Moses Before Pharaoh: The Salvation of God's People Begins - Saved for the Glory of God | Studies in the book of Exodus

I wonder, are you familiar with the words practice and habit?

Practice and habit are good friends because they talk about repetition

and particularly when we try to learn new skills.

And if you want to master a way of doing something well, you

need to be doing it regularly so that the practice becomes ingrained

in your mind and it starts to become something that's natural for

you to do.

I remember when my father was learning to use a computer.

He did this in his late 60s, sorry, late 50s.

And in his early 60s, he attended classes and had a notebook

of everything that he was supposed to do.

He would sit down at the computer, at the desk, and he would

try to repeat what he had learned the week before, but he wasn't

able to remember.

And so a holler would go up and I would be summoned.

And of course, I had the patience of a saint, or not to teach

my father the things that he hadn't learned.

And he admitted that he should have been sitting down at the computer

every day to practice what he had been taught.

Being in front of a computer was one thing, but put him back in

the bakery where he worked every day from four or half four

in the morning.

He didn't need a recipe book.

He didn't even need to weigh out flour.

He knew exactly what was needed baking day in and day out.

He was so familiar with the job that he was doing that he boggled

many with how he would do it without paper and how he would be

able to just put flour and sugar together and make whatever

he intended to make.

Habit and repetition are good friends.

And so whenever we practice things well, then they're embedded

within us.

We embed the skills and the knowledge we need to complete whatever

job or task we're doing.

And as we come to Exodus, we now have for a third time, a repetition.

It's a repetition towards Moses and Aaron as to what they're

called to do.

God reminds them of the task before them going back to Egypt,

so that they will fully comprehend just how important this

job is.

Verse 28 picks up the story that was left off from verse 12.

Remember, it was interrupted by the genealogy of the family of

Aaron.

And that genealogy was important so that we would see the

future purpose of Aaron and his family as the priests of Israel

who would lead the people, people in the worship of God.

And so now, as we come to the end of chapter six, we're told that

the Lord speaks to Moses and tells him again how this rescue mission

of the Israelites is going to work.

And we're told in verse 29.

God said to him, I am the Lord.

Tell Pharaoh, King of Egypt, everything I tell you.

In these simple words, Moses is reminded of the task that's set

before him, the task that he's been called to by God.

And in stating who he is, God is telling Moses two key bits of

information.

He's already told him this before, but like all humanity, we

need to be reminded.

And so here he is, first of all, reminding Moses who he is.

The Lord is the covenant God of his people.

So all the fears of Moses can be put to rest as Moses puts his

trust in the Lord Almighty.

And so this is an important thing for Moses to remember.

He needs to know that he's doing the Lord's work, not his own

work, but the Lord's, and he can trust him.

The second thing is that the Lord's reminding Moses here is that

he is the only God.

Pharaoh may consider himself divine, he may be worshipped by his

people, but he is just a man.

But God is the maker of all things.

And it is God who is telling Pharaoh what to do.

But this reminder only brings Moses back to his standard reply

by way of excuse to God as to why he can't do this job.

Moses sees himself as one unable to speak well, and now puts

a question to God by way of reply in verse 30.

But Moses said to the Lord, since I speak with.

And here's this term again, faltering lips.

And that was the excuse that he used back in chapter six.

But now he extends it by posing a question, why would Pharaoh

listen to me?

See, it was in verse 12 that we heard of these faltering lips.

But now Moses, based on his belief of his inability to communicate

well, comes back to God questioning why Pharaoh would listen

to him.

And this faltering lips is perhaps a way of talking about not

being able to string words together or getting so nervous not

being able to get the words out that's needed.

So the problem for Moses isn't really actually the words that God's

asking him to say, because God will give him the words to say.

The problem for Moses is he's not really listening to God.

And by not listening to God, then he's not trusting in God because

the Lord has assured Moses that he will give him all that he

needs.

But Moses focuses on his humanity rather than the Lord's authority

and poses the question that basically speaks of his inability

to do the job.

But as we've seen throughout this story in these six chapters

so far, God is gracious and God is patient and he is this way

with Moses.

And as we come to verse one of chapter seven, we read the firmest

assurance from God yet of how he will use Moses.

And maybe as we read this verse, you'll be quite shocked at

what it says.

Then the Lord said to Moses, see, I have made you like God to

Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet.

Now, here's two categories that we know from Scripture.

And yes, a little bit later on in Scripture, perhaps, that really

we would question what God's doing here.

He's making Moses like God to Pharaoh.

And then he's making Aaron, who is going to be a priest, a prophet,

but not a prophet of God, a prophet of Moses.

And what's going on here is that the Lord is giving Moses a firm

answer to the question, why would Pharaoh listen to me?

And so this answer in verse one is, by God giving Moses divine

authority, Moses would be like God to Pharaoh.

