Exodus 4:1-17 Believers must be bold to take up the prophetic mantle to deliver our communities from sin

Exodus 4:1-17 Believers must be bold to take up the prophetic mantle to deliver our communities from sin

Then Moses said, “What if they will not believe me or listen to what I say? For they may say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’” The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” And he said, “A staff.” Then He said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. But the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand and grasp it by its tail”—so he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand— “that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” The Lord furthermore said to him, “Now put your hand into your bosom.” So he put his hand into his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow. Then He said, “Put your hand into your bosom again.” So he put his hand into his bosom again, and when he took it out of his bosom, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. “If they will not believe you or heed the witness of the first sign, they may believe the witness of the last sign. But if they will not believe even these two signs or heed what you say, then you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground; and the water which you take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.”

Then Moses said to the Lord, “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” The Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now then go, and I, even I, will be with your mouth, and teach you what you are to say.”

But he said, “Please, Lord, now send the message by whomever You will.” Then the anger of the Lord burned against Moses, and He said, “Is there not your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that he speaks fluently. And moreover, behold, he is coming out to meet you; when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. You are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I, even I, will be with your mouth and his mouth, and I will teach you what you are to do. Moreover, he shall speak for you to the people; and he will be as a mouth for you and you will be as God to him. You shall take in your hand this staff, with which you shall perform the signs.”

Background

God responds to Moses’s objections by leading him through a series of miraculous signs. The signs serve not only as a public endorsement for Moses, it serves to initiate him into the prophetic ministry. The advent of Jesus has made every believer a prophet to his/her family and community. The church must take up the mantle to initiate and disciple every believer into the prophetic role of delivering the world from sin. Today’s devotion teaches us: Believers must be bold to take up the prophetic mantle to deliver our communities from sin.

Observation

Then Moses said, “What if they will not believe me or listen to what I say?

Moses post a legitimate question for he had reason to feel insecure about the new mission. It is like having an ordinary man like me who resides in Singapore go to the United States to deliver a radical message to the President and the American people. In the absence of any leverage or credibility, to call it a suicide mission is an understatement. Moses must prove himself as the prophet sent by God to accomplish a divine mission. The divine endorsement will come by way of miraculous signs which Moses will perform in the presence of all.

The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”

The signs serve not only as a public endorsement for Moses, it serves to initiate him into the prophetic ministry. In the making of Moses the prophet, God guides him into performing his very first miracle. Through this process, Moses learned to wield divine power as he would with a sword. The Lord gives the directive, but the execution lies independently on Moses. At this point, divine authority has been imparted to Moses to accomplish God’s plans for Israel.

Then Moses said to the Lord, “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”

The prophet is the vessel through which God accomplishes His will on earth. Therefore, not only does the prophet possess supernatural powers, he serves as God’s mouthpiece to the world. And whatever you make of Moses’s confession of incompetent speech, his weakness has become an asset. For Moses’s slowness in speech has allowed God to literally “put words in his mouth”, to speak as God speaks.

But he said, “Please, Lord, now send the message by whomever You will.”

God responded angrily toward Moses’s now empty and wilful objections. That said, a concession was made. And Aaron was appointed as Moses’s spokesman while Moses was the agent for God. Moses has been fully commissioned as a prophet to perform supernatural works and to speak on God’s behalf.

Truth

Believers must be bold to take up the prophetic mantle to deliver our communities from sin

Believers are called as prophets

The call of the prophet is to deliver people from bondage of sin and worldliness. The likes of Moses, Elijah, Elisha, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Jesus and His disciples were anointed as prophets to deliver and reconcile people to God. The prophet Joel said that God would in the last days pour out His Spirit on all believers to do the work of the prophet. Joel 2:28 says,

“It will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy…” – Joel 2:28a

And that is fulfilled on the day of the Pentecost when the Holy Spirit baptised believers of the early church causing them to prophesy (see Acts 2:1-4, 8:17, 10:44-45). As Moses prophesied of deliverance from slavery to enter the promised land. Believers today prophesise of deliverance from sin to enter the kingdom of God. Believers who prophesise will deliver their families and friends to live the abundant life.

Regrettably, a portion of Christendom today has left the prophetic call. They have exchanged the gospel of godliness for a worldly gospel. As such many in these churches did not experience deliverance from the bondage of bitterness, fleshly pleasures, sickness and poverty. Instead, they continue to indulge in the love of money and all kinds of addictions without feeling guilty. These are mostly unconcerned about God’s kingdom work. Their families continue to experience constant conflict fighting over selfish concerns.

The distinctive of the prophet: mighty in word and in deed

The prophet carries divine authority and is mighty in word and in deed. Moses was given divine authority to work miracles and anointed to speak on behalf of God. Jesus was widely considered as mighty in deed and word (see Luke 24:19). Mighty in deed pertains to the working of miracles. And mighty in word relates to the authority to speak on God’s behalf.

What is the role of the prophet in God’s master plan for evangelising the world? Evangelism is the process of delivering people from sin so that they may experience abundant living. The understanding of evangelism today is limited to the act of delivering the gospel message. Evangelism is much more than that. If the hearer is not delivered from his bondages, the work of evangelism is yet complete. In essence, the work of the prophet is evangelistic in its core.

The church is tasked to initiate and disciple believers into the prophetic ministry.

The raising of a prophet is no small task. In the case of Moses, it took God 40 years to deal with his ego. And after that God anointed him to speak and to do mighty miracles. The church must take up the task of initiating and discipling believers into the prophetic ministry. But the church has been overly reliant on a few to speak and do mighty works. As people relied solely on Moses in those days, likewise Christians today depend excessively on ministers to deliver them. In the age of the New Covenant, the church must make it the priority to produce prophets to speak and do mighty works.

The current condition of the church may be attributed to the following:

• The vision of the church – The church is preoccupied with increasing the numbers. Hence, teachings are designed to appeal to elementary believers and non-believers. Consequently, mature believers could not receive more substantial teachings and begin to plateau in their spiritual development.
• The vision of the minister – Church ministers are preoccupied with administrative work such that they do not have adequate time to study the word and to pray. This causes them to stagnate in their spiritual growth and experiences. As a result, they fall back on legacy sermons and themes instead of letting God speak through them as a prophet often does. Even ministers who work mighty miracles did not invest adequate time to acquire new revelations at the heavenly places.

Application

Make it your spiritual ambition to become a prophet that God can use. Ask God to provide you with a mentor who can raise you up in the prophetic calling. Lay down your ego and submit yourself to his leadership. For it is God’s plan that believers be initiated into the prophetic ministry by the church. Ask your mentor to help sanctify you of your emotional wounds and sicknesses. Spend equal amount of time studying the word, and conversing with God. It is through conversations that we know God’s mind and His perception of the world’s affairs. Always seek to match knowledge with spiritual experiences. Under your mentor’s guidance, minister to your family, community and the people at the workplace.

Dear Lord, I desire to be raised as a prophet to my family and community. Provide me with a mentor and use him to sanctify me. Open my ears so that I may hear you. Transform my heart so that I may obey you. Mold me by removing my ego so that I may be found worthy to receive your anointing. In Jesus’s name I pray. Amen.