Why Did You Ever Send Me? (Exodus 5:22-7:7)

Exodus 5:22-7:7 begins with Moses exasperated: “Why did you ever send me?”  So how did things get to this point?  Moses and Aaron had challenged Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go, but instead Pharaoh made their work harder.  Thus the Hebrew foremen called down God’s judgment not on Pharaoh but on Moses and Aaron.  This is ironic in the context of Exodus because God sent Moses to save Israel.  But Moses, who has been a reluctant redeemer all along, in response to hearing his own people call down God’s judgment on him instead of following him as their redeemer, then turns around and blames God: Why did YOU ever send me?  What the foremen said is incredibly ironic in the context of the whole of Scripture since Jesus would actually save His people because God’s judgment would be poured out on Him on the cross.  But here we live after Jesus has saved us from slavery to sin and death and we still face the same temptation.  If you were to complain about me as your pastor, I would be tempted to complain to God — “Why did you ever send me?”  I can sympathize with Moses.  And so can you — a sent people.  Surely if you have taken the Great Commission seriously then you have been tempted to say, “Why in the world did you send me?”  Nevertheless, He did send you and I, and He did send Moses and Aaron.  And when He sent Moses and Aaron things got much worse at first.  So let’s see how God encouraged Moses.

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