By Russ Ramsey
A wise friend of mine once told me, “Beware the man who makes himself the hero of his own story.”
Throughout this study on the life of Moses, we are going read about a man who bears all the marks of a hero. He leads an entire nation of people out from under the grip of one of the most powerful rulers in the world. He stands before the mighty Pharaoh and warns the king of Egypt that if he doesn’t let the Israelites go, he’ll reap a world of hurt. And those words prove not to be empty.
Frogs fall from the sky and the Nile River turns to blood. Locusts consume Egypt’s crops and a plague kills her livestock. Moses raises his hands and the Red Sea parts, giving an otherwise trapped nation of refugees a path to freedom. He strikes a rock in the desert and enough water to quench the entire nation’s thirst comes rushing out. He ascends a mountain and meets with the God of all creation. Then he comes down from that meeting bearing two tablets of stone written in God’s own hand—a Holy Law to govern them all.
As all this happens, we may be inclined to cheer for Moses, our brave-hearted gladiator whose weapon is the power of God and whose shield is the Lord’s divine protection. But if we make Moses our hero, we have misplaced our hope. As admirable, inspirational, and fascinating as Moses is (and he certainly is all these things and more), he is not the hero of his own story. God is.
We only need to look at Moses’ failures—his anger at God (Exodus 5:22-23), his occasional disdain for his own people (Exodus 17:1-7), his murderous heart (Exodus 2:11-12), and his reluctance to lead (Exodus 4:10-17)—to see that he is, at best, a deeply flawed hero.
But it isn’t even Moses’ character flaws that show us he isn’t the hero of the story. It is the providential way Moses came to find himself in this position in the first place. The Lord, making good on a promise He made to Abraham 400 years earlier (Genesis 15:13), spared Moses’ life from Egypt’s brutal campaign to exterminate all male Hebrew children under two (Exodus 1:22). Moses’ mother floated him down the currents of the Nile but the Lord guided the baby in the basket straight into the heart of Pharaoh’s own daughter, who raised the slave as her prince.
God is the architect of this story, which means He is the true hero. This is good news for us. It reminds us that God is in the business of using flawed, fearful people as agents of redemption in this world—limits, imperfections, and all. As we dig into the fascinating life of Moses, look for the providence and power of God on display throughout, and remember that this same wisdom and strength is at work in our lives today.
You do not have to be the hero of your own story. You have a Hero. This study tells His story.
written by Russ Ramsey
81 thoughts on "God Raises Up a Deliverer"
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Braden Condray says:
I will let go of my self centered, self consumed perspective on my life which I do often defer to, and acknowledge in all things that every single aspect of my life and my story is really about Him.
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Heavenly Father, I thank you so much for giving us an ultimate and final Deliverer in Christ Jesus. Thank you for liberating us from our slavery to sin and for saving us from the power of death, and thank you for the way that Moses’ story foreshadows that. We acknowledge that Moses’ story and our stories are really your story, and I ask that you would fix my eyes on you and my role in your story. Show me how to best leverage my life for your glory and your kingdom. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.
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Duane van Minde says:
Sinfull men need saving.
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Man is in itself is lead by his or her desires and sinfull in nature. Man is torally dependent on God.
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I will respond when God calls me to be used by Him.
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God doesn’t look at the outside of people but looks at the heart. He chooses vulnerable people, changes them and uses them for His glory.
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Father let Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
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Andrew Flack says:
This shows that man is imperfect but can still do good through the power of The God of the Universe.
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This message shows that God is the Ultimate Guide in life. This doesn’t just apply to Moses. If you just read throughout the Bible you’ll see thousands of times where there’s a “Bible Hero” but if you really look, you’ll find that God is in the background doing it all behind a curtain. It’s almost as if God shows his humbleness through His word. Instead of saying “I’m God I parted the Red Sea, I raised the dead, I created everything and it was awesome” He used His people for His works. So at first glance, you see the “Bible Heroes”. But then you come to find that they were all just sinners and people before God used them and saved them and all they had to do was do what the Lord said and they were blessed.
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That the Gospel is full of people doing good through God, but ultimately God is the Ultimate Guide and “Hero” of the story.
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Ways that I will respond is by being more open to the things God tells me to do. Being a light for Him and not for myself. The other night I played one of the most powerful worship services I’ve played and everyone else was really connecting but this time I only barely felt that spiritual, inexplainable feeling that you get in worship. And I made it of myself instead of giving it to God.
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I will pray that the Lord will give me strength and that He was use me for the things that I am currently capable of and can handle. And I will pray for more humility so that I may go out and do His work for Him and not for me.
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Aaron says:
God has a plan for all of us. He knows our strengths and our weaknesses and has place for us to do his will as long as we are open to receiving and acting on his commands. We do not have to be perfect, just willing to act.
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I will be more attentive to listening for Gods plans for my life and ask for strength and wisdom to follow through.
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Man is not perfect. Man is set in their ways and very stubborn thinking we either have all the answers or need no ones help.
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God has a plan for us all. No matter our flaws. If we are receptive to the Lords words we can accomplish all things he has planned for us.
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I will pray for an open heart and mind. I will ask for strength in leadership and guidance in following Gods path for my life.
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Josh Campbell says:
There are two key traits we see evident in man in these passages; Fear and Faith. Pharaoh feared the Israelites, he feared losing his power so much so that it drove him to become a monster. On the other side of things, Moses’ Mother had great faith in God when she placed her son in a basket on the Nile River. Fear as a motivator leads to uncertainty and all kinds of devastation in your wake; whereas faith in God as a motivator leads to peace and God’s provision.
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This beginning to the story containing the life of Moses teaches us some specific things about God and His character. God has not even spoken directly to Moses yet but it is evident that God is present. God is Sovereign, He is directing everything for His own plan and good pleasure. The passage in Exodus 1:17-21 speaks directly to God’s dealings with the Egyptian midwives. He prepared them to respond rightly in protection of Moses and the other Hebrew children. God also provided provision for Moses and his family in two ways. First he sent Moses to Pharaoh’s daughter so that she would take him as her son, but secondly God directed the princess to send Moses back to his mother and PAY her to nurse him. Moses got to be protected and nursed by his own mother, while his family was provided for by wages from the palace.
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God is loving. He orchestrates things in such a way that He makes a way for us to know Him. In this passage God protected and guided Moses’ life circumstances to direct him toward God. God prepared a “savior” for the Israelites, but he didn’t pull some high and mighty man to do so. In fact, Moses’ story begins with God’s provision in man’s weakness. Moses was a small weak baby from a weak, slave race. The slave race was imprisoned by a weak, fearful Pharaoh. But God, in the midst of our weakness, builds the most beautiful strength.
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