Regular Folk Bible Moment

This year I’ve been reading a version of the Bible called The Message. I love this Bible. Before I knew about this version, when I would read my Bible, I’d read a chapter or so before bedtime. All the Thee’s and Thou’s and doeth’s and workeths etc. were so distracting for me. They got in the way of my understanding the Bible.

The Message is translated the way we speak today. The stories and their meanings flow, and I find myself reading pages and pages at a time, understanding a whole lot more than I have in the past, and thinking about and remembering what I’m reading days later.

Another reason I like The Message is that in the one I have, there are no red letter for when Jesus spoke. A while back I started thinking that I could get to know God so much better if when I would read the Bible, every time he said or did something, I would highlight it. And I particularly wanted to do this in the Old Testament, because I’m much more familiar with the New Testament. And all of that leads me to what I found so funny today. I was reading in Exodus about Moses leading the Isrealites out of Egypt. Moses, and others like him in the Old Testament have been people I’ve put in my mind to look up and chat with whenever I get heaven. Moses is a hero type character. Which is what makes this so funny.

If you go back and read in Exodus where God is telling Moses His plan of freeing His people from the Egyptians and using Moses to do it. Moses reaction is so typical of ‘regular folk’ type reaction. It’s funny because I can relate to it so well, it sounds like something I might say, or my kids or my friends might say. The exchange goes something like this…..

God… The Isrealite cry for help has come to me and I’ve seen for myself how cruelly they’re being treated by the Egyptians. It’s time for you to go back. I’m sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people out of Egypt.

Moses: But why me? What makes you think I could do this?

God: I’ll be with you…..etc.

Moses: Suppose they don’t believe me.

God: Tell them I AM sent you, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And God continues to instruct Moses on what to say...

Moses: They won’t trust me. They won’t listen to a word I say. They are going to say.. God… appear to him?? Hardly.

God: What’s that in your hand?

Moses: A staff

God: Take it with you. When you throw it to the ground it will become a snake, pick it up by the tail and it becomes a staff again. If they still don’t believe you here’s a couple more miracles you can do etc. etc.

Moses: Master please, I don’t talk well…. I stutter.

God; Who do you think made the human mouth……etc

Moses: oh please send somebody else.

God: Take Aaron with you, You tell Him what to say and He’ll speak for you etc.etc.

End of chapter Five;

Moses: Why did you send me?

Middle of chapter 6:

Moses: They don’t listen, besides, I stutter.

End of chapter 6:

Moses: I stutter.

And God kept telling him the same thing over and over. I love this exchange because Moses is a regular guy with regular fears, getting ready to begin something extraordinary but he doesn’t know it and he doesn’t believe he can. He’s so human. And of course I already know Moses was Human, it’s just with Bible people I tend to think they had special abilities or powers that made them unique. And they didn’t. They were regular folk listening to God.