The Reluctant Servant
Notes
Transcript
When we first saw the adult Moses, he appeared to be ready to do anything he was challenged to do.
Leave the palace.
Fight Egyptian soldiers with his bare hands.
Settle disputes of his countrymen.
He needed no word from God.
He needed no power from God.
He went at it himself.
That led to 40 years in the wilderness. Now the Lord has come to him. Now that he has a divine commission, he is reluctant.
Who am I? 3:11
What shall I say? 3:13
Where was that attitude before?
What has happened?
This morning I want to show you why Moses was reluctant to do the will of God. We will see that his reasoning is often the same as ours.
1. He doubted the power of God (1-9).
God continues to speak to Moses from the burning bush. He has told him to go to the Hebrews and tell them to demand Pharaoh let them go.
Moses has excuses:
They will not believe me.
They won’t listen to my voice.
Look back at 3:18. God says, “they will listen to your voice”.
Moses says they will say “The Lord DID NOT appear to you.” (4:1).
God had not appeared to any man in hundreds of years.
Not to mention he’d already been rejected by the people. He’d been gone forty years. No telling what the people said about him after he left.
Now he comes back all these years later with a story about God in a burning bush in the desert.
God, in His grace, proves to Moses that His power will be made known through him.
God gives Moses three signs:
1. His staff transforms into a snake.
“What’s in your hand?” Just a regular old staff. Common tool of a shepherd.
Throw it on the ground. Moses obeys and it becomes a snake. Moses afraid. Runs from it just like he ran from Pharaoh. Implies it is poisonous.
God commands him to pick it up by the tail. Most dangerous place to pick up a poisonous snake from.
When Moses obeys it becomes a staff again.
The Pharaoh’s had an image of a cobra on their headdress.
God has given Moses power over Pharaoh. Also, He has given him power over beasts.
Plagues of locusts, frogs, gnats, flies will not harm him.
2. His hand turns leprous (6-7).
He put his hand in his cloak to his breast. Pulled out and it was white and leprous. When he put it back it turned to normal.
God can kill and heal; He has power over disease. When the plague of boils comes Moses has no reason to fear.
3. Water from the Nile turns to blood (9).
The Nile was a god to Egypt. Moses had no reason to fear the gods of Egypt. That which brought the nation life God would kill.
Moses nor the people had any reason to fear. These signs show what God would do to Egypt.
Attacks from Nature
Attacks from Disease
Attacks on the Egyptian gods
The signs would show the Hebrews they were not trusting Moses, they were trusting God.
God could have miraculously strengthened Moses
Could have put a sword in his hand.
Could have trained an army.
God used the weakness of Moses:
80 years old
A walking stick in his hand
When Moses thought he was powerful enough to lead the Hebrews out he was not. When Moses knew he was not powerful enough to lead the Hebrews out he was ready.
In our weakness God is strong.
In the Christian life when you can’t, you can, and when you can, you can’t!
Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Zech. 4:6
2. He focused on his own inability (10-17).
Another excuse:
I am not eloquent. Not a good speaker.
Never have been “in the past or since you have spoken to your servant” (10).
Slow of speech and of tongue. Means he wasn’t good with words. He wasn’t articulate.
When God called Moses, He did not make him powerful in body.
When God called Moses, He did not make him a good speaker.
The change in Moses is spiritual not physical.
God tells Moses He made him the way he is.
God made the mute, deaf, seeing and the blind.
God made us all the way we are. He has a purpose in it all.
God says “Go, I will be with your mouth and teach you what to speak.”
Note it’s the what and not the how.
What we say is more important than how well we say it.
Paul wasn’t a great speaker, but he was a good preacher (2 Cor. 11:6).
We have a lot of bad preaching out there. They are good speakers but bad preachers.
They say nothing but they say it well.
Friend, God don’t need talent.
Talent can get you an athletic scholarship.
Talent can’t get you a recording contract.
Talent won’t get us far with God.
Moses, realizing he is getting nowhere with God finally says what he has really been trying to say:
“Please send someone else!”
The truth is he just didn’t want to go.
That’s hard to say but it’s usually the truth.
This upset the Lord (14). How did he know? Did the bush blaze higher when he said that?
God still gave Moses grace.
He told Moses He would use Aaron as the mouthpiece.
“You shall be as God to him” (16) Means God will speak to Moses and Moses will tell Aaron what to say.
Couple things about Aaron:
Aaron was a Levite. But he was just as much a Levite as Moses. Did Moses miss the priesthood because of this? I think so. Aaron becomes the head of the Levitical priesthood. He is in the story because Moses insisted he couldn’t do the job.
We can miss great blessings in life because of our unwillingness to trust God.
Aaron was a good speaker (14). My opinion that God would get more glory from Moses than He did from Aaron.
If we use our own inability as a reason not to serve God, it is more likely that just don’t want to serve God. That is the heart of the matter.
Moses was reluctant because he just didn’t want to do it.
He was 80
He was embarrassed
He was afraid
Who am I ? (2:11)
What will I say? (2:13)
What if they don’t believe me (4:1)
I’m not a good speaker (4:10)
Excuses, excuses, excuses!
We do what we want to do!
