By Gbile Akanni
(Living Seed Vol. 10 No. 2 June 2003)
n our last edition we looked at the price every leader that matters in the programme of God must pay. Every leader is called upon to drink of the cup that Jesus drank and to be baptized with the baptism of Jesus. In this edition we shall be looking at the third component of “the cup and baptism”.
The Cup Of Obedience
Finally, the third component of the “cup and baptism” is the matter of obedience. Again we see Jesus going through this cup graciously. We see Him showing any one who would follow after His own order, the path unto becoming all that God has purposed him to be. Though we have several examples in other men in the Bible, our Master’s example is the standard. It is the yardstick. Let us examine Him closely at this training of His obedience.
“So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest; but it was He who said to Him; You are my Son, today I have begotten You. As He also says in another place, You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedek. Who in the days of His flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear; though He was Son, yet He learnt obedience by the things He suffered; And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him”. Heb. 5: 7-9 (NKJV).
| Adam’s sin, which pushed him out of God’s garden of service, was the sin of rebellion. It was a desire to be ‘god’ himself and not to take instruction from God again. It was also a desire to know things in himself and by himself without recourse to God who created him and placed him over His creation. |
Let us note as a primary concern that all authority “exercisable” whether in heaven or on earth belongs to God. Power belongs to God. Every man who would bear any measure of authority would only be a delegate. For a man to stand in a place to exercise spiritual authority over others, it will only be delegated to him by God. The essential pre-requisite qualification for a man to be appointed a representative delegate of God is this proven submission and absolute obedience. Rebellion is defined as a desire to break away from an authority, that is a quest to become “an authority” in oneself: a personal drive for self independence. Adam’s sin, which pushed him out of God’s garden of service, was the sin of rebellion. It was a desire to be ‘god’ himself and not to take instruction from God again. It was also a desire to know things in himself and by himself without recourse to God who created him and placed him over His creation. Since the fall of man, the seed of rebellion or rather the spirit of disobedience passed on to every man born of a woman. Our redemption actually is unto obedience of Jesus Christ.
“Elect according to the foreknowledge of God, the Father, through the sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ” 1 Pet.1: 2. “Chosen and destined by God the father and sanctified by the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and for the sprinkling with His blood.” I Pet.1: 2 (RSV).
Unbelievers are called “the children of disobedience.” The nature and character of the natural man is disobedience. He is known daily, not just by the acts of disobedience he performs, but by his life, which is the life of disobedience. Disobedience in a man is not just a refusal to obey certain instructions; it is the desire, the instinct and tendency to refuse authority in life. A man may perform acts of obedience while yet bearing about the life of disobedience. He obeys quickly in order to be free to be left alone. He demarcates boundaries. He insists on who can exercise authority on him and who cannot. He may obey one and disobey the other in the same place and at the same time. The sin of rebellion in the heart of man is the manifestation of disobedience. It may be manifested in: “reluctance to submit”; frowning even at duty, a quiet demand of reward and recognition for services rendered; a persistent self defense, argument about one’s position and insistence on one’s will. Disobedience sometimes hides under the matter of “reason”. Disobedience insists on doing only the things that are reasonable to him. He keeps asking, “Why must I do this? Convince me on why this is what I must do?” The entire concept of self-life is the spirit of of disobedience. Delayed obeidience is disobedience in a measure. Pressurized obedience is disobedience needing an external push. Disobedience will appear to be obedience when it tallies with the self will. Every time you seek to do your own will (even if no one challenges it) it is the life of disobedience in action. Disobedience sometimes is a bargained obedience or conditional obedience. Each time God looks at a man in consideration for spiritual leadership, He checks how much of the life of disobedience has been removed! “A broken and a contrite heart, which trembles at My Word” is the man He looks unto. This is nothing but a life that is emptied of the spirit and life of disobedience. Disobedience does not bear a broken heart. It does not tremble at God’s Word. It rather prepares to resist, to argue and to remain firm at its own choice and course of action. Authority cannot be delegated to a rebel at heart. Leadership is a delegated authority to serve others, It cannot be vested on a man who is set in his own ways. He cannot suspend his own knowledge to adopt, embrace and adapt to another person’s knowledge. This is why very few persons are qualified to bear, genuine authority for God among men.
