Introduction: Read Exodus3v1to4v17.

This is one of my favourite Old Testament stories. I have a sneaking admiration for Moses' nerve in objecting to the work God wanted him to do. God does not always choose for a task those who want to do it or volunteer for it. Sometimes he recruits very reluctant participants to fulfil his purposes.

(1) The power of prayer.

The Hebrews experienced 40 long years of slavery after they rejected the leadership of Moses and forced him to flee to the land of Midian. I imagine their situation deteriorated in Moses' absence. So much so that they moaned, shrieked and cried out to God for help.

In his commentary on Exodus Alex Motyer writes: Where time brought no relief and political change no improvement, prayer made all the difference. Prayer reflects our needs, but it also promotes the purposes of God. We are to pray for no other reason than that God hears and answers prayer.

Some might wonder why prayer is necessary. If God is aware of our condition, as he was aware of the Hebrew's wretched situation, surely he could act without the need for prayer. The fact is, the desperate cries of the Israelites indicated they were ready for God's intervention. If they had been comfortable and prosperous they would never have been prepared to leave Egypt. As it was, there was more than one occasion when they were wandering in the wilderness that the Hebrews hankered after the fleshpots of Egypt.

We should not forget that God's interventions in the affairs of men do not necessarily contribute to their comfort. Churches that pray for a pastor - a man of the Lord's choice - may discover that his choice does not turn out to be to their taste. If a revival actually occurred it would put a lot of pressure on mature Christians who would have to work much harder to disciple the new converts. A few Grace Baptist churches in Suffolk are growing and find that they do not have the personnel to run the necessary activities.

I think God often only intervenes when there is a note of desperation in our prayers - when an answer, however challenging, would be better than the status quo.

(2) A life changing encounter.

(a) Moses' attention was arrested by a desert thorn bush, possibly an acacia, which looked as if it was on fire but did not burn up. It takes very little time for a thorn bush to burn up in an arid climate. I can remember many years ago during a very dry summer one of the conical, clipped yew trees catching fire in our graveyard. It was a substantial tree - 15 to 20 feet tall. The fire caught and ROARED through the tree - it was over almost as soon as it started - a frightening phenomenon.

(b) The fire was not an angelic being - like Gabriel. Rather the fire itself was God's messenger. Eventually God spoke out of the fire.

(c) God said, "Moses! Moses!" God hadn't forgotten about Moses albeit he was living in total obscurity. Moses could not have led a more humdrum, uneventful, low-profile existence. He spent almost all his time wandering in the semi-desert with only the sheep and goats for company. But God knew where he was; he knew him by name.

There is no hiding from God if he has a work he wants us to do. Gideon was hiding from the Midianites when the angel of God accosted him at the wine press. Mary was a very young, poor but devout girl when she was called to bear God's son. The church at Jerusalem shunted Paul into sidings at Tarsus but God knew where to find him and sent Barnabas calling.

On a Sunday in summer fifty years ago Pastor John Skull accosted me outside the chapel at Brockley and invited me to attend Pioneer Camp as a worker. He was, as it were, God's burning bush! I attended that Christian camp for 20 years as the activities organiser. It was work I was well qualified to do and it brought blessing to myself and others.

(3) A job description.

God left Moses in no doubt about the nature of the work he wished him to do. This was only fair. I can remember answering an advertisement to teach Geography and some Religious Education at Debenham High School. It turned out that I was expected to teach all the Geography and R.E. in the school - a very challenging task. Then I discovered I was also in charge of audio-visual equipment!

After Saul of Tarsus was converted and almost immediately appointed by God as his apostle to the Gentiles, God told him how much he must suffer for my name. Acts9v16.

Moses was called to:

(a) Delivering work. God said: "So, now, go, I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring the Israelites out of Egypt." 3v10.

This was very wonderful work. Above all it was GOD'S WORK. It wasn't Moses work - something he tended to overlook in the conversation he had with God - but the LORD'S work.

It is wonderful when God uses us to deliver someone from captivity. Men and women can be held captive to their desires, pleasures, work, health, moods and fears. God says: "Set my people free!"

(b) Dangerous work. Moses was told to approach Pharaoh with a request. He was to go with the Hebrew elders and ask Pharaoh: "Let us take a three day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God."3v18. Such a request would not be popular with Pharaoh. He knew that if he granted such a request it would give the Hebrew slaves enough time to disperse and never be found again. Moses was asking for a free pass to freedom!

There is no doubt that God calls some of his servants to dangerous work. Gideon knew this, so did Sampson, Nathan the prophet, Jeremiah and a host of others. Peter and John were forbidden to speak about Jesus by the Sanhedrin but they carried on regardless. They told the Jewish Council: "We cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard." Acts4v20. Today, in many parts of the world, militant opponents of Christianity make it dangerous to tell men and women about the saving work of Jesus. Many face persecution for preaching the gospel.

(c) Disappointing work. God told Moses: "But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him." 3v19.

Moses faced a bitter struggle with Pharaoh. One of the first things he did in reponse to Moses' request was to increase the work load of the Hebrew slaves. They had to make their given quota of bricks without the usual supply of straw. The Israelites were told to collect the straw for themselves. This did not endear Moses and Aaron to the hard pressed Hebrews. Moses was not best pleased with God!

