Am I My Brother's Keeper?
Acts 7:29–36 (NKJV)
29 Then, at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he had two sons. 30 “And when forty years had passed, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai. 31 When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he drew near to observe, the voice of the Lord came to him, 32 saying, ‘I am the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and dared not look. 33 ‘Then the Lord said to him, “Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. 34 I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.” ’ 35 “This Moses whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 He brought them out, after he had shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years.
Continuing from our last study we stopped short of Moses fleeing to the land of Midian. We labored to get into the mind of Moses and God’s purpose for him. We saw how he was a shadow of Christ, and speaking for myself, was filled with the joy of the Gospel. In this study my goal is to look at how Moses was being his brother’s keeper but was forced to mind his own business for the safety of Israel and Egypt because of the tensions between the two. It most likely was not applicable “in God’s providence” to return to the Israelites as a shepherd of the people. Therefore, we will study to see how God pulls him away to prepare him for the burdensome task of leading Israel out of bondage into the freedom of worship in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Then, at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he had two sons.
It was the negative questions that the Hebrew slave presented to Moses that caused him to flee to Midian. Let’s start with the first question, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?” As I mentioned in our last study Moses was aiming and intending to be his brother’s keeper, however, his brother identified him as an imposter. As Christians we have no power over how people view our motives of love. There will always be people, even Christian brothers and sisters, which will not trust our intentions. This is most likely due to the sinful history that each and every one us has had from our youth. We all have been sinned against and have trouble trusting others due to the scars of our past. We all have sinned against others and know our own evil intentions. Therefore we are well acquainted with evil.
We are not told much of the Hebrew slave’s history. I believe the Holy Spirit gives us the liberty to put ourselves in this man’s shoes to draw out and apply ways to be our brother’s keeper and ways not to be our brother’s keeper.
Genesis 4:8–9 (NKJV)
8 Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.
9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?”
He said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”
The first mention of being a brother’s keeper is after the incident of Cain murdering his brother in jealousy of the Lord’s favor. Abel was a “keeper” of the sheep (Gen.4:2), which was to watch over and care for the sheep. Cain’s response shows his attitude towards his brother’s “fruit,” he says, ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?” Cain is being a little snarky with God. God steps in because He wants Cain to notice the loss of his brother and to bring conviction about it. Cain is giving God an “I don’t care attitude.” ‘It’s none of my business to watch over my brother for his protection,’ so Cain thinks. God is introducing to Cain, and us, the moral concept of looking out for our neighbor’s good, not for their destruction. With Cain’s attitude it is impossible to please God (Heb.11:6). The answer is yes, both to Cain and to us. You are your brother’s keeper. Cain, Abel, and the rest of us are all accountable to each other; but in what context? Doesn’t the prophetic Word also teach us to mind our own business?
1 Thessalonians 4:9–12 (NKJV)
9 But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; 10 and indeed you do so toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more; 11 that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, 12 that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing.
The Thessalonian church was rich in brotherly love and labored to keep each other in the faith and accountable to the churches of God. But Paul in a warning like fashion urges them to also learn how to lead a quiet life and to mind their own business in order to walk properly toward those outside the church. So how do we be our brother’s keeper yet mind our own business? One purpose of corporate worship is to keep up with the joys and discouragements of life in Christ. We come together to pray for and encourage one another in our new life with Christ. We also have a responsibility to the lost sheep of God’s fold who have not yet come to saving faith in Christ. Not knowing who God’s sheep are we must go into the world and sow the seed of truth into the field of the world (Lk.10:2). In the secret places of our homes we have a responsibility to keep our spouses and children from evil. On our jobs we have the responsibility to keep our friends from danger. In public we have a responsibility to how we present ourselves and treat others (1Tim.2:8-15). In government we have the responsibility to make and enforce laws, laws that protect and not destroy the welfare of the community (Rom.13). And all these public and private institutions are accountable to each other in how they conduct their business. Government has no right to the authority in the secret place of our homes or businesses, unless a member of that home or business inquires accountability for it. The government has no right to the authority in our churches, unless a member of that church inquires accountability for it. But the secret places of the home, the church, and the public all have authority to inquire accountability about government. Government is to serve the public and therefore the most transparent. The government has no rights for itself because it is only designed to serve the rights of those it serves. The greatest government of all gave up His personal rights to serve the greatest interests of those He came to serve (Mk.10:45).
Philippians 2:3–11 (ESV)
3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped (held on to), 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
John 18:20 (ESV)
20 Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret.
All that Jesus said could be verified publically, but at the same time He needed privacy. Having done all His miracles, as one man, in one body, of His very own flesh; Christ needed to have some secrecy for the burdens that He carried in His flesh (Mk.1:43-45). Christ’s government was not like the body of government we have in the church, being many members of one body; or like political governments that divide into executive, legislative, and judicial bodies; or like the body of the family consisting in male and female parental roles. His government was completely upon His own shoulders (Isa.9:6).
Here is where we see why it was necessary for Moses to flee to Midian. He was under way too much pressure to lead His people in the state that he was in. He needed to get away to learn how, which leads us to answer the next question that the Hebrew slave slapped Moses with, “Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ (v.28). Moses had a really big log in his eye that prevented him to be his brother’s keeper. The disgruntled slave was not going to listen to a man who was a hypocrite. It would have been better for Moses to make things right with the Egyptians before he came and told this slave how to treat a brother. Moses murdered an Egyptian (Mt.7:3). We have no right to meddle in other people’s business if we have unrepentant sin in our life. God will not use us in any fruitful way until we resolve our own sinfulness. Moses will be able to return, but not until He receives the power He needs from God. Moses needed to find forgiveness first. Therefore, it was good that Moses stepped away from the issues to learn how to deal with them properly. Moses was forty years old when He fled to Midian (v.23), and was forty years absent from Egypt learning how to raise two sons in the land of Midian. At eighty years of age God sends Moses back to deliver His people Israel (v.30). These forty years of shepherding the sheep of Midian was God’s way of preparing Moses for the impossible task of delivering Israel from the oppression of Egypt. Lord willing we study how God sends Moses back to Egypt in our next study, but for now put on the Lord Jesus Christ and love your neighbor as yourself.
Colossians 3:12–16 (NKJV)
12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. 14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. 15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
