We each have a
purpose that we were born to, and its when we’re walking in that
purpose that we experience the joy and fulfillment God meant for us
to have. By now, you must be very familiar with this scripture in
Romans 8:28
Romans 8:28And
we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love
him, who[have been called according to his purpose.
But look at Romans
8:29--29For
those God foreknew he also predestined to be
conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the
firstborn among many brothers. God planned your purpose years before you were born and
predestined you to be conformed to the likeness of His Son—so you
could fulfill your purpose.
JUST LIKE
MOSES, YOU HAVE A GREAT CALLING BUT, ALSO LIKE MOSES, YOU CAN'T DO
IT ALONE!
Lets continue, with
Moses:
Exodus 4:29
Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites,
30 and Aaron told them everything the LORD
had said to Moses. He also performed the signs before the people,
31 and they believed. And when they heard
that the LORD was concerned about them and had seen their misery,
they bowed down and worshiped.
THEIR INITIAL REACTION WAS GREAT...
So far, so good.
Moses is back in Egypt. He got rid of the sin he was hiding in his
heart and he was now doing exactly what God had told him to do. He
was accomplishing his purpose. And now, they all live happily ever
after—right? Not even close.
Every single thing God told Him to do would be challenged and he
would have to respond in faith. It would work out, but between every
success there would be a whole storyline and he would have to keep
his faith and press through.
SOUND FAMILIAR? We
get a word—a promise from God and even a plan for how it will work,
and we react well, but there are details that God purposely leaves out. Otherwise we’d
say “forget it!”
God had given
Moses a summary of what would happen when he went to Egypt. Now
let’s fill in the blanks.
GOD had told Moses he
would gather the elders together and then tell them God’s plan
of deliverance. Exodus 3:16-18
3:16Go,
gather the elders of Israel together [the mature teachers and tribal
leaders], and say to them, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of
Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, I have
surely visited you and seen that which is done to you in Egypt;
17And I have declared that I will bring you
up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite, the
Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite,
to a land flowing with milk and honey.
·WHAT
HAPPENED:29
Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites,
30 and Aaron told them everything the LORD
had said to Moses. He also performed the signs before the people,
31 and they believed. And when they heard
that the LORD was concerned about them and had seen their misery,
they bowed down and worshiped.
·Okay,
so far so good. They believed him and everyone was thankful and
worshipped God.
2.The
elders would accompany him to see the King of Egypt and Moses would
say “Let my people go”
18And [the elders] shall believe and
obey your voice; and you shall go, you and the elders of Israel, to
the king of Egypt and you shall say to him, The Lord, the God of the
Hebrews, has met with us; and now let us go, we beseech you, three
days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord
our God.
·WHAT
HAPPENED:
Exodus 5:1
Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, "This is what
the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Let my people go, so that they
may hold a festival to me in the desert.' "
·Still
on track here AND NO SURPRISES...YET!
3.The King
would say “no”. Okay, we’re prepared for that.
19And I know that the king of Egypt
will not let you go [unless forced to do so], no, not by a mighty
hand.
·WHAT
HAPPENED: YEP, RIGHT AGAIN: VS 2 Pharaoh said, "Who is the LORD,
that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD and
I will not let Israel go."
·
PHARAOH DID WHAT WAS EXPECTED AND IT’S NO BIG DEAL.
·
HOWEVER---SURPRISE, SURPRISE. He didn’t just say “no”—he
punished the Hebrews. That same day Pharaoh
gave this order to the slave drivers and foremen in charge of the
people: 7 "You are no longer to supply the
people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their
own straw. 8 But require them to make the
same number of bricks as before; don't reduce the quota. They are
lazy; that is why they are crying out, 'Let us go and sacrifice to
our God.' 9 Make the work harder for the
men so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies."
·AND
THE ISRAELITES HAD TO GATHER THE STRAW—MEET THEIR QUOTA, AND WHEN
THEY COULDN’T, THEY WERE BEATEN FOR IT.
·AND
WHO DID THEY BLAME?MOSES—OF
COURSE!!! 20
When they left Pharaoh, they found Moses and Aaron waiting to meet
them, 21 and they said, "May the LORD look
upon you and judge you! You have made us a stench to Pharaoh and his
officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us."
·OOPS!
GOD HADN’T TOLD MOSES ABOUT THAT LITTLE DETAIL, AND IT’S A GOOD
THING HE HADN’T OR MOSES MIGHT HAVE CHICKENED OUT
·MOSES
GOES TO GOD ABOUT THE SITUATION. 22
Moses returned to the LORD and said, "O Lord, why have you brought
trouble upon this people?WHY, WHY
WHY? YOU DID IT LORD! BLAME GOD. Is this why you sent me? GOD, YOU
HAD BAD INTENTIONS!!23
Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought
trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at
all."
YOU DIDN’T DO WHAT YOU SAID YOU WERE GOING TO DO. IT’S FIVE MINUTES
INTO MY PURPOSE AND THERE IS OPPOSITION. WHAT’S HAPPENING?
You can see why God
hadn’t told Moses about this in advance.
