What if God’s sign comes too late?

Last week Elyssa walked us through the life and mission of Moses, who despite his plans and ability was used by God to free the Israelites from the oppression of Egypt.  Understandably, Moses was caught off guard by the call; throughout Exodus 3 Moses’s thoughts are a jumble of “what is happenings?”, “why me?”, “do WHAT?!”, and “how?!”  Moses was called to a supernatural task by a supernatural God, so it is fully understandable he struggled.

But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”
Exodus 3:11-12

For centuries churches have pointed to this passage to say, “when God calls us, He is with us,” in hopes of dissuading our doubts and confusion, and rightly so; God does indeed remain with Moses and do amazing things.  Yet I’m struck by how easily we have missed what must be the most shocking part of this verse:

“And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”

Stop and consider the ramifications of this.

What was Moses’ sign that God had sent him?  “you will worship God on this mountain.”  And when would this sign be revealed?  “When you have brought the people out of Egypt.”  In other words, Moses’ sign that he was actually sent by God — as he stepped into illogical and dangerous spaces — would not come until after he had done the things.

He is expected to do this huge undertaking by faith, and only at the end get definitive confirmation that it was actually God!

We are not comfortable with retroactive signs.  We are willing to serve God, but we want to know at the start if it is really God and what He is saying.  We might be okay with him giving a sign during the midst, but at the end?!  That is preposterous!

We are so familiar with Moses’ story that we do not consider what it really meant — the unknowns, the danger, the embarrassment — for him to serve by faith.  We get a glimpse of his humanity when it seems like God’s plan is not working in Exodus 5:22-23:

Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.”

It is worth sitting with this difficult reality: an all-powerful God chooses to send fallible people into impossible callings, and often only provides “proof” at the end of the journey.

“But wait, Paul,” you may interject, “In Exodus 4 God gives Moses several signs.”

You’re right; while Exodus 3:11 says “this will be the sign to you” God does indeed show his power in other ways, like Moses’ staff turning into a snake.  That should be enough to carry him through, right?

Not necessarily.  If you are like me, there is a large (and growing) list of ways you’ve seen God work before, that now you question or have forgotten.  The reason God called his people to make ebenezers and other reminders so often is because He knows we will forget even the miraculous, and will introduce doubts when life gets hard.  “Was that really God, or just coincidence,” is a recurring phrase for the Believer, and sometimes it’s legitimate, because there are often counter explanations.  We see this with the snake-staff in Exodus 7:10-13:

So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts: Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

The snake-to-staff may have been mind-blowing at first, but you couldn’t fault Moses and Aaron if they questioned its validity as a sign when the Egyptian magicians could do the same.

God could make it so much easier if he just made the signs undeniable and gave them at the start; so, why doesn’t He?

This question betrays a misunderstanding of what is happening here.  God doesn’t need Moses to be convinced, because He doesn’t need Moses at all; God could free the people in an instant.  He doesn’t need Moses, but He chooses Moses, not because Moses has something to offer that God needs, but because God wants Moses to learn what it means to need Him.  If Moses had proof, and if the task was within his abilities, he could move forward as a strong leader without God.

God did not need him to free the Israelites: He wanted Moses to model what it meant to seek and follow God.

The people witnessed a man they had discarded be chosen by God; what could that mean as they felt discarded as slaves?

The people witnessed a man who had fled in fear and struggled to speak stand before Pharoah; what could that mean as they felt weak and hopeless?

The people witnessed a man struggle with his calling, and yet keep going even as everyone stood against him; what could that mean as they questioned God’s promises?

The people witnessed a man demonstrate in time that God was with him; what could that mean as they remembered God promised the same for them?

 

Moses was not called to simply free God’s people from Egypt, but from their doubts and fears; he was called to journey with them from simply knowing God to truly being His people.  To do that, it was not enough for Moses to simply know God and what He wanted; he had to truly be God’s sent-one, even when — especially when — he had nothing but his faith in God to grasp.

We are invited to the same today.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1

For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?
Romans 8:24