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Moses, A Biblical Study

By J. J. Van Oosterzee

Chapter 3 The Call

'God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses! And he said, Here am I.' — Ex. iii. 48.

It was a remarkable message from God that came, at a critical juncture, to Habakkuk, the prophet of the Lord in the kingdom of Judah. Like a watchman on a lofty tower, the seer is now standing at his lonely post, waiting an answer from Jehovah to the sorrowful complaint which he had just poured forth. There he is bidden write on tablets, by the wayside, what shall be declared to him in vision, so that any passer-by observing it may stop to read the sacred writ. It shall, indeed, be some time yet before the long-expected day of God's salvation dawns; faith, deeply though it has been tried already, has not undergone, as yet, the final test. Nevertheless, by thus deferring hope, so very far must Israel's heart be from becoming sick, that, on the contrary, expectancy must rise to greater heights of joy. The Lord takes vengeance, even though He may not actually say He shall; and hence the man of God has these words uttered in his ears, from heaven above: 'Although He tarry, wait for Him; for He shall surely come. He shall not come behind the proper time.'

'Though He tarry, wait for Him; for He shall surely come.' Am I far wrong in saying that this is a message of most deep significance from God to all His friends, throughout all history? Indeed, two brief expressions here present us with God's way of dealing towards men throughout all time. 'The Lord tarrieth,' — there is the one: 'The Lord cometh,' — there is the other. He tarries, when He lets His people walk in darkness; and He comes, when He makes plain, before the face of heaven and earth, that He can do beyond what we may ask or think. He tarries, frequently far longer than we in shortsightedness thought good, or in rash haste deemed possible; He comes, and in a manner much more manifest, and wonderful, and glorious, than our weak faith had ever thought or asked. He tarries, just that He may come; and when He comes, then it appears that 'light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.'¹ How often it has happened in the history of this same Israel, so peculiarly a people in expectancy, but yet a people that repeatedly beheld their King appear, to crush oppressors in their tyranny, and to deliver the oppressed ones that cried out to Him for help! Yes, what a minor prophet thus bears witness to, has been experienced in all its force by him who was the greatest prophet of the Old Economy; and even though we had no other proof, the call of Moses to be Israel's deliverer remains a permanent reminder of the truth we never lay sufficiently to heart, that the God of Israel is One that tarries, — the God of Israel is One that surely comes!

The call of Moses: — we must readily confess that it is not without reluctance we have now prepared ourselves to pass from a consideration of his birth and training-time, and deal with all the rich material before us here. Already we have been unable to regard the man of God, first as a child of Providence, and then a pupil in the school of hard experience, without adoring God at every turn. But when we, for the first time, bid you look on him as called to be Jehovah's prophet, God's own voice seems, with redoubled force, to sound within our heart, 'The place whereon ye stand is holy ground! 'But the page now open to our eyes must ever occupy a special and important place in Moses' history, in that of Israel, and that of all God's kingdom on the earth. Here we see Moses brought quite to the turning-point, for which much preparation has most carefully been made through eighty long and, in so many ways, most anxious years. At last, high over all the blazing fires that issue from the brick-kilns, we perceive the flaming torch that shows to Israel the path of their deliverance. Here we can see, prepared, announced, and actually begun, the setting-up of the Theocracy among the most remarkable of all the nations of antiquity. Now there begins a quite new series of events, of revelations, and deliverances, shown in a barren wilderness; and if you seek an explanation of the character in which Moses, the man of God, appears, you find it given as if by light reflected from the burning bush. The Lord here, for the first time, comes into close and personal connection with the man, concerning whom one — not a sacred writer — has inscribed these words: 'He was as great as any man could have been before the Gospel; 'while, on the other hand, a sacred writer, in the grandeur of simplicity, has said, in language still more beautiful: 'There arose no prophet since like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.'² Even though we had no more before us now than the account of a mere passing incident, whose consequences have extended through long centuries, and in a certain sense continue to exert their influence even at the present day, yet we could never tread this hallowed ground till we had stripped our shoes from off our feet. But we have not yet marked the point from which this picture may be seen most advantageously. The call of Moses, as it has been termed, was a revelation of the glory of God. If, as our Lord has said, this is eternal life, that we know Him, the one true God, then here, as in a mirror, there is shown us who God is, what He would be to us, and what He may require us to become towards Himself Are we not right in saying that we shall derive most benefit and blessing from consideration of the call of Moses, when we view it as a picture of the present, and a training-school for time to come? Even after making all allowance for acknowledged differences, there still remain sufficient points of likeness to support us in the view we take of it. Setting aside archaeological and exegetical questions, which are of minor consequence for our design, we fix upon the text as being suitable for introduction to the view presented us, not merely in the whole of this third chapter of the book of Exodus, but also at the last part of the second and the greater portion of the fourth. Come, read for your own selves, as if by light shed from the burning bush, how God (1) understands His people's cry, (2) breaks their bonds, (3) decides upon the mode in which they shall be called, (4) strengthens their weakness, and (5) rewards them for obedience to His word.

