Part 3: Returning with a Mission

Meditations in Exodus: 19. The Reality of the Return

Ex 4:19,20 Now the LORD had said to Moses in Midian, "Go back to Egypt , for all the men who wanted to kill you are dead." So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey and started back to Egypt . And he took the staff of God in his hand.

The Lord has answered Moses' four questions and sidestepped his plea for someone else to go by agreeing to send Aaron with him. There is little more to be said and so, I suspect, a still somewhat reluctant Moses got ready to return. Now we should never be foolish enough to say that stepping out in faith is not nervy. If the Lord has put some new venture on my heart (as has just recently happened) after the initial burst of faith comes the questions: is this really of the Lord, if I submit this idea to the leadership of the church, will they go along with it, and if they do go along with it, what demands will that put on me, and if they reject it, will I have the grace to accept their decision? These are all things that push me more into prayer and leave my heart beating furiously for a while at least. Doing God's will, especially as part of the body of Christ, is not always an easy thing to discern or plan or work out.

Before he goes the Lord gives him a further encouragement: “all the men who wanted to kill you are dead”. Those who had been upset about Moses killing an Egyptian slave-master forty years ago have passed away; he has outlived them so that is one problem or difficulty overcome.

When Moses goes he takes his wife and family with him. He has the comfort of their company and presumably her support, but this might be a two edged blessing because although it would be good to have his family with him, it may be that that means that they are in a dangerous place as well if Pharaoh turns nasty.

And he takes his staff with him but note it is now referred to as “ the staff of God”. This is going to be God's instrument in Moses' hand and the very presence of it is a reminder of the miracle that he has witnessed in respect of it already, and of what the Lord has said about it's use back in Egypt .

The Lord reinforces His instruction to Moses: “ The LORD said to Moses, "When you return to Egypt , see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do.” (v.21a) Moses, you really have got to settle in your mind that the ‘ministry' you are being called to is a signs and wonders ministry. Living in a country that has largely hardened its heart against the Lord, I am convinced that it will only be as we do the things Jesus did (See Jn 14:12) moving with both word and power will we see any change for good come to our nations in the West. When we start praying over the lost and see God move in power on them, then hearts will be softened and opened to receive the Gospel.

Now having just said that, we find it is going to be very different for Moses because ultimately the Lord is going to judge Pharaoh and his people but not until He has given them every opportunity to repent. There is going to be a problem when they arrive in Egypt . Moses is going to find he is confronting a king with a very hard heart and the more he confronts him the harder that heart is going to become; that is what happens when pride and arrogance have taken root in someone. This is why the Lord says, “But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.” (v.21b) Humanly speaking any rational man will respond to plagues that get gradually worse and worse – and that is what is going to happen – but Sin and especially the sin of pride is not rational, it cannot stand being opposed because it is self-centred godlessness of the extreme kind and everything in it rises against God and against any demands He makes. So Pharaoh, who already has a hard heart, is just going to get harder and harder along the way. Understand that and accept that that is what is going to happen and you'll be all right Moses and remember it is God bringing the plagues not you!

And so to make it patently obvious Moses is to be completely up front about what the outcome will be: “Then say to Pharaoh, `This is what the LORD says: Israel is my firstborn son, and I told you, "Let my son go, so he may worship me." But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.'” (v.22,23), although that will only be right at the end, but the build-up to it should, as we said, make any rational man come to their senses and say, go then.

So we've had the question and answer session, we've had two miracles, we have the support of the family and now the Lord had made it perfectly clear what is going to come about. You may not like it, Moses, but at least you know exactly the strategy that God is going to use, and you now know your part in it. That's a lot of information, a lot of preparation, and a lot of encouragement!

