Now Its Your Turn

April 12

Read: Exodus 6-7:13

Now Its Your Turn

“And the LORD said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet…then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’” (v.7:1,9)

God is going to do what he wants to do in this world through his people. We know this. He is seeking to draw his children into participation with him, but the story becomes even more rich when we see the organic way that it grows. God is truly making us “partakers of his divine nature”. (cf. 2 Peter 1:4) It is fascinating to watch this unfold in the book of Exodus.

Back in Exodus 4:16 God says this to Moses:

“(Aaron) shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and you shall be as God to him. And take in your hand this staff, with which you shall do the signs.”

It is crazy to think that God says to Moses, “… You shall be as God to him.” When people are in the beginning of their journey having a relationship with the Lord, God often times has a person who guides them and leads them… a Moses to an Aaron. Moses and Aaron “knew” about God up until this point, but they did not KNOW him in the way they were about to experience him… personal, powerful, and intimately. Moses was a few steps ahead of Aaron in this journey. Moses would be “as God” to Aaron… representing him to Aaron and telling him what to say. It is humbling to think that God gives us permission and authority to speak on his behalf… to play this role in the lives of others.

Later on, the Lord tells Moses that he has made him “like God to Pharaoh”. (v.7:1) We also see that Aaron is Moses’ “prophet”. We see he way that God is displaying this truth that we function like a “body”, with many parts each having their own function yet all being crucial! (cf. 1 Cor. 12) It becomes clear that this has ALWAYS been God’s intention - building up his people, making them interdependent on one another, and bringing them into participation with him. Notice what happens next: God works the same miracle through Aaron as he did through Moses under Moses’ instruction and guidance. (v.7:9) Aaron does the ‘ol staff to snake for the Pharaoh! God is NOT reserving his miraculous and supernatural work to be experienced by some small, elite group of people… He is calling - one by one - all of us into participation with him. Nevertheless, this is how it seems to work; the Lord guides us into these experiences with the help of each other. Parents and mentors who have prayed before teach new believers how to pray. Those who have read the scriptures before seek to read them with others as they start to read. Those whom God has called into healing someone else share their experience and walk with others who are being called to do the same. Those who have spoken prophetic words describe what it is like, and firm the next generation of prophets God is giving to the C/church. This is the process. God instructs Moses. Moses participates in miracles. Moses leads Aaron and instructs Aaron. Aaron participates in same miracle in front of Pharaoh. God is MULTIPLYING his works through his people… sharing the experience. Moses did not “hog” the staff … he would do what God told him and was more than happy to “share the spotlight” with his younger brother Aaron. Aarons gifts as a prophet were developed through Moses gifts as a leader being exercised… interdependent… the “body” of Christ before Christ came!

When we are faithful in walking with the Lord, he will give us many opportunities to welcome others into the journey. He is working through US to bring others into the supernatural experience of participating with God in his redemptive work. He has not reserved this participation for just a unique / small subset of his children… it is growing. God is entrusting us with being examples… being “like God” to our brothers, sisters, and those around us. Who are you handing the staff over to? Are there ways that the Lord has worked before in you that you need to be willing to share? Have you tied to hand off the responsibility (like Moses did) that God is giving to you for fear of your own shortcomings? Do you realize that God is willing to make Moses “like God” to Aaron and Pharaoh even though he is not perfect, had murdered someone, and was afraid to take the job!?! Do we realize that it provokes Gods gentle-anger when we reject his call and try to evade him? (cf. Exodus 4:14) The enemy has no problem setting up other people in the world to be seen as “gods” by the masses. We have the chance to reflect the ONE TRUE GOD into this world! This is true for EVERYONE who is in Christ Jesus. Imagine how encouraging and rewarding it must have been for Moses to see his little brother grow like that ! Love you guys. - JDP