December 15

And when he saw one of them being treated unjustly, he defended him and took vengeance for the oppressed by striking down the Egyptian.  And he supposed that his brethren understood that God was granting them deliverance through him; but they did not understand.  Acts 7:24,25.

This is a description of the motive of Moses as he struck down and killed an Egyptian who was harshly treating another Israelite.  We have often been told the story, but sometimes this part of the story is omitted.  Of course God did not approve of this motive, and Moses quickly found out that it was not in the will of God for him to be the deliverer of Israel by using his own fleshly strength.  Nor did any of the people understand his motive.

We often want to correct the things of the world that are clearly against the standards of God.  When the world acts foolishly, we want to speak out with truth and wisdom.  When the world adopts false standards, we want to make all of the necessary changes.  And our motives may be correct, but our methods are wrong.  Only the leading of God and His power, working through us, can affect the change.  In the case of Moses he needed to spend time—although it be 40 years—to realize his weakness.  And finally, speaking through a burning bush, God was able to come to Moses and set him upon a path that would glorify God and accomplish His goals for Israel.  Moses would still become the standard bearer to set the people free, but all the choices for demonstrating power were to be made by God.

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