The Tuesday after the Fifth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on July 7, 2026 by under
Scripture: Exodus 3:7-15 (NKJV)
3:7 And the Lord said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. 8 So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. 9 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. 10 Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”
11 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?”
12 So He said, “I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”
13 Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?”
14 And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” 15 Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.’”
Devotion
“Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”
From a human perspective, Moses’ objection seems legitimate. Moses had many shortcomings which might have disqualified him for the job: he was not a good public speaker (Ex. 4:10); he was despised by the people whom he was supposed to lead (Ex. 2:14); he was a convicted murderer in Egypt (Ex. 2:15).
God corrects our human thinking. It was not Moses and his rhetorical skills or social clout which would bring the work to a success. God would do it. For He said: “I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up… to a land flowing with milk and honey.” Nevertheless, God would do the work through Moses. For He promised: “I will certainly be with you.”
Pastors are sent by God to bring people out of condemnation. While pastors have received training, and have certain talents and skill-sets, they are lacking in ways not dissimilar to Moses. Ask any faithful pastor and he will be quick to admit his shortcomings. Thanks be to God that it is not the pastor who brings success to the ministry. Spiritual deliverance is the work of God. Nevertheless, God does it through His servants. Just as He worked through Moses to bring His people to the promised land, so He works through humble pastors to bring His flock to eternal life.
Collect: O God, Who hast prepared for them that love Thee such good things as pass man’s understanding: Pour into our hearts such love toward Thee, that we, loving Thee above all things, may obtain Thy promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
