THE MINISTER AND HIS TRAINING

^[p. 62] THE MINISTER AND HIS TRAINING

Exodus 2: 15; Exodus 3:1 - 6; Exodus 3:10 - 12; Exodus 4:1-7; Exodus 4:16,17; Exodus 4:27-31

The book of Exodus is calculated to instruct us in regard to the ministry, and how ministry makes for the establishment of what is of God down here. Moses represents this ministry in the early statements as to him in this book. We are in days when the Lord is calling for more service, and if the service is to be effectual, the servant must be disciplined and formed in experience with God. There will then be results, as we see in the case of Moses. The sign to Moses that he was sent is stated in verse 12 of chapter 3, “Ye shall serve God upon this mountain”. The mount has in view the service of God, a service not to be carried on in any independent place, but in the place appointed by God. The result is that the people as having this testimony are said to have believed, to have heard, and to have worshipped (Exodus 4: 31).

We begin in this book with an active man educated by the world, but now persecuted on account of his having identified himself with the people of God. He is of no value now in the world, and as having fled from Egypt he sits by “the well”. In the verse referred to in chapter 2 it is the well instead of his own efforts; he now recognises the well, the power that springs up, the Spirit, the only means of effective service for God. If service is taken up, there is discipline connected with it and Moses is now in the school of God. Moses had status when in Egypt, now he is an outcast. He is learning early and is acquiring experience and substance as the result of discipline, and typically he recognises he has no power but in the Spirit. By faith he left Egypt, we are told in Hebrews 11: 27, not fearing the wrath of the king; but he feared God, and things happened according to the divine calendar. He is now sitting by the well ^[p. 63] in humble recognition of what the well is. He could have stood in the wisdom of men, for Stephen says in Acts 7: 22, that he was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, but now he has the invisible God before him. God tells Moses that all the men who sought his life are dead (chapter 4: 19), for God watches over these things, although He does not act at once. Moses had to wait forty years in Midian, a strange land, and he had his discipline there. The apostle Paul says in effect, as speaking of his discipline, ‘It is against my will’, for it involves suffering. If a brother renounces the flesh, the Lord soon gives him something to do. So we are told in the following verses that Moses rose and helped the daughters of the priest of Midian as they came to water their father’s flock (chapter 2: 17); he was not long looking for something to do for the Lord soon opens up a door of service. The flock is not far away if you are with God. Moses was by the well, waiting by the well, a fixed position, and he has to learn that power is of God. It says of him in Deuteronomy 34: 7, according to the marginal reading, that his ‘moisture’ was not abated; the moisture is there even to old age, suggesting the freshness and energy the Spirit gives. The Lord sitting by the well at Sychar may be referred to by way of contrast; for it is said that the Lord was weary. Service has to go on in spite of weariness; the water of this world fails, and man as such thirsts again, but the Spirit of God in the believer is to the end that he may never thirst, for the excellency of the power must be of God.

We are all conscious that we are tested by those services which are nearest to us, but Moses rises to the occasion here and helps the women. He thus represents every one of us as having received gifts, but there are also those who have been given specified gifts. It is a question of service appointed by God, and these services become effective as we are qualified ^[p. 64] by divine teaching. Later we are told (chapter 7: 1) that Moses was to be God to Pharaoh, for he was to be representative of God. An officer in the army represents the king. Moses was not to be a god, but to represent God. “We are ambassadors therefore for Christ” Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5: 20. Moses’ commission is in chapter 3. He is to have an impression of God at the outset for it is a question of what the servant has, and he is to know that the power for everything is in the Spirit. When you come to know the Lord and He brings you out by committal, you say with Paul, “What wilt thou have me to do?” The word to him was to go into a certain city; the brethren there would lay their hands upon him and the brethren have to lay their hands on you. The impression you get is that the Lord is coming in in some way in your soul. Caleb and Joshua brought back an impression in their hearts of what was there in the land. The germ of everything in the gospel should be there, that is to say, in our hearts, but it should be seen in the person who presents it. So that it is not a question merely of what I say but of what I am.

