God's Mercy Overcomes Man's Injustice part 2

We're going to be finishing up the lesson from a couple of weeks ago.

They're talking about Moses and his family there.

!

We're going to be here this morning at that.

Exodus chapter 2 this morning.

Exodus 2 · chapter mention

Exodus chapter 2.

Exodus 2 · chapter mention

Because as we're going to see here, we're going to look at the life of Moses and his family.

And continue looking here.

But let's read our text here today.

Exodus chapter 2.

Exodus 2 · chapter mention

Let's pick up in verse 1.

And it says this,

And there went a man of the house of Levi, who took to wife a daughter of Levi.

And the woman conceived and bare a son.

And she saw him, that he was a goodly child.

And she hid him three months.

And when she could no longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes.

And daubed it with slime and with pitch.

And put the child therein.

And she laid it on the flags by the river's brink.

And his sister stood afar off to wit that would be done to him.

And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river.

And her maidens walked along the riverside.

And when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it.

And when she had opened it, she saw the child.

And behold, the babe wept.

And she had compassion on him and said, This is one of the Hebrew's children.

Then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter,

Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women,

that she may nurse the child for thee?

And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, Go.

And the maid went and called the child's mother.

And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, Take this child away and nurse it for me.

And I will give thee thy wage.

And the woman took the child and nursed it.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Fathers, we just take a few moments here this morning as we look into your word here today.

Lord, help us to understand the reality that even in the midst of what we see as unfair

or not the way we would want things to be, Lord,

or even outright cruelty towards us as an individual.

Lord, help us to be mindful that you are the one that is there.

You're the one that's above those things.

You're the one that provided the means to walk through those things in this life.

And Lord, we just ask your hand upon each one today, Lord,

that we might realize that our strength, even in these moments,

is to trust you as we walk through.

And Lord, we just give you all the praise in Jesus' name.

Amen.

You know, as we understand, you know, anybody can experience discrimination.

You know, there's a lot about discrimination today,

and people put a lot of emphasis upon it.

But I don't think anybody could doubt that Jochebed and her family faced discrimination to the extreme.

When you consider what Pharaoh wanted to do,

if you remember, they wanted to kill all the male children.

You know, why?

Only because they were Jewish.

They wanted to throw all the male children into the river.

You know, but we understand as we see this picture of how Jochebed overcame that discrimination,

overcame that injustice.

And we understand that picture of what's taking place.

And we understand the nation that was once had saved Egypt through Joseph is now under oppression.

And there's people that are condemning them,

and the Pharaoh wants to keep them oppressed.

But, you know, even in the midst of this oppressive culture,

we find a young couple by the name of Amron and Jochebed.

They still said, I'm not going to let culture determine what I do.

And they went ahead and got married and started a family, even in light of it.

You know?

Today, most people look, man, that'd be tough.

Yes, it was.

But you know what?

Even when times are tough, when we trust God, God blesses.

God blesses in the good times.

God blesses in the rough times.

God blesses even in the devastating times of life.

She understood what was needed there.

But we find here that when they got married,

but not only did Pharaoh enslave the entire nation

and force them to work to an extreme, just tiresome to exhaustion,

and to keep them subject unto him.

And then to bring their own son, I mean, and to kill their own children, you know.

Think about Exodus 114 in our passage here.

Take a look again what it says here.

And he said,

That's 2.14.

Get back to 1.14.

Get back a page.

There we go.

And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage and mortar and in brick

and all manner of service in the field.

All their service wherein they made them serve was with rigor.

I mean, in the spite of oppressive work hours,

in spite of the fact that their male children were going to end up killed,

these young couples said,

We're going to take a stand.

We're going to trust God and continue to do what we ought to do.

And it was a culture of oppression, a culture of hatred,

and deep discrimination in which Moses was born.

You know, people have faced these things throughout history.

You know, discrimination isn't something that's a 21st century American problem.

You know, injustice isn't a 21st century American problem.

I want you to understand from the very beginning of time,

people have faced oppression.

They've faced injustices.

And they understand the reality, and oftentimes it is,

Well, why isn't it fair?

Well, you know, understand you've got to learn very quickly in life one thing.

It's not going to be fair.

But we do have a Savior.

We have a God that rises above the injustice and above those things.

And so sometimes we can identify with those things because, you know,

discrimination happens through all sorts of things.

You know?

Today we have class discrimination.

I mean, where were you born as far as in the social status?

