Back of the Desert Part 2

Introduction

George Carlin quotes:

“When I discovered the meaning of life, they changed it.”

Change is tough. Responding to the changes that come about in life can be difficult. One of the greatest struggles we face is changing ourselves.

'The measure of intelligence is the ability to change' -Albert Einstein

'The greatest discovery of all time is that a person can change his future by merely changing his attitude' -Oprah Winfrey

'Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.' -Harriet Tubman

The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. -Nelson Mandela

The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing. -Walt Disney

These are all interesting thoughts, very motivating thoughts by people that have been change agents in this world, but greater is what the One says that operates out of the confines of the world.

All things are possible in Christ Jesus. Amen?

Last Sunday we began message one in The Back of the Desert Series.

We over viewed a nation that was in the back of the desert and we looked specifically at a man, a man by the name of Moses that found himself in life at the back of the desert He was in a parched place mentally, emotionally, physically, but most importantly, spiritually.

We previewed Moses life and in the first forty years he was a somebody, the next forty ears he is a nobody, and we meet him at 80 years of age when he feels as he is a nobody, God will do something spectacular and extraordinary in his life and the life of Israel. Let’s read again and overlap a little in the text to be thorough to God’s message for us today.

Exodus 3:4-15

Exodus 3:4–15 NKJV

4 So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” 6 Moreover He said, “I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. 7 And the Lord said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. 8 So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. 9 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” 11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” 12 So He said, “I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.” 13 Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” 15 Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.’

Moses has an encounter, we call it a theophany with God. God spoke to Moses in the Burning Bush. I want to begin where I ended last week.

If you desire real change, God ordained, God honoring change, it will come about by you answering His call. The response is a response of surrender and submissiveness to His will for your life.

Moses responded to God in verse 4, “Here I am.”

We discussed that Moses was saying in essence, “here God”.

I am present and accounted for. I am ready to be a clay pot that you form, you mold, you make. Lord, I want you to burn the impurities out of my system that I may be a pure abiding vessel of you. Let’s press on. I will not rehash the fact that we must live holy lives for God to use us.

IN verse 6, God reminded Moses that I am the same God that has worked in your life and your ancestors life all this time, “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

Those words are very important to the story this morning. Because, Moses is going to be confronted with the most important question we can all ask: Who am I and who is God?

If you want to discover the meaning of life, that question is answered in the bedrock of:

Who am I?

Who is God?

For you see God was the God regardless of Abraham’s flaws-telling Abimilech that Sarah was his sister, Isaac followed his father’s footsteps, Jacob stole the blessing and birthright from Esau. Yes, I am the God of those liars, swindlers, and thieves. I am the same God who loves them unconditionally, regardless of their sin and I love you as well.

Furthermore, God knows the intimate details of your concerns.

God Knows the Intimate Details of your Concerns VV. 7-9

Exodus 3:7-9 “7 And the Lord said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. 8 So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. 9 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.”

A. Awareness

The Holy Spirit was there when the days were long on His fellow children, the Israelites. Can’t you see a family huddled around a fire late into the evening in an adobe hut and treating each others wounded hands, backs, and feet from the grueling lifting, toting, climbing, hauling and shear misery of the task at hand. Can’t you see a husband or wife rubbing or treating each others ailments from the relentless, tireless, day in day out drudgery of work? God was there. He heard, He saw their anguish. He heard the mother break down in the late night after the children were asleep and say, “I can’t do this anymore. I do not have it in me.” “Honey, hell could not be any worse than what we are living in right now.”

B. Engaged

“I have come down”

We learn here a deep truth about our Lord today and we learn a deep truth about ourselves as it relates to ministry.

Have any of you ever worked on a job before and you are down at ground zero in the organization, maybe you have worked in the plant, and someone from the upper office (and by the way, has never set foot on the factory floor) instructs you how to correct a matter ? And the person has never set foot on a factory floor? In fact, he tries to supposedly offer you assistance from his ivory tower office suite?

God promised Moses that He would leave the confines of heaven and He would come down with an objective in mind. “I will deliver them out of the hands of the Egyptians.”

Dearly beloved, what am I saying today? God is totally aware of the filth and the dirt and the grimes of life. He knows exactly where you are and what you are facing. And, God is willing to roll up his sleeves and come down to the trenches of your life to work with you (and I reiterate, work with you) to turn your life around.

Notice the depths of God’s engagement. God does not return you to factory specs. He is not only motivated to come down where you are, but His aim is to do as God’s Word promises:

Ephesians 3:20 “20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,”

Furthermore, we should be engaged in ministry as God was engaged here in the life of Israel.

James 2:15-16 “15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?”

“bring them up”

God never intended to bring them back even to a life as when Joseph was living and the prior Pharoah was a fair leader.

Notice what He says:

“ I will bring you up to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey.”

Moses and the people of Israel were from an agrarian society. Moses understood what God was communicating. God stated to Moses, “I am going to give you your own land to farm. I am providing you plenty of space and plenty of good soil and you will be blessed with abundance beyond measure.”

God keeps His promises.

Genesis 50:24 “24 And Joseph said to his brethren, “I am dying; but God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.””

Not only does God want to bring us up above our present place, not to place us where we once were, but to offer us a life beyond our wildest imagination.

Furthermore, He knows the obstacles ahead in getting to where He wants you to go.

