Exod 2:-1511 And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens: and he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren. And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that [there was] no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand. And when he went out the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrews strove together: and he said to him that did the wrong, Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow? And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is known. Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian: and he sat down by a well.Exod 3:1-5 Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, [even] to Horeb. And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush [was] not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here [am] I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest [is] holy ground.
Last week we referred to this passages and noted that when Moses heard God direct him from the burning bush about the manner in which Israel would be freed from Egypt, God spoke forth seven “I will’s.”
• Seven is the “perfect” number.Moses was educated under Egypt.
• The complete number.
• And Moses was re-educated as to how Israel would be saved.
• He thought the way Egyptians thought.Get the picture.
• He did things the way Egyptians did them.
• He planned things the way Egyptians would plan them.
• And this would turn out to be a problem later on when it came to working for God.
Jesus is shown in the four Gospels as having been born and ministering, and leaving this world with 12 apostles who were the beginnings of the Church.
- In Genesis, Israel is born and a family grows and at the end of the book, before he dies, he lays his hands on 12 sons who become the heads of what is commonly called the twelve tribes of Israel.
- But this great family is living in Egypt.
- And when the book of Exodus starts, they have grown to so many people that Pharaoh becomes afraid and feels threatened.
- In the book of Acts, the Church grows and becomes a threat to the Judaic leaders who rejected Christ.
Exod 1:7-12 And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them. Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel [are] more and mightier than we: Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and [so] get them up out of the land. Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel.
Acts 8:1 And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.
Acts 8:4 Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.
Picture this:
- Israel lived beneath generations of slavery.
- And when Pharaoh told the midwives to kill all males, since the persecution did not work to stop them from growing, the midwives disobeyed.
- Then Pharaoh had the infants drowned in the Red Sea.
- But Moses was born and was withheld from the slaughter.
- And Moses drifted in a little ark into the hands of Pharaoh’s daughter.
- There he grew and was educated in the ways of the Egyptians.
Acts 7:25 For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not.This lets us know Moses knew God wanted to use him.
We may know God wants to use us in this world to help set people free.
• But like Moses, we may have been too well trained in the ways of the world.He ran to the backside of the desert.
• Moses took things into his own hands and slew one Egyptian and ran in fear into the desert.Exod 3:1 Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, [even] to Horeb.
• The far reaches of the wilderness.
• As far away from Egypt as he could get.
• As far away from the call of God on his life as he could get.
• And just when 40 years passed and an entire generation died and another was born to lend their backs to the whips of Egypt, when all hope is finally gone, GOD REACHES TO MOSES.
Psal 139:9-13 [If] I take the wings of the morning, [and] dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light [are] both alike [to thee].For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.Moses ran to Horeb, which is interpreted as BARRENNESS.
• When all human strength has been exhausted...Did you realize that the people with whom God associated himself in this world in those ancient days, the three great Patriarchs of what became a great nation of Israel, all had wives who were BARREN?
• After we did things OUR way and do not know what else we can do...
• When we’ve tried and tried and tried to get the job done, but failed and failed and failed every time...
• And it seems we’re furthest away from God that one could possibly go...
• And when we’re totally barren, without ability to even produce anything ever again...
• THEN WE ARE AT THE PLACE GOD WANTS US TO BE.
• God is known as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
• These are the patriarchs whose children were born and became a great and mighty nation.
• They fathered children, born from a woman who could not produce children in their own power.
• Women who were barren and touched by God to accomplish the very thing that would bring this nation into existence.
If God is going to be associated with
anybody in this world, it is going to be with people who have exhausted
their own strength and reach out to Him to do what needs to be done.
John 15:5 I am the vine, ye [are] the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.We can do a whole lot of accomplishments in this world.
• But unless it is God that we’re tapping into and unless we do it HIS WAY, with HIS INITIATION, and HIS PLANS, then all the accomplishments we have done are really ONLY NOTHING.God told Moses the seven I will’s in Exodus 6:6-8.
• Without Him we can do a lot of NOTHING.
• Moses training in Egypt caused him to instinctively go at it in his own plotting and planning and fight Egypt in his own power.Moses came across a burning bush and God’s word came forth from it, directing Moses that GOD WILL do the work and GOD WILL redeem Israel by HIS power, and GOD WILL, GOD WILL, GOD WILL.
