Journal: Emmaus Journal
Volume: EMJ 03:2 (Winter 1994)
Article: The Reluctant Servant
Author: William J. McRae

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EmJ 3:2 (Win 94) p. 151

The Reluctant Servant

William J. McRae1

An Exposition of Exodus 3:1–4:17

Introduction

The coronation of a monarch is certainly the most celebrated of all events in the British Empire. I can still recall the spectacular coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Just prior to the ceremony invitations were sent to friends and celebrities of every station in life. They read:

We greet You well. Whereas We have appointed the Second Day of June 1953 for the Solemnity of our Coronation, these are therefore to will and command You, all Excuses set apart, that You make your personal attendance upon Us, at the time above mentioned, furnished and appointed as to Your Rank and Quality appertaineth, there to do and perform such Services as shall be required.

The invited were to be there—”Excuses set apart.” Should the response of the believer be any less to the crowned monarch of all the universe, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords? And yet how freely the excuses flow when He speaks “to will and command.” Many of our common excuses are far from new. They have a familiar ring to them. They are the same kind of excuses Moses

EmJ 3:2 (Win 94) p. 152

offered when he received his commission from God. In this study we want to examine this call, his responses to it, and God’s answers to his responses.

Moses’ Commission from God 3:1-10

It Comes after Forty Years in the Desert of Midian.

Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God (3:1).

The first requisite of every servant of God is to spend much time alone with Him. This second forty years of Moses’ life is spent in a place of retirement—the backside of the wilderness. It is a place where every opportunity for communion with God is afforded. After having learned all the skills of an educated man during his forty years in Egypt, he is now taught the qualities of spiritual leadership during these years in the desert among the flocks of Jethro his father-in-law.

God is in no hurry! He takes time—long periods of time—to train, educate, and prepare His Daniels, Davids, Elijahs and Pauls. After forty years of character cultivation, of spiritual preparation, of quiet meditation, at eighty years of age, the call of God comes to Moses.

It Comes at the Burning Bush.

And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazi...

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