Life of Moses
D. L. Moody sums up 120 years of
Moses’ life this way: “Moses spent forty years thinking he was somebody;
then he spent forty years on the backside of the desert realizing he was nobody;
finally, he spent the last forty years of his life learning what God can do
with a nobody!” From somebody to nobody, then to God’s body.
Moses’ Intercession
Today’s story is the pinnacle
of Moses' life. He sees a glimpse of God’s glory. Think about his life – a
life of full of ups and downs. His beginning was not impressive at all. He was
nobody. He was abandoned by his own parents when he was just three months old.
But then Pharaoh’s daughter found him in the papyrus basket and pulled him out
of the water. That’s why he was named “Moses” (drew). He grew up as a
prince of Egypt. When he was 40, he thought he was in the prime of his life. He
tried to save his people, the Israelites, from the oppressive Egyptians; but
rather, he became a runaway murderer. He became nobody again. When he was
called at the age of 80, he said to God, “I am nobody. How can I go to the king
and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” (Ex 3:11 GNBUK). But eventually, he
said “Yes” to God’s call. The call was to be a bridge, a mediator between God
and his people.
As a mediator, in today’s story, Moses prays for God’s people. The Israelites committed a terrible sin. They made a golden calf for themselves. So Moses came before God and prayed on behalf of them, standing between God and the people, praying, “But now, if you will only forgive their sin – but if not, erase my name from the book you have written” (32:32). God said, “I will send an angel before you… but I will not go with you.” Moses replied, “If you don’t go with us, we don’t go.” Somehow Moses yoked himself with the Israelites. Somehow his own relationship to God was linked to Israel’s salvation. Because of his faithful intercession, the Israelites were forgiven. Because of his intimate relationship with God, the Israelites were saved. Moses was an effective mediator.
The Mediator
Moses points us to the Great
Mediator, Jesus Christ our Lord. God agreed to forgive and go with Israel
because he was pleased with his prophet Moses. In the same way, today God
forgives and saves anyone who trusts in Jesus because he is pleased with his
Son. “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matt 3: 17).
Jesus is the Mediator. He does for us what Moses did for Israel. While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to God. And God heard his prayers because of his intimate relationship with God (cf. Heb 5:7). Jesus still lives today and always to intercede for us (7:25). He asks God to accept us not because we’re acceptable, but because he is. Jesus says to his Father, “If you are pleased with me, then save my people.” God says to Jesus, “I will do the very thing that you have asked. Because I am pleased with you, I will save everyone who trusts in you. O my beloved Son, I will be as pleased with them as I am with you.”[1]
Mully
So if anyone is in Christ, that
person becomes a new person. Nobody becomes God’s body. Somebody becomes God’s
body. We are forgiven and accepted if we come to Christ and trust and abide
in him. Not only that, we are called. The same calling that Moses
received – being a bridge between God and his people.
What does it look like being a bridge person? The other day my family and I watched a movie about one man’s journey – life of Charles Mully. He was born in the slums in Keyna. He was abandoned by his family at age six. He became a street child since then. One day he was invited to church. As he was listening to the preacher, new hope began to grow in his heart. The next day he walked 43 miles to Nairobi to get a job. Finally, he was hired. He worked hard. Later, he became a manager, then CEO of bus, tire, insurance, real estate, and oil companies. He became a millionaire. At the age of 40, Mr. Mully had one troubling incident. He encountered a group of street young men. They asked for money in return for protecting his car. He refused. Later his car was stolen. After this, he couldn’t work as before, because he saw himself in the street boys’ angry faces. He got out of his office early next day and drove and drove. He pulled over to the shoulder. He asked God, “Now I have a good family – a loving wife and eight children. Things are going so well. Why now? Why me?” For hours he wrestled with God. He knew God was calling him to help the poor. Finally, he surrendered, saying, “Yes” to God’s call. At that moment joy flooded into his heart.
That year, in 1989, Mully sold all his property and businesses. He and his wife were fully dedicated to helping street children. They rescued them, fed them, taught them, raised them as their own children. They became the biggest family in the world. Since 1989, for 34 years Charles and Esther Mully have rescued and taken in more than 23,000 abandoned children.[2] They are still doing it. They are bridge builders – between the fatherless and the Father of all.
Called
We are called to be a bridge
person. Our Christian calling is to help someone come to Christ through our
heart as a pathway, as a bridge. Our calling is to connect someone to God through
our prayers, through our presence, through our service, through our gifts, and
through our witness.
In Psalm 90, Moses prays this way:
The days of our
life are seventy years
or perhaps eighty
if we are strong;
even then their
span is only toil and trouble;
they are soon
gone, and we fly away…
So teach us to
count our days
that we may gain a
wise heart.
Moses’ life was like wine – the older the better. The last third part of his life (80-120) was best. Moses lived a glorious life – life with God. The Bible says that God would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend (33:11). He was a friend of God. As God’s friend, as God’s body, and as God’s mediator, he stood between God and his people, faithfully bringing them to God, through his heart as a bridge. What a blessing to discover and live out the calling! Have you discovered God’s call on your life? We may be born as nobody. Our beginning may be small. But my prayer is that we may say “Yes” to God’s call and lead many to Christ, and that our end may be glorious and shining like stars in Christ.
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