Now I'm going to conclude with a suggested principle: the bigger the task the greater the preparation and revelation the Lord will give. The corollary for that is that the smaller the task the less you are going to get. The nudge by the Holy Spirit, “Go and talk to that person over there,” is a simple nudge and that will be all you will get. You already have the scriptural backup to that which we looked at recently: “ do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” (Mt 10:19,20) You don't need any more preparation than that. “Go and set up a ministry to inner city drug addicts.” Now that will need some preparation and certainly a lot more confirmation. Trust that the Lord will give you sufficient for what He will put before you, and remember when He sends you, He will always go with you and will be there for you and will be your guide and your resource in all you do. Amen? Amen!

Meditations in Exodus: 20. Attempted Assassination

Ex 4:24 At a lodging place on the way, the LORD met Moses and was about to kill him.

Moses has accepted (possibly ungraciously, possibly with reticence) the Lord's calling, and with his father-in-law's blessing has left their home in Midian and taken his wife and two sons with him. Thank God for wise and discerning wives! They have travelled at least a day's journey and have come to what is probably a watering place, an oasis where they stay for the night. Now depending on whether we accept the text as it stands, or take note of the footnote, either Moses or one of his sons gets very ill. Whether this was Moses himself or another scribe recording this, they were sure that the Lord was out to kill him, so severe was the illness.

It is at this point that the shallow sceptic starts rumbling on about a harsh God who changes His mind and is now out to kill His servant. It is nothing like that This is the Lord pulling Moses up and indirectly saying, “You are part of my chosen people and so are your family, and there are certain requirements that the males in my chosen people have to abide by, so why haven't you done this?

Now I am going to assume that the ill person is in fact Moses for it is his wife who takes action. It is possible of course that he tells her what to do but it is reasonable to expect that being the daughter of a priest and now having been Moses' wife for a number of years, she would know his background and know that circumcision was practised by the Hebrews as it was by a number of peoples of the Middle East. Somehow or other she realises that this sickness is a divine disciplining and such a thing seeks to point out a failure that needs remedying. No, of course the Lord doesn't want Moses dead, but He does want His attention. He does want him in every way to conform to the requirements of the covenant that had been established back with Abraham (see Gen 17:10)

That is what is at the heart of what she does – conforming to the Law, if you like, a preliminary law certainly, but a law of God nevertheless – but there is also something else quite remarkable in what she does as she circumcises the son and takes the foreskin, “ and touched Moses' feet with it. "Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me," she said.” (v.25) I believe the Living Bible gets this completely wrong: “ remarking disgustedly, “What a blood-smeared husband you've turned out to be!” No, she has sensed something very precious. Years later when the Law of sacrifice was given to Moses, to atone for a sin the sinner took an animal into the Tabernacle and later the Temple and putting their hand on its head they sacrificed it. The putting their hand on its head was a way of identifying with it, accepting that the beast would be taking the sinner's punishment. Why else would   Zipporah take this bloody foreskin from her son and touch the extreme end, so to speak, of Moses' body with it?

No, it is far more likely that she is saying, “My husband who is dying because of your failure to keep your God's covenant, I save you, my bridegroom, by the shedding of blood. As I touch you with this blood it is with the life of another you are touched and will be saved.” The fact that she refers to him as her bridegroom highlights her submissive relationship to him, The bride in such eastern culture came in humility and submission and speaking as she does she declares that is how she still approaches him. She knows her husband has a divine calling. He would have shared with her when he returned home all that happened at Mount Sinai at the burning bush, she is the wife of a holy man and she is the daughter of a holy man and everything about her culture has taught her to honour such men. Although the sacrifice of animals with the shedding of blood had not yet come in the Law (which would come in the next year or so!) nevertheless it had been there in the establishing of a covenant between Abram and God (see Gen 15:9,10)

This sensitive woman sensed something of this truth that within the divine plan, “ without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” (Heb 9:22). In circumcising her son she brings the family in line with the divine covenant requirement and by ‘applying' it to Moses it is as if she is saying to God, “We acknowledge our guilt but rely on your ways to save my husband. This is the only blood I have; please accept it.” A remarkable woman! The record of this incident concludes, “So the LORD let him alone. (At that time she said "bridegroom of blood," referring to circumcision.)” (v.26) Moses himself, as a Hebrew child, would have been circumcised and now she realises that circumcision applies to all the males of her family. We assume the second son was similarly circumcised before they moved on, but the sacrificial element of the blood to save a life was the key point as well as the circumcision in this incident.

