WEDNESDAY NIGHT SERMON
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WE’VE MADE IT TO EXODUS CHAPTER 4
LAST WEEK …PASTOR ERIKA TALKED ABOUT HOW...
GOD GAVE MOSES INSTRUCTIONS ON REACHING OUT TO THE PEOPLE...
ON CALLING THEM OUT INTO THE WILDERNESS TO WORSHIP GOD
AND THAT BEFORE THEY LEFT - THE ISRAELITES WERE TO ASK THE EGYPTIANS FOR GOLD AND SILVER JEWELRY...
IVE BEEN STUDYING SCRIPTURE W/ A GROUP ON WEDESDAY NIGHTS - CALLED MASTER CLASS
WE’VE BEEN WORKING OUR WAY THROUGH THE BIBLE BEGINNING WITH GENESIS
ONE OF THE STORIES WE CAME ACROSS WAS ABRAHAM BEING GIVEN ALL SORTS OF RICHES AS HE LEAVES EGYPT
WHERE WE LEFT OFF IS AT A PLACE THAT HAS A SORT OF ECHO OF THAT STORY...
AS GOD TELLS MOSES THAT WHEN THEY LEAVE EGYPT - THEY ARE TO ASK THEIR NEIGHBOR FOR RICHES … AND THEY WILL GIVE IT TO THEM
THE EGYPTIANS WILL BE PLUNDERED IN THIS WAY
NOW WE ARE READY FOR CHAPTER 4
Then Moses answered, “But suppose they do not believe me or listen to me, but say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’ ”
MOSES IS WORRIED THAT THE PEOPLE WON’T BELIEVE HE IS WHO HE SAYS HE IS
CAN DEFINITELY UNDERSTAND MOSES’ CONCERN
IF MOSES SHOWS UP AND SAYS - I HAD THIS VISION
MOSES - SOMEONE THEY HAD NOT SEEN FOR A VERY LONG TIME
MOSES - WITH A NEW TRUTH ABOUT GOD’S NAME
MOSES - WITH A STRANGE STORY ABOUT A BUSH THAT HAD NOT BURNED UP
CAN EASILY IMAGINE THAT HE WOULD ENCOUNTER SKEPTICISM
WOULDN’T DOUBT THAT MOSES WAS HAVING A HARD TIME BELIEVING ALL OF THIS HIMSELF
AND BELIEVING WHAT A LEADER SAYS … IS SUCH AN IMPORTANT THING
BELIEVING LEADERS - IS A TOPIC THAT WE COULD GO ON AND ON ABOUT
What makes leaders credible?
THE CREDIBILITY OF LEADERS…IS IMPORTANT TO COMMUNITY
CREDIBILITY - ESSENTIAL INGREDIENT THAT GATHERS A COMMUNITY TOGETHER
BELIEVING IN SOMEONE (THE LEADER) - BELIEVING WHAT SOMEONE SAYS - IS AN ESSENTIAL PIECE
ATTACKS ON A LEADERS CREDIBILITY (IF SUCCESSFUL) ARE DESTRUCTIVE TO COMMUNITY
TODAY: WE ARE WITNESSING A GREAT DIVIDE IN OUR COUNTRY OVER INTEGRITY OF LEADERSHIP
SOME - BELIEVE THAT THE ATTACKS ON THE CREDIBILITY OF OUR PRESENT ARE UNFAIR
THEY ARE RALLYING TOGETHER - AND RALLYING AROUND THE PRESIDENT - AND HAVE BEEN THROUGHOUT THE TERM OF HIS PRESIDENCY
OTHERS - DISAGREE - AND FIND THE ATTACKS ON OUR PRESIDENT’S CREDIBILITY BELIEVABLE;
AND FIND - AS CENTRAL TENANT OF THEIR COMMUNITY THAT OUR LEADER IS NOT-BELIEVABLE
THE BELIEF OF **THAT** IS A CENTRAL ORGANIZING TRUTH ...
BOTTOM LINE ....
THE INTEGRITY - THE BELIEVABILITY - OF A LEADER IS ESSENTIAL TO GATHER ANY MOVEMENT
IF ISRAEL IS TO GO OUT INTO THE DESERT AND WORSHIP GOD - AS GOD SAID ...
