God Qualifies the Called - Pastor Tom Loghry
In Exodus 4, Moses tries to get out of the mission that God has laid out for him, but God reminds him where his power comes from.
Transcript:
Where in your life does your faith in God begin to come up short? I think many of us might say we believe in the power of God to save, heal, and restore, and we pray just along those lines. But when we feel the hand of God upon us, calling us to go and to do his will, to be an instrument in his hand, our faith can begin to falter. We believe God can lead people to put their faith in Christ, but do we believe he'll use us to bring that about? We believe God can use the people in this church to lead and and build each other up in the faith, but do you believe that God can use you? How do you respond? How have you responded?
In Exodus 4, we pick up where we left off in Moses's encounter with God at the burning bush. God has told Moses that he is to deliver the people of Israel from the hand of Pharaoh to the land promised by God to his forefathers. Already, in the face of his concerns that Pharaoh would not listen to him, God has assured Moses that he would be with him and ultimately deliver the people by striking Egypt with great signs of his power. Now, as their conversation continues, we find Moses descending into greater and greater doubt and apprehension.
Beginning in verse one of chapter four. It says, Moses answered, what if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, the Lord did not appear to you? And then the Lord said to him, what is that in your hand? A staff, he replied. The Lord said, throw it on the ground. Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. And then the Lord said to him, reach out your hand and take it by the tail. So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake, and it turned back into a staff in his hand. This, said the Lord, is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.
Then the Lord said, put your hand inside your cloak. So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, the skin was leperous-- it had become as white as snow. Now put it back into your cloak, he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh. Then the Lord said, if they do not believe you or pay attention to the first sign, they may believe the second. But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground.
The first thing to just make sure that you pick out here as we look at these verses is who is the they that Moses is referring to here? The they he is referring to is not Pharaoh, it's not Pharaoh's court, it is the people of Israel. He's concerned that the people of Israel, the elders of the people, will doubt that the Lord has actually appeared to him. Now, it's very easy for us as we're in the middle of the story and saying, come on Moses, why would you doubt that? But that would be a natural doubt for any of us. God appeared to me in a burning bush. Oh really? He really appeared to you. Why should I believe that? So we can imagine why Moses has some concerns here. And so God says, don't worry. I'm going to provision you with signs to demonstrate to them that what you say is true.
And so the first thing he does is he tells him to cast his staff on the ground, and it turns into a snake. Now, the, my favorite detail here is that Moses runs away. He's like, what the heck? He like, runs away. He was not expecting that. And you can almost imagine God chuckling about it, and he says, okay, now just go grab it by the tail and it's gonna turn back into a staff.
And then moving on into verses six through nine, we see that God says, and I'm gonna give you other signs if this isn't sufficient. If they think, oh, this is just a party trick or something, he says, you know, put your hand inside your cloak, take it out, and it looks leperous. Now that means like the skin is rotting away, and put it back in and it comes out and it's okay. And then lastly, he says, if they don't believe those two signs, if you take out water from the Nile and pour it on the ground, it's going to turn into blood. So God is answering Moses' concerns here. What, for what reason will they believe me? God's saying I'm going to give them signs that would lead them to believe the words that you're saying.
And just kind as a side note here, that's the purpose of miracles. Miracles aren't just fun tricks or something. They're, they're meant to be signs that help testify to the truthfulness of one's message and testimony. It's for this reason that we see when the apostles are going forth with the gospel its attended by many signs. We, we could say the same about Jesus' own ministry. All these things were signs pointing to who Jesus is. All the signs that attended the apostle's ministry was pointing to the truthfulness of their testimony and, and insofar as we see missionaries going out to places and signs are being performed there, we see that these are given in order to testify to the truthfulness of the message that they bring. Now these are some pretty awesome provisions and we think that it'd be enough for Moses, but this seems to just make him only reach deeper into his bag of doubts and objections.
Continuing on in verse 10 says, Moses said to the Lord, pardon your servant, Lord. I've never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I'm slow of speech and tongue. The Lord said to him, who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I'll help you speak and will teach you what to say.
Now we don't know whether Moses was necessarily all that bad at speaking, but whether it's the case or not, he's making excuses here as to why he, he can't speak before the people. Maybe it's something as serious, maybe he has a stutter or something like that. Maybe it's that, or maybe he's just, I'm afraid of speaking in front of people. A whole range of possibilities here. But in any case, he's like, I'm just not the guy for this job, God, to lead people, to talk to Pharoah, you know, to do all this. I, I can't do this.