Lord, Thou hast made known Thy ways unto Moses, Thine acts unto the children of Israel; show us also this day that Thou art merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth! Amen.

Forty years have passed away since Moses' first attempt to break the yoke of Israel's slavery. But, alas, how far the people are from crying out, like Joseph once, with joy: 'God hath made me forget all my trouble! 'The voice of history is silent as to all that passed during that period; but what else would have been related than sad scenes of blood and tears? At last there dawns a ray of light; the king of Egypt now is dead, — he who has such a reckoning to make of fathers' curses, mothers' screams, and murders of so many innocents. 'Take courage, ye oppressed ones! the tyrant now has bowed his head before the king of terrors!' — but, alas! the respite lasts no longer than the time for which the princely throne remains unoccupied. The change of master only brought the slaves still deeper slavery; and this they felt all the more painfully, because they had, for a brief moment, dreamed and wished for better times — the wish was all they could enjoy. The morning seemed to have arrived, but the night came on still darker than before; yet Israel has at last learned to do something else than make complaint, for they begin to pray with importunity unknown before. 'Their cry by reason of their bondage came up unto God,' so runs ver. 23 of the preceding chapter. When all hope of escape had been cut off around them, and no king on earth gave ear to their complaints, then was their eye, wearied with shedding tears, turned towards heaven; and though they find it thickly covered with dark clouds all round, yet they perceive that there is still above, beyond these clouds, one cheering star, — God's covenant made with His friends. Can there be any doubt that these grand promises, given of old by God to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, came latterly with an increasing force before the minds of those at least who were the leaders of God's Israel, and furnished them with grounds for humble supplication to the Lord. 'Methinks I hear once more a voice from Goshen, — lamentation and weeping and great mourning; and the burden of the lamentation, consciously or all unconsciously expressed, is this: 'Oh that Thou wouldest rend the heavens, that Thou wouldest come down, O God of our fathers!'³ But this they have been praying for so long already, that it seems as if their prayer has not been heard. Nay, now they pray no longer without being heard; for listen to the touching story: 'And God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them.' How glorious and how adorable a God is He of whom the Bible speaks! The philosopher imagines that he gives the highest honour to his God, when he portrays Him as a Being quite supreme, unchangeable; that once made all things, and arranged them perfectly, so that He now can let them all go on, guided by their own laws, while there appears no need for further interference on His part to stop the restless wheel of this world's history. The wheel revolves on its own axis, — wounds one, bruises another, and drives aside a third. 'But cries we utter in distress avail us not; our prayers are sighs by which we vent our pent-up griefs and find relief, but have not even the slightest power with God; and our complaints but perish on the winds that daily bear them heavenwards.' Were this the true conception of what God is towards men, what better counsel could we give to those in suffering than that which Job's wife gave to him in his severe afflictions, — to curse God, and then die in dark despair? But no; the God of Scripture comes before us in a manner far more human, and, just for that reason, more divine; and He affords us opportunities of uttering our hearts' desires. A God that lives, and thinks, and sees, and hears, and shows more pity than a mother to her weeping child, — such is the God of Israel, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! Do you not feel this more and more intensely, in proportion as you have imbibed the spirit of these glorious words of Sacred Writ? High on His throne rules the Omnipotent, angels of light surrounding Him; deep in the dust, a few degraded slaves beseech Heaven's pity in their wretched state. No earthly prince esteems them worthy even of a single look; but from the heights of heaven an eye of pity is directed towards the disconsolate, who ever sink the deeper down into their sea of misery. Do they deserve to have bestowed on them by God such thoughts of peace? They scarce retain a single trace of Abraham's faith and Isaac's gentleness, of Jacob's courage and of Joseph's fear of God; and what the Lord spake later, by Ezekiel, He may even now declare: 'Be it known unto you that I do not these things for your sakes, O house of Israel; be ashamed, and blush for your ways.'⁴ But if the Lord's compassion be quite undeserved, it is, besides, eternal, faithful, plenteous. Though Israel is now reared in Egypt as if by a stepmother, God still regards them as the heirs of Abraham's blessing; and although the altars where His covenant was entered into now stand desolate, the covenant itself endures, firm and immoveable as Horeb's rocks. He still remembers, even when He but seems to forget; the welcome words: 'Lo, here am I,' burn, as it were, upon His lips; another instant, and the dark cloud breaks, His mighty arm is raised! Stand here a moment now, ye who so often have complained with Jacob, 'My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God!'⁵ Once more we are reminded of the story told us in our youth by pious lips, how, in the days when French oppression, with its leaden sceptre, lay upon our native land, and people had even lost all courage to complain, consideration of these words: 'And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them,' revived and comforted God's people in a way unknown before. What welcome words to a down-trodden nation, a poor family, or a disciple of the Lord who thinks he is forsaken utterly! But who has not yet learned that he must be of all men the most wretched, if he could no longer find support from this, the last and only comfort that remained: 'Thou hast seen it, for Thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with Thy hand?'⁶ Give ear to this, ye children of the Lord, who may perhaps, like Israel, have toilsome service to perform on earth, and an increasing struggle to maintain! Hear this, ye wicked ones, who often feel your heart creep when you look on others' sorrow which you cannot lighten or remove! There is One over all from whom no single groan is hid; and if He has established with you too, in Christ, an everlasting covenant of grace and mercy, then, although the hills and mountains may depart. His word and faithfulness can never fail. It is with you even as with Israel: your yoke is made the heavier, that you may learn to pray more earnestly; the sigh must rise to a complaint, and the complaint become a cry that finds an echo in the heart of God our everlasting Father. 'Forget!' The word is to be found in your vocabulary only, not in His; and there is not a silent tear which falls upon hands clasped in prayer that is not gathered carefully into the bottle of the Lord. 'When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them; I the God of Israel will not forsake them.'⁷