There is a very simple lesson that follows or comes out of this incident. The good news for us males is that circumcision is no longer a requirement of God's chosen people as the New Testament affirms a number of times, but the lesson is about not being careless with God's requirements. Moses in his forty years as a Midianite shepherd had virtually forgotten that he was a Hebrew, but the Lord hadn't.

We are sons and daughters of the new covenant and the day we forget to rely upon the death of Christ on the Cross, will be the day Satan accuses us of guilt and we start having doubts. There are key belief issues that we should never forget because if we do we could become vulnerable to the enemy who the Lord may use to discipline us. We are saved by the Cross, by Jesus' blood being shed for us, not by good works or by being nice people. Hold on to the basics and whatever the Lord highlights to you in the New Testament teachings hold on to them; don't be casual.

Meditations in Exodus: 21. Preliminary Meetings

Ex 4:27 The LORD said to Aaron, "Go into the desert to meet Moses." So he met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him.

Aaron, you remember, is Moses brother. Now whether that had managed to maintain contact over those forty years we just don't know, but the Lord in His goodness sent Aaron to meet Moses. What an encouragement that would have been. How Aaron knew where to go, we don't know; all we do know is that as Moses is making his way down the route down the west side of the Gulf of Aqaba on his way back to Egypt from Midian, he gets to Mount Sinai at exactly the same time that Aaron comes from the opposite direction. Coincidence? He greets Moses and Moses then shares with him what had happened at this place not long back: “ Then Moses told Aaron everything the LORD had sent him to say, and also about all the miraculous signs he had commanded him to perform.” (v.28)

There are various stages in bring about the confrontation between God and Pharaoh and the first stage has just taken place – the coming together of Moses and Aaron so that Moses can share the plan that will involve them both. Stage two is meeting with the elders of Israel in Goshen . There Moses and Aaron start their partnership as the Lord had agreed for it to work: “Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites, and Aaron told them everything the LORD had said to Moses. He also performed the signs before the people, and they believed. And when they heard that the LORD was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.” (v.29-31). Note at this stage what has convinced the elders: the account of Moses' meeting with God and the two miraculous signs. The signs backed up the account and made it believable.

Now I am sure we have said this before but it does bear repeating. In the UK we Christians live as a small minority of the population, possibly only 5% and we live in the midst of an ungodly generation hardened by materialism and unbelief. In the USA optimistic suggestions are that genuine Christians may be as high as 30%. In other ‘western', English-speaking nations it probably varies between those two figures. The Gospel has been shared but over the years largely rejected by the majority. How did Jesus minister to Israel in his three years of ministry? By preaching accompanied by signs and wonders. We need to return to that faith level. Why? For two reasons: first, that was how Jesus did it and, second, that was the thing that moved the hearts of the people with Jesus, and the hearts of the elders with Moses now.

Why do we shy away from these things? In the UK I believe it has been simple unbelief. In the USA I believe it is complicated by the American Work Ethic of try hard, organize, plan and be successful which has meant church based in many cases on ‘be yourself' preaching, and perfectly organized large churches where the Spirit has little or no room to move. That of course is an over-generalization but my experience and observation suggests that that is often so. Jesus' own ministry and the teaching of the apostle Paul on ‘gifts' clearly reveals a supernatural dimension involving revelation (word of knowledge or prophecy) and power encounters, largely in respect of healing but also in other ways as well. This is a dimension of the Christian life that we cannot do without, being truly submitted to the will of God.

There is occasionally a rash voice of Christianity that highlights catastrophes as the judgments of God but mostly in Scripture such judgments come only after there have been warning after warning. Until senior voices across big denominations and/or the Catholic Church gain a credible voice in the world, the warning aspect appears absent and thus those proclaiming judgments after the event lack credibility. So often such voices also lack humility and compassion and for there to be credibility the Church needs to be seen to be doing the ‘good works' that Jesus spoke of in the Sermon on the Mount, while at the same time presenting the good news accompanied by a supernaturally, divine dimension.

