The Spirituality of Moses
Moses’ experience of God - in his own words & God’s words Moses’ spirituality, the word “spirituality” is a loved word among Christian writers and preachers of all traditions and can mean almost anything; we speak of Celtic spirituality, Patristic spirituality, monastic spirituality, Pietistic spirituality, Pentecostal spirituality and so on. The word imparts a sense of sanctity when it is used. I will use “spirituality” in the context of authentic biblical experience – those genuine works of the Holy Spirit in relationship to the human heart and their inevitable outworking in life. We call them biblical experiences, but that might be confining to the Holy Spirit who worked not only in Scripture, but now works outside of Scripture but always consistent with it. Certainly, what we read in Scripture about new birth and baptism in the Holy Spirit is essential to anything we have to say about spirituality, but they are entry points to richer pastures and deeper flowing rivers of life. For us who live in post-New Testament times we still see spirituality in the context of Scripture and acknowledge the clarity and the diversity of the Spirit’s actions among men and women from the beginning of human existence. How often sincere Christians have put the Holy Spirit into a straight-jacket, the Calvinists at one end of the spectrum formulated a system of 5-points and thus misrepresented the truth of God’s great salvation which is available to all who will repent and believe and they misrepresented His generous character of love which is accessible to all who will come to Him. The Holiness movement which found its original definition in John Wesley represented a profound spirituality (see Richard Foster’s book, Streams of Living Water)1; teaching that new Birth and sanctification are two distinct experiences and the Pentecostals at the other of the spectrum to the Calvinists, took their hermeneutic of a 2-stage salvation and propounded an experience of new birth followed by baptism in the Spirit accompanied by speaking in tongues (I am not suggesting that Calvinist’s do not speak in tongues because some do). These movements were each marked by a genuine spirituality and Roger Forster’s position is that each movement has its own unique spirituality, bringing to the fore a lost element of truth which contributes to the “whole counsel of God.” When we look at the lives of biblical characters, we can afford to let Scripture inform us about their unique spiritualties. Certainly, calling has a direct impact on personal spirituality. As I read the lives of spiritual giants like Moses, I see continually that God takes initiative in revealing Himself and it is He who decides about how He will reveal Himself, what He will say and what He will do through them. Moses’ spirituality gives authenticity to his words. By spirituality I mean the consistent life he lived in fellowship with the LORD. The power of his anointing depended entirely on God. What a happy situation it is when there is consistency between a person’s godliness and the fact that he is God’s mouth-piece and God’s instrument. Scripture is formed by God speaking His authoritative words to His servants – men/women. God also speaks revelatory words – before Moses takes up his pen to write, God reveals to him His name LORD. He both speaks (the sound of His name) and reveals His unique and holy Name (the meaning of His name) no one had ever heard God speak forth His Name before this awesome occasion. I think we can say that spirituality focuses on being rather than doing, although authentic spirituality will always result in action, in that sense spirituality is not an end in itself. How many 1
Streams of Living Water: Celebrating the Great Traditions of Christian Faith, Richard Foster, 1998
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men/women and movements which began by the initiation, inspiration and moving of the Holy Spirit have ended up powerless, due to turning in on themselves, turning from mission to selfnurture. God chooses men/women to participate in His purposes. Christians must not put limits on how deeply and profoundly God can work in the lives of His saints in all generations, nor must we measure ourselves by these spiritual giants. If you adulate them, you will demean yourself! Honour them, certainly learn from them, but do not worship them so that when they fall from their pedestal your faith is not shaken. Remember, that Moses is relating the history of Israel, and his own story is inextricably bound-up with that of God’s people. When we read the book of Exodus, we are reading Moses’ own words about himself, but like John Wesley writing his Journal, he is so detached from himself that he does not intrude into the text, in other words, in writing his own story he is not indulging in a personal ego trip. The autobiography of Moses is one of the best documented lives in the Bible. I think that dwelling in the presence of God is the path to humility. We must listen to what God has to say about us when we are with Him. Moses actually heard God speaking amazing things about the intimacy of his relationship with God! His experience with God is deep and profound but his journey is marked by clear sign posts along the way when God acted decisively in his life. As we high-light these particular occasions which mark the spiritual progress of Moses, we do not want to separate these visitations from God from the autobiography of his life. The objective of God’s visitation is not fostering and furthering the spirituality of His servant but it is to further His great objectives for humankind, in other words, to advance His own purposes. Obedience to the Great Commission brings further release of His Holy Spirit which directly impacts our spirituality. I said earlier that our vocation impacts our spirituality. With the apostle Paul, it is impossible to separate his calling and his missional activity from his dynamic experience of the Holy Spirit. For Moses, obedience to the call of God brought him into deep intimacy with the Lord, the two are part of one whole spiritual experience – being and doing.
