Poor speaker in the service of God – 7 June 2021

If we had to pick somebody to be the one to lead the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, Moses might not have been on our shortlist. He grew up as an Egyptian prince, was used to the best food and clothes, had a fine upbringing and, at his own admission, was “a poor speaker, slow and hesitant”. In spite of this, God chose him when he was still a baby.

The story of his birth, Pharaoh’s daughter and his upbringing in the palace was meant to prepare him for when he had to meet Pharaoh to plead for his people, even if he was a poor speaker. Being used to Pharaoh’s court would have helped him not to be intimidated.

At heart, he was an Israelite and must have visited his fellow Israelites from time to time, like on the day when he killed the Egyptian. From that day onwards, God started a journey with Moses that would lead to the burning bush, the demands on Pharaoh to release the Israelites, the very first Passover and all the way through the Red Sea to Mount Horeb.

Horeb (also called Sinai) was near the place where Moses saw the burning bush. On Horeb, he met God in person and there he was entrusted with the two stone tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments. He also received the rules and laws that were to govern the lives of the chosen people of the Lord. This was necessary to help them to maintain the only religion that was to serve God Almighty.

Moses was an extraordinary person, but conversely also someone just like you and me. He was heavy of tongue, got very angry at times, was discouraged and had asked the Lord, ”what can I do with these people?” when they tested his patience. He was not even allowed into the Promised Land but could only look at it from Mount Nebo. In the end, the most important thing was that he was selected by God to bring about an exodus from slavery to a promised land. That is also true of every one of us. We are all selected by God to bring people from the slavery of sin to His promised land.

Prayer: You selected Moses not because he was special but because you wanted to make him special. Thank you that I am also someone very special in your kingdom, someone called “child of God”. Amen