But do you think these statements are extreme? Then do but come and see how God breaks through His peoples chains. From Egypt, our imagination carries us to Midian, where we no longer feel quite strange. Picture a lonely mountain range, with rocks and cliffs dispersed throughout; to use the language of a modern writer, ^ a dark sea of lava, with huge waves that reach to heaven, suddenly converted into stone when they are at their greatest height.' There, through the night, a solitary shepherd walks about, surrounded only by his peaceful flock; how changed he is since we beheld him last! It is no longer the proud youth, who drove away the shepherds in their rudeness, and then gave Zipporah's flocks to drink. The ardour of his youth has given place to calmness; the sapling has become a sturdy cedar; now the breath of God begins to play upon its branches, showing there its power. What strange sight is it he beholds in the vicinity of yonder Horeb? A bush that still retains its fresh, green look amidst the ruddy glow of fire. What voice is it he hears, when he approaches calmly to behold the wondrous sight.'' The voice of Him who is the Angel of the Lord, on whom the name 'Jehovah 'stands inscribed, who is adored and reverenced as God, and in whom believers of all times have recognised the Son of God, who sometimes showed Himself to men before He took the human form. 'Moses, Moses! 'sounds from among the flames; 'It is the Lord,' is the response that issues from the depth of his soul. How joyful was that moment, when, for the first time after four centuries had passed, the voice that had so long been silent was heard yet once more! And what a meeting, face to face, between this child formed of the dust and Him who is the God of heaven and earth! Nay, when the line that separates between the two is overstepped, then must the dust of earth be shaken 'off the feet that press upon the threshold of God's holy place. But scarce has Moses shown obedience to the call, ere it appears who this is that has deigned to show a single ray of His own glory to a mortal eye. Are you surprised that Jethro's shepherd hides his face with both his hands while Israel's Shepherd speaks t And now, let any one describe to me the deep astonishment, the joy, the hope that entered Moses' heart, when, step by step, the Lord leads him into the secret of His purpose to deliver Israel! But what need is there for rehearsing, word for word, the whole of God's address (vers. 7-10), seeing you would require to listen with the ear of one like Moses, so that you might fully comprehend the grandeur of it all? If Moses had been able to conceive what riches of compassion would be shown him after this great exhibition of God's majesty, I fancy that he would have listened to the words from heaven, not standing, but on bended knees, and with his face bowed to the earth. The Lord assures him now of what could never have occurred to any human heart. He is aware of Israel's grief; He manifestly has come down from heaven, to which the cry for help has risen; He will deliver Israel from the Egyptians' hands, and lead them to a land that flows with milk and honey; already has the place been fixed upon where the descendants of His friends shall rest from toil and strife. What pleasant news for Moses! The dearest wish, then, of his heart is really to be fulfilled, just when he was afraid he must descend into the grave with an unanswered prayer. But what a prospect, too, for Israel! And yet they little think or understand how God, just at this very time, is busy in another portion of the world, engaged in strengthening 'the arm that shall deliver them. Freedom instead of slavery, plenty instead of want, honey and milk instead of tears and streams of blood! And above all, how grand a revelation of the glory of the Lord! Possessing this, we do not need, like Moses, to inquire the name of Him whose words