As we look at the life of Moses as a pattern to being called by God we realize that the record of God’s calling of Moses is longer than the record of His calling of any other person in the Bible. Actually, Moses was the first complete, qualified, and perfected servant of God in history, and as such, he is the standard model of God’s servant, and God’s calling of him is the standard for His calling of all His servants.
First of all, God didn’t call Moses when he was young; even when he was 40 years of age, Moses was still not qualified to serve God and accomplish His purpose. At 40 years old Moses was a strong man, educated in all the knowledge and culture of Egypt, and ready to do something for the Lord out of his own initiative.
The result was that he killed an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew; the word spread, and he had to flee for his life. The highly educated Moses had to run in the wilderness and live there for forty years.
In God’s sovereignty, He put Moses aside for a period of time, and in this time Moses lost everything: he lost his position, his possessions, and most of all, he lost his confidence, his future, his interest, and his goal.
Most likely Moses was no longer considering that he was the one that God will use to deliver His people from Egypt. All he did in the wilderness was to tend to his father-in-law’s sheep, and even these sheep were not his. But when Moses thought he was not qualified to lead God’s people out of Egypt, God appeared to Moses and called him.
The way God called Moses is very interesting, and the details the Bible gives us concerning Moses’ calling are not accidental but very significant. God called Moses in the wilderness, not in the palace in Egypt; He took Moses away from any distraction, and He emptied him of anything that would preoccupy him.
At one point as he was shepherding the sheep of his father-in-law, Moses went to the backside of the wilderness (a sign of being discontent with his present situation) and there God appeared to him, on a holy ground (a land untouched by man, with no human interference), from within the burning thornbush.
Being Called by God in the Wilderness “at the Back Side”
Since Moses was the first complete, qualified, and perfected servant of God in history, he is the standard model of God’s servant, and God’s calling of him is the standard for His calling of all His servants. In principle, we all need to be called the way Moses was.
In Exo. 3:1 Moses led the flock to the back side of the wilderness and he came to the mountain of God, to Horeb. The place where God called Moses was not Pharaoh’s palace nor any place in Egypt but the wilderness; in the wilderness, at one point in his life, Moses was discontented with his situation and went to the back side of the wilderness.
It may have been because Moses wanted to see what’s there at the back of the wilderness, or because he wanted to find fresh grass for the sheep, so he went to the back side of the wilderness.
In our Christian experience there are some times that we are discontented and dissatisfied with our job, our occupation, and even with our marriage, and this dissatisfaction turns us to go to the “back side”. It is when we are at the back side of our situation that God can come in and call us.
God allows us to be discontented and dissatisfied with our church life, our family life, and our work situation, and we go to the “back side” to see what is there. We may think that our career, our occupation, our field of study or research, our family life, or our possessions will satisfy us, but they don’t.
Many times the back side of our situation turns out to be the mountain of God. It is here that God meets us, when we are discontented and dissatisfied, and He calls us. Outwardly our situation may not be that good, and inwardly we may be dissatisfied, but God is working in us and around us to bring us to the place where He can call us and speak to us.
We are travelling, caring for our own things (or for other’s things – as Moses did) in the wilderness; God is also travelling, seeking to meet us at the back side of the wilderness. Praise the Lord, He leads us to the place where He can meet us and call us!
We need to pray for one another not for outward things or prosperity but for God to bring us to the place where He can call us and speak to us. Only He can arrange things and lead us through situations, and we can pray for ourselves and for those around us to be led in God’s sovereignty at “the back of the wilderness” to be met by God and called by Him.
Lord Jesus, we give ourselves to You to be useful to You for the fulfillment of Your purpose. Lord, no matter what happens in our life, no matter how discontent and dissatisfied we are with the current situation, keep us coming to You to meet You. Keep us searching for more “at the back side” of our situation. Oh Lord, meet us where we are; appear to us as we are at the back side of our situation, and call us! May the back side of our situation turn out to be the mountain of God where we have God’s appearing and His calling!
