Sermon
Moses
August 15, 2004
Pastor Donald Sheley

I'd like for you to take your Bibles. We spent the summer discussing some of the great characters of the Old Testament, and today, we've arrived at Moses. The Lord willing, next week we'll talk about Daniel, the following week we'll talk about David, and then we enter into our Fall series on an in-depth study of the book of Exodus as we learn some of the great basic truths of our Christian faith from this Old Testament passage.

Moses. In your Bible his story is told in the book of Exodus, and on page 38 we have the story of his birth. Notice with me in chapter 2 of Exodus: 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, Miriam, stood afar off, to know what would be done to him.

Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river. Pause...Doesn't she had a bathtub at home? Yes, but Egyptians worshiped the Nile River and so every day they went there for their bath, including the Pharaoh. So the daughter of Pharaoh has come down for her spiritual bath.

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, "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. That's a good deal. Mom gets paid for raising her own child. 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.

Now there's the story of his birth, but he has a very interesting death, so go with me to page 149. And we're in the last chapter, the 34th chapter of Deuteronomy. You see, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy are the five books of Moses. So from Exodus 2 to Deuteronomy 34 there are 40 years that take place, and in these passages just before us you have the instructions that God gives to Moses for the nation of Israel and you have the story of their wandering from Egypt to the Promised Land. Now it comes time for Moses to die. Look at what it says.

Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is across from Jericho. And the LORD showed him all the land of Gilead as far as Dan, all Naphtali and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, the South, and the plain of the Valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. Then the LORD said to him, "This is the land of which I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, 'I will give it to your descendants.' I have caused you to see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there."

Pause...God brings Moses right to the edge of the Promised Land, puts him on a mountain, let's him see all of this land, that he says to him, 'You're not going over.' Why? Because back a few pages in Numbers chapter 20 the children of Israel were complaining because they had come to a place were there was no water. And so Moses and Aaron go to God and God says just talk to that rock, and when you talk to that rock water will gush out and there will be enough to feed all 3 million. But Moses is angry because of those complaining Israelites and so he walks up to that rock and (bang, bang), he hits it twice, and then he says a word against the rebellious people.

God says, look at Moses, I'll put it in my words...I told you to speak to that rock not hit it, and you dishonored Me, and because you dishonored Me you're not going to get into the Promised Land. Boy, when you think that one through - an act of disobedience - but God said the reason why you're not going in is because you dishonored Me in front of people, My people. You're not going in.

So in the story of his death it says, I have caused you to see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there. Now at the transfiguration of Jesus he did get into the Promised Land, because he stood on the mountain with Christ and Elijah. Now look at the next verse.

So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor; but no one knows his grave to this day. Now the implied is that God killed Moses; because he's lived 120 years, his assignment is over, he lets Moses see where he could have gone if he had not disobeyed, and it says he died. God was the undertaker. God was the only one in the congregation for Moses' funeral, and God allowed him to be buried where nobody could find him. But there's one very interesting verse that we often look over. It's clear in the back part of our Bible. It's in the book of Jude.

Jude is that little book just before Revelation. It's a little book 25 verses long, but here's what it says about Moses; verse 9, Jude 1:9, Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" Now where did Jude get this idea about a fight over Moses' body when he died?

Well when you go back into the ancient writings of the Hebrew people there was a legend believed by most, and that legend was this, that when Moses died the devil arrived and said, I'll take his body. But Michael the archangel had been sent to bury the body himself, and there was a contention, and in that legend it says the reason for the contention was that the devil had two points. First of all, he's material, he's of this earth, and therefore I have jurisdiction over him...I'll take care of his body. His second point of contention was he's a murderer! And because he's a murderer, he killed that Egyptian out there in the Egyptian sand, and because of that...I'll take care of him.

And Michael said, just a minute, I rebuke you. And the scene in the story is that the devil had to leave and so here's a man who dies at the hand of God, God is his undertaker, God is his only congregation at his funeral, and he calls an angel to bury him. That's quite an ending.