Though Jesus was the Son of God, once He took upon Himself the form of a man, and had appeared in human nature, it became necessary for Him to learn obedience, prove obedience and to perfect obedience. What made Him different was not His dressing. It was not His miracles, it was His obedience. Even when obedience was not rational, He obeyed. Obedience for Jesus meant submission to God’s authority and all delegated authority in everything. It meant waiting to be told where to go, what to do and what to say. It meant He would never speak His own word. He never moved or acted from His own personal will. He acted only upon instructions, as He could of His own do nothing.
The question God immediately asked Adam in Eden was “Who told you?” Who is the source of your knowledge and information? Who told you to do what you have done or are doing? This question of “who told you?” is still the question God asks each time a man acts independently of Him and of His leading. Jesus, in all his earthly life was able to say… “For I have not spoken of Myself; but the Father which sent Me He gave me commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that His commandment is life everlasting; whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto Me, so I speak.” Jn 12:49-50.
This is the extent of His own life of obedience; total acceptance to be subject and submissive to God. It is the release of His own personality to only further the course of God. He put aside His own ideas and only executed regularly and always (not just occasionally) the thoughts and will of His Father. He did it joyfully and with deep conviction. He said, “And I know that His (My Father’s) commandment is life everlasting”. He accepted God’s wisdom as final and good for life. He did not obey with grudges and murmurings. Disobedience manifests itself through murmurings. A murmur is a reaction of the heart, challenge of the authority where you are not bold to openly challenge or walk contrary to it. It is equal to rebellion; as if you picked a gun to shoot at the man who is insisting on your doing what is not from your heart. He did not open His mouth.
“He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth: He was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearer is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment…” Isaiah 53:7-8.
Note this very well. He did nothing to warrant such a treatment. He was only being trained in the life of obedience. Many suppose they are obedient because all they are asked to do is reasonable and rational to psychology. It is glorious, it attracts human applause. But disobedience will be obedient to anything it sees will be of profit to it. It will obey gladly whatsoever can so highlight his own ability.
“..Because He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief…” Isaiah 53:9, 10.
Can you imagine this? Yet despite His holiness, despite His past obedience and submission; it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; it pleased God to put Him to grief. Why? God was training His obedience, so He can qualify for the highest name that must be obeyed in heaven and on earth and underneath the earth. Obedience is submission even if there is reason not to do so! It is accepting to be used to boost the ego of another, even at the expense of personal convenience. Jesus went all the way in obedience, unto death, even the cruel death of the cross, just for God to satisfy Himself and fulfill His own pleasure, and to prove a point. A point that “I have a Son who would obey Me implicitly and completely, even if it means dying just to do My will.” He declared at the point of the cross:
“for the prince of this world cometh; and has nothing in Me. But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave Me commandment, even so I do. Rise let us go hence.”
This is His own obedience; He learnt it. He grew in it. He perfected in obedience, as He had to go through different facets of it. The training in obedience is to prove Satan and the rebellious wrong. It is to confirm that God can be our God, not because He cajoled us to submit by the good things He gives us. Not also that He threatened us into submission by the force of His power. Jesus had all the rights to defend Himself. He could have demanded for legions of angels to fight for Him and they would be at His beck and call. But He chose the path of obedience and released Himself to be molested by unworthy hands. He said to Peter
“Put thy sword back into its sheath: the cup which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it?” (John 18:11 KJV).
“And behold, one of them, which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest’s and smote off his ear,
Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place; for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be? Matt. 26:51-54.
He saw it as the cup of obedience. It is when you voluntarily lay down your right to defend yourself and get exonerated from the treatment of an impostor especially when you sense this is “the Father’s will”. He would not even indulge in the opportunity of prayer to evade what was clearly written concerning Him in the Scriptures. His own resolve was to fulfill all that God had written and designed concerning Him, even if it meant suffering. He picked Judas Iscariot, though He knew him to be a traitor, just to obey His Father and to fulfill every Scripture. He would not drop Judas, though he stole regularly from the purse, lest it made obedience unto the death of the cross less possible for Him.