Moses is the elect child who is chosen by God At birth his parents immediately recognise this when they describe their new-born baby as, “a proper child.” This awareness caused faith to rise up in their hearts, “By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months by his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment” (Heb.11:23), because they had the word of faith from God. We know the story of Moses’ miracle rescue and preservation, his upbringing in the palace of Pharaoh and his choosing to identify with his own people, the enslaved Israelites. Again, we read that this was an act of faith “By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.”
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Moses gives an insight into his thinking at the time of the murder of the Egyptian taskmaster, “And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand” (Ex.2:12), that verse spells deception and guilt. However, Stephen has a further insight, “And when he was full forty years old, it 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 Egyptian: for he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not. And the next day he shewed 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 you a ruler and a judge over us? Wilt you kill me, as you did to the Egyptian yesterday?” (Acts 7:23-28). These words from Stephen’s speech of defence tell me even more about Moses’ thinking at this time. It shows me that he had identified with his own people Israel and acted out of a sense of social injustice, which we might refer to as righteous indignation. However, in the eyes of the Jew he was viewed as an Egyptian. It is also clear that Moses had a keen sense of responsibility for his people by his behaviour, recognised by the Israelite who witnessed the murder, “who made you a ruler and a judge over us?” The writer to the Hebrews points to both Moses and his parents as living by faith in God. This vibrant faith must surely have characterized his life not only at this crucial time, but also in his exile in the home of Jethro and beyond. This requires further investigation.
1. The angel of the Lord appeared to Moses at the burning bush (Ex.Ch.3-4; Acts 7:29-30; Ps.105:26-45) This is Moses first encounter with God who commissions him to lead His people out of Egypt. Forty years after his departure from Egypt, God appears to him in the burning bush, bringing his exile/isolation to a close. Moses has 3 strategic meetings with God, Ex.3 and 6, and a later, a crucial meeting in ch.33 and ch.34 (I have counted this as one event). Of course, Moses spent two periods of 40 days alone with God in the mountain. At the end of the first 40 days (Ex.33/34), he encounters the LORD; this is his third specific and strategic meeting with God. God spoke His name: “I AM THAT I AM” (3:14) and commissioned Moses to declare to His people that “I AM” has sent you to bring My people out of Egypt and to bring them to this same mountain, but Moses sought repeatedly to excuse himself. He was not prepared to accept responsibility for a people who had formerly rejected his help. The mere suggestion of a return to Egypt raised too many bitter memories of the past for Moses to handle such a commission. God told him to say to Pharaoh, “Israel is my son, even my firstborn” (Ex.4:22). We do not read that Moses ever told Pharaoh this. These words of sonship/fatherhood are at the very heart of the covenants as they are at the heart of God Himself (2Sam.7:14; Ps.2:7; Lk.3:22; 9:35; Jn.10:30; Heb.1:5; Rev.21:7).
