I Am the Lord Your God, Who Brought You out from Under the Burdens of the Egyptians
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
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 Moses 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 Aaron 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 Zipporah 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.