Moses, the Leader of God’s People
149
The Lord directed his course, and he found a home with Jethro,
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the priest and prince of Midian, who was a worshiper of God. After a
time Moses married one of the daughters of Jethro; and here, as keeper
of his flocks, he remained forty years.
It was not God’s will to deliver His people by warfare, as Moses
thought, but by His own mighty power, that the glory might be ascribed
to Him alone. Moses was not prepared for his great work. He had
yet to learn the same lesson of faith that Abraham and Jacob had
been taught—not to rely upon human strength or wisdom but upon
the power of God for the fulfillment of His promises. In the school
of self-denial and hardship he was to learn patience, to temper his
passions. His own heart must be fully in harmony with God before he
could teach the knowledge of His will to Israel and exercise a fatherly
care over all who needed his help.
Doing God’s Work the Wrong Way
Moses had been learning much that he must unlearn. The influ-
ences that had surrounded him in Egypt had left deep impressions
upon his developing mind and had molded to some extent his habits
and character. Time could remove these impressions. It would require
on the part of Moses himself a struggle as for life to renounce error
and accept truth, but God would be his helper when the conflict should
be too severe for human strength.
“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all
men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”
James
1:5
. But God will not impart to men divine light while they are content
to remain in darkness. In order to receive God’s help, man must realize
his weakness and deficiency; he must apply his own mind to the great
change to be wrought in himself; he must be aroused to earnest and
persevering prayer and effort.
Shut in by the bulwarks of the mountains, Moses was alone with
God. In the solemn grandeur of the everlasting hills he beheld the
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majesty of the Most High, and in contrast realized how powerless were
the gods of Egypt. Here his pride and self-sufficiency were swept
away. The results of the luxury of Egypt disappeared. Moses became
patient, reverent, and humble, “very meek, above all the men which
were upon the face of the earth” (
Numbers 12:3
), yet strong in faith.