Secret of Meekness in God

Good morning!

Greetings in the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Moses was born as son of Hebrew parents, when Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, commanded all his people, “Every son that is born to the Hebrews, you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.”   Thus, the parents had to hide Moses for three months.   When they could not hide any longer, they put Moses in a basket, and sent down on Nile river.   By God’s mercy and grace, Moses was spotted by a princess, one of Pharaoh’s daughters, who came down to bathe in the river.  Moses was raised by the princess in the palace. 

One day, when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel, and saw the terrible conditions they were under.   During his visit he saw an Egyptian knock a Hebrew to the ground—one of his own Hebrew brothers! Moses looked this way and that to be sure no one was watching, then killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand.   He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand. (Acts 7:25)

And on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’  The response from those Hebrews who were fighting was totally unexpected.  “And who are you?” one of the men demanded.  Then he continued “I suppose you think you are our prince and judge! And do you plan to kill me as you did that Egyptian yesterday?”  Immediately a severe fear fall on Moses, and he fled away into the distant land of Midian.  Then for the next forty years, he stayed in the land of Midian while shepherding sheep.   He married and became the father of two sons like an ordinary shepherd.   Moses who used to think that God was giving them salvation by his hand, and people did not understand, now became a humble man who was one of the shepherds with a wife and two sons living in the remote land of Median.

One day, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight.  As he drew near to look, he heard a voice calling Moses.  It was God’s voice.  Forty years ago, he used to hear his own voice, and he attempted to rescue Israelites by his own hand because he was powerful and capable.   Now, he became an eighty-years-old shepherd.  His strength was far reduced and his ambition was completely faded away during the last forty years of the journey in the Midian wilderness.   He became a man of humility.  Bible tells “Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.” (Numbers 12:3)   Moses, meek and humble, finally was able to truly hear God’s voice.

 
As Moses was ready, God showed up and explained what Moses had to do while telling about Himself:  I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ …  I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.’  (Acts 7:32 -34)

By the time, Moses’ ambition of rescuing the Israelites from Egypt was a just old memory.  He did not want to revisit the painful memory of the prior failure in Egypt.  He vividly recalled the Pharaoh who tried to arrest him after his killing one of the Egyptians was exposed.  For him, it was unthinkable to return to Egypt.  Thus, he refused.   He also added all kinds of excuses, such as “I am not eloquent and slow of speech and of tongue.”   However, for this time, God knew Moses was fully ready to be used by God, because Moses was no longer the old Moses who believed his own hand and might.   For this time, God gave His own special promise — He would be with Moses always, and He would go with him wherever Moses would go.  God also granted a miraculous power of turning staff to snake and back to staff, and supernatural signs that only could God do.   He sent Aaron also, who spoke well, and could speak for God and Moses.

Moses, when he was sent by God, was able to lead the Israelites out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years till they arrive at the promised land.   What a contrast!  The old Moses who thought that God was giving the Israelites’ salvation by his own hand had to flee from Egypt to the distance land of Midian.  When Moses became really humble and meek, he was sent by God and liberated the entire Israelites from the bondage of Egypt.  

Do we think that we have a calling of God?   However, we feel that people don’t understand.  Then it is time to learn from the life of Moses, and to pray before God.   God waited forty years till Moses became very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth before God used Moses to lead the Israelites from Egypt.