Receiving The Call of God (p1) - Exodus 3

One early spring morning in 2007 as I prayed I felt the Lord say I should read Exodus 3 about the Call of Moses.  As I thought about it I began to realise there was a principle in action in this narrative outlining for us what is required when we hear God call us. This a message which has several clearly defined parts.

Moses was going about his normal business - shepherding sheep.  The sheep were being moved to new pasture by the sound of things.  Moses was doing something he was used to doing in a place he had probably been many times before when saw a bush.  The bush appeared to be burning, somehow the fire didn't consume it.  That's the condensed version of the narrative, here is what I found in the passage.

• Something caught Moses attention so he decided, (an act of his will), to go over to the bush and find out what was going on.
• As Moses approaches he hears a voice (audible) - the voice calls his name.
• Moses answers the call (response) confirming he is the one named.
• Moses receives instructions about how to approach.
• Moses is fearful when he knows the Speaker, hiding his face (indicates advance knowledge of this speaker).
• The voice declares that he should not be afraid (acceptable behaviour).
• Moses obeys the the instruction (fear dissipated).
• Moses hears the concern of the Lord for His people and for their situation (current, relevant  knowledge).
• Moses is told what he will do (commissioned and missioned). 
• Moses asks who is speaking (tests the spirit).
• The Lord reveals His name telling Moses I AM THAT I AM is sending him (concession to Moses need for affirmation).
• Moses receives further instructions about how the task is to be carried out, not on his own but with the elders of the people (planning and leadership).
• God confirms His power and bestows it on Moses, promising there will be worship on the same mountain when the task is complete (success guaranteed).

When the Holy Spirit broke it down in this way I could see what had always been there but was hidden until that day.  It's amazing that embedded in this common narrative is something so pertinent to our knowledge of who God is and how we can know what He requires of us.

The narrative as written is like a child's story, simple yet masking layers of depth.  It is basic so that anyone can read and gain a sense of it.  It is also able to withstand deeper investigation bringing those seeking into the ways and motivation of God - what moves Him, how he feels about things that are happening, His desire to move in the situation according to the ongoing context.

So what should we, believers today, take from the Call of Moses.  This narrative has been preserved for you and I in our time, not as a narrative if we believe but as a means of motivating us towards obedience and character building.

Looking at what has been written above it's clear to see the steps Moses took are the same steps we should take. That said there is more to this for believers.... 

1. God calls individually, by name.  The Call is for the one named only, it is not collective, nor is it for small groups. (Isaiah 43:3)
2. We need to acknowledge God knows us well enough to know what will get our attention. (Jer 1:5)
3. We need to move away from where we are towards the Lord's voice. (Exod 3:3).
4. God wants us to respond when he calls us by name.  (Exod 3:4, 1 Sam 3:4-10)
5. When the Lord tells us something specific about our call we need to be clear on it and obey that word.  (Exod 3: 4-19),  1 Sam 3 1-16, Jer 1:9-10)).
6. We need to give the Lord the respect He deserves.  (exod 3:5, 1 Sam 3:10)
7. We must offer our obedience BEFORE the Lord will explain His concerns to us.
8. We must trust in His deep understanding of the human condition.
9. We must test the spirit to be sure it is truly the Lord or of the Lord.
10. We should never be afraid to ask the Lord for confirmation that it is He who is speaking.
11. We must pay attention to the instruction the Lord gives us and who will go with us or be part of our team.
12. We must be sure that we are going in the strength of the Lord and not on our own strength or understanding.  

Everything above is made clear first in Exodus, from there we can look back to Genesis and see many of the principles in the calling of Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph and also, Jeremiah and Samuel... Anyone in scripture called into leadership by the Lord was called for a purpose and to glorify God.  As believers we must understand we are called for two reasons only.....

1. The Lord loves His creation and does not want to see anyone suffer no matter the cause
2. The Lord desires to be glorified and honoured in  our lives. 

God can fix the problem but He chooses to use us as the intervention.  How else would we recognise His hand at work if things just sorted themselves out.  We, the broken and beleaguered, are the answer to prayer.  God uses people as way of showing He is omnipotent in the solution.

Our God is a God of order and grace.  Moses had fallen from grace in the Palace of Pharaoh and among his own people.  He had made a mistake, he had killed to protect rather than setting out to do so.  In that moment the Lord acted to remove Moses from his mixed up life, setting him apart, giving him time to reflect and accept his humble birth and people group.  

That it took 40 years - almost the amount of years he'd lived to that point - is not important to God.  What is important is that the Lord knew it was time to take Moses away from what was familiar to give him an opportunity to see the wider picture and open himself to the God who had spared his life, protected and educated him.  This was the plan, not just part of it.  It was a prophesy give 400 years before to his ancestor Abraham.  Moses would lead his people out of Egypt and into the land Promised by the Lord so long ago.

The 40 years he spent in the mountains with Zipporah and her father, a priest, were not easy years for him.  He had to learn to shepherd sheep, something that would be beneath contempt in Egypt.  He had to learn to care for his wife, children and father in-law rather than been coddled as he had been in the palace.  He had to learn to work with the season changes and move around because the sheep needed pasture all year round.  It would have meant long spells away from other people as he went from well to well making sure the flock was fed and watered.  He would have many sleepless nights during the lambing season ensuring his lambs were born safely.  

It must have been humbling, in Midian no-one saw him as a prince, here he was simply another person who had job to do.  It was as exhausting and depressing as making brick and building monuments for a people who had come to hate the Hebrews - as his family had lived now he was living a similar experience of hard labour and meagre rations.  Yet Moses endured it and learned from it.  

Back in Egypt his family knew nothing about the life he was living.  For 40 years they didn't see or hear about him.  Now Moses was an outcast, no longer a prince living in a palace nor accepted by his own people.  

Moses was the best person for the job, the only one with a knowledge and experience of royal protocol, statesmanship, Egyptian history and pride.  The Lord allowed him to go through all he had experienced from birth, imminent death, river rescue, royal patronage, education, outcast, acceptance, deliverance, love, parenthood, wise counsel in the home of the Priest.  All of it qualified Moses for service and as leader in God's eyes.

The Call of Moses has a bearing on each of our lives.  There is nothing that has happened to you so far that is not known by the Lord.  Nothing that disqualifies you or I from service except arrogance, pride and rejection of Him.  Everything else He can and will use, He has seen and has a purpose for it.  Moses didn't fight or reject God.  He didn't know him BUT God knew Moses and had been at work in his life from the beginning.  Many of us will be the same.  

Today, if you believe you have heard His call, if you thought it was for another, go back to the Lord and using the principles above find out once and for all what He wants you to do for Him as He answers the cry of His people.