In the classic movie “The Ten Commandments”, Charlton Heston played the part of Moses and turned aside to see the sight of the bush that burned but was not consumed. After that encounter,  he returned to Egypt, strode into the palace and told Aaron to cast Moses’ rod down that turned into a snake before Pharaoh. He boldly declared, “Let my people go”.
That command is still as valid today as it was all that time ago. Many people are in bondage and what is essential for their release from captivity is Divine intervention—a manifestation of the presence, power and glory of God. The ten plagues that struck Egypt were all directed against the idolatry and false gods of the people and if we look honestly and openly at our present world situation, little has really changed. The principles and the behaviour traits of people remain the same. It is not so much as a struggle between good and evil or light against dark as is often said, because of the events of Calvary. The real “war” is in the hearts and minds of people. God has given us the power of choice.
Moses had a choice. Pharaoh had a choice. You and I have a choice and the outcome depends on what we decide.

We usually think of those ten plagues and the opening of the Red Sea in the Exodus account, but before all that happened, the foundation was laid when moses saw something.

Now Moshe, tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, drove the flock into the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of Hashem.
An angel of Hashem appeared to him in a blazing fire out of a bush. He gazed, and there was a bush all aflame, yet the bush was not consumed.
Moshe said, “I must turn aside to look at this marvelous sight; why doesn’t the bush burn up?”
When Hashem saw that he had turned aside to look, Hashem called to him out of the bush: “Moshe! Moshe!” He answered, “Here I am.”
And He said, “Do not come closer. Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground.
Exodus 3:1-5

Moses was called by God at his birth to fulfil a specific calling as we all are. You are not here by chance. The Bible tells us that he knew us when we were still in our mothers womb. God told Jeremiah that he had called him and ordained him to be a prophet before he was born. You too may have been called by God to achieve one special specific assignment, but for that to happen you will have to go through different phases or stages in your life before that assignment is accomplished. Moses spent 40 years in the courts of pharaoh, 40 years as a shepherd tending sheep that did not belong to him and 40 years in ministry. Moses the promised deliverer became Moses the murderer, then became Moses the shepherd before becoming the man who led God’s people free.

Moses was a prince, but he became a humble Shepherd before he became the man of God we know him to be. It is no accident that he spent three separate periods, each of 40 years duration. The number 40 in scripture refers to testing refining, training and probation. Whilst you or I may not have to be tested like that for 40 years, we do however need to be proved in some way.

Paul told Timothy:

Be committed to teach the believers all these things when you are with them in the presence of the Lord. Instruct them to never be drawn into meaningless arguments, or tear each other down with useless words that only harm others.
Always be eager to present yourself before God as a perfect and mature minister, without shame, as one who correctly explains the Word of Truth.
Avoid False Teachings And avoid empty chatter and worthless words, for they simply add to the irreverence of those who converse in that manner. 2 Timothy 2:14-16

Such maturity does not happen overnight. Nor is it achieved by study alone. To “rightly divide” the word of truth, we need to know the truth and because all scripture is given by inspiration of the Holy Spirit according to 2 Timothy 3:16-17, we cannot properly understand a word without His help. The parable of the sower and the seed in Mark chapter 4 speaks about the word of God, and no one understood what Jesus was saying, including religious leaders, until he was alone with his disciples and other followers, to reveal the truth to them and no one else.

Jesus did not enter into His ministry until He was around 30 years of age. We are not told everything that happened between the age of 12 to then, but we do know that He was in training according to scriptures like Hebrews 5:8 that also speak of His obedience to the Father.

Prior to entering into his ministry Moses needed to experience a personal encounter with God. He appeared to him in that burning bush—but Moses had to respond as we all need to do. Salvation is not automatic, simply because Jesus died on the cross and was resurrected. It must be accepted or appropriated and that is a personal choice every individual must make alone. Moses chose to investigate the phenomena and God was watching and waiting for his response as He does with us.

When Moses responded, God called him by his name. He knows us by name and he calls us by name. Our relationship is an individual and personal relationship with God. He does not want our ability, but our availability. He does not want our talents or formal training, but he can and often does make use of them—the ordinary, base and foolish things and Paul spoke of this in the first couple of chapters of 1 Corinthians.

