A Leader's Wisdom
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· 66 viewsGod provides wise leaders for His people to help complete the mission God has given.
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Moses Video
Tension
This morning we are going to finish up the first of two major sections of the book of Exodus. The book of Exodus is named for the “getting out” that the Children of Israel did from Egypt. They were slaves for several generations and God rose up this rescuer Moses and sent him in as His agent to tell Pharoah to “Let God’s People Go”. Then through many miraculous wonders and plagues the LORD YHWY made his name known to Egypt and to the rest of the world. So the Children of Egypt “got out” and followed Moses into the Wilderness.
Last week we began looking at how a people with a “slavish” mindset make sense of a new situation like this. They were Children of Israel but much of the knowledge of this God YHWY was either forgotten or crowded out by the many pagan gods that their culture pushed toward them. A rather applicable picture for us today as we are much more likely to “crowd” God out with the many things of life than we are to abandon Him all together. As these Children of Israel traveled into the Wilderness, they were being trained to trust in the God who had brought them out.
They grumbled because they didn’t find clean water - God miraculously provided.
They grumbled because they were hungry for meat - God miraculously provided
They grumbled because they didn’t find any water - God miraculously provided, but this time it was in symbolic way that echoes all the way into the New Testament.
God instructed Moses to take the staff of Judgement in his hand and walk out before the people. This undoubtedly got people’s attention. This was the staff of power that God told Moses to use to bring the rebellious nation of Egypt to it’s knees. Now Moses takes it in hand and walks out in front of the people. What will happen? How will He use it? What power will be unleashed in it’s wielding? But, instead of using the staff of judgement on the children of Israel, who deserved it, He did something different with it. Let’s look at it again
6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
The Children of Israel deserved to have the staff used on them, but instead God stood on the rock and instructed Moses to strike it. Now instead of judgement and wrath ringing forth from the staff, sweet life giving water flowed for all the people. Despite their grumbing and even testing God as they question “Is the Lord among us or not?”, God provided for the people.
Then we looked at the long echo into the New Testament where in 1 Corinthians we read:
1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.
I Corinthians brought it down on a rock that brought sProvided For the rest of the book the Children of Israel will be at the foot of Mount Sinai, but to get there we have two seemingly little stories to work through. These two stories are important in many ways...
Instead of placing the blow of the staff on the Children of Israel, God in his sovereign will took it on himself.
Instead of placing the blow of eternal punishment on us, Jesus took it on himself at the cross.
It is a beautiful picture of the Gospel of Grace. We are given the gift of the reward of the righteousness of Jesus Christ instead of the consequence that our rebellion against God deserves. This is why we can sing, This is Amazing Grace!
But this morning we are going to look at what happens to two other people groups who encounter the power found in name of the LORD YHWY. In the first case, it leads them to an eternal WAR. In the second it leads them to Worship and to be used by the LORD in a very important way.
In our text today we find two other nations represented that have to make a choice of what they will do with the Power found in the name of the LORD YHWY.
brought it down on a rock that brought sProvided For the rest of the book the Children of Israel will be at the foot of Mount Sinai, but to get there we have two seemingly little stories to work through. These two stories are important in many ways...
The Children of Israel show themselves to be so far from understanding what a right relationship with GOd that God has Moses pick up his staff and march in front of the people. They know the staff of Moses. They know what the staff means...Moses picks up his staff and strikes the rock instead of the people and God provides from the Rock. Then we see how the Rock was Jesus Christ.
So if you haven’t opened you Bible already then let me encourage you to open it up to (p ) in the chairs. I’ll pray and we will learn from God’s Word together.
Truth
Truth
The first story we find in the second half of Chapter 17 starting with verse 8...
Truth
Well we are following along in the Gospel Project through the book of Exodus and last week we talked about how God was training and testing His people to trust Him. God send Moses back to Egypt to show Pharaoh and all of Egypt them there was only one true God, the LORD YHWY. Then after God recieved His people back unto himself He himself led them into the wilderness to show them that He is the LORD YHWY.
12 “I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’ ”
But God’s people had a long way to go when it came to knowing this new God. They were entrenched in pagan rituals and related to gods more like cosmic vending machines then leaders to obey and serve. Still, God is never surprised at our shortcomings, even in His time of testing he supernaturally provides for them, always looking to provide them with additional opportunities to demonstrate their proficiency in trusting in the power and greatness of His name.
The Israelites, however, were not the only ones to have to recon with the name of the LORD YHWY. In our text today we find two other nations represented that have to make a choice of what they will do with the Power found in the name of the LORD YHWY.
The name of the LORD leads the first peopl into WAR and the second into Worship and Service.
The first story we find in the second half of Chapter 17 starting with verse 8...
8 Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. 9 So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” 10 So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses’ hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. 13 And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword.
Exodus 17:
We might look at the brevity of an account like this and dismiss it as insignificant to the greater story line of God’s people, but this is the beginning of something significant.
The Bible doesn’t directly tell us why the Amalekites attached God’s people here. Amalek was the grandson of Esau, Jacob’s older brother. Remember Jacob’s name was changed to Israel, so the “Children of Israel” and the Amalekites have related ancestries and yet are very contentious. That in and of itself was probably enough to cause the battle. The Amalekites were known to be nomads who would travel around and raid passing caravans. They were the ones who we believe first domesticated camels to be used by their raiding parties. Considering the Children of Israel were former slaves who certainly were not entrusted with many swords or military training they might have see them as easy targets.
I think there was more here than just a long established sibling rivalry or the taking advantage of a strategic opportunity. This was a direct affront to the LORD YHWY. It is certain that the Amalekites had heard of the great works that the LORD YHWY did to Egypt, but instead of it humbling them, it emboldened them. We learn even more about there attitude in this encounter from the book of Deuteronomy where Moses tells the people to remember this story when dealing with the Amalekites:
17 “Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you came out of Egypt, 18 how he attacked you on the way when you were faint and weary, and cut off your tail, those who were lagging behind you, and he did not fear God. 19 Therefore when the Lord your God has given you rest from all your enemies around you, in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven; you shall not forget.
Jethro the Midianites Worshiped God
Understand that a company of people like this would place all the men up front and the women and children in the rear. So if they attached from the rear then they were attacking using the women and children as shields (today...
Haman of the Esther story was a descendant of an Amalakite King Agag
Saul lost his throne because he did now obey God and wipe out all the Amalakites and their King Agag
As a worshiper of God then, Jethro was able to offer Moses some advice.
Love how the advice is bathed in “God’s will” type language.
This was very helpful advise (not sacred) especially as Moses is about to receive all of the laws and statues of God.
Recognizing the LORD YHWY for who He is put Jethro in a position to offer some helpful advice to Moses. Advice that would not have been able to be recieved without that experience.
Wise Leaders Rejoice with others ()
Wise Leaders Rejoice with others ()
7 Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. And they asked each other of their welfare and went into the tent. 8 Then Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had come upon them in the way, and how the Lord had delivered them. 9 And Jethro rejoiced for all the good that the Lord had done to Israel, in that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians. 10 Jethro said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh and has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. 11 Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods, because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with the people.” 12 And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God; and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.
Exodus 18:
This takes humility.
Wise Leaders Challenge others ()
Wise Leaders Challenge others ()
13 The next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening. 14 When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?” 15 And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God; 16 when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make them know the statutes of God and his laws.” 17 Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. 18 You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone.
Wise Leaders Share Burdens with others ()
Wise Leaders Share Burdens with others ()
24 So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. 25 Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. 26 And they judged the people at all times. Any hard case they brought to Moses, but any small matter they decided themselves. 27 Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went away to his own country.
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