Let us turn to God's Word in
the chapter that we read in Exodus chapter 3 and turning now to
verses 11 and 12. Exodus chapter 3 verses 11 and
12 and Moses said unto God who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh
and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of
Egypt And he said, Certainly I will be with thee, and this
shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee, when thou hast
brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God
upon this mountain. In particular, that question
that is put by Moses, there in verse 11 Moses said unto God,
Am I? Who am I? In the previous part of the chapter
we of course have the records of the call of Moses to be the
deliverer of the children of Israel out of that cruel bondage
that they were experiencing in Egypt. In the first 10 verses
we have some detail concerning the manner of the Lord's coming
to him and giving him that commission. There at verse 10 he says, Come
now therefore and I will send thee unto Pharaoh that thou mayest
bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt. And it is interesting to remind
ourselves of the manner of that call that he received at this
particular time there in the opening part of the chapter where
we read of him as a shepherd caring for the sheep of his father-in-law
and coming even to the Mount Horeb that significant range
of mountains, the principal peak being Mount Sinai itself. And we're told there in verse
2, "...as the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame
of fire out of the midst of a bush. And he looked, and behold, the
bush burned with fire, and the bush was not burnt." And Moses
doesn't just turn aside and dismiss this site as some sort of mirage,
as he may well have done. He was obviously in a desert
place, a lonely spot, and he might have imagined that he was
simply seeing things. But he doesn't dismiss the sight
as a mirage. Moses said, I will now turn aside
and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. The Psalmist tells us who saw
his wife and will observe these things even they shall understand
the loving kindness of the Lord. Here is Moses, a man who is observant. Observant because he is a man
who evidently knows something of God, who has been pleased
to choose the afflictions of the children of Israel sooner
than all those riches that he might have enjoyed in the court
of Pharaoh. Now striking are the words that
follow here in the fourth verse, when the Lord saw that he turned
aside to see God called unto him out of the midst of the bush
when Moses turned aside to say James tells us draw nigh to God
and he will draw nigh to thee and so it was in the experience
of Moses as he turns aside so the Lord himself comes to him
and addresses him in a very personal way calls him by his own nigh
When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto
him out of the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses. Well, here is that one, you see,
who is known of God. This is why we can say that Moses
himself knew God, because he was known of God. Later, after
the foolish behavior of the children of Israel when they so quickly
transgressed the commandment of God in the matter of the golden
calf, and God had spoken of disinheriting them, and Moses comes to plead
that God do no such thing, that He yet will bring them into the
promised land. We have there in the 33rd chapter
something of the record of God's dealing again with Moses. In verse 12, Moses said unto
the Lord, See thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people and
thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me, yet thou
hast said, I know them by name, and thou hast also found grace
in my sight." And again at verse 17, the Lord says to Moses, I
will do this thing also that thou hast spoken, for thou hast
found grace in my sight, and I know them by name. All this
knowledge that God has of Moses, it is more than that omniscience
that belongs unto God, he knows all things. And he knows all
his creatures. Every creature is manifest in
his sight. All things are naked and open
to his view, but that's not the knowledge that he has of Moses. It is that intimate knowledge
of Christ. He is one of those whom the Lord has foreknown.
And whom he did foreknow, he also did predestine. What a knowledge
he has! He knows him by name. And yet, though Moses is a man
so favoured of God, how well God speaks to him here in verse
5. He said, Draw not nigh hither,
put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou
standest is holy ground. there must yet be that awe and
reverence. Though God know him, and though
God speak to him in a very personal fashion, he must not be over
familiar with the Almighty. He is receiving his call, is
he not? And was it not the same also
when the prophet Isaiah received his call? There in chapter 6
of the prophecy of Isaiah we see him in the temple And the
King, King Uzziah has died and there he beholds the very throne
of God. And God gives him commission
to be his prophet. But now Uzziah is made to feel
his own uncleanness. I am a man of unclean lips, he
says, and dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.
And mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. And one of
the seraphim takes the living coal, the burning coal from off
the brazen altar and applies it to his lip and he cleanses
him. All the application of that that
would take place on the brazen altar. the place of sacrifice. It's the application, is it not,
of that great work that is being typified, even the work of the
Lord Jesus Christ, to cleanse the lips of the prophet Isaiah. But now, there we see him filled
with awe before the throne of God. And so too, here, with this
man Moses, as God gives him commission also, put off thy shoes from
off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Is it not a fearful thing to
have any dealings with the Lord God himself? Keep thy foot, says
the preacher. When thou goest to the house
of God, be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of
fools, for they consider not what they do. Be not rash with
thy mouth, and let not thy heart be hasty to utter anything before
God, for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth. Therefore let
thy words be few as solemn it is. to have any dealings with
God. How serious a matter it is to
be those who would be the worshippers of God. Here is Moses and he
is filled with fear before the Lord. In verse 6, Moses hid his
face for he was afraid to look upon God. And yet whilst we see
that fear of God we also at the same time see something of his
humility as God gives him the call, God has come down to deliver
the children of Israel. Verse 8, I am come down to deliver
them out of the hand of the Egyptians to bring them up out of that
land onto a good land and a large onto a land flowing with milk
and honoured and it is this man Moses who is to do the bidding
of God come now therefore and I will send thee unto Pharaoh
that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel
out of Egypt but what does Moses say what humility we see in this
man verse 11 Moses said unto God who am I You'll observe here
in verse 11 how that word am is in italics. Moses literally
says to God, Who? I? Should I be the one who is to
do this great work and to deliver the children of Israel? Oh what
humility, what meekness! Are we not told in Numbers, Numbers
chapter 12 and verse 3, now the man Moses was very meek above
all the men that were upon the face of the earth." And what
is that meekness? Well, the word literally means
to be soft, to be gentle. The particular word that is used
there in Numbers 12 is from the verb to bow down. This meekness
then is associated with humility. And we see it, do we not, so
clearly here in the case of this man. Moses said unto God, Who? I. He feels himself to be so
unworthy to receive such a calling. Well, as we come to consider
these words in verses 11 and 12, first of all let us address
ourselves to the matter of Moses and what we see here of his you
militant. Moses said unto God, who am I,
that I should go unto Pharaoh and that I should bring forth
the children of Israel out of Egypt." Now he knew Pharaoh.
He knew something about the Pharaoh. He knew that this man was the
most wicked and the most cruel man. Had he not once been there
in the court of the Pharaoh when he had been taken by Pharaoh's
daughter from the river. Remember how he'd been hidden
there by his parents. Pharaoh's daughter had discovered
the child and she'd taken him to rear him as if he were her
own child. And we're told in chapter 2 and
verse 10 how the child grew and she brought him unto Pharaoh's
daughter, that was his mother who was nursing him for her,
and he became her son, and she called his name Moses, and she
said, because I drew him out of the water. And this man, this
was that Pharaoh who had arisen, who knew not Joseph, who had
been so cruel in his treatment of the Hebrews. Back in the opening chapter, of course,
we have the detail of his cruelty there at the end he charges all
his people saying every son that is born you shall cast into the
river every daughter you shall save alive and subsequently when
Moses rises to the defense of the Hebrews and kills a persecuting
Egyptian and then seeks to reconcile his brethren as they are arguing
amongst themselves and one turns and speaks to him of what he
had witnessed when he had slain the Egyptian. What does he say there in chapter
2 and verse 14? Who made thee a prince and a
judge over us? Intendest thou to kill me as
thou killest the Egyptian? And Moses feared. and said, Surely
this thing is known. Now when Pharaoh heard this thing,
he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face
of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian, and he sat down by
a well. He could have been destroyed
as a child, of course. He was not in the providence
of God, in the mysterious dealings of God. He was preserved and
taken to the royal court. But even then, as a man, and
he was 40 years of age at the time, Pharaoh would have destroyed
him again, he could have been killed. He knew something about
this man, did Moses. He knew he was a wicked king.