we hear. But tell me, which do you regard as the more wonderful, — the mighty power that breaks the fetters of the slaves as if they were but straws, and brings to Israel the freedom they had sought incessantly; or the great wisdom which allowed distress to grow to such a height that the deliverance might be the more astonishing and glorious? Or yet again, — the holiness which stops the sinner with the words, 'Draw not nigh hither;' or the love that condescends to make one who was born a slave its confidant, by making known the plan for rescuing a nation from its slavery? Or, finally, the majesty which clothes itself in flames of fire, or the eternal faithfulness shown in the words, 'I Am that I Am?' JEHOVAH! I venture not to sound the depths that word conceals, not from the eyes of men alone, but those of angels too. Nor do I venture to pronounce decisively upon the question whether this great name had hitherto been quite unknown to Israel, or whether, as some others hold, it had been known before, but afterwards was buried in oblivion. I merely ask whether you know of a more glorious name borne by the God of mercy, or a more appropriate occasion upon which He could Himself reveal and give an explanation of the name? Well might this Moses sing in after years: 'Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth,' — even this Horeb, — 'or ever Thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting. Thou art God!'⁸ Well might Isaiah testify in later times: 'In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the Angel of His presence saved them; in His love and in His pity He redeemed them; and He bare them and carried them all the days of old.'⁹ In flaming characters, there has been here inscribed for every age: 'Israel's salvation is the work of God.' 'Happy art thou, O Israel; who is like unto thee?'¹⁰ Who, certainly, if not the many wretched ones that cried unto the Lord and gained His ear, and who are now constrained to render thanks unto the Lord, when they had almost groaned 'Impossible'? Who more than you and I, if we can thank Him for deliverance still greater than that which was here prepared for Israel — deliverance, too, which, no less than the other, warrants joyous words like these: 'The Lord looseth the prisoners'?¹¹ But is it not true, fellow Christians, that we have groaned beneath a yoke of bondage heavier by far than Egypt's, and that we were quite as little able to emancipate ourselves as the posterity of Jacob were to break their heavy chains? Nothing had we to recommend us than our overwhelming misery; but that which was impossible with men seemed possible with Him — the Lord our God. He knew us, just as He knew Israel, and loved us with an everlasting love; and when we could not come to Him, then He broke down the separating wall and came to us. In Christ, He chose, called, justified us freely by His grace; and He has put to flight, before us, enemies far mightier than those He scattered from before this Israel; He has, besides, revealed to us the prospect of a better Canaan than that earthly one. He leads us thither, as it were by His own hand, out of the house of bondage, through the world into the heavenly home; nor does He rest ere the great work of our redemption is completed there. Well does that work deserve the name 'redemption;' and yet, even when this great concern has been for ever settled between God and our own hearts, how much experience we have, besides, that ever draws from us again the words, 'Unto God the Lord belong the issues from death!'¹² We cannot weigh or measure what these words contain; but even though we had no other proof, here they remain, a standing witness to the truth and force of what received such confirmation in the heart of Midian, and that, too, in a way so little likely to be soon forgotten: 'I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Israel are not consumed.'¹³

