MOSES – Introduction

The Bible calls him “the man of God (Joshua 14:6),” “the servant of the Lord,” a friend of God
(Ex 33:11) and a great leader, and says there was no one else like him.

Moses, who tended sheep in the desert for 40 years until God used him to dramatically set His
people free. (Hebrews 11:23-29). Moses spent forty years thinking he was somebody; then he spent
forty years on the backside of the desert realizing he was nobody; finally, he spent the last forty
years of his life leaning what God can do with a nobody!
His character traits:
Humility (Ex. 3:6), Exodus 3:
6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father,[a] the God of Abraham, the God
of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was
afraid to look at God.

Persistence
Uncompromising (Ex. 10:3) Exodus 10:3New International Version (NIV)
3So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, “This is what
the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble
yourself before me? Let my people go, so that they may worship me.

His flaws: #1. I am not good enough. [Who am I to go before Pharaoh Ex. 3:11]

#2. I don’t have all the answers. […what shall I say to them?” -Ex 3:13]

#3. People won’t believe me. [But suppose they will not believe me..Ex. 4:1]

#4. I’m a terrible public speaker. [O my Lord, I am not eloquent..Ex. 4:10]

Moses life presents a series of striking antithesis. He was the child of a slave, but at the same time,
the son of a queen. He was born in a hut, but raised in a palace. He inherited poverty, but enjoyed
unlimited wealth. He was the leader of armies and the keeper of flocks. He was the mightiest of
warriors and the meekest of men. He was educated in the court and dwelt in the desert. He had the
wisdom of Egypt and the faith of a child. He was fitted for the city, but wandered in the wilderness.
He was tempted with the pleasures of sin and endured the hardships of virtue. He was backward
of speech and yet talked with God. He had the rod of a shepherd and the power of the infinite. He
was a fugitive from Pharaoh and an ambassador for God. He was the giver of the law and the
forerunner of grace. He died alone on Mt. Moab and appeared with Christ on another mountain in
Judea. No man assisted in his funeral and yet God buried him.

Moses was a leader of the Israelites and appears in the book of Exodus. Moses freed the Jews from
captivity in Egypt where they slaved for the Egyptians and later safely lead them across the Red
Sea. He and the Israelites formed a covenant, an unrelenting promise, with God, meaning that
wherever they walked, God would bless the land. Moses’ writing of the ten commandments was
also a large factor in the way that God trusted him and his people.

“Why was Moses refused entrance into the Holy Land, after he led God’s people there?”
Moses was violent. He struck the rock twice when God just said to speak to it. Moses was
usurping God's place. He said to the people, "hear now, you rebel: shall we bring water for you
out of this rock?" The emphasis is technically mine, but it was already there. Moses didn't say
"God will bring water out of this rock for you." He (with Aaron, evidently) took God's place and
assured them that he would do it for them.
Verse 12 is pretty revealing as to the nature of Moses's crime:

"Because you did not believe in me," (emphasis mine)

Moses totally failed to trust God for the life-supplying water. He tried to take matters
into his own hands. He was supposed the be the leader, but also the servant of God. He
tried to usurp God's place.