W.I.S.H. Post – March 10, 2021

Weekly Insights for Spiritual Health

Read: Exodus 2:11-24

Moses was a special person. He was uniquely qualified for the role that was needed to free God’s people in Egypt. He was a prince of Egypt, and he was aware of his Hebrew ancestry. Moses knew the value of life, and he saw how the lives of the Hebrews were being exploited, abused, and oppressed. One day a sadistic slave-driver was whipping a Hebrew slave and Moses could take it no longer; he intervened and in the process Moses killed the Egyptian slave-driver. Moses realized the ramifications for his actions and flees Egypt. He went toward the ancient homeland of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He was 40 years old when he fled Egypt.

Moses arrives in the Sinai Peninsula, in the land of Midian. The Bible does not give us many details of the story, but Moses encounters a herdsman named Jethro, and he marries Jethro’s daughter named Zipporah. Moses became a shepherd for Jethro’s flock. For forty years the former Prince of Egypt gained the skills of a shepherd, learning about the expansive wilderness, and leading the sheep.

Moses was 80 years old when he finished his training and preparation as a shepherd the scripture tells us that God has heard the cry of the people (Exodus 2:24). God needed someone with a respect for life and compassion for the oppressed. God needed someone who was not intimidated by the great royal halls of Egypt to speak truth to power. God needed a shepherd to lead God’s people. Moses was uniquely qualified for this special role.

So, one day while tending the sheep Moses sees something very strange on the mountainside; it is a burning bush. There is something unusual about it that Moses draws near to understand. The bush is burning but it is not being consumed. That’s when God speaks to Moses for the first time (?). God is about to change the coarse of Moses’ life, the state of God’s people, and the history of the world in an epic way.

And so, at age 80, Moses is about to undertake the most meaning venture of his life.

How old is too old to serve God? Age is no limitation in God’s eyes; God will call whomever God choses to call. In what ways has God called you? Or might be calling you?

Shalom,

Pastor Rob Nystrom