The Believer & the Bizarre

Introduction

We find ourselves back in our study of the Exodus this morning. You remember that Moses ran from Egypt and performed a self imposed reprieve from life as he knew it. Moses had murdered an Egyptian. He was protecting a fellow Hebrew and he felt for his fellow man and the brutality the Egyptian was bringing about beating the Hebrew and Moses intervened and killed the Egyptian in the process. Moses heard a comment from a fellow Hebrew that caused him to know the people at large knew about the incident and he fled to Midian to the Back of the Desert. I will not take this time to reteach this portion of the Exodus, but I will remind you that forty years later, Moses is 80 years of age, Moses had an encounter with the Lord at the Burning Bush and God called him to deliver His people Israel from the bondage of enslavement. At every turn in the story of the Exodus and the salvation of the people of Israel is the story of our enslavement to sin and the deliverer, Jesus Christ coming to rescue us. Amen.

God had a greater plan for Moses. God had a greater plan for His people, Israel, His firstborn son as the Scriptures refer to. Moses was living the quiet life, the isolated life, a life of restoration in the confines of a close family with no issues, but the Lord did not save us to be sedentary. The Lord saved you to set you on a path for His will for your life.

Turn this morning in your Bibles to Exodus 4:18-31.

Before we read the text this morning, let’s pray. I want to ask Terry Brooks to pray over this text because it is a very challenging text Terry. I titled the message “The Believer & the Bizarre.”

There are times we walk in the Lord and there are times of blessings untold. There are times in life that we are not walking with God as we should and yet He seemingly continues to bless and we believe what we are doing is causing great things to happen. And then there are other times, we are walking with God in obedience and we are bewildered by the turn of events happening by no actions of our own and it can cause us to question God. We ask the Lord why? The text is challenging and let’s pray a special prayer of understanding on this text.

Terry if you will pray.

Prayer

Exodus 4:18-31

Exodus 4:18–31 NKJV

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 to Moses, “Go in peace.” 19 Now the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go, return to Egypt; for all the men who sought your life are dead.” 20 Then Moses took his wife and his sons and set them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the rod of God in his hand. 21 And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. 22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Israel is My son, My firstborn. 23 So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son, your firstborn.” ’ ” 24 And it came to pass on the way, at the encampment, that the Lord met him and sought to kill him. 25 Then Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it at Moses’ feet, and said, “Surely you are a husband of blood to me!” 26 So He let him go. Then she said, “You are a husband of blood!”—because of the circumcision. 27 And the Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he went and met him on the mountain of God, and kissed him. 28 So Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him, and all the signs which He had commanded him. 29 Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. 30 And Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses. Then he did the signs in the sight of the people. 31 So the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel and that He had looked on their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped.

Obedience is a Starting Point verses 18-20

Moses had a life changing encounter with the Lord at the Burning Bush. Moses thought by living at the back of the desert that no one could find him and he could live out his days in seclusion and feel as if he had escaped his past.

I spoke to a man on Friday down in Gulf Shores that was settling his business at Tyler’s store and his truck was loaded to go to the Keys in South Florida on a one month fishing trip. He, the truck, a camper, a kayak, and himself and all he was going to do was to camp and fish for 30 days by himself.

Please do not misunderstand my thoughts, I love fishing with the best of people and I love a getaway, the Lord calls for us to rest. But God never called us to be monastic or reclusive and avoid the world. God calls us to be contributors to His cause in the world and be His agents of change. He does not want us to live on the sidelines of life criticizing everything that is wrong with the world, but to engage and give of ourselves to be used by Him. Amen.

Conviction + Commitment does not = Confidence

We will see that faith is something that builds with life situations and circumstances.

There are times we want to escape this world when the Lord wants us to engage this world for Him.

We all could learn a great deal from Moses this morning because Moses had recognized God’s hand of grace and mercy already in his life because he went to receive the blessing of his father in law that received him when he was down. The Lord gave Moses a home, a family that took him in , a wife and livelihood for a season. Moses stayed on point and was fulfilling what God called him to do, but he did right by his father-in-law. He did the courteous thing, he did the respectful thing.

God’s grace has been at work in each of our lives here today. We enter seasons in God’s divine plan, but then there becomes a season to step up and serve Him as He would have us serve Him. God offers seasons of healing, God offers seasons of growth, but God also calls for seasons of “go”. Our church is at the place that He is calling us to a “go” season. “Go” For us may mean you committing to our Alaska Missionary Trip. Go may mean giving of yourself unconditionally to the mission on June 10th at Rolling Hills.