• Did he think to ask God about what to do?
• No.
• Did he stop and realize that if God is going to use him maybe it would be best to consult God as to what should be done?
• No.
• Moses saw the same thing John saw in Revelation 1.People are attending churches all over the world right now as we speak.
• Moses saw God speak from a burning bush.
• John saw God speak from a seven-branched candlestick in the shape of an almond tree.
• Would to God all church-attenders were standing before burning bushes, seeing branches of Jesus Christ as God’s word, not man’s word and man’s thoughts, come forth to them directing them to hear what GOD WANTS TO DO.There’s a whole lot of church going on, but not very much instruction as to what God wants to do.
• Mingling the world’s ways with the name of Jesus, as much as Moses took Egyptians education and tried to do a work for God.FATHER KNOWS BEST.
• Moses had Egypt’s concept of what success was.
• Moses really accomplished NOTHING for God by that means.
• We are not to initiate the plan and strategy.
• We are supposed to be branches and extensions of Jesus.
• Like the burning bush, we should be on fire for God producing only what is produced due to union with Jesus.
• Whatever we can do without His Spirit in our own power, is not even resorted to or considered, because Jesus said all that we do without Him is NOTHING.
No wonder so many fellowships do not see any necessity in water baptism.
- When we realize that we must be extensions of Jesus Christ, and that Egypt’s idea of success is simply not going to cut it in God’s estimation, and we hear the message of how people are amalgamated into Jesus Christ and become part of His death through BAPTISM INTO HIS DEATH, suddenly baptism becomes very pertinent and necessary.
- But if you are doing things with the concept of Egypt’s idea of success... DO IT YOUR WAY... then you se nothing to do with whatever is part of amalgamation into Christ’s death.
- Anything that is a part of losing self and burying self so as to allow God to have his way, and anything connected with putting ourselves away, is foreign to these people.
David saw Philistia send the ark of God to them on an ox cart, and he copied the world’s method and tried carrying the glory of God on an ox cart, too.
- What happened?
- A man died!!
- The ark slipped and Uzzah reached out to steady it, and was struck dead by God’s hand.
- God was saying, if this glory is going to be transported, I want you to know that you cannot TOUCH what I am doing.
- I will initiate it...
- I will redeem...
- I will take a people out of this world...
- Etc., etc.
- SEVEN I WILL’S.
- Pharaoh sees male infants born into Egypt of the Hebrews and he is afraid.
- What does God want us to birth into this world?
- JESUS.
- But start producing Jesus into the world, seeing souls delivered from vile bondage like homosexuality and speak about miracles and healings, and the world labels you as a hater (although we love the person but not the sin), and refuses to assist you, and in fact tries to shut you down.
Compare Moses’ way with God’s way.
MOSES
Moses slays one Egyptian and runs scared
into the desert.
GOD
God plagues the living daylights out of
Egypt, crippling them in supernatural power to a whimpering animal, and
directs Israel to put blood of a sacrifice on their homes as death is sent
to slay all the firstborn of Egypt in one sweep, from Pharaoh’s son to
the lowest servant’s son.
- Egypt pursues and God comes down in a pillar of fire like the greatest body guard and escort any one has ever imagined, holding back Egypt as Israel walks through the Red Sea.
- Then when Egypt tries to pursue, He washes the entire army of Egypt away with waters.
FATHER KNOWS BEST.
All because Moses turned to see.
Exod 3:3-4 And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here [am] I.Someone needs to change directions.
- TURN.
- And see something.
- And at the brink of barrenness, absolute failure of your ways, if you’ll just make one more step.
- Turn around and see that God can finally talk to you now.
- You’ll finally listen.
- There is no use in going the same direction any more.
- You walked in that direction and tried your own thing until you see it is futile.
- YOU TURN.
- When God gets hold of you, you WILL TURN.
- You no longer will go YOUR WAY.
- You want to produce fruit hat GOD initiates.
- You’ve gone a long way and did a whole lot of nothing.
- God sends His word to you because he knows you’re now ready.
- You would not have listened before if He did speak.
- God reached way over and manifested in a burning bush at a place of barrenness. To speak to Moses.
- God will be the God of anyone who is barren in themselves and knows it.