I mean, you say, Well, America doesn't.

Yeah, we still do.

People naturally do that.

You know, a few weeks ago, you know, when Brother Anathakumar was here,

and they're talking about the oppression of India with their caste system.

You know?

You know what?

The same thing happens every place, but sometimes it's just not as pronounced.

You know?

Discrimination is not something you're going to do away with,

but it's something that we can face, and we can trust God,

and know God is going to hold to account to understand that dynamic.

And we ought to do our part not to be prejudiced,

not to prefer one above another, the Bible tells us.

And we're going to see that play out,

and we need to understand the picture that sometimes, as a believer,

you're going to face discrimination.

Think about what it tells us in 2 Timothy 3, in verse 12.

It says,

And all, yea, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall what?

Suffer persecution.

You know?

I want you to understand, as a believer,

sometimes you take a stand for Christ,

you're going to find people just don't like you sometimes.

You know?

That's a reality that you need to understand from the very beginning.

Sometimes you don't have to do anything but just take a stand as a believer,

and they're going to have people that don't like you.

But don't let that hinder you from doing what you ought to do.

You know?

We need to understand that as a person of faith,

and one that's trusted in Christ,

to understand that we ought not to fall for Satan's tricks.

Because you know what often happens?

Even to believers, sometimes we get bitter.

You can get angry about what happened.

You know, you can allow those things,

or you can get sidetracked in that.

And so we're going to look and finish up here today, hopefully.

But we're going to look here at the first,

review the first section we covered here,

and we learn about those questions.

But think about the ministry of a mom.

You know, the mom's influence in the life of kids is important.

You know, we saw how Jochebed,

how she lovingly protected Moses.

You know?

That baby boy was a gift.

It was worth pausing to note that children are indeed gifts from God.

You know?

We live in a culture that puts children second oftentimes.

Now let me explain.

They put them second because it's like,

well, when I get my, I get enough money,

I get enough of this, I get enough of that,

when I'm in the right position, then we'll have kids.

You know what that's saying?

That's saying that kids are a secondary.

They're like a benefit that you get after you reach a certain level.

But think about what the scripture says in Psalm 127.

It says,

Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord,

and the fruit of the womb is his what?

Reward.

You know?

As a believer, you can miss out on the reward that God has for you.

You know?

Having gone through the sequence,

and now we're in the grandkid stage,

you know what?

Your reward is to see your children grow up

to become adults.

To see them take responsibility,

take their own faith in Christ,

to move forward in the things that you've taught them.

That's a reward.

To understand the effort and the energy

and all that it took emotionally and physically

was well worth the investment.

But we see here that Moses' mom

saw and recognized that blessing of a child,

even in the midst of great discrimination,

of great injustice.

I don't know how much more unjust you could be

than to say,

we're going to take your newly born son

and let him drown in the river.

But I want you to understand that

God gives parents children,

and I want you to understand

because we're going to see here

how God uses this,

not only in their life,

but in the life of the entire nation.

Their faith changed the entire nation.

God had a plan

and a purpose.

You know,

as they hid baby Moses,

it must have been a challenging situation

and to understand

that they hide a baby three months,

you know,

and pretty soon it becomes impossible.

You know,

they start wiggling

and they make a lot of noise.

And sometimes they smell,

you know,

sometimes you know,

yeah,

there's a baby around.

But they hid him as long as they could,

but she formed a plan

and she trusted in the providence of God.

Not only did her mom protect,

but she trusted in the providence of God.

Now I want you to understand here,

providence just means

I'm going to trust God's plan.

That God is going to work those things

to his good,

to what he wants.

You know,

look there at verse three in our text

in Exodus chapter two,

where it says,

and when she could no longer hide him,

she took it for him

an ark of bulrushes

and dabbed it with slime

and with pitch

and put the child there in

and she laid him in the flags

by the river's brink.

And,

and you know,

we see here this picture

and dynamic

is the same picture you see

talking about

Noah building the ark.

It's the same terminology.

That is used.

It was a little ark

to preserve

Moses.

And we see that God

used that

in a mighty way

and how she trusted

her child to God

in the midst

of devastating things.

You know,

as I keep reading

through this story,

you know,

it fascinates me

because today we would say

that's in jest.

I'm going to do something.

I'm going to do this.

I'm going to do that.

But she was willing

to say,

I'm going to trust God first

and to do what she needed

to do even in light

of all those things.