In fact, the Bible is even more emphatic because what the Hebrew

literally says is not, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, but

I have made you God to Pharaoh.

Moses was God's representative, his chosen prophet.

So when he stood before Pharaoh's throne, he spoke with real

divine authority.

God himself was speaking and acting through Moses.

Now, this doesn't mean, of course, that Moses was divine.

He certainly wasn't.

There's only one God.

And Moses was simply his prophet, a man of flesh and blood.

Yet Moses did represent God before Pharaoh.

And here's where we encounter a great mystery in this story with

regards to our humanity.

Because in his divine sovereign will, God has chosen human

instruments to carry out his divine work.

This was God's plan for the human race from the very beginning,

when Adam and Eve were commissioned to rule over the world

that God had made.

And since our first parents were created in God's image, His

deity was expressed in their humanity.

And so they were capable of representing God to the world.

Now, they didn't do that very well.

Whenever we look back at Genesis 3.

But as we move on to Moses, we see that he has the same responsibility

here.

He was not God, but he was God to Pharaoh.

He spoke with divine authority.

And whenever we are in that relationship with Jesus Christ, we

must understand that we are not only saved by his grace for all

eternity, but we are instruments in his hands, just like

Moses.

We have the ability to bring the good news of the gospel.

The good news that Moses was bringing for the people to be rescued.

Yes, it was a message that would be ignored, but it was still

good news.

And so in Christ, we become instruments.

And that's what we're told later in the New Testament, that

we're his workmanship created for good works that he has planned

in advance.

God does have a work for us to do.

Does he need us?

No.

He is divine.

He is sovereign.

He will not give away any of his glory.

But he chooses to use us so that in our humanity we can be his

instruments to the world around us.

And I wonder, do we take that seriously enough?

We haven't got quite there yet to the end of the month where we'll

start seeing on television all those programs of what happened in

the year that has gone by.

But I've started to think about it because I've had to write

a few bits and pieces for different things.

I've been forced to think back.

And it not surprise you that the mission was the big thing to

look back to.

But not just a week of mission, but what lay before it and

what happened after it.

And how God used us, whether we realize it or not, but how God

used each and every one of us to be his instruments in this place.

Now God just doesn't use us as and when he calls us to serve him

every day that we live.

And so the challenge here is this great mystery that God has chosen

his people, those found in Jesus Christ, to be instruments to

carry out his divine work.

My question this morning is, are we seeing that?

Do we see that in our homes?

Do we see that in our places of work?

Because we cannot detach our faith from some other aspect of life.

It is all one.

And we are called to be his instruments wherever he has placed

us.

Well, moving on.

Thinking about how Moses was made God to Pharaoh.

One way that Pharaoh would recognize Moses divine authority

was that Moses had his own prophet.

And so the second half of verse one tells us that when Moses

told Pharaoh to let God's people go, Aaron would do the talking.

He was the prophet's prophet.

And a prophet is someone who speaks on someone else's behalf.

And Aaron spoke for Moses, just as Moses spoke for God.

And earlier, God had made Aaron a prophet to the Israelites.

He said to Moses in chapter four, in verses 15 and 16, you shall

speak to him that is iron and put words in his mouth.

I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do.

He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he

were your mouth and as if you were God to him.

And so now, in addition to speaking to the Israelites, Aaron

would be speaking to Pharaoh who immediately would have understood

what this meant.

Pharaoh's own custom was to have a spokesperson issue all of

his commands.

This preserved a sense of distance between himself and his

people and so reminded them of his supposed divine status.

So when Moses spoke to him through Aaron, he would have recognized

that Moses was claiming divine authority not on his own merit, of

course.

Pharaoh wouldn't have realized that, but because God had given it

to him.

And so now in chapter seven, verse two, we have the confirmation

that the message is simple.

They are to go to Pharaoh and Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let God's

people leave Egypt.

But we're reminded of how this is going to play out, because from

a human perspective, it will look like a defiant Pharaoh who is

in charge of everything.

But from a divine perspective, we see God in charge, as he says

in verse three, but I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though

I multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt, and he will

not listen to you.

And in fact, this is the case.

Pharaoh will not listen to Moses and Aaron, because at the very

end, it is Pharaoh who will go to them, having witnessed God's miraculous

works, and tell them to leave.

So Pharaoh's heart will be hardened right to the very end, because

God will be in control of the entire situation.

And he's telling Moses what to expect from the great conflict that

is about to begin.

But God will be the one who will act to bring the freedom of

his people.

And in doing so, the Egyptians will know the God as the Lord Almighty.

Now this doesn't mean that they will become believers in him.

They'll not believe in him as their savior, but they will recognize

his authority and his power over their divinity, over their Pharaoh.

