I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read the story of Moses and how he was called, but I’ve never seen this until this morning. Moses had in mind to save his people from their misery while he was still a prince of Egypt. And he gave it a try, but it backfired on him and he gave up the idea all together – and he flees to the desert. But 40 years later, God calls him back to do what he originally thought of doing – saving his people from slavery.

I may have missed this because it’s not in the book of Exodus where we’d expect to find it but in the book of Acts through the story that Stephen told before he was martyred…. (Acts 7:23-34)

There are four lessons we can learn from the calling of Moses:

Lesson 1: God usually sends a peasant to do a prince’s job.

Lesson 2: God’s timing is always too late according to our timetable.

Lesson 3: God starts working just when we have given up.

Lesson 4: God’s way is always to lead to Christ and not to us.

Now, let me explain where these lessons are coming from: Lesson 1 – God wouldn’t use Moses when he was still the prince of Egypt. But it’s when Moses is humbled and became nothing – a shepherd in the desert – that God calls him to do a prince’s job! This always seems to be God’s way. God, time and time again, uses lowly things to accomplish something great. He does not send a prince to do a prince’s job, but rather He waits until that prince becomes a peasant to use him.

Lesson 2: You have to wonder about God’s efficiency! Would it have been better if God used Moses while he was still relatively young (40 years old vs 80) and still had connection to the palace? But that wouldn’t do. Moses would get the glory. But in this way, everyone would know that it was God who did it. God is almost always too late according to our timetable. He waits too long. But it is just right in retrospect to give maximum glory to God.

Lesson 3: When Moses was trying to save his people initially, he failed miserably. And only when he had long given up on the idea (he was in the desert for 40 years!), God started to act through him. God will wait until we throw up our hands and say, “I can’t do this, God! I give up!” And He still waits another decade or two before coming through! (I have too many examples of this in the Bible…)

Lesson 4: Ultimately, this story is not about Moses but about Jesus. Jesus didn’t come as the king of glory to save mankind, but as a carpenter! And when He died, it was too late (in our minds). All the disciples gave up on the idea of Him ever saving them and their nation when He died. See how Jesus’ story mirrors Moses’s? But rather, it is Moses’s story prefiguring Jesus’ story like a herald would go before the king to announce the king’s coming!

Can you see applications from these lessons? 1. If you feel like a peasant and not a king, that’s a good thing!…

Get back to the word of God and dig around for these nuggets of truth…

PH