You may ask the question something like this: Lord, with my insecurities, with all of the moving parts in my past and my present, with all the internal struggles I have, can God use me to make a difference? And I say emphatically, “yes” God can use you and use you He will.

1 Corinthians 1:27–29 NKJV

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; 28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence.

Why do I make this statement? Moses’ words in the verses immediately reveal that Moses had insecurities and fears when God called Him.

Exodus 4:10 “10 Then Moses said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.””

Exodus 4:13 “13 But he said, “O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else You may send.””

Moses was no different than us in that he made every excuse in the book why he was not capable of delivering Israel.

Read verse 18 closely with me:

Exodus 4:18 (NKJV)

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 to Moses, “Go in peace.”

In the very next verse we learn that the Lord answered Moses’ insecurity. The Lord basically told Moses that anyone that would have known about the murder are dead. You will be okay. Yet, we see that Moses was a work in progress in trusting God fully with his life. The key, with all his insecurities he pressed on and dearly beloved, that is what you and I must do is press on. With all of your warts, scars and mars of this life and your little nuances, God wants to use you for His glory.

Moses voiced to Jethro by his statement his insecurity. Yet, he pressed on in leaving not to return. He carried his wife, his boys and they went on a donkey. Once Moses was one step from the position of Pharoah in the land of Egypt riding on stallions and chariots, now he’s coming with a sheepishness back on a donkey.

Listen to me this morning. Are you a person that has a sheepish nature? Have you met those that frighten at their own shadow? Yo may be one that becomes anxious at striking up a conversation with someone you do not know? You are just right for God to do the stupendous if we will simple be obedient. Why?

Look back at Exodus 3:12

Exodus 3:12 (NKJV)

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.”

Little is much when God is in it. He virtually had nothing when he went back to Egypt. When you go back to your Egypt, your Egypt may mean that you are going to a job that is worldly like Egypt. Maybe you are going back to Egypt this evening because you have a home life that has lost people there and it represents going back to Egypt. Maybe the friend base you had before coming to Christ is Egypt because they are of the world. The truth is that the Lord wants you to go back to Egypt and share the Lord with them. Maybe God’s calling you to go the Egypts in your life and you are to call out to them to leave the enslavement of sin and become free in Jesus Christ.

Let’s discuss what you do have besides all of your ticks, your insecurities, your bumps and bruises from this life is the staff of God. Moses had the staff which represented the power of God. Moses was to use the staff to show the signs and wonders of God to the people.

The staff of God you hold is the cross. The Cross is God’s saving power in your life. Jesus’ saving power in your life represents the signs and wonders of a changed person and God can use that to bring about change in your Egypt. Furthermore, the cross, the staff of God represents the fact that whatever befall you in this life, all of your past sins are erased, you have newness of life in Christ and nothing this life dishes out has any bearing on the eternal security of the believer. Amen.

1 Corinthians 1:22–24 NKJV

22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Obstacles & Opposition are Testing Periods verses 21-23

I entitled this message, “The Believer and the Bizarre” because there will be times in our lives that regardless of our walk, our efforts to follow the Lord, trials, tribulations, opposition and obstacles will come. And, at the end of the day, we must to acknowledge God’s sovereignty meaning that we will not understand why something is happening.

There are many things that when I crossed over the rivers of this life and I could look back and say, Lord, I get it. I see now what you were doing. But for many here this morning, there are trials, tribulations, obstacles and opposition that you will never gain that satisfaction until the day you get to glory to be with Him. Not all things God does for us is explainable. We must trust and realize that God puts us in times of testing to grow and mature us. Obviously, Moses needed to strengthen his faith. We can only assume that some of the events in these verses were to build Moses for the long haul of serving the Lord.

Let’s look:

Exodus 4:21–23 (NKJV)

21 And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. 22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Israel is My son, My firstborn. 23 So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son, your firstborn.” ’ ”

Can’t you just hear Moses talking out loud to God at night as Zipporah and Gershom and Eliezer are sleeping under the stars as they journey back. “Lord, you know I am as nervous as a cat on a hot tin roof about going back. I am fearful of Pharoah having me killed either because he knows of my past actions of killing a fellow Egyptian, but an even greater fear is when I threaten to kill his firstborn son. Lord, those are fighting words. And Lord, to top it off, you are going to harden his heart so that he refuses anything I say. This does not make sense Lord. Lord you are telling me I will be I will be engaged in a uphill battle that I can not win.”

