Introduction

Today we’re looking at Moses. Moses is one of the Bible’s greatest heroes. God used him to lead Israel out of slavery, gave him the Law, and spoke with him face to face. Yet, like every hero of faith except Jesus, Moses wasn’t perfect.

In fact, there are several moments in Moses’ life when pride got the better of him. Before God called him, he killed an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew slave. Later, as Israel’s leader, he refused to share responsibility with others until his father-in-law confronted him. Then, near the end of his life, he struck the rock at Meribah and spoke as though God’s miracle was something he and Aaron were accomplishing.

At first glance, these seem like unrelated failures. But they’re all symptoms of the same problem: Moses kept slipping into the role of the hero. Instead of making room for God and for others, he acted as though everything depended on him. The truth is, Moses isn’t alone.

We all like to imagine ourselves as the main character. We want to be right. We want to be indispensable. We want to be recognized for what we’ve done. But the Bible tells a different story. We’re not the heroes of God’s story of redemption. Jesus is. Our calling is not to be the Saviour, but to faithfully point to him. As we look at these three episodes from Moses’ life, we’ll discover that humility begins when we stop trying to be the hero and learn to trust God to do his work through us.

Episode 1: Killing the Egyptian (Exodus 2:11-15)

A. Moses the Self-Appointed Deliverer

Before God called Moses at the burning bush, He tried to become Israel’s deliverer on his own terms. Moses had grown up with one foot in two worlds. Though he was born a Hebrew, he was raised in Pharaoh’s household. When he witnessed an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave, he couldn’t stand by and do nothing.

¹¹ One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. ¹² Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. ¹³ The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?” 

¹⁴ The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “What I did must have become known.” 

¹⁵ When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian (Exodus 2:11–15, NIV).

Moses’ actions reveal something admirable. He cared deeply about justice. He wasn’t content to ignore the suffering of his people. But good motives aren’t enough. God had never told Moses to kill this man. Moses simply decided that his own judgment was sufficient. He acted as though he already knew what God’s justice required.

The next day, another Hebrew exposed what he had done by asking, “Who appointed you ruler and judge over us?” That’s exactly the question Moses needed to hear. No one had appointed him. Not his fellow Hebrews. Not God. Forty-year-old Moses believed he was ready to save Israel, but he wasn’t. Before he could lead God’s people, he needed forty years in the wilderness learning that he wasn’t the saviour.

B. When We Become Our Own Judge

It’s easy to read this story and imagine we’d never make the same mistake.

Few of us are tempted to kill someone in the name of justice.

But the attitude behind Moses’ actions is surprisingly familiar.

We all tend to assume that our perspective is the right one. You can see it almost anywhere. In politics, people often become convinced that the future depends on their side winning. In the church, sincere Christians can read the same Bible and come to opposite conclusions on important questions. Both sides usually believe they’re defending God’s truth. It’s tempting to explain every disagreement by assuming that people who disagree with us are less faithful or less intelligent.

But often the issue is much simpler. Pride convinces us that our judgment is correct. The truth is that life is complicated: none of us sees the whole picture; our experiences shape us; our interests influence us. Even our best intentions can be mixed with selfish ambition.

Moses probably believed he was uniquely qualified to decide what justice required. He understood the Hebrews, yet he also knew the Egyptian world. But confidence in our own judgment can become dangerous when it replaces dependence on God.

That’s why Moses needed the wilderness. God wasn’t simply hiding him from Pharaoh. It was a metamorphosis. Like a butterfly. A caterpillar isn’t yet ready to live as a butterfly. It needs to go through its chrysalis phase—a time of unmaking and remaking—before it can fulfill God’s final purpose for it. In the same way, Moses’ sojourn tending sheep in Midian was his chrysalis experience. The man who thought he already knew how to save Israel had to learn to listen before he could lead.

The same is true for us. It’s good to care deeply about justice. It’s good to have convictions. But humility means holding those convictions with the awareness that we still have much to learn from God and from one another. Pride says, “I already know; Humility says, “Lord, teach me.” Only people who are willing to be led are ready to follow God’s purposes.

Episode 2: Learning to Delegate (Exodus 18:13-23)

A. Moses the Indispensable Leader

By the time Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt, God had already done a great deal to humble him. Gone was the impulsive young man who thought he could rescue Israel through violence. But he still had things he needed to learn. Pride doesn’t always say, “I’m better than everyone else.” Sometimes it says, “Everything depends on me.”

We see that when Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, comes to visit. He finds Moses spending every day settling disputes from morning until evening while the people stand waiting in line:

¹³ The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood around him from morning till evening. ¹⁴ When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, “What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?” 