And was he not a man who was also very wary of the Hebrews? It was now 40 years later when
we see him caring for the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law. We're told something of the detail,
are we not, concerning the history of Moses in that noble defense
that the martyr Stephen makes. There in the 7th chapter of Acts
we see Stephen recounting something of God's dealings with the children
of Israel as he seeks to defend himself before those who are
his persecutors. And look at the way he speaks
there in that seventh chapter at verse Verse 23, When he was full forty
years old, he came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children
of Israel. And seeing one of them suffer
wrong, he defended him and avenged him that was oppressed and smote
the Egyptians. For he supposed his brethren would have understood
how the God by his hand would deliver them, but they understood
not. And the next day he showed himself unto them as they strove,
and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren,
why do ye wrong one to another? But he that did his neighbour
wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge
over us? Will thou kill me, as thou didst the Egyptians yesterday? And then we are told how he fled
to Midian, verse 30, when forty years were expired. there appeared
to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai an angel of the Lord in
the flame of fire in the bush." It was 40 years previously then,
clearly, that he thought he could be of some help to the Hebrews,
and yet he was thrust away from them. He was doubtless weary. concerning the reception he would
receive when he went back amongst them. Who am I that I should
go on to Pharaoh? Who am I that I should bring
forth the children of Israel? Had they not previously rejected
the very suggestion? And this man, of course, feels
very weak and inadequate in himself. Who are, he asks, who are? We see something of the same
spirit, do we not, when we read of Gideon receiving his call
there in Judges chapter 6. You are my father's house, he
says. He feels himself to be so utterly
unworthy, me Lord. Why me? These men, as it were,
are brought to look to themselves, to point the finger to themselves.
to feel themselves to be on feet for such a calling. Here in chapter
4 in verse 10 Moses says unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not
eloquent neither heretofore nor since thou hast spoken unto thy
servant but I am slow of speech and of a slow tongue. We see time and again I say with
these men whom God is pleased to raise up and give call and
commission to, we have it with Jeremiah. In Jeremiah chapter
1 and verse 6, our Lord, behold, he says, I cannot speak for I
am a child. Just like Moses. That was Jeremiah's
assessment of himself. And this that we read in chapter
4 and verse 10 is Moses' assessment of himself. He's not fit for
such a calling as this. And yet, what is it said concerning
this man Moses? There in the words of Stephen
in Acts chapter 7, Moses was learned, he says, in all the
wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and in deeds. He didn't think that of himself,
and yet that is what Stephen says concerning him. How the
Lord was dealing with this man, and how the Lord in a sense was
all the time preparing him for that work that he must undertake.
Was not God in these things when he was taken from out of the
bulrushes, taken from the river, and brought to the court of Pharaoh? wasn't guiding things when he
was first rejected by the Hebrews and so must fly and go and be
40 years as a shepherd there in the wilderness. Moses kept
the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law we're told, the priest of Midian
and he led the flock to the back side of the desert and came to
the mountain of Horeb. How he as to experience these
things, in order that he might be properly fitted for that work
to which the Lord God was going to call him. Concerning Ezekiel,
we read how he ministered to those of the exile, those who
were taken into captivity. And there in Ezekiel 3.15, he
says, I sat where they sat, and I remained astonished among them,
seven died. Now he had to sit where they
sat. And now Moses, you see, he needs
to be in the Egyptian court to prepare him for so great a work
and yet he must also know something of the bitter experience of the
children of Israel. And so he must be forty years
in a wilderness just as his poor people were so cruelly persecuted. As God says in verse 7, I have
surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt,
and have heard their cry by reason of the taskmasters, for I know
their sorrows. Oh, this man must know something
of sorrows and difficulties. If he's going to be a faithful
servant of God, the Lord is in these things. In that sense,
as he is prepared, so there is none more fit, we might say,
than this man Moses for such a task." I thought the remarks
of Bishop Joseph Hall, Bishop of Norwich, back in the 17th
century, in that lovely book of his, Contemplations, in which
he expounds really much of the scripture in a spiritual sense. But this is one of the observations
that Bishop Paul makes with regards to God's dealings with this man
Moses. He says, the more fit any man
is for whatever vocation, the less so he thinks himself. The man who thinks himself most