It was not just one or several acts of obedience that God looked for in His Son. He looked for a life of continuous, continual and perpetual obedience; obedience unto God in anything and everything, in any place and at every time. This is still what He looks for to see in every man He brings into leadership position. The height and scope of leadership a man can stand and walk in, is dependent on the “perfection or maturing of the life of obedience” that he has attained. Paul spoke of when your “obedience is complete”. It is clear that God is looking for total, complete, matured and universal life of obedience: obedience to the great and yet obedience to the least of saints, whom God has given a ministry to discharge towards us. A man’s ministry is the authority God has delegated to him. Receiving ministry from such of His least men may just be a test of our own obedience. He may not stand out here to receive and collect our obedience. If He does, most of us will rush to give Him more than what He demanded. But several times He delegates His authority to ordinary folks. He seems to say “the obedience due to Me, carry it and give it to that man or woman, who will receive it and use it for men.” True obedience does not look at the face, the height, and the status of the recipient. He only submits to all men in the fear of God.
It may be your husband or just a young man in the fellowship. They are mere delegated recipients of our obedience. When we lift up our hands to the invisible but immortal God in adoration, but we shrugged our shoulders in resistance to a brother or sister who has been given a ministry in our lives; we do nothing but mock God! Jesus proved obedience to all. He was subject to Joseph and Mary, though He knew the Scriptures more than them. He was humble and submissive to them though they had no power to change water to wine.
“And even though Jesus was God’s Son, He had to learn from experience what it was like to obey, when obeying meant suffering. It was after He had proved Himself perfect in this experience that Jesus became the giver of eternal salvation to all those who obey Him.” Heb 5:8-9 (Living Bible).
Do note again this Scripture. Read it carefully over and over again. It was after (not before) Jesus had proved Himself perfect in this experience that Jesus “became (He was not that earlier), the Giver, the Author, the Source of eternal salvation to all those who obey Him,” though He was born the Savior.
He was even called Jesus (the Savior from sin) at birth…. He would not actually become the savior (not just by name but by life and in actual practice) until He had proved Himself perfect in this experience of obedience. This was the way Jesus went. It was the way of obedience. He did not become our Savior arbitrarily. He met God’s own condition. He had the baptism and He drank the cup.
“Therefore will I divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong; because He hath poured out His soul unto death; and He was numbered with the transgressors; and He bare the sins of many and made intercession for the transgressors” Isa.53:12.
‘The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things unto His hand’ – Therefore doth My Father love Me, because I lay down My life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from Me; but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. No Man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of My Father.” John 3:35; 10-17-18. “If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love; even as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.” John 15:10.
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name. Phil. 2:9.
As you look closely to these Scriptures, they all primarily point to Jesus, our LORD. You will also discover that there is ‘therefore’ and a ‘because’ (or reason) for who He is and what place God has placed Him today. God is faithful. God follows principles. He is not disorderly. If He sees again what He looks for in a man to be placed in His Eden of Service and spiritual delegation in you, He will do it again. Right away, God will do it!
He did it for Adam until the same iniquity that pushed Satan out of God’s service was found in Adam. Every measure of brokenness unto obedience as a lifestyle brings a measure of spiritual authority to a man’s life. If the measure of obedience grows, God also expands your scope of spiritual leadership. This kind of leadership does not come by the official appointment. It is not vested in vestures. It is vested in your life. This is the life of obedience you have grown and perfected in. Authority over demons is also hinged on this matter. Resurrection life that lifts you up from among men, into a place where your life can assert influence on others (without being a tyrant) also comes as you drink this cup.
So far we have been looking into the life of Jesus Christ, our Lord and pattern. But this cup and baptism is what He says all who will qualify to hold leadership position in His Church must experience. God arranges this baptism and this cup for every man whom He elects for leadership in this way. Let us explore one of such, as we seek to position our own hearts in readiness for this necessary pre-requisite for leadership in God’s vineyard.
