The Heart of the Matter
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Pyramids
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God chooses us based on our hearts, not our abilities
Exodus 2:11-4:31
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-So if you have your bibles I invite you to open with me to Exodus Chapter 2
-we’re going to be starting in verse 11
-Last week we went over how no matter odds
-God always wins
-and in the first couple of chapters we see how God works through ordinary people to do extraordinary things
-specifically, God goes through great lengths to save the life of one specific boy Moses.
-And don’t miss the fact that this one Hebrew boy is critical piece in God’s grand story to restore the world
-because without a moses there would be no Israel
-and without an Israel there would be no Jesus
-and without a Jesus there is no hope
-And so God saves the life one one child as a part of his grand plan to free the people of Israel
-and here in Exodus chapter 2 we see what becomes of that child after he grows up.
-So we read in verse 11
Exodus 2:11-15
Exodus 2:11-15
One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?” The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “What I did must have become known.” When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well.
-So midian, if you’re not aware is in modern day Saudi Arabia
-so just for perspective that’s around 300 miles through the desert
-it would have taken him at a bare minimum 15 days non stop to get there
-And so we have this picture of Moses, who God went to great lengths to save
-and the first thing we read about him is the fact that he kills a man
-and then spends over 2 weeks traveling in the desert as fugitive
and as I was reading through Exodus And reading all of the things that Moses said and did
-I couldn’t help but wonder why did God choose him, specifically
-because by any measure, Moses was not a good leader
-setting aside the fact that he flat out murders a dude and buries him in the sand
-when he goes to try and talk to his fellow Hebrews, and tries to get them to get along with each other
-nobody respects what he has to say
-And then instead of staying there and resolving the situation he gets scared and runs 300 miles away
-and as we read on we keep getting more and more of the same
-he’s a terrible leader, he can’t get the Israelite to listen,
-he’s not effective
-and as we’re about to read here in a minute, he spends almost two full chapters arguing with God. to the point that God gets fed up and finally says fine I’ll have Aaron do all of the talking, you just hold the stick
-But what I want you to notice before we read on is Moses’ heart
-Moses is not a type-A personality
-you know those people who are task oriented and everything revolves around getting stuff done
-they’re usually very concise in their speech
-they’re task oriented, they know how to get stuff done
-those people usually make good “managers”
-in fact I usually fall on that end of the spectrum, I like to just buckle down and get stuff done
-Moses on the other hand is a very emotional person
-when he sees a slaver driver beating one of his fellow Hebrews he doesn’t always think clearly, but his heart is there and he acts
-when he sees his brothers fighting, he doesn’t always think about what’s the most effective way to break up the fight
-he just jumps in the middle of it because he has a heart for his fellow people.
Now a priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock. Some shepherds came along and drove them away, but Moses got up and came to their rescue and watered their flock.
-God doesn’t always need someone who’s going to be an effective manager
-because an effective manager in that situation would have probably would have thought that situation through a little bit
-if there’s 7 women at the well…how many shepherds would it take to drive away 7 women?
-I mean the bible doesn’t tell us, right, but if you’re picturing it in your head it’s at least more than one
-I don’t know probably at the very least, 5, maybe 6 full grown men
-maybe more
-and moses just jumps up in the middle of it?
-he could have gotten killed
-but that’s the kind of heart he had
-and I think that’s the reason God wanted Moses
-because he wasn’t after his skills
-he was after his heart
I want to direct your attention to a couple of places in the new testament where Jesus is talking to his disciples
-and Jesus is giving them instructions about what kinds of disciples they need to be.
-so i want to take a look at the end of Matthew chapter 9, and the beginning of Matthew chapter 10
Matthew 9:35-10:20
Matthew 9:35-10:20
Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
-The reason I’m including this is because this comes directly before Jesus calls his disciples to send them out into the world
-in a sense, this is the reason Jesus decides to send out his disciples
-because he looks around and he sees that the people are harrassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
-and in chapter 10 he calls his disciples and he says this to them
These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.
-See jesus didn’t have a problem with the Gentiles or the samaratins
-that’s not why he told them not to go to them
-he saw that the nation of isreal was more lost than the gentiles were
-and so he called an all hands on deck meeting with his disciples
-and said look, our people are lost
-they need help
-and then a few verses down he gives them this warning
“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
And right here we get the key picture of what God’s followers should look like
-it starts with the heart
-and Jesus’ warning he tells them
-look you’re going to need to be street smart too, that’s still important
-but it starts with the heart
-What we see in Jesus and what we see with God’s interaction with Moses
-is that God starts with people who are as innocent as doves, and then he teaches them to be as wise as serpents
Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say,
for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
-I want you to remember that very last part, we’re going to come back to that
Back in Exodus want to ppick up in chapter 3. Moses ends up marrying one of those women that he rescued, he’s started a family.