And verses 6 and 7 simply tell us that Moses and Aaron did as the

Lord had commanded them.

And highlights that these are not young men.

They are now in their 80s and are going out to face a much younger

man.

But they go in the power of the Lord.

Isn't it wonderful?

There's no retirement from the Lord's service.

Just in case anyone was getting any ideas, we tell ourselves

when we're young, age is but a number.

Well, here in Exodus 7 it's proved an 80 and an 83 year old going

into the greatest throne room the world knew at that time to meet

the world's superpower.

But not in their own strength, in their 80s, in the Lord's strength.

And so the scene now changes from that conversation with God to

now being in the palace of Pharaoh.

And before they go to meet with the Egyptian king, God gets

them ready for what is coming.

God knows that Pharaoh will ask for a demonstration of their

authority, But Moses has already been prepared for this.

Back in Exodus 4, just after the burning bush, when Moses questioned

God about whether he would be believed or not by the people, God

commanded him to throw his staff to the ground and it became

a snake.

Now the same sign will be used, but it will have deep meaning

in its display, because verse 10 gives us a summary of the meeting

with Pharaoh.

So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord

commanded.

Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials,

and it became a snake.

The serpent was the symbol of Pharaoh's authority, and so the staff

that became a snake was a direct attack on his sovereignty.

Pharaoh apparently sensed that some kind of challenge was coming

because he asked Moses and Aaron to perform a miracle.

And they were claiming divine authority over him.

So in order to check their credentials, Pharaoh demanded that

sign.

And you know, there's something here for humanity as we

read on in this.

Because signs are asked for all the time, and not mainly by God's

people, unbelievers often ask God to perform a miracle.

They say that they're willing to believe if only God will show

them some kind of sign.

And in many ways, they're simply repeating what we read in

Matthew chapter 12 and verse 38, when the Pharisees came to Jesus

Matthew 12 · chapter mention

and said, teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you.

It wasn't wrong for Pharaoh to make such a request for a miraculous

sign.

And strangely enough, he seemed to understand the true purpose

of divine miracles.

But God doesn't perform random acts of his omnipotence, but instead

displays his miraculous power in order to confirm his word and

the truth of his word.

And this was true in the Old Testament prophets who performed

signs and wonders to prove that they were men who spoke from

God.

And in this particular case, Moses and Aaron claimed to be God's

ambassadors, divinely commissioned to tell Pharaoh to let

God's people go.

And the obvious way for them to authenticate their claim was to

perform this miraculous sign.

But Pharaoh's servants immediately imitate this sign.

And these servants are described to us as wise men and sorcerers

and are described generally as magicians.

But how do they perform the sign?

Aaron's act is truly miraculous.

But as for how the sorcerer priests initiate or imitate it, their

imitation is performed either by means of illicit supernatural

powers or by some sleight of hand or snake charming methods that

make serpents stiff like rods, and then enliven them by throwing

them onto the ground.

However they do this imitation, it accomplishes what Pharaoh

wants.

The sorcerer priests present themselves as using their secret

arts to access the powers of the Egyptian gods.

And this makes the events of verse 12 even more significant, because

we're told that each one threw down his staff and it became a snake.

But iron staff swallowed up their staffs.

And so, because staffs or sticks represent power and authority,

this act shows that the Lord has superiority over the sorcerer

priests and any Egyptian gods thought to empower them.

Nonetheless, Pharaoh's heart continues in its stubborn rebellion,

and he will not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord

had warned.

What we're told is that yet Pharaoh's heart became hard and he

would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

And so when Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs, it was

obvious that the God of Israel had supreme power over all the gods

of Egypt.

It was obvious to everyone, that is, except Pharaoh.

What Pharaoh should have done was to get down from his throne and

begin to worship the one true God.

He had heard God's word and seen God's sign, and yet the only

proper response was to fall down at God's feet.

But he didn't do it.

And the reason why Pharaoh didn't do this was because of a spiritual

condition of his heart.

It was a spiritual cardiac condition.

His heart was hard.

His heart was insensitive to true spiritual influences.

It was not warmed his heart by love for God.

It was in fact controlled by love of self.

He had a heart that was neither sorry for sin nor willing

to change.

And so Pharaoh's heart could easily be described as being hard

all the way through.

And Pharaoh's hardness of heart is a warning to anyone who

has witnessed God's power, but refuses to believe and receive God's

grace.

Few people have ever seen the miracles that Pharaoh had seen that

demonstrated the power of God.

He even had the opportunity to test that power by demanding a miracle.

But even when God passed Pharaoh's test, Pharaoh still wouldn't

believe.

He was the kind of man who always acts as if God is the one

who needs to be weighed in the balance, who has something to prove.

He was like the atheist who was asked what he would say if he

turned out to be wrong and really did have to meet God face

to face for judgment.

