Exodus 1-4

Why is faith so difficult? Consider Moses's encounter with God at the burning bush. We know that Moses believes exactly to whom he is speaking, for "He hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God" (Exodus 3:6). You might expect that this certainty of his interlocutor's identity would remove Moses's reluctance to obey, but if anything it seems to feed his doubts. Moses asks God for a sign he can bring to the Israelites to lend authority to his message (this in addition to God's name). And God, for his part, graciously gives Moses not one but three signs.

But was Moses asking for the signs for the Israelites' benefit or for his own? Even after God appears to him and performs wonders that he might believe, Moses still tries to get out of what he has been charged with doing. Twice he makes excuses for why he should not go, even to the point of inciting God's anger against him (Exodus 4:10, 13-14).

To the Israelites' credit, they listen to what Moses has to say, see the wonders he has to perform, and believe in the message they have received (Exodus 4: 29-31). But we know from reading on in the Old Testament that this is a turbulent, short-lived obedience. Is faith so easily shed authentic faith at all?

In the end, we can take comfort from the fact that the Israelites' fickleness--in which we share all too fully!--was not unforeseen by God. And more than that, much more than that, our disobedience is not unforgiven. "He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible" (Hebrews 11: 26-27). So writes the author of the book of Hebrews about Moses. Not a bad epitaph at all!

"We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:6).