MOSES THE PRINCE OF EGYPT (Acts 7:17-29)
At his birth, Moses’ parents saw a vision of what he was born to be. They saw ahead with their eyes of faith God’s great plan for Moses, their son. It was this vision that made them jeopardize their lives to keep him and protect him from the death that had slaughtered other boys of his own age at the time, not fearing the wrath of the king.
It was apparent that God’s eye was on Moses. He made way for him to be adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter. This brought him into the palace of Egypt as a prince. He grew under the tutelage of his mother, who was now hired as a babysitter. He was exposed to every privilege in the palace. He was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds. He walked in that status as a prince in Egypt, wielding such influence as commonly exercised in the world system. In the world, Moses needed nothing more to assume the leadership status. He was reared up from the royal lineage, so authority was divulged to him by inheritance. He was highly educated in the science and philosophy of Egypt. Such was a pre-requisite qualification for placement in leadership. He was mighty in words. He was an eloquent communicator. He swayed men’s hearts with brilliant political talks. Loud ovations greeted him as he drove round the town; “Prince Moses! Prince Moses!” They shouted. In the world, that was sufficient to win their votes. Moses was also mighty in deeds. He did some philanthropic services; some celebrated social actions. This endeared him to the hearts of the down trodden. In the world system, Moses was more than qualified for leadership. He had all it takes to grasp the position of authority over men. Good as they were, these were very inadequate in God’s own Kingdom.
At 40 years, Moses had come to terms with the call of God on his life. He had renounced hypocrisy and deceit. He had refused to be called Pharaoh’s daughter’s son. He was set (so to say) to pursue the destiny for which he was born. He had already paid the price of total consecration. He seemingly had sold out his future place on the throne of Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. He rather chose to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. He esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt (Heb 11:24-27). These, added to his physical qualifications, should have been sufficient for the service he felt God was calling him into amidst the people of Israel. Along with all these, he had passion for their deliverance. He schemed in his heart day and night, what he would do, to end his people’s affliction.
“Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed and struck down the Egyptian. For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. But they pushed him away, saying, ‘who made you ruler and a judge over us? Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?’ Then at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he had two sons.”’Acts 7:23-29.
This is a brief (summary) account of the turn -around in the life of Moses that led him into the 40 years’ training in the college of leadership at the backside desert of Midian. Moses supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand. He presumed (upon his perceived qualifications and the acute sufferings of the people) that they would easily submit to his leadership. In the world system, it would be a walk-over for him but not among a people whose destiny was enclosed on prophecy and the divine hand.
Sometimes, many of us assume leadership over God’s people, because we suppose that we are qualified. We shout it down their throat that we are the “Anointed man” of the hour. Some just arranged a self-promotion ordination for themselves, printed cards and labels flashing their bogus titles. Men, out of ignorance and much more, out of intimidation and hypnotisms seemingly succumbed to such self-appointed leaders. It was impossible for Moses with the children of Israel, though he came with the flashy rod of seeming deliverance. Though afflicted, they waited for the deliverer sent from above. It became clear to Moses that he needed different training and different introduction to the people, he was born to serve. The question “who made you a leader over us?” is very significant here. It was not “what made you a leader over us?”… In the world system, it is “what” but in God’s vineyard, the question is “who made you?”
In the world, money, education, eloquence, social action; political campaign; gifts and talents; royal descent; self-acclaim, are the “whats” that make leaders; but not so in our midst as God’s people. They demanded not the size of his bank account; they were least interested in his family background. They were only asking for the authority behind his own authority. No man taketh this honor upon himself except those who are called and ordained by God.
This question, “Who made you?” pointed at another solemn truth: leaders are made, molded, trimmed, tried and tested by some hand. No one is a leader because he was born to lead. Leadership in the Church is not a birthright. It does not descend from a father to his son necessarily. A man must be made in the quarry site, before the day of his ‘shewing’ to Israel. John the Baptist (though born to fulfill a certain prophecy; named miraculously, angel Gabriel announced his birth) still had to remain in the wilderness for thirty years until the time of his ‘shewing’ unto the Israel of God.
