Arriving at the Stadium

Introduction

Entrance Video

Entrances matter...

Why?

Good first impression...

New beginning...

Set’s the tone...

Today, Moses enters the stadium

The arena where he will battle against Pharaoh

But in reality, it’s not Moses fighting at all

YouVersion: Arriving at the stadium

We’re in Exodus 5:1-6:13

Exodus 5:1–3 (ESV)

1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’ ” 2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.” 3 Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.”

What’s the first thing that strikes you?

To me, Aaron and Moses’ bravery

Go into your boss’ office Monday - I am going to hold a Bible study every morning for the first hour

You probably wouldn’t do that - it would be hard even if God told you directly!

Imagine Moses:

You stand behind arguably the most powerful man in the world

We think of “public servants” - the public existed to serve him!

He was thought to be a god

Plutarch - 1st century writer

Wrote of Egyptian statue called “Veil of Isis”

Egyptian Temple Inscription: “I am that which was, and is, and shall be, and no man has lifted my veil.”

However, Moses knew Pharaoh was a man...

Because he knew the real God! The only God!

So he had to do something:

Uncomfortable

Uncertain

Dangerous

And terrifying!

But he did it

Sometimes we have to make similar stands

At work maybe

Against the government maybe

Against our friends

Against family

1. Obeying God requires bravery

In Moses’ case, he demanded freedom - why?

The Hebrews didn’t belong to Egypt, they belonged to God

And he was here to help take them back

Pharaoh responds, “Uh, who is The Lord?”

Of Pharaoh does one thing right, this is it!

It’s not about Moses, Aaron, or Pharaoh

It’s about the Lord

Moses doesn’t start at freedom, he starts at an opportunity to worship God

Exodus 5:4–9 (ESV)

4 But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your burdens.” 5 And Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens!” 6 The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen, 7 “You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 But the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on them, you shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words.”

Pharaoh says, “No!”

In fact, you seem to have too much time on your hands!

You have time to make crazy requests

Your population keeps growing so you have time for other things

I think you’re lazy!

Now, not only do you make bricks, I’m not giving you the straw!

You gotta get your own straw now AND keep making bricks!

2. God never says freedom is easy

Too often we want to serve God, but when we don’t gain, we decide to quit

Feeding the homeless breakfast, but quitting when they complain

Often times we only want to do what God says when it’s convenient, or we feel good, or we like the person

We are called to do God’s will, regardless of the cost

E’yen A. Gardner: “To be comforted by God is a promise that few of us ever receive, because we are consumed with controlling our situations to avoid being vulnerable.”

Often times we deal with challenging things

Addictions, mourning, illness, failures...

And we keep them secret

We want to quit and give up, and we get angry with God

He wants to comfort us, He wants to use His people to comfort us...

But it never happens - why?

We can’t be vulnerable, we can’t be honest

We’re afraid of judgement and honesty

So we take that last bit of strength we have, and use it to cover it all up

I’ve been mistreated, I don’t trust people, they won’t get it...

1. You’ve never actually given them a chance

2. You’re hanging out with the wrong people

For Moses and Aaron, they were instructed to confront Pharaoh

Now there is a consequence - God never said there wouldn’t be!

Now we’ll see it gets worse before it gets better:

Exodus 5:10–14 (ESV)

10 So the taskmasters and the foremen of the people went out and said to the people, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I will not give you straw. 11 Go and get your straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced in the least.’ ” 12 So the people were scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. 13 The taskmasters were urgent, saying, “Complete your work, your daily task each day, as when there was straw.” 14 And the foremen of the people of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, “Why have you not done all your task of making bricks today and yesterday, as in the past?”

Pharaoh increases workload, but expects same results

Doesn’t seem fair!

NC Youth pastor responsibilities

110% youth - neglected his family so more than he should

I’m 70% youth, 30% worship

And yet, every has the same expectations

What 30% of youth was I not supposed to do

Response - I don’t know, figure it out!

The answer was simply, disappoint people

Sometimes expectations are unfair

Sometimes honoring God requires being teated unfairly

Well God, if that’s how You’re going to treat me, see ya!

John Powell: “By afflictions God is spoiling us of what otherwise might have spoiled us. When He makes the world too hot to hold, we let it go.”

The Hebrews are going to learn a valuable lesson in this:

Exodus 5:15–19 (ESV)

15 Then the foremen of the people of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, “Why do you treat your servants like this? 16 No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people.” 17 But he said, “You are idle, you are idle; that is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ 18 Go now and work. No straw will be given you, but you must still deliver the same number of bricks.” 19 The foremen of the people of Israel saw that they were in trouble when they said, “You shall by no means reduce your number of bricks, your daily task each day.”

A study of bricks around ancient Egypts shows something interesting

Straw was important for bricks

Chopped it and mixed it with clay

First, straw gave structure and strength

Allowed the wet bricks to hold shape

Then, they dried in the sun

Straw would decay and release humic acid

Made the brick harder and stronger

When you need to make a brick, and there’s no straw, what do you do?

Stop using straw!

Then your bricks don’t hold up when drying, so that slows you down

Then they crumble when drying or being stacked, so that slows you down

Now they have to get their own

Egypt had an industry to provide this

What did the Hebrew slaves have? Nothing!

They had to scavenge

In looking at old Egyptian bricks:

Some have healthy chopped straw

Some were roughly pulled, still with roots and clumps in them

Some have no straw

Basically, this is an impossible situation

What are the Hebrews going to need to figure out?

