Then the LORD said to Moses, “See, I make you as God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet.” ~~Exodus 7:1
Here, God gave Moses and Aaron what was needed to speak with Pharaoh (see post from Exodus 5). God knew what it would take to get Pharaoh’s attention and release the Israelites and it was nothing short of God working through Moses in such a powerful way that Moses would be “as God”–and this is huge. The words in Exodus 7:1 echo God’s words to Moses in Exodus 4:16 where God would entrust Moses with power to be “as God” to Aaron.
Two things could’ve happened here. Moses could’ve responded to what God was doing through him by either focusing on the awesome power of God or the responsibility of being entrusted with that power. When we read the rest of chapter 7, Moses’ actions show that he chose to focus on the responsibility of the power by following God’s instructions, “Moses and Aaron did it; as the LORD commanded them, thus they did.” (Exodus 7:6) The relationship between God and Moses is set–God will work through Moses by entrusting him with God’s power and Moses will serve and respond to the will of God as needed.
What would we do if we were entrusted with the power of God? Would we respond with attention to the power or the responsibility? The thing of is that through Jesus’ death on the cross and God’s gift of grace, when we accept the unconditional and forgiving love with Jesus’ sacrifice, we also accept God’s presence with us through the Holy Spirit. In 1Corinthians 6:19, Paul writes, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?”
As a followers of Christ, we have the incredible opportunity to be God’s representatives here on earth; and with this opportunity comes tremendous responsiblity. I’ve more to blog on this…be back after work…
I’m back.
When we choose to follow Jesus’ way, we become His rep here on earth. As His rep, we’re called to be authentic and live a life that reflects the integrity and character of Jesus. Through the power and mystery of the Holy Spirit, we are called to live a life that’s not flawless, but falseless. With the power of the Holy Spirit, we need to follow the gentle voice that beckons us to live a countercultural life that turns everything we thought we knew upside down. Yes, there’s power…power to heal, pray, help others, survive imprisonment, endure the desert, and power to lead us to pick up a cross and carry it without fear.
But always, the power is God’s…to give and take back. As Moses demonstrated, God’s power comes in the form of intense sacrifice and only when we give up on ourselves and our agenda, and instead, give in to God’s way for us will we make room for God to work through us.
“Even a superficial study of church history reveals that the Spirit of God blows with hurricane force only through those prophets and lovers who have surrendered to the folly of the Cross.” –Brennan Manning, The Signature of Jesus
© 2005 ginny rogers
