5 Lessons from the Life of Moses

As wonderful and promising most servants of God are, there is a major exception in most of them, which is "anger". Most of the time, the furious attitudes are not caused by them, but by people who surround them. A lot of God's servants has been pulled down because of the inability to control their anger when pushed to the wall. 

The question is, haven't you contributed to the downfall of a servant of God because of your daily complaints? As a servant of God, is God still happy with you? Aren't you going against God's instructions because of the annoying comments people are saying to you?

A major example I will like to talk about in this article is "MOSES". Moses lived a life that is worth emulating, he was a true servant of God and a faithful steward. But, there's an exception, "anger". As humble as Moses was, he was pushed to wall by children of Israel because they lack contentment.

Let's talk about the life of Moses and major lessons from his life.

Moses is one out of many prominent figures in the Bible. His name means “drawn out". That greatly signifies how Moses was later able to draw out God’s people from the land of Egypt. He grew up to be one of the great stewards of God. 

Moses is first found in the Book of Exodus in the Bible. He was a great man, a hero and one of the prophets of the nation of Israel. He was born when the Hebrew children were being murdered by their oppressors. Moses’ parents sent him down a river to save him and he was adopted by the Pharaoh’s daughter. However, he knew his heritage and was forced to flee Egypt after killing a man who was beating a slave.

Moses got to Midian, married, became a shepherd. That was where God appeared to him in the form of a burning bush. He returned and brought plagues to the slave-masters before rescuing his people. Moses wasn't a perfect man, but was full of wisdom. Hebrews 11:24-26 says, " By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.”

Moses was the man chosen by God to deliver His people out from bondage and God mightily used him to write and compile the first five fundamental books of the Bible.

Various lessons to be learnt from the life of Moses include;

1. Moses was a Humble Man

Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth ( Number 12:3). The Bible records that Moses is the meekest man on Earth. Because of this, God chose Moses to be the physical leader of the Israelites.

During the first 40 years of his life, Moses enjoyed the life and benefits of being part of the royal family. God blessed Moses with good looks (Acts 7:20) and the natural charisma to find favor in the sight of men.

Also, “Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds” (Acts 7:22).

With all these attributes, it is very easy for Moses to become proud in his own eyes. However, God cannot use him in this state. God needs a humble Moses.

 God started working with Moses when he fled in the land of Midian where he became a shepherd, a lowly job that even the Egyptian despised (Genesis 46:31-34).

Moses learned a lot during the 40 years he spent in the land of Midian. He learned to be loving, caring, and most importantly, humble before the sight of God.

Instead of finding confidence in himself, Moses found confidence in God. Therefore, Humility comes from finding and having total confidence in God and not our wisdom or capabilities.

Moses as a true steward, displayed that humility. Can that be said about you?

2. Moses was courageous

Moses' courage paved a way for the children of Israel, judging from how he led the Israelites through the Red Sea. Only a courageous person can lead a lot of people without fidgeting in the presence of the enemies. As believers, we must understand that God NEVER loses a battle. Therefore, He needs courageous people because, he gives strong battles to strong soldiers.

It takes a courageous person to say what Moses powerfully said in Exodus 14:13-14:

“DO NOT BE AFRAID. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”

Why was Moses that courageous? He was vey much aware that the battle is not between the Israelites and the Egyptians but a battle between God and the Egyptians.

As Christians, we must always remember that we are engaged in a spiritual battle. However, we are not alone because God has commanded that we must “be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9).

All you need to do as a christian is work on your courage. God has never lost a battle.

3. Faith

It was faith that made Moses choose the treasures of heaven rather than the treasures of this world. Though born as a slave, Moses was wrapped with a garment that only royalties use the day he was found by the Pharaoh’s daughter. He grew up in the royal palace of Egypt and become one of the mightiest men in the land. He has all the riches he could ever wish for and a comfortable life that any slave would dream of.

