I just completed writing a New
Testament paraphrase; an immense task, as you might well imagine.
During the course of my writing I came
across a scriptural tidbit which had never before registered with me. During
the first Christian martyr’s (Stephen’s) defense before the Sanhedrin, he
alludes to a particular attribute of Moses.
I have included the entire passage,
below, as a matter of clarity, and underlined the most relevant verses.
“At that
time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child.[d] For three months he was
cared for by his family. 21 When he
was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own
son. 22 Moses was educated in all
the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.
23 When Moses was forty years old, he decided to
visit his own people, the Israelites. 24 He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to
his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. 25 Moses thought that his own people would realize
that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. 26 The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who
were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers;
why do you want to hurt each other?’
27 But the
man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you
ruler and judge over us? 28 Are you
thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’[e] 29 When
Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had
two sons.
30 After
forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning
bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. 31 When he
saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to get a
closer look, he heard the Lord say: 32 ‘I am the
God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’[f] Moses trembled with fear
and did not dare to look.
33 Then the
Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing
is holy ground. 34 I have indeed seen the oppression of my people
in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now
come, I will send you back to Egypt.’” (Acts 7:23-34)
“Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the
Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.”
Oh, he was, was he?
In order to continue my
thesis, I must refer to an Old Testament passage related to the writer of the
first five books of the Bible. (I betcha some of my readers didn’t realize
Moses was responsible for what is referred to as the Pentateuch).
Well, he was.
Following is the relevant
passage. Again, I have underlined the most relevant verses.
Now Moses
was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he
led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain
of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush.
Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses
thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn
up.”
4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look,
God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
And Moses
said, “Here I am.”
5 “Do not
come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are
standing is holy ground.” 6 Then he
said, “I am the God of your father,[a] the God of Abraham, the
God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was
afraid to look at God.
7 The Lord
said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them
crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their
suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians
and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land
flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites,
Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached
me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring
my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should
go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
12 And God
said, “I will be with you. And this will
be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the
people out of Egypt, you[b] will worship God on this
mountain.” (Exodus
3:1-13)
Pt. 3
Allow
me to continue this lengthy passage of scripture.
10 Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never
been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I
am slow of speech and tongue.”
11 The Lord said to him, “Who gave
human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or
makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now go; I
will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”
13 But Moses
said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”
14 Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses and he said,
“What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is
already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you. 15 You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help
both of you speak and will teach you what to do. 16 He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were
your mouth and as if you were God to him. 17 But take
this staff in your hand so you can perform the signs with it.” (Exodus 4:10-17)
So, let me get this straight. The martyr Stephen
claimed that Moses was an educated man, and that he was eloquently spoken. And
to be fair, we understand that the latter of the two men was brought up in the
household of Pharaoh, and an heir to power and riches, and the best education
the ancient world might afford him.
Of course, things seem to have “taken a turn” for
Pharaoh’s step grandson when he defended a fellow Jew one day, and killed the
man with whom that man contended. Having done so, we know that Moses fled to
Midian, and lived in that place for forty years.
Pt. 4
And as I previously
alluded, as I was in the course of writing my New Testament paraphrase, I
chanced upon the implication of Moses’ great learning, and verbal eloquence,
and I immediately thought,
“How can this be?”
For I was all too aware of
Old Testament scripture, and Moses’ call by God to report to Pharaoh, and to
challenge this ruler about his treatment of the Egyptian Jews, and how that
Moses, for lack of a better phrase, “put on the chicken act,” and claimed that
he was a man of stammering lips, and few words.
And interestingly enough,
(at least to me, since I am a counselor) I suddenly experienced a professional
epiphany.
For you see, the opposing
New Testament and Old Testament accounts, which in terms of Moses personal time
line were separated by forty years, indicate this great man was afflicted and
vitally impacted by what is often considered a 19th and 20th
century diagnosis.
Post-traumatic Stress
Disorder
It is all too apparent to
me that “if Moses was,” (eloquent) but “now, he ain’t” (eloquent) some
traumatic episode must have intervened to hinder his progress, and impede the
great man’s God-given talent of verbal fluency.
