Moses: 40 years of learning what God can do with a nobody.

1. Introduction.

Have you ever heard someone say God works in mysterious ways? Well, He does not work in mysterious ways as the entire Bibles tells us how God operates. The way God acts may seem mysterious us, but how He acts is no mystery. He always acts in holiness, love, and righteousness in everything He does.

As we have discussed, God had to get Moses to the place in his life where he was usable. To do that, God had to deflate Moses’s pride, God had to meet Moses at the Burning Bush, and God had to spend 40 years training Moses in the ways of God.

God’s handling of Moses had a lasting impact on Moses.

Numbers 12:3 CSB

Moses was a very humble man, more so than anyone on the face of the earth.

Before, we go on from here, can I say something?

Exodus 7:7 CSB

Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Moses was 80 years old, but he was not ready for retirement. He was ready to face Pharaoh. Dear friend, in God’s army, there is no such thing as retirement. Moses was not even ready to do what God had for him to do until he was 80.

Dear friend, some get upset at her, but Mrs. Marge is not ready to retire from the Lord’s service. Brother Billy and Mrs. Geraldine are not ready to retire from God’s service. Terry and Anita are not ready to retire from God’s service. Danny and Karen are not ready to retire from God’s service, and neither is Mrs. Janice, and we should not think for one minute that we have time to rest on our laurels.

Do you know when our bodies can rest? When we are laid to rest. Lol. At 80, Moses was having a showdown with Pharaoh. At 120, he was fighting with the Amalekites. There is no time for rest in the army of the Lord.

There is so much we could say about the last 40 years of Moses’s life. There is no way to cover it all. We are going to hit some of the high points, or at least some of my favorite high points, and hopefully, God will have a message for us.

2. Moses orchestrated God’s judgment of Egypt.

Do not think for a single second that Moses had an easy task before him.

Egypt and Pharaoh were more than a nation and a leader. Pharaoh was Satan’s man, and Egypt was being used by Satan to destroy the Israelites.

Pharaoh had magicians who could do some amazing things through Satanic power.

Exodus 7:8–10 “The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “When Pharaoh tells you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh. It will become a serpent.’ ” So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord had commanded. Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent.”

Exodus 7:11–13 “But then Pharaoh called the wise men and sorcerers—the magicians of Egypt, and they also did the same thing by their occult practices. Each one threw down his staff, and it became a serpent. But Aaron’s staff swallowed their staffs. However, Pharaoh’s heart was hard, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said.”

If you read Exodus very carefully, you will see that these Satanic magicians duplicated the first two plagues Moses pronounced.

Beginning with the third plague, however, the forces of Satan knew that Moses was being used by God.

Exodus 8:16–17 “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron: Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the land, and it will become gnats throughout the land of Egypt.” And they did this. Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff, and when he struck the dust of the land, gnats were on people and animals. All the dust of the land became gnats throughout the land of Egypt.”

Exodus 8:18–19 “The magicians tried to produce gnats using their occult practices, but they could not. The gnats remained on people and animals. “This is the finger of God,” the magicians said to Pharaoh. But Pharaoh’s heart was hard, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.”

This bunch of demonic magicians recognized God was at work, but they did not believe. There is a verse in the New Testament that is a companion verse to this passage.

James 2:19 “You believe that God is one. Good! Even the demons believe—and they shudder.”

Do not get me to explain the Satanic power of Pharaoh’s magicians, but it is obvious that they operated using Satanic power. It was not some stage trick unless you think throwing a staff down so it can turn into a cobra just a story.

These minions of Satan were powerful, but Moses proved what Scripture says is true.

1 John 4:4 (CSB)

You are from God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

Yes, Satan is powerful, but he is not all-powerful. Satan can do signs, wonders, and miracles, but he is not Divine Authority.

Satan’s main goal on earth is to deceive, and he uses signs, wonders, and miracles to do just that.

Now, I hesitate to say this because I will be laughed at, but I bet if we could pull back the curtain to see what is really going on around us I would not be the least bit surprised to discover that Satan is behind the technology explosion since World War 2.

The Bible clearly tells us in the future that Satan will perform signs, wonders, and miracles.

2 Thessalonians 2:9–10 “The coming of the lawless one is based on Satan’s working, with every kind of miracle, both signs and wonders serving the lie, and with every wicked deception among those who are perishing. They perish because they did not accept the love of the truth and so be saved.”

Revelation 13:11–12 “Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; it had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon. It exercises all the authority of the first beast on its behalf and compels the earth and those who live on it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed.”

Revelation 13:13–15 “It also performs great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in front of people. It deceives those who live on the earth because of the signs that it is permitted to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who live on the earth to make an image of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. It was permitted to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast could both speak and cause whoever would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.”

2 Corinthians 11:14–15 “And no wonder! For Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no great surprise if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will be according to their works.”

Dear friend, just because something on the surface appears to come from God does not mean in fact that it did come from God.