Will these initial signs, that Aaron performs on Moses' behalf, be sufficient? In the long-term no. The pressures that build up from Pharaoh's side will even overwhelm them and we will also see that the occult can counterfeit ‘gifts' and power manifestations. Under increased pressure, we will see, doubt will be manifest and for Pharaoh's will to be broken, it will necessitate persistence on behalf of Moses and Aaron and their complete obedience to the direction of the Lord. Therein is the key. Although I have mentioned a signs and wonders dimension in evangelism, ultimately this is not a mechanical thing, but a responding to the guidance and direction of the Lord and the Lord Himself acting. All we can do is be available and obedient, and in the face of the world's opposition that can be scary.

In recent days, as I have once or twice counseled those moving into public spheres of ministry that will confront the world and Satan, my counsel is always get your local church behind you and seek to establish a prayer group (if not the main church Prayer Meeting) that will pray for you and stand against the powers and principalities that you may come against. In heavy spiritual warfare the casualties are often wives or children, wives who cannot handle the pressure of their man being out so much, and children rebelling in the face of absent fathers. To counter these very real difficulties we need wisdom and understanding as well as compassion and care and a willingness to be a supporter of such people in upfront positions in the warfare.

Moses and Aaron are only in the early stages of the coming battle and so far they have just been encouraged. The more they move on the less that will happen and the battle will get intense. The only way to survive is cling on to the Lord, be obedient to Him and determine to hang on and keep at it. This is where perseverance will come in and in this sort of warfare, perseverance can only be maintained by a sure knowledge of your calling, and the close proximity of the Lord with an awareness of His anointing. Scary but glorious.

Meditations in Exodus: 22. Uneventful Start

Ex 5:1.2 Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel , says: `Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the desert.' " Pharaoh said, "Who is the LORD, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD and I will not let Israel go.".

So far all has gone to plan. Moses has met with Aaron, shared with him what has happened and what they need to do, and got him on side. Then they travelled back to Goshen together and met with the elders of Israel , told them what had happened, performed the two miraculous signs and had got them on side as well. As we said, so far all has gone according to plan.

So Moses and Aaron go to Pharaoh and somehow get an audience with him and make the bald statement that God says let my people go. Pharaoh is not impressed. Who is this “I AM” God, I don't know him, why should I obey him. No, I won't let Israel go! He might have added, “We've got hundreds of gods in this country, what do I need with one more? Suddenly it is not going as well as Moses might have hoped for but, hold on, think about this for a moment.

First, that last comment was right, he does have hundreds of other gods and so humanly speaking at least, one more doesn't seem like it is going to make much difference. That is true. Recognise where he's at! Second he is the all-powerful king of Egypt and he doesn't do what other people tell him to do, so actually it is not a surprising response. Third, God did warn Moses that this would happen, so one way or anther this is not a surprise.

So how does this impact us today? Well I think there are at least three aspects to be considered. Here we are, the people of God, minorities in our nations, nations that have largely turned their backs on God so, first of all, if we are doing evangelism don't be surprised if there is not immediate welcome. It is often said that for a person to come to the Lord, on average it is shown that they will need to have the Gospel presented to them at least five times, I think it is, before they turn to Him. For the Gospel to be understood for a meaningful response, they will need to hear it more than once. Second, we are bringing a challenge, an alterative way of thinking about life, and when the apostle John in his first letter spoke about ‘the world' (1 Jn 2-5) he meant the godless spirit of the world that we have to confront. Third, there is also Satan who seeks to sow unbelief, challenge with temptations and cause general upset; we will be coming against him.

