Skip to content Exodus 4-6: God's Call and Moses' Reluctance Feb 6 · 16 min ...more
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Moses' Objections and God's Miraculous Signs 0:10 Good morning, and welcome to Stand on the Word. We continue our journey as we look at the journey that Moses actually embarks upon in Exodus chapters 4 through 6. Verse 6 of chapter 6. Therefore, say0:22 to the children of Israel, I am the Lord. I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great0:33 judgments. So in chapter 4, here's a quick overview. Chapter 4, Moses raises 2 objectives to the lord's call for him to return to Egypt and lead the children of Israel out of0:45 bondage, to which the lord angrily replies when it becomes clear that Moses really didn't want this assignment. Let let's look at chapter 4 verse 1. Then Moses answered and said, but suppose they will not believe me or0:56 listen to my voice. Suppose they say the lord has not appeared to you. So the lord said to him, what is in what is that in your hand? He said, a rod. He said, cast it on the ground. So he cast it on the ground. It became1:07 a serpent, and Moses fled from it. Then the lord said to Moses, reach out your hand and take it by the tail. And he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand. Now I'm just gonna tell you, that's1:18 a sign that, I would not want to use. I would, move on to option 2. Verse 6, furthermore, the Lord said to him, now put your hand in your bosom, and he put his hand in his bosom.1:31 And when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, like snow. And he said, put your hand in your bosom again. So he put his hand in his bosom again. He drew out drew it out1:43 of his bosom. Behold, it was restored like the other flesh. Then it will be if they do not believe you nor heed the message of the first sign, that they may believe the message of the1:54 latter sign. And it shall be if they do not believe even these 2 signs or listen to your voice, that you shall take water from the river and pour it on the dry land. The water which you take from the river will2:06 become blood on the dry land. Matthew Henry in his commentary in the Bible points out that that miracles are often used as the external proof of the above a divine mission2:19 as we see in the New Testament with, with Jesus. So Moses then raises another excuse. Verse 10. Then Moses said to the lord, oh, my lord, I am not eloquent neither before nor since you2:30 have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue. Now you you really think you can argue with God? Look at God's response.2:42 Verse 11. So the Lord said to him, who has made man's mouth? Or who makes the the the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the2:54 blind? Have not I, says the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say. Now notice something here in these3:06 first 12 verses. For every need or obstacle that Moses raises, he says, you know, I don't I can't do this. I don't have this. The lord, he provides what's needed. God does not call the qualified.3:19 He qualifies the called, but only within the call. Outside the call, Moses was right to feel totally inadequate. Inside the call, inadequacy3:31 is no longer the governing reality because it's not, you know, what matters most in our service to the lord is not our personal capacity, but the capacity of the god who calls3:42 us. The key is being within the call of god. You know, we we we that's why when we especially you're called to the ministry of certain, you know, into the3:54 pastorate or you know, I I even tell this to people who are called into the to I believe people are called into the political realm to run for office. You need to be sure the lord is calling you because when he calls, he4:05 equips, and we need the provision of the lord. Verse 13, but he said, oh my lord, please send by the hand of whomever else you may send. Moses really didn't want4:17 this assignment. Why is that? What? Well, we're gonna see this later about Moses, but he was a very humble man. I think he was enjoying life in obscurity on the backside of the desert,Journey Back, Family Obedience, and Pharaoh's Resistance 4:29 and he was not seeking the limelight. And guess what? That made him the perfect candidate for this position. Verse 14. So the anger of the Lord was kindled against4:41 Moses. Alright. At at a certain point, God says enough. And he said, is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well. And look, he is coming he4:53 is also coming out to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. Obedience to god should trump everything else, including personal considerations and desires.5:05 I mean, I'm sure Moses was happy where he's at. Now remember, we're gonna see this in a moment. He was 80 years old. And and I'm I'm sure he was enjoying himself there in the desert just,5:17 you know, taking care of the the the animals and the family. But when god calls, what's the response? Here I am. Now a couple more observations5:29 from chapter 4 verse 18. So Moses went and returned to Jethro, his father-in-law, and said to him, please let me go and return to my brethren who are in Egypt and see whether they are still alive. And Jethro said to5:41 Moses, go in peace. Now I point this out because Moses was a man under authority. He went to his father-in-law to seek permission to go back. Because he was a man under authority,5:53 he could be trusted with authority. You know, to be a leader, to be a good leader, you must first be a follower. You must know how to follow before you can know how to lead. Verse 24, and it came to6:04 pass on the way at the encampment that the lord met him and sought to kill him. Then Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it at6:16 Moses's feet and said, surely, you are a husband of blood to me. So he, that is god, let him go. Then she said, you are a husband of blood because of the circumcision. Now we don't know6:28 the reason here. It doesn't say and this is kinda like, just just, kind of this parenthetical statement that's in the midst of this narrative. But Moses had neglected to circumcise his6:40 son. That's the covenantal sign that god had created. It separated the Jewish people and would become a defining, be defining of this6:51 new nation. So why was this important? Well, first off, we're gonna see this, I think I've mentioned before. I'm gonna mention it again. The Old Testament speaks to7:03 the physical where the New Testament speaks to the spiritual. It's we see this in the New Testament about the circumcision of the heart, a devotion to God, acknowledging him as lord.7:16 It shows that there, so that's what the the the sign, the outward sign of circumcision in the Old Testament was acknowledging their devotion to God. And and this incident here7:28 shows that there are no exceptions made for leaders. If Moses was to lead the nation, well, he needed to start as the spiritual leader of his own family leading as God7:39 had designed. Verse 29 chapter 4, then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the leaders of the children of Israel, and Aaron spoke all the words which