Clarifying the Call

Intro

How many of you have invited someone to church this week, or prayed with someone outside of church, or shared your faith with someone?

Why not?

The Call

Last week we looked at God’s calling of Moses. We saw the burning bush and the Lord speak through that. God revealed himself as the I AM. This revelation places him outside of time. Keep in mind Jesus’ statement “before Abraham was, I AM.” Nothing came before and nothing will be after. He just is.

And that God spoke to Moses in the field as he was tending his flock. Moses wasn’t looking for anything special. God just showed up on an ordinary Tuesday in the field.

As we discussed, this was just an ordinary day that God made extraordinary.

What was your ordinary this week that God stepped in and made extraordinary?

The Confirmation of the Call ch4

God called Moses to speak to the people of Israel and let them know that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is going to lead them all out of Egypt and back to the promised land.

Moses tried his best to get out of the responsibility that God placed on him. First, he said that the people of Israel wouldn’t believe him. So the Lord commanded him to throw his staff on the ground, and it turned into a snake. And Moses ran away from it! This was the first sign of God’s power.

The second was he commanded Moses to put his hand inside his cloak. And when he did it came out and was covered in leprosy. So he did it again and it was cleansed.

If that wouldn’t get the people to listen, then he would have to pour some Nile water on the ground and it will turn to blood.

But Moses always had a comeback. He said “but Lord, I have a stutter. I’m not good at speaking to people.

I love God’s response to him. “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.”

The Bible says that Moses still was pleading with God to send someone else. And then God became angry with him. Remember, this is early in the Bible. We don’t really know how much of God’s character has been revealed yet. So Moses is only basing his experience on what he has heard from his family passing down the stories of the patriarchs.

We read this through the lens of the NT and the cross. But looking at it contextually, as far as we know, God has been silent for 400 years. And he just so happens to pop up and talk to the one guy with a stutter. And as we’re starting to learn, Moses was also a stubborn guy.

Take aways:

When God calls, and we listen, he will confirm that call. No matter the excuse you try to make, if God calls, he will get you to it.

The Confrontation from the Call ch5

Moses goes to the people of Israel and demonstrates the signs that God allowed and they got onboard.

When he and Aaron went to Pharaoh, Pharaoh’s response is very interesting to me. And it’s where I want to bring our focus.

Who is this YHWH? or Who is the Lord?

The answer is found in Exodus 6:2-3

Exodus 6:2–3 ESV

God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them.

Pharaoh had no idea who he was talking to or about. The holy God that created the universe was calling out the most powerful man in the world who viewed himself on the same level as God. The Egyptian Pharaoh was said to have been “god on earth” for the people.

And likely, many Israelites turned to the worship of the Egyptian gods including Pharaoh. So it took those signs for Moses to convince them. Now God challenged Pharaoh through Moses to a “God-ship” challenge.

God continued to harden Pharaoh’s heart in order to show how great He is. God’s actions in these chapters and the following were primarily to show how much he loves us and how powerful he is.

Take aways:

Who is this YHWH in your life?

Closing