She trusted in God's providence

to understand

this is under God's control

because what she did

is against every grain

of our nature.

You know,

sometimes to honor God

rubs against what we want.

Sometimes it rubs

against what we think.

You know,

to understand that

the way God thinks

is not the way we think.

And we also need

to understand

that the way God thinks

and what God does,

His ways,

are higher than our ways.

We look at situations

and say,

that's not fair.

And God says,

trust me,

I've got it under control.

You know,

we can trust God

and not respond

with hostility

towards it,

but to respond

properly.

To trust God,

even when

a refusal

to react

out of spite

or desire

to get even.

I mean,

we need to trust God

and not say,

I'm going to get back at Him.

You know,

that's a hard place

because we need to understand

the mercy of God.

Because in this account,

you'll see God's mercy

play through.

You'll see God's mercy

throughout Exodus here

and the power

of injustice

is dissolved

in our lives

by the mercy

of God.

You know,

think about the mercy

shown to Jochebed

when she trusted God.

Now,

think about this

for a moment.

She goes down

to the river

after she'd made

an ark of bulrushes

and sealed it in

so it wouldn't sink

and puts him

in the river.

She had to have

a lot of faith.

Her faith wasn't,

she didn't know

whether Moses

was going to survive

or not.

She had said,

I've done everything

I can do

and I'm going to trust God.

I'm going to trust

His providence

that God is going to do

and has a plan

for Moses.

But think about

the mercy

shown to Jochebed.

She does this,

she steps out

in faith

and the story

takes a surprising turn

because who comes

down by the river?

Pharaoh's daughter.

Now,

Pharaoh's daughter,

you say,

well,

she had compassion.

You know what?

She didn't have to have

compassion on Moses.

I want you to understand

she recognized

who he was.

Now,

I'm not talking about

specifically family

but she recognized

he was a Hebrew.

She knew what her father

had said to do.

What did her father

command him to do?

Toss him into the river.

You know what she could have done

when her maids

brought her Moses?

She could have just

turned the basket

upside down.

But God says

that she had compassion.

I think God touched

the heart

of Pharaoh's daughter.

Touched a note

in a young lady

when she saw

a little baby cry.

You know what?

The one thing I've learned

over the years

if you get a baby

to cry,

every grandma,

mom,

little girl come,

everybody,

you know,

it becomes like a magnet.

You know,

especially a little one.

Everybody's like,

why are they crying?

You know what?

God used that

natural love

in his providence

to preserve Moses.

But how did God

have mercy?

Think about that

for a moment.

God's mercy is

Jochebed trusted

God

and God said,

hey,

here's your child back

and I'll even

give you a benefit.

Somebody's going to

pay you to raise him.

Let me know

the expenses.

You know,

I hear all the parents now,

amen,

that sounds good.

You know,

kids aren't cheap.

They're beneficial,

but it's not that

they don't have a cost.

But think about it,

God's mercy allowed her

not only to have her child back,

but to get paid

to raise him.

God's mercy

was there

and we understand

the picture here

it's really

an incredible

miracle of God

to see the daughter

of the most powerful

man in the world

discovered a hidden baby

that was forbidden

and she had compassion.

I want you to understand

it wasn't coincidence,

it was God's providence.

God saw Jochebed,

heard her prayers,

knew her tears,

felt her burden

and miraculously

intervened.

You know,

look at verse 9 there

in our text.

Notice what it tells us here

and it says,

And Pharaoh's daughter

said unto her,

Take this child away

and nurse it for me

and I will give thee

thy wages.

And the woman

took the child

and nursed it.

You know,

I think when Jochebed

put Moses in the river

that morning

she had no idea

what was going to play out.

But I guarantee you

she was happy

at the end of the day.

You know,

what mom would not rejoice

that her child

was safe with her.

God's mercy

was amazing.

This baby boy

that she was hiding

is now,

she can carry him openly.

She can be in the presence

of even other Egyptians.

Moses became,

you might say,

an untouchable

Hebrew child.

Nobody could do anything

to him

because why?

He had the protection

of Pharaoh.

You know,

you think about

what God did there.

He moved Pharaoh,

or he moved Moses

into a position

that he could be protected.

You know,

Jochebed probably

cared for Moses

until he was

five or six years old,

his early development.

Her influence

was so formative

on his life though

that he grew up

in an Egyptian palace.

Forty years later

he still knew

that he was a Hebrew.

