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Today's Little Lift
by Jim Bullington
Background: A new nation was about to be birthed. This nation was the nation which God had promised to Abraham, the nation through which the Promised Seed would come. Before the nation could be birthed, the multitude of the people who were to be her citizens had to be freed from the oppressive hand of the Egyptians where they had been enslaved for centuries. But, for freedom to become a reality Moses had to recognized as their God-appointed leader. Certainly this multitude could not believe that Moses was speaking merely of his own authority, else they would not follow. This was Moses’ issue when he argued with God saying, “But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The LORD has not appeared to you.’” (Exodus 4.1).
The Issue: How was Moses to be seen as a spokesperson for God and not just another voice speaking from own authority? God and only God could resolve this question! If Moses attempted to resolve it of his own power, he would simply affirm what the skeptics were thinking, i.e. “Moses has no authority other than his own.” However, if God provided a way by which Moses could be identified as having powers that were of supernatural origin, the issue could be resolved and the mission of freeing and establishing the Israelite nation could be accomplished. With these outcomes in mind, God gave Moses three specific miraculous signs by which the people could know beyond a doubt that God was speaking through Moses (see Exodus 4.2-9). Because Moses was not an eloquent man (Exodus 4.10), He then appointed Aaron (Moses’ brother) to speak on Moses’ behalf; God also empowered Aaron to perform the same miraculous signs which He had appointed to Moses. With this arrangement, the people could know that when Aaron or Moses spoke, their word was to be received as it was in truth, the word of God and not the word of men (compare Paul’s statement in 1 Thessalonians 2.13).
The Immediate Application: “So Moses told Aaron all the words of the LORD who had sent him, and all the signs which He had commanded him [the three specific miraculous signs mentioned previously]. Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. And Aaron spoke all the words which the LORD had spoken to Moses. Then he did the signs in the sight of the people. So the people believed; and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel and that He had looked on their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped.” (Exodus 4.28-31; all emphasis mine above and below, jb). Note carefully the sequence of events and how God’s plan was successfully enacted. Aaron spoke the words which God had spoken to Moses; then Aaron did the signs [the three specific miraculous signs mentioned above] . What could result other than what is recorded? “Then they bowed their heads and worshiped.” God was confirmed as Lord of Lords, Moses was confirmed as the mediator between the people and God, and Aaron was confirmed as a spokesperson for Moses and God.
An Extended Application: God equips men who speak for Him with the ability to demonstrate the source of their authority. ANYONE who claims to speak something which God has specifically and specially revealed to him MUST do signs as Aaron and Moses did! Otherwise, he speaks of his own authority and not God’s. When the apostles and prophets spoke in the first century, Mark states “…they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.” (Mark 16.20). That was the model then; it is the model today. If any man claims God’s authority, let him demonstrate the same! If a man cannot perform the signs, he does not and cannot speak for God! “Let God be true and every man a liar.” (Romans 3.4).
Questions:
1. Why did Moses think he needed a sign?
2. Did God agree with Moses? What signs did God give him?
3. How did the people of the first century know that the apostles and prophets were speaking with God’s authority?
4. How can it be determined today by what authority a man speaks who claims to have a special and unique revelation from God?
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