There are many disappointments in Christian work. I have known far more disappointments than encouragements. I think almost every church activity I have been responsible for has ended in failure. Only last week a couple who made a big contribution to our fellowship over a twenty five year period told me they were leaving. The husband said he just felt like a change! In a few years, unless there is a miraculous change, the church of which I am secretary and elder will close. It is heart breaking!

(d) Deputed work. God deputed a saving work to Moses. God was the guarantor of success. He said to Moses: "So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go." Nor would the Israelites depart in a craven, cringing fashion - they would leave with the blessing of the Egyptians - laden with gifts of gold, silver and clothing.

Sometimes God surprises his servants. I am sure Peter must have been amazed at the reaction to his sermon on the day of Pentecost when 3000 were added to the church. He certainly wondered at the response of Cornelius and his household to the gospel.

Nehemiah must have been highly gratified with the reaction of king Artaxerxes to his request to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

I imagine if some of the 19th century missionaries - men like Hudson Taylor and women like Mary Slessor - came back today and could see the fruit of their labours they would be astounded.

(4) Objections and reassurances.

Moses did not leap at the opportunity to lead his people out of slavery to the Promised Land flowing with milk and honey. Forty years previously he may have rejected the pleasures of Egypt when he intervened for his people. The writer of the epistle to the Hebrews commends him for this. See Heb11v24and25. However, at the age of 80 Moses was not keen on leaving the simplicity and peace of his life as a wilderness shepherd for the responsibility and aggravation of heading up his people's bid for freedom.

Moses makes five excuses for not doing as God requests. He pleads:

(a) Insignificance. Moses said: "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" The elderly shepherd protests - quite understandably - that he has no standing with either the Hebrews or Pharaoh.

God replied: I will be with you." 3v12. God promises Moses that a time will come when the Israelites will worship him on the very mountain he has been grazing his goats. This will be the clearest possible sign that God has been leading Moses every step of the way.

Lessons:

• God did not contradict Moses. He didn't say: "Of course you can do it Moses - you are ideally qualified for the task. You are, after all, a man mighty in word and deed."

  God may well call us to a task for which we seem unqualified. When the angel of the Lord called Gideon a mighty warrior this is not how the Abiezrite rated himself! The members of the Jewish Sanhedrin were amazed when they interviewed Peter and John to discover that they were uneducated men - most unlikely leaders of a new religious movement. Paul reminds us that God uses the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. William Booth's most effective evangelists were converts from the worst parts of the East End of London.

  I was called to a work for which I had no qualifications. I spent four years caring for my father in the terminal stages of Parkinson's disease. I had no training as a nurse!

• God assured Moses he would be with him and by this he guaranteed his success. When God commits himself to a cause it cannot fail. When the apostle Paul began to evangelise in Corinth he was very apprehensive. I love the way God came to him and said: "Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no-one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city." Acts18v9and10. 'For I am with you' - what blessed words. Jesus said to his disciple after giving them the great commission: "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Mt28v20. This precious promise has sustained countless numbers as they have proclaimed the gospel in the most disadvantageous of circumstances.

(b) Ignorance. Moses said to God: "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?" 3v13.

• Moses has be no means decided to act on God's behalf. He asks God what seems a very strange question. If God gives Moses a name that is unfamiliar to the Israelites they are bound to reject him. A new name would not recommend Moses to the elders.

• It is possible that Moses did not know the name Yahweh. (Jehovah or LORD) This holy name for God was unique to the Israelites. Perhaps this name, one that was not spoken, was a secret known only by the Hebrew elders. Moses, who had relatively little to do with the Israelites from his boyhood, may have known of the existence of this secret name without knowing what it was.

• Moses was in effect asking God for this name because without it he had no chance of establishing his credibility.

God tells Moses his special name. It was Yahweh or 'I am that I am'. He instructs Moses to say to the elders: The LORD, the God of your fathers - the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob - has sent me to you."

When God calls himself the God of your fathers this signifies that he is:

• A God committed to the people of his choice. He is the sovereign protector, provider and guide of those who worship him.

• A God who credits a person's faith to them for righteousness. Abraham was righteous in God's eyes because of his faith - a faith demonstrated by his works - as James points out in his epistle.

• A God who is faithful - one who will always keep his promises. He made promises to the patriarchs and God WAS going to lead his people to a land flowing with milk and honey.

God does not change! He remains the same, yesterday, today, forever.

• God is the Christian's heavenly father and as such is wholey committed to his children. Paul writes to the Romans: If God is for us who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all- how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" Rom8v31and32.

• God expects us to exhibit the genuineness of our faith in Jesus by our works. He has high expectations of his people. Jesus said: "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." Mt5v16.

• God will keep the promises Jesus made to all who believe in him. The Saviour said: "For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." Jn6v40.

When God calls himself, 'I am that I am,' this signifies something different. Sometimes when a musician is asked about the style he plays or a painter about the category he falls into the reply might be: "I am what I am." The artist is saying, "Look, I am my own man and don't want to be labelled or pigeonholed because this is restricting." The musician is determined to maintain his freedom and to be himself. He has no intention of being, 'summed up!'

