Living for Jesus When Obstacles Abound

Exodus 7:8-13

Exodus 7:8–13 NKJV

8 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 9 “When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘Show a miracle for yourselves,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod and cast it before Pharaoh, and let it become a serpent.’ ” 10 So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did so, just as the Lord commanded. And Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent. 11 But Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers; so the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments. 12 For every man threw down his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods. 13 And Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the Lord had said.

Prayer

Message

I believe we would all agree that life comes with its seasons. And I am not speaking of a change of season as in the weather we have enjoyed the last two days. There are seasons when life couldn’t be better, grades are good, relationships are secure. Life has its times that it is just down right easy peezy. You feel great, your work or job is enjoyable. The family prospers, children are thriving, your marriage is flourishing, the stock market is up and your 401K is bullish, the country seemingly in a good place and then there are other times, other seasons.

And on any given day, Israel experienced that change of season yesterday.

Hamas attack-350 dead

For whatever reason we can not explain, and we will explain it today, things change. For no apparent reason life becomes a strain. Life is a struggle in the marriage, in parenting, at the workplace, etc.

Solomon in Eccl. 3:1-8 reminds us that life has its seasons. There is ebb and flow. Israel had experienced such a season.

In the Bible times that we study this morning, there was a change of season for Israel:

Exodus 1:8–10 “8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9 And he said to his people, “Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we; 10 come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.””

The leadership before Joseph’s death knew that Yahweh, the God Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had gloriously offered provision through His servant Joseph during a famine and God offered the plan to live in the midst of famine.

Israel was encountering a very different season once the new leadership, the new Pharaoh took office. There was a new sheriff in town. And dearly beloved, we never know what day that we arise that life as a whole for us seemingly has a new sheriff in town if you will.

Well, dearly beloved, He is not a new sheriff. The new sheriff is a very old sheriff. He showed his face as early as the garden. When the serpent of old, Satan tempted Adam & Eve in the Garden. In Genesis 3:15 “15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.””

God declared war on Satan at that time.

For you see, we really do not study today a battle between Moses and Pharaoh. We do not study a battle between Israel and Egypt, but we are reading of a battle between God and the serpent of old, Satan that plays out in the manipulations of this world as a force against anyone to oppose our Heavenly Father.

Ephesians 6:12 “12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

A breath of fresh air and is that not the way God’s Holy Spirit works, a breath, or a wind of change represents His workings that came upon Israel as God began to work in the life of Israel.

God was very aware of His people, Israel. God hurt because His people hurt.

Exodus 3:7–10 “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.””

Regardless of whatever was happening in Israel or what is happening in Israel as I speak, God knows the hurts better than you will ever understand and He is more concerned, more engaged than we will ever comprehend.

But note something very important today as we study our text. God is at work. He works in His perfect timing. God works within the bounds of His sovereignty and lastly, we will gain a deeper understanding that God works in ways we do not understand, not within the time we desire, and He works in ways we can not even see.

This morning as we study this text you might find yourself in such a season. Your walk with Christ at this moment may be paramount, but yet you find yourself facing walls of challenge. You may be highly consistent in church attendance, you may be tithing, you may have grown in amazing ways in both your prayer life and your overall walk with Christ, and yet you feel a sense of struggle to know if your in the center of God’s will. In other words, you feel as if you are right in the center of God’s will, but to measure your effectiveness seems as you’ve traveled a dead end street.

There very well could be areas of your life you are striving to grow and improve but it seems to be fruitless. You are attempting to share your faith and be a witness or mentor or impact others and seemingly, no seeds are germinating. You may feel you have hit an impasse with your children or grandchildren as it relates to evangelizing their lives for Christ. Maybe, the weight is heavy.

Today we will see those seasons are prevalent as you walk in Him because you have aroused the enemy. As you grow in Christ, Satan will mount a counteroffensive. Satan wants nothing more than you to be another casualty and for you to give up on the things of God and lay down on mission for Him. That is his number one aim. Satan wants to take you out of the spiritual picture.

Let’s get into it.