It is often said that when you first start to pray for someone's healing, initially they get worse before they get better. Why is that? What is going on? When Jesus healed it was the authority of the Son of God that brought the healing or deliverance. When it comes to us, I believe there are times when the enemy challenges our authority and so when we pray for healing, he resists and indeed for a moment or two the sickness gets worse it seems. Do we give up at this point? Definitely not! If the Lord is allowing that to happen, He is doing it, I suggest, to teach you about authority. Do you not realise that you have his authority? As we pray and pray again, He takes that opportunity to teach us who we are – His children, His representatives, His ambassadors, those who come with his authority. As I have watched this over the years I am convinced it is all about belief and about faith. If we do not believe we are His representatives and do not believe (contrary to the Gospels) that it is His will to bring healing we will not listen for Him to impart to us how He wants that healing to come. I don't believe there is an a,b,c of healing that is the same every time, but I do believe it is all about relationship and responding to what we are hearing from Him, and that is faith.

So the big lesson here is don't be surprised by opposition. God warned it would happen here and Jesus warned that we would find it in the world. Be clear in your mind as to your calling. For Moses it was to go and confront Pharaoh. For us it is to confront those He places before us and bring them the Gospel and let the kingdom of God be revealed as He is able to let His power flow through us as we step out in faith.

There is a secondary lesson here as well. This is just stage 1 of Moses interaction with Pharaoh. In retrospect we know there were ten plagues following Pharaoh's initial rejection and even after the miracle of the transformed staff. The Lord may call us to pray for a specific individual, He may call us to pray for change for our church, or He may put something in the community before us that we are to do to bring change. It may not happen immediately, it may be that we have to go through a number of stages before we achieve ‘success'.

There has to therefore be a third lesson: think in the long term and persevere. Persevere as you pray, persevere as you serve, persevere as you love; i.e. don't give up just because there is some opposition or you don't seem to be making headway. Remember all the time, you are God's servant; only do what He puts before you and speak as He gives you the words. If the initial reaction is not over positive, don't be put off.

Have you ever thought, it took Jesus three years to train up his initial disciples. Why didn't he just spend say ten months with them and then die on the Cross? Why three years? I suspect the answer has to be because that was how long he considered necessary to get just some of the basics into the lives of those men. As a trainer, Jesus needed to persevere with the likes of Peter – and he was one of the most outward going leading characters of that bunch and yet again and again he was stumbling about in faith. Whether it be training up disciples, confronting the Pharaohs of this world, or whatever else it may be the Lord puts before us, it takes time and perseverance to handle the opposition, the misunderstandings, the doubts and the fears. Moses, this is just stage one. It is not a failure, so just get ready to move on to the next phase; words were not sufficient, so what else have you got in your armoury? Watch this space.   

Meditations in Exodus: 23. You will not get free

Ex 5:4,5 But the king of Egypt said, "Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!" Then Pharaoh said, "Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them from working."

We need to re-emphasise much of what we said in the previous meditation because I believe it is so significant for many of us. I noted there in the previous one, “It is often said that when you first start to pray for someone's healing, initially they get worse before they get better.” Now between writing that yesterday morning and the end of the day, something significant happened. We are negotiating to use a restaurant for a morning outreach breakfast and when I was there initially a week ago, the restaurant manager confessed that he had a very bad back. I offered to pray for him and despite his protestations that he was an unbeliever we did actually ask the Lord to heal him. Nothing appeared to happen at the time and so we left resolving to carry on praying for him which I did for the next few days. Yesterday we called in there to confirm details of this breakfast and he said, “I thought you must have put a curse on me last week!” I enquired why. “Well, he explained, “after you prayed my back got worse. It was only a day later that it completely got better.” I explained about resistance which often gives way after carrying on praying and was able to say we had carried on praying for him. He is still an unbeliever but now has something to think about.