What thanksgiving shall we accord Him for all this? Another special point, presented by the context, gives us the reply to what has now been asked. A God who carefully determines all that is connected with the calling of His people: such is the third ray of the light shed on us from the burning bush. We now have reached what properly was the chief object of this most mysterious phenomenon. Up till this point, it has been only Israel's future of which Moses was informed; now, suddenly, the enigma of his own life is solved. 'Come, therefore,' cries the voice (ver. 10), 'and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring my people out of Egypt.' Nay, it is no mere dream; he shall himself become the instrument employed by God to break the rod of the oppressor. He must even go and gather all the elders, and then tell them what has now occurred. He must again, casting aside all fear, enter that palace where, some fifty years before, he had been so well known, though now he had become unknown; and in the name of Israel's God, he must compel His most rebellious subject on the throne to do his duty, and obey. Designedly, he must as yet tell Pharaoh only something of the truth; if there be a refusal even of the moderate request to go and offer sacrifice, then will come out what is within the tyrant's heart, and what the Lord shall do to humble him. No; Moses need not doubt that it is God Himself who gives him this commission; for this selfsame mountain (ver. 12), where he is to offer sacrifices afterwards with God's own people, forms to him the plainest token of his heavenly call. His call, — what can we say regarding this which you have not already thought of long ago? How honourable was this errand, — to be sent to Pharaoh with the full authority of Heaven; to stand as mediator between Heaven and earth; to come forth as the trusted servant of that God concerning whom the wisest men in Egypt could but form the merest guess! All honour to this great ambassador of God! He is the first who was endowed with a prophetic ministry, properly so called, and thus begins the series of those most venerable men of God, of whom the Lord's forerunner is to be the greatest and the last. But what an arduous calling, too, this was, to stand forth, as the herald of a higher power, before a purpled tyrant; to re-inspire, with an elastic faith, a race in whom not even the slightest spark of hope remained; to stand alone before all Egypt, whereas, formerly, he fled before the shadow of a single Egyptian! And specially, how wise and holy was this calling! For if there be one single mortal to whom God can well entrust this task, which angels possibly would covet readily, who is more fitted for the work than Moses has become? No, not before; but now has come the time to take upon himself the leadership of the oppressed, and save, not one, but a vast multitude — six hundred thousand Israelites! Till now, the prince and princess who adopted him were still alive, and them he could not face without risk of reproach for base, cruel ingratitude; but now another king is on the throne, one towards whom he feels no obligation, and of whom he is quite independent. Hitherto, God's Israel had not received sufficient humbling — had not been harassed and crushed enough in soul, so as to kiss the hand that came for their deliverance; but now, from every mouth and heart there comes one cry for liberty. Before this time, though Moses was endowed with many gifts, he had not been sufficiently matured for his important task; but now, he has not merely been at the preparatory school of Egypt's wisdom, but besides, the higher school of trial in the land of Midian, That heart, once as excitable as any sea, has now grown firm, like Horeb's granite rocks; that spirit, which in early life showed such rich blossoms full of promises, now gives plain indications of a fully ripened crop; that hand, which had so long wielded the shepherd's staff, has now at last attained sufficient steadiness to bear the rod of God with a becoming dignity. If God had waited longer still, then Moses' shoulders would have grown too feeble to receive the burden, almost quite beyond man's power to bear; if God had called him earlier, the instrument would not have been quite strong enough for all the work; thus, ^ now or never 'is the motto acted on in Moses' life! He hears his name called twice, just as, at later periods, the summons, 'Samuel, Samuel,' 'Simon, Simon,' 'Saul, Saul,' marked those thus named as chosen vessels of the Lord, even as it was with Moses now; and Horeb here becomes the grand dividing line between the second period of his life and that which follows it. Once more: I am quite well aware there is a difference between this Moses and ourselves; but is not Moses' call a type and figure of a calling quite as glorious, prepared for Christ's redeemed? Yes, when we shall have actually been redeemed by Christ, — but not before, — then we too shall be consecrated prophets of the Christian faith. We have no more oppressed ones to lead out, but each one must work zealously for the promotion of his neighbour's highest joy; no longer have we to defy proud princes, but to show unto a hostile world whose we all are, and whom we wish to serve; no longer have we wonders to perform, but we ourselves are to be real, living wonders of the power of faith and love: such is the calling, Christian brethren, set before you by One who is greater far than Moses ever was! And no less sacred is it than the task here laid on us: the people of the Lord are destined to become a people not of kings and priests merely, but of prophets too. And as it was with Moses, so is it with every one of us; God, in His wisdom, fixes the position and the sphere of all. The word of God came unto us, your ministers, that we should feed the flock of Christ; it came to you who are the heads of families, that each one in his sphere should show himself a legible epistle to commend the gospel unto those around. The word of God came unto you, rich men, that you should show yourselves good, faithful stewards of the wealth lent you while here below; and to you who are indigent, that ye should work in quietness, and eat the bread of poverty. The Lord's word came to you, young men, in order that ye should be strong and overcome the wicked one; and to you, parents, that ye should bring up your children in the instruction and admonition of the Lord. Each one has his own sphere: Moses had his, and you have yours, as we have ours, distinct from that of every other man; but all are called to serve one Master. This daily calling of the Christian may not quite accord with his own heart's desire; but Moses is none the less engaged in working for the Lord when he leads Jethro's sheep, than when he marches out, the leader of the Israelites. Our daily calling in this life may change, often quite unexpectedly, and quite apart from any wish of ours: when Moses was quite willing, God in highest wisdom was not willing yet; but as soon as it appears that the Lord is truly willing, Moses must needs follow Him. The duties which we must perform in following this calling may become, instead of lighter, heavier with the advance of years, but the potter certainly has power over the clay, to do with it what he may wish; and when we have been placed, each at his post, not for ourselves but for the Lord, whom we can serve in every sphere, what harm is there though we must strive even unto blood, if only He is glorified? 'Faithful is He that calleth you;'¹⁴ and unto all His own He constantly repeats the words addressed to Moses: 'I shall surely be with thee!'¹⁵ Ye who are called to be His saints, why do ye hesitate to answer Him with all your heart: 'Speak, Lord; I too. Thy servant, shall incline mine ear'?