The atheist thought for a moment and then said, I would say,

not enough evidence, Lord, not enough evidence.

In other words, the atheist would blame God for not providing

sufficient evidence to make Him a Christian.

But God has given us sufficient evidence and that evidence

is all around us so that we may know Him.

So don't tell me that he hasn't made Himself known.

Don't tell me that he's uncaring.

Don't tell me that he doesn't exist.

God has given us everything we need to believe in him through His

Son, Jesus Christ.

It's the very reason that we celebrate Christmas.

And so all of a sudden this ancient text from Exodus becomes

an Advent one because it points us to the One whom God did

send so that our hearts would not be hard like Pharaoh's.

God has not left us guessing about how much he has done to make

Himself known.

Jesus came and was born in human form.

In the words of the hymn by Charles Wesley.

Our God contracted to a span.

The Maker of the universe becomes that he demonstrated the

power of God as recorded in the Gospels, and He died an innocent

death.

But he rose again, proving victory over death and the grave,

and now sits at the Father's right hand in heaven.

And the question is, what more do you need?

God has already provided more than enough evidence to persuade

anyone to trust in Him.

The beauty of his glory is declared in the heavens, as the psalmist

writes.

The gift of his grace is published in His Word, the very word

that we have in front of us this morning.

And the power of his love is shown through his people.

They may not get it always right, but God's love grows deeper

than the sum of their mistakes.

Anyone who has not yet believed in Jesus Christ cannot honestly

say that God has provided insufficient evidence.

The real problem is not intellectual.

The real problem is spiritual.

What is needed is a change of heart.

Hardness of heart Hearts is a cardiac condition that can only be

treated by a complete transplant in which the hard old

heart is replaced with a soft new one that is made righteous by

grace.

This morning, as I ask myself, I ask each and every one of us to

look into our hearts.

Oh, we know them to be the organ that beats and pumps the blood

around.

We see them on Valentine's Day's card as those big red heart

shaped things.

But I'm talking about not your physical heart, your spiritual heart,

the one where we are to know God and to know that he has given

us everything.

We need to take away that hardness and to live only for Him.

You see, if we're all honest with ourselves, unbeliever and believer

alike, there's a bit of hardness in us all and we need to

have that dealt with.

We're to come before the Lord and we are to seek him so that we

can know his forgiveness and we can know his healing.

That is why we celebrate Christmas.

As I shared with midweek on Wednesday night, one of the things

that blew me away last year thinking about all of this was indeed

that very line that I've just quoted, that our God contracted to

a span.

How hard was it for God to fit himself in human form as a baby and

then even as a man?

Yet he did it for us.

He took himself and he poured himself into this human frame so

that he would come near.

And he is near.

He is near to heal our broken hearts, to soften the hardness, to

take away the arrogance so that we can live perfectly for him

in all eternity.

You see, the work that God does in our hearts is an eternal

work.

It's a work that will keep us now and forevermore.

One of the verses that I often read at sad moments in Life is John

John 14:1

14:1 where we're told, do not let your hearts be troubled.

Jesus says, trust in God.

Trust also in me.

Our hearts need attention.

And when we look at them and when we inspect for that hardness

that is displayed to us in scripture in Pharaoh's heart, we

need to know what to do.

And we are told that we're not to let our hearts be troubled, but

to believe in God.

Trust in God and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

He's the one who's done it all so that our hearts can be healed,

our hearts can be restored, and we can be his forever.

You don't need to go to the hospital.

You don't need to go to the doctor.

You need to come before the Lord, the true Great Physician of

our souls.

And indeed when we cry out to him, he will heal us.

So what are you waiting for?

Are you think you're going to stand on the day and say, lord, you

didn't give me enough evidence?

Because that won't wash.

He is looking heart change now as we trust in him, not letting our

hearts be troubled by the weight of this world, but knowing

him as the One who indeed will see us through.

Let me pray.

Our Father God, we thank you for your word that takes us this

day causes us to inspect who we are deep within.

And we are a people who need you because we are people who have

rejected you time and again we've gone after our own ways.

And so in our own arrogance, we have thought ourselves better

than you.

So Father, forgive us for our sins.

Forgive us for our waywardness.

The hardness of hearts that we have.

And Lord, may we come to Christ and to trust in him alone,

as we trust in you, so that our hearts will not be troubled.

And Father, for those who might think they have the argument

that there's not enough evidence yet.

Father, you've given us all we need.

It's simply one more excuse because it tells our true spiritual

state that we really don't want to submit to your way.

So, Father, convict us and change our hearts.

That indeed we will love Christ more, we will trust him more,

and we will have that wonderful assurance of being saved

for all eternity.

So, Father, hear us as we pray and as we respond.

In Jesus name, amen.