Well, let's go back and find out about the man, shall we? Let's go back to our book of Exodus. The book of Exodus really starts about 400 years before, because what had happened in the year of 1915 B.C., nearly 2000 years before Christ, Joseph, remember, had been sold into slavery. So he goes down into Egypt, it takes him about 13 years, and he rises to the point of second in the nation. He's prime minister.

And after he has this high position, as the famine started remember his brothers arrive and finally he reveals himself to his brothers and they tell him that dad is still alive, and so he says go home and get dad and bring the family on back. I want them to live with me. So we're now in chapter 1 of Exodus.

Now these are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt; each man and his household came with Jacob. Jacob's that dad; he's the dad of Joseph. Here are the boys: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. Those are his boys. Now all those who were descendants of Jacob were 70 persons [for Joseph was in Egypt already]. Now the reason that is put in there, is because in another location it refers to the number at 75, but it's 70 plus Joseph's family. There are 75 in Jacob's family.

Now it says: 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 here's what happened. Those 70, plus Joseph's and his family, over a period of 430 years multiplies to 3 million people.

Now what happens of course, Joseph dies, other kings come, and here are these 3 million people sitting out here in the delta and the king gets alarmed. He said, we've got a security risk! If we have war and they like our enemies better than us, they'll join them and we're going to lose. And so what the king does he says, listen, first of all, he says to the midwives, you kill every male child that's born in those Hebrew families. But the midwives didn't obey. Then he said, all right, then when the male child is born you throw him in the river. So that was the edict.

And we came then to chapter 2, and it says; And a man of the house of Levi went and took as wife a daughter of Levi. So the woman conceived. And so we have with the protection of a loving mother who said that her child was so beautiful there must be something very special about him, so she hid him in this ark and Pharaoh's daughter found him. So we go to the book of Hebrews and realize that he's raised in that Egyptian palace for 40 years.

Now what happens? Look at verse 11 of chapter 2. 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. So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

Now see that's what Satan is saying, you're a murderer. You killed this Egyptian.

And when he went out the second day, behold, two Hebrew men were fighting, and he said to the one who did the wrong, "Why are you striking your companion?" Then he said, "Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?" So Moses' secret is out and everybody knows he's a murderer. So Moses feared and said, "Surely this thing is known!" When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well.

So when Moses realizes that everybody knows he's a murderer, he left Egypt, crossed the Sinai Peninsula, and arrives over in Iraq, the land of Midian. And he finds himself sitting beside a well and of course the ladies come to water their flocks and old Moses helps them. He chases away the other guys that were getting the water first. He helps these ladies and of course the father hears about it, invites him home, and he now has a son-in-law.

You see he gives his daughter Zipporah, verse 21 to Moses. And she bore him a son. He called his name Gershom, for he said, "I have been a stranger in a foreign land." Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them. In other words, the slavery had become so unbearable people were crying out, and God said I'm going to do something about it.

Chapter 3: now Moses is on the backside of the desert, he's watching over a bunch of stubborn sheep, and look at what happens: verse 2, 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. Then 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."

Well God has a conversation with Moses in the next few verses, and God said I want you to go down and deliver those people. Look at verse 13: Then Moses said to God, "Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they say to me, 'What is His name?' what shall I say to them?"

And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent you.'" So God gives his own divine title, and his title is I AM. Now the interesting thing about this folks is when you go to the New Testament and every time Jesus says I am the way, I am the truth, I am life, he's referring to this Old Testament title for himself and refers to himself as Jehovah. Isn't that amazing?

Moreover God said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: 'The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.'" And so Moses now has his divine assignment, but he's ready to give an excuse.

Look at chapter 4: Then Moses answered and said, "But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, 'The LORD has not appeared to you.'" So God said, all right, Moses, What's that in your hand? It's a rod. Throw it down. It turns into a serpent and Moses runs. God said go pick it up by the tail. As soon as he picks it up by the tail it turns back into a rod.

