Moses:
Pastor
9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me,
and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am
sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of
Moses answered, "What if they do not
believe me or listen to me and say, 'The LORD did not appear to
you'?" 2 Then the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?"
"A staff," he replied. 3 The LORD said, "Throw it on the
ground." Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake,
and he ran from it. 4 Then the LORD said to him, "Reach out your hand and
take it by the tail." So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. 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." 6 Then the LORD said, "Put your hand
inside your cloak." So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he
took it out, it was leprous, like snow. 7 "Now put it back into
your cloak," he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when
he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh. 8 Then the LORD
said, "If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first miraculous
sign, they may believe the second. 9 But if they do
not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the
I believe
the Lord wants to use this passage to encourage you in your leadership in the
Lord’s work. We want to see Moses, now
80 years of age, make the transition from very reluctant leader to strong
leader of the Exodus from
In Exodus
3, Moses encounters God in the burning bush.
This happened at the foot of
There are four key moments in this exchange that will help
us. If we look closely, we can probably
see ourselves in how Moses handled his call to service. First, Moses questions himself, “Who am
I?” Then he questions God, “Who are
you?” Then he worries about the people,
“What about them?” Fourth, he steps back when he should have stepped forward.
First, Moses questions himself. Why is he the one to do this? Decades have passed since he has done anything significant. He had a good education at Pharaoh’s expense, but that was 40 years ago. He had a successful military career but that was also decades past. He had a lot of self-doubt. The task was too big and he was not able to do it.
This is where most of us are when it comes to the things we really think should happen in God’s work. Many of you who listen to this sermon have clear and strong thoughts about what needs to happen. The breakdown occurs when it comes to you being the one to make something happen. If it is going to happen, it will have to come from someone else.
Notice the answer that God gives to Moses. He does not give Moses this hyperventilated jive about Moses being somebody. He doesn’t say if you can conceive it, and believe it, you can achieve it. He doesn’t give him a dose of faith-talk. God just says, “I will be with you.”
God’s
answer to our self-esteem problem is not improved self-esteem. God as much as said to Moses, “Good point,
you really aren’t much, but don’t worry, I will be there.” God then proposed a confirming sign to
encourage Moses and his sense of himself.
God said, when you have brought the people out of
Moses would know who he was by what he did. It would take a few months before Moses would stand again on that mountain surrounded by Israelis. There would be a lot of time, miles, and events separating the two moments on Sinai. He would have some real struggles. He would be scared and way over his head. His own people would criticize him. The Egyptians would alternatively ignore, hate, and fear him. He would be between Pharaohs’ army and the deep blue sea. But he would return to Sinai and receive the law from God. In that moment, he would know who he was and what God had done.
At you
listen to this message this morning, you do not know who you are? You do not know who you are because it is
constantly changing. God has a purpose
for your life to fulfill. Who you are will
be answered as you fulfill that purpose.
You know who you are by looking backward, yet even that is not the whole
of it. God could have said to Moses,
“you are a murderer and fugitive from justice, but don’t worry, I can still use
you.” Instead, he suspended the answer
of who Moses was into the future. Go
into
Secondly, Moses wanted to know who was sending him. Who are you, God? Maybe the question was genuine, I don’t really know. Given what God had already said, it is hard to imagine that Moses did not know who was speaking to him. God’s answer is simply tell them, I AM WHO I AM. He shows that he is. He never changes. He is. He cannot be other than faithful and true. In verse 15 he adds another title, “The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.”
For you, this means that God never changes. What he has been he will continue to be. What he says he will do, he does. He is absolutely reliable in every way. You can trust God to be to you exactly what Jesus promised.
Thirdly, Moses was concerned about the people. “What if they do not believe me or listen to me…? What if it doesn’t work? In a way, this is more of the hesitancy of Moses. Even though Moses remains reluctant, God does not seem to be displeased with him. God worked with Moses, I think he will work with us. He knows the human side and he is willing to address our needs and concerns. I never cease to be amazed at how interested God is in me as a person, beyond what I do. My hopes and dreams mean something to God as do my concerns and anxieties. He responded patiently to Moses for a third time.
Has asks Moses what he has. A staff. It is a simple sin-stained tool. Maybe it is the same staff that Moses used to club the Egyptian, we don’t know. He drops it to the ground and it becomes a snake. He picks it up and it becomes a staff again. It is a supernatural sign that God is with Moses.
Then he asks Moses to put his hand in has jacket and it becomes white with leprosy. When he picks it back in his jacket and draws it out a second time, it is normal again. Leprosy is a picture of sin. Moses may be a sin-stained man, but God will work through him. God’s grace at work through Moses will be in spite of who he is, not because of it.
God tells Moses, if that is not enough, I will turn water to blood and they will know.
Up to this point, God patiently works with Moses but that is going to change.
Fourth, Moses stepped back when he should have stepped forward. In verse 10 “Moses said to the LORD, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue." 11 The LORD said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say." 13 But Moses said, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it." 14 Then the LORD's anger burned against Moses and he said, "What about your brother, Aaron the Levite?
A line is crossed. This is not being careful, this is being cowardly. He is not asking questions, he is making excuses. As a result, God is not happy and Moses diminishes his own leadership. He will not be able to speak for himself. God provides Aaron, not because Moses could not have spoken for himself with God’s help, but because he made excuses when he should have stepped up.
God has given you a thought. There are things that are in your heart to do. The question is, are you asking how questions of God or are you making excuses when you should be acting. God expects us to be wise and prudent in how we approach the things of God but prudence and procrastination are not related. God wants us to be wise but wisdom and waffling are not the same.
Communion Text
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.