Read with the later part of verse 8:

Exodus 3:8 “8 So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites.”

God even knows the obstacles to you reaching His goal for your life. Why these names are important is because they were the names of the nations of people that were presently living in Canaan. These people groups would be hurdles that the Lord would have to see them conquer to occupy the Promised Land.

It could be a possibility this morning that the Lord has a literal mess in and of your life to clean up and He knows as the journey begins what hurdles have to be jumped for you to be all that you can be in Him.

What holds you back from the promised land of life in Christ today? Is your enemy bitterness, temperament, gossip, lying, addiction, worry, guilt, materialism, financial pressures, health fears, narcissism, pornography, or simply to put in an nutshell, unconfessed sin?

Listen to me this morning, you must be honest with what is holding you back because as the Scripture proves, God already knows anyway.

God Overcomes by Working In and Through You VV. 9-15

We begin to see a turning of the tide as God speaks to Moses. I am going to deliver Israel from bondage and I am going to do it through you. Can’t you almost see Moses’ face as God makes that comment. I imagine his expression was more extreme than when Hankey Bally and the Four Reasons were asked to sing and dance last night.

God, why me? I haven’t been to Egypt in forty years. They will not remember me. I have no clout there today. In fact, as a shepherd they would have no respect of me.

Exodus 3:11 “11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?””

Moses was being humble with God, but it was more than humility. Lord, what qualifications do I have?

1 Corinthians 1:27 “27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;”

Moses his first forty years was a somebody, the next forty ears he is a nobody, and at 80 years of age as he feels as he is nothing, God will to do something great and extraordinary in his life and through His life for a nation.

Could it be that is where you are right now?

Once upon a time you thought you had it all together. For whatever reasons, at this moment, you feel as if you are on bottom. It is then when we are just right for God to do something great in us and through us.

Understanding Who You are and Who God is is the Keys to the Kingdom VV. 11-15

Moses was at the most important juncture that we can all come to grips with in the text this morning. He had to face the real question. We are dealing this morning with the most important question you and I can ever answer.

Who is God and who are We?

Embedding within the understanding of this question lies your destiny. Your future lies in the brink as to how you answer this question.

In verse 11 as we have already discussed, Moses acknowledged his inadequacies for the task. Furthermore, we are inadequate of escaping this life without God. For that reason, it is paramount that we know not only who God is, but to know God.

Seal

God responded in verse 12 with a seal and a sign. His seal was that He would be with Moses. Oh dear church, may we never forget that. Regardless of what befalls you this morning, God loves you and God is with you. God never left Israel in their dark period. From the beginning of our time, the Scriptures said that He saw their condition, heard of their condition, He knew their condition and as well yours today.

Sign

In verse 12, the sign of affirmation to what God said He would do was to meet Moses again on this mountain to worship and celebrate in your blessings. Moses would come back in fact later on that very mountain to meet face to face with God and be given the law to rule His people.

The sign we enjoy today for the victory we have in Christ Jesus is the cross. The day that we placed our trust in God, we accepted Christ in our hearts and asked Him to save us, the precious cross where He bore the ransom for our sins, He bled and died in our place, that is the sign of the victory we have in Him.

Why is knowing an understanding who God is so important?

IN verse 13, Moses asked the most important question we can all ask.

When they, the people of Israel ask me, this question, “What is His name? What shall I say to them?”

Exodus 3:14 “14 And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ””

Firstly, God’s name is mysterious. It is hard for us to comprehend.

Exodus—Saved for God's Glory What’s in the Name?

The great Dutch theologian Herman Bavinck (1854–1921) wrote, “God is that which he calls himself, and he calls himself that which he is.” Who is God? God is who he is, and that’s all there is to it.

Secondly, God’s name means eternal and immutable, meaning unchanging.

Exodus—Saved for God's Glory What’s in the Name?

His name occurs in the present tense of the Hebrew verb “to be.” God does not say, “I was who I was” or “I will be who I will be.” He says, “I AM WHO I AM.” This is because he has no past or future but only an eternal present. God is the One who always is

Thirdly, God is the Self Existent One

“He who causes to be.” Everything else owes its life and being to God. God is independent.

Exodus—Saved for God's Glory What’s in the Name?

As the Puritan Matthew Henry (1662–1714) observed, “The greatest and best man in the world must say, By the grace of God I am what I am; but God says absolutely—and it is more than any creature, man or angel, can say—I am that I am.”

Exodus—Saved for God's Glory What’s in the Name?

The Westminster Confession of Faith says, “God hath all life, glory, goodness, blessedness, in and of himself; and is alone in and unto himself all-sufficient, not standing in need of any creatures which he hath made” (II.2).

As we have seen, this was part of the meaning of the burning bush, which kept burning—all by itself—without ever being extinguished. Like the burning bush, God is perpetually self-existent

Dearly beloved, why is this important specifically to you today? Whatever you face today and you think it is beyond repair, our God operates in another realm. There is no mountain too high, no valley too deep, no problem too big, no gap in relationship too broad that God cannot change and make things new. Amen?

John 8:58 “58 Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.””

Do you want to meet the Great I am today? Do you want a burning bush experience today? Do you want to see God come into your life and do what you think is the impossible. Meet the Great I am today. Meet Jesus.

Let’s pray.