It was faith that made Moses, when he had grown up, refuse to be called the son of the king’s daughter. He preferred to suffer with God's people rather than to enjoy sin for a little while. He reckoned that to suffer scorn for the Messiah was worth far more than all the treasures of Egypt, for he kept his eyes on the future reward. It was faith that made Moses leave Egypt without being afraid of the king’s anger. As though he saw the invisible God, he refused to turn back  (Hebrews 11:24-27).

Moses knew that there is more to life than meets the eye. He used his eyes of faith to recognize that the true treasures are not found on earth, but in heaven. So, be like Moses. Though he had the chance to a comfortable life, he chose to suffer for the glory of God. Therefore, lay treasures in heaven, not on earth.

4. Personal relationship with God

Like any other faithful men and women, Moses had a very close relationship with God. We need to realize that it is impossible to be faithful to God if we don’t have a close relationship with Him. Faith will start with establishing an intimate relationship with God.

“So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.” (Exodus 33:11)

“But since then there has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face” (Deuteronomy 34:10).

Moses remained humble, which is something that made him even closer to God.

We need to nourish and enrich our spiritual relationship with God. Jesus commanded, “You shall love the LORD your God with ALL your heart, with ALL your soul, and with ALL your mind” (Matthew 22:37).

In order for us to really develop a strong relationship with God, we need to totally surrender our lives to Him. We need to be ready to follow the perfect will of God in our lives.

When we develop a close relationship with God, all things will fall into its right place.

Our relationship with God will never grow without spending time with Him. We can spend time with God through prayer and Bible study. We talk to God through prayer and God talks to us through Bible Study.

5. Anger births terrible results

The exception in Moses' life was his anger. Although Moses was humble and submissive to God’s commandments, he was still human and bound to commit mistakes. One of the biggest mistakes of Moses was his rebellious act against God in Kadesh. There, the Israelites went stubborn and went against the commandments of God. As a result, God told them that they will wander in the wilderness for 40 years. When the right time comes, they arrived at the land called Kadesh, the same place where the Israelites rebelled against God 40 years ago.

The four decades have been very difficult for Moses as the leader of the Israelites. On the other hand, the Israelites did not change even after 40 years wandering in the wilderness. They gathered together and complained to Moses that they had no water.

When God gave a very specific and easy instruction to Moses, God commanded Moses to simply take the rod, gather the assembly, and speak to the rock so the people will see (Numbers 20:8). However, Moses, at this time, did not follow the specific instructions of God. Instead of speaking to the rock, he struck the rock not once, but twice! Meaning, Moses was striking Jesus Christ (I Corinthians 10:4).

After so many years of enduring the stiff-necked attitude of the Israelites, Moses finally had it.  He was fed up with their habitual complaining to the point that he went down to their level.

This incident has cost Moses his chance of entering the promised Land. God said to him and Aaron, “Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them” (Numbers 20:12).

God is very particular with the instructions and warnings He gave to His people. It is not that Moses did not have faith that God is not able to bring water out, but he might not have believed the seriousness of God’s instructions. He might have thought that his closeness to God and his position give him some opportunities.

We must realize that those who are in leadership position are held in a stricter accountability. It doesn’t mean that if you are a leader, you have the right not to follow the law of God. Every leader, no matter where and who you are leading, you are expected to set the right example for everyone else to follow.

Because Moses allowed his anger and emotion get the best of him, he became a bad example to the congregation of God. This should also tell us something: we are never too old to be tested. We will never come to a point in our life that we are too perfect and we don’t have anything to learn, never! No matter who you are and no matter what position you are in, no one is exempted in obeying God’s commandments.

Conclusion

Although, the greatest lesson that we learn from the life of Moses is the function of faith. When you get to the bottom line, the key to his life and the key to his great impact on history is the fact that he lived by faith. Yet, his anger got the best of him when he got very close to fulfilling the most important mandate which is to lead Israelites to the promise land. As a leader and God's servant, you must have and know the various means or methods of controlling your anger at any point. Anger can lead to a very costly mistake, and as a servant of God, this is what you should beware of by all means!