Pt. 5
Of course, as you recall
Moses had just such an experience when he killed a man, fled from the scene,
and disappeared for four full decades; fearing for his very life. And, as I
have inferred previously, I have assigned what I believe is a legitimate
diagnosis to this great man; albeit from a distance.
Lately, my
wife discovered a way to play Youtube videos on our television set.
You would
have to know us. While I possess some pretty impressive computer skills, and my
wife is “passing fair,” we still have a long way to go in terms of other media
devices, and their interaction with desktops and laptops. I mean, I still use a
flip phone.
At any rate,
we were watching a Youtube video today which featured Joni Eareckson Tada. Many
of my readers are, no doubt, aware that Joni experienced a life-changing
accident at the age of 17; when she broke her neck in a diving accident. As a
result, this precious lady has been a quadriplegic for a full half century.
Mrs. Tada is
a wonderful Christian radio host, speaker, and artist. (She holds the
paintbrush in her mouth). Her ministry is to the able-bodied and disabled,
alike. One charitable work, in particular, to which this ministry devotes
itself involves raising moneys for wheelchairs that are donated to paraplegics
and quadriplegics around the world.
In the video
to which I alluded Joni is seated in her wheelchair on the stage of a church. And
during the course of forty minutes she shares her life story. What an absolute
inspiration. If I am ever prone to feel sorry for myself, I have only to think
of this dear woman of God; her years of patient fortitude, and commitment to
the Lord of her life.
One portion
of Joni’s message seemed especially poignant to me. Following is the jest of
her words.
“If any of
you out there think I’m a spiritual superwoman, and that I have this
quadriplegic thing all figured out, I hate to disappoint you. Not long after
the accident my sister was tending to my needs. Waking me up, bath-rooming me,
getting me dressed, getting me into my wheelchair, spending time with me, and
encouraging me during my day.
And as you
might imagine, more than once I have prayed,
‘Lord, I
can’t face a lifetime of quadriplegia. I can’t even get through one day without
overwhelming pain, and having to depend on other people to take care of the
most embarrassing facets of my new life. I simply can’t do this!’”
Pt. 6
And if you haven’t
“figured it out,” my introduction of Joni ties in with my exhaustive story
about Moses.
Both of these individuals,
one long since passed from this earth, and one very much alive, experienced
some pretty challenging circumstances, and went on to do some pretty marvelous
things.
Both Moses and Joni found
themselves on the disabled list. However, someone, a very wise someone, said
that the so-called ‘disabled’ are, rather, ‘differently abled.’
For, I think we would all
admit, we have here two very remarkable people who found, and in Joni’s case is
still finding ways and means to minister to deserving people; in spite of the emotional
and/or physical consequences which life has visited upon them.
Granted, ‘differently
abled’ folks may need a bit more assistance, and encouragement along the way,
but given their emotional and physical inhibitions, they are in a singular
place to assist and encourage hurting people who find themselves overwhelmed by
similar conditions and challenges.
I love a passage of
scripture in the New Testament Book of Hebrews.
“We have not a high priest who cannot be touched by the feeling of
our infirmities. For He was in all ways tempted like we are; yet without sin.
Let us come boldly to the throne
of grace that we may receive mercy for our failures, and grace to help in the
time of need.” (Hebrews 4:15-16)
As believers, the
foregoing passage assures us that our Lord empathizes with the needs and issues
of the ‘differently abled.’ For the Son of the most High, Creator of the
universe, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent, voluntarily surrendered
these attributes, and took on flesh, and dwelt among us.
He literally became ‘differently abled,’ and remains so to this
very day.
For you see, if our Lord
appeared in your bedroom tonight, this would be the only space He would occupy.
While Christ’ Father and the Holy Spirit still maintain a state of omnipresence,
scripture assures us that our Savior will be ‘differently abled’ for all of
eternity.
And yet, as a result of
His role, He won salvation for those whom He came to save, and continues to
minister on their behalf forevermore.
By William McDonald, PhD. From (McDonald's Daily Diary. Vol. 76. Copyright pending)
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