The Exodus of Moses
Part 3
Acts 7:17-36
40 years have transpired from Moses’ flight into the wilderness to where he is now
God is revealing Himself to Moses through the bush
Exodus 3:1-4
Now Moses has come to the mountain of God
Deuteronomy 33:16
Horeb - another name for Mount Sinai
It means “desolate place” yet, because of the presence of God, it became holy
Usually the site is identified as Jebel el-musa, a mountain in the southern Sinai peninsula. Moses had turned his back on Egypt to follow God. He had become a shepherd and settled into a normal life and the deliverance for his people had probably long since disappeared from his mind
Now he is 80 years old
We all come to those mountains in our lives where we see the work of God when we look back but we don’t or can’t see them while they are happening sometimes
God had heard His people’s agony and now He is approaching Moses
God always deals with us personally when He approaches us
Where is Moses in his life?
He is alone
We usually think we can in a way hide from God, either in a group at church or elsewhere. What we have to realize is that God is more interested in you or I instead of what we are doing. He is interested in a relationship and not a religion
For God so loved the world (me, you)
Ephesians 5:1-2
I am a part of the church
Galatians 2:20
I am crucified with Christ
Moses is alone in the backside of the desert but God is preparing to start things in progress
A bush burning
A man learning
A people yearning
There are 3 problems God must overcome in Moses life so he could do God’s will. These are also things He must overcome in our lives In order for us to be who He wants us to be. In order to serve where He wants us to
Getting Moses interested
He must capture the interest of Moses
The angel appeared in a flaming bush and Moses stopped to see it (Notice it says that God spoke only after Moses decided to look at the bush, a burning bush was an all too common thing in the desert but not one that was not consumed)
The difficulty here is that Moses had spent so much time in the desert (40 years) that he probably would have lost his enthusiasm for what he had started out to do
He had gone from a city dweller to a nomad who lived in tents and his burning desire for God could have dwindled
2 Timothy 1:6
We need to fan the fire
The biggest difficulty for God is to get us to see with our spiritual eyes because most of us are like the church in Rev 3:17-18 and we are blind to the things of God
How does God get our interest?
He begins by stirring the heart of one person and what an unlikely person it must seem to be. He had been out there for 40 years. He was old and probably forgotten his old life
Giving Moses instruction
So we can understand who God is
Getting Moses involved
To actually put our feet in motion and do His will for our lives
our business is to be available for God to work in our lives and not sweat the small stuff.
Moses business
Moses was now rearing a family and we all experience the same things in our lives
income
small children
He is busy, happy with his simple life, content and what God had to do was shake him from his busy life
Moses bareness
It had been a long time since he had heard from or spoken with God
He spent 40 years learning to be something
He spent 40 years learning he was nothing
He spent 40 years proving that God is everything
He must have had some bitter scars left from his first experience with the idea of deliverance for his people
He chose such an unlike unlikely person
He chose an 80 year old man
Jesus spent 30 years of His life on this earth before He began His ministry
He chose such an unexpected place
Moses did not expect to have a meeting with God in the desert
We are sometimes found on the backside of the desert in our lives
In a most unusual process
God used a burning bush to revealing Himself to Moses
Are we ablaze for God?
Can people see it?
God usually uses the ordinary things in life to awaken us to spiritual things
He speaks to us in many different ways
For such an unforgettable purpose
430 years had transpired from the time of Joseph until now (Genesis 15:13)
Exodus 12:41
We usually wait until the last minute to call out to God for help
God had heard the call of His people and now He was going to deliver them and He was going to use this man. Moses had been going through the training of God and like him we find that the training ground of God is lengthy and very obscure
We don’t always see what God is doing until after we see the need that He has called us for and we never really know how each experience is being used by God for our training
Acts 7:22
Moses was an extremely educated man. A man of power in speech and deeds
Acts 7:25
Moses thought the children of Israel would understand that he was to be their deliverer. He knew what God had called him to do but not when God called for it. God’s calling may not be for the immediate. He had called Moses 40 years ago and he had thought that he was supposed to deliver his people right then and there
We should always remember that just because God has called us now does not mean that our character is ready
Now Moses is giving God reasons why he isn’t the right man for the job
He is now offering excusesto God.
We sometimes give excuses in the same way because we don’t think that we can do something or we really don’t want to do it.
I’m not good enough
Exodus 3:11
Who am I?
I’m a nobody
He must have been second guessing himself and his calling because he had not known failure in Egypt and now he thinks he can do nothing
Is God powerful enough to use Moses (us)?
Exodus 3:12
God’s promise “I will be with you”
“If I send you – I will sustain you and help you”
He is telling Moses “You will have a successful ministry”
We need to be careful how we measure success
Success in God’s terms is not the same as the worlds
Revelation 5:9-10
Always remember that if I want to know my value I don’t look at my reflection or at my brother
Look at the cross!!!!!
John 3:16
I don’t know enough
Exodus 3:13
Who are You?
Here God unveils a very special name to Moses
“I AM that I AM”
Here we are introduced to His name – Jehovah – Yahweh – YHWH
When the people want to know who sent you tell them I AM sent you
I will direct your steps
I have filled your mouth with My words
When we speak of God we say “He is”
He is the only true God
“I AM” is an incomplete statement
I AM your sufficiency
I AM your strength
I’m not confident enough
Exodus 4:1
I am not confident enough
40 years before Moses had thought that he was ready to deliver his people
He was ready to be used by God but now he did not know if he was ready to fail again
He is saying “I went to them and they rejected me!”
“Will they reject me again?”
Now he doesn’t have confidence and he is afraid of failure
I’m not gifted enough
Exodus 4:10
They won’t believe me!
God says “What do you have in your hand?”
The first 2 signs given to Moses came in response to his faulty faith
A) The rod
An indication of the presence of God
God will not leave you if He has called you and he will not leave you empty handed
The rod became the authority of God to Moses
He took the rod with him everywhere he went and through the rod God lets Moses know that He will be with him everywhere no matter what people said
B) The leprous hand
The power of God
This was the same hand that had put down the rod
God is letting Moses know that He can change our circumstances no matter what the situation
C) Water to blood
The purpose of God
His purpose was to bring judgment on Egypt and deliver His people
The blood of the firstborn (Egypt)
The blood of redemption (Israel)
I AM with you
My Presence will enable My power for you and I will bring My purpose to Israel
The serpent was a profound figure of worship in Egypt
The Nile River was a central point of Egypt
God is going to overthrow and overcome all of the difficulties of Israel
and bring judgment to Egypt
I’m not interested enough
Exodus 4:13
Exodus 5:22
The heat is on after Moses and Aaron had gone back to Egypt and now Pharaoh had put more pressure on Israel
Moses is saying “I told You so, God”
Notice that God did not speak to Moses until he turned aside to look at the bush
How many burning bushes have we walked past or ignored?
Because we are too worried with this world or our own problems
What would have happened if Moses didn’t stop to look?
God spoke when He saw Moses take the effort
