Moses - Part 30

Recap

We are in Exodus 17, where we are studying the “Attributes Of and Answers To the Flesh”...’

Problem at begging of ch. 17 - no water to drink

Last week: Attribute of the flesh: the attack on our spirit always comes when we are weak

Exodus 17:1 KJV 1900

1 And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the Lord, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink.

Jesus (right after fasting 40 days - satan comes along to tempt Him)

Right after Israel is complaining is when Amalek fought with Israel in Rephidim… AND he attacked from the rear of the camp to take out the weak strays who have separated from the rest of the group

2. Attribute of the Flesh: Those Who Fall to Their Flesh Allow Their Flesh to Call the Shots

Exodus 17:2–3 KJV 1900

2 Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the Lord? 3 And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?

The people were thirsty; therefore, they complained

The people were hungry; therefore, they complained

They were scared; therefore, they complained

Think about the Snickers ad: “You’re not you when you’re hungry. Eat a Snickers.”

When our physical, emotion or circumstantial pressure increases, our flesh tries to get louder - and if we are not careful, it tries calling the shots...

**If we could learn to simply stop quick-reacting to every feeling and thought, we’d be doing great…

Why is it that our # 1 go-to response is not to find a solution? (something useful)

But instead, it is to complain (not useful to anyone)… (but our flesh)

I read about how NASA astronauts while in space say, “panic is fatal.”

Their # 1 rule to follow when things don’t go their way: “Stop. Stabilize. Think. Act.”

Complaint is not a spiritual response for the mature Christian...

3. Answer to the Flesh: Go to God

Exodus 17:4 KJV 1900

4 And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me.

If your flesh is having victory over you, go to God…

If someone is interacting with you out of their flesh, go to God…

Missionary David Livingstone died in 1874. During his difficult and demanding years in Africa, Livingstone rested his faith and his future on the parting words of Jesus, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.”

Moses rested in God for wisdom, direction and guidance to lead this people...

Psalm 46:1 KJV 1900

1 God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.

**How would stoning Moses have made their situation better?

When we are “in the flesh”, we often respond in ways that are rarely beneficial to our actual position...

Israel was simply looking for a scapegoat for their disobedience...

Corrie ten Boom used to say, “Don’t bother to give God instructions; just report for duty.”

4. Answer to the Flesh: Forward Momentum for God

Exodus 17:5 KJV 1900

5 And the Lord said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go.

Action in the direction of God’s choosing was God’s solution for the flesh…

D.L. Moody used to say, “I like my way better than God’s, but I’m always wrong.”

5. Attribute of the Flesh: Failing to See God

Exodus 17:7 KJV 1900

7 And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us, or not?

Have you ever got to the point where you asked yourself, “Is the Lord among us, or not?”

You haven’t heard from God in so long you can’t remember His voice…

You haven’t recognized God’s work in your life in so long you can’t recognize when He is working…

The blind and deaf Helen Keller said, “The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.”

Israel:

Saw the Red Sea part

Saw the manna fall

Saw the bitter water turned sweet

Yet they still asked, “Is the Lord among us, or not?”

Have you ever been so caught up in your flesh that you couldn’t recognize God’s work in your life anymore?

6. Answer to the Flesh: Faithful Friends to Hold your Arms Up

Exodus 17:9 KJV 1900

9 And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.

Spurgeon preached to 5,000+ people weekly.

People asked:

“What is the secret of your power?”

He took them beneath the pulpit to a basement prayer room where hundreds were praying during every service.

He said:

“Here is the power plant of this church.”

Adding one not on your notes:

7. Answer to the Flesh: Remembering the Victories God Brings

Exodus 17:15 KJV 1900

15 And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi:

8. Attribute of the Flesh: The Battle Never Ends

Exodus 17:16 KJV 1900

16 For he said, Because the Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.

1 Peter 2:11 KJV 1900

11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

Galatians 5:16–17 KJV 1900

16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

Luke 9:23 KJV 1900

23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

Someone - “You cannot keep birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair.”