Matthew 19:26 (ESV)

26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

That’s the key to this story, and any story about God

3. There is no “impossible” with God

They’re not going to figure this out right away

But as the story goes, they’ll see it more and more

Kind of like our walk with God!

Smith Wigglesworth: “There is nothing impossible with God. All the impossibility is with us when we measure God by the limitations of our unbelief.”

If you believe something is impossible

It’s not God that’s the problem...

So let’s see how the Hebrews respond to Moses’ work...

Exodus 5:20–21 (ESV)

20 They met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them, as they came out from Pharaoh; 21 and they said to them, “The Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

How many times in my life have I tried to do what God says is right...

And the very person I’m trying to help gets mad at me?

I let a guy live in my house for free

He ended up threatening to kill me

I tried to help an alcoholic face his addiction

I get cussed out for being a fake Christian - You call yourself a pastor?

I tried to counsel a guy facing hard times

I get told I’m the reason he doesn’t believe in God anymore

We let someone use our pool

We got a bag of poop on the front porch

Let’s see how Moses faces this:

Exodus 5:22–23 (ESV)

22 Then Moses turned to the Lord and said, “O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? 23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.”

In those moments, it’s easy to forget who we are

I’m righteous God, shouldn’t that mean everything is sunshine and roses?!

Who was the most holy and righteous man to ever live? Jesus...

Where did He righteousness lead Him? To His death on a cross...

John 15:18 (ESV)

18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.

What do you think we should expect when we try to do right

We’ll get rewarded in heaven!

But here, it might get a little tough...

Moses is asking a question here, is that wrong?

Let’s see how this plays out...

Flip over to chapter 6

This is more for Moses:

Exodus 6:1–5 (ESV)

1 But the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.”

2 God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them. 4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. 5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant.

There’s three important lessons to learn here:

Moses says, “Why did you send me, You’ve done nothing.”

God says, “Don’t worry about it. I’ve heard the problem, and I know my promises.”

What do we do with that?

4. Questioning God is okay, accusing Him is not, and always trust His answers

David Guzik: Moses was “too impressed by Pharaoh and not impressed enough by God.”

God makes us plenty of promises in Scripture

Many of them have not been fulfilled, or happened too long ago for us to “prove”

However, we have to continue trusting God regardless of what we see around us

What did they need to trust?

God promised Abraham’s descendants that:

They would be numerous as the stars

They would be a mighty nation

The would dwell in the land of Caanan

There is one more promise God makes to Abraham in Genesis 12:2-3

Genesis 12:2–3 (ESV)

2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Whoever dishonors you I will curse

That’s a clue that Egypt is probably in trouble!

Then God tells Moses what to say to His people

This is more for the Hebrews:

Exodus 6:6–8 (ESV)

6 Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. 7 I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.’ ”

There’s a certain phrase repeated here: I will

He makes a set of promises here

Essentially, these are the same promises He gives to us in Christ:

I will:

…bring you out

…deliver you

…redeem you

…take you as My people

…be your God

Josh McDowell: “Knowing that God is faithful, it really helps me to not be captivated by worry. But knowing that He will do what He has said, He will cause it to happen, whatever He has promised, and then it causes me to be less involved in worrying about a situation.”

Thank God He’s given us the promises He has

But we don’t always do a good job of remembering - or trusting - His promises

Let’s see what the Hebrews do:

Exodus 6:9–13 ESV

9 Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery. 10 So the Lord said to Moses, 11 “Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the people of Israel go out of his land.” 12 But Moses said to the Lord, “Behold, the people of Israel have not listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, for I am of uncircumcised lips?” 13 But the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge about the people of Israel and about Pharaoh king of Egypt: to bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

We’re going to stop right there today

Pharaoh doesn’t want to listen

Hebrews don’t want to listen

Moses doesn’t want to listen

What can we learn about people from this? We don’t want to listen!

Here’s the take away though - it doesn’t really matter!

Why?

Let’s look at the life of Paul quickly

Pharisee, Christian persecutor, on his way to persecute more

Suddenly, the Lord steps in and Paul is blinded

Paul says this:

Acts 26:15–16 (ESV)

15 And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16 But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you,

Paul went on to write 13 letter in the New Testament

He trained pastors

Witnesses to kings, foreign peoples, religious rulers...

Went to prison, was probably eventually martyred

Probably started 20 different churches

From a Christian killer, to THAT!

That’s who God chose to use

Do you think God isn’t going to use this stiff-necked people?

Oh, He’ll use them alright!

He STILL uses them!

What do we need to know

5. God will never fail

Ever

You may not like His goals or His plans

But He will never miss His target

Conclusion

Show airplane chart

Decided to reinforce those areas

Hungarian Mathematician Abraham Wald realized something

We have “survivorship bias”

Looking at things that survived

Should be looking at things that didn’t

Those planes made it home

The one that did not had holes in those other areas

They needed to rethink their perspective

In our culture we’re taught things

We believe we are entitled to

Comfort

Ease

Luxury

Fairness

I shouldn’t have a headache, give me Tylenol

I shouldn’t be cold, turn up the heat

I shouldn’t be poor, give me more money

If we have access, great! But sometimes there’s a point to suffering

When things get hard we look at God

If You don’t give me what I want, I won’t worship!

You won’t take this struggle away, I hate You!

Things are hard, I’m so angry at You God!

Here’s the truth - God uses trials and struggles for our good

Instead of anger, we should ask

How can You be glorified

What do You want to accomplish in this

How am I supposed to grow