The Equipping of Moses March 15, 2012
God Calls and Equips for His Mission
Exodus 4 Page 1
The Calling So Far:
How is it going?
Is Moses ready to fulfill the mission God has given him?
He is talking to the ruler of the universe
He has been given specific instructions regarding decorum
He has already turned it ______
Round one
Who am______
Never mind that…who is the______
Round two
I get that you are God, but what is your true name
Here it is…try and figure it out…______
Moses is not done yet with trying to get out of the mission
How often do we say…”What if” to the Lord?
Round three
They are not going to______
God’s______on display
He takes the time to deal with Moses
He provides tools to defeat his objections and those of the nation as well
Three signs
Staff into a snake
A leprous hand
Water into blood
More Than Just Signs
Staff into a snake
Satan is not in control
He can do ______outside of God’s will
Job 1:6–12
Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. The LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.” The LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright
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man, fearing God and turning away from evil.” Then Satan answered the LORD, “Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But put forth your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face.” Then the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him.” So Satan departed from the presence of the LORD.
Satan – the accuser has been defeated
Moses should understand that
So should we
Staff into a snake
Satan is not in control
He can do nothing outside of God’s will
The power that chased Moses out of Egypt is a______
By the way – Pharaoh wore the symbol of a cobra
A leprous hand
Leprosy – a type of the defilement caused______
Israel is in Egypt – a type of the world
God is going to bring Israel out of Egypt
He does the same for us
Joel 2:25
Then I will make up to you for the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the creeping locust, the stripping locust and the gnawing locust, My great army which I sent among you.
Psalm 103:3–5
Who pardons all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases; who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; who satisfies your years with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle.
Psalm 103: 6 – 18
The LORD performs righteous deeds and judgments for all who are oppressed. He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the sons of Israel. The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him. For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust. As for man, his days are like grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourishes. When the wind has passed over it, it is no more, and its
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place acknowledges it no longer. But the lovingkindness of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children’s children, to those who keep His covenant and remember His precepts to do them.
A leprous hand
Leprosy – a type of the defilement caused by sin
Israel is in Egypt – a type of the world
God is going to bring Israel out of Egypt
He does the same for us
This is sign of God’s intent to remove the defilement from about Israel
Water into blood
The Nile is the lifeblood of Egypt
It is the divine source of life through Osiris
Blood is also a symbol of life
It is also a picture of what______, the one speaking to Moses in the bush, would later achieve on the cross
Leviticus 17:11
‘For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.’
Romans 5:7–10
For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
The Reaction of Moses
What would our reaction had been?
Would we go?
How much trouble do we have with…
1 Peter 4:10
As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
We are all in the same______
We have the tools
Round Four - Moses’ - I just don’t know how to______
Is this the same man Stephen talked about?
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Acts 7:22
Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, and he was a man of power in words and deeds.
In other words…he was eloquent
But at this point, he just wants out
For us…
Luke 12:11–12
“When they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not worry about how or what you are to speak in your defense, or what you are to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”
John 16:7–13
“But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.”
By the way, the claim______to God’s call is a common theme in scripture and continues even to today
God takes______people
Amos 7:14–15
Then Amos replied to Amaziah, “I am not a prophet, nor am I the son of a prophet; for I am a herdsman and a grower of sycamore figs. But the LORD took me from following the flock and the LORD said to me, ‘Go prophesy to My people Israel.’”
God reminds Moses He is the one______the mouth
But even being reminded of that, Moses said, “Please, LORD, send somebody else.” (Exodus 4:13, ISV)
God’s word, God’s rule, God’s teaching, God’s deliverance come not from man, no matter who that man may be, but from God.
Tom Constable, Tom Constable's Expository Notes on the Bible, Ex 4:10 (Galaxie Software, 2003; 2003).
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1 Corinthians 1:26–29
Brothers, think about your own calling. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is nonsense in the world to make the wise feel ashamed. God chose what is weak in the world to make the strong feel ashamed. And God chose what is insignificant in the world, what is despised, what is nothing, in order to destroy what is something, so that no one may boast in God’s presence. (ISV)
Moses is the right guy, but enough already
He doesn’t want the job…______
Romans 11:29
…for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
Who is God angry with – ______
Why –______(See Jonah)
God continues with the mission and adds in Aaron as the PR agent for Moses
Off he goes…but he is not done yet with trying to quit
Look at how he tells his father in law
And notice God talks to him again
God gives Moses a preview of what will ultimately occur in terms of judgment on Egypt
We also have a preview of what will ultimately occur in terms of judgment on the world
Moses is about rescuing those who will not be subject to this
About Hard Hearts
There are ten references to______hardening Pharaoh’s heart
We also see______hardening his heart
And we see God hardening Pharaoh’s heart
Two different Hebrew words
One – he makes his heart heavy
Two – it is confirmed as such
The first five plagues Pharaoh hardens his heart
After the sixth…God firms it up for him
More to come on this when we get to the plagues
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Another Objection from Moses
He had not been______with his children
Apparently Zipporah did not want Moses to circumcise his sons, so he didn’t
He had neglected his own family in spiritual things and now God was calling him to accountability
Zipporah disappears until later (18:2)
Genesis 17:14
But an uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.
God was in the process of cutting off Moses for not being obedient in this
Aaron______
We don’t get the story other than he did what God asked
They tell the people
The result =______
Moses has communicated God’s message to the people and they have come to the Lord. But it is only the beginning
The nation is in Egypt, but worshipping
Time to get them out of the Egypt, the bigger problem, getting ______