After Midian we have Horeb — a remarkable thing — and Moses comes to Horeb forty years after he had sat by the well. In the meantime, he has been content to serve his father-in-law, and when things are just as you wish them naturally you are not with God. Moses, it says, was content to dwell with the man, but now God brings him to Horeb, the mount of God, where he is to get the material for the service God had in mind for him. Things began with his sitting by the well; then there are women looking after their father’s flocks; then his service to his father-in-law; and now he is at Horeb where God would have him. In verse 2 God appears as the angel of Jehovah in the burning bush, and in verse 4 we are told that the Lord saw that Moses turned ^[p. 65] aside to see; then in the next section we get the great idea, God speaking as God. It may be said on occasions that God is there because of the character of the ministry, as it says in 1 Corinthians 14: 25, God is indeed amongst you, and the angel here represented God Himself. Heaven takes account of a right exercise of soul, and God waits to see how we regard matters — Moses turned aside to see. Paul was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, and here we have a man who turns aside to see; that is a brother turning to the Lord about a matter. The bush suggests what is insignificant, for God came into humble circumstances. He was amongst them in the wilderness, yet they were not consumed. A christian who turns aside to see is a great object of interest to heaven. The Lord said, “Saul, Saul”, “Samuel, Samuel”. What impressions Moses may have had earlier were brought out and deepened here, for he exclaims, “Let me now turn aside and see this great sight!” What struck him was that the bush was not burned up. One may say, we had a good word, but an account of it cannot be given, for they have not turned aside to see. God now says to Moses, I will send you to Pharaoh. God is calling him now. You get an impression if you are sent out. “As the Father sent me forth, I also send you” (John 20: 21). Paul said, “I went into Arabia” (Galatians 1: 17), a place for him of instruction. So you can see that the mount of Jehovah is a principle, that is what Moses begins with here, for God does not send His servants at their own expense. No one need ever be short in substance, either as regards service or as to state; there is abundance of supply. Matthew is full of Galilee; it is a question of reproach. The true believer accepts that for he has his resources elsewhere. He faces the people of the world, with power representative of God, for God is the God of resurrection. Moses took off his sandals, for sandals are ^[p. 66] status; you have none of your own. As sons we do not take off our shoes, for the Levite is truly a priest, one of the sons of Aaron. “Ye shall serve God upon this mountain” (Exodus 3: 12) is a principle which, if accepted, would break up christendom. We soon have some indications that our service is effective, and from the first day onwards the great principles set out for us, in service are not surrendered, the sign being that the service is to be carried to where God would have it. “Thou hast guided them by thy strength unto the abode of thy holiness” (Exodus 15: 13). In Ephesians the whole work is in view. The work of our hands must go on in the place on the mount, but we must wait for His work. Mount Zion suggests what is permanent; mount Horeb is the place of resort.

In chapter 4: 2, God calls attention to the rod in the hand of Moses. This, cast down, became a serpent and Moses fled from before it. If God in His governmental ways relinquishes any one of us, we come under the hand of the enemy. So the apostle says, “I buffet my body” (1 Corinthians 9: 27). That is a word that should affect our consciences as reminding us of what we are capable of. The most spiritual is liable to give way to the flesh, so we keep our bodies in subjection, thus making way for the spirit of a brother to come into our midst. Aaron was glad in his heart to meet Moses, we are told in verse 14, glad to make room for his brother, like Peter and John. If you have more gift than another you are pretty sure to have rivals, but the brother modifies all this for a brother is greater than gift. In the mount of God there are plenty of resources. So Moses and Aaron gathered all the children of Israel, and when they had seen the signs they bowed their heads and worshipped (verse 31). Moses had the word from the Lord but he gave the word to Aaron. Words came out through Aaron; he can speak well. That is not ^[p. 67] mere eloquence; he speaks in affection for when he met Moses he kissed him, being glad in his heart. The Lord’s ear was open morning by morning and what wondrous speaking was the result. Moses was speaking in unbelief when he said he could not speak, but the word was made acceptable in the brother.