God doesn’t explain Himself to Moses. He just tells Him what would
happen—just like God had promised—He was going to teach Pharaoh and
Egypt a lesson—and Moses and Israel too.1
Then the LORD said to Moses, "Now you will see what I will do to
Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of
my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country."
God had a plan and Moses had a purpose—to carry out that plan--
the good part and the bad part. And he had to go to the people and tell them that. 6
"Therefore, say to the Israelites: 'I am the LORD, and I will bring
you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from
being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm
and with mighty acts of judgment. 7 I will
take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will
know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the
yoke of the Egyptians. 8 And I will bring
you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to
Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the
LORD.' "
A majestic powerful word from God. But Moses was the one who heard
it—the only one and Aaron was the only one other than Moses who
accepted it.9
Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to
him because of their discouragement and cruel bondage.
Oh boy—more fun for Moses. But, there are a few great lessons to be
drawn from this.
·When
we get a word from God, we have to be prepared to stand on it
because it’s possible—even probable—that others will not hear or
receive it. But, if we hold on and believe..like Moses…like
Abraham…like Joseph…like David, THE WORD WILL BE FULFILLED.
Galatians 6:9And
let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and
doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall
reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint.
·Think
of the Israelites; they were suffering greatly and their suffering
affected their attitude. They were so caught up in it that they lost
hope. They didn’t want to even LISTEN to words that promised
deliverance.
oThe same thing can happen to us.
oWe can wrap ourselves up in our suffering and be deaf to promises
of deliverance.
oOr we could just be afraid to hope---afraid of disappointment.
As I sit here preparing this message, I am in a lot of pain—more
than usual. A year or two ago, I probably would have reacted like
the Israelites I’m sorry to say. I would have gotten frustrated and
upset and forgotten about all the good things. I would have been
miserable and might have stopped writing this. And I would have
missed a great blessing. I know NOW, from experience that if I keep
on and faint not—the blessing will be there even if the pain doesn’t
go away. But, I’m pretty sure that the pain WILL go away and I will
have better days…because God has given me promises and purpose…JUST
LIKE HE’S GIVEN YOU. (NOTE: By the time I
finished recording this, the pain was gone and I feel better)
Well, Moses had to tune out the voices of discouragement. The
people he was sent to deliver were locked up in their misery and
suffering. So be it. Moses had to go on. Getting mad at the people
wasn’t going to change anything so he just had to obey God and
continue with the assignment for the day---the next step in his
destiny.10
Then the LORD said to Moses, 11 "Go, tell
Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his country."
Moses was having
his own “doubt” problems. 12
But Moses said to the LORD, "If the Israelites will not listen to
me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering
lips?"
Back to that again, huh? The old excuses and trying to get out of
the plan. Although, you have to admit that, logically what Moses
said made sense—in the natural. Do we ever do that? Use logic to
explain away or refuse to do what God tells us to do? Because, what
God tells us to do won’t always make sense to us at the time.
This was God’s answer Exodus 7:1
Then the LORD said to Moses, "Now you will see what I will do to
Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of
my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country."
God would teach the King and the Egyptians a few lessons about Who
they were saying no to and how false the gods they worshipped were.
Only after all of this would Pharaoh let God’s people go. Just like
he’d told Moses at the burning bush.
4. God had told Moses at the burning bush
Exodus 3:20So I will stretch out My hand
and smite Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in it; and after
that he will let you go.
·WHAT
HAPPENED:THAT’S JUST WHAT GOD DID—TEN PLAGUES—TEN LESSONS.
·WHAT ALSO
HAPPENED: MURMURING AND DISBELIEF ALL THE WAY THROUGH.
·WHAT HAPPENED
FINALLY: THE TENTH PLAGUE AND THEN SUCCESS---
God did exactly what He’d said He would do, but it was a time of
great distress for everyone.
THE PLAGUES WOULD FALL AND EACH ONE WAS DIRECTED AT ONE OF EGYPT’S
FALSE GODS. THE ISRAELITES WOULD BE KEPT SAFE AUTOMATICALLY—AND
THEN, THE KING WOULD SAY “no”—UNTIL
THE LAST PLAGUE—THE DEATH OF THE FIRSTBORN. AND THIS WOULD BE
DIFFERENT THAN ALL OTHER PLAGUES. IN THIS PLAGUE, NO ONE WOULD BE
SAFE UNLESS THEY OBEYED GOD AND I HAVE A LOT TO SAY ABOUT
THAT---NEXT WEEK.
There is so much about the Exodus from Egypt and the Passover that
we don’t realize. We can read about it 100 times and still not get
everything out of it. God’s revelation to His people is always
contemporary. Every generation sees great moves of God.
Let’s go back to Romans:
Romans 8:28And we know that in all things
God works for the good of those who love him, who[have
been called according to his purpose. 29For
those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the
likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many
brothers. 30And those he
predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified;
those he justified, he also glorified
What that says to me is that it’s not all dependent on us! THANK
GOD! JESUS IS THE AUTHOR AND FINISHER OF OUR FAITH. He brings us
through. For sure, we have to cooperate, but God works in us to WILL
and to DO! Hallelujah!
