GOD’S GIFT OF GREAT THOUGHT — IT’S NOT WHAT WE OFTEN THINK

By Jill Roberts and Michael Canalé

 

Michael said something so profound when he had the following insight:

 

“Great thought is not just given by God to one person. When one is gifted great thought, it comes in a sequence and it comes to more than a single person.”

 

When, as now, we are studying the story of Moses and when, as now, we are focusing so specifically on this iconic man, there is a natural tendency to place on God our own vision of Moses, alone. This is to miss, entirely, what Michael is saying and what God is doing. God is always trying to reach the whole world. HIS vision is vast; HIS view of any given circumstance is always transcendent.

 

So, while last week’s study showcased Moses as he stepped up and into leadership, it would be a mistake to just move on to the next thing without visiting what God was doing in the hearts and minds of those around Moses at the same time that Moses was coming into his own.

 

Therefore, this week, let’s look around him at what some might even characterize as the lesser players in Moses’ story. Michael and I do not subscribe to this characterization.

 

Let’s return to Michael’s powerful words that great thought, bestowed by God, is sequential and involves more than one person.

 

Who then, are these other players in the Scripture in which we showcased Moses last week?  Where and in whom was God steadily at work in what some might erroneously credit as side notes in the symphony that is this important segment of the Bible?

 

Certainly, the Israelites, caught up in slavery in Egypt, are people, in whom God was working, as Moses began, on God’s behalf, to try to extricate them from their dire circumstances.

 

Here, one might say, wait a minute, these are God’s People. Surely, THEY did not need to be spiritually, as well as physically, rescued. They were shaped by their devotion to God.

 

Yes, this is something we would want to believe but, all the while, it is something about which the Bible is quite silent. We know only this: God repeatedly asked for their release for one reason and only one reason – “So that they may WORSHIP me!” These words are replete in this area of Scripture and are indicative that they were NOT being given this opportunity, this privilege.

 

Pharaoh was a very hard and atheistic taskmaster. This we know for sure. Upon the initial request for the freeing of the Israelites, he called for a ban on providing straw for their brick making. He said to Moses and Aaron that he DID NOT KNOW THE LORD. These two facets of the Pharaoh’s personality make for a very bad combination. Indeed, he possessed no compassion and God was a stranger to him More on this next week.

 

So, based on all of this evidence, we can reasonably infer that the Israelites were in need of spiritual support as much as Moses. Living as slaves for so long, they may have felt abandoned by God. It took 80 years for the LORD to shape Moses, their deliverer. That’s a long wait when you’re making bricks day after endless day.

 

It is quite telling, regarding this issue, to look back at their reaction when they first heard from Moses and Aaron that God had sent them to bring the Israelites out of Egypt:

 

“Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites, and Aaron told them everything the LORD had said to Moses. He also performed the signs before the people, and they believed. And when they heard that the LORD was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.”

(Exodus 5:29-31) NIV

 

This was spiritual ground gained for these elders of all of Israel. When the Pharaoh refused to let them go after the first request, their great discouragement turned to anger at Moses and Aaron. (Exodus 5:21) NIV

 

God clearly was greatly interested in encouraging them as all waited for the Pharaoh to relent and release them.

 

As Michael said, God was gifting the great thought of faith in Himself to the Israelites. As Michael also said, it would be sequential. How would He accomplish this? He would do something that would demonstrate both His mercy and His power. So, as the plagues raged on against the Egyptians, God acted with favor toward the Israelites:

 

“But on that day I will deal differently with the land of Goshen, where my people live; no swarms of flies will be there, so that you will KNOW that I, the LORD, am in this land. I will make a distinction between my people and your people.”

(Exodus 8:22-23) NIV

 

And so, the Israelites were spared, as they watched the utter destruction of the various plagues ravage Egypt. It is unimaginable what the impact of this must have been! From hopeless, mistreated brick makers, treated like nobodies, to the chosen of God. Set apart, this time, with the favor of a protective and all powerful God, they underwent a similar metamorphosis as that of Moses in last week’s study. They had a spiritual growth spurt of monumental proportions.

 

God was working and not just in Moses. He was hard at work building up His People in Egypt.

 

But Michael’s vision contemplates something even broader. It is the bestowing of great thought, i.e. belief in Him and His power regarding both His own People and to ALL PEOPLE. What about the Egyptians? Did God’s desire for mankind to KNOW Him extend to them? As Michael says, “Yes! Unquestionably!”

 

Let’s turn first to the Egyptian magicians. With the first few signs performed by Aaron, they matched him, to some extent. But, soon, with the plague of the gnats, they were powerless to follow suit. At this point, they went to the Pharaoh:

 

“…the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.”

(Exodus 8:19) NIV

 

Ultimately, God made believers of these practitioners of magic. They were persuaded of the high magic of the True God.

 

Did God stop working, except with Moses and the Israelites? In no way! God doesn’t put people in compartments. He is ALWAYS working every side and country of humanity!

 

The spiritual largesse of the LORD didn’t end with the magicians. As Michael said, He moves sequentially.

 

Next, God looked at the Egyptian officials. With the plague of hail, they became believers of another sort. God had Moses warn the Egyptians to shelter themselves, and all, in their fields, before He sent the hail. This is what happened:

 

“Those officials of Pharaoh WHO FEARED THE WORD OF THE LORD, hurried…”

(emphasis added)

(Exodus 9:20) NIV

 

They brought in everyone from their fields and all were saved.

 

What was God’s point? The following verse answers this:

 

“And the EGYPTIANS WILL KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.”

(emphasis added)

(Exodus 7:5) NIV

 

God didn’t limit HIS MISSION in Egypt to rescuing His own; He wanted to reach EVERYONE – the captive, the rescuer of the captive AND those who have held the captive in captivity!

 

“When one is gifted great thought…it comes to more than a single person.”

 

How right Michael has it!

 

What are God’s words as to HIS MISSION here and always? They are as follows, spoken to Pharaoh:

 

“…so you may KNOW THAT THERE IS NO ONE LIKE ME IN ALL THE EARTH. For by now, I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people, with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth. But, I have raised you up (spared you) for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”

(emphasis added)

(Exodus 9:14-16) NIV

 

Finally, then, what about ultimate evil; what about the elephant in the room? What about the Pharaoh? God was including him in this paradigm of coming to KNOW God, as the above verses set forth.

 

Wait a minute. Didn’t we also study that God had hardened and strengthened Pharaoh’s heart. Yes, we did. Next week, we continue with the story and how these two concepts are harmonized in God’s own timing, in God’s own loving and patient way.

 

May we take to heart and mind, alike, Michael’s words. We may think that God is only at work in the lives of family or friends. On the other hand, we may think that He is at work only in us. Either way, this is never the case. He is always seeking EVERY soul, EVERY heart, EVERY mind.

 

As Michael often says,

 

“God is not human. He is so much more complex than that.”

 

God’s vision is vast. His love is true.