Moses supposed his brethren would understand why he stepped from the palace of Egypt, the world system, to the pulpit of ministry, without passing through the molding hand in the wilderness. He thought they would appreciate the urgency that was pushing him to by-pass the cup and the baptism. He thought his status and his glowing personality, as the most educated of them all would bow their hearts to his leadership. No! He was mistaken. They understood not! They needed a clear answer to that question “who made you a leader over us?”… Though a very short question that would have required a one syllable answer, Moses was found wanting. It took him 40 years to secure that answer.
“Then, at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he had two sons. And when 40 years had passed…” vs. 29-30.
Please note:
“Then at this saying, ‘Moses fled..’ Moses fled not at the gunshot of Pharaoh. He did not run away because the army pursued him out of the land. It was an inner deficiency that set him on the run. That saying was like javelin puncturing his personal ego. He realized his incompetence to step into leadership. He fled from leadership. What a matter each man must know here. Spiritual leadership is not what to clamor for, if you are in your right senses. Genuine men ran away from the limelight of leadership, because they saw their inner inadequacies. They fled to a place where God makes His men. Moses fled not for the fear of the king. He had already taken a big risk to identify publicly with Israel. But he fled for the fact of his lack of qualification to lead God’s people as yet. He had a rod that needed the exertion of human energy to slaughter one Egyptian at a time; but what he needed was a a rod lifted before God that would discomfit thousands of Amalekites at once; break the Red sea into two and create a dry solid path for his followers to pass through. He needed a rod that would swallow all the serpentine rods of magicians; a rod that would bring water of refreshing from the Rock. Nothing short of this would suffice, in the day of his challenge in ministry. Such a rod is not cut from trees in the bush, with matchet. It would take a 40-year continuous exposure in the desert to carve such a rod for his ministry. Pharaoh became strong to slay Moses, only because of this lack of divine approval as yet on his life. Moses became a dweller, a sojourner, a pilgrim in the land of Midian. It is interesting to know that the place of formation for Moses was in the land of Midian and in the house of Jethro!
Dear brother, dear sister, beloved preacher; would you pause to discover your own land of training? Rather than shoot forth your chest where men’s consciences keep querying “who made him a leader over us?” Flee to your land of divine molding. Locate the Jethro God will use to fashion you into what you have been longing to become. Moses left the scene of ministry at Goshen. He withdrew from the public eye and became a dweller in the land of Midian. Years passed, he was still waiting to graduate or rather to be commissioned and sent forth with a clear stamp of divine authority. He would not take another presumptuous step out of Midian. He got married and even had sons, all under the tutelage of Jethro, his father-in-law. What were his lessons? What was the curriculum of his college training? Did he drink the cup of obedience and was he given the baptism of suffering and tenderness? What so occupied him, that forty years had passed before we hear of any fresh encounter that turned Moses to be the prophet, priest and leader he was called to be?
Though people were perishing daily in Egypt in affliction, Moses must wait patiently in the quarry site for forty years until he was sent forth with definite authority to deliver Israel from the hands of Pharaoh.
“Moses fled… and dwelt in the land of Midian: and he sat down by a well. Now, the priest of Midian has seven daughters, and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. And the shepherds came and drove them away. But Moses stood up and helped them and watered their flock.” Ex 2:15b-17.
Baptized Into A Life of Lowliness
From the palace to the well side. “…and he sat down by the well!”
Moses, all his forty years life in the palace, had never seen the sight of a well. He only drank potable water, treated and frozen for the pleasure of his appetite. Servants fetched water from the borehole to wash his wears..He only turned up the tap and shower every time. Famished for food, he sat down by the well. This looked like the well he read about when Hagar was driven out of the house of Abram by Sarah. He wondered how Eliezer came to the well to meet a wife for Isaac; and the same for his great grand father Jacob. Must he also learn to find a wife by this same process of waiting by the well? In Egypt, you picked a wife in the dance hall, where ladies dressed up with make-ups, filed in half – naked in a parade of beauty. You picked the ones that suited your eye. In the world system, their means of choosing a life partner is not by the well of meditation; it is not by the well of humble service. At the well of naturalness, humility and hardwork are what come first. No one is dressed to impress. No special beautification! Girls would carry their jars of water on their heads. They would kneel down before the flock for the animals to drink from the bowls on their hands.