your lord had spoken to Moses. Then he did the signs in7:51 the sight of the people. So the people believed. And when they heard that the lord had visited the children of Israel and that he looked on their affliction, then they bowed their heads and they worshiped. So8:03 there was excitement. There was enthusiasm. They were all on board with the plan. But then, verse 1 chapter 5, afterward, Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh,8:15 thus says the Lord God of Israel, let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness. And Pharaoh said, who is the Lord that I should obey his voice to let Israel8:27 go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go. Verse 4. Then the king of Egypt said to them, Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people from their work? Get back to your labor.8:39 Now just something to note here. I I see in this a principle of religious freedom. What god told Moses to tell the most powerful8:51 1 of the most powerful men in the world was that worshiping god took precedent over his building projects. Verse 6. So the same day, Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people9:03 and their officers saying, you shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. Alright. Drop on down to verse 21 because it got hard for the people, and the9:15 people quickly lost their enthusiasm, and they turned on Moses. Verse 21, and they said to them, let the Lord look on you and judge because you have made us abhorrent in the sight of9:26 pharaoh and in the sight of his servants to put a sword in their hand to kill us. This is why leaders don't need to conduct polls, you know, because Moses had9:38 everybody against him. Pharaoh was against him now because the burden had been increased upon the children of Israel. They were against him. They didn't want any part of this. So Moses returned to the lord and said,9:50 lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Why is it you have sent me? Lord, it's not working. It's getting pretty bad. For since I came to10:01 Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people. Neither have you delivered your people at all. Now, you know, the lord told him that he was gonna harden Pharaoh's heart.God's Seven 'I Wills' and Faithful Vision 10:13 I guess Moses, you know, I mean, we don't always know how long this is gonna play out, and I think Moses thought the turnaround would be a little quicker. But here's something we need to realize. Alright?10:26 This is this is, this is just a it's just a reality. Alright? Obedience to God will often bring opposition from those who resist God and his word. I10:38 mean, you can, I mean, I'll I'll just say, even in in a home where maybe there is not, a a total devotion to the Lord,10:50 you might start reading your Bible? Maybe you've encountered this as you began to start this bible study. Maybe someone, you know, was negative about it in your home. Well,11:02 that that is not a reason to stop. It is actually a reason to press in because obedience to god will often bring opposition. Alright. Verse 1,11:14 chapter 6. Then the Lord said to Moses, now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. For with a strong hand, he will let them go. And with a strong hand, he will drive them out of his land. Not only is he11:26 gonna let him go, he's gonna push him out. It's going to get so the pressure is gonna be so intense on him. So now, god tells Moses to do 7 things. Alright? Verse11:38 6 of, chapter 6. Therefore, say to the children of Israel, I am the lord. I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will rescue you.11:49 These are these are 7 things that that, god says that he will do. I will rescue you from the bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. I will12:02 take you as my people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the lord your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will12:14 bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you as a heritage. I am the Lord. So you might just wanna take and and and in your12:25 Bible, you know, I I use a pencil, but, it's okay to mark in your bible. I underline I will, just all those I wills that God says to Moses, I will.12:38 But notice what kept the people from receiving the promise here of god, these I wills. Verse 9. So Moses spoke thus to the children of Israel, but they did not12:50 heed Moses because of anguish of spirit and cruel bondage. See, they allowed their circumstances of that moment to cloud their vision of their13:01 future. And and and so we we have this is where Abraham, by faith, we read this in Hebrews chapter 11, all of those that that the hall of faith,13:13 it is by faith, by by not what we see, not what what what's in front of us, not what we can feel, not what we can touch, but what god says will be.13:25 Now notice that God tells Moses not only to issue a command to Pharaoh, but also to the people. Look at verse 13. Then the lord said the lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them a command13:37 for the children of Israel and for Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to bring the children out of the land of Egypt. So at at this point, the children of Israel are, hey. Yeah. This is not a good idea.13:50 But Moses was told to command them. They needed to go, that the Lord was bringing them out. Alright. Then we have an abbreviated genealogy of the family of Moses14:02 and, Aaron and Aaron, and that's all we have for today. We'll pick up next time in, chapter 7. Father, thank you for your word, and we thank you for the Holy Spirit that is leading14:13 us on this journey. And I pray that you would open our understanding to your word and its application to our lives in this world in which we're living. Thank you, lord, that you have not left us without14:25 direction. But, lord, I I pray that even as the children of Israel were not able to, you know, fully embrace at that moment because their circumstances were clouding14:37 their vision. Lord, I pray that you would give up increase our faith. Increase our faith so that we can see as you have proclaimed. Lord, not with our eyes, not with our physical14:49 eyes, but our spiritual eyes. We pray and ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright. Thanks for joining me this morning. And, again, let me encourage you. We're just getting started here in the book of Exodus. Great time15:01 to invite somebody to join us on this journey. Send them to f r c dot o r g slash bible, and they can sign up and be a part of the journey. Until next time, keep standing on15:13 the word.15:16 Today's study comes from the Stand on the Word Bible Reading Plan, available for free at f r c dot o r g slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day, you15:28 can read through the entire Bible in just 2 years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at frc dot org slash bible.In this video 0:00 Moses' Objections and God's Miraculous Signs4:18 Journey Back, Family Obedience, and Pharaoh's Resistance10:08 God's Seven 'I Wills' and Faithful Vision
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