Moses - Part 12

Recap

Last week we spoke about the web of God’s sovereign will...

How he used the 5 parties: Moses, Aaron, Pharaoh, Egyptians and Israelites...

To accomplish something in one of the other groups...

God’s Perfect will means something that happens in, around or through me is not always about me only...

We already covered the first part of chapter 6 last week, now we focus on the second half of 6 and the first half of 7...

1. The Lineage of God’s Servants

**Don’t look at these portions of scripture as “useless genealogies that I don’t need to read or care about”...

Because God gave “all scripture”… and claimed all of it was profitable for doctrine, reproof and correction in righteousness...

Why?

So we can be perfect and thoroughly furnished unto all good works...

In our fast-paced culture, we need to exercise spiritual character to have the ability to sit and meditate on the tougher portions of scripture, such as the genealogies, law given from God to Moses, orders of the tabernacle...

Watched a Ted Talk about a guy who talked on “How to Focus Your Brain”...

The studies show that when we work on something with our phone nearby, we only focus on that thing for an average of 40 seconds before switching to something else...

He said there is a mechanism in our brain called the “novelty bias”

Which causes our brains to give us a hit of dopamine (the pleasure chemical of the brain - the addicting chemical we get from eating good food, making love, etc.)

Our natural mind actually rewards us for not only being distracted, but seeking out distractions

Boredom is the restlessness you feel when you go from high stimulation to low stimulation...

As an experiment, he made himself do something of low stimulation and complexity for one hour a day for 30 days...

Day 1: read the terms and conditions of Apple (1 hour)

Day 4: waited on hold with Air Canada’s baggage claim department

Day 19: counted all the zeros in the first 10,000 digits of Pi

Day 24: watched a clock (1 hour)

Found: Longer attention span, more ideas, more plans

Why am I talking about this?

I think we have gotten so fast paced in our culture that we are including our Bible time in that as well...

We fly through our reading and study time...

To the point we come to a genealogy and we skip through it assuming it’s just a list of names...

Now, we’re going to read the genealogy here...

Exodus 6:13–27 KJV 1900

13 And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, and gave them a charge unto the children of Israel, and unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt. 14 These be the heads of their fathers’ houses: The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel; Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi: these be the families of Reuben. 15 And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman: these are the families of Simeon. 16 And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari: and the years of the life of Levi were an hundred thirty and seven years. 17 The sons of Gershon; Libni, and Shimi, according to their families. 18 And the sons of Kohath; Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel: and the years of the life of Kohath were an hundred thirty and three years. 19 And the sons of Merari; Mahali and Mushi: these are the families of Levi according to their generations. 20 And Amram took him Jochebed his father’s sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were an hundred and thirty and seven years. 21 And the sons of Izhar; Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri. 22 And the sons of Uzziel; Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Zithri. 23 And Aaron took him Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Naashon, to wife; and she bare him Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 24 And the sons of Korah; Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph: these are the families of the Korhites. 25 And Eleazar Aaron’s son took him one of the daughters of Putiel to wife; and she bare him Phinehas: these are the heads of the fathers of the Levites according to their families. 26 These are that Aaron and Moses, to whom the Lord said, Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies. 27 These are they which spake to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt: these are that Moses and Aaron.

What’s listed here is the genealogies of Reuben, Simeon and Levi...

These genealogies show from the beginning of the lineage up to the birth of Aaron and Moses and leading up to this very moment...

Think of your genealogies:

Who is in it

Where God brought your ancestors from to this day

It’s likely your lineage goes back to another country and now God has YOU in Roseburg, Oregon “for such a time as this”

Moses said, “I am nobody”… But God proved to Moses He was somebody and He would be Moses’ mouth...

You might say, “I don’t have the heritage”… But God proved to Moses He knew exactly the stock he came from to this very point in history...

Other things you may say about your genealogy:

“There’s mental problems in my family.”

“There’s physical problems in my family.”

Here: God stated their place in Israel’s tribal history

God knew exactly where Moses and Aaron came from, who they came from, the problems with every person that falls in their lineage and still decided to use them for this very purpose...

Notice in the text how God spoke of the tribe of Reuben, Simeon and Levi...

Reuben: only his sons are listed

Simeon: only his sons are listed

Levi (tribe Moses and Aaron are from): full family record given all the way to Aaron and Moses

The Lineage of God’s Servants

2. The Legitimacy of God’s Servants

Exodus 6:26–27 KJV 1900

26 These are that Aaron and Moses, to whom the Lord said, Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies. 27 These are they which spake to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt: these are that Moses and Aaron.

“That Aaron and Moses”

“These are they”

“These are that”

God gives the genealogy...

Then turns back around and explains “These are them”...

In case there is any confusion… HERE THEY ARE...

They are not counterfeit...

They are the real deal...

“The very one’s from this defined lineage given by God...”

Just as much that God had a very specific time and place in the Levitical lineage and human history for Aaron and Moses...

He also has a very specific time and place for you in your family history...

Don’t let your task go by unfulfilled because you wouldn’t trust God enough to accomplish His will through you...

The Lineage of God’s Servants

The Legitimacy of God’s Servants

3. The Liberty of God’s Service

We spoke about the first 6 verses of chapter 7 last week, but let’s read to remind ourselves:

Exodus 7:1–6 KJV 1900

1 And the Lord said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet. 2 Thou shalt speak all that I command thee: and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send the children of Israel out of his land. 3 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. 4 But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. 5 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them. 6 And Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded them, so did they.

Exodus 7:7 KJV 1900

7 And Moses was fourscore years old, and Aaron fourscore and three years old, when they spake unto Pharaoh.

Just like it’s NOT “just a list of genealogies and name”...

It’s also NOT “just some numbers and ages”...

Moses - age 80

Aaron - age 83

Notice the verses: Chapter 7, verse 7 (7 being the number of completion in the Bible)

Moses and Aaron are not at the time of completion in their preparation and we’re about to begin the plagues...

Notice the text: “...when they spake unto Pharaoh.”

You’re never too old to serve God

Think with me:

God could’ve given Moses supernatural strength like Samson back when he was 40 years old and instead of slaying one Egyptian, God could’ve used him to slay all of the Egyptians right then and there… Instead of waiting 40 more years, God could’ve delivered Israel right then… But He chose not too...

God could’ve given Moses an army of soldiers that He would eventually dwindle down to 300 like Gideon and defeat all of the Egyptians, but He didn’t...

God waited till Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90 years old before Isaac would be birthed...

God could have used the experienced and tested soldiers of Israel to defeat Goliath, but instead He used a youth...

Jesus could’ve chosen the scholars of the synagogue, but instead He chose fisherman and “unlearned and ignorant men.” (Acts 4:13)

It’s not always youth, but sometimes old age

It’s not always strength, but sometimes weakness

It’s not always weapons, but sometimes worship

It’s not always the qualified, but the unlikely

“God doesn’t call the qualified, he qualifies the called.”

It’s not up to you to determine if your lineage has enough in it to meet the qualifications of what God calls you too...

It’s not up to you to determine if you have the qualifications to succeed at what God calls you too...

It’s not up to you to decide HOW God uses you is appropriate or not...

Our job is to trust and obey...