The first thing that God told him to do was to give up his independence by telling him to remove his sandals and in so doing, Moses’ walk from that moment on changed forever. When we have an encounter with God, everything changes. There should be “evidence” or “fruit” and this is a biblical fact. Abram became Abraham. Jacob became Israel. Saul became Paul. My name is Robert but my family called me Bob. One day the Lord told me to use my proper name because He had called me into the ministry. Names are important.

When Saul of Tarsus who was a powerful and influential man, attended the best universities and Bible seminaries of his day was going to Damascus thinking that he was doing God’s will, Jesus stepped into his life. Saul did did not literally remove his sandal perhaps, but he had a similar approach. The first thing he said was, “What do you want me to do... Lord?” He made Jesus the Lord of his life, that means he abdicated the throne of his life.  At that point, both men were told what to do. We should respond in like manner.

On closer inspection, it seems that every one of us goes through a similar process. Jesus did not immediately enter into his ministry, but spent most of his life in preparation mode for a relatively short, three year ministry. Paul told Timothy not to lay hands suddenly on anyone. This has more than one meaning, but primarily, it means not to give a novice or someone who has not been appropriately trained in the school of the Holy Spirit a position of authority and responsibility. Wait until clear and precise instructions are received. It also relates to how we pray for others. Don’t be hasty in praying for other people. Sometimes it is best to pause. Stand back and wait to see if the Holy Spirit directs you. If not, we may pray amiss or in a “hit and miss” approach and waste time, become frustrated or disappointed and of course avoid such a common attitude of, “See...prayer does not work”.

Moses accepted the call, but did not know what to do. His main concern was that no one would believe him. This is a valid and legitimate concern and God knows that which is why he provides us with the appropriate tools to use to get the job done. It is necessary at times because others who should know better and are in the church look at us when we try saying that the Lord called us—that He spoke to us. There are strange people in the church of course, but the incredulous looks and behavioral responses of many “believers” often bordering on outright mockery, antagonism or opposition never cease to amaze me.

Such attitudes build up a wall or barrier that can and does hinder God’s plan. Perhaps Moses was aware of it and I say that because of his response. It was basically one of, “If I go there and try telling the people that You sent me, they will not believe me. What do I do?” Whilst that may be a valid question and God answered him by giving him three tools, or to be more precise, three signs, there is something there that we shall now discuss in depth.

Our theme hinges around God’s plan to raise up a deliverer. Ultimately this deliverer was Jesus, but God was setting the stage and He chose a baby boy named Moses. The enemy tried to stop it happening by killing all newborn Hebrew boys. He failed. He tried to kill Jesus but failed. He may try to prevent you from fulfilling your destiny in God, but he will fail (if you keep on course with God).

NOW [Amram] a man of the house of Levi [the priestly tribe] went and took as his wife [Jochebed] a daughter of Levi.
And the woman became pregnant and bore a son; and when she saw that he was [exceedingly] beautiful, she hid him three months. And when she could no longer hide him, she took for him an ark or basket made of bulrushes or papyrus [making it watertight by] daubing it with bitumen and pitch. Then she put the child in it and laid it among the rushes by the brink of the river [Nile].  And his sister [Miriam] stood some distance away to learn what would be done to him.
Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, and her maidens walked along the bank; she saw the ark among the rushes and sent her maid to fetch it. When she opened it, she saw the child; and behold, the baby cried. And she took pity on him and said, This is one of the Hebrews’ children!
Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, Shall I go and call a nurse of the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?
Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Go. And the girl went and called the child’s mother.
Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Take this child away and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages. So the woman took the child and nursed it. And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. And she called him Moses, for she said, Because I drew him out of the water. Exodus 2:1-10.

It seems ironic that the despised one who was to deliver Israel was raised in the palace. Pharaoh’s daughter even paid his natural mother wages to care for him and all this was right under the nose of Pharaoh! When we are in covenant with God, we can be blessed even in the midst of our enemies. They can be dropping like flies in a plague whilst we are untouched.

Something interesting happened to God’s deliverer. The bible says that when he was grown up, he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew and became incensed enough to slay the Egyptian. This raises some questions. Was he aware of his Hebrew heritage and if so, did he act prematurely by killing the man? Moses the deliverer became Moses the murderer.

