The Mystery of Prayer--Moses, God's Friend

Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.  And suddenly the LORD said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, "Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting." And the three of them came out. And the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward. And he said, "Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the LORD make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house.  With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?"   Numbers 12:3-8.

 This passage intrigues me. First, it says that Moses was very meek, or humble, the most humble man on the earth. For a leader of about 2 million people, who had already been used by God in extremely dramatic ways, to be the most humble man on earth is an amazing thing.

But, what really touches me is what God said about him. When Aaron and Miram had spoken against Moses, God came to his defense, and said that He spoke to Moses face to face.

Exodus 33:11 says “the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.” 

As I was looking at these verses, I wondered, “How did Moses get there?” I want to be God’s friend. I want to have a close, intimate relationship with my Lord, and hear Him speak to me like a friend, face to face.

I turned back to the first encounter that Moses had with God to begin to understand how Moses became so close to God.

Exo 3:1-15 Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.  And Moses said, "I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned."  When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." Then he said, "Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground."  And he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. Then the LORD said, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians… But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?" He said, "But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain."

Then Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM."

I noticed several things in this that may have been crucial to Moses development.

1.     He was curious. He saw a bush that on fire, but not consumed, and he stopped to check it out. “And Moses said, "I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned."  He did not already know that this was from God. He was curious. He took the time to stop what he was doing to check it out. God responded to that. “When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him, Moses, Moses.”

2.     Moses had courage. When God called to him, out of the midst of a burning bush

Moses said, “Here I am.”  Really, this had to be frightening sight, then to hear God speak. Moses didn’t run away, he answered bravely. I didn’t say he wasn’t afraid. Courage does not mean not having fear, courage is stepping up even when you are afraid.

3.     Moses was honest. In verse 11, Moses said, “Who am I that I should go?” That was just the first of his protests. I love God’s response to this. “I will be with you.”

Moses was worried about his credentials, but the only thing he needed was God’s presence. (I think Moses learned that lesson well, since in Exodus 33, he said that he would not go any further without God’s presence. By that time, Moses had a good record to stand on, but he knew that he had to depend on God.)

Let's continue to look at Moses honest communication with God in this first encounter.

Exo 4:1  Then Moses answered, "But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, 'The LORD did not appear to you.'"

God gave miraculous signs that would prove to the people that God was with him.

Exo 4:10-13  But Moses said to the LORD, "Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue." Then the LORD said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?  Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak." But he said, "Oh, my Lord, please send someone else."

Was Moses being rebellious, or was he being honest? Don’t be afraid to be honest with God. God knows what is in your heart and mind. You cannot hide it from him. Of course, God told Moses that he could take his brother Aaron with him, and the two of them went before Pharoah.

In the following chapters, we have many conversations between God and Moses. Mostly, God gives instructions and Moses obeys, but there are more examples of Moses coming to God completely honest and transparent.

 Exo 5:22-23  Then Moses turned to the LORD and said, "O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me?  For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all."

We often try to hide our true feelings if we don’t like them, even from God. We don’t want to tell God that we are hurt, disappointed, angry, or in doubt. But, GOD KNOWS. He knows our hearts, our thoughts, our feelings. He just wants us to come to him and tell Him. He can handle it.