Moses in Exodus 3:11, 4:1, 4:10, 4:13, 5:22, made excuses and voiced inadequacies for the job. Firstly, I want to say that if you feel you are totally with it in this life and dealing with what life is dishing you and you are confident in steering a campaign of reform for Christ in this world then you will probably struggle many times over. God wants you shaken to prove to you that it is Him working through you. He wants us to have faith in His ability.

1 Corinthians 1:27–29 “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.”

The title of the message this morning is “Living for Jesus When Obstacles Abound.”

This can be true of the church as well. Regardless of our faithfulness to the Lord, there can be seasons of bareness. The church is loving the Lord. The church is loving on each other. God’s people have been faithful, they are singing His praises and yet the church can not see measurable progress. Our Sunday School teachers can prepare wonderful lessons each week, encourage participation, call their members and yet do not see fruit. Our Deacons can work in the deacon family ministry, make hospital visits make home visits, make calls and pray with families and yet do not see any decisions for Christ. And that also holds true for this pastor.

In our text today, God works in His time and not Moses, not Aaron’s nor in the people of Israel. God worked in His time and His fashion.

Notice the role that Moses fulfilled spelled out in Exodus 7:1 “1 So the Lord said to Moses: “See, I have made you as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet.” God prepared Moses and equipped Moses for an important role in the life of Pharaoh and Egypt. He offered Moses the tools of God for impact and we learn today those same tools are offered you.

God Places Opportunities before us If We Will Submit to His Will VV. 8-9

Exodus 7:8–9 “8 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 9 “When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘Show a miracle for yourselves,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod and cast it before Pharaoh, and let it become a serpent.’ ””

You will remember in the beginning of Exodus when God called Moses that he used three signs to convince Moses who He was and they would be signs to convince Pharaoh who Jehovah God is.

Furthermore, we see here this morning that this is the first time God had spoken to Moses and Aaron together. There are times God speaks to us individually and then there are times God speaks to His church, God’s people corporately or collectively.

God reinforced to Moses that there was a remnant with Him. Aaron was in the assignment with Moses. Might you realize that when you are in a season of walls that God’s church, His army fights with you.

“When Pharaoh speaks to you saying, “show a miracle for yourselves” then take your rod and cast it before Pharaoh and let it become a serpent.”

Oh dearly beloved, no matter how long your seasons of walls, keep casting the miracle of your saved life to others. Keep sharing the Good News of Jesus in your life. God has given you a rod and a serpent to use for His glory. He has given you a testimony. God has given you talents and gifts to be used for the Kingdom. Keep throwing your rod down and allow God’s serpent to make a difference.

In this story, the instrument is a serpent God used to bid His battle. Quite appropriate as we have seen other avenues of Egyptian history that reminds us that the pharaonic headdress that you might have seen of King Tut’s tomb looks like a cobra. You see this in the movies of Indiana JOnes, the snakes, those horrid snakes.

Pharaoh had assumed the role of god among His people. He had played the role of god in the enslavement of the Israelites and God was going to show Him who the real God was.

God has given you His Word to be used at His opportune times to impact. Here is what you must remember. Keep casting your serpent upon others in the battle for one’s soul.

Hebrews 4:12 “12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

God Will Equip Regardless of Satanic Opposition VV. 11-12

Moses and Aaron did exactly as God called them to do and they went into Pharaoh, cast the rod at him and it became a serpent right before his eyes. But look at what Pharaoh counters with:

Exodus 7:11–12 “11 But Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers; so the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments. 12 For every man threw down his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.”

Pharaoh called upon His wise guys, his entourage was crafty, subtle, sly, cunning, made up of witchcraft, astrologers, and all forms of pagan influence of the day in matters of the world and quite influential I will add. Sound familiar? Have you heard the word a silver tongued devil? These men collectively were the epitome of the giftedness of Satan in his deceiving, his cunning, his alluring manner. These men were persuasive in actions.

Revelation 12:9 “9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”

The world has counteroffensives everyday to you attempting to live out the Christian life in your Judea. The world today has many sorcerers, magicians, wise people and enchantments today that will counter your offensives to live for Christ.

