Moses was the first complete, qualified, and perfected servant of God in history, and the record in Exodus concerning God’s calling of Moses is longer than the record of His calling of any other person in the Bible. Moses is the standard model of God’s servant, and God’s calling of him is the standard for His calling of all His servants.
Born in Egypt from Hebrew parents and sovereignly put by God in Pharaoh’s palace to be educated and trained in all the Egyptian knowledge and culture, Moses ended up in the wilderness after he killed and Egyptian to seemingly show his fellow Hebrew brothers that he’s the one who would save them.
Moses spent forty years in the wilderness, and in Exo. 3 we see that he was tending to the sheep of his father-in-law Jethro, when he decided to go to the back of the wilderness – a sign of being dissatisfied and discontent with his situation.
There, at the back of the wilderness, Moses saw a thornbush on fire: the bush was burning but it was not consumed. He drew closer to see what is this great sight, and God spoke to him from within the burning bush.
A person who is called by God must see the vision of the burning thornbush; he must realize that at best he is a thornbush, a sinner under God’s curse, but the Triune God of resurrection wants to burn within and upon this thornbush.
After seeing the vision of the thornbush, a person who is called by God must have a revelation of who God is. When God appears to us and speaks to us, He makes clear to us first of all who He is. To Moses God appeared first as the Angel of Jehovah, the One sent by God. God appeared to Moses as the sent One so that He may send Moses; only a sent one can properly send another one to do something.
The name of the One who appeared to Moses in the flaming bush was, I AM THAT I AM – He is the self-existing and ever-existing One, the reality of all the positive things in the universe.
Also, this One is the God of Moses’ father, even the God of resurrection, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. As ones called by God we need to know our God by having a revelation of who God is.
The God who Calls us is the Angel of Jehovah, Jesus Christ
The One who called Moses was first the Angel of Jehovah (see Exo. 3:2). This title, Angel of Jehovah, refers mainly to Christ as the One sent by God to save His people from their situation of suffering (see John 8:42; Judges 6:12-22; 13:3-22).
Christ, the Son of God, is the One sent by God into the world to save us, rescue us from the world, and bring us into the enjoyment of God Himself. The Lord Jesus was sent by God; He is God’s sent One, and as the Sent One He knows how to send us as His sent ones. The one who knows how to use their employees and supervise them in what they do is the one who did that particular job already.
According to Exo. 3:2 and 6, the Angel of Jehovah – the sent One – was Jehovah Himself, the sending One, and Jehovah is the Triune God (see also Zech. 2:6-11, where Jehovah of hosts sends Jehovah of hosts).
The One who appears to us to call us is the Sent One so that He may also send us. He knows our situation, our condition, and our heart; He appears to us as the Sent One and He speaks to us, calls us, and sends us to be His sent ones.
The Name of the One who Calls us is, I AM, the Reality of All Positive Things
The name of the One who called Moses was I AM (see Exo. 3:14-15). From the midst of the burning bush God introduced Himself as, the I AM WHO I AM. He is the One who was, who is, and who will be.
God is self-existing, needing no one and nothing to help Him exist, and ever-existing, transcending time and space, from eternity to eternity. The One who calls us is the only One who is; He is the only One who has reality of being.
As the I AM, God is the reality of all the positive things in the universe. The name “I AM” indicates that God in Christ is the reality of every positive thing. When the Lord Jesus came as God incarnated He said again and again that He is the “I AM”, and He is the One who is everything to us.
As the I AM, Christ is the bread of life, the light of the world, and the true vine; whatever we need, He is (John 8:58; 6:35; 8:12; 15:1). Christ is the reality of eating and drinking daily, the reality of the Sabbath for our weekly rest, the reality of the new moon for our monthly enjoyment with light in darkness, and the reality of our yearly feast for our rich enjoyment of God in Christ (see Col. 2:16-17).
As the I AM, Christ gives Himself to us as a “blank check” – we simply need to write what we need, and He is! As the I AM, God is and we are not; the God who calls us IS, and we are not (see Heb. 11:6). He is the unique One, the only One in everything, and we are nothing in everything.
The One who Calls us is the God of our Father
The One who called Moses was the God of his father (Exo. 3:6), denoting a history with God. God doesn’t just show up out of nowhere and calls us; He works within us and around us, and as He regenerates us He puts us into a new spiritual family where we have a spiritual father.
In the eyes of God, the Lord who calls you and me is the God of our spiritual father. Paul said that we may have ten thousand guides in Christ but we don’t have many fathers, for he begot the Corinthian believers through the gospel (1 Cor. 4:15). Paul called Timothy his beloved and faithful child in the Lord who would remind the saints in Philippi of Paul’s ways which are in Christ, as he teaches everywhere (Phil. 2:19-22).
The God who calls us is the God of our spiritual father: we have a history with God, and in the church life we have a spiritual father who cares for us and admonishes us in the ways of the Lord in His economy.