But possibly you put your hand into your bosom, quite dispirited, while the complaint escapes your lips: 'Who is sufficient for all this.''' You are like Moses, in your feebleness of faith! Come, and for your encouragement hear, fourthly, how the Lord gives strength unto His own when they are weak. Might we not have imagined that the call of Moses should have given him supreme delight? So far is this from the reality, that he even trembles, just as if he were upon the verge of an abyss. Shall he now go to Pharaoh, and experience once more the selfsame failure which befell him forty years before? One trouble brings another in its train. 'He does not even know in whose name he must speak to Israel. People will not believe him; they will say the Lord hath not appeared to him. He is not eloquent, but slow of speech and tongue.' And when the difficulties have at last been all summed up before Jehovah, then the timid words, 'I cannot,' are all but withdrawn for the rebellious words, 'I will not;' so does he beseech that, as a favour, he shall be now let go free. Do you exclaim within your heart, 'The disobedient, the rebellious Moses'.-'I doubt much whether you who say so ever fairly looked into the soul of that great man of God, and fully put yourself into his place. Would you indeed have gone, unhesitatingly, at the first hint? Even if you had, the question would remain, whether you would have done your work so faithfully and well all through. A thoughtless man will go at once wherever a new road presents itself, although it only be to stumble over obstacles. A thoughtful man will hesitate and ponder what he does, but only to remain firm and immoveable after his doubts are overcome. Moses, undoubtedly, pursued his course of opposition much too far; and his concluding words especially, which roused the anger of the Lord Himself, we neither can excuse nor yet commend. But quite apart from that, if there were only something more of Moses' deep humility, we should not so much miss his strength of faith. Considerations such as these are just what we might look for in a man who hesitates to act again as he has done before, until he has examined what he ought to do; and let us add, in passing, that we have in this a striking proof of the trustworthiness of the whole history. What forger, who endeavoured to show off his hero to the best advantage, would have ever put such words into his mouth? And when we read them now, who does not feel that they are taken from the life 1 Moses imagines he has buried in the sandy desert all his youthful dreams of power and ambition. Who can tell how frequently he must have talked in confidence with Jethro on the folly of his vain attempt? 'His best days now are past; no doubt it is too late.' No, Moses, not too late, for God's time is assuredly the best! First, Moses was quite willing, but was not allowed; now, he is quite unwilling, but he must, because self-seeking is extinct, and the gifted servant of the Lord has now, besides, become a humble one. Hear how, just like another Abraham, he freely vents his doubts and fears before the Infinite, and then say whether there can be anything less like enthusiasm and vain imagination than what meets us here in so sedate a character. But mark, too, how the Omnipotent here, as it were, stoops from His throne of fire, that He may change man's weakness into strength. First, there is proclamation made to Moses of a name which forms the pledge of everything; and do not fail to mark how that great name is constantly repeated during the interview, as if God would, with His own hand, engrave it upon Moses' heart. Then the future is made known to him in its details, that he may be even now prepared for the first disappointment and the glorious issue of the whole. And presently, three signs are given him, just like credential letters, so that every doubt, even the most obstinate, may finally give way. Observe that you have here the first recorded miracles of sacred history; and does it not occur to you, that those first miracles were medicines applied to the dejected soul of the great prophet of the Old Economy? False confidence in his own strength has been destroyed in Moses' heart; but now the real confidence of faith has yet to be stirred up and strengthened, and to this great work the Lord here turns, employing types and sacred symbols to express His promises. Israel has been cast out as if he were a leper; but just as the leprous hand at once becomes quite sound again, so shall the people who have long been trodden down be raised once more. The shepherd's staff seems useless for support, but it will prove a mighty scourge for Pharaoh; and if Moses but courageously defies all dangers, they will injure him as little as the serpent which he seizes, and which is immediately turned again to wood. The Nile has been a blessing unto Egypt; but just as at Moses' beck the water turns to blood, so shall he make the righteous curse of God descend on the oppressors' land. The shepherd thus becomes a hero of the Lord, the stammerer becomes a mighty witness for His power and wisdom; and what else shall be impossible to him? If he lack wisdom, then the Lord will teach him; if he cannot vent his thoughts in words, Aaron will stand beside him and be his interpreter; nay, what is more, his God will march at his right hand. Go forth in this thy might, meek Moses; multitudes besides thyself shall yet learn by experience the truth embodied in the words: 'When I am weak, then am I strong!'¹⁶ But, brethren, have you not at times passed through a like experience? Under the providence of God, you saw yourself called to a task which flesh and blood opposed with all their might: 'Lord, ask for anything you will, but not for that!' Such words as these you prayed within your soul. You saw a struggle imminent, the very thought of which caused you to tremble; then you wished to hide yourself in deep retirement, but the Lord brought you into the foreground; no more did you feel the smallest pleasure in what was most clearly shown to be your duty; but it was a blessed thing for you if, just like Moses, you cast all your cares upon your God! For whereas silence but depresses us, and making moan to men brings weakness, an outpouring of complaint to God brings us a share of His almighty strength. Did not He bear with you.' 'and did He not Himself remove your troubles one by one? Here He directs our eyes to His eternal faithfulness, as our sure ground of hope; there He assures us He has also cleansed us from the leprosy of sin, and thereby freed us from our greatest load. Yonder He presents to us, in men we meet, another prop to give more strength unto our drooping faith; and elsewhere He converts the water of our pain, not into blood, but into wine of heavenly joy. Into the hands of all His own He puts a staff, which never breaks, and never fails — the staff of His own word and promises; and has it not repeatedly occurred, that, when we came upon some noxious thing, it was as if the viper had, for us, quite lost its deadly poison? Oh, how little does the world believe what superhuman power may be inspired into the friends of God, when they have once felt and acknowledged, to the full, that there is naught in them but weakness and sheer inability! But you who are the followers of Christ have learned and felt the truth these words contain:

'Tis only when I bend the knee
That I get wings to cleave the skies;
And I must bend even to the dust,
That I may gain the strength to rise.

And it is only known in heaven how many have been braced and strengthened, through their intercourse with God, for fighting, with an almost superhuman power, against the world and their own hearts. Receive, maintain, increase that power, through constant drawing from the fountain of eternal strength! Moses is only weak so long as he leans on his shepherd's staff, instead of leaning on the Lord his God; and there is not a Christian who has not in store for him experiences, hitherto unknown, of the deep truth contained within those wondrous words: 'I can do all things, through Christ which strengtheneth me.'¹⁷ No, never does the Lord require us to engage in any work without first reckoning how much support our weakness needs; sooner would Nature change her laws, than God prove faithless to His word. Blessed, thrice blessed is the man who only shows a constancy like Moses, as if he beheld the great Invisible!

Lastly, we here perceive how God rewards obedience in His people. How could we neglect to cast at least a single glance at the conclusion of this portion of the wondrously attractive history.'' The loving-kindness and the terrors of the Lord at last have triumphed over the persistent, but withal most honest opposition on the part of Moses. The prophet does not say, in just so many words, the second time, 'Lo, here am I;' but he most plainly shows that henceforth he obeys no other will than God's. The last remaining trace of his own will has, as it were, been utterly consumed in the flames of the burning bush; now he can go, because he knows with whom he goes, and where he goes. And now observe how God rewards all those that seek Him, and how the first steps upon the path of true obedience have both light and blessing thrown on them by Him. When Moses tells his plan, Jethro has not the least objection to propose; a further revelation, too, assures him that his enemies are now all dead, and that his life shall be quite safe. It is remarkable how that consideration had not once occurred to Moses; but God takes away even unseen obstacles, provided He but finds the heart is right before Him. Presently his brother Aaron comes to meet him in the desert, as the Lord had promised; what a joyful meeting after such long separation, and with such a work in view! Again God shows His anger for a moment on the way; but even in wrath, our God remembers mercy. What a difference between that headlong flight from Egypt, and that almost unobserved but most courageous return; how much less of presumption there is now, but how much more of the true heroism of faith! Who, looking on that little company of travellers, with their humble beast of burden, would suppose that all-prevailing power lies in the shepherd's staff of one, while a momentous message from the God of heaven rests on the lips of the other traveller.' 'The elders of the tribes are not slow in perceiving what a glorious dawn has chased away the long and dreary night; and the objections Moses looked for and suggested, he has not the least occasion to remove, — another proof that God, in the most wondrous way, can put to shame our little faith. Scarce do the leaders of the people see Moses' credentials, ere they no longer doubt that he is a divine ambassador. According to the beautiful account given at the end of chapter fourth, they bow their heads and worship; before the call of Moses, they had raised a cry for help, but now, instead of that, they raise a shout of thanksgiving. If Moses bowed his head with others there to worship God, who shall describe how that face blushed for shame over his former lack of faith; and how, times without number afterwards, he thanked the Lord because he had been called just then, and there, and thus? The peace which he already feels before the coming strife is the first-fruit of prompt obedience; and when he now puts his hand into his bosom, he feels his heart beat in anticipation of the coming victory. Nay, say not that the struggle was but properly beginning now, and that it was not until further on that Moses felt complete discouragement and disappointment of his dearest hopes. Beyond this point we cannot pass upon the field of history; but it is quite enough for us to know he has had often to complain of men, but never of his God. Once like a sprout, but now an oak, each storm had made him send his roots the deeper down into the Rock of Ages; and far indeed was he from ever having wished with all his heart that he had not been called, and that the shepherd's cot had been his grave. So true is it that the calling of God is not merely without repentance, but fraught with blessing, and that even on this side the grave there is abundant recompense for all the sacrifice we make in following the Lord's commands. No little trouble — I speak as a man — does it cost the God of boundless love in making us die wholly unto self, and bend our wills to His. But who among us has not, long ere now, both seen and felt that there is great reward attached to even a feeble but sincere attempt to do the will of God? Scarce can we say with all our heart, 'Lord, Thou art now too strong for me; Thou hast quite overcome me,' ere He shows to us, in every kind of way, that all His paths are faithfulness and mercy. The feeble steps of children walking in the path of new obedience are led and steadied by an unseen hand. Stones of stumbling, such as might obstruct our path or bring us harm, are carefully removed with far more than a mother's care. The Lord presents Himself to us when treading faith's dark path, and greets us now with kindly word, now with some great, astounding deed. Bonds that must needs be broken through, He will Himself both quietly and easily unloose. Mists that might rise before us He dispels, ere they can hide the sun from us. Instead of those we leave behind for His sake, He gives other friends and brethren; and in communion with the saints He gives abundant recompense for all the friendship of the world we have renounced. There falls not to the ground a single word of all the good which He has promised to bestow on us when entering upon the narrow path; and actual experience soon shows that we are strengthened for accomplishing all that He promises we shall be able to effect, using our staff of faith. Sometimes He hides His face, and then we are afraid, as Moses, when upon his journey, was in danger of His life because his son had not been circumcised; but when, again, like Moses, we at once go forth anew, relying on the strength of God, our 'path is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.'¹⁸ And what, again, shall we have to expect when we arrive among the vast assembly of the Lord's first-born, written in heaven, and there tell how the Lord appeared to us too by the way, and meet again with brethren from whom we have been divided here by death? Surely we too shall bow our heads and worship; for what Moses saw will be the substance of our history: when the bush burned, but yet was not consumed by the fierce flame of persecution, then especially the Lord was near, although the very brightness of the flame prevented Him from being seen!

'The bush:' that word conducts us back again to the great scene of Moses' call. We have already seen the glory of the Lord; we have been shown, as in a glass, how God always reveals Himself unto His own. But when the past has in this way and in a certain sense become the present, what is there more natural than that, taking our standpoint here, we should again look back, yea, and look forward too?