Moses had to find a wife in the same way the patriarchs found the “bone of their bones’’. He had to be taken out of Egypt to find the help meet for his life and for the ministry ahead of him. An Egyptian wife would have been a trouble in his flesh; traitor and another Ishmael in the house! Like his progenitors, he had to begin to learn to fetch water from the well… They wished they also had a man in the family to help them. These girls did manly jobs! Moses, for the first time, stepped into service and the service of girls for that matter. To become a leader, you must learn to serve. To serve the weak; and not only the strong. He began to serve the girls as though he was their slave. He began quickly to learn to do what his brethren did daily as their life trade. He must be made in every way like his brethren before he could qualify to lead them. He started by drawing water from the well and watering the flocks. His interest was to serve, without an eye on the gain. He had a different burden on his heart. It was to get a definite divine mandate for his call.
Moses was baptized, soaked into another lifestyle entirely. Waiting still at the well, the girls returned so quickly home that their father Reuel was surprised at their speed.
“How is it that you have come so soon today? ‘An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and also drew water enough for us, and watered the flock.’ Jethro asked his daughters to bring him home that he may eat bread. And Moses was content to dwell with the man…” Ex 2:20-21.
Whatever the condition of the man’s house was, Moses had now learnt contentment. He was content to dwell with the man. Greed and high taste have left Moses now. He could now eat anything set before Him. He could sleep anywhere given to him. He could not minister to men whose infirmties he was not familiar with. He would not be a merciful priest, if he only stepped into the ministry from the palace of Egypt.
“Moses kept the flock of Jethro, his father -inlaw, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the back side of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.” Ex 3:1.
Moses Learnt Faithfulness…
As a pre-condition for divine trust, Moses had to prove himself faithful in that which is least: he had to learn faithfulness in the unrighteous mammon and worldly business. He had to perfect faithfulness in that which belonged to another with no hope of personal gain. Before this time, Moses had never been proved in faithfulness. He never handled the least and lowly things. Such was delegated to slaves in the palace. No one had given him the chance to prove himself in doing menial things. He was Just to spring up to become the “Prime Minister” of Egypt. He hoped to keep millions of men as a leader and issue commands from his own untested knowledge. In Egypt, it could be done, but not among the covenant people of God. He had to learn faithfulness in these three dimensions.
a. He handled menial things…
Moses, a prince, a celebrated orator, a man of substance, driven about in kingly chariots, with retinue of officers at his beck and call…; now assuming the position of houseboy, in the house of Jethro. He fetched water from the well; filled troughs to water the flock. Being the only male among seven daughters, he did all the odd jobs on the field. He ran errands for Jethro and served him in very little things of life. He broke firewood for Mrs. Jethro. He went to the backyard garden, weeding and planting the vegetables. Jethro watched this man whom he thought (at first) was an Egyptian, and wondered: when had Egyptians become so humble, as to serve like this? Egyptians were arrogant. They were the super power in their days. They demanded service from everyone, in exchange for their corn. Jethro wondered day and night of “the stock from which this one was carved” until he finally discovered the truth. This man, Moses, bearing an Egyptian name; reared up in the palace of Pharaoh; learned in the wisdom and science of Egypt; was a descendant of Levi (Jethro’s cousin – for Jethro himself was a descendant of Midian, the son of Abraham, born to him of Keturah after the demise of Sarah).
He discovered that the seed of God was in him. He had a different lifestyle and was molded and trained secretly by Jochebed his mother, in the fear of God. As a reward for his faithfulness in handling the family wares; being a defense for the girls against the wicked shepherds out there, Jethro gave him one of his daughters in marriage. He married as a disciple.
Moses proved faithful in keeping himself pure. Among seven daughters – seven young and beautiful ladies, he did not mess up. He did not become the object of jealousy among the sisters. Unlike Jacob, who came in to the family of Laban, and ended up marrying four ladies from the same house, Moses lived beyond reproach in the house of Jethro. He was not found flirting with other girls. Heavens were watching how Moses would pass this crucial test, before he would be approved for spiritual leadership. There were temptations to fornicate; he resisted them all. He met those seven girls as virgins and left them intact for God and their future husbands.
