I Make You Like God to Pharaoh (Exodus 7:1-13)

I Make You Like God to Pharaoh

 

Exodus 7:1-13

 

You may have heard the saying, “Culture is the shadow of the leader.” This means that the culture of an organization or a community is determined by the leader who is leading the organization or the community. A great leader may define clearly the values to be shared by the organization members, suggest visions as common purposes to be achieved together by the members, motivate the individuals to behave in a way to achieve the purposes, and lead the community to move as a body until they reach the goals. If we look for such leaders in history, Moses must be one of them. Moses is the leader of leaders who rescued the people of Israel from the slavery in Egypt and led them through 40 years’ wilderness training that reformed the people into the Army of God. How could he be such a leader? From today’s text, we can learn how Moses became that great leader. To tell the truth, Moses couldn’t be a leader for such a large community. First of all, he was too old. As mentioned in verse 7 in today’s text, he was 80 years old when he was called by God. His age far exceeded the age of retirement. He didn’t have wealth or any social position or title. The only thing he had was a staff. What was worse, he was not good in speech, and was unsure of himself. In 6:29-30, when God said to Moses, “I am the Lord. Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I tell you,” Moses answered, “Since I speak with faltering lips, why would Pharaoh listen to me?” Seeing that Moses also mentioned his poorness of speech several times in the past (Exodus 4:10, 6:12), it looks clear that he was really a bad speaker. How could this man lead the millions of Israelites out of Egypt and survive 40 years’ traveling in the wilderness without water and bread?

 

 In verses 1-2 of today’s passage, Lord God said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country.” God says, “I have made you like God to Pharaoh.” God said a similar word to Moses with regard to his brother Aaron. In Exodus 4:10-16, as Moses resisted God’s sending for the reason that he was slow of speech and tongue, God said to him, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? …… He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him.” Here again, God says that Moses would be like God to his brother Aaron. This is the most fundamental reason that Moses became a historical leader. That is, God made him like God. Moses was able to be a leader for the people of Israel because God raised him up to the position of “God.” This is God’s leadership. God’s leadership is making one he called like himself. In the Animation movie Lion King, the father king Mufasa sits his son Simba beside and shows the land of his kingdom to the son, the future king. Although the son is young and needs to grow more in courage and wisdom, Mufasa sees himself in the son. And the father wakes up the kingly nature sleeping in the son, and cultivates it every day. The king is raising another king. However, a dark shadow fell upon the future king. It was the shadow of Scar. To Scar, Simba was an enemy and an obstacle to be removed in the power struggle. To Scar, there couldn’t be two kings together. By Scar’s scheme, the father king Mufasa was killed, and the son king Simba was accused for the king’s death and became a fugitive. This is the difference between God’s leadership and Devil’s leadership.

Moses was born as a son of Hebrew slaves, but by God’s providence, he was adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter and grew in the royal palace. Acts 7:22 says, “Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.” Furthermore, he, as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, could enjoy “the treasures of Egypt,” the most civilized and powerful kingdom in those days (Hebrews 11:26). Moreover, Moses was a brave young man burning with a sense of justice. In fact, the young man Moses had everything to be a good leader. However, he had one problem. He was under the shadow of Egypt. Because of this, he couldn’t be the leader of Israel that God desired. After all, Moses killed an Egyptian, and because of this, he had to flee from Pharaoh and went to Midian. And Moses lived there for 40 years, tending the father-in-law’s flock. Now the only thing he had was a staff. Probably he had forgotten how to speak as he spent all the time alone in the field, just taking care of sheep. To Moses as such, the Lord God appeared and said to him, “I have made you like God to Pharaoh,” “I have made you like God to Aaron.” This means that God would raise Moses higher than anybody in the world. God is saying that Moses should now listen to God only. God is saying that he would be Moses’ power and wisdom as long as he listens to God. God is saying that he would carry out all his plans through Moses. Now Moses got out of the shadow of the world, and got into the shadow of God. He became a man who is influenced only by God. This is “the true leader” described in the Bible.

