We've all been hurt. We all have scars. And through a relationship with Jesus Christ,
we can all overcome and we can all be healed. Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton.
Alright everybody, welcome back and we're going to continue in our series on Reluctant
Leaders. This time, we're specifically going to be looking at Moses. Alright, now there's
a lot of things that focus on Moses from animated shows to full on feature length films. The
most iconic of which, I hate to disappoint you, it's not Veggie Tales, most likely
it's going to be Charlton Heston's portrayal. Now let's be honest, for decades, just the
mention of Moses has put this image of him coming down from the mountain with the tablets
in hand and then yelling, those who shall not live by the law shall die by the law.
You know, when reflecting back, people generally remember that Moses led his people out of
Egypt and that they wandered the desert for 40 years. And the Bible tells us this in Acts
chapter 7 verse 30. I know, 40 years, really? Come on, I Googled it, it doesn't take that
long. This is a much shorter walk than that. Well, it did take him 40 years and the Bible
does go into why it was 40 years. We're not going to be looking at that today, that's
for a later time. Remember, we're looking at the beginnings of our reluctant leaders
and why they were reluctant. So, to take a look at this man, we're going to go almost
to the start of the Bible and we're going to look at Exodus. We're going to start in
chapter 1 verse 1, so go right to the very beginning. We're going to read through chapter
2 verses 1 through 10. Now, I know it sounds like a lot of reading, it's really not. These
are pretty short chapters, so bear with me a little bit, give me a little grace. Now,
this is awesome because this goes all the way back. It tells us exactly what was going
on with the Israelites at that time and brings us to the birth of Moses.
Alright, so starting again, Exodus chapter 1 verse 1. These are the names of the sons
of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and
Isaacar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. The descendants of Jacob, number
70 and all, Joseph was already in Egypt. Now, all his brothers and all that generation died,
but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful. They multiplied greatly, increased in numbers,
and became so numerous that the land was filled with them. Then a new king, to whom Joseph
meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. Look, he said to his people, the Israelites have
become far too numerous for us. Come, we must deal shrewdly with them, or they will become
even more numerous, and if war breaks out, we'll join our enemies. Bite against us and
leave the country. So they put the slave masters, sorry, they put, so they put slave masters
over them to oppress them with forced labor. And they built Pithom and Ramses as store
cities for Pharaoh. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread.
So the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites and worked them ruthlessly. They made their
lives bitter with harsh labor and brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields.
And all their harsh labor, the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly. The king of Egypt said to
the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Sifra and Pua, when you are helping the Hebrew women
during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him.
But if it's a girl, let her live. The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the
king of Egypt had told them to do. They let the boys live. When then the king of Egypt
summoned the midwives and asked them, why have you done this? Why have you let the boys
live? The midwives answered Pharaoh, Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women. They are
vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive. So God was kind to the midwives and
the people increased and became even more numerous. And because the midwives feared
God, he gave them families of their own. Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people,
every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.
Alright, so that's set in the background for what's going on. Now we're going to continue
on to chapter two. Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levi woman and she became
pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him
for three months. But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for
him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among
the reeds along the bank of the Nile. His sister stood at a distance to see what would
happen to him. Then Pharaoh's daughter went down to the Nile to bathe and her attendants
were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female
slave to get it. She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying and she felt sorry for
him. This is one of the Hebrew babies, she said. Then his sister asked Pharaoh's daughter,
shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you? Yes, go, she answered.
So the girl went and got the baby's mother. Pharaoh's daughter said to her, take this
baby and nurse him for me and I will pay you. So the woman took the baby and nursed him.
When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh's daughter and he became her son.
She named him Moses saying, I drew him out of the water. Holy cow, there's a lot there,
I know. All right, so from birth, we can see Moses was already living in strife. He literally
saw hardship from day one. Not only that, but he had a target on him straight out of
the womb. And then he snuck out, put in a basket to float down the river. His birth
was the thing movies are made of. No, really. If you think about it, it sounds like I'm
talking about the movie Willow. And that's a trope that's been used for other films
and stories over the years. One can't help but think that there's a biblical influence
at play. Unfortunately, it's not a tall tale though. We see this in other places in the
Bible as well, like in the book of Matthew with King Herod. And sadly, we see things
like this around the world today. Just reports of infanticide in China have been around for
years. Is it a boy? Is it a girl? All right, so let's take a look, let's take a moment
and let's look at Acts chapter seven verses 21 through 22, which tell us just a little
bit more about his youth. All right, so skipping ahead here, it says the Bible says, when he
was placed outside, Pharaoh's daughter took him and brought him up as her own. Moses was
well-educated and all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was a powerful in speech and action. So
we know that one, Moses was brought up as a member of the royal family with all the
benefits that entails. Two, he wasn't a dummy. He was smart. He was well-educated and it
showed. So one would think at this point, we're looking at someone who has it all. Easy
street, skates, just skate city. Right? Wrong. He didn't skate at all. It wasn't easy street
for him. So let's flip over to Hebrews chapter 11 verses 24 through 26 and we'll see why.