THEY ARE GOING TO NEED TO BELIEVE MOSES
FOR A LEADER - ACTING WITH INTEGRITY IS IMPORTANT
IN ORDER TO HELP CONVINCE THEM … MOSES IS GIVEN THREE SIGNS
The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.”
And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw the staff on the ground, and it became a snake; and Moses drew back from it.
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Reach out your hand, and seize it by the tail”—so he reached out his hand and grasped it, and it became a staff in his hand—
I WOULD GUESS THAT MOST OF US HAVE SEEN MAGICIANS DO AMAZING THINGS… AND IF WE WERE TO LOOK AT THESE THREE SIGNS ...
MY GUESS IS THAT WE COULD IMAGINE A MAGIC SHOW…WHERE SOMEONE CREATES THE ILLUSION OF A STAFF TURNING INTO A SNAKE AND VISA VERSA.
NEVER SEEN IT DONE..
BUT I DON’T THINK - IN OUR DAY AND AGE - IT WOULD CONVINCE ME THAT THIS PERSON HAD TALKED TO GOD
BUT THAT IS NOW - NOT BACK THEN
“so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”
NOTICE HOW THE FORMULA OF THIS LANGUAGE…IT”S FREQUENTLY USED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT … IT”S IMPORTANT...
THE GOD OF THEIR ANCESTORS...
THE GOD OF ABRAHAM...
THE GOD OF ISAAC...
AND THE GOD OF JACOB … ZEROS IN ON THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL … ALL THREE OF THESE ANCESTORS ARE IDENTIFIED WITH ISRAEL
NOW - THE GOD OF ABRAHAM - COULD INCLUDE THE MUSLIM PEOPLE… ISHMAEL IS BORN OF ABRAHAM… AND ISLAM CONSIDERS THEIR GOD - TO BE THE GOD OF ABRAHAM...
THE GOD OF ISAAC … IS THE GOD - NOT ONLY OF ISRAEL, BUT THE GOD OF SURROUNDING PEOPLES… JACOB’S BROTHER ESAU WAS THE PATRIARCH OF THE EDOMITES
NEIGHBORING PEOPLES FOR ISRAEL .. LATER ON IN TIME
BUT WHEN YOU SAY THAT GOD OF ABRAHAM, THE GOD OF ISAAC ***AND***THE GOD OF JACOB...
THAT IS KEY LANGUAGE IN TALKING ABOUT THE GOD OF ISRAEL… THE GIVER OF THE LAW AT MOUNT SAINAI… THE ONE WHO SPEAKS: I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD, YOU SHALL HAVE NO OTHER GOD’S TO ISRAEL
Again, the Lord said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” He put his hand into his cloak; and when he took it out, his hand was leprous, as white as snow. Then God said, “Put your hand back into your cloak”—so he put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored like the rest of his body— “If they will not believe you or heed the first sign, they may believe the second sign. If they will not believe even these two signs or heed you, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground; and the water that you shall take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.”
Again, the Lord said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” He put his hand into his cloak; and when he took it out, his hand was leprous, as white as snow.
Then God said, “Put your hand back into your cloak”—so he put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored like the rest of his body—
“If they will not believe you or heed the first sign, they may believe the second sign.
If they will not believe even these two signs or heed you, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground; and the water that you shall take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.”
AGAIN - NOTE GOD ADDRESSES MOSES’ CONCERN
GOD TAKES MOSES’ CONCERN ABOUT THE PEOPLE BELIEVING HIM SERIOUSLY
GOD DOESN’T GIVE MOSES A HARD TIME FOR NOT TRUSTING THAT WHAT GOD SAYS IS GOING TO COME TO PASS
THERE IS A BACK-AND-FORTH BETWEEN GOD AND MOSES...
GOD IS OPEN TO DISAGREEMENT
ARGUMENT
EVEN CHALLENGE ON MOSES’ PART
THERE IS A SENSE OF MUTUALITY THAT WE SEE IN THIS....
IT’S A TRUE CONVERSATION ...
