Definition of Leadership

"Leadership is a combination of strategy and character. If you must be without one, be without the strategy.“ - U.S. Army General H. Norman Schwarzkopf

• God has chosen YOU to lead others • Your family needs YOU to be a spiritual leader • Your neighbors need YOU to be a spiritual leader • This church family needs YOU to be a spiritual leader

Source: www.theamericanenterprise.org/taeja00c.htm Today…

Can you trust God even in the pain? Then said to the Lord, “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” The Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now then go, and I, even I, will be with your mouth, and teach you what you are to say.” But he said, “Please, Lord, now send the message by whomever You will.” Exodus 4:10-13

But Moses said, “O Lord, please send someone else to do it.” (Exodus 4:13 NIV) But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.” (Exodus 4:13 ESV) Are you ready to go when God calls?

Then the anger of the Lord burned against Moses, and He said, “Is there not your brother the Levite? I know that he speaks fluently. And moreover, behold, he is coming out to meet you; when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. You are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I, even I, will be with your mouth and his mouth, and I will teach you what you are to do. Moreover, he shall speak for you to the people; and he will be as a mouth for you and you will be as God to him. You shall take in your hand this staff, with which you shall perform the signs.” Exodus 4:14-17

Then Moses departed and returned to Jethro his father-in- law and said to him, “Please, let me go, that I may return to my brethren who are in Egypt, and see if they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” Exodus 4:18

*Can we, like Jethro, celebrate and assist others when they obey God’s call? *How can we encourage and bless others who follow God faithfully? Now the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” So Moses took his wife and his sons and mounted them on a donkey, and returned to the land of Egypt. Moses also took the staff of God in his hand. The Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your power; but I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Israel is My son, My firstborn. So I said to you, ‘Let My son go that he may serve Me’; but you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn.” ’ ” Exodus 4:19-23

*God previously said to Abraham, “And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” Genesis 12:3

Now it came about at the lodging place on the way that the Lord met him and sought to put him to death. Then took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and threw it at Moses’ feet, and she said, “You are indeed a bridegroom of blood to me.” So He let him alone. At that time she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood”—because of the circumcision. Exodus 4:24-26

*The incident serves as a reminder of the danger of failing to take God seriously. – New Bible Commentary *He who would proclaim God’s will to others must himself be obedient to the express will of God. – Wycliffe Bible Commentary Now the Lord said to Aaron, “Go to meet Moses in the wilderness.” So he went and met him at the mountain of God (Mount Sinai) and kissed him. Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which He had sent him, and all the signs that He had commanded him to do. Exodus 4:27-28

*Like Aaron, are you willing to join with others when God is doing a mighty work in their lives? *Like Moses, are you able to explain to others the calling God has given you? The total distance from Goshen to Sinai is 750 km (466 miles) and the average daily rate of travel of 27 km (16 miles) per day.

http://www.bible.ca/archeology/bible-archeology- exodus-route-travel-times-distances-days.htm

Mount Horeb = Mount Sinai Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of the sons of Israel; and Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses. He then performed the signs in the sight of the people. So the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord was concerned about the sons of Israel and that He had seen their affliction, then they bowed low and worshiped. Exodus 4:29-31

The Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings. So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians…” Exodus 3:7-8a And afterward Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh (probably Amenhotep II), “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let My people go that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness.’ ” But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and besides, I will not let Israel go.” Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, otherwise He will fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.” But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you draw the people away from their work? Get back to your labors!” Again Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now many, and you would have them cease from their labors!” Exodus 5:1-5 *Moses and Aaron experienced a spiritual high followed by a spiritual low

Pharaoh reacted in three ways: (1) He repudiated the God of Israel as having no authority (Ex. 5:2). - Pharoah’s question, “Who is the Lord?”, will soon be answered (2) He was calloused to the possibility of any harm that might come on the Israelites for disobeying their God (Ex. 5:2–3). (3) He was concerned for his own loss of labor productivity (Ex. 5:4–5).

This Pharaoh (probably Amenhotep II) viewed the Israelites as a commodity and their services as valuable, whereas the Pharaoh of Exodus 1:8–10, 22 (perhaps Ahmose) wanted to exterminate them. - Bible Knowledge Commentary So the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters over the people and their foremen, saying, “You are no longer to give the people straw to make brick as previously; let them go and gather straw for themselves. But the quota of bricks which they were making previously, you shall impose on them; you are not to reduce any of it. Because they are lazy, therefore they cry out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ Let the labor be heavier on the men, and let them work at it so that they will pay no attention to false words.” So the taskmasters of the people and their foremen went out and spoke to the people, saying, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I am not going to give you any straw. You go and get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it, but none of your labor will be reduced.’ ” So the people scattered through all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. The taskmasters pressed them, saying, “Complete your work quota, your daily amount, just as when you had straw.” Moreover, the foremen of the sons of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, “Why have you not completed your required amount either yesterday or today in making brick as previously?” Exodus 5:6-14

Then the foremen of the sons of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you deal this way with your servants? There is no straw given to your servants, yet they keep saying to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your servants are being beaten; but it is the fault of your own people.” But he said, “You are lazy, very lazy; therefore you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ So go now and work; for you will be given no straw, yet you must deliver the quota of bricks.” The foremen of the sons of Israel saw that they were in trouble because they were told, “You must not reduce your daily amount of bricks.” Exodus 5:15-19 When they left Pharaoh’s presence, they met Moses and Aaron as they were waiting for them. They said to them, “May the Lord look upon you and judge you, for you have made us odious in Pharaoh’s sight and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.” Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “O Lord, why have You brought harm to this people? Why did You ever send me? Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done harm to this people, and You have not delivered Your people at all.” Exodus 5:20-23