unfit, the good bishop is saying, is the man who is most fit. And
now that is the case here with this man. He might say to the
Lord God, in the words of the text, who am I? Who am I that
I should go unto Pharaoh and that I should bring forth the
children of Israel? I'm not fit for such a task as
this. And yet, he is the man who is
most fit. because he has such a low opinion
of himself, he is so humble before God. He is the meekest of men. The Apostle Paul confesses with
regards to himself and his own ministry, when I am weak, then
am I strong. Or they might say to him, those
two who were striving together, who made thee a prince and a
judge over us? Yes, he was at first rejected,
but by that experience he was so humbled. And as to go for
those 40 years into the wilderness of Midian, it's all part of his
preparation, is it not? Humble yourselves therefore under
the mighty hand of God, says Peter, that he may exalt you
in due season. So it was with this man. Or they
might say to him, or that particular individual might question him,
Who art thou? That thou art a prince and a
judge over us. Well, it was God who made him
such. It was God who dealt with him. He is, I say, the meekest
of men, and we see it in the question that he puts to God. Who am I? I'm not fit for this task. But
here is one, you see, who is so much helped by the Lord God
Himself. And so, I want to turn in the
second place to say something with regards to the way in which
the Lord appears for him, and the Lord helps him. When we see
it, do we not here in verse 12. God says to him, Certainly I
will be with thee, and this shall be a token unto thee that I have
sent thee. When thou hast brought forth
the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. God would give him a token for
good. This morning reading at home
we read those words in the in the psalm, where the psalmist
desires God to grant him a token for good, a token for good. The end of Psalm 86, show me
a token for good, that they which hate me may see it and be ashamed,
because thou, Lord, hast opened me and comforted me. It's not wrong, it's not improper,
is it, for us to ask God to grant us tokens. Tokens of His favour,
tokens of His blessing, tokens of His goodness towards us. Here we see that God promises
to do this very thing for Moses. This shall be a token unto these
things. Moses was a meek man. But that
meekness that we see in the man Moses is not something natural. It's interesting, is it not,
that when we read the scriptures we see particular characteristics
in certain of the Lord's people. You have heard of the patience
of Job, says James, or the endurance, how Job He's renowned for his
endurance, his perseverance, his patience. Now, Abraham, of
course, is renowned for his faith. He is the father of all them
that believe, but endurance was not natural in Job, and faith
was not natural in Abraham, and meekness is not natural here
in the man Moses. It is that that is there by the
sovereign operation of the Spirit of God in his soul. It is the
fruit of the Spirit, is it not? Meekness. It's mentioned there
at the end of Galatians chapter 5, the fruit of the Spirit is
meekness amongst other things. This meekness, you see, is what
God accomplished in this man's soul. And so the Lord is dealing
with him. And as I say, we see that so
clearly in the way in which the Lord God speaks to him. Here
in verse 12 he says, Who am I? God says, Certainly I will be
with thee. This shall be a token unto them
that I have sent thee. When thou hast brought forth
the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. Two things then that we see with
regards to God's word to him. First of all, he is assured,
is he not, of the presence of God. When he asked, who am I,
that I should go, in verse 11, our God gives a very specific
answer to that. I will be with thee, says the
Lord God. He is not to fear to go, though He might know that
Pharaoh is the most wicked prince, though he might be wary even
of the Hebrews who had once rejected him. Yet he's not to be afraid,
because God says He will go with him. And we see how the Lord
God reassures him again, as we've already said there in chapter
33. And verses 14 and 15. If I have the right verses,
which I don't have. But God does certainly reassure
him. It is chapter 33, verse 14. He says, My presence shall go
with thee, and I will give thee rest. And he said unto him, If
thy presence go not with me, carry us not up. Hence how he
felt his need always of that reassurance of the presence of
God. But isn't that the case with
God's children in general? How they feel to need to know
that the Lord God is with them at every turn, in every situation. We see it in David, do we not? When he speaks in the familiar
words of Psalm 23, I will fear no evil, he says, for thou art
with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort
me. Here is that that assures him
of safety. He need not be afraid. Why? Because
God is with him. And if God before us, says the
Apostle, who can be against us? Here is a man then who is meek. Here is a man who is lowly and
humble. Here is a man who feels so much
of his own weakness. But God assures him that he will
know that gracious presence of the Lord. Certainly I will be
with thee, he says. God says, to this man will I