ANOTHER AMAZING THING - GOD ACKNOWLEDGES THE UNCERTAINTY OF HOW THE PEOPLE WILL RESPOND
THERE IS A REALIZATION ON GOD’S PART THAT THE FIRST SIGN MAY NOT WORK… MOSES MAY NEED ANOTHER .. AND EVEN POSSIBLY A THIRD...
IF THEY DON’T BELIEVE THIS FIRST SIGN...
THEN…MAYBE THEY’LL BE THE SECOND SIGN..
AND IF THEY DON’T BELIEVE THE FIRST TWO SIGN...
THEN TRY THIS THIRD THING...
IN ALL OF THIS - GOD IS SEEKING TO EQUIP MOSES FOR THE CALLING HE HAS BEEN GIVEN
IN THIS TEXT IS THE ASSURANCE THAT GOD WILL PROVIDE
SO - WHAT IS GOD CALLING YOU TO?
ARE YOU UNCERTAIN YOU’RE UP TO THE TASK?
CAN YOU BELIEVE ME - WHEN I SAY - THAT GOD WILL NOT LEAVE YOU LACKING...
GOD NEVER DOES
END WITH PREVIOUS SLIDE
But Moses said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor even now that you have spoken to your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” Then the Lord said to him, “Who gives speech to mortals? Who makes them mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you are to speak.” But he said, “O my Lord, please send someone else.” Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, “What of your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that he can speak fluently; even now he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you his heart will be glad. You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do. He indeed shall speak for you to the people; he shall serve as a mouth for you, and you shall serve as God for him. Take in your hand this staff, with which you shall perform the signs.”
Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, “Please let me go back to my kindred in Egypt and see whether they are still living.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” The Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt; for all those who were seeking your life are dead.” So Moses took his wife and his sons, put them on a donkey, and went back to the land of Egypt; and Moses carried the staff of God in his hand.
And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders that I have put in your power; but I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord: Israel is my firstborn son. I said to you, “Let my son go that he may worship me.” But you refused to let him go; now I will kill your firstborn son.’ ”
On the way, at a place where they spent the night, the Lord met him and tried to kill him. But Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin, and touched Moses’ feet with it, and said, “Truly you are a bridegroom of blood to me!” So he let him alone. It was then she said, “A bridegroom of blood by circumcision.”
The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he went; and he met him at the mountain of God and kissed him. Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which he had sent him, and all the signs with which he had charged him. Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of the Israelites. Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses, and performed the signs in the sight of the people. The people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had given heed to the Israelites and that he had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.
Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, so that they may celebrate a festival to me in the wilderness.’ ” But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should heed him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go.” Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has revealed himself to us; let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to the Lord our God, or he will fall upon us with pestilence or sword.” But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their work? Get to your labors!” Pharaoh continued, “Now they are more numerous than the people of the land and yet you want them to stop working!” That same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, as well as their supervisors, “You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as before; let them go and gather straw for themselves. But you shall require of them the same quantity of bricks as they have made previously; do not diminish it, for they are lazy; that is why they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’ Let heavier work be laid on them; then they will labor at it and pay no attention to deceptive words.”
So the taskmasters and the supervisors of the people went out and said to the people, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I will not give you straw. Go and get straw yourselves, wherever you can find it; but your work will not be lessened in the least.’ ” So the people scattered throughout the land of Egypt, to gather stubble for straw. The taskmasters were urgent, saying, “Complete your work, the same daily assignment as when you were given straw.” And the supervisors of the Israelites, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and were asked, “Why did you not finish the required quantity of bricks yesterday and today, as you did before?”
Then the Israelite supervisors came to Pharaoh and cried, “Why do you treat your servants like this? No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ Look how your servants are beaten! You are unjust to your own people.” He said, “You are lazy, lazy; that is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ Go now, and work; for no straw shall be given you, but you shall still deliver the same number of bricks.” The Israelite supervisors saw that they were in trouble when they were told, “You shall not lessen your daily number of bricks.” As they left Pharaoh, they came upon Moses and Aaron who were waiting to meet them. They said to them, “The Lord look upon you and judge! You have brought us into bad odor with Pharaoh and his officials, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”
Then Moses turned again to the Lord and said, “O Lord, why have you mistreated this people? Why did you ever send me? Since I first came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has mistreated this people, and you have done nothing at all to deliver your people.”