Being Called by God from Within and with No Human Opinion
Moses went to the back side of the wilderness, and there he saw something amazing: a thornbush burning yet not being consumed! He drew near to this to see what is happening, and God told him to not come too close but remove his sandals from his feet for the place on which he is standing is holy ground (Exo. 3:5).
We will see later what is the significance of the flaming thornbush and how God called Moses; today we want to see what is this “holy ground”. The holy ground in this verse refers to land untouched by man, a virgin soil; God’s calling occurs in a place where there is no human interference and no human manipulation or opinion.
In order for us to be called by God, we need to go to the back side of our situation and come on a holy ground with no human opinion or interference. Here, God can speak to us, reveal Himself to us, and call us.
God doesn’t call us through human opinions; He calls us personally at the back side of our situation on a holy ground. He brings us to Himself so that He Himself would speak to us and call us.
The fact that God called Moses from the midst of the thornbush indicates that God doesn’t call us “from the heavens” but from within us. You could say that God spoke to Saul (who later became Paul) from the heavens, but His calling was from within Paul, and His speaking was in Paul’s heart.
The place of God’s calling is within us. Don’t wait for the heavens to open and for the Almighty God to speak to you from the heavens; God calls us from within.
We are the thornbush, a fallen human being who is under God’s curse but who has the Triune God as the fire burning within. The Triune God within us speaks to us and calls us.
May the Lord have a way in each one of us to draw us to the place of His choice, the place reserved wholly for Him where He can speak to us and call us from within as the Triune God dwelling in the thornbush.
Lord Jesus, bring us to the place of Your choice where You can call us and speak to us. Have Your way in us and around us to unoccupy us and release us from any preoccupation and distraction so that we may be open and willing to receive Your speaking. Lord Jesus, operate in so many of Your seeking ones to bring them to the place where You can call them to be one with You for Your purpose. Appear to us as the Triune God burning within the thornbush yet without consuming the bush!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Ed Marks’ sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Exodus, msg. 5, as quoted in, the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Exodus (1), week 2 / msg 2, A Complete View of God’s Calling of Moses as the Standard Model of God’s Servant (you can buy this morning revival book here via LSM andhere via Amazon).
- Hymns on this topic:
# I was in a world of misery / In this crooked and perverted generation; / But the Lord has call me there one day / And now I’m living in this new generation. / Oh, what a wonderful story / Of me and my glorious Lord. / Together we make our history; / A mingling of God and of man— / Becoming the New Jerusalem, / Full of God’s glory. Hallelujah! (Song on being called by God)
# Every new day’s a new start. / Lord, again we’re coming to You. / Lord, could You ever break through within us / If, Lord, we gave You a part? / O Lord, we can’t do it on our own. / O Lord Jesus, how we need You! / Win us, woo us, to Thyself, Lord, / That we’d ever stay, Lord, with You. (Song on Coming to the Lord)
# In the wilderness for God! / Just a common bush aflame! / Thus may I be, blessed Lord, / For the glory of Thy Name. (Hymns #352)
When by God’s sovereignty Moses was set aside, he must have been very disappointed and he must have lost all hope….A man who had been educated in the royal palace was now forced to live as a shepherd in the wilderness. As the years went by, he lost everything—his confidence, his future, his interest, his goal. Eventually, Moses probably reached the point where he had no further thought that he was the one whom God would use to rescue the children of Israel from bondage in Egypt. Moses might have said to himself, “I must care for this flock. But not even this flock is mine; it belongs to my father-in-law. I have no empire, no kingdom. There is nothing left for me to do except to labor in support of my family. My immediate concern is to find fresh grass for the flock and water for them to drink.” But one day…God appeared to him and called him. At the age of eighty, in the eyes of God Moses was fully prepared and qualified, and at the precise time He came to him. (Witness Lee, Life-study of Exodus, pp. 51-52)