2. Moses second encounter with God (Ex.Ch.6:1-8)
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Moses has a second meeting with God, when God reveals His primary name of LORD/Jehovah/Yahweh to Moses. Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures two chief names are used for the one true divine Being - ELOHIM, commonly translated God in our version,2 and JEHOVAH translated LORD. The importance of this name for God is translated in capital letters in the Bible as LORD throughout the Old Testament and is the central paradigm of Moses’ theology. The word LORD is the principal word for God in the Old Testament. It is not a title for God but God says that it is His actual Name. Moses was going to discover the power of this Name in his confrontation with Pharaoh and the evil powers which ruled Egypt. This name LORD henceforth will dominate Moses’ writing from Genesis onwards and is the proof of Moses’ authorship of the Pentateuch. It is the signet ring which represents God’s authority, declaring his credibility to write Scripture and is the reason why the stamp of God is on all his writings. I refer again to the contrasting background in which this revelation was given to Moses who has been for 40 years in the house of Jethro. Only he knew the tortuous temptations that had assailed him - the former adopted son of Pharaoh, the successful military commander, the refined, cultured, and highly educated young man, dressed in kingly robes and with the ring of Pharaoh on his finger marking his royal status and his powerful authority. Now he is disrobed, disinherited, ring-less, he is nobody – but worse still he is despised in his own eyes and he is caught in a dead-end job with absolutely no prospect of change and he is being roasted alive each day by the sun as he leads – not men, but stupid sheep which don’t belong to him! His life is apparently without purpose. How do you maintain your relationship with God under such circumstances? Did he have a relationship with God at all? The Psalmist describes the suffering of young Joseph in prison and said that that his iron shackles dug into the flesh of his ankles – as temptation gnawed deep into his soul, “He (God) sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant: Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron: Until the time that his word came: the word of the Lord tried him. The king sent and loosed him; even the ruler of the people, and let him go free” (Ps.105:17-20). The margin translation in the KJV reads, “his soul entered into the iron.” Change this around and it reads, “the iron entered into his soul.” Elsewhere the phrase, the furnace of affliction” provides us with a suitable description of the immense endurance of these men under temptations. Richard Wurmbrand spent nearly 15 years deep underground in a filthy and cruel prison in Romania and came out a strong man, an apostle of suffering and declared to the world what was happening to Christians in communist countries. After referring to Joseph in prison (the psalm began with Abraham and Jacob) the Psalmist then refers to Moses (Ps.105.17-34) and the Psalmist explains the cause of Moses’ sin which prevented him from leading Israel into the Promised Land (Ps.105: 32-33). The following Psalm 106, continues the history of Israel under Moses’ leadership (Ps.106:1-33), through to Israel’s apostacy in Canaan at the time of the Judges.
Mistakes and danger markers! A failed marriage and a violent temper
2
Elohim is the plural of Eloah; it is often used in the short form EL (a word signifying strength, as in EL‐SHADDAI, God Almighty, the name by which God was known to the patriarchs (Gen.17:1; 28:3; Ex.6:3).
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The strange happenings on the road to Egypt, - what really happened? It is only 40 years after the crisis between Zipporah and Moses that the facts emerge when Jethro visits Moses after he has delivered Israel from Egypt. Imagine the tension for Moses as he returns to the land of Egypt where he grew up, remembering the royal household, the horrors of cruel slavery and the guilt of living in such luxury and then his violent killing, are we right to imagine that he was deeply disturbed and distressed? The call of God does not mean that we do not have to face our own actions and behaviour and grapple with our past failures and sin. I do believe that leaders need above all others to confess when they have hurt, offended and stumbled others by their attitudes, behaviour and words. Moses was burdened with his guilt but he was also burdened with his commission to confront Pharaoh! Moses knew fullwell the awesome power of the Pharaoh and the opposition he faced. On top of all that he now has to face Zipporah who considers that to circumcise her boys is utterly abhorrent to her, she was deeply offended by what she considered this barbaric male mutilation of her boys. The crisis precipitated her departure and marked the break-down of their marriage. Jethro visits Moses as he journeys to Sinai following the Exodus from Egypt, “Moses' father-in-law, brings Zipporah, Moses' estranged wife and her two sons” (Ex.18:2-3). Obviously, Jethro had one objective and that was to bring reconciliation between Moses and Zipporah. The original reference in Ex.ch.4 refers to what happened on their journey to Egypt, “And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the Lord met him, and sought to kill him. Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me. So, he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision” (Ex.4:24-26). It was at this point of Jethro’s visit that Moses faced a very important personal decision regarding his wife and two boys. It is obvious that Jethro brought Zipporah back with the purpose of reconciliation but I think that he failed to accomplish this. Moses gives us no information about the family discussion that took place or the fateful day of their decision to make their separation permanent (Ex.ch.18; see 4:24-26). In fact, we are not given any information about their conversations and therefore we are unable to make any final judgment. However, Moses did refer to the original confrontation over circumcision and his action then, – “after he had sent her back” (Nu.18:2; cf. 1Cor.7:11, 15). One cannot begin to estimate the loss to all parties due to, what I believe, was the failed attempt at reconciliation. How did this affect Moses’ leadership? It is clear from the observations of Jethro - at this early period of administering the Law that Moses is consumed by the demands of his work from morning until night – what a price to pay for a failed marriage! Jethro introduces Moses to the principle of delegating responsibility. Moses may not have given due attention to this most important matter of his wife and boys due to what he considered his first responsibility to serve the people of God. We will never know. The departure of Jethro (with Zipporah) (18:27) from Moses’ tent meant that his marriage was irrevocably broken, as described by Paul, “But if the unbelieving departs, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace” (1Cor.7:15; see vv13-16).
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The following material has been inserted here because it relates to Moses second marriage which comes later and has been taken from the book of Numbers. Does his enforced celibacy have any bearing on his later marriage to a Cushite woman with black skin from Africa? (Num.12:1). It would appear that Miriam’s objection was to the interracial marriage of a woman from Cush, a region south of Ethiopia, where the people are known for their black skin. We know this because of Jeremiah 13:23: “Can the Ethiopian (the same Hebrew word translated “Cushite” in Numbers 12:1) change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil.” Attention is drawn to the difference of the skin of the Cushite people who originate from the area south of Egypt, and above the cataracts on the Nile, where a Black African civilization flourished for over two thousand years. In response to Miriam’s criticism, God does not get angry at Moses, but He gets angry with her whose criticism was directly aimed at Moses’ marriage and the result of her criticism was the undermining of his authority. The most explicit statement against Moses relates to his marriage: “Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman.” God strikes down Miriam with leprosy and resulting from her uncleanness she is put out of the camp. Moses prays for her cleansing before she is allowed back into the camp. God says nothing to Moses about his second marriage. You may be thinking – what has this to do with Moses’ spirituality? I say it has everything to do with it! It is like the irritant, the grit which eventually produces the pearl in the oyster. Forgiveness is a wonderful gift which follows repentance, but repentance does not eradicate memory and whenever Moses recollected his failure, his angry words, he wept again. Repentance and brokenness are part of genuine spirituality. What an awful price Moses paid for his sin. Shallow repentance and cheap grace count the past as irrelevant. We must deeply repent for the past and wash ourselves in the bath of His glorious grace. Moses’ deep awareness of his failures drove him deeper into God, this may be the reason he dwelled so deeply in God. Recollection is one of God’s gifts which enables us to remain broken before Him. All our past sins are forgiven, once and for all when Jesus died on the cross but they have to be repented of, especially when we recollect the damage and hurt which we have brought to others. Sins are washed away in the cleansing blood of Jesus. I am clean! I am clean! And restored to the camp and the embrace of God’s people.