¹⁵ Moses answered him, “Because the people come to me to seek God’s will. ¹⁶ Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God’s decrees and instructions.” 

¹⁷ Moses’ father-in-law replied, “What you are doing is not good. ¹⁸ You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. ¹⁹ Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him. ²⁰ Teach them his decrees and instructions, and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave. ²¹ But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. ²² Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. ²³ If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied” (Exodus 18:13–23, NIV).

Jethro can see that Moses really is God’s appointed leader. But even so, he sees there is a problem. Moses is trying to carry a burden that God never intended one person to bear. Jethro’s advice is simple: keep doing what only you can do, but entrust the rest to faithful and capable people. Without that, everyone loses. Moses will wear himself out, and the people will become frustrated waiting for help.

B. Learning to Trust Others

Moses isn’t the only person who has struggled with this. Parents can find it difficult to hand responsibilities over to their children. Employers can hesitate to trust their staff with important decisions. Church leaders can convince themselves that faithfulness means personally overseeing every detail.

The problem isn’t having high standards. The problem is believing that everything must be done our way. Delegation isn’t just a time-management strategy; It’s also an act of humility. It recognizes that God hasn’t given every gift to any one person. He has chosen to build his people as a body, with each member contributing something different. That’s exactly what Paul says in Romans: “so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. ⁶ In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well” (Romans 12:5-6a, NLT).

When we refuse to trust others, we may think we’re protecting the ministry. In reality, we’re forgetting that the ministry belongs to God, not us. I’ve seen this happen in churches. In one, the pastor insisted on adjusting the sound mix for the live stream every week, even though a team of trained volunteers understood the equipment far better than he did. In another, a nother pastor regularly complained that too few people volunteered to help. Yet when people came to set up the chairs, he quietly went behind them and rearranged everything after they had finished. Different situations. Same problem. They had delegated the work, but not the authority.

Now, this doesn’t mean we abandon standards. Jethro told Moses to appoint capable and trustworthy people. If someone lacks the skills, they should be trained before being given responsibility. If they lack the character, they shouldn’t be given any responsibility where their fault could cause harm. But once we’ve entrusted someone with a task, we also need to trust them to do it.

If every decision has to be made by us, we’ve forgotten something important. God is perfectly capable of working through people other than us. Every one of us has an important role in God’s kingdom, but none of us has every role.

Humility means embracing the calling God has given us while celebrating the gifts he has given others. Pride says, “If I don’t do it, it won’t be done properly.” Humility says, “God can accomplish his purposes through people besides me.”

Episode 3: Claiming God’s Credit (Numbers 20:2-13)

A. Moses Takes the Credit

The third lesson from Moses’ life is the hardest of all. Pride doesn’t just tell us that we know best or that everything depends on us. Eventually, it whispers something even more dangerous: “The success belongs to me.” We see this in a story that happened near the end of the Israelites’ wilderness wandering. In Numbers 20: 2-12, we read:

² There was no water for the people to drink at that place, so they rebelled against Moses and Aaron. ³ The people blamed Moses and said, “If only we had died in the Lord’s presence with our brothers! ⁴ Why have you brought the congregation of the Lord’s people into this wilderness to die, along with all our livestock? ⁵ Why did you make us leave Egypt and bring us here to this terrible place? This land has no grain, no figs, no grapes, no pomegranates, and no water to drink!” 

⁶ Moses and Aaron turned away from the people and went to the entrance of the Tabernacle, where they fell face down on the ground. Then the glorious presence of the Lord appeared to them, ⁷ and the Lord said to Moses, ⁸ “You and Aaron must take the staff and assemble the entire community. As the people watch, speak to the rock over there, and it will pour out its water. You will provide enough water from the rock to satisfy the whole community and their livestock.” 

⁹ So Moses did as he was told. He took the staff from the place where it was kept before the Lord. ¹⁰ Then he and Aaron summoned the people to come and gather at the rock. “Listen, you rebels!” he shouted. “Must we bring you water from this rock?” ¹¹ Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with the staff, and water gushed out. So the entire community and their livestock drank their fill. 

¹² But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust me enough to demonstrate my holiness to the people of Israel, you will not lead them into the land I am giving them!” (Numbers 20:2–12, NLT).

Moses has led Israel for almost forty years. He’s endured constant complaints, rebellion, and blame. Again and again, the people have treated him as though every hardship were his fault. It’s understandable that the years have worn him down.

