Exodus ch 4-6 Moses continues to wrestle with God’s will. He asks the Lord, “What if they don’t believe me or listen to me?” The Lord gives him 3 signs: 1) His shepherd staff will turn into a snake when thrown to the ground. When he grabs it by the tail, it would turn back into a staff. 2) When he put his hand in his cloak it would turn leprous. His hand would turn back when he stuck it in his cloak again. 3) When he take water from the Nile River and pour it on the ground, it would turn to blood. Then Mosses tell the Lord he can’t speak well and that his has a speech problem. God tells him he (God) will be with him; he will help him and teach him what to say. Moses continues to press the issue and God gets angry. He then appoints Aaron to be Moses mouthpiece; God would speak to Moses, and Moses would tell Aaron what to say. Moses tells Jethro he has to go back to Egypt and he gathers his family. Then the Lord tells him: 1) all the people that wanted to kill him were dead 2)Pharaoh would not believe him even after he shows him the signs. God was going to harden his heart and all the firstborns in Egypt would die. As they are traveling, the Lord meets Moses and is about to kill him. Zipporah quickly grabs a sharp stone and circumcise their son, but let Moses know she is angry and disgusted with the ritual. God sent Aaron to meet Moses on Mount Horeb and he (Moses) tells to his brother what the Lord has commanded. They then gather all the elders and tells them.. Moses also shows them the signs, and they believe and to worships God. Moses goes before Pharaoh and tells him that the Lord wants him to take the people on a 3 day journey in the wilderness and hold a feast unto him (God). Pharaoh not only refuse, but he tell the task masters not to give the people anymore straw but require them to make the same amount of bricks and do the same amount of work. When the officers for the people tried to reason with Pharaoh, he called them lazy and rebuke them for wanting to go and worship the Lord. Then people the goes to Moses and Aaron and blames them for making their situation worse. Moses then goes to God. He wants to know why God has allowed the situation to get worse. The Lord tells Moses he is going to bring the Israelites out of Egypt with a strong hand; when he gets through with Pharaoh he is going to let the people go. He also tell Moses about the covenant he made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This was the appointed time he chose to deliver the people and he was going to make the same covenant with them. God then tells Moses to go back to Pharaoh and tell him to let the people leave the country. Moses then ask the Lord, “Why would Pharaoh believe him if the children of Israel didn’t. God then charges Moses and Aaron to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, but he (Moses) continues to tell God why he can’t do the job. Lessons being taught: 1) Excuses do not work with God. Every time Moses asked God a question, he (God) gave Moses and answer. 2) Magic and witchcraft is real. Egypt was a pagan country; they worshiped gods (demons) and believed in magic and astrology. Because of this, they would be able to duplicate some of Moses’s signs, but God would prove to be Supreme God 3) Unbeliever will rationalize miracles and unexplained phenomenon. To Pharaoh, magic and astrology could answer any question he had about the signs Moses performed. In today’s society, man uses science to try to discredit God. 4) Disobedience will get you killed. Moses was on his way to remind the people of God’s covenant but his son was not circumcised. Zipporah was not a Hebrew, and God did not appear to her (she was not saved) so she did not understand spiritual things or sacred ritual. 5) The enemy will afflict you because of your faith in God. Pharaoh afflicts the Israelites even more when Moses request to take them on a 3 day journey to worship God. 6) When people do not see immediate results, they tend to question God, blame him or attack his messengers. When Pharaoh took away their straw but required them to do the same amount of work, they blamed Moses and Aaron. 7) As servants and minister of the Lord, we have to go back to “Egypt” and show people the way out. Joseph and his brothers had died, so their descendant did not know anything about Canaan (freedom/the good life); all they knew was Egypt (bondage). Moses fled the country years earlier so he knew the way out. Spiritual when God saves us and deliver us from bondage, we have to go back and tell others, so they also can be free from sin and oppression.
Posted on: Fri, 31 Jan 2014 19:04:40 +0000
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