Acting In The Spirit Rather Than The Flesh

When Moses had tried to do something about the discrimination and slavery of Israel, he had believed he could make things happen.  After forty years of living in the real world rather than the political and academic world of the Egyptian elite, he realized things were not nearly so cut and dried as he had thought.  People would not just blindly trust him and follow his ideas and philosophy.  They would need evidence that what he said would work before they dared commit themselves.  He asked God why they would believe him this time, in Exodus 3:13-22.  “And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?

And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.  And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.  Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt: And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.

And they shall hearken to thy voice: and thou shalt come, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and ye shall say unto him, The LORD God of the Hebrews hath met with us: and now let us go, we beseech thee, three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.  And I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand.  And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that he will let you go.  And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians: and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go empty: But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.”

The first difference would be that he was acting under the direction of God rather than his own initiative.  He would start by reminding them of the promises God had made to Israel and telling them God was planning to fulfill those promises.  Once they had accepted that, he was to go to Pharaoh and make a minor request that they be permitted to go into the wilderness and sacrifice to God.  They were not making some great demand that the Egyptians set them free.  It was a very reasonable request, but as God warned, Pharaoh would not honor it.  God would then act on their behalf and when he finished, the Egyptians would not only let them go, but pay them to leave. 

Moses questioned why they would believe God had sent him.   God provided some evidentiary signs to convince them, in Exodus 4:1-11.  “And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee.

And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand?

And he said, A rod.

And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it.  And the LORD said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand: That they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee.

And the LORD said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow.  And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh.  And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.  And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land.”

People usually carried a walking stich when they traveled.  It helped maintain one’s balance, but also could be used as a weapon against snakes or other dangers.  Moses had probably carried his for many years.  For it to become a live snake was a miracle.  Similarly, for his hand to instantaneously develop leprosy, then instantaneously be healed was miraculous, especially as leprosy was considered an incurable disease?  For pure water to turn into blood would also be a miraculous event that would impress the people.  They would have reason for believing he was sent by God. 

While the differences between acting in the flesh and acting in the Spirit may not be obvious, the results are very different.   Spiritual results are based on what God does rather than on what we do.