God cannot be labelled or tied down. He is not going to conform to a stereotype or conform to a pattern. God says: "I am that I am." I am what I am - a perfectly free agent, known only to myself and answerable only to myself.

As the centuries passed the Jews found this difficult to accept. By the time of Jesus the religious leaders were inclined to believe that God was only interested in them. This is what makes the book of Jonah so remarkable. The author suggests that God is even interested in the enemies of the Jews. However, the apostle Peter was surprised that the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Gentile Cornelius and his household. The apostle Paul struggles in his epistle to the Romans to understand why his people - God's chosen people - missed out on God's grace.

Jesus conveys God's freedom of action when he speaks to Nicodemus about the Holy Spirit. "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of he Spirit." Jn3v8. SeeJohn3v1to12 Our God is a God of surprises.

(c) Implausibility. After God gives Moses a message to deliver to the Hebrews the elderly shepherd retorts: "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, 'The LORD did not appear to you?'"

Moses is understandably sceptical that by turning up in Egypt and delivering God's message the Israelites will believe him. He did not feel inclined to make a fruitless journey to represent a people who had already once rejected his overtures.

God does not upbraid Moses for his scepticism. Instead he gives Moses three signs by which to establish his credentials. I think God does repay Moses for his lack of faith. He turns Moses staff into a snake which takes an instant dislike to the shepherd - so much so that Moses runs away. He is then told to take it by the tail - not the best way to pick up a snake. But Moses has faith enough to make a quick grab - and all is well. God had another shock in store when Moses' hand turned leprous - white as snow. Finally, Moses had to take God's word that he would turn Nile water into blood. Water was in short supply in the desert.

LESSONS:

• The main reason Jesus performed miracles during his earthly ministry was to affirm his status as the Messiah. Nicodemus said: "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him." Jn3v2. Jesus said to his opponents: "Believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I in the Father." Jn10v38.

  The reason Jesus does not perform miracles of the sort described in the gospels today is because he no longer needs to demonstrate his high standing - God has established that, raising him from the dead and placing him at his right hand in heaven.

• There remain signs that God is working his purposes out: miraculous conversions, transformed lives, answered prayers and sacrificial service.

(d) Incoherence. Moses sad to the LORD: "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow in speech and tongue." Yet Stephen calls Moses mighty in word and deed! The fact remains Moses does not consider he is a persuasive talker. Certainly he did not show any negotiating skills in dealing with the Egyptian taskmaster or the bullying Israelite. Moses didn't appear to make much effort to chat up Reuel's daughters. They left him at the well when they went home. It appears also that Moses didn't reckon he was having much success persuading God that he was not the man for the task of delivering the Israelites from slavery. If Moses had spent many years as a soldier in Egypt and forty years as a shepherd in the land of Midian he probably saw himself as a man of action rather than a smooth negotiator.

God does not contradict Moses. God doesn't tell him what a brilliant effort he is making to fob him off or that he has undeveloped talent as a communicator. Instead God said: "Who gave man his mouth? ..... Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."

Moses failed to realise just how committed God was to delivering the Israelites from Egypt. He was going to do it and he would not fail. Moses was just the instrument he was going to use.

LESSONS:

If God has a task for us to do he will ensure we accomplish it. That was the case with Old Testament heroes like Joshua, Gideon, Sampson, David and Nehemiah. I love the account in the New Testament of Nicodemus and Joseph of Aramathea seeing to the burial of Jesus. They did women's work when they embalmed the body of Jesus. They were not sure of how to do it - but nonetheless, IN THE WILL OF GOD, they made a good job of it.

Whenever I have a difficult task to do for God it has been my experience that the Holy Spirit ensures I complete it satisfactorily. My mother felt physically sick whenever she spoke at a women's meeting yet there is no doubt her ministry was greatly appreciated. More than one person has told me that my mother was the best speaker in the family!

(e) Indisposition. But Moses said, "O lord, please send someone else to do it." 4v13. Moses just did not wish for a change of lifestyle. He didn't want the responsibility or the aggro - and there would be plenty of that. Moses knew that sheep were easier to lead than people.

Increasing numbers of Christians in Britain are just like Moses. They don't want the responsibility. They are content to turn up for church once on a Sunday and that is the sum total of their commitment. If they are approached about taking on a role in church their reaction is a point blank refusal.

As a result there are relatively well attended churches in our association who are short of workers. It is difficult to find people to act as church secretary, treasurer, Sunday school superintendent, leader of the ladies meeting, youth organiser, co-ordinator of the toddlers and young wives group.

Perhaps, everyone who has refused to accept responsibility in their church should remember that God was angry with Moses.

It says much for God's patience and compassion that he provides someone to share the load with Moses - his brother Aaron. Moses never actually agrees to do as God says - but he does set off to meet his brother and to consult with him.

There is no doubt that any work for Jesus is easier if it is shared. It is hard to serve alone. Maybe God is calling you to be an Aaron - to share the load with a hard-pressed brother.