The Call of Moses: From Fugitive to Prophet

God chose an 80-year old man, born into a slave family, yet brought up in the king’s palace, who became a murderer, fled from the nation and spent his life as a shepherd looking after sheep in the desert! God told him, I have chosen YOU to go to Pharaoh and tell him to release all his slaves, empty the prison camps, set more than two million people free! Moses protested – I can’t do it, I’m not an ambassador, I’m not a statesman, I’m an outcast, I ran away from this nation because they were going to kill me for murder. All I have done for the past forty years is keep sheep!

Yet this man Moses had an experience with God – he had met God in the fire – and that fire came into HIM, transforming HIM, and now God takes the reluctant hero and commands HIM to do the impossible! BUT after God commanded Moses, He warned him that Pharaoh would NOT listen to him and would NOT release Israel! What a shock! The only preparation for Moses was that he had met with God in the fire.

The Divine Mandate and Moses' Protest

God commissioned Moses with an "impossible" task: demand the release of over two million slaves and the evacuation of Egyptian prison camps. Despite his unique upbringing, Moses identified as an unqualified statesman, citing his 40-year isolation as a shepherd and his status as a criminal exile as barriers to diplomacy.

The "Fire" Experience: Catalyst for Transformation

The pivotal moment in the Moses narrative is the Theophany at the Burning Bush. This encounter serves as the ultimate "preparation," where physical fire symbolises an internal spiritual transformation.

Key Thought: If only our encounters with God were as powerful and life-changing as it was for Moses! Moses had an experience with God – he had met God in the fire – and that fire came into HIM, transforming HIM, and now God takes the reluctant hero and commands HIM to do the impossible!