How Moses Became Meek

We’re in a moment where old political theories are being revisited. Including the political writings of Karl Schmidt. He is definitely not on the regime approved reading list. And I’m not prepared to cite him favorably. I only want to discuss one of his ideas. Friend enemy distinction.

One key idea posits that you cannot hold together a nation comprised of both friends and enemies. A nation can only accommodate so many disagreements on basic things. You can’t keep a nation together with 15 different and contradictory views of marriage, or love, etc… A nation has to have basic values in common. You can’t keep running elections where 51% of the people are elated and 49% of the people are infuriated. That’s not sustainable.

Two reasons for bringing this up.

Firstly, this is prompting Pharaoh’s freak-out. The Israelites got too big. His majority position is shrinking. (Exodus 1:11-22)

But the main reason I’m bringing it up is because the Schmidtian friend/enemy distinction has something to tell us about the nature of the Christian life.

One of Schmidt’s famous sayings, “Tell me who your enemy is, and I will tell you who you are.”

Who are the enemies in Exodus? Pharaoh? The Egyptians? Sure. But what’s the final boss of Exodus? The people’s own hearts. The flesh. Indwelling sin. It’s the enemy they can’t defeat. The Bible teaches that for the Christian, he has an internal friend/enemy distinction. His greatest enemy is his own sin nature.

Galatians 5:16-17 says, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”

Now remember what Schmidt is stipulating. A nation with deep value division is unsustainable. An entity with deep internal division is not going to last for long. Now think about that in light of Galatians 5.

The human man is divided in some respect — between the flesh and the spirit — the old man and the new man. And the only way life is sustainable is to persecute our own flesh into a minority position. We can’t live a victorious life with a 51% / 49% spirit/flesh split. That’s just not sustainable. And this is why the New Testament so frequently commands all out war against the flesh. Romans 8:13 says, “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”

We’re going to see that dynamic at work in the life of Moses.

Numbers 12:3 says, “Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.”

But that’s now how he started off.

Look at 2:11-12

One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

Here we see a fundamental problem facing every Christian. He has enough truth and light to see the problem. But he does not have enough grace to solve the problem in a godly way.

Moses’ mind is in alignment with God’s mind. Later in vs. 23-25 and again in chapter 3, we see that God is seeing exactly what Moses was seeing and had a plan.

When Moses “went out to his people and looked on their burdens” — he sees the problem in the same light that God sees it. He is provoked by their oppression. He is thinking properly. And we shouldn’t take this for granted. He had grown up in Pharaoh’s household. He had been catechized in elitism. We have plenty of Egyptian records that show us the worldview Moses would’ve been educated in whilst in the house of Pharaoh. It was a worldview steeped in the divine right of kings. Might makes right. A worldview of rooted in pride and privilege. A worldview that saw the Israelites and other slaves as mere canon fodder. When he looked out upon the slaves, he was conditioned to see mere deplorables.

But that is not what he saw — is it? No, he saw his people. God was already at work in Moses’ mind. He had been unplugged from the elitist matrix. But as we see, his identification of the problem was only the beginning of God’s work in him. God still had plenty of work to do. For Moses does, what I’m sure you’ve done many times. He saw with spiritual eyes, and acted in carnal ways.

Can you think of the last time you did the same?

Maybe it had something to do with politics. You see the problem. You see the injustice. You and God are on the same page as to the basic nature of the problem. But in your heart, and maybe in your speech — you grab the old weapons of the flesh.

Maybe it had something to do with being personally slighted, insulted, taken for granted. You were treated poorly. And God would agree. You were treated poorly. But then you respond poorly. You responded in the flesh.

Maybe it had something to do with a problem in your life. Not enough to make ends meet. A willful and disobedient child. A car problem. Sexual frustration. So on and so forth. And you and God are in agreement about the nature of the crisis. But your solutions are not his solutions.

Some people err by responding with anger. They are seeing rightly, but they are responding with anger.