Moses had a recurring anger problem Its first outbreak resulted in the tragic and violent killing of an Egyptian slave taskmaster which precipitated his hasty departure from Egypt. Secondly, he may have sent Zipporah home in a passion of anger. I also feel that there is something extremely tragic about his third angry outbreak when he smote the rock of God in the public view of all the people. The devastating outcomes of these three situations are incalculable. Moses paid a heavy price for each one of these failures; he committed murder, adultery and failed to accomplish the ultimate goal of God’s calling for his life. What does this sobering picture tell me about spirituality? It tells me that even God’s greatest giants have flawed lives and it shows to me that those evident failures contribute to a deeper walk with God. Of course, failure and sin can produce opposite outcomes which result in further sin and deception. We must dwell in the wounds of Jesus, where there is rich and full cleansing; we must sorrow for our shallowness, our failures, and our real lack of love for others. I remember the Lord 6 Derrick Harrison
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showing me the parable of the dying man on the road to Jericho and how he must muster the last of his strength, incline his broken body and open wounds for the saviour to lean forwards and pour in the healing oil and wine. His body inclined towards Jesus and became accessible for Jesus to pour into his open wounds the healing oil and reinvigorating wine. What a beautiful picture this is! Moses’ outburst of anger led him to strike the rock to bring forth life-sustaining water. The incident happened against a background of repeated rebellions against the LORD throughout the book of Numbers which began with the incident of Aaron and Miriam, - his own brother and sister, questioning Moses’ authority! The same spirit of rebellion unfortunately affected him and eventually possessed him, we observe it rising in him before it’s outbreaking in the act of striking the rock in front of all the nation of Israel, - the enemy had, indeed come in like a flood and God’s name was dishonoured by Moses’ angry act of violence. Let’s look at what God had said to Moses, “Take the rod, and gather the assembly together, you, and Aaron your brother, and speak to the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and you shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so, you shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. And Moses took the rod from before the Lord, as he commanded him. Now look at Moses’ mounting anger, And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear, now, you rebels must we fetch you water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. And the Lord spoke unto Moses and Aaron, Because, you believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them” (Num.20:8-12). I do believe that Moses found grace to accept God’s stunning judgement against him, God’s strong rebuke and His vehement refusal to allow him to lead God’s people into Canaan. Moses had been commissioned to not only lead God’s people from Egypt to Sinai but all through the bitter years of Israel’s wanderings in the wilderness he had cherished the hope of crowning his ministry by successfully leading Israel into Canaan. I do believe that he submitted himself to the LORD and found grace and strength to continue leading Israel despite his bitter disappointment. I know he found grace and strength because early in the book of Deuteronomy I read how Moses brought up the matter with the LORD and how the LORD rebuked him and yet Moses continues unerringly to prepare Israel for life in the Promised Land. When I realize that he submits to the will of God when it runs contrary to his own will I perceive that Moses is truly a man of strong spirituality.
The LORD spells out His relationship with Moses and His esteem for him Note again the context of this testimony which is spoken by the LORD, which was the criticism against Moses’ marriage – this was the focus of their criticism, but this was not the real issue. Aaron and Miriam were challenging Moses’ authority as the leader of God’s people on the premise that all God’s children have the word of the Lord to speak. How subtle is this argument, when truth (eldership ministry) is used to undermine a complementary truth (body ministry). The fact was that Moses had a unique position of authority and he had a unique ministry of prophecy and teaching, it 7 Derrick Harrison
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was Moses who had, under God established Israel’s entire constitution, their legal, civil and sacrificial system, absolutely everything had been initiated by him following his time alone with the LORD in the mountain. No other man in the entire history of the nation of Israel played such a pivotal role. No one was to follow him and no other person fulfilled such a singular role in the nation, not even David or Solomon. Everywhere you look in the Pentateuch you will see the powerful hand of Moses, but alongside that story there is another story which begins with Aaron and Miriam’s rebellion which spreads and grows throughout the book of Numbers, “And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman. And they said, Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the Lord heard it. (Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth)” (Nu.12:13). It is this third verse which declares Moses’ character quality/nature of humility, the verse is even written as a parenthesis! I think that