I mean,

stop and think about that.

His mother's influence

in the early years

influenced him

for the rest of his life.

Never underestimate

the influence of mom

in the life of a kid,

in the life of a child.

It was through

these early things

of nurturing Moses

that he had a firmly

rooted identity

as one of the people of God

because even in discrimination,

God's mercy is present.

You know,

we should always be looking

where is God working?

What is God doing

through this?

Because after many years,

another Hebrew prophet,

Jeremiah,

was watching the people

that was cruelly treated

and invading the Babylonians.

And Jerusalem was under siege

and the people

were starving to death

in the streets

and in the midst

of oppression,

Jeremiah called

to God's mercies to mind.

You know,

look over to Lamentations chapter 3.

Lamentations 3 · chapter mention

Lamentations chapter 3.

Lamentations 3 · chapter mention

In the midst of that discrimination

against Jerusalem

and the prophet

was there suffering with them.

And he says this in verse 21.

He says,

And this I recall

to my mind.

You know,

when things happen,

we need to remember.

We need to stop and consider.

Therefore have I hope.

It is of the Lord's mercies

that we are not consumed

because His compassions fail not.

They renew every morning.

And great is thy faithfulness.

I want you to understand,

Jeremiah wrote that

in the face of great injustice

and great struggle.

He said,

I'm tempted one direction,

but he says,

I recall to my mind

of who God is

and what God can do

and therefore I have hope.

I have hope.

We can understand,

we can respond to things

when they're against us

with faith in God

and we'll see His mercy

work through that.

But think about even

not only showing to Jochebed,

but showing to Moses.

You know,

God not only showed mercy

to Jochebed,

He also did to Moses

through the compassion

Pharaoh's daughter had on him.

You know,

a young Hebrew boy

that was spared from genocide

in which he was supposed

to have been killed,

but instead he gets a place

and a room in the palace.

Not only is he alive

and in the palace,

there's something else

that took place,

the Bible tells us,

that prepared Moses

for what God had for him.

Moses got the premium

education of the day.

I mean,

he got all the best stuff.

You know,

look over to Acts chapter 7.

Acts 7 · chapter mention

Acts chapter 7

Acts 7 · chapter mention

gives us a little insight

into this.

Now notice here

what happens.

It says here in Acts 7, 21,

it says,

And when he was cast out,

Pharaoh's daughter

took him up

and nourished him

for her own son.

And Moses was learned

in all the wisdom

of the Egyptian

and was mighty

in words

and in deeds.

Now,

we'll look a little later

as we get into Moses' life.

It's interesting.

At one time,

he was bold.

He was,

I want everybody

to know how smart he was.

He wanted to understand

that he was well-educated.

He was well-spoken.

He had all the right

to credentials.

I mean,

there was no credentials

that Moses missed out on.

As being the son

of Pharaoh's daughter,

being recognized,

that he had no restrictions

of what he could learn.

He had private tutors,

most likely,

coming in

and just giving him

all the stuff,

making sure he understood.

He had the best schooling,

the best classes,

you know.

But it's important

that even in the times

when things don't seem right,

we can give pause

to thank God

for the blessings

he gives

in spite of what happens.

You know,

we need to understand

the way to overcome

the hurt of discrimination

is to give thanks.

You know,

when something is unjust to you,

the best thing you can do

is call to mind

who God is.

You don't have to thank God

for what happened,

but you can thank

that he's a merciful God.

Because you know what it does?

It changes your perspective

about what's happening.

Because if you wather

in a situation,

when you wather around,

and get yourself

all messed up

and tied up

in the event

or the dynamic

of what somebody said

or did,

you know what happens?

You become bitter.

You become angry.

You get an attitude

of why is this happening to me?

This isn't fair.

But you know what?

When we stop and think

that the Bible tells us

into all things

give thanks.

We can thank God

he's still there

even in the midst

when things are not right.

That God is there

in a mighty way.

Yep.

Yep.

Moses was cultivated

in all the elements there,

but he had overcome

those things.

And the right attitude

is important for us.

You know,

take a look over

to Psalm 106.

Psalm 106 in verse 1

says,

Praise ye the Lord.

O give thanks

unto the Lord,

for he is good.

For his mercy

does what?

Endureth forever.

You know what?

We can rest assured

when things aren't

going the way

we think they ought to do

that God's mercies

are still there.

God's still merciful to us.