For Moses' people, life is about to get much worse and it all appears to be the fault of Moses. As our verses above show, Pharaoh reacted badly to Moses' first approach. It continues: “ That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and foremen in charge of the people: "You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don't reduce the quota. They are lazy; that is why they are crying out, `Let us go and sacrifice to our God.' Make the work harder for the men so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies.” (v.6-9) That was bad! It means that Israel , as slaves, had to work twice as hard. Surely this isn't how this is meant to go? But it gets worse because as this starts to impact them, the Israelite foremen go to Pharaoh to complain but are given short shrift and so, “When they left Pharaoh, they found Moses and Aaron waiting to meet them, and they said, "May the LORD look upon you and judge you! You have made us a stench to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.” (v.20,21)

We then find something very significant which is something we can see again and again in Moses' future life: “Moses returned to the LORD and said, "O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.” (v.22,23) Let's summarise his action very simply: he went and complained to God.

I've just spotted some words I have never noticed before which suggests they are the sort of words we usually take for granted: “Moses returned to the Lord.” That's interesting. God cannot be seen so how does Moses ‘return' to Him? It surely must mean he simply went to a quiet place and prayed, a place with no noise or distractions or people, a place where he could talk to the Lord alone. In later years he will go into the Tent of Meeting to meet with God but he hasn't got that yet, so it must mean he goes aside somewhere to speak with the Lord. This sounds so obvious but I wonder how many of us run into such difficulties and don't go and offload to the Lord?

In the days ahead when things go wrong – and they do with a regularity that makes you glad you aren't Moses – the record shows that again and again Moses falls down before the Lord and seeks Him and cries his heart out to Him. It is so obvious but do we do it? I find I have something that suddenly arises as a difficulty and I start worrying about it. After about half a day I'll think to pray about it. It used to be several days before I came to my senses and prayed but I am slowly learning. They do say a sign of how mature you are in Christ is how fast you either repent or seek God for His wisdom.

Yesterday we put the emphasis on perseverance, on not being put off and pressing on, but prayer is a vital fuel, if we can put it like that, to resource perseverance. This may apply to difficult life circumstances or even simply a bad habit you want to break free from. You are sure God has got something better for you and you pray and pray but nothing happens. In the background Pharaoh (Satan) says, “You will not go free; in fact it will get worse. Stop crying and put up with it. Submit!”

But you are a child of God indwelt by the all-powerful Holy Spirit and God has plans and purposes for you that stretch out many years. Carry on praying, carry on persevering, don't accept Satan's words designed to quench faith, listen to God and step out in faith and if it gets worse for a while, OK, that's part of the package as the enemy shows he is afraid. But he is already defeated by Jesus on the Cross. We say again, you are a child of God and as you look to the Lord He WILL deliver you. Jesus' declared his mandate in a synagogue in Capernaum : “"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” (Lk 4:18,19) He has come to set the prisoners free and that includes you and me whenever Satan seeks to rise up and put a hold on our lives. You and I are in the kingdom of light, the kingdom of the Son, and being a slave is no longer a part of our package. Pray and believe and if it gets worse, pray again. In fact go all out to upset the enemy and pray and praise and worship the Lord for what He IS going to do. Hallelujah!

Meditations in Exodus: 24. Understanding God's Words

Ex 6:1 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country."

What the Lord now says to Moses is true – but it is not for the immediate moment. In a church where prophetic words are spoken we need to understand the way the Lord often communicates. So often He speaks about the end result which makes the unwise forget that there is an intermediate period during which many other things are going to happen, some of which may even make you question the end outcome.

Moses has complained to God, “Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.” (5:23) Well, actually Moses you have only been to him once but, yes, you are right, it seemed to bring only trouble upon your people. In His reply the Lord implies, “Look, don't look on the bad response of Pharaoh because when I lay my mighty hand on him he will (end up) driving your people out of the land. Now I've inserted the two key words in brackets. This is the end product of what will happen but it will happen in stages.

For ourselves, responding to a prophetic word speaking about the future is not easy. First of all was it genuinely from God? Let's assume for the moment it was. Second, when it speaks about something the Lord will do for us – e.g. “lead you into a new area of service” – are we to take any action that prepares the way or are we to wait passively for the Lord to bring it about. I know of one significant leader who received a word that he would have a significant ministry in a particular South American country. In faith (or in what turned out to be presumption) he and his wife sold up in the USA and traveled to that country where nothing opened up for them. They gave up on the word but it was only ten years later they happened to be in that country that they realised it was now all opening up for them as the word had said. I know of another leader who received a word about the Lord taking he and his wife on to new things so they stepped back in their leadership role in hopeful preparation but it only created uncertainty in the rest of the leadership and the leadership as a whole went pear-shaped. It is a difficult area.

