At the beginning of the book of Shemot we are introduced to Moshe. We will spend the rest of the Torah learning of his character as the person who would liberate his people from Egypt, guide them through the desert, get the Torah at Sinai, and deliver them to the Promised Land. It takes a very defined group of skills to be such a profound leader. What do we learn from his early days that might have prepared him for his leadership?
There seems to be a myriad of elements of his life that led to his leadership. At the start he is a person between two worlds. He is an Israelite being raised in the house of the king. At some point we see his inner life emerge as he is moved to stand up to the taskmaster who was beating the Israelite slave. Out of fear that his intervention will be discovered he escapes Egypt. There he find himself as a shepherd of Yitro. It is in this context that he gets the call to action to be the leader of the Israelite slave rebellion.
Thinking of this moment in the context of his life I got to thinking about the iconic phone scene from Taken by Liam Neeson. Watch this:
He he says:
I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what you want. If you are looking for ransom I can tell you I don’t have money, but what I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now that’ll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you, but if you don’t, I will look for you, I will find you and I will kill you. —Liam Neeson, Taken
At this moment when Moshe has his phone call he lacks confidence. There we read:
But Moshe said to the Lord, “Please, O Lord, I have never been a man of words, either in times past or now that You have spoken to Your servant; I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” And the Lord said to him, “Who gives man speech? Who makes him dumb or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? ( Exodus 4:10-11)
I can imagine God echoing Liam Neeson in his talk with Moshe. God would say:
Moshe you have a very particular set of skills. Over your very long career you have acquired skills that make you a nightmare for people like Pharaoh. Go to Pharaoh and tell him, ” If you let my people go now that’ll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you, but if you don’t, I will look for you, I will find you and I will kill you.”
Moshe had a very particular set of skills. He just needed God to point them out to him. For many of us we cannot see the skills we have acquired. We need someone to point out our unique gifts and how they would best be put to use. God is modelling what it means to be a great mentor or coach. While the skills and gifts are critical, too often the person helping you best put them to use is taken for granted.
Said to Myself 