Mensa Otabil - God Will Be With You (11/01/2025)
Exodus 3:12. 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.» This was God’s response to Moses. Moses had expressed inadequacy about facing Pharaoh and confronting the Hebrews who had rejected him. God simply said to him, «Certainly, I will be with you.»
There is nothing more comforting and assuring than those words coming from the Creator of the universe. Pharaoh and the royal house of Egypt were against Moses, but God was with him. The Hebrew slaves did not want Moses as their leader, yet God was with him. It was almost as if God patted Moses on the back and said, «Relax, relax; I’m here. I’m with you.» God is saying, «Yes, I know all the things that are bothering you, all the things that are on your mind, the things you are afraid of, the people you are afraid of, your own insecurities. But I’m with you.» And when God is with you, it is more than anything else that is against us. That’s what God said to Moses.
Now, after God assured Moses that He was going to be with him, He gave him a sign. The sign was something physical that would happen in the future with Moses. It’s interesting that the sign God gave to Moses didn’t seem to address his fears. Remember, he’s afraid of facing Pharaoh; he’s afraid of going back to the Hebrews because they rejected him, and God gave him a sign: you will come and worship at this mountain. This is the sign I’m giving to you: you will deliver the people and bring them to this mountain.
How does that correspond to «I’m afraid of Pharaoh,» and «I don’t think the Hebrews will accept me „? There are two implications. The first one is that God says you will deliver the people from the hand of Pharaoh. That means there is going to be a confrontation between you and Pharaoh and his system, but you’re going to win. How do I know I’m going to win? Because you will deliver the people. So God is indirectly saying to Moses, „Don’t be afraid; you’re going to win this one. You’re going to deliver the people and bring them out of captivity.“ The fear you have will be taken care of because of the victory God is going to give you.
The second thing God says to him is that when you take them out of Egypt, you’re going to bring them to this mountain-the same mountain where he saw the burning bush. You’re going to bring them to this mountain, and you’re going to worship here. How does that correspond? How does that answer Moses’s fear that the people will not understand him? Well, if he delivers the people and they follow him and bring him to the place where he met God, it means the people will accept him as their leader. God is saying to Moses, „It’s going to be all right.“ But the way He tells Moses that it’s going to be all right is not by explaining the process directly but by telling him how the end is going to look. In the end, you will deliver them from the hand of Pharaoh. This means you will deal with Pharaoh, and in the end, you’ll bring the people to this mountain. The people will follow you; the people will respond to you.
God has a way of telling us His will that doesn’t always seem to correspond with what we want. We want Him to say, „Oh, I’ll fight your enemies, and I will do this.“ We want Him to give us a direct word, but He tells us the end. He tells us how things are going to end, and just by believing how things are going to end, He takes care of the process. So I don’t know what you’re going through now, but God has fixed the end for you, and the end is going to be good for you. If you trust Him, He will be with you.
Let’s pray. Say with me, „Heavenly Father, You know the end from the beginning. I trust You to bring me out of every battle with triumph. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.“