For Moses it is difficult because despite God's earlier words to him he is clearly disappointed that it now seems to be going badly. He has not realised there are going to be many stages to this deliverance. If you receive a prophetic word about a big change you are going to be involved in, the wise person enquires what this will involve and asks for the grace to change how the Lord wants, to accommodate that change. Grace may involve patience and it may involver perseverance. The preparation or intermediate time may, like Moses, involve a number of stages and very often those changes also involve changes taking place in you.

But then we come across something very encouraging; the Lord reiterates what He has said before about Himself: “God also said to Moses, "I am the LORD . I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan , where they lived as aliens. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.” (v.2-5) i.e. I appeared to the Patriarchs but I did not reveal myself to them as I have to you. Yes, I am ‘the I AM', the unchanging one, and I made a covenant with them to give them Canaan and that has not changed. I have heard the groanings of my people and they are the people of my covenant.

That tells us three helpful things. First, He reminds him that He is the God of the Patriarchs with all that that meant. Second, He is unchanging and that also means in respect of His long-term plans and purposes. Third, He is motivated by the agreement He has made with the Patriarchs and so Moses can be comforted with those three things – Patriarchal experience of God, God's unchanging nature and God's promises that will not be broken.

These things have consequences: “Therefore, say to the Israelites: `I am the LORD , and

•  I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.

•  I will free you from being slaves to them, and

•  I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.

•  I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God.

•  Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.

•  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 .'” (v.6-8)

We have changed the format to make clear the list of things the Lord has said He will do: He will set them free from Egypt to be His special people in the land He promised to the Patriarchs, and He will do it by acts of power.

Now very simply I suggest that when the Lord leads you into something big and new, it can almost be guaranteed that He will say it to you more than once , because He knows we have a tendency to forget, or if not forget, get confused and worry and doubt. How His words of encouragement are received is varied and that we'll consider in the next meditation. In the meantime ….. you have had a word from Him about the future? Wait on Him, ask for understanding but remember essentially He wants you to walk by faith and not by sight. You can trust Him.

It may take some time but don't be put off by that, it was just that it took time for circumstances to be brought in line for you! As with the first of the examples I gave above, I have known times when I have brought someone a word and I ran across them ten years later and they said, “Thank you for that word you brought me ten years ago, it gave me hope and the Lord has now just done it.” (I have also had words that were fulfilled within days, I should add!). When God speaks like this He is out to encourage us and sometimes that is simply to help us wait expectantly for something that may yet only come after a number of changes take place first. Trust, be patient and give thanks.

Meditations in Exodus: 25. Remember what God said!

Ex 6:9 Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and cruel bondage.

The Lord has encouraged Moses by declaring He is an unchanging God with an unchanging covenant and has reiterated His strategy of coming with power against Pharaoh and his nation to deliver Israel out of Egypt to take them to the Land He had promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. So Moses goes to the elders of Israel and reported all this BUT “ they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and cruel bondage.” (v.9) The reality of their increased pressures as slaves makes them very negative on their response to Moses. Somewhat understandable.

Does the Lord just pat Moses on the back and say, ‘Never mind, we'll try something else'? Definitely not! He knows this was exactly what was going to happen. Remember what we have seen: “Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his country.” (v.10,11) In other words, don't be put off by this, get back there to Pharaoh and give him my message – Let my people go! But Moses has been put off by the elders: “But Moses said to the LORD , "If the Israelites will not listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering lips?” (v.12) Moses you have forgotten what the Lord said at the beginning.

