|
Bible History of the Old Testament |
||
|
No. 33 The Training of Moses in Midian The Call of Moses - Part 1
(To read the previous text about the Birth and Training of Moses in Egypt, go to the Home Page above and then to the Bible History Archives.)
Moses was now disowned by the people that he had thought he was supposed to save. He was also a fugitive now that was pursued by the King. God came along in his gracious providence, though, and prepared a shelter and home for him. The Midianites were descendants of Abraham through Keturah according to Genesis 25: 2-4. They had their settlements along the eastern shore of the Red Sea. They were also nomads and had wandered on one side to the southern point of the peninsula of Sinai, and northward as far as the territory of Moab. As Moses was in flight, he happened to come upon the daughters of Reuel, who was the priest of Midian. The shepherds there were trying to drive away their flocks and Moses came to their rescue and fought off the shepherds. Reuel was so thankful for this that he invited him to stay at his house. Moses continued to live there and eventually married Zipporah, his daughter. This particular incident and the birth of his two sons is all that Moses records about his 49 years' stay in Midian. The father-in-law of Moses seems to have worshipped the God of Abraham, because his name meant "friend of El". This is the designation which the patriarchs gave to God, as El-Shaddai, "God Almighty". Reuel's faith is further borne out by his conduct when he is also called Jethro and Jether, which means "excellency". This was probably his official title as chief priest of the tribe. The life of Moses in the house of Reuel, though, must have been one of humiliation and loneliness. From her conduct in Exodus 4: 25, it is inferred that Zipporah was a woman of violent, imperious temper, who had but little sympathy with the religious convictions of her husband. When she had first met him as "an Egyptian", his bravery may have won her heart. When she really got to understand the deepest aims of his life, though, she must have regarded him as a gloomy fanatic who only thought about visionary schemes. It seems that they had so little in common that during the time that he spent persuading Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go, he had to send her away. At this point, there may not have been much confidence between Moses and his father-in-law either. God had given a vision to Moses, but at this point nobody else in his family could see that same vision. It must have been a very hard time for him. The very deepest feelings of his heart are poured out in the names that he gave to his sons that were born to him during this time. The oldest son he named Gershom (expulsion, banishment), for he said "I have been called a stranger in a strange land" (Exodus 2:22). The second son he named Eliezer, "my God is help" (Exodus 18:4). Moses was banished to a strange land that was far from his Israelite brothers and the land of promise. He must have longed greatly for his real home. His heart seems to have changed greatly by the birth of his second son, though. After Eliezer's birth, Moses said "for the God of my fathers is mine help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh." All his self-confidence and carnal zeal in his first attempt at freeing the Israelites had been taken away in this school of sorrow. Everything had been taken away from him except his absolute trust in the God of his fathers, the God of the promises, Who he knew would surely fulfill His Word. Before God does any of His Great Works, He first silently prepares the people to receive it. The soil has to be broken up so that the good seeds can be scattered. Only God is capable of doing that. All kinds of different things that are unrecognized at the time are silently at work. The same thing was true when God was planning to bring forth his great deliverance of His people from Egypt. It seemed to the people that this was the very darkest time that they had ever experienced. They had prayed to God and it just didn't seem like He was answering like He had so many times before for them when they had fallen into sin. The terrible king had died who had persecuted them so much, but he was replaced by another one that was no better. It must have seemed to them that they were just hopelessly under bondage forever to a settled policy of each Pharaoh. Any ray of hope that they could have had during this time was only derived from faith in the prophecies that had been given to them so many years ago. It had been centuries now that they had gone without any revelation at all from God. Instead of trying to plot to overthrow the king, though, they surely must have remembered the prophecies given so long ago that God would bring them out into their own Promised Land and they would have peace. Now they would turn to earnest prayer and cry out to God to deliver them. This changing of their hearts and crying out to the One True God for deliverance was the very start of their deliverance. The Bible says that as soon as they repented and changed their hearts toward Him, that He heard their groaning. At that very moment, He started to work to fulfill the covenant that He had given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. At this point God literally "knew them" and recognized them as the chosen seed of Abraham and manifested His love towards them.
The Call of Moses The southern end of the peninsula of Sinai consists of a confused mass of peaks, with the highest above 9,000 feet. They are mostly red granite of different hues, which is broken by strips of sand or gravel. These are intersected by wadis, or valleys. The water can flow in torrents in them during the rainy season, and they are dotted with green spots here and there due to perennial fountains. The greatest central group among these was the Mountain of Horeb. Among these was Mount Sinai, which has come to be known as the "Mount of God". Strangely enough, it is here among this most desolate of places that the most fertile places in "the wilderness" are also found. Even today, part of this plateau is quite green. Fruit trees grow in the rich luxuriance of these valleys, and "the neighborhood is the best watered in the whole peninsula, running streams being found in no less than four of the adjacent valleys", according to Palmer's Desert of the Exodus book. Moses was probably here in the early summer driving Reuel's flock for pasturage and water. Behind him to the east, lay the desert; and before him rose Mount Sinai in all its desolateness and grandeur. The desolateness of the place was only relieved by the variety of coloring in the dark green or red mountain peaks. The atmosphere was such there that the most faint outlines were clearly defined, and the faintest sound fell distinctly on the ear. All at once, Moses noticed a truly strange sight. A spiked, gnarled, thorny acacia tree stood totally ablaze without being burned up. The acacia trees were very conspicuous in the wadies of the desert, because they were the only trees there that reached any size at all. When Moses saw the tree, naturally he went to get a closer look at what was going on. Although he didn't know it at the time, a great wonder awaited him. God, who had not made Himself known for centuries to anyone, now talked to Him out of the midst of the bush. He first told Moses to pull off his shoes because He was now standing on Holy Ground. Then He revealed Himself as the same One who had appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In the east it was a custom to always pull off one's shoes when entering a sanctuary so that one would not bring in defilement on them from outside. Since the place where Jehovah manifested Himself was "holy ground", it would have been a natural thing for Moses to pull off his shoes. God told Moses that He had not forgotten the covenant that He had made with his ancestors, and He was about to fulfill that covenant. Just as the people had thought that there was no hope, God revealed that the set time had come when He would publicly manifest Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Israel in its low and despised state, was like the thorn-bush in the wilderness, and burning in the fiery furnace of Egypt. They were given over to death, though, because Jehovah was in the midst of the burning bush. Although He chastened them, He did not consume them. This vision was not only intended for Moses, but for all times. It symbolizes the relationship between God and Israel, and also God and His Church. God told Moses that He had heard the cry from His people, and He knew their sorrows. He said that He had come to deliver them from Egypt and bring them into the Land of Promise - "a good and large land flowing with milk and honey". At the time it was large and fruitful enough to have been the territory of not fewer than six Canaanite races. Then God directed Moses to go to Pharaoh and tell him to let the Israelites leave Egypt. There was definitely a huge difference in the Moses of 40 years ago who had tried to take it upon himself to be their deliverer and the Moses now. Now he told God that he couldn't possibly do the thing that He asked and pleaded with Him to be relieved of the work. His former self-confidence had turned into a real reluctance to do what God asked him to do. His first and deepest feelings are given in his question to God: "Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?" The rest of this chapter will be covered in the next text. For more information from this book, go to the Archives Page at my site www.cathydeaton.com There are other articles of interest there also. This text is taken from the book Bible History Old Testament written by Alfred Edersheim. This book has been used by permission.
|