Many lessons can be drawn from the account of Moses given in the book of Exodus.
Moses, born and raised in the land of Egypt, was a Hebrew, and when he was born, he was supposed to have been killed per the order of the king. Moses’ parents hid him for three months, but when they could no longer hide him, they placed him in an ark of bulrushes. He was found by Pharaoh’s daughter, who raised him as her son.
Though reared in Pharaoh’s house, he never forgot he was a Hebrew. As an adult, he saw one of his Hebrew brethren being beaten by an Egyptian. Moses killed the Egyptian, and because of this, he had to flee the country. He traveled to the land of Midian, where he met the daughters of Reuel and helped them as they were watering their father’s flock. Later, he was given Zipporah to be his wife.
While watching his father-in-law’s flock, Moses came across a burning bush — only the bush was not consumed. God called to Moses from the bush and he responded, “Here am I.”
God told him he was going to go back to Egypt and lead God’s people to the Promised Land. This should have been a great thing for Moses, but he instead started making excuses as to why he could not take on the task God had given him.
He asked God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?”
This question “Who am I?” often is asked by those who fail to see how much God wants them to obey him. Satan has gotten the best of a lot of people, blinding them to the love God has for them. They believe their sins are too great for God to forgive. Their hearts are filled with guilt, but they think they are not important enough to receive forgiveness. So they go through life never knowing the blessing of being freed from the bondage of sin.
The Apostle Paul serves to disprove this line of thinking. He called himself the chief of sinners
(1 Timothy 1:15). He had been a persecutor of Christians; at the time, Paul was known as Saul, who watched as Stephen was stoned to death for preaching God’s word, holding the coats of those who did the stoning. His desire to destroy those following Christ was well-known.
In fact, the one who taught Paul the Gospel was afraid to go to him when the Lord told him to go. “Then Ananias answered, ‘Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem. And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name’” (Acts 9:13-14).
So here was a man who had done much damage to the way of God, but was saved by the blood of Christ. When the Lord appeared to him on the road to Damascus, he told Saul to go into the city, where he would be told what to do. Saul was taught about Christ and then asked the question, “And now why tarriest thou? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16). He obeyed the Gospel and was forgiven.
Moses had to learn that he was the one whom God wanted to serve him. If you are asking, “Who am I,” look to God’s word and come to know that God loves you and wants you to serve him. You can have salvation — obey God.