And in chapter 3 we read
Exodus 3:1-4
Exodus 3:1-4
Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”
When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
And Moses said, “Here I am.”
-So a couple of quick things to point out here
-In verse 2 it says an angel of the lord appeared within the bush
-but then in verse 4 it says that the lord himself called to him from the bush
-so which is it? is it God, or is it an angel of God?
-The word “angel” literally means “messenger”
-in fact when we read the prophets that’s the same word used to describe them…messenger
-and in english we have a different word for “heavenly” messengers and “earthly” messengers
-in greek and hebrew there’s just one word, and the only way you can tell is if it says “messenger of the Lord”
-so the next question we have to ask is well is this God Himself, or just his messenger
-well I pose a question to you
-If you could get in a time machine and go back and talk to moses,
-and you said to him the words “father, son, and holy spirit
-would moses have understood what you meant?
-of course not
-he would have said to you “what do you mean father, son, and holy spirit?”
-because Jesus hadn’t been born yet
-the holy spirit hadn’t been sent to live inside the followers of Jesus
-but the father and the son and the holy spirit have existed forever
-and so what we’re really seeing here
-is presence of the Holy spirit, even though Moses didn’t know what word to use to describe what he was seeing
-And this isn’t the only time that God’s holy spirit is revealed in the form of fire
We read in the New testmanet that on the day of pentacost
They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
-So moses sees this eternal flame and has no idea what he’s even looking at
-but he knows that it’s from God in some way
-and so he goes over to see this miraculous sight and the lord says
Exodus 3:5-10
Exodus 3:5-10
“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
-and then God says this:
The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.
So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
-Doesn’t that sound just like Jesus sending out his disciples?
-He says I’ve seen their pain, I have compassion
-and now I want you to go and do something about it.
-And the reason God picks Moses has nothing to do with the fact that God thinks he’s a competent manager
-and even moses understands that
-because when God calls him to this task, Moses says
But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
-You know I bet there are times in your life when you feel like you don’t have what it takes to go out in the world and make disciples
-I bet you there are times when you feel like you have nothing to offer
-because I feel that way sometimes
-and i’m a preacher
-my sole profession is to go into the world and make disciples
-that’s what I eat sleep and breathe 24 hours a day
-and even I fee like I don’t have anything to bring to the table
-so I can almost guarantee that you have those thoughts too
-that you think to yourself, I don’t have anything to offer
-can I let you in on a little secret?
-You don’t
-I don’t
-Moses didn’t
-the 12 disciples didnt
-none of us has anything to bring to the table that God doesn’t already have
-so get that thought out of your head
Moses says “who am I, that I should go to pharaoh
-and God said, no, moses, you’re a really competent leader, and I think you’re going to be a great asset to the team
-no that’s not what it says
-God says you know what, moses, I think you have the right personality to go and convice pharoh
-not that not what it says either
-what does it say ?
And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”
-There exactly 2 places in scripture where God tells us where God tells us specifically where he will be worshiped
-this is one of them
-and in both instances, it isn’t phrased as a command
-Like it’s not “you must worship me on this mountain”
-because if we have free will we’re free to ignore a command
-I wouldn’t recomend it, not a great idea to ignore commands of the creator of the universe, but it is possible
-but in these two cases, the word is actually just a statement of fact
-this is what is going to happen
-I will be worshipped on this mountain
-the second, and only other time where God reveals where he will be worshiped comes in John chapter 4
-where Jesus is speaking to the woman at the well and he says
“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
-Are you picking up on what God is after yet?
-spirit and truth, not skills and abilities
-Moses took a while to understand what God was after
Because he begins to argue with God
-He says what if they want to know your name
-what if they don’t believe me, what if nobody wants to talk to me?
Exodus 4:1-9
Exodus 4:1-9
Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”
-So God gives moses more signs, more proof
Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied. The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.” Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. “This,” said the Lord, “is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.” Then the Lord said, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, the skin was leprous—it had become as white as snow. “Now put it back into your cloak,” he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh. Then the Lord said, “If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first sign, they may believe the second. But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground.”
