“And Moses spake before the LORD, saying, Behold,
the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear
me, who am of uncircumcised lips?” (Ex 6:12
AV)
This
argument by Moses is easily understood.
What Moses is arguing comes at the heals of the people of God criticizing
Moses. After Moses’ first initial visit
to Pharaoh, the king no longer would provide straw for the tale of bricks Israel
was to manufacture, but would not allow them to diminish output. He doubled their work load while requiring
the same results. The people, understandably,
were not happy. They sought the judgment
of God upon Moses. Then we see this
response of Moses as he prays to God. In
essence, the argument is, if the people of God will not hearken to the man of God,
how does the man of God expect any success with the people of the world. This is a legitimate argument. Life’s experience has shown me when the people
of God reject the leadership of the man of God, he has lost his ability to
reach his community. Rather than dwell
on that point, let us consider the requirement of the LORD and actions of the
man of God which followed this argument.
As
legitimate as this argument was, it did not relieve the call of God on Moses’
life. The response of Israel could not
dictate to Moses his call. This is true of
every man of God ever listed in the word of God. The response of the people of God or the
world cannot relieve the man of God of his responsibility to preach the word of
God and represent God to the people of the world. One can almost picture a situation which
those involved ignored the word of someone who knew better. Like a volcano which is ready to erupt, there
will be those who ignore the warning.
Imagine a scientist who understands the behavior of volcanoes going through
a nearby town, warning of the impending eruption. He prints it in the paper. He announces it on the radio. He travels up and down streets with bullhorn
out his window. Surly, those who have
lived with the volcano, seeing its small eruptions and witnessing daily steam
from its crown would be the first to listen.
Oft time, they are the last. This
scientist might feel since the residence of the town do not care enough to act
upon that which they know, how are the tourists going to react to the news? The problem is, regardless of who heeds or
who does not, that volcano is going to blow.
That scientist has a moral obligation to declare the obvious no matter
who will or who will not heed.
I
certainly understand how Moses felt.
When those who know better do not heed the message, it makes it all that
harder to reach those who know nothing.
We complain there are fewer salvation decisions. We mourn the fact the baptismal is not stirred
as it once was. We are saddened our
membership roles are decreasing. In
part, this is because we, as God’s people, ignore the messages from the word of
God which we prefer not the heed. We
pick and choose. What we do the world
does. Only, their picking and chooses
includes repentance and salvation. We
are praying for revival. The lost coming
to Christ is a result of a revival. When
the people of God renew their commitment to the word of God and choose to live
by its principle, heeding and following God as He leads through His men, then
and only then will the world follow the church.
As Paul told the Corinthian church, follow me as I follow Christ. If the people of God will not follow the God of
the people, then don’t expect the lost world to follow the church. If you are a faithful declarer of the word of
God, just because no one follows does not mean you abandon your calling. That is what God called you to do and results
don’t determine calling.
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