You know,

the mercies

that God gives

in the midst

of discrimination

is but a precursor

to his commitment

to vindicate

those who suffer.

You know,

I want you to understand

that God makes it

very clear.

Oftentimes we forget this.

He says,

Vengeance is mine,

saith the Lord.

You know,

the one thing

that will help you

through that

is to realize

you're not the one

that needs to solve

the problem,

but to realize

God says,

I'm going to hold

to account

those things.

We can praise God

because God's

keeping a perfect record.

You know,

oftentimes in the Psalms

you'll see David

talk about,

why do the wicked

prosper?

And if you read

through those Psalms

where he says that

he always comes back

to the fact that

they're but for a season

and they're going

to be held

to account.

God's timing

will be perfect.

We need to trust God.

You know,

you think about

Romans chapter 8,

Romans 8 · chapter mention

I mean,

verse 28

is really the reality

of what's happened

here with Moses

where it says,

and we know

all things work together

for good

to them that

love God

to them that are

what?

Called according

to his purpose.

All things work

together for good.

Now,

I want you to understand

it doesn't say

everything is going

to be good.

I think sometimes

we read that

and we catch on

that phrase

and it's like,

well,

that means everything's

going to be grand.

No.

It just says

God's going to take

everything that's

happening in your life

and if you trust him,

he says he can turn

that for your benefit

and for his.

To understand

we can see

God's mercy

in that

and understand

the dynamic

of Moses

and God's mercy

towards us.

So we see

the ministry of a mom,

the mercy of God

and then we see

in this also

the making of Moses.

You know,

as we survey

Moses' life

shows us how God

in preserving

this individual

would one day

enable him

to be the deliverer

of an entire nation.

You know,

Moses had

a unique

future

ahead of him

at this point.

God developed

Moses

so that he would

eventually lead

God's people

out of the oppression

and bondage

they had experienced.

What Pharaoh

intended for evil

against God's people

by killing

all the children

all the male children

God took that

very element

and put Moses

in the palace

trained him up

equipped him

with everything

he is going to need

to know

for a future thing

God had for him.

God was working

there

in his identity.

Imagine

Jochebed's influence

on Moses' life

was the strongest

during his most

formative years

and though he grew up

in the palace

in Egypt

he identified

as a child

of God.

Now I want you

to understand

I'm going to

sidetrack

just for a moment

here.

As a parent

I want you

to understand

your young

children

are formative.

That's the reason

we have a culture

that wants to

take your kids

from you

especially

in their early

years

and form

their thinking

because you can

direct a child

of how they think

how they perceive

how they understand

that's going

to stay with

them the rest

of their life.

It's either

going to be

for good

or for bad.

You know what?

Let me just

give an illustration

here.

Children that are

abused

it impacts

them the rest

of their life.

I'm not saying

they can overcome

it.

God says

his mercy

is able

to overcome

those things

but you know

what?

The things

that they taught

that they were

experienced

in younger years

impacts them.

It impacts

their decision

making.

It impacts

the way

they perceive

the world.

It's important

and I'll just

encourage parents

to take your

responsibility

for your children.

It's your

responsibility.

God's given

them to you

to prepare

them

especially

in those

formative

years

because there's

coming a day

they're going

to get older

and if you

haven't formed

things upright

you're going

to see it.

It starts

when they're

young.

It's not

easy

but it's

beneficial

to do

those things

and so

you know

the Bible

tells us

in Hebrews

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

chapter 11

when it

talks about

the faith

of Moses

in verse 24

it says

when he was

come to

years

refused to

be called

the son

of Pharaoh's

daughter

choosing rather

to suffer

affliction

with the people

of God

and that

to enjoy

pleasure of

sin

for a season

esteeming

the reproach

of Christ's

greater riches

than the treasures

in Egypt

for he had

respect

under the

recompense

of reward.

In other words

what did

Moses'

mom teach

him?

That to be

honored by

God is more

important than

to be honored

by the world.

that's the

base principle

that Moses'

mom taught

him that's

mentioned here.

If stuck

with Moses

you better

understand where

you are with

God because

that's more

important than

where you

stand with

the world.

It impacted

his life.

He was a

man who

grew up and

purposely

identified with

God and

his people.

He was in

an Egyptian

world but

identified as

a child of

God.

I want you

to understand

that when

we talk

about identifying

it's not a

cultural identity.

Moses was

identifying with

a spiritual

heritage,

a spiritual

identity

of who

God is,

the one

that made

promises to

his forefathers

Abraham,

Isaac,

and Jacob.