I say again, remember what we have seen: maybe we need reminding:

(i) “I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.” (Ex 3:19,20) and

(ii) “When you return to Egypt , see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. Then say to Pharaoh, `This is what the LORD says: Israel is my firstborn son, and I told you, "Let my son go, so he may worship me." But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.'” (4:21-23) and

(iii) “Then the LORD said to Moses, "Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country." (Ex 6:1)

i.e. three times up to now the Lord has spelled it out – Pharaoh WILL resist and so I will judge him with acts of power.

There is a simple lesson here: listen to God and remember what He says. Often the battle will be stretched out over a long period and again and again we may need to take hold of what God has said and rely upon that in the face of circumstances that appear to be going badly. God has spelled it out very clearly; Moses' only problem is that he hadn't really taken it in, perhaps not really believing it would be that bad.

If he struggles with this, the mind boggles to think of how he might have reacted if the Lord had spelled it out even more, for example, “Moses, Pharaoh is going to resist all the way down the line. It's going to be really hard and so I will have to judge him and his people TEN times before they will let you go. This means you will have to confront him and risk your life at least ten times. This is going to be risky business but I will be there for you.” Right, thanks! If the Lord had been that open with Moses I suspect he might have bolted out of the desert back there at Sinai. In fact there have been times when we have gone through incredibly trying circumstances and I have thought, I am glad the Lord didn't tell me about this beforehand otherwise I might not have become a Christian!

That may be an exaggeration but be real, sometimes it is hard being a Christian and sometimes the warfare gets bad. It would be much easier to grow tomatoes and keep your head down. Yes, I know there is so much more to it than that, but the point I am overstating is that it IS sometimes very hard and at such times we really do need to hang on to the things that the Lord has said. Those things may simply be what we find in the Bible, or they may be specific prophetic words He has spoken to us. Remember them, declare them, speak them out and hold on to them. Having done all that turn your face back into the battle and with all the grace you can receive from the Lord, go to it. Remain holy, remain pure, speak gracious words of truth, declare forgiveness, and be a light to others and trust the Lord for the outcome.

Now observe something interesting. We have just observed Moses' wavering faith: “But Moses said to the LORD , "If the Israelites will not listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering lips?” (v.12) Now in your Bible, whether it is Moses writing or some other later scribe, it is almost as if there is a pause and fresh declaration of what is going on: “Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron about the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he commanded them to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.” (v.13) Yes, we know that. That seems a summary verse of all that goes on. This is followed by a list of names of the key family members, just to remind us, if you like, that these are the people of Israel (v.14 to 25)

It then picks up, “It was this same Aaron and Moses to whom the LORD said, "Bring the Israelites out of Egypt by their divisions." They were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing the Israelites out of Egypt . It was the same Moses and Aaron.” (v.26,27) It is almost as if the writer is saying, “Don't get any great ideas about Moses because of later history, realise what he was really like, a frail human being. The glory is all of God's!” For he then picks it up where we left it off: “Now when the LORD spoke to Moses in Egypt , he said to him, "I am the LORD . Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I tell you." But Moses said to the LORD , "Since I speak with faltering lips, why would Pharaoh listen to me?” (v.28-30)

This is the turning point. Everything so far has been preliminary. As soon as we move into chapter 7 the action really starts. Coming to the end of chapter 6 it is as if, as we suggested above, the inspired writer has brought it all down to a very human level, twice pointing out that Moses has fallen back to his pleas back in Sinai (see 4:10) about not being a speaker. HE is still working at a very human level, and in this, we tend to be just like him! Be honest, we struggle with this life sometimes, we struggle with being a human being, we struggle with the physical side of our lives and the emotional side of our lives and so on.

We struggle! We are human beings – even the great men and women of faith you see standing on a platform, that you see looking so confident, they are unlikely to be as big a spiritual giant as Moses. And what makes Moses a spiritual giant? It was that, scared out of his wits, he still went and did what God told him to do, and then it was God who did the stuff as we're going to see in the coming chapters, and it starts in chapter seven. Get ready, this has just been the run-up. But remember, hold on to what the Lord has said to you so far.