I wonder how many good and well-meaning Christians receive a vision or call of God and act prematurely?

God then told Moses to put his hand underneath his bosom, or cloak. The hand speaks of what we do, and God told him to put it close to his heart. When he did, putting everything near and dear to him close to his heart, everything representing the natural, it became leprous. Leprosy represents sin in the Bible. It speaks of the old nature and the old nature of man, without a divine encounter, or conversion is sinful. It had to be covered. When our sin is covered and dealt with by the blood of Jesus, it is no longer leprous. When God later told him to remove his hand it became normal.

When God deals with the sin issue in our lives, it is dealt with, never to return. We do not need, nor should we continue to seek forgiveness. The change that happens in our lives then becomes our “normal”. What this means to us is a total change in our life.

When we have a real encounter with the Lord, the old life dies, is put to death, is buried and resurrected as it were.

One way we look on this is by believers’ baptism. That does not “save us”, nor does it mean we are “baptized into a church, because it is an act of identifying ourselves with the Lord. Infants cannot “repent and believe” because this is an act of obedience and the bible reveals that God Commandeth every man to repent (acts 17:30). The bible speaks of fruits of repentance and this is our message of reconciliation.

Since we are those who stand in holy awe of the Lord, we make it our passion to persuade others to turn to him. We know that our lives are transparent before the God who knows us fully, and I hope that we are also well known to your consciences. Again, we are not taking an opportunity to brag, but giving you information that will enable you to be proud of us, and to answer those who esteem outward appearances while overlooking what is in the heart.
If we are out of our minds in a blissful, divine ecstasy, it is for God, but if we are in our right minds, it is for your benefit. For it is Christ’s love that fuels our passion and motivates us, because we are absolutely convinced that he has given his life for all of us.
This means all died with him, so that those who live should no longer live self-absorbed lives but lives that are poured out for him—the one who died for us and now lives again. So then, from now on, we have a new perspective that refuses to evaluate people merely by their outward appearances. For that’s how we once viewed the Anointed One, but no longer do we see him with limited human insight.
Now, if anyone is enfolded into Christ, he has become an entirely new creation. All that is related to the old order has vanished. Behold, everything is fresh and new. And God has made all things new, and reconciled us to himself, and given us the ministry of reconciling others to God. In other words, it was through the Anointed One that God was shepherding the world, not even keeping records of their transgressions, and he has entrusted to us the ministry of opening the door of reconciliation to God. We are ambassadors of the Anointed One who carry the message of Christ to the world, as though God were tenderly pleading with them directly through our lips. So we tenderly plead with you on Christ’s behalf, “Turn back to God and be reconciled to him.” For God made the only one who did not know sin to become sin for us, so that we who did not know righteousness might become the righteousness of God through our union with him. 2 Corinthians 5:11-21

We may often think only of the rod turning into the snake and his hand becoming leprous and may forget that God gave him three signs.

The third sign was for Moses was to take some water out of the Nile when he was still on the mountain and nowhere near the river itself. As I pondered over this, it is evident that God sees things differently to us. We focus on time and things in the natural realm,  but God is a spirit as are we, so we should start looking at things from the realm of the spirit and not in the natural realm and that takes training. It also takes a measure of faith. God sees things as already done and pictured Moses dipping a container into the water and throwing his rod down whilst the man was covering his face and taking his sandals off in front of the burning bush. God sees things as though they were...

The Lord said to Moses, “When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. – Exodus 4:21

These signs were to be performed before Pharaoh before the ten plagues came. To do that, Moses needed to enter the court where the priests, magicians, guards, scribes and other people gathered. God gave a specific message to them that had great meaning.

A question arises about these three signs given at their “rehearsal” at the burning bush. In the passage in Exodus 4 when God gave Moses the signs, He told Moses to demonstrate the first two signs right then and there, which Moses did, but He did not tell Moses to demonstrate the third sign, turning water into blood. Why did God make Moses practice the first two signs but not the third?

To understand the significance of these three signs for Pharaoh and his Egyptian advisers, we should look at what they might have meant in the context of the Egyptian culture and beliefs of that time. The message of the signs would only have real impact if Pharaoh could easily comprehend it.