What Made Moses Moses? Prayer?

I have always wondered how different biblical characters came to play the roles they did and become the people they did. After Christmas we will be doing a series on Joshua, so I have been thinking about Joshua, but whenever I think of Joshua, I think of Moses, whom Joshua followed as the leader of Israel. Deuteronomy 34:10 gives us some idea of how Moses was viewed:

“Since that time no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.”

Yet, when Moses started out, Moses was incredibly reluctant to assume the responsibility of serving God. Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. described Moses, at the being of his ministry, as “timid, unsure of himself, and shrank back from any self-assertiveness that his divine commission demanded of him.”[1] How did Moses become the hero of Israel and an incredibly prominent figure in the Bible?

A brief editorial insertion in the golden calf narrative of Exodus 32-34 may offer the answer to that question. Exodus 33:7-11 read as follows:

Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the LORD would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp. ⁸ Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise up, and each would stand at his tent door, and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent. ⁹ When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the LORD would speak with Moses. ¹⁰ And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door. ¹¹ Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.

Please notice three observations from these verses that seem to explain how Moses changed and how following Moses’ example could stimulate change in our lives too.

First, Moses’ action in verse seven of putting up the tent suggests that Moses regularly took time to meet with God. Moses’ life and his service for God operated out of the context of his continuous interaction with God. Moses’ time with God, in prayer, empowered him and gave him life for the tasks and responsibilities he faced.

Second, verses 8 to 10 provide somewhat of an explanation to the people of Israel and us of why Moses changed. People saw that Moses actively sought time with God. It probably helped them to understand that when Moses spoke, his words undoubtedly came from his time with God. Moses’ leadership was not from Moses’ skills, it was from his pursuing the leadership of God in his own life.

Third, the story ends with a reference to Joshua, son of Nun, Moses’ servant. The narrative seems to suggest that Joshua not only stayed when Moses left the tent, but also was present when Moses met with the Lord. Joshua directly saw how Moses commitment to prayer and his relationship with God changed Moses; that vantage point undoubtedly marked Joshua. It also must have made God’s words to him in Joshua 1:5 emphatic:

No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.

Donald H. Madvig observed, “The secret of Moses’ success had been God’s presence with him. It would be the secret of Joshua’s success also, and it continues to be the secret of success for the church (cf. Matt 28:19-20).”[2] Moses was changed by God, in part because Moses sought God in prayer.  Out of that habit, he was empowered and able to do things he did not think he could do. As people watch his example, they saw the secret of his success was his relationship with God. From a front row sit, Joshua saw how being God transform a person and lead a person to do incredible things for God, because God is present.

Often we think that prayer is about bring requests and asking God to do things for us. Requests are a part of prayer, but prayer is so much more than that. Prayer can be a tool God uses to transform us to  become people that do things beyond what we would have ever imagined ourselves doing for God’s glory.  Let’s pray like Moses.

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[1]Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Exodus, in vol. 2 of The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein and J. D. Douglas (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, Regency Reference Library, 1990), 318.

[2]Donald H. Madvig, Joshua, in vol. 3 of The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein and J. D. Douglas (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, Regency Reference Library, 1992), 256.