When God vindicates you

I was recently struck at Moses’ character. I had always wondered why Moses was still chosen by God to bring the Israelites out of Egypt despite his refusal to speak to Pharaoh until few weeks ago. So, I was quite pleased to read Moses in a different light in the books of Exodus and Numbers. In those books, you see Moses as a mediator, always interceding for a wicked and rebellious people. However, what struck me in Moses wasn’t his intercessory abilities or his love for the people. No, what struck me is what was said about him in Numbers 12:3 “Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.” Now this is a word I want to be said about me! Ok, back to Moses. In addition to being a good leader, who seeks the welfare of his people he was also meek? Meekness is an interesting word, which isn’t used much in our vocabulary and even when it is used, doesn’t convey the full meaning. But meekness, as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary has three components or rather three definitions that can be attached to it. The first one is “enduring injury with patience and without resentment”. The second one is “deficient in spirit and courage” and the last one is “not violent or strong”. It is no surprise then that the word meekness in other translations (NIV, NLT, MSG, etc.) of the bible is usually rendered “humble” or “quietly humble”. And what do we know about how God looks at the humble in the bible? He gives grace to the humble (James 4:6), he exalts the humble (Matthew 23:12), he regards the humble with favour (Proverbs 3:34). The bible is filled with passages about how God views the humble. He is a jealous God whose Glory will not be shared with anyone. Therefore, the only one that needs to be exalted is God not man. With such a high view of the humble, it is not surprising then that God would view Moses in such a light. That is why, when Moses is spoken against by his siblings Miriam and Aaron, God immediately took it personally. The urgency in God’s response to the complaint voiced by Miriam and Aaron is one to marvel at. He summoned Moses and his siblings to meet him at the tent of meetings (Numbers 12:4). There, God spoke. In His speech, God was very clear to set Moses apart and to make sure it is known that Moses is highly favoured. That Moses is not simply a man that God uses for His purposes rather, he is a man with whom God speaks face to face like a man to his friend, not in riddles but mouth to mouth. Moreover, God elevated Moses and added one more character that He, God was pleased with: Moses’ faithfulness. God vindicated Moses in an extraordinary and very powerful way. I would encourage you to read God’s response to Moses’ siblings in Numbers 12: 6-9. It is worth meditating on. God’s vindication of Moses reminded me of what He had said in other passages of the bible about vengeance. God says “vengeance is mine” (Romans 12:19 or Deuteronomy 32:35). This tells me that we should seek to be viewed highly by God and to stay in His care because He will vindicate us when others are fighting against us, speaking ill against us or slandering us. The Christian should first and foremost seek to imitate Christ and Christ is the perfect representation of Moses, He was meek, He interceded for us and still does, he is the perfect Lamb of God who was slain for the sins of the world, the one who was worthy to be slain. And God the Father, viewed Christ highly, as it says in Matthew 3 verse 17 “This is my son in whom I am well pleased”. It is no wonder, then that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him because He obeyed the Father perfectly and the Father has vindicated Him. So if Christ, who is our friend, our brother and the son of God humbled himself to the point of death, how much should we, Christians do the same and be pleasing to God? There is a reward, and it is that God himself vindicates you. God himself, looks down on you with love and favour, that God himself will take care of you. What more do we need?