Tag Archives: Go rescue the captives

When God speaks, Go.

Marcia and I are reading through the chronological bible this year, soaking in God’s letter to us as it was written in time. It’s been a wonderful time of learning and relearning truths that are meant to help us in our own lives today. Even the darkest times are documented when God’s people rebelled again and again against him. They were written as a warning to us in our present day lives,no we might avoid their errors. (1 Corinthians 10:11)

I know the story of baby Moses is familiar to you. It was a wicked time when the king ordered all baby Hebrew boys to be murdered at birth. But Moses’s mother put him in a specially prepared basket, what would become a “second ark” of salvation for her people, and put it in the river while carefully watching it. The Pharaoh’s daughter retrieved the baby and named him Moses, meaning “I drew him out of the water.” She raised him as her own in the Egyptian palace. Of course, we know also that Moses would grow up to later kill an Egyptian who was abusing a fellow Hebrew and how he fled to the wilderness for safety. In his sudden exile, I imagine it must have been impossible for him to see that he who was drawn from the water would one day be the leader who would figuratively draw the nation of Israel from the dark waters of their captivity. Maybe you’re in a similar place, finding yourself in a foreign land, exiled from the joys you seek. It’s hard to have hope when there is so much despair, to find peace where anxiety rules, to find purpose where everything seems wasted.

But God doesn’t abandon us in those places. He sees you where you are and is aware of your circumstances.  We’re told he catches our tears in a bottle. (Psalm 56:8)  He doesn’t waste pain.

And so it was with Moses. God appeared to him in the form of a burning bush that was not consumed. God spoke to Moses, saying “Here I am,” inviting him to draw closer, but warning him to first remove his sandals because he was standing on holy ground. Have you ever wished God would speak to you in such a real and audible way? Or to literally write on the wall what he wanted you to know,  as he did in Daniel 5?

Even though I’ve never heard God’s audible voice like Moses did, I’ve found this to be true:

God still speaks to us today.

He speaks through his Word, the bible, through Godly people he brings across our path, through circumstances both pleasant and difficult, and through his Spirit who he gives to all who believe in his Son Jesus. He speaks the sustaining grace of his presence that calms us in the middle of storms, and he speaks truth when we’re confused by lies. He speaks hope when everything seems helpless. And I think that it’s a contented joy he speaks of knowing he is with us even in our sorrow.

What did God speak to Moses? He assured Moses that he would be with him. He quieted Moses’s fear of inadequacy, reminding us that God doesn’t call the qualified; he qualifies those he calls. And having done all this, God revealed his plan to rescue his people from their captivity, showing that Moses himself would be instrumental in accomplishing this plan. And then God spoke, “Go. I’m sending you (to rescue my people). I will be with you. I am who I am. This is my name forever.”

This isn’t just a remarkedly great story. It’s an illustration written to teach us that God speaks forever. When God spoke, the universe was created. Imagine the power he bestows on us when he speaks to you and me!

But God’s speaking always requires a response. We might try to run away from him like Jonah did, and boy did that get him in “a whale of trouble!” We might try to ignore him and pursue our own ways, but he will persistently pursue us with his unending love and amazing grace. What God intends and what is most beneficial is that we respond in obedience to his call. He loves us where we are, too much to let us stay there. His call to “Go” mif ht be to leave your job, your house, your community or country. But certainly and always  he will call you and me to “Go” from a way of thinking and living that ignores those who need rescuing in his name.

Draw close to God. Step onto holy ground.  Listen. Go. Rescue the captives in his name.