From our International Director

Posted on 31 January 2010.

Exodus chapter 4 speaks of Moses' return to Egypt, called by God to rescue his people and to lead them out into the promised land. The Exodus, someone observed, is perhaps the greatest miracle in the Old Testament. It is also a 'type' of the work that the Lord Jesus came to achieve through His death on the cross and resurrection.

One commentator said: "Moses' concern for his own people while he was in Midian (4:18), his meeting with Aaron (4:27-28) and the believing response of Israelite leaders (4:29-31) are straightforward steps on the path towards deliverance. However, in between come two sections that have caused much debate." Those two 'debated' sections have much to teach us as we pray for China and in more general words serve the Lord.

The first 'debated section' is described by the writer in this way: "God 'hardening the heart' of Pharaoh (4:21) raises issues of human responsibility. (But) 'the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart' (9:12), comes after Pharaoh 'hardened his (own) heart' (8:15,32). As previously in the call of Moses, the 'response of the humans who encounter YHWH, whether appropriate or inappropriate, often leads to a further response from YHWH which takes the human action into account' (W.A. Ford)."

That is a serious warning to each of us. Our actions carry consequences. Some of those consequences are the 'natural' consequences of our good or bad actions. A drunken driver who crashes his car does not need to look far for the cause of his crash. But this passage says more than that. It says that the Lord acts in ways "which take the human action into account". That surely is a challenge to obedience and to listening to the Holy Spirit as we serve the Lord, that we should walk aright before Him.

The second 'debated' section is Moses' mysterious divine encounter in 4:24-26, where the Lord seems to be about to kill him because he has not circumcised his son. The writer observes that this "is one of the most enigmatic incidents in the Bible". I personally feel that it warns of a careless attitude to the commands of the Bible, which come to us from the Lord. Moses was sent to rescue the people of Israel, and took with him a son who was not in the fullest sense an Israelite. Moses was at fault because He knew the Lord's instruction in this matter but, through carelessness or maybe his wife's opposition, had not obeyed that command of God.

How many of us have a call from the Lord, but have not treated holiness and the fear of the Lord seriously? We have relied on calling and gifting, yet have not resisted the enemy as we should have.

These are difficult statements of the Bible, but, there are powerful challenges that emerge from them.

Pray for the church in China that it would be careful to search the Scriptures and walk in the light of the revelation that they reveal. See for example Christians at Work.

Pray for the political leaders in China, that they would increasingly know the fear of the Lord and would not harden their hearts, inviting His judgment. See Control for an example of this danger. And pray the same for the leaders of your own country!

Pray for all those serving the Lord in China, that they might walk in the holy fear of the Lord and not compromise (especially at Chinese New Year) because of ungodly wives or husbands or other family members. See Spring Festival.