John Kitto Morning Bible Devotions: April 7

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John Kitto Morning Bible Devotions: April 7


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The Call

Exodus 3

Forty years were spent by Moses in the land of Midian. This is an important period in the life of any man; but to those who, like Moses, reached the age of one hundred and twenty years, it was the middle period of life—the period of strongest action, of sternest realities, of most resolute purposes. Yet to Moses this was the period of least apparent action, in which he lived in seclusion and quiet, preferring the humble duties of pastoral life. He married; he had two sons; he led his flock to the pastures and the waters. These few acts form, as far as regards him, the history of that period of life which is to other men the time of the most vehement action. The common course of life was to him reversed. Without relying too much upon the traditional history which makes the first of the three periods of forty years each, into which his life may be divided, one of high and heroic action—it may be observed that the last period, which is one of repose to most men, was to him the most undoubtedly active in all his existence; and the days of his quiet repose and secluded rest, did, in his case, precede instead of follow the days of his labor.

Yet this period was in all probability far happier than any his life afforded—happier than when, in Egypt, as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter he received the homage of servile crowds, while his heart yearned sore after his father’s house, and he knew himself the object of secret dislike and envy to those who bowed before him—happier than when, in later life, the burden of Israel lay upon him, and he felt that burden most hard to bear. At least thus we may think; but the consciousness of high responsibilities and of solemn duties although it may seem to disturb the quiet, and to be attended with great labor, has to many, and probably had to Moses, satisfactions more than commensurate to the enjoyments of secluded life and humble vocations. Moses perhaps knew not this; and his seclusion was so pleasant to him, that the idea of quitting it to encounter the storms and high tasks of active life, was most alarming to him, when first presented to his mind.

It is, however, only by comparison with what afterwards devolved upon him, that the life of Moses, during these forty years, may be called obscure or easy.

“How various his employments, whom the world

Calls idle!”

Cowper

The duties of pastoral and domestic existence—though they involve not the labors and responsibilities of him who stands out to take a part in the public life of nations—are still sufficient to occupy not unpleasantly or uselessly, the time and attention of any man of moderate desires and simple tastes. It is a life, moreover, that affords much leisure for thought and meditation; and hence the distinction which men of pastoral habits have on many occasions acquired. The two greatest men in the Old Testament, Moses and David, were both called from following the sheep to be the leaders of God’s flock, his Israel. There is nothing improbable that Moses employed a portion of the leisure, which in this state of life fell to him, in composing some of those admirable books which he has transmitted to the church, and which will form a most inestimable portion of its heritage to the end of time. It is almost the general opinion of the church, that the book of Genesis was, during this period of leisure, written by him; and those who hold him to be the author of the book of Job, think that this was the period of his life to which its composition should be assigned. Indeed, the book is throughout impregnated with the ideas and usages of the kind of life which he during this period led. But there are many who doubt that this book belongs to Moses. This is a question we have not here to discuss; but if the book was written by him, this is the period of his existence to which we should be disposed to assign its composition.

How Moses enjoyed the kind of life he led, and how little he desired to quit it for a wider and grander field of labor, is shown by the manner in which he received the call to proceed to Egypt for the deliverance of Israel. He had led his flock among the green pastures to be found in the valleys and barren declivities of the Sinai mountains, when his eyes were attracted by a remarkable phenomenon. He beheld a bush in flames, and although, as he watched, it burned fiercely, it remained unconsumed. This was really “a great sight;” but as he went near, to inspect it with more close attention, a Voice from the bush commanded him to show the common mark of oriental respect for a superior presence or holy spot, by taking off his sandals and standing barefoot—for the place on which he stood was holy ground. He then knew that the Lord’s presence was manifested there; for it is His presence that maketh holy. He obeyed; and stood wondering, no doubt, what manner of communication awaited him. He might, however, have seen, in that moment’s thought, that the bush burning yet unconsumed was an apt and striking symbol of the Israelites in Egypt, of whom it is said, that the more they were afflicted the more they grew. The communication was emphatic and solemn. The speaker announced himself as the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob. He declared that he had beheld with divine compassion the miseries of his people; and that the time, the long appointed time, for their deliverance was come. All this was well. It doubtless made the heart of Moses glad. But the closing words filled him with consternation, for it declared that he was to go back to Egypt to present himself before the king then reigning, and to demand for Israel leave to depart. This filled him with unfeigned astonishment. “Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” The answer was undeniable and sufficient—“I will be with thee.” Still Moses was not satisfied. The difficulties of the enterprise—his own supposed unfitness for it—his reluctance to plunge into the conflicts he foresaw—all crowded upon his thoughts, and made his heart sad. One objection after another that he produced, was condescendingly removed; yet, when he had nothing further to urge in the way of specific objection, he rolled the whole mass of reluctant feeling into one strong groan for release from so fearful a task—“O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send.” But he was the man appointed for that task; for this he had been born; for this preserved; for this trained; and there was no escape for him. God knew his fitness better than Moses knew himself, and the command became imperative upon him.

An interesting writer thus remarks upon the reluctance of Moses to accept the most important office, the deliverance of an oppressed nation, ever offered to man: “Many causes may be assigned for this reluctance. Moses had reconciled his mind to his condition, with which he was contented. He knew too well the court of Egypt to have any desire to return to it, especially with a hostile purpose. He had no wish to become the chief of a multitude of miserable slaves, not fit for war, and not trained to submission under a mild and equitable government. He saw no means of supporting such a multitude in a march across the desert to Palestine, even if they should escape the hostility of the Egyptians; and no probability, that at the head of such invaders he could conquer Palestine. But above all, Moses had no adequate faith in his Employer, the speaker from the burning bush. That Employer might possess all power; but could Moses rely upon being able, at all times at his need, to command the exercise of that power? It is clear that this distrust was at the bottom of the extreme reluctance shown by Moses to accept of the commission to rescue the Israelites; for afterwards, when he found himself supported and backed by that Being under whom he acted, his proceedings were prompt, and his courage and zeal never failed.” Note: Forsyth: Observations on the Books of Genesis and Exodus, pp 88, 89. The fact is there is a great difference as an incentive to enterprise between the general and the particular promises of God. There may be some promises the fulfillment of which depends upon certain conditions, and there are others to which no condition is annexed. To be the Messenger of the former is indeed a glorious ministry—but it is also humbling and dangerous. He upon whom God confers it, may live in perpetual fear of promising something in God’s name without effect, because they to whom the promise is made may be wanting in some of the conditions required of them. But nothing can dishearten a man to whom a commission of the second kind has been given, because the infallibility of the event strengthens him against all the obstacles he meets with in his way. Moses seems to have been afraid that the unbelief of the Israelites might in the end prove a bar to their deliverance; and it is against this fear that God encourages him, and condescendingly points out facts to satisfy him that the result is determined in his councils, independently of all events, and all conditions. He not only promises—he foretells, he particularizes the nicest and minutest circumstances; he not only acquaints him that the people shall be delivered, but indicates the exact place—the very mountain before which he stood—where they shall pay their homage to their Deliverer, after their deliverance has been accomplished. This detail becomes to him a token of the certainty of the event; and then, at length, he is satisfied.