We learn two truths here. 1) There will be times in this life that we will not win but God does. Our nature we fight is that we receive the glory, we receive the honor, we receive the blessings. There are certain pastors that preach a prosperity gospel that teach that obedience will always bring reward. You remember the friends of Job and their counsel was around the fact that there must be something wrong in your life that you are having all the problems.

John 7:18 “18 He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him.”

Lord, how in the world is this going to work?

2) This teaches a great truth of our sonship in Jesus Christ. When you have a test around a verse that causes questions of understanding God’s actions of deliberately hardening a man’s heart, you must address your questions of the text in context.

Notice the next verses.

Exodus 4:22-23 “22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Israel is My son, My firstborn. 23 So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son, your firstborn.” ’ ””

One of the great struggles we face is understanding the omniscience of God meaning He is all knowing. Furthermore, balancing that scale against the understanding that man has free will. God knows who is going to choose Him for life and who will choose death by the eternal rejection of His Son, Jesus.

God knew how Pharoah would respond so God promoted His actions to make for a growing time for Moses and the people of Israel. The signs and wonders were never for Egypt to bring about change in them, but the signs and wonders were for Israel to see the hand of God at work in their lives.

Now what do we take from a text like this? When God calls you back to Egypt, back to your former environments and you encounter hard hearted Pharaoh's in your life that there is no bulging, do not be disillusioned over the matter.

There was only one mistake that could occur that could cause Moses to lose sleep over how Pharoah would react. That would be not doing what the Lord had told him to do and that was use his staff of God to win Pharoah over to a belief in the true God Yahweh, Jehovah God. Moses could sleep with himself as long as he was obedient in giving the homage to God for the miracles that Moses was performing.

Under the feet of God, Lucifer rebelled and became a fallen angel.

Ezekiel 28:12–17 NKJV

12 “Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “You were the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. 13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes Was prepared for you on the day you were created. 14 “You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. 15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you. 16 “By the abundance of your trading You became filled with violence within, And you sinned; Therefore I cast you as a profane thing Out of the mountain of God; And I destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the fiery stones. 17 “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, That they might gaze at you.

Jesus experienced two thieves on the cross by Him, one mocked Him and one repented.

What am I saying? I do not nor will ever understand God and His omniscience. I know that He knows there will be those that are hardened to the things of God. Knowing a person’s future, good or bad, by the power of the Holy Spirit and God’s providential hand, He can use pagans, the lost as His puppets to show His signs and wonders to us. He can use times of trial, tribulation, obstacles and opposition to reveal His might power at work about us to grow us.

Overarching Principle: You can win the Prize verses 24-31

Exodus 4:24–26 NKJV

24 And it came to pass on the way, at the encampment, that the Lord met him and sought to kill him. 25 Then Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it at Moses’ feet, and said, “Surely you are a husband of blood to me!” 26 So He let him go. Then she said, “You are a husband of blood!”—because of the circumcision.

Life can go from bad to worse. “Lord, why in the world would you attempt my life and I am walking circumspectly, not perfectly, but attempting to do as you would have me do, Lord why would you attempt to kill me?” Bizarre text. Remember: I said look to the verses around a text to find context and explanation.

The subject of circumcision comes up immediately following the near death experience. The little things of life matter to God. The sign of being God’s chosen people was the sign of circumcision. Moses must teach and exemplify what God called for His people to do. Undoubtedly, one of his sons had not been circumcised. There was a forty year gap of formal religious practices being exercised. The covenant act was overlooked.

Little things matter to God

reporting our business expenses accurately

listing our hours honestly

avoiding things like gossip, exaggeration, and "white lies"

being on time for work

maintaining purity in public and in private

keeping your promises and fulfilling your commitments

being faithful in our worship and our giving.

But remember another principle,

Big things matter to God

Leviticus 17:11 “11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.’”

The sign of a Hebrew, God’s chosen people was the sign of circumcision. A sharp stone was used to cut the foreskin of the men of Israel,a son.

Jesus was cut, His blood was spilled on Calvary’s cross for our sin that we may have life.

How do we close a message like a text this morning when the believer does encounter the bizarre in life at times on a day in day out basis serving the Lord.

How do we serve Him? Obedience is our starting place. Simply obedience in trusting Him as best you know how. Your faith will be a growing faith as you serve Him daily and God will bring tests at times in the form of obstacles and opposition to grow your faith and the faith of others around you.

Why did God act so radical in attempting to kill (but did not-mercy, grace)? The saving answer in our lives in all that we walk through is the overarching principle, the prize of salvation, life eternal, the abundant life is before us for those that will receive the prize.

Let’s pray.