Moses was quite a man. Early in his life, he was like Martha. He knew he had been rescued from the Nile and that he was a Hebrew brought up in the courts of Pharaoh. Ex 2:11-12 records: “One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. Glancing this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.”
Seeing the abuse that his people were going through, he took it in upon himself to take the matter into his own hands, and he killed an Egyptian. The result? He was forced to flee into the wilderness, to a totally isolated place called Midian (see v. 15), where he would remain for 40 years!
Just as it happened with Moses, every time we rely on our own deeds and actions, we eventually face the emptiness of our actions. It is the same spiritually-speaking. If we depend on our own actions to save ourselves, we will one day face total dismay when He tells us: Matt 25:41 “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”
But watch what happens to Moses after his 40 years of isolation: God appears to him in a burning bush and tells him in no uncertain terms to go back to Egypt: Ex 3:10 “So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt."
Wait a minute! Couldn’t God free the Israelites all by Himself? Sure He could. But this is not how he operates! He always acts in cooperation with human beings! Relationship is vital to God!
I can only think 3 times of that God acted alone in the Bible. These were:
1. At the creation of the world.
2. When fire and brimstone fell on Sodom and Gomorrah
3. At Jesus' resurrection from the dead.
At all other times, He used human beings to bring about His purposes. Why? Because God is a God of relationship! His primary concern isn’t that you bring in your offerings or that you participate on a certain committee. His primary concern isn’t even that you keep the law! He cares more about you having a relationship with Him. He wants you to be able to hear Him speak to you, to hear Him when He guides you, to learn to trust Him with every aspect of your life. He knows that if your primary goal is to get to know Him better, all of the other things (law, offerings, etc.) will fall into place, as a natural consequence of loving Him.
In Amos we can find these harsh words from God Himself: Amos 5:21 ”I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies.” But how is this possible? Isn’t God talking to His own people? Isn’t He addressing those who are called believers of the One true God? Isn’t He rebuking them for doing the things He called them to do in the first place? If you read the book of Amos carefully, you will discover the reason behind this rebuke: The Israelites didn’t have a relationship with God! God despises religious people (read Matthew 23), but loves those who seek the Lord with a pure heart (Matt 5: 8). The difference between the two is that those who seek the Lord with a pure heart are searching for a relationship with God. God is a God of relationship, not a God of doctrines and rules!
Let’s look at what happened when Moses stopped trying to take things into his own hands and started seeking fellowship with God: a whole nation was freed from oppression! Could Moses have freed his people by himself? No. He tried, but he failed miserably. No one can do the will of God if they don’t recognize His voice and seek a relationship with Him!
The entire Bible is a record of God’s interaction with humanity. Throughout the Book, each human who succeeded in making a difference in the world had a close relationship with God. They knew what God wanted. Why? Because they were communing with Him and listening to His voice!
Click here to go to: iii. Jesus Christ