And then God responds in a very pointed way. He, he doesn't say, oh no, Moses, you can do this. I, I've heard you speak before. You're a great speaker. You got this bud. He doesn't say that. He points to himself. It is not about your confidence in yourself, Moses. Your confidence is to be based upon me. I'm the one who's telling you to go and do this mission, and I'm the one who is able to make you speak.
He says, who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I the Lord? He assures him, he says, I'm going to enable you to do what I've called you to do. Now, upon hearing that, we would think that Moses say, all right, then, okay, God, I will go.
We would think that, but oh no, Moses doubles down verse 13, but Moses said, pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else. Then the Lord's anger burned against Moses and he said, what about your brother Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he'll be glad to see you. You shall speak to him and put your words, put words in his mouth. I'll help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. He'll speak to the people for you, and it'll be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. But take this staff in your hand so you can perform the signs with it.
The audacity, the audacity of Moses to say, no really God, please send someone else. It says that God's anger burns against him. Now, that's a dangerous place to be when God's anger is burning against you. Yet, rather than the fire leaping out from the bush and consuming Moses, we see God show him mercy. God knows that Moses' brother Aaron is apparently very able in his speech and he tells Moses, he's on his way here, so, which is just a really interesting, just, tidbit there. God actually understood that Moses was going to make this objection, that he was going to dig in his heels, and so he had already had Aaron on his way to Moses.
And in having Aaron come to him, he is not saying that, okay, Aaron's got this under control. No, Moses still has a role to play here, and God, of course, is the one who's upholding this work that he's calling them to do. He says, I'll help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. So neither Moses nor Aaron are doing this in their, their own power.
They're doing it in the power of God. And so at that point, Moses doesn't offer any further protest. Takes his staff, he packs up. Verse 18 says, then Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, let me return to my own people in Egypt to see if any of them are still alive. Jethro said, go, and I wish you well. Now the Lord had said to Moses in Midian, go back to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kill you are dead. So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, started back to Egypt. And he took the staff of God in his hand. The Lord said to Moses, when you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I've given you the power to do. But I will hearten his heart so that he will not let the people go. Then say to Pharaoh, this is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son, and I told you, let my son go, so he may worship me. But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.
I think it's impressive here that Jethro doesn't protest Moses going back to Egypt, taking Jethro's daughter and his grandsons with him back there, I think it's probably some indication of his faith, although it doesn't say here that Moses had explained to Jethro everything that God had called him to do. All Moses merely says is, let me return to, to my own people in Egypt to see if any of them are still alive, which we shouldn't think is, I don't think Moses is telling a lie here. He is probably really genuinely curious about this. But what we see here is that Moses is moving forward in faith. He has enough faith, at least to believe what God had told him, that his enemies are dead. He had no way of knowing that, but God had apparently revealed to him that the threat against his life was no longer present.
And so in verse 20, it says that he goes with his wife, his sons, takes up his staff, and reiterates everything that God had told him to do. That he was, Moses was to go to Egypt, perform these wonders before Pharaoh. But then interestingly, it says that he was going to harden Pharaoh's heart. He was going to harden Pharaoh's heart.
Now, before we pick up on that detail, we also notice this, the point of this hardening. It says so that he will not let the people go. And then that Moses was to say to Pharaoh, this is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son, and I told you, let my son go so may, he may worship me. But you refused to let him go, so I will kill your firstborn son.
Notice the relationship of the people of Israel to God here. God is identifying Israel here as his firstborn son, meaning, it's not that God doesn't care about the rest of the nations or the rest of the world, but Israel is God's chosen people, his called out people, and what he's instructed Moses to do, ultimately, is to bring them to the promised land. But first off, he had told Moses to tell Pharaoh that he needs to take the people into the wilderness to worship God at Mount Sinai. And yet what's gonna occur here is that Pharaoh isn't, is not going to let them do that. He's gonna deny God's firstborn son from going and worshiping him. And as a consequence, Pharaoh is going to lose his own firstborn son, and we'll see that play out as we move forward here in Exodus.
But back to that detail that we, we noticed here in verse 21, where, where God says, I will harden Pharaoh's heart so that he will not let the people go. An interesting statement, you think, why would God harden the heart of Pharaoh? What is his purpose? What is his plan? Certainly not just so that, his purpose isn't mere, isn't simply that Pharaoh's heart would be hardened, that wouldn't be a good thing.
