When You Feel Inadequate

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2-22-15 Moses: A Reluctant Hero

When You Feel Inadequate

INTRO

It really only takes one bad day to shake our confidence doesn’t it?

Imagine how some marine biologists felt. They spent $80,000 per seal rehabilitating seals after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska. A special ceremony was held to celebrate their work as they released the first two seals back into the wild. The marine biologists were beaming with pride. There were cheers and applause from the crowd that was gathered to celebrate; but the applause turned to gasps when 1 minute after the release of the seals they were both eaten by a killer whale.

Now imagine how Moses must have felt as he sat on a hillside in Midian tending sheep and thinking back to his days growing up in Egypt. He must have wondered how things could have possibly gone so wrong. God had given him great compassion for his people the Israelites who were enslaved in Egypt; but because of one bad day—one impulsive choice—he had to flee from Egypt as a fugitive. Now he sat on a hillside 40 years later—former Egyptian royalty—tending sheep, living in a tent, and reflecting on his epic fail.

TEXT

The last half of Exodus 2 tells the story of…

Moses’ Epic Fail

As I said last week…

• Moses was moved with compassion for his people.

He saw them slaving away under the heavy hand of the Egyptians. He had a great desire to see his people freed from this injustice. One day Moses’ compassion for his people was stirred to the breaking point when he saw one of his countrymen being physically abused by an Egyptian slave-driver. So…

• Moses impulsively took matters into his own hands.

Moses checked to see if anyone was looking and then killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand. The next day he tried to break up a fight between two Israelites, but instead of responding to his leadership they called him out on the murder. Moses knew he had failed—the right motive was overpowered by the wrong action—so he ran for his life. He fled from Egypt to Midian; and 40 years later he sat watching his father-in-law’s sheep graze underneath Mount Sinai, thinking about his epic fail. This broken man had no idea that he was about to receive an epic call from God.

Moses’ Epic Call from God

Now listen as I read Exodus 3:1-10.

1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.” 4 When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” 5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. 7 The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 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 Egypt.” Exodus 3:1-10

Moses noticed that there was a bush on fire on the hillside, but it did not burn up; so Moses went to investigate. As he approached the bush the text says in v. 4… God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” As far as we know it had been 400 years since anyone had heard from God in this way; and it was the first time for Moses. Moses answered the voice; but when God identified Himself as the God of Moses’ ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; Moses fell on his face.

Then the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob told Moses that 40 years ago he had been on the right track—God had also noticed the suffering of the people of Israel. Imagine what Moses was thinking when God said, I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers… If Moses wasn’t laying on his face in fear he might have been tempted to say, “Well it’s about time!”

Then God said in v. 8… So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey… Moses was probably ready to stand up and shout “Amen!”—but then in v. 10 God said, “So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

If Moses was starting to stand, he probably fell down very quickly when he heard that. The last place Moses was planning to return to was Egypt and the last person he planned to talk to was Pharaoh. So Moses began an epic argument with God.

Moses’ Epic Argument with God

Look at Exodus 3:11-12. 11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” 12 And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” Exodus 3:11-12

• Moses’ 1st Question: “Are you sure you have the right person?”

As soon as God told Moses He wanted him to go back to Egypt, Moses gave it one of these… (Look around) Who? Me? Moses said to God, “Who am I…?” And in v. 12 we see God’s answer; and that answer is today’s Big Idea: God’s answer to “Who am I?” is always “I will be with you.” When we feel inadequate we need to remember that it is not about who you are or who I am; it is about who God is. It is not a question of whether we can do it. In fact, what is really sad is that we only want to do what we can do on our own. If we can do it on our own we don’t need God and we don’t need faith. George Mueller wrote, “Faith does not operate in the realm of the possible.” The question is not whether Moses was the right person—whether you or I are the right person. The question is whether we are willing to let God accomplish His will through us.

• Moses’ second question: “Why would they follow me?

That is really what Moses was asking in v. 13 when he said…

“Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” Exodus 3:13

Moses’ first question was about his ability. This question is about his authority. Let’s look at God’s answer in v. 14… God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” Exodus 3:14 God’s answer to Moses is drop my name.