All right, so again, that's Hebrews 11 and we're going to pick up chapter 24 through
26 and the Bible says, by faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the
son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather
than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded the disgrace for the sake of Christ
as a greater value than the treasures of Egypt because he was looking ahead to his reward.
So even though he was raised as royalty, he refused the pleasures, the comforts, and the
wealth. Remember, he was smart. He saw just how fleeting all these things were. They're
temporary. So we see some of the leader in Moses starting to kind of peek out. That's
all it's doing at this point. It's just peeking out. Right? Now, there's something to take
note of here as well. Just as Moses had these idols in front of him, we can all see the
same ones in our lives. We can all get caught up with things like wealth, popularity, status,
and so on. And just as Moses saw them for what they are, we need to recognize them as
temporary, short-term benefits. And instead, we need to keep our eye on the long-term benefits
of God's kingdom, a kingdom, I might add, that already has our real treasures stored
up as the Bible tells us in Matthew chapter 6, verses 19 through 21. All right? So for
the first 40 years of his life, Moses has been torn between worlds. Things are about
to get worse for him though. So let's go back to Exodus, and we're going to pick back up
in chapter 2, right where we left off, so in verse 11. Now, we're going to read through
verses 11 through 15. All right? So the Bible says, one day after Moses had grown up, he
went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an
Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. Looking this way and that, and seeing
no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. The next day, he went out and
saw two Hebrews fighting, and he asked the one in the wrong, why are you hitting your
fellow Hebrew? The man said, who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of
killing me as you killed the Egyptian? Then Moses was afraid and thought, what I did must
have become known. When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from
Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well. All right, we're going
to stop there. All right, so we see this discussed in Acts chapter 7 verses 23 through 29 as
well. Moses acted rash. He was hasty. He's very hasty. Does it sound familiar? Because
we just talked about another leader with the same issue. He got caught up in the moment,
and for being a really smart guy, he made a really dumb move. Here's a man at the royal
family who could have gone an entirely different direction. He could have done this a different
way to stand up for this other man, but instead, he made a semi-calculated move to lash out.
First, he looked to make sure nobody could see him, or so he thought, and then he killed
the man. Buried him. He hit him. That misstep came back to bite him pretty quick, to the
extent that Pharaoh no longer cared that he was an adopted member of the family. He wanted
him dead. At this point, he's a man on the lam. He's running for his life. He knew if
he got caught, that was it. That was the end for him. He'd be pushing daisies. Sometimes,
we make the same mistake in our lives. We think that we can do something wrong and get
away with it as long as nobody sees or catches us. Even those little white lies that we make.
Taking supplies from work home for personal use. Those victimless crimes. Just like Moses,
sooner or later, it catches up to us and it bites us. Even if it doesn't happen here on
earth, we'll still have to answer. We'll have to answer for that when we face God.
Just like a drop of water. Drop of water hits the body and ripples go out across that body
water. Your actions do the same thing in your life. We all have to choose whether the ways
we create in our lives will be good or bad. The smallest action or sometimes inaction
can turn into something significantly bigger later on. We choose every day. Sometimes,
we don't realize that we're doing it. Do you want these actions to come back at you
like a destructive tsunami or a big beautiful wave that you can ride out on like a great
surfer? You decide. Personally, surf's up buddy. I don't want that tsunami.
Let's skip ahead a little bit. We're going to go down to Exodus chapter 3. We're going
to pick this up in verse 7 and we're going to go through verse 12. Again, that's Exodus
chapter 3 verse 7 through 12. The Bible says, The Lord said, I have indeed seen the misery
of my people in Egypt. I've heard them crying out because of their slave drivers and I am
concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of
the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land and into a good and spacious land,
a land flowing with milk and honey, the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites,
Hivites, and Jubisites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me and I have seen
the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to
bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt. But Moses said to God, Who am I that I should
go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt? And God said, I will be with you
and this will be a sign to you that it is I who have sent you. When you have brought
the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain. It's a lot. I know.
So Moses, basically at this point, he's at the burning bush. And God is telling him that
he's concerned about the Israelites. He's hearing their cries. He's hearing them pleading
and he's going to use Moses to free them. However, Moses is very reluctant at this point.
He doesn't have any confidence really. He's really lacking there. Just like Peter and
Gideon were. Well, I should say were. They were when we started. Of course, it happens
later in the Bible. But just like Peter, just like so many of us. So Moses says, Who am
I? Remember these words because as we know, it's not the only time in the Bible that
God says them. He says the same thing to us. I will be with you. He's with us every moment
of every day. Yet Moses felt alone and unable to deal with this situation by himself. God
wasn't asking him to do it by himself though. God was going with him and supplying him with
even more as we're going to see moving forward here. So let's take a look now. We're still
in Exodus 3 and we're going to pick up our reading here and we're going to look at verses
13 through 21. So speaking up in verse 13, the Bible says, Moses said to God, Suppose
I go to the Israelites and I say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you.
