Moses a man of character

“Real Characters: Moses

How Do You Face an Uncertain Tomorrow?

Exodus 3:10–15

By Dr. David Wheeler

Introduction:

There is something going on in Washington right now, that whether we know it or not affects each and every one of us. I am talking about the raising of the debt ceiling in America right now. The repercussions of a default would be global and catastrophic, however. “That is when you’re into a genuine potential financial market catastrophe situation,” says Andrew Hunter, deputy chief US economist at Capital Economics.

With the collapse of world economic systems and the constant threat of global terrorism finding its way to our neighborhoods, it is a no-brainer to realize that we all face an uncertain tomorrow!

Unlike in previous generations, the concepts of safety and security are not guaranteed, nor are they taken for granted.

This catastrophic shift occurred on September 11, 2001, a day that will forever be etched into our psyche.

If you think hard enough, I am certain you can remember where you were when you heard about the attacks on the Twin Towers in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington DC.

Since 9/11, one’s workplace is always a concern when it comes to facing an uncertain tomorrow.

Almost every week there are news reports of disgruntled employees who somehow think that killing their boss and fellow workers will correct the pain of losing their jobs.

The same can be said about attending school.

Thirty years ago, acne and hormones were two of the biggest challenges facing high school and college students.

Not so today. Look no further than the shootings at Virginia Tech, Columbine, or Uvalde school for more evidence that we are facing an uncertain tomorrow!

As if all of this were not enough, think about the shootings at churches across America.

From Wedgewood Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, where seven lives were snuffed out by a deranged gunman, to the murder on a Sunday morning in the sanctuary of a pastor in Maryville, Illinois.

First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, killing twenty-six people and wounding at least twenty.

The most sacred concepts of safety and decency are being violated as the world becomes more unpredictable and uncertain.

In many ways, Moses was presented with the same dilemma. Much like many Americans’, his life was safe and predictable.

He had a family, being married to Zipporah, the daughter of the priest of Midian.

For the first time in his life since miraculously growing up in Pharaoh’s courts and escaping sure death as an infant, Moses was settled and happy with his life.

It was then that God intervened in Exodus 3. While Moses was tending his livestock, “the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush” (v. 2).

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.

The burning bush had a threefold significance.

It was a picture of God. Duet. 33:16

Deut 33:16

16 with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness and the favor of him who dwelt in the burning bush.NIV

The bush symbolized Israel going through the fire of affliction but not being consumed.

Finally the bush illustrated Moses- a humble shepherd, who with God’s help would become a fire that could not be put out.

Warren Wiersbe says, Servants who know how to take off their shoes in humility can be used of God to walk in power

To Moses’s surprise, God informs him, Look at vs 7-9 with me.

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. 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. 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. (vv. 7–9)

Moses must have been ecstatic. That is, until he heard the Lord’s next decree:

“I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel out of Egypt” (v. 10).

It was then that he faced his own uncertain tomorrow.

After all, how could he return to Egypt after everyone knew that he had killed an Egyptian (Ex. 2:14)?

Would he, too, be killed upon his return?

With this in mind, how do we face an uncertain tomorrow?

Consider the following:

Moses could face uncertainty because he was assured, like us, that God was with him (Ex. 3:11, 12).

Moses did not reply, “Here am I; send me” (Isa. 6:8).

While Moses initially responds to God with the question “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” (v. 11),

God immediately responds with the affirmation “I will certainly be with you (v. 12).

God’s reply was to assure him: “I will be with you!” This promise sustained him for forty years, as it later did Joshua (Josh. 1:5).

Josh 1:5

5 No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.

NIV

These words are not any different than the words from our Lord through the author of Hebrews: “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5b).

Heb 13:5

"Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."

NIV

So we say with confidence,

“The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (Ps. 118:6).

Who we are is not important; God is with us that is what is important, for without Him we can do nothing (John 15:5).

John 15:5

5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. NIV

We, too, can face uncertainty, because we are never alone! God is with us!

Moses could also face uncertainty because, like us, he was assured because God is personal (Ex. 3:13–15)

“Still not convinced, Moses asks 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?” (v. 13).

God responds to Moses,

“I AM WHO I AM . . . . Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you’ ” (v. 14).

It sounds odd for Moses to ask God about His name. After all, names are not a big deal to us.

However, in biblical days, names defined the person’s life and ministry.

Moses was actually checking to see if God could deliver if he returned to Egypt.

So . . . what did God do?

He stamped His name as His promise.

The reference to “I AM” is actually YHWH in Hebrew.

Based upon the promise of God, the best working definition for YHWH is “I will always be what I have been!”

This is a quote from one of my favorite commentaters. “

God revealed His name, Jehovah—“I AM WHO I AM” or “I was, I am, I always will be!” Our Lord Jesus added to this name in the Gospel of John where we find the seven great I AM statements (6:35; 8:12; 10:9 and 11; 11:25; 14:6; and 15:1–5). If God is “I AM,” then He is always the same, and His purposes will be fulfilled. God promised Moses that He would see to it that the work was done, in spite of the opposition of Pharaoh.

God mentions Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in Exodus 3:15.

He does this to remind Moses, the Israelites, and us, that just as He delivered these heroes of the faith in the past, He also hears our prayers today.

We also see these heroes of faith in Hebrews 11.

Conclusion

Anthony Bourdain once said:

I’m pretty sure that cheese and sausage are good. Other than that, it’s a world of confusion and uncertainty.

We can face an uncertain tomorrow because when we get to our appointed destination, regardless of joy or devastation, our God is never surprised and will greet us with open arms!

For He is, as King David states in Psalm 19:14,

Ps 19:14b

, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

NIV

Excerpt From

Nelson's Preacher's Sourcebook

Thomas Nelson

https://books.apple.com/us/book/nelsons-preachers-sourcebook/id6443651804

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