God said now put your hand in your bosom. And he did and when he did and pulled it out it was leprous. And He said, put it back in again, and when he pulled it out it was healed. Now God said there are some signs and when you get into Pharaoh's presence, you use those signs.

Well Moses still is very convinced; look at verse 10. 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, that is I've got a heavy speech and I have a heavy tongue. God, I really can't talk.

And look at what God says, looked at, "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."

Well he still isn't convinced. He says, look at God, you send somebody else. Look at verse 13: "O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else You may send." And look what happens in verse 14. So God gets angry and his anger is 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." In other words God said, all right, you can't talk; you have Aaron talk and you tell him what to say.

Chapter 5...he arrives in Pharaoh's presence, and you remember what happens. Pharaoh says I'm not going to let them go. I don't even know your God. Moses said, all right, we'll take care of that.

We come to chapter 7 and Pharaoh is still very rebellious. Look at verse 14: So the Lord said to Moses: "Pharaoh's heart is hard; he refuses to let the people go. Verse 16: The Lord God of the Hebrews has sent me to you, saying, Let My people go, that they may serve Me. Thus says the Lord: "By this you shall know that I am the Lord. Behold, I will strike the waters which are in the river with the rod that is in my hand, and they shall turn to blood.

So God reveals his power by turning the river's water into blood -- first plague. Look at the next one, chapter 8. Here come a lot of frogs. Now, and it's interesting, they worshiped frogs. God said I'll give you all of frogs you want. Look what he did. He filled up their house, their bedroom, and their bed. How would you like to crawl into bed with 100 frogs? And into their ovens and into their kneading troughs. So they had frogs everywhere.

Look at the third one - it's lice. I'm at 8:16, So the LORD said to Moses, "Say to Aaron, 'Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the land, so that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.'" So God demonstrates his power; plague after plague after plague, and finally we come to Chapter 11 and God said, look at, this is the last one. I'm going to strike the first born in every home.

Now go with me to chapter 12 and look at verse 29. Here's the last one. 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.

And Pharaoh said that's enough. You can go. So they leave. Look at chapter 13:21, it says, the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people. So God leads them with this marvelous display of a cloud. I

Well look at chapter 14. Pharaoh realizes he's done the wrong thing, verse 5, he realizes we let all those servants go, now we don't have any more slaves. So he starts chasing them. And look at what happens in verse 19. The Egyptians are right behind the Israelites and they are chasing them towards the Red Sea, and it says, "And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them. So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other."

In other words, God said I'll take care of this. So he drops this pillar right between the Egyptians and the Israelites, and to the Egyptians it's a wall of darkness. They can't go on. To the Israelites, it's a wall of light so they can see to cross the river. Then we come to verse 24. I think this is a funny verse. I can just see God doing this. Now it came to pass, in the morning watch, that the Lord looked down upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and He troubled the army of the Egyptians. Now they are chasing them. They're heading for the river. And so God took off the chariot wheels.

I'm trying to imagine how He did that. He just twisted those wheels right off their axles, and here those poor horses are pulling those chariots on their axles. And boy the Egyptians really said, look at, "Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians."

Verse 27: And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and when the morning appeared, the sea returned to its full depth, while the Egyptians were fleeing into it. So the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. Then the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of them remained.

God wipes out all the army and the Pharaoh of Egypt, and the Israelites are heading for the Promised Land. You'll have to read the rest of the story and it's the entire book of Exodus, folks. But I told you how he was born and I told you how he died, and he lived with an awful lot of excitement. Amen?

Heavenly Father, for your word, for these wonderful stories from the Old Testament, for the display of your mighty power and your mercy and your grace, we're thankful. And to realize that we're a part of your eternal family and you love us just as much as you loved those children of Israel in ancient past and delivered them from their bondage. You delivered us from our bondage of sin and now we're free in Christ Jesus. Hallelujah. Thank you dear Jesus. Amen. God bless you all folks.