Quick lessons from Moses

As mentioned in my previous post I'm reading through the Bible again this year.  I always love how, no matter how many times I read the Bible, God reminds me of a truth or reveals something new to me.  Yesterday and today there were two passages that stood out to me.  The first was one that "hit" me last year and the second is a "new hit" this year.  :)  Yet they both speak to the same lesson God was trying to teach Moses.

The first passage is in Exodus 3:11-12 "But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?" He said, "But I will be with you, and this shall be a sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain."  Moses asks God "who am I?"  God reminds Moses that it's not about Moses it's about who God is; God is the One who will do the work.  What is most important is that God will be with Moses.  God then gives Moses a promise...a sign...Moses will worship God again, with the freed Israelites on that very same mountain.  

In Exodus 4:10-13 Moses again questions his ability to succeed at the task God is asking him to do.  "But Moses said to the LORD, "Oh my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue." Then the LORD said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind?  Is it not I, the LORD? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.  But he said, "Oh, my Lord, please send someone else." God again reminds Moses that it is God who does the work, not Moses.  God equips for the tasks He sets.

Looking at the verses in Exodus 4 I noticed something interesting.  God refers to Himself as LORD, this is the English translation for the name Yahweh; while Moses refers to God as Lord, which is the English translation for Adonai.  The difference in these names is very telling about God's perspective vs. Moses perspective.  Moses uses the name/title Adonai which is a general term for lord meaning "master, one who has rule over you"  Moses recognizes that he is under God's rule but God reminds Moses of just WHO that Ruler is; Yahweh means "the one who brings into existence", I've also seen it referred to as God's covenant name because when God makes a promise in Scripture He uses the name Yahweh as the name He swears by (see Hebrews 6:13, Genesis 15:7).  God was telling Moses that He, as the promise-keeping God with all authority, would bring this freedom for the Israelites into existence.  Yahweh is the One Who equips, Yahweh gives purposes for each person.  How much greater is our God than what Moses was thinking...how often we are just like Moses; making our God small, relying on our own abilities...but that's not how God works.  He uses the weak, foolish things of this world to show how Great He is! (1 Corinthians 1) 

Psalm 139:16 Tells us that God has a purpose and plan for each of us "Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them."  Just like Moses we can fall into thinking that our purpose depends on us being strong enough, good enough, "fill in the blank" enough...that God gives us a task but then is hands off.  But God says no, that's not how He works.  God will be with us every step of the way, He will equip us for whatever He has for us to do.  The most important thing is the stay in His presence and seek His guidance every step of the way.