You know

there's a

great pressure

today,

particularly on

our teens and

young adults

and even

adults today,

to conform

their identity

to a culture

that's anti-God,

anti-Christian,

and anti-Scripture.

Just do this

and be quiet

and it'll be

fine.

You know

what?

We need to

identify with

Christ.

We talked

about that

this morning,

didn't we?

And not

just in

salvation but

in our

life,

the things

that we

do,

the choices

we make.

To identify

with him,

just as Moses

made an

intentional thing

to say,

I'm going to

follow what

God would

have.

Just as we

have to

follow Christ,

must be

ready to

identify with

Christ no

matter the

cost.

Sometimes you're

going to find

out there's a

cost to

standing for

Christ.

Are you

willing to

pay the

price or

is it

easier just

to go

with the

flow?

You think

about today

when you

think about

the Bible.

We live

in a

generation.

If you

teach things

to your

children or

make public

statements about

marriage or

about identity

of male and

female, they

say, oh

you're a

bigot,

you're this,

they're that.

They call

you all sorts

of names.

You know

what that

is?

That's

pressure to

conform, to

identify with

the world

instead of

identifying with

Christ.

God says

something totally

contrary.

What God

says is there's

men and women

and there ought

to be a

marriage between

a man and a

woman.

We ought not

to kill our

offspring.

You know,

it's one of

those things,

the choice

happened way

before that

moment.

But you

know what,

the world

loves to

twist to

say, just

go along

with this,

it'll be

fine.

It's

amazing how

many people

that say

they follow

the word

of God

suddenly deviate

when the

world puts

pressure.

And sometimes

it's as simple

just sit down

and be quiet.

The thing

about the

world's

dynamic is

you can

have that

opinion,

just be

quiet about

it.

Sometimes

you're not

going to

be accepted.

You know,

think about

creation.

If you

take what

God says

in Genesis

1 and 2

literally,

you're going

to have

people in

academia say

well, I

got news

for them.

When you

actually do

do science,

when you

actually do

understand what

science is,

it lines up

with the

word of

God.

That's a

whole other

lesson.

But Moses

chose to

identify as

a Hebrew.

I want you

to understand

it wasn't

easy because

remember,

he grew up

in the

palace most

of his

teenage years

through his

early teens.

But at

this point

when Moses

tries to

get ahead

of God,

we find

he's 40

years old.

That's a

good span

of time.

As I

say,

there's a

lot of

water under

the bridge

between the

time he

was in

the palace

up to

that point.

He's

probably

living in

the palace

for 35

years.

But he

identified as

a Hebrew.

But even

in, not

only in his

identity, but

in his

failure.

You know,

although Moses

showed a

strong faith

in his choice

to identify

with the people

of God rather

than being

called an

Egyptian,

when he

witnessed

discrimination,

he reacted

in the flesh

rather than

in faith.

Now, this

is important

because Moses

failed because

he got ahead

of God.

He said,

I'm going to

take care of

the problem.

Look here in

Exodus chapter 2.

Exodus 2 · chapter mention

Look down at

verse 11.

It says,

It came to

pass in those

days when

Moses was

growing that

he went out

unto his

brethren and

looked on

their burdens

and he spied

an Egyptian

smiting a

Hebrew, one

of the 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.

You know,

think about

what happened

here.

Moses has

taken the

oppression of

his people

into his

own hands.

I'm going to

fix it my

way.

Look over to

Acts chapter 7

Acts 7 · chapter mention

in the New

Testament because

another insight

you have into

this, Acts

Acts 7 · chapter mention

chapter 7,

down in verse

24, it tells

us this,

it says,

Seeing one

of them suffer

wrong, he

defending him,

avenged him,

that was

oppressed, and

smote the

Egyptian, for

he supposed

his brethren

would have

understood how

that God by

his hand would

deliver them, but

they understood

not.

That's a lot of

insight into

Moses' mindset.

What was

Moses thinking?

He says, God

raised me up and

I'm going to

take my authority

God's given to

me.

You know what,

oftentimes people

try to take

authority that

God's given, but

I want you

understand, authority

isn't power,

authority is

responsibility.

What did

Jesus say?

If you're a

leader, you're

what?

A servant.

Responsibility.

Moses said, I

have power, and

God says, no, you

have a responsibility.

You know, Moses

had good

intentions.

