Exodus 3:12, commentary and pictures

When Moses shrank from facing Pharaoh as unworthy and unequal to freeing Israel, God answered his self-distrust with the pledge to be with him and guide him in the work. The proof of his sending would follow the deliverance, when the freed people would worship God on that same mountain where he was commissioned. Their release would come not by Moses as general in warfare but by God's own mighty power to show Egypt and Israel that He is the living God who saves and destroys. That same pledge of presence and help belongs to every humble, consecrated worker who takes up labor as God's commission and depends on Him rather than personal strength. Such workers are to plead the promise earnestly for God's Spirit and leading, and not lower the work to their weakness but strive in His strength to be elevated and sanctified for their sacred mission.

Moses' Call and Context

The promise was given as God's direct answer to Moses' question, Who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh and bring Israel out of Egypt. He felt unworthy and inadequate, inefficient, hesitating, self-distrustful and deficient, and he shrank from standing before Pharaoh to demand Israel's release as an overwhelming command. His lack of confidence did not disqualify him, for God promised to be with him and gave as proof of his divine sending that after the deliverance the people would serve God upon that mountain.

He had first tried the work by force and might by slaying an Egyptian, thinking Israel should know he was their deliverer. God saw he was not ready, and a special work required special preparation before he could be sent. He was therefore sent for forty years into the rocks, mountains and desert as a keeper of sheep, and as keeper of Jethro's flocks hunting with patience for stray sheep. There he was proved and tested and tried before further usefulness.

Those years keeping the flocks taught him true humility and a low view of himself, yet he still felt his deficiency for the work. He learned to be a tender, patient, loving, faithful shepherd, and his years as a shepherd with his training under God fitted him to lead Israel and to do God's will. Only after God convinced him that he was the chosen instrument did Moses consent, and in the fear of God he accepted the trust. Then God revealed Himself in the bush as the I AM and bade him go and deliver Israel, now educated for the work, and the burden of God's work laid upon him made him a man of power.

The time had fully come for Moses to exchange the shepherd's staff for the rod of God, which God would make powerful for signs and wonders to deliver His people from oppression and to preserve them when pursued by enemies. Deliverance would not come by warfare with Moses as general, as he expected and preferred, but by God's own mighty power. This was to magnify God before Israel and before the Egyptians and to teach both that there is a living God with power to save and to destroy.

The Pharaoh Moses must face was a new king, the former king who sought his death being dead, Pharaoh being the title of nearly all Egyptian kings. Moses was first to assemble the elders of Israel with the message of visitation and removal to a land flowing with milk and honey. Though Pharaoh would refuse to let Israel go, Moses was not to lose courage, because God would make the refusal the occasion for stretching out His hand and smiting Egypt with wonders until release came.

Presence and Promised Token

Certainly I will be with thee is a personal assurance that God would be with Moses and guide him as he led Israel out of Egypt and carried out his mission. It was given as the answer to his sense of unworthiness and shrinking from standing before Pharaoh to demand Israel's release. In that assurance God identified Moses as His chosen instrument to deliver Israel, and Moses consented only after he was convinced of that calling.

The token that God had sent him was not given beforehand but was to come after the deliverance. When he had brought the people out of Egypt, they would serve and worship God upon this mountain where he received his commission. That mountain is the mountain of God, even Horeb. Its fulfillment, when the delivered people worshiped God there, would confirm that his mission came from God.

That promise sustained a ministry through long years of wilderness wandering to an ignorant, undisciplined and rebellious people. The work appeared hopeless by human judgment, but God enabled Moses to lead the people and deliver them from dangers they could not overcome alone. Their wilderness travels taught them to look to God for relief and deliverance, to know and trust Him, and to serve Him with living faith.

Assurance for God's Workers

The same certainty of divine presence, guidance and help given to Moses when the work of leading Israel out of Egypt was laid upon him belongs to every humble, faithful, consecrated worker who receives work as a commission from God and depends on Him rather than personal strength. God's presence strengthens and blesses such workers, and as workers together with God they are not left alone. That assurance applies to all who labor in Christ's place for afflicted and suffering people, even through long years with an ignorant, undisciplined and rebellious people.

It is given to those who go forth to work for God in the Southern field, to devoted workers who feel their dependence on Him and go as co-laborers with Jesus Christ to teach the colored people, so that many souls come to a knowledge of the truth. It belongs especially to those laboring as channels of blessing, particularly nurses and sanitarium workers who are beset by temptation on every side and surrounded by fashionable display.

Such workers are not to conform but to consecrate themselves to God and ask Him for His presence and guidance. They are to plead with God in the same way Moses pleaded, presenting the promise with earnestness to the throne of God and receiving the pouring out of His Spirit, His leading, light and guidance. When realized, the promise burns in the heart and kindles upon the lips instead of being spoken with indifference, and those who receive light from above let it shine to others so that the atmosphere surrounding their souls gives life as a savor of life unto life. Moses, who found the command overwhelming in his inefficiency, hesitation, self-distrust and felt deficiency yet accepted the trust in the fear of God until its burden made him a man of power, shows that workers must not bring the work down to their deficiency, but in God's strength put forth earnest efforts to elevate and sanctify themselves for their sacred mission.