![]() ![]() People often accept oppression if it allows them to be dependent. ![]() This may not seem like it would be hard to convince the people to follow for this, but it is – it demands a strong faith in God and a firm sense of personal responsibility. Moses was leading them from bondage into a state of freedom and blessings from God. At one point they even wanted to “ appoint leader and return to Egypt” (Numbers 14:4).įourth, Moses had to lead the people out of comfort, security, and prosperity. This was not the only time the Israelites wished they had never left Egypt (Exodus 16:3 17:3 Numbers 11:5-6 14:2-3). When Pharaoh pursued them, they said, “ It is because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness” (Exodus 14:11-12). Third, the people often did not want to follow. ![]() If this were not enough, he also faced opposition from his brethren (Exodus 5:20-21), from Miriam and Aaron (Numbers 12:1-2), and from Korah and his allies (Numbers 16:1-3). When Moses finally did lead the people out of Egypt, Pharaoh and his army pursued them (Exodus 14:9). ![]() At one point Pharaoh threatened to kill him (Exodus 10:28). He first had to face Pharaoh – the leader of the most powerful nation on earth at that time (Exodus 3:11 5:1-2). Eventually he said, “ Please, Lord, now send the message by whomever You will” (Exodus 4:13). He claimed to be a poor speaker (Exodus 4:10). He was afraid that the Israelites would not listen to him (Exodus 4:1). He saw himself as being unfit to stand up to Pharaoh (Exodus 3:11). When God called him to lead he tried to come up with excuses so that he would not have to do it. When we consider the example of Moses, we can find five reasons why it took courage for him to lead the people out of Egypt.įirst, Moses did not aspire to lead. He chose Moses to lead them (Exodus 3:10). So He planned to deliver the Israelites out of bondage (Exodus 3:7-9). God saw the sons of Israel, and God took notice of them” (Exodus 2:23-25). They “ cried out” and “ God heard their groaning and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. However, God was with the Israelites and blessed them (Exodus 1:12). He saw the Israelites as a threat (Exodus 1:9-10), so he tried to keep them under his control by making “ their lives bitter with hard labor” (Exodus 1:11-14). However, eventually “ a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph” (Exodus 1:8). “ Now Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in Goshen, and they acquired property in it and were fruitful and became very numerous” (Genesis 47:27).Īll of this happened while Pharaoh thought highly of Joseph (Genesis 41:39-45 45:16-20). Thanks to Joseph (Genesis 47:11-12) – with the help of God (Genesis 45:5, 7) – they prospered. The children of Israel settled in Egypt in order to survive a famine (Genesis 45:5-8 47:11-12). Moses is an example of one who had the courage to lead. There are ways in which each of us can lead within the roles we occupy (in the church, home, workplace, society, etc.). We lead by directing others toward the way they should go and by showing them how to do what is right. Leadership can be exerted through one’s position, words, actions, and influence. But we can lead without an official leadership position. We often associate leading with leadership roles (husbands, employers, generals, Presidents, elders, etc.). Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt’” (Exodus 3:7-10). Now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me furthermore, I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them. So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. “ The Lord said, ‘I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings. But in the end, Moses obeyed the Lord, stood against Pharaoh, and led the people out of bondage and toward the promised land. Moses was chosen by God to lead the Israelites out of the land of Egypt. ![]()
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