Sermon series: Learning Life's Lessons From the Old Testament characters

Subject: Moses--A Dilemma and a Deliverer

Exodus 1:6-11
"And Joseph died, all his brothers, and all that generation.
But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty, and the land was filled with them.
Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.
And he said to his people, "Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we:
"Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land."
Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raames.
But the more they afflicted them, the more they grew. And they were in dread of the children of Israel."

Exodus 2:1-9
"And a man of the house of Levi went and took as wife a daughter of Levi.
So the woman conceived and bore a son.
And when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three months.
But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for him, daubed it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river's bank.
And his sister stood afar off, to know what would be done to him.
Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river. And her maidens walked along the riverside; and when she saw the ark among the reeds, she sent her maid to get it.
And when she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby wept. So she had compassion on him, and said, "This is one of the Hebrew's children."
Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?"
And the Pharaoh's daughter said to her,

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"Go." So the maiden went and called the child's mother.
Then Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages." So the woman took the child and nursed him.
And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. So she called his name Moses, saying, "Because I drew him out of the water."

Our story really begins hundreds of years before we are introduced to Moses.
According to the chronology accepted by most Bible scholars, in the year of 1915 B.C. Joseph was born, the son of Jacob.
Joseph was sold into Egyptian slavery, but soon rose to the position of second in command of the land of Egypt. Before his death, he brought his entire family down to Egypt and this event took place approximately in the year of 1885-1883 B.C. According to these dates, the children of Israel lived in Egypt for four hundred and thirty years, before the exodus under the leadership of Moses, which took place in l446 B.C.
To the semi-nomadic Hebrews who entered Egypt with Jacob, the land, even though it was passing through an exceptional period of famine, must have seemed a paradise after the drought-stricken Canaan and the Sinai desert which they had crossed. It was true that they were only tolerated foreigners, but that had been their status also in Canaan. In Egypt it was easier to forget the fact, because they had been given exceptional privileges, thanks to Joseph's high position in the Egyptian government.
The enumeration of Jacob’s family (verses 1-6) is to stress that, though no clear chronological data are given, what follows is the direct continuation of the Genesis story. With the easing of their conditions of life, there was a rapid increase in their numbers, though no miraculous element is suggested.
Then God touched the iridescent bubble of the Israelites' material complacency. Suddenly everything changed; overnight they became suspects instead of being privileged. A new dynasty brought a new king, who knew nothing of Joseph, or perhaps did not want to. In fact, since Joseph had been given an Egyptian name and had married into an Egyptian priestly family, and the records were kept by priests who had no interest in keeping the memory alive of one who had not wor-

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shipped Egypt's Gods, with the passage of time it may well have been forgotten outside Israel that he had been a foreigner.
During the years Joseph served as second ruler in Egypt, his family was greatly respected; and even after Joseph died, his memory was honored in the way the Egyptians treated the Hebrews. By the time of the Exodus, there were more than 600,000 men who were twenty years and older (Exodus 12:37); and when you add the women and children, the total could well be nearly 3 million people, all of whom descended from the original family of Jacob.
But a new Pharaoh wasn't happy with the rapid multiplication of the Jewish people, so he took steps to control it. First, because he felt that so many Jews were a security risk in the event of war, he ordered the male children to be killed, thus reducing the population in the next generation. He worked them ruthlessly, forcing them to build cities and work in the fields.
Of course, the Pharaoh was not successful in controlling the birth of male children because the mid-wives who delivered the children did not heed his command.
When Amram and Jochebed married, their child was a beautiful baby, so they decided to hide it. Soon it was impossible to continue hiding the child, so mother Jochebed fixed a little ark and placed her baby in the reeds near to the spot where Pharaoh's daughter bathed. When the princess came to the Nile to perform her religious ablutions, she saw the basket, discovered the baby, and heard him cry; and her maternal instincts told her to rescue the child and care for him.
God used a baby's tears to control the heart of a powerful princess, and He used Miriam's words to arrange for the baby's mother to raise the boy and get paid for it!
The writer of the Hebrews tells the story this way: "By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king's command. By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the rewards." (Hebrews 11:23-26)
Moses spent his first forty years serving in the Egyptian bureaucracy. "And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in word and deed."

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Josephus speaks of him as being a great soldier, and filling important offices in the state. But the memory of what his mother had taught him concerning the hope of his people never deserted him; and he made a choice which decided his whole career.
"Now it came to pass in those days when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren." (2:11).
Moses killed the Egyptian, and when Pharaoh heard about it, he sought to kill him. Moses fled to the desert and dwelt in the land of Midian. The man who was mighty in word and deed is now in the lonely pastures taking care of stubborn sheep. Like Joseph's thirteen years as a slave in Egypt and Paul's three years' hiatus after his conversion, Moses' forty years of waiting and working prepared him for a lifetime of faithful ministry.
Surely, during those long years in the desert caring for sheep, Moses meditated on the things of God and prayed for his people who were suffering in Egypt.
Then the day came when God revealed Himself to Moses: "And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed." (3:2).
Out of the burning bush, God talked to Moses about his concern for his people in Egypt. In that divine communication, God told Moses that he should return to Egypt and be the one who would lead his people from their bondage into the land of promise.
Moses should have rejoiced because God was at last answering prayer, and he should have submitted to God’s will saying, "Here I am! Send me!" But instead, he argued with the Lord and tried to escape the divine call to rescue Israel from slavery.
God’s instructions were..."Go and gather the elders of Israel together, 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 what is done to you in Egypt; and I have said I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey'." (Exodus 3:16-17)
Then Moses answered and said, "But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, 'The Lord has not

