Moses

Moses was tending his father-in-law’s flock when he noticed a bush burning without being consumed. He turned aside to look, and God called to him from it. Moses was told to remove his sandals: he was standing on holy ground.

God had seen the suffering of His people in Egypt and heard their cries. He was sending Moses to Pharaoh to bring them out. The shepherd’s response was a question about his own adequacy. God answered with the promise that He would be with him. (Exodus 3:1-12)

The man who had fled Egypt

Egypt was already part of Moses’s story. Born into a Hebrew family, he had been hidden as an infant, then placed in a basket among the riverbank reeds. Pharaoh’s daughter found him and had compassion on him. His sister arranged for their own mother to nurse him before Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him.

As an adult, Moses saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew. He killed the Egyptian and hid the body in the sand. When Pharaoh learned of the killing and sought his life, Moses fled to Midian. There he helped a priest’s daughters at a well, married Zipporah and made his home. Now God was sending him back to the country he had escaped. (Exodus 2:1-22)

A calling he could not carry alone

Moses raised more objections. What would he say when people asked who had sent him? What if they did not believe him? He spoke of his difficulty with speech and eventually asked God to send someone else.

God revealed His name, gave Moses signs and promised to help him speak. When Moses continued resisting, God became angry, but appointed Aaron to help communicate the message. Moses returned to Egypt carrying the staff God had instructed him to use. The signs would demonstrate God’s authority; their power did not belong to Moses or to the wood in his hand. (Exodus 3:13-22; 4:1-20)

A way through the sea

The struggle with Pharaoh brought judgment upon Egypt. On the night of Passover, Moses gave the people God’s instructions, including marking their doorways with the lamb’s blood. Egypt’s firstborn died, while the marked households were spared. Pharaoh told Moses and Aaron to take the Israelites and leave. (Exodus 12:21-42)

Then Pharaoh’s forces pursued them. With the sea ahead and the army approaching, the people cried out in fear. Moses called them to stand firm and see God’s deliverance. At God’s command, he stretched his hand over the sea. The Lord drove it back with a strong wind, and Israel crossed on dry ground. The waters returned over the pursuing army. Moses led the people; God delivered them. (Exodus 14)

Carrying the people before God

At Sinai, Moses received the covenant tablets. While he was on the mountain, the people made and worshipped a golden calf. Moses pleaded with God for them, appealing to His promises to Abraham, Isaac and Israel.

When he saw the calf, Moses broke the tablets. He confronted the people’s sin and returned to God to ask for forgiveness. Later, carrying new tablets up the mountain, he heard God proclaim His mercy, faithfulness and justice. Moses bowed in worship and asked God to go with this stubborn people. Leadership meant bringing their need and failure before God as well as communicating His commands. (Exodus 32; 34:1-10)

The land he would see

Moses himself remained accountable. At Meribah, when the people lacked water, God told him to speak to a rock. Instead, Moses rebuked them and struck it twice. Water came, but God said that Moses and Aaron had failed to trust Him and honour Him as holy before the people. They would not lead Israel into the promised land. (Numbers 20:1-13)

From Mount Nebo, Moses saw the land he would not enter. He died in Moab at one hundred and twenty, and Israel mourned him. Joshua continued the work. Moses was remembered as God’s servant and an extraordinary prophet, with both his service and its consequences part of his story. (Deuteronomy 34)

What Moses’s story asks of us

One lesson we can draw from Moses is that serving God involves receiving help, accepting responsibility and remaining open to correction. A calling does not make someone flawless or place a leader beyond accountability.

We can begin with the responsibilities genuinely entrusted to us: listen carefully, protect others, seek appropriate support and admit when we are wrong. Courage grows alongside humility when we remember whose people we are serving.