When the Israelites arrive at Meribah without water, they begin complaining once more. Moses and Aaron fall before the Lord, and God gives Moses clear instructions: “Speak to the rock, and it will pour out its water.” Instead, Moses gathers the people and says, “Listen, you rebels! Must we bring you water from this rock?” Then he strikes the rock twice.

Despite Moses not following his instructions, God seems to accommodate him by causing water to come from the rock. But only afterward do we realize just how serious Moses’ failure was. It wasn’t simply that he hit the rock instead of speaking to it. It was the attitude that his words and deeds expressed. He said, “Must we bring you water?” The “we” is Moses and Aaron. For a moment, Moses speaks as though the miracle belongs to them.

And his actions are presumptuous. In a previous incident, God had told Moses to strike a rock with his staff, and water came out. So Moses is acting like God has given him the independent power to produce water by striking a rock. God never gave Moses superpowers; rather, he responded to Moses’ obedience. God had chosen to work through Moses, but Moses had begun to confuse being the instrument God used to carry out the miracle with being the power behind the miracle. That’s why God says Moses failed to uphold his holiness before the people. The miracle belonged to God; Moses was only ever the servant.

B. When We Forget Where the Glory Belongs

We’re probably never going to stand before a rock and call forth water. But we’re all tempted to make the same mistake. Whenever God works through us, it’s easy to start believing the results belong to us.

As a pastor, I experience this after sermons. Someone will tell me, “That message really spoke to me.” I can quietly congratulate myself on writing a good sermon. But experience has taught me otherwise. Some of the sermons I thought were my strongest seemed to land with a thud. Meanwhile, people have been deeply encouraged by messages I privately considered turkeys. God graciously uses our work, but the power has never been ours.

The same is true for all of us. Perhaps God has blessed you financially, allowing you to be generous toward someone in need. Your generosity matters. It is an act of obedience. But it is only possible because God first provided what you had to give.

Perhaps you’ve developed gifts as an artist, a teacher, a tradesperson, or a musician. Those abilities have taken time and dedication to cultivate, and you should take satisfaction in faithful work. But even our abilities are gifts from God. As James reminds us, every good and perfect gift comes from above. That doesn’t mean our work isn’t real or important. God has chosen to accomplish his purposes through ordinary people. So our contribution matters. But it only bears lasting fruit because God’s Spirit is at work through it. As Psalm 127 reminds us, “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labour in vain.”

So let’s serve one another with all the skill, diligence, and creativity God has given us. Let’s work hard. Let’s strive for excellence. But let’s never forget to whom the glory belongs. Pride says, “Look what I accomplished.” Humility says, “Thank you, God, for choosing to work through me.” Our calling isn’t to become the Saviour. It’s to reflect the Saviour.

Conclusion

Moses was one of the greatest leaders in Israel’s history. Scripture even describes him as the most humble person on earth. Yet even Moses occasionally forgot his place in God’s story. He trusted his own judgment instead of waiting for God’s. He acted as though everything depended on him. He sometimes blurred the line between what God was doing and what he was doing. If someone like Moses could fall into those traps, we shouldn’t be surprised that we can as well.

Thankfully, though, the Bible ultimately points to someone beyond Moses; It points to Jesus. Unlike Moses, Jesus never grasped for importance, even though all authority truly belonged to him. He didn’t cling to power but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant and becoming obedient even to death on a cross.

Think about the contrast. Moses tried to become the deliverer by taking a life, while Jesus was the Deliverer by laying down his life; Moses struggled to trust others with God’s work, while Jesus entrusted his mission to a handful of ordinary disciples; Moses spoke as though the miracle belonged to him, while Jesus always directed the glory to his Father. He never forgot that his life was about revealing the Father.

That’s the invitation Jesus extends to us. You don’t have to spend your life trying to prove your importance. You don’t have to be the smartest person in the room. You don’t have to carry every burden yourself. You don’t have to take credit for every success. Your value doesn’t come from being right, indispensable, or impressive.

Your value comes from the God who made you, loves you, and has called you his own. This frees us to listen instead of always needing to be right; to trust others instead of controlling everything; to celebrate God’s work in other people instead of competing with them.

So what gives you your sense of worth? If it’s your accomplishments, your position, or your reputation, you’ll always have something to protect, because someone stronger, smarter, or more successful can always come along. But if your identity rests in the love of God, no one can ever take that away.

So let’s follow the example of our humble Saviour. Let’s serve with all the gifts God has given us. Let’s thank him whenever he chooses to work through us. And let’s never forget our place in the story. Jesus is the Saviour; Our calling is to reflect him.