 

 God said to Moses what he was going to do. It was bringing down miraculous signs and mighty works upon the land of Egypt, leading the Israelites, God’s people and God’s divisions, out of Egypt, and through all these works, revealing to Egyptian king Pharaoh and his people that God is the Lord. God’s plans are truly tremendous. He is overwhelming the great kingdom of Egypt with God’s power, setting free millions of slaves and animals from the oppression, and trembling the whole world with his holy name. This is overturning the entire world. And God set up just “one person Moses” to carry out his gigantic plans. In carrying out God’s plans in Egypt and leading millions of people, Moses looks like a “weak link.” It would be wiser to choose people with better qualifications, and not just one but a few more. But God called just one person Moses. Actually for this, God had led and prepared him for a long time. Maybe Moses himself didn’t know who he was until God called him and used him for God’s works. It was only when he met God who made him like God that he saw his real self. It was when he found the father hidden inside him that Simba decided to stop living as a fugitive and to return home to restore the father’s kingdom. Moses lived many years as a “failed prince” with bitter memories of the past. But God woke up “the son of God” sleeping in him. And God showed what great works God can do when this one person is walking in front of God. Moses was not a weak link. Moses was “God.” St. Paul wrote his son Timothy, “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. ……  Join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God” (2Timothy 1:7-8). The gospel is a powerful train set up by God through his Son Jesus in order to save souls throughout the whole world. Paul wanted his son Timothy to be “one person” who pulls the train, and out of this desire, he stirred up the spirits that God planted in Timothy’s heart. What is covering Timothy is not the fearful shadow of the world, but the graceful and powerful shadow of God that inspires him with all the good spirits. Under this shadow, there is nothing that he is to fear. There are only the father and his son. And both are “God.” And the two work together the works of power and love to save the world. We all should live under the shadow of God and should live like God.

 

God commanded Moses and Aaron to go to Pharaoh and threw Aaron’s staff down in front of the king so that the staff would become a snake. Seeing this miracle, Pharaoh also called Egyptian wise men and magicians, and let them perform the same things. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. In the Bible, the staff symbolizes power and authority. It is like king’s royal scepter. When Moses was called by God and left Midian to Egypt, he held a staff in his hand, and it was called “the staff of God” (Exodus 4:20). It is because God said to Moses, “Take this staff in your hand so you can perform the signs with it” (4:17). Moses’ staff was a medium through which God’s power and authority was exercised on earth. Moses held it in his hand by faith. God also gave us such a staff. It is Jesus’ cross. St. Paul says that “Jesus crucified” is God’s power and God’s wisdom (1Corinthians 1:24). Jesus also said to the disciples, “These signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well” (Mark 16:17-18). It is not difficult to imagine how poor and coarse the staffs of Moses and Aaron were compared to those of Egyptian wise men. The Egyptian magicians’ staffs might be decorated with gold and jewels, and their staffs might already have a golden snake head on the top. But in terms of power and authority, they were nothing compared to the staff of God. People think that human wisdom, power, and technology have reached the unprecedented level these days. And as that much, they are ignorant of God’s power and wisdom hidden in Jesus crucified. Like God performed many miracles through Moses’ staff and only through Moses’ staff, God is pleased to show his power and wisdom through Jesus cruficied, and only through Jesus crucified. Under the light of this world, Jesus crucified is foolish and powerless, but under the light of God, Jesus crucified is God’s power and God’s wisdom, so glorious as to outshine all the powers and wisdoms in this world. And we can enjoy and experience the power of this staff only under the shadow of God. We should always hold the cross of Jesus so that God’s power comes upon us and upon this world.

 

Like God did to Moses, God makes us like God to the world, and gives us the staff of God, Jesus crucified, so that, through Jesus in us, the Holy Spirit may come down and work God’s works. We should choose to live under the shadow of God, or under the shadow of this world. Moses failed when he lived as a prince of Egypt, but he succeeded when he lived as a servant of God. God led him to be such a great leader. Truly God’s shadow is life-giving culture in which all the beautiful things prosper powerfully. I pray that every day we may sit beside God the Father, and enjoy his shadow, hear his voice, see his vision. May God equip us with his power and wisdom in Jesus our Lord so that we also pull the train of salvation throughout the world and carry the souls to God’s land!!!