3. He knew how difficult it would be (18-23).
1) It was difficult because he’d have to leave the life he had built.
He goes to his father-in-law and asks permission (18).
Jethro had done so much for Moses.
Moses loved this man.
Moses worked for this man.
Notice Moses didn’t tell Jethro what he would be doing. He asks to return to see if his family is still alive.
No mention of the dangerous task.
Moses would be taking this man’s daughter and grandchildren as well.
Jethro gives him his blessing “Go in peace”.
2) It was difficult because Moses had enemies in Egypt.
The government wanted him dead. That’s why he left Egypt. To return would be to risk his life.
The Lord tells him “the men seeking your life are dead.” (19)
3) It was difficult because he knew how evil Pharaoh was.
God even told him He would harden Pharaoh’s heart. He knew Pharaoh would not cooperate (21).
4) It was difficult because of the message Moses was to give.
“Let My firstborn son go or I will kill your firstborn son.” (23)
That’s a bold message!
When Moses loaded his family up on those donkeys it was probably one of the most difficult decisions of his life.
Do you know what would be even more difficult?
The guilt of not going.
God may call us to difficult tasks:
Leave a comfortable life we know and love
Face our enemies
Deal with hard hearted people
Share a message that’s not easy to hear.
Following the Lord is not easy.
Don’t let the difficulty of following Christ keep you from following Him. The guilt of not following Him is greater than the burden of following Him.
4. He had abandoned his own spiritual duties (24-26).
Very difficult passage.
On the way to Egypt the Lord almost killed Moses.
“So He let him alone” (26) refers to relaxing a grip. As if you have someone by the neck.
We don’t know how the Lord was going to do it. Moses was probably deathly sick.
His wife knew why. It was because their son had not been circumcised.
Circumcision was a command (Gen. 17:10)
Circumcision was a sign of the covenant.
Both sons were with him. Gershom oldest, Eliezer youngest.
Only one was not circumcised.
Why ?
There is a clue.
Zipporah says, “Surely you are a bloody husband to me!”
The language suggests she did not favor the act of circumcision.
Some scholars tell us that Midianite men who were circumcised were only circumcised when they were to be married.
I think it’s clear the Midianites had a different tradition concerning circumcision than the Hebrews.
I think the older son was circumcised but the younger was not. Perhaps Zipporah was not happy seeing her first son circumcised and Moses and Zipporah fought over this issue.
Obviously, Zipporah had her way.
Why was Moses punished then?
He’s the head of the house. This is his responsibility.
Zipporah does show a fear of God and a love for her husband. He can’t do anything. He is on his death bed. She circumcises her youngest son.
For some strange reason she puts the bloody foreskin at Moses’ feet. Moses survives. Second time Moses’ life has been saved by a woman. His mother and now his wife.
What’s the point?
Moses can’t be the leader he is to be if he isn’t even leading his own family.
He knew he had dropped the ball. This probably kept him from assuming a spiritual role.
The best way to prepare yourself to be used by God is to lead your family in the things of the Lord. It starts there.
In NT it is the pastors homelife that is first considered.
Wife
Children
If someone does not know how to manage his own household how will he care for God’s church? (1 Tim. 3:5)
Your personal life is more important than your public life.
I think the guilt Moses experienced because of his own problems at home kept him from being who God called him to be.
God gave him plenty of time to get it right.
Finally, the Lord had to turn up the heat.
God could deliver Israel without Moses and He can accomplish His will without you or me. No one is irreplaceable.
5. He had forgotten that God can change hearts (27-31).
God was working on others too.
He told Aaron to go and meet Moses in the wilderness.
This was big brother! Moses may have thought Aaron hated him.
When Aaron saw Moses, he kissed him. All was well.
Why do people hold grudges?
Why are we so angry?
Why are we so proud?
Go to your brother! Embrace him! Show your love!
Moses explained everything to Aaron and Aaron was ready to go.
They gathered the elders.
Aaron explained everything to them.
He showed them the signs:
Staff into a snake
Hand that became leprous
They knew God had heard their prayers. They believed the Lord was about to deliver them through Moses just as God had told Moses they would (3:18).
They bowed their heads and worshipped.
This was probably the first time Moses had ever worshipped with his people.
We often quit because we have no faith in people. We’re looking at the wrong thing.
People can only change if God changes them.
God does change people.
If you think people will not change then you have given up on God.
When you serve God, you must have faith that God will:
Save people
Mature people
Send people
I don’t care how evil this world is God will always have His people in it. You must believe that.
Don’t give up.
Don’t get bitter.
Don’t be faithless.
Trust the Lord to work on people’s hearts.
Pray for them
Love them
Serve them
Embrace them
Conclusion:
If you are saved, you are called to be a servant of God.
Jesus said the laborers are few in His work. I think one reason is because many of us are reluctant.
What’s keeping you from being the servant Christ has called you to be?
Are you doubting the power of God?
Are you focused on your own inability?
Are you concerned about how difficult it will be?
Are you feeling guilty because your personal life is not what it should be?
Are you so focused on the sins of people that you have forgotten God can change hearts?
Put your doubts aside.
Correct what needs to be corrected.
Trust God.
Serve the Lord.