Looking for scripture pertaining to a "Guilty Conscience" last night I was lead to Exodus and Acts and what I found was very interesting.
Exodus 2:11-12 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.
The topical index refers to commentary written about the noted scripture. So as I read the commentary:
Was Moses' action justifiable? (2:12)
No. Not even Moses, who became the giver of the law, was justified in murdering one of his captors. The phrase glancing this way and that and the fact that he hid the corpse in the sand suggest that Moses knew killing the Egyptian was wrong (although compare with Acts 7:23-39).
This is where it started getting really interesting....
Acts 7:23-29 "When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his fellow Israelites. He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, 'Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?' But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, 'Who made you ruler and judge over us? do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?' When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons."
The commentary asks "Was Moses action justifiable?" Moses thought his actions were justifiable, it says in Acts 7:25 Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them. Interesting.... so is the fact that it seems like Moses knew his call when he was forty years old, when he killed the Egyptian, yet after he fled to Midian God did not call him back to fulfill his calling until he was eighty, Exodus 7:7.
Many thoughts on all of this....
4 comments:
Moses justified in his mind he was doing what he was called to do when he killed the Egyptian. He knew his calling but also felt his actions were wrong, I think the glance around shows this. So maybe he just acted in haste and out of Gods timing?
This seems like when we are called to do something and we just mess it completely up. Witnessing for example, we find that person who needs to hear the word so we shove the church, the bible, the small groups, the outreaches, FIRE and BRIMSTONE, FIRE and BRIMSTONE, when really God just wanted us to tell them something good or maybe invite them to church. Maybe we should have planted a little seed and in Gods timing ten years down the road the person would then be prepared or ready for the other. Like Moses???????
Great stuff, D! I see something else here. Upon receiving his calling, Moses took it upon himself (by human methods) to fulfill it. How often does this sound like us? And how often at first do we get the wrong idea about God's calling? It wasn't until God got a hold of him for forty years in the desert, building him, instucting him, molding him, was Moses able to do God's calling. Then, finally aware that he couldn't do it on his own power, he was forced to rely on God - also so Moses couldn't take credit for leading the Israelites out of Egypt.
One last thing. Isn't cool though, that Moses had a calling at such and early age, but it wasn't put into action until he was eighty? The most amazing part of his life took place at an age when most people see their life as practically over. There's always hope, and God always has use for us, no matter the age or circumstances. Peace.
Right on BROTHER!! Thank you for the comment.
And to further note, isn't cool how God still used Moses' old life without God and made it useful for his new life with God? (When approaching pharaoh) God wastes nothing!! That's good for people like me.
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