Transformers

Posted by Dion Todd February 25th, 2024 2,733 Views 0 Comments

Transformers from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo.

Moses was now eighty years old and tending sheep in the wilderness of Sinai. 

It was a lonely, rugged, harsh terrain that was mostly barren but with just enough seasonal vegetation to graze sheep and goats. The nights were cold, and the days were extremely hot, with very little rainfall. 

At eighty, Moses was pretty insignificant, one of the little people. A lone shepherd that no one noticed. Even the flock he tended wasn't his sheep. They belonged to his father-in-law, Jethro. So I wonder, did Moses ever look back on his life in Egypt, the glory days?

Moses was born in Egypt, which was the most powerful nation on Earth at the time. He was raised by Pharaoh's daughter, who found him as a baby abandoned by the Nile River in a basket. She brought up Moses as her son, and he was well educated and given military training, the best Egypt had to offer.

Moses grew up as part of the Egyptian Royal family. He lived in Pharaoh's palace, ate at fancy banquets, attended ceremonies, and walked in elite social circles. The palace was a sprawling complex with living areas, temples, administrative buildings, and gardens. It was lavishly decorated with luxurious furnishings and beautiful artwork. It was built to display the wealth, power, and divine status of the Pharaoh, who was considered to be a god. Moses' lifestyle was far above the average Egyptian, who were far above the enslaved Hebrews. 

So, when he was forty, Moses seemingly had it all, but now, at eighty, he was alone in this desert. How did this happen? He killed a man. Moses went out to see the Hebrews one day, and when he saw an Egyptian taskmaster beating one of them. Moses tried to intervene, but they got into a struggle, and he killed the man. Moses hid the body in the sand, but Pharaoh learned of it and sought to kill Moses, so he had to flee from Egypt and live in Midian. There, he lived as an exile, a man without a country, for forty years.

One day, Moses was tending his father-in-law's sheep when he saw a burning bush that wouldn't burn up. Bushes bursting into flames in the desert heat weren't that uncommon, but one that is not consumed by the fire is, so Moses walked over to inspect it closer. When he did, God began speaking to him from the bush. 

(Exodus 3:4–6 NKJV)  So when the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." Then He said, "Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground." Moreover He said, "I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.

(Exodus 3:9–10 NKJV)  Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt."

Forty years had passed since the day that Moses fled from Egypt, and there was a new Pharaoh in charge. I am sure Moses had his reasons, but he didn't feel like he was the man for the job, and he began making excuses:

(Exodus 3:11–12 NKJV)  But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?" So He said, "I will certainly be with you." 

So Moses said, what if they don't believe me? So God caused Moses' staff to become a snake, and an eighty-year-old Moses fled from it. Picture that. Are you trying to give me a heart attack? When Moses came back, God told him to put his hand inside his cloak, and when he pulled it out, it was leprous, as white as snow. Then he put it back in and pulled it out, and it was healed. So Moses chose another angle to get his point across:

(Exodus 4:10 NKJV)  Then Moses said to the LORD, "O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue."

For every excuse, the Lord has an answer, and this time was no different. The Lord told Moses this:

(Exodus 4:12–13 ESV)  Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak." But he said, "Oh, my Lord, please send someone else."

Moses did not want to return to Egypt. He felt unqualified for this job. He was old, and he didn't feel he could deliver a powerful message to anyone, much less to a Pharaoh. So, after he ran out of excuses, Moses just told the Lord to send someone else. 

(Exodus 4:14–15 ESV)  Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses and he said, "Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do.

So, with all of these weaknesses and the lack of ambition and desire that Moses displayed, why didn't the Lord simply choose Aaron? Why did God choose Moses, the humble, slow-of-speech shepherd? The weakest link in the chain? The Apostle Paul said God told him this:

(2 Corinthians 12:9–10 NKJV)  And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

God needed someone to confront Pharaoh, so He chose the weakest vessel He could find. Yet, Moses was about to transform from the weakest to the strongest. He returned to Egypt and confronted Pharaoh and told him, "Let my people go!" Pharaoh refuses, doubles down, and increases the workload on the Israelites. So, God sent a series of plagues on Egypt that affected its water, land, livestock, and people - but did not harm the Israelites.  

The plagues were judgments on the gods of the Egyptians, for they had many. For example, they worshiped Hapi, the god of the Nile, so the Lord turned the Nile River into blood. It was the same with flies, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and death. Here is a list:

1. The Nile River turns to blood = Hapi, the god of the Nile, and Osiris, associated with the Nile's fertility.

2. Frogs overrun Egypt = Heqet, the frog-headed goddess of fertility and birth.

3. Gnats or lice from the dust of the earth = Geb, the god of the earth.

4. Swarms of flies = Khepri, the god of creation, movement of the Sun, and rebirth, often depicted as a scarab beetle.

5. Livestock diseased = Hathor, the cow-headed goddess of love and protection; Apis, the bull deity symbolizing fertility and strength.

6. Boils on humans and animals = Sekhmet, the goddess of war and healing; Sunu, associated with pestilence; Isis, known for healing skills.

7. Hail mixed with fire rains down = Nut, the sky goddess; Set, the god of storms and disorder; Osiris, linked to crop fertility.

8. Locusts consume the crops = Min, the god of harvest and fertility; Isis, associated with agricultural fertility.

9. Darkness covers Egypt for three days = Ra (Re), the sun god, embodying light and warmth.

10. Death of the firstborn = The Pharaoh's divinity challenged; Khnum, the guardian of river sources and protector of children.

The Egyptian 'gods' were powerless in front of Moses. When his God made it dark, their sun god, Ra, couldn't make it light. Moses was no longer a simple shepherd but a man of power because the Living God was with him. Moses went even further in his relationship with the Lord until his face began to shine, and people were scared to come near him:

(Exodus 34:29–30 NKJV)  Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses' hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him. So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.

Moses had to wear a veil on his face when he came out of a meeting with the Lord, and if you asked him now, these were his glory days. Not as a young man in Egypt, but when his face glowed with the glory of God. So God took an eighty-year-old fugitive with slow speech out of the wilderness and transformed him into the most powerful man on Earth. For His strength is made perfect in weakness. This is the theme of the Bible.

God is not looking for gifted people who are self-sufficient but for insignificant people who can't do it without Him and will be obedient; to them, He gives gifts, and they become "The Gifted." This is the way He chose Moses, Gideon, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Peter, John, Stephen, and others. He took shepherds and fishermen and transformed them into world changers. 

(1 Corinthians 1:26–27 NKJV)  For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;

They were the first transformers, but more are being made because, day by day, our obedience transforms us into the very likeness of Christ:

(2 Corinthians 3:17–18 NKJV)  Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

(Romans 12:1–2 NKJV)  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

God transforms the weak into the strong. Without Him, you are nothing, but with Him, you can do anything you face, just as Moses faced Pharaoh. So, if the Lord is calling you to do something, don't try to hide behind your weakness. That is the very reason He chose you: because you are not capable of doing it - without Him. The real glory days occur after your transformation. 

You can pray this with me if you like: 

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You so much for all that You have done for me. Transform me, Lord, into the very best version of myself. I want to make You happy. Help me overcome my fears. What is Your desire for me? In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!