Exodus 5

To Isaiah, the Lord made it clear -

"...my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways..." (Old Testament | Isaiah 55:8)

As the Lord called Moses to return to Egypt and lead the Israelites out of bondage, you can sense Moses's feelings of inadequacy as he responeded -

"...Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?" (Old Testament | Exodus 3:11)

To which the Lord answered -

"...Certainly I will be with thee..." (Old Testament | Exodus 3:12)

So with great faith, Moses returned and as commanded went to Pharaoh saying -

"...Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness." (Old Testament | Exodus 5:1)

And Pharaoh responded -

"...Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go." (Old Testament | Exodus 5:2)

I wonder what Moses must have thought. Having obeyed the commandment of the Lord, he only receives full rejection from Pharoah. To make matters worse, Pharaoh greatly increases the burdens on the Israelites which didn't make them necessarily happy with what Moses did. It seems Moses is between a rock and a hard place. You can sense Moses's discouragement as he -

"...returned unto the LORD, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me?
23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all." (Old Testament | Exodus 5:22 - 23)

But what is most important is Moses continues in faith obeying the Lord and striving to magnify his calling. After rejection upon rejection, something important begins to take place. We read later -

"...Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh's servants, and in the sight of the people." (Old Testament | Exodus 11:3)

What seemed to cross my mind this morning is the manner in which the Lord seemed to mold Moses into becoming one of the greatest leaders of record. We read in several instances of scripture where prophets have referred to individuals as "like unto Moses". Do we at time in our own callings as we experience rejection sense that the Lord is also molding us into becoming what he knows we can become.