Buried Yet Not Forgotten

“An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind,” says Mahatma Gandhi.

When God sent Moses to Pharaoh, He didn’t send him with weapons; He sent him with words: “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Let My people go.’”

It was a bold demand, rooted in peace rather than violence. God could have chosen war, but He chose words.

Not because He couldn’t, but because He didn’t have to. And you know the story, Pharaoh’s stubbornness ended up hurting his own land. But let’s take a few steps back.

Moses didn’t think this way when he started out. He had hoped his people would recognize him as their deliverer, so he took matters into his own hands.

With calculated resolve, he ended the life of an Egyptian in cruelty. He looked to the left and right, saw no man, and buried the body in the sand.

The sand swallowed the evidence, but not the memory. The eyes that witnessed it carried the truth back to the camp of the Israelites.

Moses couldn’t escape the weight of what he had done. He fled to Midian when he discovered that news of his actions had spread.

There, he encountered seven harassed Midianite women at a well. Again, their vulnerability struck a chord.

Moses stepped in, defended the women, and helped water their flock. Days turned into years.

Then the Lord appeared to Moses and said, “Go to Pharaoh and tell him to let My people go.”

Moses was smart enough to know the people hadn’t forgotten what he had done. He objected, “I can’t go because I am not able to speak,” and God replied, “That’s right; you’ve learned the lesson.”

Words, not weapons, will win. “This time, you won’t kill anybody…Take My words in your mouth and the rod in your hand, and go.”

This was a profoundly nonviolent approach to deliver His people from Egypt; however, Pharaoh’s stubbornness prevented him from recognizing it.

And you know about the plagues.  We can apply these principles in our day-to-day lives, too. First, we do not need to hide the dumb things we’ve done under the sand.

The blood of Jesus, who, through the eternal Spirit, offered Himself without spot to God, will purge your conscience from dead works so that you may serve the living God (Hebrews 9:14).

Second, use words, not weapons. Jesus said, “If your brother has something against you, don’t sit and wish him evil or burn with resentment. And don’t say, like Moses, “I cannot talk,” because God will be with your mouth.

The Lord will give you the tongue of the learned to speak a word in season (Isaiah 50:4). Remember: silent revenge only perpetuates suffering; a word in season preserves lives.

Reflection Question: What past failure have I tried to bury “under the sand” instead of bringing to God for healing?