The point and purpose of God here is to reveal his glory and to reveal himself not only to the Egyptians, but to his firstborn son Israel, to reveal his glory before all of the worlds. What we have here is a little glimpse into the great magnitude of God's power and sovereignty in all things, over all of human life. We have to understand that God is not a man so that he is surprised by anything or has to make adjustments or course corrections. And so when we think about that, we have to realize God was not surprised by Adam and Eve's rebellion against him. He knew that was gonna happen all the time. In fact, he planned on it. He planned that that was going to occur because ultimately it was going to lead to Christ and to everything that we find in Revelation 21 and 22. And yet God did not put evil into the heart of Adam and Eve. They did what their own hearts desired in rebelling against him. And the same is true here of Pharaoh.
Pharaoh is only doing what his own heart desires, and yet God is working things together that he's just gonna double down on that. He's going to double down on that in order that the full power and glory of God would be revealed. Now, this is a mystery how that works together, of how God has his sovereign plan in place, and yet human beings are freely doing what their own hearts desire and are culpable for that. But this isn't a mystery unique to this detail here in Exodus. It's at the very heart of the gospel itself. In Acts four verses 24 through 28, we hear the, these early believers offering up this prayer testifying to what God had done in the case of Christ. They pray, sovereign Lord, you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our Father David: why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed one. Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.
Judas wasn't in an accident. Pontius Pilate wasn't an accident. Herod wasn't an accident. God had predestined from the foundations of the earth that everything that was gonna transpire there would happen in order that Christ would be the savior of the world. God's purpose is twofold: to reveal his glory and to work out what is good for his people.
A couple familiar verses testify to this. One that you're, many of you are familiar with, Romans 8: 28, and we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. That's true for us as Christians, and we have to think about that's, that's true of the Israelites here in Exodus, that God is working all things together for their good. They've been called according to the purpose of God. In Ephesians one, verses 11 through 12 says, In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.
God is working all things together for his glory and our good. And the two, there's, there's no inconsistency there. There's nothing better for us than that God be glorified, and our greatest good is found in him being glorified. Now, this isn't the only place in Exodus that refers to how God hardened Pharaoh's heart, and it'll talk about how Pharaoh hardened his own heart, and so we're gonna have some other opportunities to delve into this mystery a little bit more deeply with some variation. It's not an easy, it's not an easy text, it's not an easy reality to, to wrap our minds around, but we move on and we go from one challenging detail to another. These next verses are kind of an instance of welcome to the very strange world of the Bible that's unfamiliar to us.
Verse 24 says, at a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses and was about to kill him. But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses' feet with it. Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me, she said. So the Lord let him alone. At that time she said bridegroom of blood, referring to circumcision.
We're completely blindsided here. We're thinking, okay, Moses, he's got the family. He's on his way to Egypt. He's going to go and do God's will, and all of a sudden we get to verse 24 and the Lord's trying to kill him. He's seeking to kill Moses. Now, just in terms of kind of the wording there that he was seeking to kill Moses, obviously if God ultimately wanted to kill Moses, he could have just struck him dead right then.
So what we have to understand here is that God was somehow afflicting Moses. We don't have the details here as to how he was afflicting him. He was afflicting Moses in some way that made clear that God's judgment was upon him and potentially fatal consequences would follow. What we gather from the details here is that circumcision is the problem, and it would appear that the problem is that Moses has failed to circumcise his firstborn son. Now, that, he has two sons, that this son is his firstborn son is not clearly stated, but we have to try to fill in between, between the lines here just based on the context. In fact, Moses' name doesn't actually appear in these verses. It does in the English, but that's a choice of the translators. In the Hebrew his name does not actually appear. They're just coming to that conclusion based upon the context that it was referring to Moses. So we're doing our best here, and we're, what we're gathering is that Moses had failed to circumcise his firstborn son. Now think about that, that significance of firstborn son.
That would make sense given what God has just talked about with Israel being his firstborn son, the firstborn son of, of Pharaoh being struck dead because of his refusal to let the people go. What is the significance of circumcision? Why is this such a big deal? Well, it's a sign of God's covenant with his people. We go to Genesis 17. This goes all the way back to Abraham.
In Genesis 17, God establishes the covenant of, of circumcision. It says, then God said to Abraham, as for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: every male among you shall be circumcised.
And then a few of the intervening verses here specify how every male in their household, whether they're a slave or an actual Hebrew all were to be circumcised. And specifically that every male among you who is eight days old was to be circumcised. So very, very early on in verse 14, it says, any uncircumcised male who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has, he has broken my covenant. Now, it's reasonable to suppose that Moses was at least circumcised later in life, the Midianites had a tradition of circumcision, but it was different than the Israelite tradition. In fact, circumcision was not something unique in the ancient Near East.
