FULFILLING YOUR PURPOSE THROUGH PROPER PREPARATION:

A case study on Moses

“Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.” Exodus 3: 10 (KJV)

Moses had been predestined for a special purpose by God right from the time he was born. At the time of his birth, the King of Egypt had issued a command to his people saying “every son that is born [of an Israelite] ye shall cast into the river [Nile] (Exodus 1: 22). Yet the Lord kept Moses to the extent that Moses was brought up by the daughter of Pharaoh who had issued the command. Ironically instead of Moses being cast into the river Nile, Pharaoh’s daughter ‘drew him out of the water’ and took care of him in the palace.

But despite the fact that Moses was brought up as an Egyptian, the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, he never forgot that he was a Hebrew with a particular purpose to fulfil. And so “when he was grown he went out into his brethren and looked on their burdens and he spied an Egyptian smiting a Hebrew, one of his brethren. And he looked this way and that way and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.” Exodus 2: 11 – 12 (KJV)

Yes he knew God had a purpose for him but he went about fulfilling the purpose in a wrong way. He took the law in his hands and killed an Egyptian. To save himself when he heard that Pharaoh was after him he fled to the land of Midian. It was while sojourning in this land that God was able to, through his profession as a shepherd, teach him how He meant for Moses to bring out His people from the bondage in Egypt.

For forty years Moses underwent training as a shepherd to sheep and goats in the land of Midian to properly build his character and prepare his for his purpose. One may ask why God chose to train him as a shepherd and how does that relate to the purpose he had to fulfil? To fully understand the reason behind this kind of training, one needs to understand the role of a shepherd and relate it to the role Moses was going to play in leading the Israelites out of Egypt.

The Role of a Shepherd

He looks after sheep – God knew that for the next forty years after the Israelites were released from Egypt they would need some one to look after them; to lead them. If Moses could look after sheep and do it well, then he could carry out the role of leading the Israelites as well. It should be noted that not only was he a shepherd to sheep but also to goats – see Exodus 3: 1. God knew that the kind of people Moses would lead and have to care for would not be as docile as sheep but some would also be as stubborn as goats. He therefore ensured that Moses underwent training in looking after both types of animals whose character differed in many respects.

He is gentle and tender with his sheep yet firm – God needed for Moses to learn to be gentle and tender but firm with the people he was going to lead in the wilderness for the next forty years.

He doesn’t make rash decisions – Moses needed to overcome the habit of making rash decisions such as the one he made when he killed the Egyptian. By tending sheep as a shepherd he had to have the best interests of the sheep at heart and make the best decision concerning them.

He cares for them – Psalm 23: 2 says “. . . he leadeth me besides the still waters.” A shepherd puts the interests of his sheep first and foremost and does not lead them to places that would constitute a danger to them. Sheep are taken to still waters because if they are led to rushing waters there is a likelihood that they may fall in to the rushing water and because of their wool sink to the bottom and possibly drown. God knew that for forty years the Israelites would be in the wilderness where many types of dangers exist and as such they would need someone who would be willing to lead them away from places of danger in as loving and caring a manner as he can.

He protects his sheep – although this is what Moses tried to do when he killed the Egyptian he went about it the wrong way. God needed to teach him how to protect the Israelites while not losing any or his own life in the process.

Conclusion - In conclusion, my sisters, in fulfilling our God given purpose we need to know that there are times we need to undergo some sort of training in order to build our character. Moses went ahead of himself and tried to fulfil God’s purpose without having first undergone the training he needed in order to be able to properly lead the Israelites. Let us pray that as Christians we wait on the Lord to completely train us for the purpose for which we have been predestined for.

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