You know,

oftentimes we

justify things, but

my intentions were

good.

You know, I want

you to understand

that good

intentions don't

always produce the

right outcomes.

when we take

those intentions

out of and go

against what God

has told us to

do.

You know, usually

when we think

we're ready to do

something great and

noble and know

just the way to do

to go about it,

that's a good

intention, but we

need to understand

that we're not

ready.

Because until we

have faith in

God should lead

us to bold

actions, but we

need to trust God

in that.

To understand

that Moses

had to trust

God in

God's timing.

Instead of

waiting on

God's instruction,

he got impatient.

You know, you

can read through

scripture, there's a

whole lot of

people you find

that believed

in God but got

impatient with

God.

Got ahead of

God.

And you think

back, Abraham

was a prime

example, him and

Sarah.

God promised

them a son.

They couldn't

have a son,

they couldn't

have a son,

said, we're

going to solve

the problem

for God.

What did they

have?

They had a

good intention.

I needed

air.

They got ahead

of God and

caused a lot

of grief.

If you study

history, you'll

find out his

choice still

impacts the

world today.

If you want

to see the

ripple effect

of the world

around us.

But also in

his solitude,

you know, God

knew that Moses

would never

lead Israel out

of Egypt with

an impatient

anger.

So God

brought Moses

to the

backside of

the desert

where he

would spend

the next

40 years

herding sheep.

You know,

I've never

been around

sheep much,

but I've

talked to

some people

who raise

sheep.

They're not

the brightest

critters.

one thing

about it.

To raise

sheep, you

have to

learn patience.

You have

to learn

to wait.

You know,

it tells us

in Exodus

3 that

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 mount

of God

to Horeb.

You know,

I'm imagining

here that Moses

must have

thought he

lost his

only opportunity

to deliver

Israel.

Now he's out

here cast out

into the desert.

But you know

what?

Even in this,

God used it

to prepare

Moses for

what he

needed to

do.

Because you

stop and

think about

for a moment,

was the

anger-filled,

I want to

do it my

way, going

to be a

good fit

for the

children of

Israel coming

out of

Egypt?

Did they

test patience

a little

bit?

You know,

the children

of Israel

tested God,

they tested

Moses.

I mean,

Moses would

have reacted

totally different

when God

said,

well,

I'll wipe

them out,

we'll start

again with

you.

And Moses

pleaded for

the people.

You know

what the

Moses in

Egypt would

have done?

Yeah,

God,

go ahead

and do

it,

they deserve

it.

But you

know what

the Moses

that learned

to really

trust God

and God's

timing said,

Lord,

have mercy

on him.

He was a

meek man,

the Bible

tells us.

He was a

proud,

arrogant,

young man

that left

Egypt,

and he

returned a

humble,

willing to

follow God.

Man.

Willing to

trust God.

When God

allows trials

into your

life,

he desires

to mature

and strengthen

your faith.

Moses'

trials in

his life

matured his

faith to

another level.

He was

bold,

but he

wasn't mature.

If we're

going to be

bold for

Christ,

we also need

to be

mature.

Because in

other words,

you get ahead

of God.

God

will

do

things

our

ways.

Moses'

early,

undisciplined,

immature

faith led

him to

taking things

into his

own hand.

He had

to learn

that God

was not

interested in

what we

can offer

in the

way of

our

energetic

anger.

He was

simply

looking for

our

faith-filled

!

obedience.

That leads

us to the

last thing

in his

surrender.

Forty

years later,

we meet

Moses.

He's a

humble

man.

After a

direct

encounter

with God,

he's a

transformed

man.

At the

burning

bush,

he met

God and

he was

changed

once again.

God

called

Moses to

the very

job he

had earlier

tried to

assume.

You know,

it's

interesting

that the

bold,

well-spoken,

kind of

outgoing,

and even

you might

say,

I imagine

Moses

was even

might have

been considered

a little

arrogant in

his attitude

when he

left Egypt.

Think about

when God

talks to

him at

the burning

bush,

and he

says,

Moses,

this is what

I want

you to

do,

what does

Moses

say?

Lord,

I can't

talk,

I can't

do,

and we

know that

he was

trained in

all the

right things,

he knew

all the

things.

His

past

failures

thought it

made him

unable to

do it,

and we

understood that

he says

that Israelites

would not

believe that

God had

sent him,

and they

would want

evidence,

you know,

Israelites

would not

believe him