But James 1:20 tells us that the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

Others respond to the problem with pragmatism. Perhaps one of the most stunning details in our story is that Moses, upon seeing the Egyptian beating a Hebrew, “looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.” This is no mere crime of passion. Moses’ actions fit the legal definition of premeditation. Some get angry. Some get pragmatic. They immediately look to solve the problem with some kind of practical action — and never stop to ask — is this God’s approved way of handling this situation?

Other people respond with extreme discouragement and simply check out. They sleep, they drink, they distract themselves with various pleasures.

Harsh words. Gossip. Slander.
Immodesty.
Worry.

The point to see is that Moses is living in a kind of Schmidtian schizophrenia. He is a divided man. Part of him is righteous — the part of him that sees the problem. And part of him is carnal — and it is this part of him who takes action.

So what’s the plan? Well, here we might think of Philippians 1:6 — “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

The same God who woke you up to the problem, whether it is political, personal, circumstantial, etc… The same God who gave you eyes to see the issue, is going to keep working on you to help you learn how to respond righteously to it. He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion.

He is going to teach you how to respond righteously. The biblical word for this is meekness.

Matthew Henry says,

The meek are those who quietly submit themselves to God, to his word and to his rod, who follow his directions, and comply with his designs, and are gentle towards all men; who can bear provocation without being inflamed by it; are either silent, or return a soft answer; and who can show their displeasure when there is occasion for it, without being transported into any indecencies; who can be cool when others are hot; and in their patience keep possession of their own souls, when they can scarcely keep possession of any thing else. They are the meek, who are rarely and hardly provoked, but quickly and easily pacified; and who would rather forgive twenty injuries than revenge one, having the rule of their own spirits.

Calvin says,

Happy are the meek By the meek he means persons of mild and gentle dispositions, who are not easily provoked by injuries, who are not ready to take offense, but are prepared to endure anything rather than do the like actions to wicked men.

Now that last line is key. A meek man refuses to fight like the world. It isn’t that he refuses to fight all together, but rather that he recognizes the inherently spiritual nature of every battle and possesses enough self-control to fight in spiritual ways.

Illustration: The Medieval Armory

The next time you’re provoked by some injustice, whether it is personal or political. The next time you’re confronted with something unpleasant — something that did not go as planned, a difficult person, etc…

The next time that happens, I’d love for you to imagine you’re in an old medieval armory. Picture yourself in a small room with weapons hanging on the walls to your right and to your left.

The weapons to your left are the weapons of your own flesh. The weapons of the world. Anger, pragmatism, scheming, manipulation, coercion, threats, etc…

And the weapons hanging on the wall to your right are the weapons of the spirit. Prayer, gentleness, worship, fasting, etc…

God wants to train you to instinctively grab for the weapons of the Lord.

A man who has learned meekness will reflexively grab the weapons of the Lord. A man who has not learned meekness is will instinctively grab for some of the weapons of the flesh. God wants to do a work in you so that you habituate toward fighting his way. And at some point in the future, he means for the old weapons of the flesh to be dusty, and rusty, and dull. He wants the weapons of the flesh to feel strange in your hand. Until we are finally and fully renewed in Christ, there will always be a choice. But over time, the choice isn’t a 50/50 proposition. You will learn to prefer the weapons of the spirit to the weapons of the flesh.

He who began a good work in you — by awakening you to the need to fight — will bring it to completion by teaching you meekness.

By the time the story of Moses ends, he will be known as very meek, more than all people on the face of the earth (Numbers 12:3). He will become a relatively undivided person. His righteous vision will be compliments with godly virtue.

He didn’t start out that way. But he who called him is faithful. And the events recorded in Exodus 2:11 through chapter 3 show us how the Lord did the work.

And I think we can see how God will teach us meekness.

Humility
Kindness
Contentment
Fear of the Lord

1. Humility

1A. Removing Pride in Merely Seeing Properly

Firstly, he will remove any kind of pride you feel for seeing the problem when others do not. When we are first awakened to truth and justice, we tend to enter a cage stage. Feeling very proud of ourselves for seeing what others do not see. Rather than pride, you’ll learn to see that identifying the problem is literally child’s play. The real trick isn’t in seeing the problem. The real trick is solving it God’s way. You’ll learn to expect more out of yourself than mere insight.

