THE ENDURANCE OF MOSES

By Philip Johnson
July 3, 2008

“And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt”
(Num. 14:4).
“[They] hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their
bondage” (Neh. 9:17).
“This is that Moses ...To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them,
and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt” (Acts 7:37, 39).

Moses experienced much sorrow of heart at the hand of his brethren whom he was
called to lead. With his eyes on the Lord, he was able to endure the hardships and
complete the mission that the Lord had given to him to do. He led the children of Israel
out of Egypt and through many difficult situations. At one point they rebelled against
him and his God and chose a different, unnamed leader to take them back to the
pleasures and bondage of Egypt. This was one of many difficult trials that Moses faced
on his pathway to the Promised Land, but “he endured, as seeing Him who is invisible”
(Heb. 11:27).

When Moses was forty years old he fled Egypt for fear of his life after defending one of
his Hebrew brothers and killing an Egyptian. He chose to "suffer affliction with the
people of God" and to endure "the reproach of Christ" (Heb. 11:25, 26) rather than enjoy
the privileges that his position held for him in Egypt. He then enjoyed forty years of
contentment in the desert, keeping sheep and raising a family. He wrote Psalm 90
where he numbers the days of men as lasting seventy and possibly eighty years before
they “fly away” (Ps. 90:10). At the age of eighty, when he may have thought his years
were about over in this world, he was called upon to do a monumental task of leading
the children of Israel out of Egypt to a new land. The assignment involved returning to
the scene of his crime and possibly facing whatever lay before him there. It also
involved speaking in front of powerful men, which he was very timid about doing since
he was "very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth" (Num.
12:3). He went to Egypt and Aaron spoke for him at first, but as he saw the plagues of
the Lord do their work, he became bolder and bolder. He spoke to Pharaoh and said
"We will go...for we must hold a feast unto the Lord." and "Thou must give us also
sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice unto the Lord our God." and "I will
see thy face again no more" (Ex. 10:9, 25, 29). These were not words of a timid man
anymore, but words of a man who was carrying God's message with authority and
power.

Then we see Moses leading a company of people numbering 603,550 men twenty
years old and upward that were able to go to battle. The total number of men including
the Levites was 625,550. Assuming that men were one third of the nation, then the total
population was 1,876,650. Moses had been taken from the quietness of the desert and
placed in charge of a large nation. He needed to orchestrate an exodus from their
homes, and a trip across the Red Sea through mountains and desert on foot along with
their flocks of goats and sheep and herds of cattle. What a sight that must have been to
watch them travel, being led by the pillar of cloud and fire! People from other nations
joined them as well and added to their number (Ex. 12:38). The Lord laid a tremendous
weight on Moses as all of these people followed him to a place that none of them had
ever seen before. The people had complained about their hardships in Egypt and
wanted desperately to be free from the tyranny of Pharaoh. Now they were free and
trusting Moses and the Lord to bring them into a better land and life.

It wasn't long before their complaining spirit rose up as they complained at the Red Sea
when Pharaoh was pursuing them. Moses told them to “fear ye not, stand still, and see
the salvation of the Lord” (Ex. 14:13) and the Lord preserved them. Then they
complained about having no food and the Lord provided quail and manna for them to
eat. Next they complained about being thirsty and the Lord provided water from a rock.
In each of these instances their hearts turned back to Egypt, longing for the comforts
that they had enjoyed there and not being thankful for the salvation from the hardships
that they had endured in that country. How it grieved and frightened Moses to listen to
their murmurings, but he took his burdens to the Lord and said "What shall I do unto this
people? They be almost ready to stone me" (Ex. 17:4). The Lord always answered him
and gave him reason to hope and courage to continue on being their leader.

Their complaining hearts climaxed as they rejected Jehovah their God and presumed
that Moses had left them or fled when he went up on Mount Sinai. They asked Aaron to
make gods for them that they could see and touch. Moses interceded for them when
the Lord wanted to destroy them, but he meted out an awful yet necessary judgment on
the people as 3,000 men were killed by Levites at Moses' command.

As time went on the people continued to complain. Now their source of complaint was
the manna that was given to them every day as they remembered all of the variety and
tastes of Egypt. Moses joined them as he asked the Lord, "Wherefore hast thou
afflicted thy servant? And wherefore have I not found favor in Thy sight, that Thou layest
the burden of all this people upon me" (Num. 11:11). He asked the Lord to take his life,
but the Lord responded by giving of the spirit that was upon Moses unto seventy elders
of Israel so Moses would not have to bear the burden of the people alone. Then the
sister and brother of Moses spoke against him and the Lord spoke on his behalf calling
him "My servant Moses...who is faithful in all mine house." What a commendation from
the Lord after Moses had just questioned the Lord's ability to feed the nation and had
complained about the burden he was bearing. The Lord knew his heart and patiently
dealt with him during a time of doubting.

This large nation finally came to their destination, but a bad report from ten men caused
them to complain and weep all night as they wished that they had never taken this
journey and decided to appoint a new captain for them that would lead them back to
Egypt. Moses was faced with insurrection from a people whom he had given up
everything to help, leaving his privileged position in Egypt and the comforts and solitude
of the desert. He was an old man, longing for this journey to be done, and now he was
about ready to be stoned again. The Lord desired to disinherit and destroy the
multitude, but Moses again interceded for them and pled for the Lord to be longsuffering
and have mercy. The Lord listened to Moses but vowed that no one who was twenty
years old and upward would go into the Promised Land, except for two faithful ones,
Joshua and Caleb.

Thus began forty years of wandering by the people as Moses continued to lead them.
He accepted this judgment from the Lord and bore it with the people. How difficult that
must have been for Moses to continue leading a thankless multitude when he had been
ready to enter the land and discharge his duties. The complaining continued as Korah,
Dathan, and Abiram led 250 princes of Israel and questioned the authority and
priesthood of Moses and Aaron. One of these may have been the captain that was
appointed to lead the people back to Egypt as they attempted to overthrow their rulers.
The Lord quickly re-established in the minds of the people that Moses and Aaron were
His chosen people as He caused the earth to swallow up these three men, their homes
and their families. Fire from the Lord consumed the 250 men that had followed them.

The people complained again about their thirst and reminded Moses of all the pleasures
of Egypt. Moses was impatient with the people and heeded not the Lord's command to
speak to a rock, but hit it instead and suffered the consequence of not being allowed to
enter into the Promised Land. The soul of the people continued to be “discouraged
because of the way” (Num. 21:4) and they spoke against God and against Moses. Fiery
serpents were sent by the Lord this time and killed many people, but Moses made a
serpent of brass for the people to look upon and those who had been bitten who looked
at it lived.

Moses had his one hundred and twentieth birthday and knew that the time had come for
him to be laid to rest. He gave this charge unto the people of Israel: "Be strong and of a
good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, He it is that doth
go with thee; He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee" (Deut. 31:6). He finished his days
by writing a song of praise unto the Lord and blessing the people who had caused him
so much sorrow and trouble. The first five books of the Bible are ascribed to this man of
God and the Lord buried him after He showed him all the land that the Lord had sworn
to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Moses had left all in answer to God's call and in sacrificial love for God's people. He
endured the hardships of traveling for forty years with a murmuring, rebellious nation
numbering in the millions who often wanted to forsake him and return to the land that
the Lord had rescued them from. What patience! What endurance! May we follow his
example and that of the Lord Jesus and patiently fulfill the call that the Lord has for us to
do. “Behold, we count them happy which endure.” (James 5:11). “Looking unto Jesus
the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the
cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God”
(Heb. 12:2).