What Favor Did God Show Moses?

I stopped in my tracks when I read Deuteronomy 33:13 and wondered what were these favors God demonstrated when He was in the burning bush. The Scripture says that the LORD will bless the land with some really nice things, such as precious dew and the best the sun can bring forth, and other choice gifts and fruitfulness.  And the section concludes that the LORD will bless us with “all the favor of Him who dwelt in the burning bush.”

So what does this “favor of Him who dwelt in the burning bush” look like? (Exodus 3)  The key blessing is that the Almighty was intent on setting his people free.  

To do so God needed a helper, and He chose the old shepherd, Moses.  Moses had been raised as a Prince of Egypt, but had fled the country when he was discovered to be a murderer.  At this point in his life,  forty years later,  eighty-year old Moses wasn’t an easy man to recruit.  In fact, he made up at least five different attempts to block God’s recruitment process.

— Moses questioned his own credentials: “Who am I that I should go?”

— Then he questioned who God really is, to which the Almighty said, “Tell them “I AM” sent you.

— Moses pushed his reluctance further. ‘Suppose they don’t believe me?” To which God showed him three signs demonstrating supernatural power.   Moses watched his shepherd’s staff turn into a snake and his healthy hand change to having leprosy then back to being healthy.

— But these signs weren’t convincing enough for Moses.  The old shepherd said, “Come on, God, I am slow of speech and tongue.”  But the LORD, undeterred, said, “I will help you speak and teach you what to say.”

— Finally, Moses just put his foot down and said, “Just send someone else!”

I suspect that God was hot under His celestial collar at this point.  The Bible said that His anger burned against Moses.  But instead of giving up on this man, the Almighty said,  “O.K. I’ll send your brother, Aaron with you and you can tell him all I said.”  So Moses was finally recruited, and obeyed God.

Despite Moses’ reluctance, and lack of confidence and unbelief and perhaps just plain selfishness, God did not give up on the man.  God pursued Moses until the shepherd could do nothing else BUT accept God’s assignment.

Because Moses went out to meet Aaron and travel with him down to Egypt, and because he carried God’s message to the Israelites,  God’s people saw signs and wonders, and heard about the LORD’s love.  They finally bowed down and worshipped their Sovereign God.

Before God’s intention to set the people free could be fulfilled, one man, Moses, had to be obedient to the LORD.

The favor we see in the burning bush is this fact:  God’s character is to never give up on someone whom He has called.  

The favor we see in the burning bush is God using a mere human being to bring His people out of slavery. 

The favor we see in the burning bush is the depiction of Holy God as personal and relational, and concerned about our suffering.