“Merely seeing the truth doesn’t make me all that special.”

1B. You’ll Be Suspicious of Your Own Reactions

Secondly, he will show you that have some foolish instincts. Instincts that cannot be trusted. Moses thought he was getting away with murder. God showed him that he cannot lean on his own understanding. His own understanding is limited. He looked around and saw nobody. He was obviously wrong. Suppose someone here has developed a shopping reflex. You get stressed, you go shopping. That’s your carnal weapon. There will be consequences for that habituation. You’ll enter some kind of wilderness. You’ll learn to be suspicious of your own reactions.

“I’m still very likely to make a mess of things by responding in the flesh.”

We see this in verse 13-15

When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, “Why do you strike your companion?” He answered, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing is known.” When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by a well.

1. Kindness

You will learn to be kind. Look at vs. 16-17

Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. The shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and saved them, and watered their flock.

If you want to learn meekness, you need to serve people. God doesn’t want Moses to stop being a fighter. The same man who killed the Egyptian is now standing up for seven women trying to water their flock.

1. Contentment

Fourthly, you will learn contentment. The revolutionary needed some domestication. He needed to have his sights lowered. He needed to surrender, at least temporarily, and delusions of grandeur. You need to say along with the Psalmist, “the lines for me have fallen in pleasant places.” Bloom where you are planted.

Look at vs. 18-22

When they came home to their father Reuel, he said, “How is it that you have come home so soon today?” They said, “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and even drew water for us and watered the flock.” He said to his daughters, “Then where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.” And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah. She gave birth to a son, and he called his name Gershom, for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.”

1. Fear of the Lord

We do not need to speculate about the origins of meekness.

James 3:13-18 says,

Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Meekness comes from wisdom. And everything I’ve just said pertains to learning wisdom:

Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and turn away from evil. — Proverbs 3:7
Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly. — Proverbs 14:29

Indeed the whole book of Proverbs is a meekness masterclass.

But where does wisdom begin?

Proverbs 9:10 — The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

Do you see that in the Moses story?

Look at chapter 3:1-6

Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

How did Moses go from a reactive man, a man who saw in the spirit but worked in the flesh, how did he go from that to the meekest man who ever lived?

Moses feared God. He came face to face with his majestic glory over and over again.

Now rather than preach about the worship of God, I thought it might serve you more to have you worship him. So we’re going to sing three songs

The first song we will sing is Revelation Song.

This is a picture of the victorious Christ. The meekest of the meek. He saw the problems in this world far more clearly than anybody. And yet he also insisted that his fighting be done in the spirit and not in the flesh.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?

And in this way he secured our victory. God gave him a name above every name. And he now reigns until all his enemies are made his footstool.

Then we will sing Christ Our Wisdom

Help us trust when we grow weary
Free us from our anxious thoughts
Give us grace to see more clearly
You are God and we are not

Help us know You rule with power
Over every raging flood
In our most uncertain hour
You are God and we are loved

And finally we will sing The Power of the Cross

Oh, to see my name
Written in the wounds
For through Your suffering I am free
Death is crushed to death
Life is mine to live
Won through Your selfless love

Now as you sing these things I want you to see a few things:

The Lord is a mighty warrior. The Lord is a man of war.
He won his greatest victory through meekness.
His greatest victory has a lot to do with making an end to our sin and fatally wounding our old man.

At the end, we will take communion.

Communion:

1 Corinthians 10:4 says, “For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.”

Lord God, we are entering a time where lines are being drawn. Provocations are pouring down on us. Real injustice. Real crisis. Real problems that must be addressed.

And Lord, we pray for the strength to fight your enemies but we refuse to fight like your enemies. We recommit ourselves this morning to meekness. To fighting with a peace that passes all understanding. We do this in the strong name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

If God be for us, who can stand against us. It is God who justifies.

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.