(2) Moses

Acts 7:20–36

1. The Scriptures divide Moses’ life into three parts.

a. Beginning Years In Egypt: 1-40 / (Acts 7:23–24) “When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. 24 He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian.

b. Preparation In The Desert: 41-80

i. (Acts 7:29–30, NIV) ... he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons. 30 “After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai.

c. Leader Of Israel: 81-120

i. (Acts 7:36, NIV) He led them out of Egypt and performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for forty years in the wilderness.

ii. (Deuteronomy 34:7, NIV) Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone.

2. D. L. Moody: “Moses spent forty years thinking he was somebody; forty years learning he was nobody; and forty years discovering what God can do with a nobody.”

I. Moses’ Beginning Years In Egypt: Faith And Presumption In The Life Of Moses

A. Faith In The LORD Was Instrumental In The Preservation Of Moses When He Was A Baby

1. (Acts 7:20) “At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child. For three months he was cared for by his family.

2. Because Moses was brought up as a grandchild of Pharaoh he would have been given privilege, provision, and power.

B. When Moses Was An Adult In Egypt He Put His Faith In The LORD!

1. (Hebrews 11:24–26, NIV) By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.

a. This passage implies that it was a revelation of Christ that motivated Moses to put his faith in the LORD, embrace his Jewishness, and reject the Egyptian lifestyle that he was accustomed to.

2. It was also during this time that Moses understood that he had a special call from God to deliver the Jews.

a. (Acts 7:25, NIV) Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not.

C. Moses’ Early Life Shows Us How Easy It Is To Mistake Presumption For True Faith

1. Because Moses had put his faith in the LORD and understood his divine call to deliver the Jews he went into action!

a. Unfortunately, the action he took wasn’t a act of faith, but presumptive action.

b. Presumption is when you act, expecting God to back you up, before you receive true guidance from the LORD.

c. Faith is when you act in obedience to the LORD.

2. That’s why faith needs to be coupled with wisdom and an understanding of the LORD and His ways.

a. Faith always agrees with the Word, is sensitive to the Spirit, and is never self-motivated!

b. It’s when you start being “self-motivated” that your faith becomes presumption.

3. Moses presumed that the LORD was using him to start delivering the Jews when he killed the Egyptian.

a. Presumption eventually leads to failure, which brings disappointment, discouragement, and disillusionment.

D. Moses Fled Egypt And Went To Midian Where He Became A Shepherd And Raised A Family

1. (Acts 7:29, NIV) ... he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons.

2. It was at that point in Moses life (when he was utterly broken) that the LORD was able to start preparing him!

II. Moses’ Preparation In The Desert: Learning The Hard Lessons Of Faith

A. Faith Is Like A Two-Sided Coin: Faith That Produces Instant Manifestations & Faith That Requires Patient Endurance

1. The Gospel’s highlight the instantaneous results of faith, as seen in the ministry of Jesus

2. Hebrews 11 emphasizes that faith often requires patient endurance while you wait for the fulfillment of God’s promise.

3. Both of these aspects of faith are an important part of the Christian life.

a. Moses was going to see plenty of miraculous, instantaneous miracles birthed through his faith in the LORD.

b. However, he had to learn the valuable lesson of faith concerning patient endurance while you wait for fulfillment!

(1) Moses was going to need this lesson in Egypt when the LORD kept saying “Go” and Pharaoh kept saying “No”

(2) Moses’ faith kept him standing strong! He didn’t doubt or give up, he pressed on by faith until Pharaoh gave in!

4. While the Gospel’s highlight the instantaneous results of Jesus’ faith, Jesus didn’t always see instantaneous fulfillment.

a. Jesus died on the cross without seeing fulfillment; but He never doubted God promises!

b. (Luke 23:43, NIV) Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

B. Both Aspects Of Faith Were Needed For Moses’ Success In Egypt!

1. Faith that would bring about instantaneous results. (Exodus 4)

a. The LORD gave Moses three signs to use: staff/snake; leprous hand; water from the Nile into blood.

(1) (Exodus 4:5) “This,” said the Lord, “is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.”

b. Every plague that the LORD brought on Egypt was instantly given when Moses obeyed God by faith!

(1) (Exodus 10:21–22, NIV) Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness spreads over Egypt—darkness that can be felt.” 22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and total darkness covered all Egypt for three days.

2. Faith that would patiently endure until fulfillment came.

a. (Exodus 3:19–20, NIV) But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. 20 So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.

III. Moses As Leader Of Israel: Putting His Faith In The LORD Into Action

A. Moses’ Faith Was Refreshed Daily!

1. Moses met with the LORD daily at the Tent of Meeting.

a. (Exodus 33:11, NIV) The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.

2. When we meet with Jesus He gives us the grace that we need to continue living by faith.

a. (Hebrews 12:2, NIV) fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. ...

3. Moses was extremely busy, but he knew that without Jesus he could do nothing!

a. (John 15:5, NIV) “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

b. Once when Martin Luther of the Reformation was asked what his plans for the following day were, answered: “Work, work, from early until late. In fact, I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.”

B. Moses’ Faith Was Expressed With A Sacrificial Love (Just like Jesus!)

1. Moses was a man of the Law, but he was also full of mercy and faith that was expressed through love.

a. (Galatians 5:6, NIV) ... The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

2. See the faith and love of Moses as he interceded on behalf of the Israelites when they worshipped the golden calf.

a. (Deuteronomy 9:13–14, 18-19, NIV) And the Lord said to me, “I have seen this people, and they are a stiff-necked people indeed! 14 Let me alone, so that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven. And I will make you into a nation stronger and more numerous than they.” ... 18 Then once again I fell prostrate before the Lord for forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water, because of all the sin you had committed, doing what was evil in the Lord’s sight and so arousing his anger. 19 I feared the anger and wrath of the Lord, for he was angry enough with you to destroy you. But again the Lord listened to me.

C. Moses’ Faith In The LORD Produced In Him A Divine Authority

1. Moses had grown up using fleshly authority; but now he had divine authority based on his faith in the LORD!

2. Faith which gave Moses the courage and boldness to boldly proclaim God’s will!

3. Faith that wouldn’t back down to the forces of flesh (Pharaoh) or the powers of darkness (gods of Egypt)