Listen young person. The world states that being a boy or girl is a choice, it has nothing to do with biology. Listen to me. God created you. He formed you. He made you the boy or girl that you are and do not second guess God’s sovereign will for your life. You were created in the image of God and He has a purpose for you and that purpose is not to play God and change how He made you.

The sorcerers, the magicians, the wise men and the enchantments of the day will say that it is okay for men to have a relationship with a man, a woman to have a relationship with a man and let me promise you what is coming next with animal rights. The next coming crossroad of the sorcerers and the magicians of the day will be zoophilia and bestiality. The attraction to and the sexual encounters with animals.

Leviticus 18:22 “22 You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.”

1 Corinthians 6:9–10 “9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.”

Listen to me parents, listen to me grandparents, listen to me employers and employees, listen to me neighbor, listen to me spouse, keep casting down your rod and allow the serpent of the Lord to do His bidding for you and He will bring the result.

Did other serpents emerge? We learn that there will be times you testify and you emerge in the battle. Other times it falls on deaf ears.

Moses cast the rod, the Lord declared the outcome.

How do I know that?

God Performs in the Obvious and the not so Obvious Circumstances of Life VV. 12-13

Exodus 7:12–13 “12 For every man threw down his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods. 13 And Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the Lord had said.”

They key to focus on today is to keep casting your rod, keep sharing the Word, keep influencing with Judeo-Christian values, keep ethically, morally living out the Bible in daily living and let the outcome rest in the Lord’s hands.

In one battle, the larger serpent of the Lord’s prevailed. Yet, we see the sovereignty of God all over the page. We wonder why so many times that certain individuals are so hardened to the things of God.

Moses and Aaron had to go to Pharaoh ten times more before this incident to seemingly make a difference. Why? God is working His plan. We must continue to work His plan as He sees best.

Exodus 6:7 “7 I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.”

God also stated I will keep my promise to give you the land of Milk and Honey.

Exodus 7:5 “5 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them.””

Pharaoh repeatedly has a hard heart through the saga of the Exodus. We also know that there were times that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. Exodus 10:20, 27; 11:9-10,; 9:12, 4:21

I will not attempt to explain away the sovereignty of God. We think about the concept of the 1 and 99 in the Bible as it relates to sheep. The Lord as our Shepherd will leave the 99 to rescue the one. Why did God harden Pharaoh’s heart? I do not know that I can answer that question. I do know that a hardened heart is what we all deserve, God’s judgment, but by His grace we are set free. Amen? I can only assume that God in His omnipotence knew the direction Pharaoh was going anyway and he used Him for His glory. I will never ever be able to fully explain God because simply that, He’s God.

When you become discouraged and wonder if you are making any headway at attempting to live for Christ, God every now and then will reveal some obvious results. You will see people’s lives changed by your impact. Other times, you keep serving. God is working in the background. He did not work on Pharaoh, the obvious one that needed the Lord.

But let me ask you what impact did he make on those sorcerers, the magicians, the wise men? What impact was Israel making on the Egyptians in those 400 years of enslavement? While all of this is going on, little Joshua and little Caleb are taking all of this in. Through all the wilderness wanderings and the slipping back and forth the people encountered, the Golden Calf that came and major rebellious periods, little Caleb and little Joshua were listening.

We have two young people in our church for the most part at this time. Terry, Garrett might be the next Billy Graham. Amy, when you go to the school house, one little snotty nosed kid may be the next Dr. David Jeremiah. Jackie, on what seems to be just another day giving out clothes and food at Love Loud, a new soul may enter into heaven because you shared the bread of life. She may be the next Mother Theresa.

Dave, the next time you go to a closing and the contract is complete, you might have an opportunity to offer a contract in Jesus Christ that will give better than a 20 year return on pine trees. Amen?

Oh dear church, keep casting your rod and let the serpent, His word which is sharper than a two edge sword continue to have its influence. Will you encounter opposition? You bet you will. You are enemy number one to Satan. Keep casting and let Christ reign victorious as He may.

Maybe, just maybe the fangs of Jesus’ word has pierced your heart today and you want to know life eternal with Him. You can know Him today. Let’s pray.