when Moses was challenged, he remained silent and it was at that point that the Lord stepped in and vindicated His humble servant. We could ask ourselves the question where that humility came from. Where, indeed was he humbled? He was humbled by his sin in murdering a man, a sin which loomed large in his thinking as daily he led Jethro’s sheep to the foot of Sinai. He was also humbled by domestic failure especially with regard to his marriage to his beautiful wife Zipporah; he was humbled by his lowly station in comparison to his upbringing and training in Pharaoh’s palace. In comparison, his ordinary life and his daily routine of work must have humbled him, - the absence of people, of books, of a future, the fact that he was self-emptied of all that was dear and of value and worth to him must have been at the root of his humility. Paul describes a similar experience when at the end of the process of humbling he declares, “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ” (Phil.3:7-8). Moses counted all things as loss to him and yet he did not have the surpassing love of Christ to attract him. I do believe that his humility was the fruit of those 40 years in Midian. It is humility that teaches us our true worth in the eyes of God. It is then that we recognise who we are truly and can then rest comfortably in who we are. God is pleased with us, but lots of people are not really aware of that fact and therefore do not enjoy contentment in God and in themselves, “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content” (Phil.4:11). 3 Paul chooses carefully his words here because contentment does not come naturally, it is the fruit of the Spirit’s discipline, Jesus was perfected in His human nature by the things He suffered (Heb.2:10). Contentment comes from finding grace in the trials of life. In the face of Aaron’s and Miriam’s failure to honour Moses, the Lord speaks about His intimate relationship with Moses, 3
George Burroughs, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment https://www.preachtheword.com/bookstore/contentment.pdf
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“And He said, Hear, now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them; and he departed” (Nu.12:6-9). The LORD points to their intimacy by comparing the prophet who speaks God’s words, who sees visions and dreams of God and in contrast, Moses who knows God, “mouth to mouth” which reminds us of the Song of Songs, “let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth” (1:3). The LORD uses two other words, “apparently” (plainly and surely) and not in dark speeches (parables or similitudes), and the “similitude” of the Lord shall he behold (not the face or essence of God, who is invisible (Ex.33:20; Col.1:15; Jn.1:18), but some unmistakable evidence of His glorious and holy presence (Ex.33:2; 34:5). This takes me to Ex.33-34; when this actually happened between the LORD and Moses. I am also reminded of Moses’ teaching in Deuteronomy, “And the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire: you heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only you heard a voice” (4:12, 15, 16). The word is repeated in v15 and v16. There can be no material or visual representation of God who is invisible, hence the lie of idolatry. The first commandment prohibits idols, “any graven image” (Ex.20:3-5). We cannot visualize God who is invisible, but we can see Him visually in the face of Jesus Christ. The tabernacle expressed the beauty of God’s character in a million ways but there was no picture of God hanging up in the tabernacle, nor in the home of any Israelite. I would like to draw your attention to the importance of the voice of the LORD, which comes to the fore here as throughout Scripture. Because there is on Sinai no material representation of the LORD, not even the sight of an angel, our attention is focused entirely on the voice and what the voice conveys to us and the words God speaks to us. I include the 2 periods of 40 days with the LORD on Mount Sinai under the heading of “spirituality” because of the profound effect they had on Moses.
3. Moses ascends Mount Sinai to receive the words of the Law This first period of 40 days was interrupted by the incident of the golden calf. The two periods of 40 days on the mountain (Ex.24:28) had a profound effect on Moses, “So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” (Ex.33:11). As he emerged from this period of 40 days with the LORD, he was engaged in intense intercession regarding the presence of the angel of the Lord continuing with them (33:12-17). Possessed by a deep desire to see the face of God, he cried out to God, “show me Your glory!” However, the Lord replied to him with a strong prohibition, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live” (Deut.32:20), but you may see Me from behind as I depart. In ch.34 we see what happened to Moses in response to his request, “Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third 9 Derrick Harrison
