your grandpaa can tell by the looks that are on their faces and by the way that they posture themselves that the guys and gals are glad that even though they do not understand every word that he is trying to say that he is really enjoying what he is doing. Christ-follower guys and gals in countries like Bolivia and Guatemala really appreciate a guy or gal who will preach or teach from the Bible in a way that is different than what they are used to hearing. Christ-follower guys and gals in the United States at times will evaluate a guy or gal as he or she preaches or teaches on his or her appearance and delivery instead of appreciating what he or she has to say which . . .
Exodus 6 (788)