Moses
- Brian Ballinger
- Jun 13, 2010
- Series: Biography
Biography: Moses
Reconnect – June 13, 2010
Text: Exodus 3:1-15; Hebrews 11:24-27
Key Thought: Moses shows that we don’t need to be perfect to do God’s work – we just need Him with us.
Then the Lord told him, “You can be sure I have seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries for deliverance from their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering. So I have come to rescue them from the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own good and spacious land. It is a land flowing with milk and honey... The cries of the people of Israel have reached me, and I have seen how the Egyptians have oppressed them with heavy tasks. Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You will lead my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.” “But who am I to appear before Pharaoh?” Moses asked God. “How can you expect me to lead the Israelites out of Egypt?” Then God told him, “I will be with you. And this will serve as proof that I have sent you: When you have brought the Israelites out of Egypt, you will return here to worship God at this very mountain.”
Intro: when sailors go bad (rescue = deliverance)
- Tell the story of Abby Sutherland – 16 year old American girl who was trying to sail nonstop around the world – and then her boat was wrecked in the Indian Ocean, on the backside of nowhere
- Ships, planes dispatched to rescue her – and now she’s safe, and still defending her choice to do this (and so are her parents)
- One person – doing something foolish – and yet, it was a life worth rescuing, despite the expense and trouble, because she mattered to people
- How much more, then, a rescue attempt for an entire nation in distress, at risk of extinction?
Israel: in Egypt’s world
- That’s where God’s people are found in the opening pages of the Bible book called Exodus
- (tell the story of how Joseph helps transform Egyptian society, but is then forgotten – while his people multiply “like bugs”, with regime change in Egypt, they are now viewed as a threat)
- The year is somewhere around 1360BC – and the ruler of Egypt, the Pharaoh, has some hard decisions to make – how to control a huge slave labour force that is at the same time your economic engine AND your greatest threat?
- Egypt has a proud history, many accomplishments – the pyramids stand as a testimony to it (from over a thousand years before)
- Even in turmoil, Egypt is still the height of the world’s civilization – organized, productive, powerful – and accustomed to a certain lifestyle, made possible by slavery – and that makes it cruel
- Step 1 – bitter oppression – Step 2 – attempted genocide (through the birth process) – Step 3 – actual genocide – the death of all Hebrew baby boys (Egyptian hieroglyph for slave – bound figure, bleeding from the head)
- We’ve seen in the 20th and now the 21st century, how genocide can happen, even in our 24 hour news cycle “global village” – how much more in ancient times, where there was only one centre of power and civilization, and Pharaoh’s rule was absolute?
- “If you don’t get how bad it was before Moses came, then you’ll never get why God did all He did to save His people” (the violence, death and destruction of Egypt)
- And in the middle of genocide, in chaos and sorrow, a fine little baby boy is born to a Hebrew family
Moses: God’s choice for deliverance
- Moses - “out of the water” – 1360-1240BC?
- An incredible life – a child of two cultures, but really at home in neither one
- “When it takes time to find your way” – sketch out the life of Moses
- Down the river (early life)
- Raised as a prince in the palace – but finding his identity again
- Slaying the Egyptian
- On the lam in Midian
- Resisting God’s call – the burning bush, I AM
- Delivering God’s people – the plagues / Pharoah – all the gods of Egypt are defeated
- Receiving the Torah from God on the mountain
- Leading God’s people in the desert for 40 years
- Gives the Torah – writes the first five books of the Old Testament
- Ultimately unable to finish the job, but gave everything he had for it
Making a Deliverer:
- There’s so much that could be said about Moses – but I want to look at three factors in his life that made him what He was – that God worked in him over time to make him what he needed to be
Obedience – “He did what God asked him to do”
- Moses followed God, even when everyone around him thought he was nuts – including his family, his closest followers, all of the people of Israel, all of the people of Egypt, Pharaoh
- He stuck to his guns and obeyed God – and God delivered His people as a result
BUT
- Moses struggled in this area – when God called him at the burning bush, he had nothing but excuses to give – five different ways that he argues with God – everything from “Who am I” to “Who are you” to “This will never fly” to “Can’t you send someone else”?
- And it was Moses missing the mark on this that caused him to lose out on entering the Promised Land – when he disobeys God’s instructions and strikes a rock instead of speaking to it, making it look as if it was him that was doing the work, not God
Friendship with God – “He spent exclusive time with God”
- Moses drew strength from time spent with God – He spoke to Him on a level of friendship and connectedness that was extremely rare at that time
- This let him navigate through all the conflict and turmoil that seemed to follow him wherever he went, and gave him strength to lead a group of slaves and build them into a functioning society
BUT
- When Moses was overburdened with his responsibilities, it took away from that time of listening to God – He needed to take specific steps to organize people around him, to share the load, so that he could make the time he needed for God
Humility – “He saw life clearly – including who he was and who God was – and acted accordingly”
- Moses is called the most humble man on earth at the time – and yet he was confident, passionate, and a strong leader – not what most people think of as humble
- But he knew his own limitations, and he knew the strength and power of God, and he relied on God to deliver His people
BUT
- Moses struggled with his temper – that was his Achilles’ heel – he would lose it and do rash things – (like striking the rock instead of speaking to it, killing an Egyptian) – he would make rash decisions and have to live with the consequences (temper being part of pride, wanting things a certain way and thinking he could achieve it on his own)
- It takes a long time to do this in Moses – Moses of the strong temper, Moses of the foolish pride, Moses of the “I can make this work” – he spends 40 years of his life “on the bench”, working for his (urp!) father-in-law
Deliverer: The Jesus Pattern (same)
- God would use the same pattern, the same combination in the life of Jesus, who would be the ultimate deliverer of humanity – including all of us
- Obedience – the Bible says that Jesus “learned obedience” – He perfectly obeyed God, all the way to the cross, even when it was the hardest choice to make
- Friendship with God – it was this friendship that sustained Jesus – spending time with God early in the morning, before the crowds formed – and it sustained Him to be able to obey (praying in the garden)
- Humility – Jesus didn’t have anything to prove – He didn’t need to, and it kept his mission on track, instead of being sidetracked into becoming a king, leading a rebellion, defending Himself
Deliverance: a passed-on mission
- God has made us His agents, to carry on this message and life-changing freedom – to lead people out of the darkness and into the light
- Everyone wants to be the deliverer, some will obey, some want to be God’s friend, but very few want the humility that goes with it (“serving people is great until someone treats you like one”)
- It takes Moses 80 years to start to “get” God – and even then, he still struggles with his temper – but he’s in god’s presence all the time, in that tent of meeting
- Who is God calling you to be a deliverer to? The people around you... they’re in Egypt – spiritual complacency, materialism, consumerism, hectic pace of life, trying to keep up with the Joneses’
- There is a price to pay – and it takes time for God to mold us into what He needs – but we have all the benefits of what Jesus has done for us – and the way we have into God’s presence
- Where does your life connect with Moses? What can you take away from his life?
(talk about each of the three and their opposites - Deliverer – opposite? Selfish / satisfied / looking out for #1, not others
Friend of God – opposite? Not interested in God / no time for Him / trying to make it all happen yourself
Humble – opposite – angry/impatient/temper
Key Thought:
Moses shows that we don’t need to be perfect to do God’s work – we just need Him with us.
It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be treated as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to share the oppression of God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of the Messiah than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to the great reward that God would give him. It was by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt. He was not afraid of the king. Moses kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible. Hebrews 11:24-27, NLT
Conclusion: what’s it going to take? And what is God asking?
- [play Adam Lambert, “What do you want from me?”]
Response