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appeared to you." (4:1)
God gave Moses evidence of who He really was by changing his rod into a serpent, and back to a rod. His hand was turned leprous, and back to normal. Then God said, "Then it will be, if they do not believe you, nor heed the message of the first sign, that they may believe the message of the later sign" (4:8).
Moses then came up with another excuse for not going back to Egypt. "Then Moses said to the Lord, "O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue."
So the Lord said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing or the blind? Have not I, the Lord? Now therefore, go and I will be with your mouth, and teach you what you shall say." (4:10-12).
But Moses continued to reject the Lord's instructions, so God got angry!
"So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and He said: "Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well. And look, he is also coming out to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. Now you shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth. And I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you what you shall do." (4:14-16).
So Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, ‘Please let me go and return to my brethren who are in Egypt, and see whether they are still alive.’ And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace. (4:18).
Moses had expressed fear that the Jewish elders wouldn't believe his message or accept his leadership, but they did, and so did the rest of the nation when they saw the demonstration of God’s power in the signs. On hearing that God was concerned for them and was about to rescue them, they bowed in grateful worship.
This was the lull before the storm! God was about to declare war on Egypt and Pharaoh, and life for the Jews would become more difficult before it would get better. No straw! No minishing of the tale of bricks! The charge of idleness! Cruel beatings! Deliverance further off than ever! The darkest hour precedes the dawn.
The King of Egypt was not an irreligious man; but he would not admit that Jehovah was supreme over the gods of Egypt.

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"Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, "Thus says the Lord God of Israel; ‘Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’ (5:1). And Pharaoh said, "Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go." (5:2)
Immediately, Pharaoh commanded his taskmasters to no longer give straw to make the brick and increased the daily quota which they were forced to produce.
"Then, as they came out from Pharaoh, they met Moses and Aaron who stood there to meet them. And they said to them, "Let the Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us abhorrent in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us." (5:20-21).
The Lord spoke to Moses and assured him that what was promised would come to pass and His deliverance was coming!
"So Moses spoke thus to the children of Israel; but they did not heed Moses, because of anguish of spirit and cruel bondage." (6:9).
"And Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three years old when they spoke to Pharaoh" (7:7).
In Pharaoh's presence, they produce the first sign by turning their rod into a serpent. The wise men of Egypt respond by turning their rods into a serpent, but Aaron’s rod swallowed up the rods of the Egyptian wisemen!
This did not convince Pharaoh, so God sent the first plague to Egypt by turning all the water in the river into blood!
Pharaoh was still unchanged in his heart, so God sent the second plague which was a land filled with frogs. Pharaoh promised Moses that if his God would take away the frogs, then he would let Israel go.
"But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not heed them, as the Lord had said" (8:15).
The third plague was lice, then came the flies, then the death of the livestock. But pharaoh was still stubborn so God sent the sixth plague of boils, after which followed the hail. "And Moses stretched out his rod toward heaven; and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire darted to the ground. And the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt." (9:23).
Still no change in the heart of Pharaoh, so God sent the plague of locusts, followed by a deep darkness which covered the land. The sun was among the chief deities of Egypt; hence there was horror which might be felt, and which seemed to act as a paralysis. But there was a light where the Israelites lived!

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The last plague was devastating and effective. "And the Lord said to Moses, 'I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will surely drive you out of here altogether." (11:1). "Then Moses said, "Thus says the Lord; about midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt; and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the animals.
Then there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as was not like it before, nor shall be like it again." (11:4-6).
Ominous words were these! And this final act of judgment would smite the fetters from Israel's neck for ever.
Observation!
It is vain for man to enter into conflict with God. God does not crush him at once, as He might, because He is longsuffering and forgiving, and would give opportunity of repentance; but, if man does not yield, the irreparable blow must fall.
Paul writes in Romans 2:2-5: "But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God."
For that most tragic night for Egypt, God gave instructions to the Israelites as to how they might be saved from the death angel. They were to mark the entrance of their home with the blood from the sacrificed lamb. "And it came to pass at midnight that the Lord struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of livestock. So Pharaoh rose in the night, he, all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead." (12:29-30).
"It is a night of solemn observation to the Lord for bringing them out of the land of Egypt. This is that night of the Lord, a solemn observation for all the children

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of Israel throughout their generations." (12:42)
To cover all the acts of Moses as he led the children of Israel to the borders of the Promise Land is a vast story, but I would like to close our lesson with an observation concerning the person of Moses. He was a man who experienced the most intimate relationship with God that any man could desire!
"So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend." (33:11). At the burning bush, Moses said, ‘I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.’
So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am."
Then He said, "Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground." Moreover He said, "I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God." (3:3-6).
When Moses prayed for God’s presence among his people, he asked a very profound request of God: And he (Moses) said, ‘Please show me your glory.’"
Then he said, I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
But He said, "You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live."
And the Lord said, 'Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock.
So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by.
Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen." (33:18-23).
The history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever risen above its religion, and man's spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God. Worship is pure or base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God.
Moses was the man he was because his concept and relationship with God was developed in the most challenging experiences of life. As he observed the holiness and power of God, his whole being desired to be totally saturated with God!
Here is the man that really challenges me!