This answer was very significant to the people of Israel. This is the first time God told them what He wanted to be called—His preferred name for Himself. Exodus 6:3 gives us some more insight. God says there… I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself fully known to them. “God Almighty” is El Shaddai. That is one of the most common names for God in the Old Testament. But now God gives His own preference. God says, “Call me ‘I am that I am;’” Yahweh in Hebrew. This became a very special name to the people of Israel—a name so revered they wouldn’t even say it out loud. In the NIV they always spell Yahweh as LORD with all capital letters. Yahweh means “I am that I am” or “the self-existent one.” God, who had no beginning and will have no end, had no creator. He simply said, “Call me ‘I am.’”

This silences Moses for awhile. In the rest of chapter 3 God explains His plan for Moses to go back to Egypt in more detail. But then at the beginning of chapter 4, Moses begins to argue with God again. Look at Exodus 4:1. Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you’?” Exodus 4:1

• Moses’ Third Question: “How do I get them to listen?”

The word “they” in Exodus 4:1 refers to both the people of Israel and Pharaoh. During his epic fail, the people of Israel wouldn’t listen to him. Why would they listen to him now? And why would the most powerful man in the world—the King of Egypt—listen to him?

God’s answer is: “Show them my power.” God gave Moses the ability to turn his staff into a snake and then turn it back again. God gave Moses a second sign in Exodus 4:6-7; the ability to pull his hand out of his robe leprous and then pull it out again healed. In Exodus 4:9 God gave Moses a third sign—the sign that would lead into the 10 plagues against Egypt. God gave Moses the ability to turn the water of the Nile into blood.

God gave Moses 3 signs he could use to demonstrate that he had God’s power behind him. Moses was running out of questions, so he turns to an excuse—a lame excuse.

• Moses’ Lame Excuse: “I’m no public speaker.”

Look at Exodus 4:10. It says… Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, 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.”

The reason I say this is a “lame” excuse is because Moses’ claim directly contradicts Stephen’s account in Acts 7:22 where it says… Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.

Either Moses’ self-confidence was so crushed from his epic fail that he really believed he couldn’t speak well, or he was trying to find any excuse he could. Either way, it was a lame excuse in God’s eyes. Look at His answer in Exodus 4:11-12… 11 The LORD said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the LORD? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” Exodus 4:11-12

Once again God’s answer is: “It’s not about your ability, but mine!” What is God’s response to “Who am I?” It is “I will be with you.”

Moses realizes he is not getting anywhere in this argument with God—and neither will you or I. So he tries one final request…

• Moses’ Final Request: “Can’t someone else do it?”

Look at Exodus 4:13… But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”

God’s answer: He gets ticked!

Exodus 4:14 begins… Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses… Let’s be careful here. This is not some type of short-fused loss of temper on God’s part. This is a holy anger… but it is anger nonetheless. Up until now god has simply answered Moses’ questions. He seemed a little indignant when Moses made his lame excuse, but he answers. But when Moses asked to take a pass on obeying God’s call, God got angry.

Listen to this story of 4 people; Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it but Nobody did. Somebody got angry because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought that Somebody would do it. But Nobody asked Anybody. It ended up that the job wasn’t done and Somebody blamed Everybody when actually Nobody asked Anybody!

CONCLUSION

Moses received a clear calling from God and he could not deny it. You might be thinking, “Well I haven’t seen any burning bushes lately and I certainly haven’t heard the voice of God!” Well, we may not all hear a call from a burning bush, but all Christians have a calling.

Galatians 5:13 says… You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. The Apostle Paul is pointing out that although Christians are free from trying to earn their salvation by obeying the law, we were not set free to indulge ourselves. Instead, we were set free to humbly serve one another in love. Every Christian has a calling and that calling is to serve God by serving others. You don’t need to serve alone. You don’t need to serve in your own strength. But if you have responded to God’s call to salvation, then you have a calling to serve. That might make you a little uncomfortable. You may not feel very confident about your ability to fulfill that calling. But remember, neither did Moses. He was a reluctant hero; but God used him because he was finally willing. What about you?