My dear brother, how are you in this matter? Pastors, have you not defiled the young sisters who came near you for spiritual ministration? Have you not defiled the secretary in your office; or the choirmistress? Have you not found yourself knocking the heads of several girls as you made faces to each of them? What happened after the night vigil, when sisters got stranded for lack of transport. Did you not take advantage of them lying on your long couch in the sitting room? God watches all these little acts of unfaithfulness and wonders why you are running for leadership in His work. Moses was tested and he proved faithful to God; faithful to Jethro, faithful to the girls.
b. He Kept the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law…
Moses was being tested in handling the things, which belonged to another man. It is so amazing to me that Moses was not like Jacob. Jacob kept the flock of his father-in-law as well. He swindled the man of his flock, leaving him with the weak ones. Jacob served for wages. He bargained over his salary and seven times there were disputes in wage settlement. But Moses served and kept the flock of Jethro for no wages. He was content dwelling with the man. The key word here is contentment, not covetousness!
At the point of departure, Moses only left the house of Jethro with his rod which God had now made his staff of ministry. He did not leave with a drove of cattle and asses; he did not leave with an entourage of wives and children. He was not carrying sacks and bags containing silver and gold and gods! He left seemingly empty handed but, with divine approval and with the rod of God in his hands. He did not leave Midian with goods. He left with God! Nothing was amiss. Jethro was a spiritual father to Moses. He could offer sacrifices of praise on behalf of Moses and the work God has called him unto, later in life.
Friends, how did you part ways with your master in business? Did you not jilt the man and start your own business out of his money? Pastor, how did you start this ministry you call your own? How did you leave the man God brought you under his tutelage and discipleship? Did you not go away with his church members? Did you not begin your ministry with other people’s labor? You were given gracious exposure to that man’s pulpit and you turned the hearts of the church members after you! You gave those feeble, unstable souls, positions and offices to lure them into your ministry. You left with droves and droves of stolen ‘P. A.’ equipment; of men and women; and of the man’s messages! You stole his style and his special programmes. You stole his days of meetings and duplicated all he genuinely conceived in prayer and printed your name on it. You wonder why God is holding approval unto greatness. Jacob did not enter the promised land with all that. He had to be crippled for life, for him to become what God wanted him to be. Even at that he suffered break away; defilement of his marriage by his own son; the raping of his own daughter; the deceit of his children. He wept for years for Joseph, whom he was told died of an attack by a lion.
Friend, what are you doing with unfaithfulness? Where are you going with craftiness in serving God? Unless your faithfulness is proved in the things which belong to another man, who will give you your own? Moses proved faithful. He led the flock of Jethro in search of green pastures all the time. He fought against dangerous wolves in order to safeguard those animals. Even at departure, despite the strong hand of God on his life, he still sought the permission and the release of Jethro his discipler. He brought everything back safely, before he left. He did not go secretly… “And Jethro said to Moses, go in peace” Ex 4:18b.
c. He was faithful with the unrighteous mammon…
Though money was not mentioned all through the story of his sojourn in discipleship; it was not because they did not spend money. It was not a matter with Moses. He left money in Egypt. He turned his back on the riches of Egypt. Why would he be struggling for wages from a priest?. The rewards of divination had no attraction for him. He did not bargain for payment from all his services once he had food and where to lay his head. Each night Moses was content to dwell with the man. Here again: contentment, not covetousness, was the key word.
“Godliness with contentment is great gain… for we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be thereby content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.” 1 Tim. 6: 6-9.
I believe this instruction was in the heart of Moses all the time. Even during his 40-year ministry, he could testify before God and the entire congregation; “…I have not taken one ass from them, neither have I hurt one of them.” Numbers 16:15b.
He left Jethro’s house, taking nothing out except his rod, the rod of God! He left Jethro’s home not with goods and materials; but with the rod of anointing. What will you take out of the place where God has sent you for molding? Is it goods, sermon notes, money, girls and unstable men, or will you be content to cleave unto the rod of anointing? He came back to Egypt not as a businessman, with cattle also. He returned just as he left, but now with the rod of God in his hands. Are you in discipleship? what will you take out of it? What will you return to your place of divine calling with? Moses did not return with gadgets. No! He came with the only pre-requisite and sufficient implement for ministry. He came with a divine stamp of approval on his head and a rod for ministry in his hands.
