People of the Old Testament Series #4 (Exodus 4:10-18, 27-31, 6:2-8)
Moses & Aaron: Brothers who shared a common mission
1. Moses & Aaron: Brothers who shared a common mission
a) Moses (4:10-18)
Focused on his own weaknesses (4:10-12)
Moses said to the LORD, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue." The LORD said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."
He was glad to have a collaborator (4:13-18)
But Moses said, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it." Then the LORD's anger burned against Moses and he said, "What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you. You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. But take this staff in your hand so you can perform miraculous signs with it." Then Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, "Let me return to my own people in Egypt to see if any of them are still alive." Jethro said, "Go, and I wish you well.”
b) Aaron (4:27)
The LORD said to Aaron, "Go into the desert to meet Moses." So he met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him.
c) They accepted a common mission (4:28-31)
Then Moses told Aaron everything the LORD had sent him to say, and also about all the miraculous signs he had commanded him to perform. Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites, and Aaron told them everything the LORD had said to Moses. He also performed the signs before the people, and they believed. And when they heard that the LORD was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.
2. The mission that God gives
a) To Moses and Aaron (6:2-8)
God also said to Moses, “I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord[b] I did not make myself fully known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they resided as foreigners. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant. “Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.’”
b) To us (Luke 22:31-34)
"Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” But he replied, "Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.” Jesus answered, "I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.”
Summary
Unexpectedly receiving a mission from God, Moses was initially troubled and refused, but knowing Moses' weakness, God provided a helper in his brother Aaron. Working together, Moses and Aaron completed God's mission, which was to lead the people of Israel out of captivity in Egypt. When God asks us to participate in his work, God is well aware of our weaknesses and he knows our needs. God's work on earth is much too big for one person to take on alone and that is why God gives each person different roles and passions. Let's bring our worries and our desires to God in the hope that he will accomplish his work through us as we walk with him.
For Discussion
1) Why was Aaron given the role of helping Moses?
2) What does God want you to do?