God Uses Broken People: Moses

Text: Deuteronomy 34:10-12, Hebrews 11:23-27

“And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face…” —Deuteronomy 34:10

I’ve been invited to a men’s conference in Kentucky to speak on the subject, “God Can Use a Broken Man.”  It’s led me to begin writing a devotional series on the subject, and today I want to kick that series off by looking at the man, Moses.

Moses was a man whom God used mightily to bring life-change to millions of people. It’s far too easy to romanticize Moses’ great leadership influence and fail to see the broken parts of his life.  We forget that he was a murderer, had a hot temper (even in the prime of his ministry), and broke faith with God, causing him to miss out on the Promised Land.

To say that Moses had marital tension with his wife, Zipporah, is to put it mildly.  With that whole circumcision incident in Exodus 4, and the pain it must’ve caused their young son, she lamented bitterly that Moses was a “bridegroom of blood” to her.  Got Questions notes that “in English this might be paraphrased as ‘a husband of horrors,’ ‘a mate of misery’ or ‘a groom of gore,’ with the sentiment being, ‘If I had not married you, I would not have had to do this awful thing to my son.’”

When I see Moses taking the calf those idolatrous Israelites had made (Exodus 32), burning it, and grinding it into powder, then forcing the people to drink it, I cringe a little.  Actually, I cringe a lot.  It’s not much different from Nehemiah’s approach to church discipline when he beat people, cursed them, and pulled out their hair for being unfaithful to God.  Does anyone else see the spiritual abuse here?  Somebody needs to unearth the “Twitter Files” on these guys!

Moses was the leader to whom God entrusted the Law, yet in Exodus 32 we see him flinging those tablets and shattering them in a moment of anger.  Somebody needed a timeout… or perhaps a punching bag!  Compare Moses’ unsanitized resume with the sanitized bio on the website of any church leader today, and you are sure to get two different pictures. It is doubtful you are going to find a ministry leader’s resume today that reads “murderer, gets angry, may break faith with God at some point, and is a ‘groom of gore’ to his wife.”  But you will get a lot of things like Ph.D, D.Min, M.Min, etc.

I’m certainly not making light of a need for leaders to be well educated or demonstrate biblical qualifications for ministry, I’m simply contrasting how the Bible narrates and how our modern world narrates.  One is sanitized, the other is unfiltered.  And what I love about God’s Word is that it is explicitly clear from Genesis to Revelation that the LORD uses deeply flawed individuals to do incredibly great things.  It’s not to justify or make much of Moses’ failures, it’s solely to make much of the God Who knows the depth of our depravity and yet still graciously calls us and uses us.

God didn’t revoke Moses’ calling because of his brokenness—He called him despite his brokenness.  Jesus demonstrated that Moses foreshadowed His own work as the Messiah (John 3:14–15), and he is listed in Hebrews 11 as exemplary of faith.  The fact that God Himself buried this broken man (Deuteronomy 34) with the following epitaph is quite encouraging for a man as deeply flawed as myself: “since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face… For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel” (Deuteronomy 34:10, 12).

With Moses we see the good, the bad, and the ugly.  Or as Zipporah might add, “the bloody.”  He was really broken when leading with meekness just as much as he was really broken while “seeing red” in killing that Egyptian or losing his cool with the Israelites.  And so it is with you, and me.  We are all broken.  If you’re struggling with the idea of whether or not God can use you due to feelings of being a failure, being too flawed, or sensing condemnation from others, be encouraged: When God chooses to use a broken person, He doesn’t check with other broken people to get their opinion or approval.  Think about that as you seek to abide in Him this week.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, when I read about Moses, I am so encouraged by the entire narrative. You chose to use a man so flawed, so imperfect, and so raw, yet he remained faithful to the end despite having episodes of broken faith. Help every reader know that You are a God Who uses broken people without regard to the approval of others. There is none like You, showing steadfast love to undeserving sinners. Jesus, thank you for allowing your body to be broken, and your blood shed, so a broken man like me can be reconciled to a holy God. In your name I pray, Amen.  

Questions for Personal Reflection or Group Discussion:

1. When have you really blown it, to the point where you believed God was done with you?
2. What things about Moses’ flaws resonate the most with you? Why?
3. Why do we tend to let the opinions of others get in the way of how God wants to use us? How can you combat this in your life?
4. What has been a “tablet shattering” failure in your life that needs confession, repentance, and restoration?
5. Who is a person you can encourage this week who may be struggling with feelings of condemnation or unworthiness to God?

When God chooses to use a broken person, He doesn’t check with other broken people to get their opinion or approval.