It wasn't like it was just a Jewish thing. It's actually a very common practice, but usually it occurs later in life, like when a man is about to get, get married. It doesn't usually happen when a male is eight days old. And so that was kind of a distinguishing mark here. So we can suppose that Moses was circumcised later in life, but as it appears to be the case here, he had not circumcised his own sons in accordance with this covenant that was established between God and Abraham and for his descendants. Why did Moses fail to do this? Well, maybe, maybe his own parents hadn't done that, hadn't circumcised him when he was eight days old. Maybe his wife Zipporah protested against that practice so, so early on.
It's difficult to discern. Again, there's not a lot of clarity here, even on the names. It could be said that maybe Gershom's life was at risk here, but I think the context suggests that it was Moses' life who is at stake here because Zipporah is the one that has to do the circumcision, which is highly unusual. Usually it's the father who would do this. Now why couldn't Moses do it? It would make sense if he was incapacitated in some sort of way. So Zipporah does it, this Midianite woman, she takes up a flint knife, circumcises her son, and she takes the foreskin and some, some translation says, throws it at his feet, puts it on his feet.
There's all sorts of debates among scholars as to whether it, whether it's referring to Moses' feet or whether this is a euphemism for genitals. But it's suggested that either it was thrown at Moses' feet or Gershom's. Again, so much confusion here and so much lack of clarity among the scholars in understanding exactly what's going on here, which humbles us before the text.
But what we see here is an effort on Zipporah's part to do what God requires. Even if it may not be exactly what God had prescribed, she says, surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me. Now, is this an expression of disgust? It could be, if you're going along the lines of saying that she did, she was against the practice so early on, that could be it, or it could be part of a ritual saying that the Midianites had among themselves, because the word bridegroom, at least one scholar suggests, it could also just be, that word could also be interpreted as kinsman. The point of it is this, is that where we see that Moses failed to do what he was called to do, a woman steps up and, and, and a non-Israelite woman at that, steps up and does what God had called to be done here.
And as a result, because she stepped up in obedience and faith, she delivered the life of her husband. And, and we could say, also say her, her son, because it said that those who were not circumcised would be cut off from their people. Now again, we might be wondering why circumcision, why, why would God use this sign? We, we would think, why wouldn't God choose something else? Well, God's, first thing we must always say is God's ways are higher than our ways, his thoughts are higher than our thoughts, but we also have to understand here this, that circumcision is not an end in itself. It's no longer required of Christians because what it's doing is is acting as a sign and a symbol. It's foreshadowing a greater circumcision, which is to come.
We see this in Jeremiah and in Romans. In Jeremiah 4:4, we see how circumcision is really pointing towards something greater. It says, circumcise yourselves to the Lord, circumcise your hearts, you people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, or my wrath will flare up and burn like fire because of the evil you have done-- burn with no one to quench it.
So we see already in this Old Testament text that God is desiring something beyond just a mere superficial circumcision. He's desiring that sinfulness, evil would be cut away from the human heart. In Romans two verses 28 through 29 Paul says, A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person's praise is not from other people, but from God. We have to read the Old Testament through Christ. You have to understand that everything in the Old Testament is staging and preparing us for Christ. So if the symbol seems strange to us, well, part of it is, is we're 21st century Americans so some of it is lost on us, but also some of it is what we have to recognize is that it's a symbol, it's meant to point towards a greater reality.
So moving on to verse 27, Aaron enters the scene. It says the Lord said to Aaron, go into the wilderness to meet Moses. So he met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him. Then Moses told Aaron everything the Lord had sent him to say, and also about all the signs he had commanded him to perform. Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites, and Aaron told them everything the Lord had said to Moses. He also performed the signs before the people, and they believed. And when they heard that the Lord was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.
Now, it's interesting to see here that they met on the mountain of God. It doesn't seem like Moses had gotten very far on his journey to Egypt, and maybe it's because of this whole episode that occurred here. It's also just profound to think of how far Aaron traveled to meet up with Moses. I looked at it on Google maps, it would be like you walking from here to Philadelphia. It's not a short trip. So God must have met Aaron in a very powerful way such that he'd say, yeah, I'd be willing to walk to Philadelphia. That I'm gonna, and it'd be a much more difficult walk 'cause it's through like a desert, not easy terrain, in order to meet his long lost brother at Mount Sinai. Now as, as I noted before, God had told Aaron that he should go even before, or at the, at least at the time of God's encounter with Moses at the burning bush.