Pharaoh had his magicians, and they had deceived Egypt, but an 80-year-old man of God brought them to their knees.

Exodus 11:4–5 “So Moses said, “This is what the Lord says: About midnight I will go throughout Egypt, and every firstborn male in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne to the firstborn of the servant girl who is at the grindstones, as well as every firstborn of the livestock.”

Exodus 11:6–7 “Then there will be a great cry of anguish through all the land of Egypt such as never was before or ever will be again. But against all the Israelites, whether people or animals, not even a dog will snarl, so that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.”

Verse 7 is one of the great verses of assurance in the Bible. Even though Egypt will be mourning exceedingly, not even a dog in the camp of Israel will bark. What an incredible picture. God used Moses to orchestrate His judgment.

3. Moses received God’s Law.

If you read Exodus Chaps. 19-24, you will read about Moses receiving God’s Law, and in one of the verses, something incredible is mentioned. One of the verses says that Moses wrote the entire law in one night. That is absolutely incredible. It takes me three weeks or longer to read through it all.

If you read Exodus Chaps. 19-24, you will read about Moses receiving God’s Law, and in one of the verses, something incredible is mentioned. One of the verses says that Moses wrote the entire law in one night. That is absolutely incredible. It takes me three weeks or longer to read through it all.

I want us to read just a few verses in Ex. Chap 19.

Exodus 19:3–5 “Moses went up the mountain to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain: “This is what you must say to the house of Jacob and explain to the Israelites: ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you will carefully listen to me and keep my covenant, you will be my own possession out of all the peoples, although the whole earth is mine,”

Exodus 19:6–8 “and you will be my kingdom of priests and my holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to say to the Israelites.” After Moses came back, he summoned the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. Then all the people responded together, “We will do all that the Lord has spoken.” So Moses brought the people’s words back to the Lord.”

The people of Israel were fully aware of what they were getting themselves into when they entered into an agreement with God. They openly said they would do whatever the Lord told them to do through Moses.

Then comes the moment that many Israelites came to dread.

Exodus 24:3–5 “Moses came and told the people all the commands of the Lord and all the ordinances. Then all the people responded with a single voice, “We will do everything that the Lord has commanded.” And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early the next morning and set up an altar and twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel at the base of the mountain. Then he sent out young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed bulls as fellowship offerings to the Lord.”

Exodus 24:6–8 “Moses took half the blood and set it in basins; the other half of the blood he splattered on the altar. He then took the covenant scroll and read it aloud to the people. They responded, “We will do and obey all that the Lord has commanded.” Moses took the blood, splattered it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you concerning all these words.””

The Covenant was sealed in blood. It was a Covenant that Israel entered into knowing that they were promising to do everything the Lord commanded.

Dear friend, let me just tell you this. If you enter into an agreement with God in which you make some kind of promise to God, I want you to know that you do not need to do it if you are not planning on honoring that agreement because if you enter into that agreement, God is going to expect you to honor what you entered into.

In three months, Israel was at the front door of the Promised Land, but because they lied to God, they wandered for 40 years with only Joshua and Caleb entering the land God had promised to them.

4. Moses appeared in God’s glory.

Did you know that after Moses learned to be a nobody that he literally walked in the glory of God?

Now this is incredible.

Exodus 34:29–31 “As Moses descended from Mount Sinai—with the two tablets of the testimony in his hands as he descended the mountain—he did not realize that the skin of his face shone as a result of his speaking with the Lord. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face shone! They were afraid to come near him. But Moses called out to them, so Aaron and all the leaders of the community returned to him, and Moses spoke to them.”

Exodus 34:32–35 “Afterward all the Israelites came near, and he commanded them to do everything the Lord had told him on Mount Sinai. When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. But whenever Moses went before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil until he came out.

“After he came out, he would tell the Israelites what he had been commanded, and the Israelites would see that Moses’s face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil over his face again until he went to speak with the Lord.”

When Moses submitted to God originally, he had to take off his shoes and lie face down. By this point, he did not even have to cover his face in God’s presence.

In an ironic twist, Moses had to cover his face because of the glory of God wrapping him when he appeared before the people. Moses was literally wrapped in the glory of God.

The best comparison I can make is this.

Have you ever seen someone so Godly that he or she appeared to be glowing? Well, that person was Moses, but he did not appear to be glowing. He was glowing.

Now, we could talk about Moses as an intercessor, and Moses was a tremendous intercessor for the Israelites. We could talk about Moses as a military leader, and he was a great military leader. It is really interesting how God used the training Moses received in Egypt, is it not?

We could even spend time discussing Moses as a sinner, and his big sin that prevented him from entering the Promised Land, and if I examined closely all of those details, we would be talking about Moses for another 2 months.

There is one more part of Moses’s life I want to discuss next Sunday night. We will close our Moses discussion by looking at the unique circumstances around his death, his burial, and dare I say something else.