March 6, 2020
Exodus 2:11-15 (NIV)
11 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. 12 Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?”
14 The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “What I did must have become known.”
15 When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well.
CONSIDER THIS
There is the will of God and then there are the ways of God. When the will of God is not executed in the ways of God it leads to something other than the will of God. Today’s text is a case in point.
The will of God would oppose the cruel and unjust treatment of slaves, right? Backing up a step, the will of God would oppose slavery altogether, right? So Moses intervened against an Egyptian slave master who was abusing an Israelite slave. So far so good, right? He took it a step further and killed the Egyptian. That’s where the road forked on the will of God. There is a way of dealing with cruelty, injustice and even abuse. When one does evil to defeat evil it still leaves us with evil. The right thing done in the wrong way is the wrong thing, right?
What happens when a person does the right thing in the wrong way? They lose credibility. It diminishes their authority. It destroys their witness. Isn’t that what happened with Moses here?
The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?” The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?”
The end does not justify the means. It proved costly for Moses, sending him from his palace of extreme privilege into what would be a very long exile. It would be in these years that Moses would become familiar with the ways of God; profoundly prepared to pursue the will of God in the deliverance of the people of God.
15 When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well.
The good news is God’s will will not be thwarted. Even despite our broken ways, God works all things together for good. He will not be surprised, outflanked, or thwarted, ever. It may take longer, centuries even, but He has time on his side, right?
We will meet Moses back here at the well tomorrow.
THE PRAYER
Father, I want to be a person who says such things. I want to know your will but even moreso I want to learn your ways. Because your ways are not my ways, I hereby renounce my ways and submit myself to learning yours. Thank you for the way you so clearly demonstrate your ways through your son, Jesus. I will follow him. Come Holy Spirit, and train me be such a person of faith. I pray in Jesus name, Amen.
THE QUESTION
Have you ever done what you understood to be the will of God yet not in the ways of God? What happened? How did that go?
For the Awakening,
J.D. Walt
Sower-in-Chief
seedbed.com