Slow of Speech

Exodus 4:10, “And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.”

Moses was not skillful as a speaker, so God let Aaron be the mouthpiece. 
 

Acts 7:22, “And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.”

Moses was trained in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, but don’t tell me that they didn’t know how to be great orators.  Perhaps this training was intentionally omitted. 
 
My brother and I were talking the other night about the economic oppression caused by the prevalence of debt.  Yet it is so pervasive that the few who rebel against the debt lie are still bound to it’s influence.  The only chance of massively changing the world, of fixing the problem, is to do what Dave Ramsey did: to exercise free speech and persuade people of the more excellent way. 
 
Like the ants in Bug’s Life, the voices of visionaries can spur the masses to stand up for themselves and relieve the oppression.  In America we have the right to free speech.  Egypt was not so gracious, and they certainly didn’t want their Hebrew adopted prince to be ready to lead an uprising.  So maybe they didn’t teach him speech.  Maybe they taught him that he was a bad speaker, or made fun of him when he tried to wax eloquent.  
 
Aaron didn’t have that fault in his education.  He was an excellent speaker.  But Moses could have been a good speaker if he would have relied on God, who promised to be with His mouth.  Tonight at Awana we were studying the faith of Moses.  This is the seventh in a series of heroes of faith we have been studying.  A few weeks ago we looked at Nehemiah, an excellent leader.  The quiz at the end of the lesson included a question on what made Nehemiah such a good leader.  My student had written that He was a good leader because he had God’s help. 

So I asked, “Does that mean you can be a good leader?”  Typically, I got the answer “No.  I don’t know.  I guess.  Maybe.” 

What is God calling and equipping you to be? 

To God be all glory,

Lisa of Longbourn

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Abraham, Moses and David Wait

When Abraham was 75 years old, his literal journey of faith began.  We always talk about the faith of Abraham, but he’d been in training for 75 years.  He also waited a lot: at first for God’s Bible-worthy plans for his life to begin; 25 years for the birth of Isaac; 37 more years for Isaac’s marriage; and 38 years for his own death. 

When he was 100, his son Isaac was born.  Isaac waited until he was 47 and his mother was dead before he got married to Rebekah. 

After Isaac’s marriage, Abraham remarried and had six more sons, which grew up and were then sent away (with gifts) to protect Isaac’s inheritance.  Isaac was 75 when he buried his father.  His youngest brother could have been as old as 32. 

Moses was 40 when he decided to associate himself with Israel as their deliverer.  By faith, he perceived that was not God’s timing, and fled into the wilderness of Midian (Hebrews 11).  There he was married (again, at least 40 years old), had two sons, and then met God at the burning bush when he was 80.  Yes.  At 80 years of age Moses marched back into Egypt and demanded the release of the Jewish people.  At 80 he led them out of Egypt across the Red Sea.  For forty years Moses was the patient leader of Israel in the wilderness as he aged towards 120 years old.  This man wrote Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy as well as a few of the Psalms – all after he was 80! 

Some men were called from their youth to serve God.  Others waited to burst onto the scene.  David’s entire life recorded in detail, is perhaps the best illustration of how God works.  David was anointed king when he was still young.  Then he spent years as a shepherd, or servant in the palace, then a warrior before he finally got the throne.  But God was training him, and exposing him to the skills he needed for his future.  Most famously, David had practice fighting beasts before he came against Goliath.  I’m encouraged by the examples of these men who waited, who exercised their faith so they were ready when God asked something we would consider big. 

To God be all glory,

Lisa of Longbourn 

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Many Sons

Father Abraham had many sons.  So goes the song.  And of course the lyrics are a metaphor such as the New Testament uses: that all those who come to God by faith are sons of Abraham.  How many literal sons did Abraham have?  God promised that Abraham would be the father of many nations.  Both physically and metaphorically that promise has come true.  Isaac was the father of Edom and Israel.  Ishmael is commonly known as the ancestor of the Arabs.  Two sons doesn’t sound like many.  Three nations isn’t many either.  But…
 
Abraham had more sons.  Yes.  Right there, plainly stated in between exciting patriarch chronicles.  After the death of Sarah, and after the marriage of Isaac, in Genesis 25 Abraham marries a woman named Keturah.  At this point Abraham is old.  But he fathers six more sons, which each father a nation, including Midian (where Moses got his *first* wife), Sheba, and Dedan.  These nations show up again later in the Bible, and some join Ishmael in comprising the Arab people. 

To God be all glory. 

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