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and the fourth generation.” So, Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped” (Deut.34:5-8). This experience must be put alongside his two previous encounters with the LORD (3:11-15; 6:1-8), when he heard the LORD speaking His name and later revealing the meaning of His Name. We read, “Now the LORD came and stood with him there, and proclaimed His Name as, the LORD. Note that three times we read, “the LORD.” Why, did the LORD stand so close to him? - for the same reason Jesus inclined His face to each of His disciples, in order to breath into them the Holy Spirit (Jn.20:22). Moses does not only hear the LORD’S Name as he did on the 2 previous occasions, but now the LORD proclaims His Name, it invades his entire being, the name reverberates through his soul and body, like a mighty gushing torrent of water,2 this is his baptism into the name of the LORD, when his entire being is filled with the river of God. I am reminded of Charles Finney’s description of his experience of the baptism in the Spirit, “the Holy Spirit descended upon me in a manner that seemed to go through me, body and soul. I could feel the impression, like a wave of electricity, going through and through me. Indeed, it seemed to come in waves and waves of liquid love; for I could not express it in any other way. It seemed like the very breath of God. I can recollect distinctly that it seemed to fan me, like immense wings!” Evan Roberts, the leader of the Welsh Revival in 1904 described his experience of the baptism in the Holy Spirit, “I felt a living power pervading my bosom. It took my breath away and my legs trembled exceedingly. This living power became stronger and stronger as each one prayed, until I felt it would tear me apart. My whole bosom was a turmoil and if I had not prayed it would have burst…. I fell on my knees with my arms over the seat in front of me. My face was bathed in perspiration, and the tears flowed in streams. I cried out “Bend me, bend me!!” It was God’s commending love which bent me… what a wave of peace flooded my bosom…. I was filled with compassion for those who must bend at the judgement, and I wept. Following that, the salvation of the human soul was solemnly impressed on me. I felt ablaze with the desire to go through the length and breadth of Wales to tell of the saviour.” Both these men were very powerful revivalists, and both described this experience of God invading their soul and body with rivers of living water – rivers of power was how Finney described this experience as waves and waves of “liquid power” and “liquid love” and Roberts speaks of “living power” which had invaded his bosom, which increased more and more in strength as people prayed. In the Welsh revival this mighty baptism took possession of men and women with such increasing fulness that they had to ask God to withhold his hand because they could take no more, O Breath of life, come sweeping through us, revive your church with life and pow'r; O Breath of Life, come, cleanse, renew us, and fit your church to meet this hour. O Wind of God, come bend us, break us, till humbly we confess our need; 10 Derrick Harrison
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then in your tenderness remake us, revive, restore, for this we plead. O Breath of love, come breathe within us, renewing thought and will and heart; come, Love of Christ, afresh to win us, revive your church in ev'ry part.
Bessie Porter Head (1850-1936)
Following Moses’ mountain-top experience with the LORD which he describes, “So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments” (Ex.34:28). We read also that when he returned, “all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him … And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with Him, he would take the veil off until he came out; and he would come out and speak to the children of Israel whatever he had been commanded. And whenever the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone, then Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with Him” (34:3335). Moses would soon face 40 years of leading a rebellious nation through the wilderness and he could only do this by the enablement of the Holy Spirit. He had proved the power of God’s name in the 10 judgments/plagues on Egypt and the power of the LORD at the Red Sea but now he would face defeat, discouragement and isolation in the wilderness, depending on the inward resources of God’s Spirit. His spiritual life was nourished by living in continual fellowship with the LORD (Num.12:7-8).
Conclusion How can one possibly spell out the lessons we can learn from our examination of Moses’ spirituality? He was a chosen child and called to the most unbelievable tasks. To that end he was prepared, trained and disciplined by God and endowed with natural and spiritual gifts which contributed to his immense success. Let us not forget that he was a co-worker with God and that he could have done nothing if God had not been enabling him and working through him. Moses did not open up the Red Sea, he simply raised the staff his hand and the wind of God parted the Sea. He was called to a great task but he also was a man of spiritual stature, a fact that God bore testimony to, alongside the testimony of Scripture. He was also a flawed leader, committing murder, adultery and failing to ultimately fulfil the will of God for his life but he still stands out as the predominant character in the Old Testament just as Paul is the predominant character in the New Testament after Jesus. He believed God and he obeyed God throughout his life, in other words he was faithful to God and his calling (Num.6:7; cf. 1Tim.1:12). We have identified the character qualities of this man of God, his personal qualities and his particular gifts, his encounters with God and his revelations of God. You need to look at this again
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for yourself, which will take some time and you will need to soak yourself in his life and in his writings (Genesis-Deuteronomy) and you will gain new and powerful insights.
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