The One who Calls us is the God of Resurrection
The One who called Moses was the God of resurrection, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the resurrecting Triune God (see Exo. 3).
We need to know the God who calls us as the God of Abraham; He is the God who calls man, justifies man, and equips man to live by faith and live in fellowship with Him as Abraham did (see Gen. 12:1; 15:6; chs. 17—18; 19:29; 21:1-13; 22:1-18).
We need to know the God who calls us as the God of Isaac; He is God the Son who blesses man with the inheritance of all His riches, with a life of the enjoyment of His abundance, and with a life in peace (see Gen. 25:5; 26:3-4, 12-33).
We need to know the God who calls us as the God of Jacob; He is God the Spirit who works in all things for the good of His lover to transform man and make man mature in the divine life so that man would be able to bless all the people, to rule over all the earth, and to satisfy all the people of God with Christ as the life supply (see Gen. 27:41; 28:1—35:10; chs. 37; 39—49; Rom. 8:28-29).
This is the God who calls us: He is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the Triune God of resurrection. As called ones of God we need to be in resurrection and do everything in resurrection for the building up of the church – which is altogether in resurrection (Eph. 1:19-23; Rom. 8:11; 1 Cor. 15:45b, 58).
Christ is our resurrecting power, ascending power, subjecting power, and heading up power being transmitted to the church; our position is in the church to enjoy this power.
Hallelujah, the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us to impart His divine life into all our being, giving life to our mortal body! As the One who calls us, the Triune God of resurrection will eventually redeem and transfigure our mortal body to make it the same as Christ’s!
Lord, grant us a clear revelation of who You are as the One who calls us. You are the Angel of God, the One sent by God to save His people from their situation of suffering. Oh Lord, as the Sent One You can send us to be one with You in rescuing Your people and bringing them into Your enjoyment! You are the Great I AM, the reality of all the positive things. Lord, You are our life, our peace, our joy, our food and drink, and our very being. You are and we are not. Thank You for being the God of our father and the God of resurrection. We want to know You and be filled with You!
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. 6, and, Basic Lessons on Service – lesson 14, 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.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Christ is the one reality of all, / Of Godhead and of man and all things else; / No man without Him ever findeth God, / Without Him man and everything is false. (Hymns #496)
# Christ is my Sabbath and new moon, / My morning and my day, / My age and my eternity / That ne’er will pass away. (Hymns #510)
# Thou art the living Truth! / All wisdom dwells in Thee, / Thou Source of every skill, / Eternal Verity! / Thou great I Am! In Thee we rest, / True answer to our every quest. (Hymns #192)
About aGodMan
The phrase “the God of your father” [Exo. 3:6] denotes history with God. When God comes to call you, He should not be a stranger to you….When we were saved, we gained another genealogy, a spiritual lineage. For this reason Paul told the Corinthians that he begot them through the gospel (1 Cor. 4:15)….In the eyes of God, the Lord who calls you is the God of your spiritual father….When God appeared to Moses and called him, He was not a stranger, for He had been with Moses’ family for generations. The God of Moses’ father was the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. (Witness Lee, Life-study of Exodus, p. 58)
Amen yes, we all must have a personal revelation just like Moses and Paul, regardless of our religious background, upbringing or age. Moses after eighty years had a visit from God in a burning bush and Saul had a personal touch with the Lord on the way to Damascus. From both Moses and Saul’s experience we can see that even though we are trying to serve God zealously we still need a personal revelation of the God who calls. We all have the opportunity today for Christ is resurrected and ascended and as the last Adam He became the life giving Spirit. (1Corinthians 15:45). Anyone, whosoever believes should not perish but have eternal life! (John 3:16). When we receive the Spirit of Christ, the anointing upon being baptized in the Spirit just like the five thousand in the book of Acts and those in the house of Cornelius, also in the book of Acts, we all had a personal revelation of who God is…I was a Catholic for many years but it was only when I received the Lord as my personal Savior that I had a personal revelation of who and what God is. Since that day my life changed and I enjoy the all-inclusive Spirit of Christ in my daily life and living. God is real and living and comes to dwell within us.
Amen! Lord Jesus, we are not, but You O Lord are the I AM to us, the all-inclusive One, the all-sufficient One, the life-giving, life-imparting Spirit is He. Hallelujah! Lord Jesus, we are Your redeemed thornbush (redeemed sinner) saved by and in Your life imparting Spirit. You are the fire of Jehovah, the Lord, burning within us, yet not consuming us. Thank You Lord for saving us sinners, redeeming us from the fall, and imparting Your life into us, Your Spirit mingled with our spirit, making Your home in our heart, to transform us into precious stones for Your building, a dwelling place of God in spirit. Shine within us Lord as the light of life, to reveal to us who You are and all that You have done for us, in redeeming us thornbushes, having the fire of Your Spirit, burning within us, yet not consuming us. Keep us enjoying You Lord, to make us Your dispensers of Your mercy and grace, for the fulfillment of Your eternal purpose. Amen.