How do you handle spiritual disappointment? • God always leads His people when they listen and obey, but the journey is often not tranquil. • Will I trust God when times are easy? • Will I trust God when times are hard? • The Israelites were brought to their lowest state of helpless despair and suffering in order that the grace and power of God alone might be manifest in their redemption. – Wycliffe Bible Commentary Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for under compulsion he will let them go, and under compulsion he will drive them out of his land.” God spoke further to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord; and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name, Lord, I did not make Myself known to them. I also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they sojourned. Furthermore I have heard the groaning of the sons of Israel, because the Egyptians are holding them in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant. Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage. I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. Then I will take you for My people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. ‘I will bring you to the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you for a possession; I am the Lord.’ ” Exodus 6:1-8 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” Exodus 3:14

Related to the name of God, YHWH (or Yahweh), rendered “Lord” in ָהיָה , ֶא ְהיֶה English, which is derived from the verb HAYAH, to be

God is self-existent; He has His being of Himself, and has no dependence upon any other. Being self-existent, He cannot but be self-sufficient, and therefore all-sufficient, and the inexhaustible fountain of being and bliss. He is eternal and unchangeable, and always the same, yesterday, today, and forever; He will be what He will be and what He is (see Rev. 1:8). - Matthew Henry Commentary

How can you handle spiritual disappointment?

Hear Him say, “I am the Lord”

Hear Him promise, “I will”

In Exodus 6:1-8, God speaks 4 instances of “I am the Lord” 7 instances of “I will”

So Moses spoke thus to the sons of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses on account of their despondency and cruel bondage. Exodus 6:9 Compared to… So the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord was concerned about the sons of Israel and that He had seen their affliction, then they bowed low and worshiped. Exodus 4:31

What happened between Exodus 4:31 and 6:9? *Time, struggle, pain, sorrow, fear, worry, oppression *The Israelites feared Pharaoh more than they trusted God. Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the sons of Israel go out of his land.” But Moses spoke before the Lord, saying, “Behold, the sons of Israel have not listened to me; how then will Pharaoh listen to me, for I am unskilled in speech?” Then the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, and gave them a charge to the sons of Israel and to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt. Exodus 6:10-13

*Have you ever been hurting so much that you could not hear God’s voice even when He was speaking directly to you?

These are the heads of their fathers’ households. The sons of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn: Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben. The sons of Simeon: Jemuel and Jamin and Ohad and Jachin and Zohar and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon. These are the names of the sons of according to their generations: and Kohath and Merari; and the length of Levi’s life was one hundred and thirty-seven years. The sons of Gershon: Libni and , according to their families. The sons of Kohath: and Izhar and Hebron and ; and the length of Kohath’s life was one hundred and thirty-three years. The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their generations. Amram married his father’s sister , and she bore him Aaron and Moses; and the length of Amram’s life was one hundred and thirty-seven years. The sons of Izhar: and Nepheg and Zichri. The sons of Uzziel: Mishael and Elzaphan and Sithri. Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. The sons of Korah: Assir and Elkanah and Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites. Aaron’s son Eleazar married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ households of the Levites according to their families. Exodus 6:14-25 Source: Bible Knowledge Commentary It was the same Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring out the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their hosts.” They were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing out the sons of Israel from Egypt; it was the same Moses and Aaron. Now it came about on the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, that the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “I am the Lord; speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I speak to you.” But Moses said before the Lord, “Behold, I am unskilled in speech; how then will Pharaoh listen to me?” Exodus 6:26-30

*Do your spiritual doubts keep occurring? Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I make you as God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall speak to Pharaoh that he let the sons of Israel go out of his land. But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart that I may multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. Exodus 7:1-3

*On numerous occasions in Exodus God is said to have hardened Pharaoh’s heart. To some people God’s hardening seems to preclude Pharaoh’s exercise of his own will. But Pharaoh also hardened his own heart (7:13, “became hard”; 14, “unyielding”; 22, “became hard”; 8:15, 19, “was hard”; 32; 9:7, “unyielding”; 34, “hardened”; 35, “was hard”; 13:15, “stubbornly refused,” another Hebrew word meaning “hardened”). The first two references to God’s hardening Pharaoh’s heart (4:21; 7:3) were actually predictions that He would do it in the future. Then in the next seven references Pharaoh is said to have hardened his own heart (7:13–14, 22; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:7) before God is said to have hardened it (9:12; 10:1, 20, 27; 11:10; 14:4, 8). God’s first hardening came after the sixth plague. Pharaoh hardened his own heart six times by his refusals. Then later he hardened it again in response to the seventh plague, and God hardened his heart after each of plagues 8–10. God confirmed Pharaoh’s defiant willful obstinance by then judicially hardening his heart (cf. Deut. 2:30; Josh. 11:20). - Bible Knowledge Commentary

When Pharaoh does not listen to you, then I will lay My hand on Egypt and bring out My hosts, My people the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt by great judgments. The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their midst.” So Moses and Aaron did it; as the Lord commanded them, thus they did. Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three, when they spoke to Pharaoh. Exodus 7:4-7

*Exodus 6:7 “You shall know” *Exodus 7:5 “The Egyptians shall know”

Do you trust in God’s sovereign power?

For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.” So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. Romans 9:17-18 Leadership principles from the life of Moses Exodus 4-7 Effective kingdom leaders: • Hear and obey God • Are willing to serve God with other people • Admit fear • Trust God in the midst of fear • Struggle often with self-doubt • Persevere through false accusations from other people • Trust God more than they fear their enemies • Are never too old for God to use in a mighty way

What to do in times of tragedy?

Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope for His lovingkindness, to deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. For our heart rejoices in Him, because we trust in His holy name. Let Your lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us, according as we have hoped in You. Psalm 33:18-22