Would that our hearts condemned us less, when, looking back upon the way we have already traversed, we inquire whether we too, like Moses, have yet given heed unto the voice of God. We are, of course, aware that with the Father of Lights there is no variableness or shadow of turning; that He now shows Himself to us in a much more attractive and much softer light than in the fire at Horeb; that He has addressed us, not twice only, but innumerable times, through heart and conscience. And yet, are there not many of us here who must feel thoroughly ashamed when we are asked, 'Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me?'¹⁹ Nay, is there any single individual who can obey the plain command, 'Put thy hand into thy bosom,' without the previous assurance that it shall be leprous when he draws it out again? The bright light of God's glory has indeed risen over every one of us, but it has not therefore arisen in our hearts; and who can tell me now how many there are here to whom the voice of God has come already, but who have not yet, like Moses, answered with a ready 'Here am I '? How many souls there are requiring nothing less than such a season of retirement and of thorough preparation as this Moses spent in Midian, — such, too, as Paul, in later times, spent in Arabia, just after he was called! Nay, what vast multitudes there are who never yet have turned their minds, with half the interest displayed by Moses in the burning bush, unto God's highest revelation made in Christ! How many are there so completely occupied with earthly cares, that even when they go into God's kingdom they have not so much as shaken the dust from off their feet! How many are there who, on the most frivolous pretexts, renounce their heavenly calling, but without acknowledging, like Moses, in all honesty, that they have hitherto quite failed! In short, how many are there that go forth, having before them death, the grave, eternity, while they have not that staff which all God's people grasp so eagerly! Nay, fellow-sinner, it was not that God has left Himself without a witness unto any one of you; but it is you yourselves who are to blame, because you still remain without a Moses' heart and ear. Secretly, perhaps, but obstinately, you have turned from that Holy One who called you to His service, and to have communion with Himself; take heed how you shall answer on that day, when He who here appeared to Moses in the burning bush shall, with devouring fire, take vengeance on those who have not obeyed the gospel of His Son! Nay, there is no communion between light and darkness: 'Draw not nigh hither!' These are words of God, still, as of old, addressed to every one who rashly ventures to approach Him with the dust of earth upon his feet. Oh, then, would that you but allowed yourself to be brought near unto that Son without whom none can come unto the Father; and that you forsook your path of error quite as readily as Moses did his desert wanderings! Perhaps, as in his case, the greater portion of your life has been already spent; still there is time, but soon it may for ever be too late! In Christ, the unseen God has first come unto you as He appeared to Moses; nor does He reveal Himself in dreadful majesty, but as a Friend: then come to Him, and let yourself be taught, guided, and consecrated as God's servant! You may approach, not with the anxious fear of Moses, but with childlike faith, and in His countenance behold the glory of the Lord. And then you also may believe — oh, pray that you may truly learn what these words mean! — this God is now my Father in Christ; His will is my eternal safeguard now; His grace is all-sufficient, too, for me. Yes, only then, but then assuredly, the privilege of Moses will be yours; ye shall run and not be weary, ye shall walk and not faint!

But are you willing for the future also to continue walking in the clear light of His countenance? 'What need is there for such a question V some one may exclaim; 'what would life be if that light did not shine on my dark path? 'Yes, you have answered rightly; only, see to it that deeds do not belie your words. Nothing of all that has been said in Moses' praise do we retract. But can we part with him to-day without once more considering how, through the weakness of his faith and opposition to God's will, he only aggravated his own troubles, and was almost on the point of missing his high calling? Would that there were no Christians who, like Moses, we might almost say, delight in heaping up objections, and in answering that grand, irrevocable 'Yea' of God's word with an everlasting 'But!' This was forgiven Moses; but he was, moreover, wholly cured of it. The Lord will bear with this in you too, ye who are upright in heart, but not that you may always be as fickle-minded. You may rather see, in what is here, that doubt and controversy cannot form a standing-ground on which we may remain; they rather are peculiar to a transition-time. God gives complete solution of the trifling difficulties and objections which we raise; but after that, we must either retreat or else advance at His appointed time. 'Retreat? — no, never! 'Then, in God's name, advance! from faith to stronger faith, and straightway, too, from light to greater light, from strength to strength, from victory to victory, — still on! To this one point alone let us give earnest heed, that when, like Moses, we are asked, 'What is there in thine hand?' we may boldly reply, 'A staff, — the staff of faith!' At every step let us put our hand in our bosom, that we may feel conscious of our own uncleanness; but let it as frequently be laid in faith upon the sacrifice of Christ, that we may be cleansed from our leprosy. Let us march bravely on, although no rest awaits us now! The flame is quenched, but still the bush, though scorched, is flourishing; the time of trial passes by, — the fruit will ripen in eternity! However long or short the way may be, our staff shall never fail; and though 'that great sight' may vanish from before our eyes, we ever meet with revelations of the glory of the Lord, each one more beautiful than that preceding it. Even in the darkest night, only let that name shine on you as if it were inscribed with stars, the name which God here gives Himself, 'I Am that I Am.' Heaven and earth pass away, even this great Horeb disappears, but 'I Am that I Am,' saith He who is the Lord and the Almighty One. 'I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob:' have you not heard, my fellow Christians, how Jesus, your own Saviour, has explained these words? 'God is not the God of the dead, but of the living; for all live unto Him.' It is enough for us, He lives, and He abides; then, whether it be here on earth, or up in heaven, we must all live by Him, for Him, with Him! Amen!