And when the brothers meet up, Moses follows God's command to him. He relays everything that he was told to Aaron, what they were supposed to do. And they go to Egypt and they speak with the elders and told them everything that God had told them, performed the signs. And, what do you know, the elders of Israel believe, and in fact, perceiving and hearing about God's concern for them, the fact that he saw their suffering, they're brought to this point of bowing down and worshiping him.
What we see here is that all of Moses' concerns were for naught. He was like, oh, are they gonna believe me? How am I gonna do this? They go and, and just immediately the people respond in the way that they were, they were supposed to respond. Now, as we follow their history, the people of Israel aren't always known for responding in the way that they ought to, but here we see clearly how God is keeping his word and promise to Moses.
Moses' shortcomings here in this passage set in sharp relief the person of Jesus. Moses doubted, Moses asked to be excused, that another be found to fulfill God's mission. Moses was slow to obey God's command. Jesus sets before us a different example. In John eight verses 25 through 30, Jesus is questioned by the Jewish leaders, they ask him, who are you?
And he says, just what I have been telling you from the beginning, Jesus replied. I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is trustworthy, and what I've heard from him, I tell the world. They did not understand that he was telling them about his father. So Jesus said, when you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you'll know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him. Even as he spoke, many believed in him.
Christian, you are a disciple of Jesus, called to follow His example, even as he saves us by the sacrifice of himself in only the way that he can, because we can never save ourselves. Yet we are still called to follow his example. Jesus is not the exception, such that we should say, oh, but that's Jesus. Jesus is the norm, the standard, the new man who came to reclaim you and me for God and to welcome us into his pattern of life in obedience to the Father. The anthem of his life in communion with the Father is thy will be done, again and again and again and again, all the way to the cross. What the father tells him, he tells the world, and he knows that the father is with him. And as he goes and does the father's will, we see here that many believe.
Through the Bible and through the ministry of the church, God is teaching you what you must know for your new life in Christ, so that you may take up your staff and go. It begins with simply believing that God desires to use you and he will use you if you go where he leads. Now, maybe you don't fully comprehend what God wants you to do-- you understand that you should worship him, you understand that you should help advance the gospel mission, but you don't know your particular place in it all. As our sister Cynthia's so, so often says, have you prayed about it? That's a great place to start. Have you prayed about it. You should pray about it, because God will guide you. You should welcome the counsel of other Christians too, because God speaks through his word in conjunction with the members of the body of Christ who can help us discern how God's will specifically applies in your life, in my life. At the end of the day, it really isn't that complicated-- if you seek, you will find.
But above all, don't fool yourself into thinking that your hesitation is a problem of self doubt, as though you must believe in yourself more. That's what we hear so often around is you just gotta believe in yourself more. God doesn't call you to believe in yourself. He calls you to believe in him. Do that, believe in him, and just see what God will do next through your life. Let us pray.
Father, as we reflect on this passage, we are humbled. We are, we are humbled because as we look at Moses, we see a reflection of ourselves. Insofar as we so often doubt in your power, your ability to use someone like even us to accomplish your will. We're humbled, father, because as we look at the text, we, we see just your awesome power and sovereignty of how you are working all things according to your plan and purpose.
And Father, that really goes back to our faith in you, that we should trust in you, in your plan, in your ways, even when it wouldn't make sense in our eyes to use us. But Father, we pray that we would follow in the steps of Jesus Christ in trusting in you, that we would seek to obey you in all things. We think about that occasion of circumcision, father, and how Moses didn't obey you in that.
Father, help us to be completely obedient to you in all things, even when it's difficult, even when we might want to just kind of make an exception. In our case, father, help us to lay our lives completely before you and to trust in you. To trust in your ways and to trust in your power to enable us to do what you have called us to do.
We ask father that in all things, you would be glorified. We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Hey there, Pastor Tom here. I hope you enjoyed this sermon I offered to Rockland Community Church. Rockland Community Church is located at 212 Rockland Road in North Scituate, Rhode Island, just around the bend from the Scituate Public High School. We invite you to join us in person or virtually this Sunday as we worship God and hear the preaching of his word. It's our joy to welcome you into our community
Intro/Outro Song
Title: River Meditation
Artist: Jason Shaw
Source:http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Jason_Shaw/Audionautix_Acoustic/RIVER_MEDITATION___________2-58
License:(CC BY 3.0 US)