Moses Learnt The Art Of Praying
Moses at the beginning was such a confident man. Confident however, not in God, but in himself. He thought the brethren would understand that he was the one to deliver them from Egypt. He trusted his eloquence then. He was a bold speaker, mighty in words.
While at Midian, in the house of Jethro the priest, Moses learnt the art and the act of praying. He learnt the issue of building altars in supplicating for the problems of men. He sought God to help his own life and to send help to brethren in Egypt. He no longer saw himself as capable of doing anything for their deliverance. He pleaded with God, to send another man to rescue His people. Moses lost all his impatience then. He became gentle and meek. Self-defence was no more his choice. He would wait for God to fight his cause for him. His heart burned for God! He always sought out a quiet spot where he could be alone with God. Moses’ practice of going to the mount began with him while in Midian. He even designated a particular hill “the mountain of God”. It was at the backside of the desert. Severally, while the flock were grazing around the foot of the hill, he climbed up to seek God’s face for his own life. It was one of those times, when he had the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb, that the angel of the Lord appeared to him, in a flame of fire.
It was at his usual place of meditation that God encountered him. Though busy with the bleating sheep, Moses turned aside to hear God and to see what pecuIiar scene God was showing him in the midst of the burning bush.
By this time, 40 years had passed quietly while he learnt in the house of Jethro. Gems of grace were deposited in his life. A furious man, who could kill at the least provocation, became the meekest of all men at the time. He had become broken and bent for God’s will to be done in his life. ‘God waited for the forty year training and discipleship to produce effect. God now stepped in to call Moses again…
“Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth My people, the children of Israel out of Egypt.”’ Ex.3-:10.
Moses Had Learnt Humility
“God, who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?” Ex.3:11.
See Moses now! He now wondered, “Who am I? What do I have that I should go to Pharaoh’’? He had lost all sense of adequacy and qualification. He was actually content to be a servant of Jethro for life. All ambition was dead in his heart now. Moses never saw any possibility in and with himself any more. He had become empty and it is an emptied vessel that God can use. He saw nothing in his hands again. Even the rod he used to slaughter the Egyptian had become the shepherd’s staff in his hands now. He had become so tender-hearted that he could only use the rod to guide and direct flock but not to strike and kill. Moses had now entirely, new lifestyle where he would rather carry a lamb on his neck back home to Jethro, than kill it to eat. He became a shepherd at heart!
LORD, what have I, that I should go and bring forth Your people? God had found in Moses now, what He looks for in men. He had found now in Moses, a broken and contrite heart. A heart that was not presumptuous. Empowering was all that remained, once God had found the right heart in Moses. God now introduced Himself to him and taught him His name “I AM.” The Great I AM; the Supreme Authority! The Creator of Heaven and Earth had now commissioned him and sent him. The question “who made you a leader over us?” is finally answered after forty years of discipleship at the quarry of Midian.
At the end, it was glorious to see God sending Moses with the rod “And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, where with thou shalt do signs.” You know the rest of the story. Will you wait until you have been made by God for the ministry He sets before you? Will you wait at the quarry of discipleship until your empty rod of wood, becomes a shepherd’s staff and then the rod of God in your hands? Will you endure the various qualifying tests until God can certify you as fit to bear the mantle of leadership?
Jesus our Lord waited; Moses tarried at the quarry of Midian, under Jethro; others have endured till heavens finally released them with definite commission. Why rush out without getting heavens’ credentials?
Now, no one can push Moses away again: Not even Pharaoh! If you rush without this molding and if you carry only the empty rod which you cut off the green tree, men will push you around and out! You will keep contending with the snakes of the magicians. There is no other authentic way to step into leadership in the Church. God’s leaders are made, molded and marked with the stamp of divine authority on their lives.
For further information and counseling :Please call, 08189591591, whatsapp +2348021688883. Email : https://peacehouseabuja.org/contact/
Check more for your Spiritual Growth:https://peacehouseabuja.org/