-So God gives moses not proof that Moses can do it
-he simply gives Moses re-assurance that God can do it
-But moses goes back and forth with God over and over about whether or not he’s the right person for the Job
-and eventually God says you know what, fine, take aaron with you
I’ll let him do all the talking, you just take the staff so that you can perform my miracles
-and moses finally concedes, and he goes back to he father-in-law and says hey I’m taking the wife and kids and we’re going to go back to egypt
-And what we read next is probably one of the most difficult passages of scripture in the entire book of exodus
-and i want to read through it with you and work through it with you
-I want to pick up in verse 19, and I just want to read the entire rest of the chapter
-and I want you to circle or highlight or whatever you like to do all of the parts that are confusing to you
Exodus 4:19-29
Exodus 4:19-29
Now the Lord had said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kill you are dead.” So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey and started back to Egypt. And he took the staff of God in his hand. The Lord said to Moses, “When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son, and I told you, “Let my son go, so he may worship me.” But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.’ ” At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses and was about to kill him. But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it. “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said. So the Lord let him alone. (At that time she said “bridegroom of blood,” referring to circumcision.) The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him. Then Moses told Aaron everything the Lord had sent him to say, and also about all the signs he had commanded him to perform. Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites,
-Ok so I had quite a few things highlighted in my bible
-the first of which is the fact that God says that he would harden pharaoh’s heart
-well that raises the interesting question, how can pharaoh be held responsible if God is the one who hardens his heart
-well when we get to the part about the plagues we’re going to expand on that question a little bit more
-but for now I want to point you to Mark 4. .
Mark 4:3-8
Mark 4:3-8
“Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”
-so the same seeds, with the same amount of water and the same amount of sunshine
-all did different things depending on what kind of soil they landed on
-so in verse 6, the sun comes up and withers the plants
-and if you said that the sun killed those plants you would only be half right
-because that exact same same sun shined on the other seeds too
-the difference wasn’t the sun
-the difference was the soil
-so when we look at exodus
-and it says that God hardens pharaohs heart
-the same God revealed himself to everyone else
-And pharoah’s response to god was what allowed his heart to be hardened
-and then we get this next very difficult section
-where God says because you refused to let my firstborn son israel go, I will kill your firstborn son.
-and that’s followed right up with verse 24
-This is one of those instances where I’m not the biggest fan of the NIV
-because the NIV says the lord met Moses and was about to kill him
-but the original language is a lot more vague
-it just says “the lord met him and was about to kill him”
-and it’s actually not clear whether or not we’re talking about Moses, or moses’ son
-because in verse 25 we read that ziphorah circumcises moses’ son, and then the Lord leaves them alone
-so it could actually be either
-but either way it’s still difficult
-but if we read it with the understanding that the Lord sought to kill Moses’ son
-we start to see a pattern
-The first born son was the one who inherited a double portion of their fathers inheritance
-right so if you had $100 and three sons
-the first born would get 50, and the other two would get 25 each
-and that’s the way it had always been
-and that’s fine if you’re talking about livestock or money or property
-but there’s something else that had been passed on and inhereted begining with the day that Adam sinned in the garden of eden
-and that’s the curse of death
-because of Adam’s sin
-we have been inheriting his curse for thousands of years
-passed down from generation to generation
-you might have a problem with that
-it might not feel right that we inhereted adam’s curse
-but that doesn’t change the reality of the situation
-I can’t do anything about how I would Like thingst obe
-I can only tell you how things are
and I can tell you that god has written an escape clause into the contract
-The contract says the wages of sin is death
-but God has added an addendum to the contract that says
-I will give you a way to nullify the punishment you deserve
-for moses the escape clause was circumcision
-I don’t know why God chose that particular action any more than I know why God chose baptism to be the escape clause for us today
-because they’re both a little bit weird if you really stop and think about it
-but sometimes you have to be content with not knowing why, and simply do what God says
-but here’s the other part of that contract that’s so important
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—
-the punishment for sin was passed along from generation to generation
-and God says someone’s firstborn son is going to have to receive the inheritance of death
-who’s it gonna be? yours or mine?
-Jesus Christ inherited a double portion of your punishment
-Jesus took on the weight of a double portion of your sin
-he didnt’ have to do that
-Jesus lived a sinless life
-he didn’t have to take on the punihsment of your sins
-But he had compassion on you
He saw you crying out because of your slave drivers, and he came to rescue you
-he saw that you were lost and harassed like a sheep without a shepherd
-and he said I’m going to do something about it
-Pharaoh’s first-born son didn’t have to die
-any more than you don’t have to die
-there’s an escape clause in the contract
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
[pray]