look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and
trembleth at my word. All those who are tremblers before
God. And Moses is such a one as that,
is he not? And he trembles at the presence
of God as he appears to him here in that bush that is burned,
and yet that bush that is not consumed. How he is afraid of
God, and yet the Lord God comes to him and reassures him. He will have the presence of
God. That's the great help. But as he has God's presence,
so we see, and we also hear, as God's promise. This is the token that God has
given to him. It's a promise, is it not? This
shall be a token unto thee that I have sent thee. When thou hast
brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God
upon this mountain." Now what is the mountain? We're told at
the beginning of the chapter. He took the flock to the backside
of the desert and came, it says, to the mountain of God, even
to Horeb. Why is Horeb the Mountain of
God? Well, it wasn't the Mountain
of God at that time, but it would, in due course, become the very
Mountain of God because that was the place where God would
bring the children of Israel and where God would enter into
covenant with the children of Israel. We have the Covenant,
of course, in the Ten Commandments here in chapter 20, but we have
the setting of it all there in the previous chapter, chapter
19. In the third month when the children of Israel were gone
forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the
wilderness of Sinai. And then at verse 3, Moses went
up unto God, and the Lord called unto him out of the mountains,
saying, Thou shalt they say to the house of Jacob and to the
children of Israel." This is the Mount of God. This is the
place where God will enter into covenant with his people. And
when Moses is recounting those events in Deuteronomy, remember
after the 40 years of wandering through the wilderness themselves
Moses had been in the wilderness 40 years being prepared they
would be 40 years in the wilderness Moses leading them and then they
come to the borders of the promised land there in Deuteronomy and
we have in chapter 5 of Deuteronomy the second account of those commandments,
the Ten Commandments the words of the covenant that God had
made with the children of Israel. And Moses says in chapter 5 and
verse 2 of that book of Deuteronomy, the Lord our God made a covenant
with us in Horeb. So this is the very mantras. This is the place where the Lord
God appeared to him in the burning bush. And that very spot where God
first appeared to him and gave him this call and this commission
was the place where he would bring the children of Israel
and God himself would descend upon the mount and God himself
would speak those 10 words and God himself would take that people
to him as his own covenant people. Oh, what a token it is then!
This shall be a token unto them that I have sent when thou hast
brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God
upon this mountain." And as he has the promise of God, so we
have that promise here being confirmed again by God's oath. What is the first thing that
we have God saying here in verse 12? He says, He doesn't just say, I will be
with thee and this shall be a token unto thee that I have sent thee.
He says, certainly. It is, as it were, the word of
God's oath. God, willing more abundantly
to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his will,
confirmed it by an oath. All this is what God does, is
it not? In that sense, He magnifies His
Word above all His name. As the psalmist says, God doesn't
just give His Word, He confirms His Word with an oath. He swears
by Himself. How He magnifies His Word. And
our friends, we should be those therefore who reverence the sacred
page of Scripture. All the promises of God. Here
we're dealing with Moses. Well, when we come, of course,
to that new covenant, that better covenant, is it not, as Paul
says to the Hebrews, founded upon better promises? And are
not all the promises of God in the Lord Jesus Christ, Yahi,
and in Him, Amen? Well, that, friends, is our comfort,
is it not? We have the Word of God. And
this is what God is giving here to his servant Moses. What a
token for good when God is pleased to bring that word and apply
it to our hearts, make it real in our lives. Moses is a meek
man. Moses is clearly a man much humble
before the Lord. He asks that question. He says
unto God, who am I? Who am I? I'm so insignificant. But he
might ask that question. What is the answer that God ultimately
gives to him? Verse 14, God said unto Moses,
I am that I am. Moses might ask, who am I? And God's answer to him is this,
I am. I am the Lord. I change not. Therefore ye sons of Jacob are
not consumed." Oh God be pleasing to grant to us that encouragement
that we find here in the way in which the Lord deals with
his servant, giving him this call, this commission. The man
who felt himself to be so unfit and yet was so fitted by the
Lord God himself. Moses says to God, who am I that
I should go unto Pharaoh? that I should bring forth the
children of Israel out of Egypt. And God answers, Certainly I
will be with them. This shall be a token unto thee
that I have sent them. When thou hast brought forth
the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. May the Lord bless his word to
us. June is Buckland, 450.