Lessons in isolation: Moses
Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth. (Numbers 12:3).
Our government is cautiously considering the country’s pathway out of lockdown. This announcement has made me think about what God wants me to learn from the lockdown experience. Today is Day 50 of this period of isolation. It seems a long time. But I cannot think of anyone who endured isolation for as long as Moses.
Moses was born into isolation. Egypt had forgotten their great saviour Joseph. They had enslaved his people, and when Moses was born, they were butchering all newly born male children. Moses’ isolation began before he could walk or talk, in a tiny basket floated on the River Nile. It continued for the next 40 years in the palaces of one of the world’s greatest monarchs. Moses was a prince, and materially he had everything. But he was isolated from his people. When he visited his kin and discovered an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave, he murdered the attacker to protect one of his people. This powerful prophetic act foretold the deliverance of the children of Israel and the judgement of Egypt. But it also resulted in Moses fleeing for his life and spending the next 40 years in far greater isolation from his people. Moses spent these years, not as a prince in a palace, but as a shepherd in the wilderness.
It is from the wilderness at Horeb, the mountain of God, that God calls Moses to lead His people out of slavery to the land He had promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. For 80 years God had been preparing Moses for that day. And what was the result of all of God’s 80 years of work in the life of Moses? He was “very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3). God had taken this powerful prince of Egypt, who had so much natural strength and confidence, and changed him into a lowly shepherd who would lead a nation into salvation and to the edge of the Promised Land.
I cannot count the times I have told the story of the lady who had a beautiful set of crockery. It was her pride and joy. She kept it in a display cabinet and, every Sunday, she took it out to clean the pieces. One day, she dropped the milk jug and broke it. She tried to repair it by gluing it together, but it didn’t look as good as the other pieces. What could she do? She filled it with milk and used it every day. For God to make us useful and to honour Him, He has to humble us. But meekness is not weakness. Spiritually weak men don’t lead nomadic nations for forty years and bring them to the border of their destination. No; humility is the way God transmits His power through our obedience and dependence upon Him.
God did not demonstrate His greatest power when He flung stars into space. We saw this power when our Saviour, Jesus Christ, stepped into the world He made. The same Jesus who said, “Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29, AV).
Add Your Comment