Moses
– Freeing
Yourself to Know God
·
We
need self-confidence to weather the storms in life (see Luke 9:23) But this
kind of confidence is what Paul describes in Phil. 4:13. Moses needed to learn
this.
·
Moses
may have heard about God from his parents, he had made the decision to put God
first, but Moses' actions tell us that Moses still needed to meet and
experience God personally
·
Moses
maintained his relationship with Jethro (which will pay off later), and sets
out with his family to meet Aaron. However, lesson 1. Honor God's ways first
(4:24-26) How could Moses be spiritual leader of Moses if he didn't see to the
spiritual side of his own family?
·
Before
Moses could face Pharaoh, he still needed to deal with his feelings of
inferiority brought on by rejection. Notice how the following events address
this.
·
1st
Test - Painful Memories: At first, Israel welcomes Moses and Aaron (4:31) But
Pharaoh reacts by increasing the burden on the Hebrews (5:1-18) The Hebrews
blame Moses (5:21) This time thought, Moses goes to God with his feelings
(5:22-23). God then goes right to…
·
2nd
Test - More Rejection: God reiterates His desire to deliver the Israelites
(6:1-5) Moses passes this on the Hebrews, who don't listen (6:6-9) Right on the
heels of this, God wants Moses to go to Pharaoh (6:10,11), but Moses
experiences those same feelings (4:10; 6:12)
·
3rd
Test - In the Right Direction: God encourages Moses, reminds him Aaron is there
to help (7:1-6) God then has Moses do what he was good at, being a man powerful
in speech and action
·
The
power of the 10 Plagues often overwhelms the way God was working in Moses'
life. God was not only demonstrating His power to an unbelieving Egypt, He was
working on Moses
·
Notice
how in the first 3 plagues, Moses speaks to Aaron, and Aaron performs the
miracles. After that, Moses is acting on his own. In the 6th plague,
Moses both speaks and acts.
·
Note
how the plagues are a jab at what Egypt holds sacred. The Nile, frogs,
livestock, etc…
·
Little
by little, God rebuilt Moses' confidence. Note Egypt's reaction now (11:3)
·
The
miracle at the Red Sea shows us just how far Moses has come. From a human point
of view, there was no escape. (14:1-10) Terror and anger overtook the Hebrews
(14:10-12)
·
But,
notice how Moses responds this time. Without hesitation, Moses responds like
the great man of faith we know him to be (14:13-14).
·
At
last, Israel is free! (14:29-30) Note their respect for Moses now (14:31)
#1) God is concerned that
emotional problems do not stand in our way of trusting Him
#2) Self-confidence and
self-acceptance are basic to comfortably trusting and obeying God
#3) No matter our maturity
level, we are always vulnerable, especially where we were once weak
For
next week read Exodus 15:1-21
