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The Bible has its “Hall of Fame” or a better description would be its “Hall of Faith”. Abraham made it on this list (Heb. 11) being obedient and faithful. Moses made the list as a great leader of the people of God (probably the greatest leader Israel had) who brought the Israelites to the Promised Land. Listed also were people like Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets. Each one of them has distinct qualities that characterised and differentiated one from the other. In their own distinctiveness they were greatly used by God to bring to fruition His plans and purposes.
There were three phases in Moses’ life. His first 40 years was as a prince of Egypt who lived in luxury and surrounded by servants. The next 40 years was as a shepherd in the desert in Midian and the final 40 years as the anointed leader of God’s people. The contrasting years spent in luxury, opulence and fame to years of solitude and simplicity were all necessary to make Moses be the great leader in God’s scheme of things. With God there are no loose ends, no wasted years, no unfinished business and no regrets. The 40 years in Midian must have taught Moses that being “poor in spirit” (Matt. 5:3) meant being morally bankrupt apart from God. Out of this, God formed in him a pure heart: “Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God” (Matt. 5:8). From this, Moses must have cultivated the virtue of humility: “Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth” (Num. 12:3).
In the incident recorded in Num. 12, as God’s anointed leader, Moses had every right to reprimand Aaron and Miriam when they spoke out against him. Instead, he did not defend himself but put his trust in the LORD to defend his honour. Was it any wonder that God spoke “face to face” with this humble servant (Num 12:8)? “Face to face” does not imply that Moses physically looked upon God (see Ex. 33:21-23) but that their relationship was very intimate. God spoke to Moses directly rather than through dreams and visions. Let us remember to clothe ourselves with humility towards one another because“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (1 Pet 5:5).