And they ask me, What is his name? Then what shall I tell them? God said to Moses, I am
who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites. I am has sent me to you. God also
said to Moses, say to the Israelites, excuse me, say to the Israelites, the Lord, the God
of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob has sent me
to you. This is my name forever. The name you shall call me from generation to generation.
Go assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, the Lord, the God of your fathers, the
God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob appeared to me and said, I have watched over you and have
seen what has been done to you in Egypt. And I have promised to bring you up out of your
misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hibites and
Jebusites, the land flowing with milk and honey. The elders of Israel will listen to
you. Then you and the elders are going to go to the King of Egypt and say to him, the
Lord, the God of the Hebrews has met with us. Let us take a three day journey into the
wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God. But I know that the King of Egypt
will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. So I will stretch out my hand and strike
the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will
let you go and I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people so that when you
leave, you will not go empty handed. Every woman is to ask her neighbor, any woman living
in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your
sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians. Wow. So Moses, he started his
arguing here. He started his asking by asking God for his name. And this is a good thing
because keep in mind, he's brought up the royalty so he's not necessarily completely
familiar with everything that's been done before and what the beliefs and the traditions
are with worshiping God and the promises that have been made and all that. So this is so
that the Israelites would recognize him, him being God, and not be confused with the Egyptians'
many gods, their idols. So God told him, I am. Yahweh is derived from the Hebrew word
for I am. And God used this to show his unchanging nature. He reminded Moses of his promises to
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, which can be found in Genesis. The Bible tells us in Hebrews
13, 8, that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And in sending Moses on this
path, God even tells him that not only will the Israelites escape Egypt, but that the
Egyptians will be happy and even give them gifts from clothing to wealth. That's a lot.
Now, looking at verses 16 through 17, there are two things to take note of. The first
is that God told Moses to go and to tell what he's seen and heard. Basically, he's done
to go and give his testimony. And the best way for you to share the gospel with others,
for you, me, all of us, is to do exactly this, is to tell them about what God has done for
us in our lives, our blessings. This gives credit to the fact that you're vouching for
God. And that's what it is. The second thing to note is that this is the second time God
mentions the land of milk and honey. It was also mentioned in Exodus 3 verse 8 as well.
This isn't God singing the Crowder song, though this is what Crowder was singing about. This
is referring to the land where Israel and Jordan are today and expressing how beautiful
they are and how prosperous their promised land is going to be.
Now, moving along into chapter 4 verses 1 through 17, we see Moses continuing to argue
with God. The Bible says, Moses answered, what if they do not believe me or listen to
me and they say the Lord did not appear to you? Then the Lord said to him, what is that
in your hand? A staff, he replied. The Lord said, throw it on the ground. Moses threw
it on the ground and it became a snake and he ran from it. Then the Lord said to him,
reach out your hand and take it by the tail. So Moses reached out and took a hold of the
snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. This, said the Lord, is so that they
may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac
and the God of Jacob has appeared to you. Then the Lord said, put your hand inside your
cloak. So Moses put his hand into his cloak and when he took it out, the skin was leprous.
It had become white as snow. Now put it back into your cloak, he said. So Moses put his
hand back into his cloak and when he took it out, it was restored like the rest of his
flesh. Then the Lord said, if they do not believe you or pay attention to the first
sign, they may believe the second. But if they do not believe these two signs or listen
to you, take some water from the Nile, pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from
the river will become blood on the ground. Moses said to the Lord, pardon your servant,
Lord. I've never been so eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your
servant. I am slow of speech and tongue. The Lord said to him, who gave human beings their
mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not
I, the Lord? Now go. I will help you speak and will teach you what to say. But Moses
said, pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else. Then the Lord's anger burned
against what Moses said. What about your brother Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well.
He is already on his way to meet you and he will be glad to see you. You shall speak to
him and put words in his mouth. I will help both of you speak and I 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. But take this staff in your hand so that you can perform the signs
with it.
So it reads the same for Moses as it does for us today. He was afraid of people with
think. He was over thinking things. He was building up the what ifs in his own mind.
He had that stinking thinking. We all do this. It is really easy to do. We all start building
things up in our heads and looking at things like, oh man, what is going to go wrong? The
solution to answer all this is to remember that God does not ask us to go to the places
he will not help us with. We need to trust in him and know that he will provide what
we need. In verses 2-4, God used a simple shepherd staff that Moses was carrying not
only to provide a miracle or a sign but to teach a lesson as well. Moses had no idea
how powerful his staff could become. While it could be used for many things, at the end
of it all it was just another stick. However, God can use the most ordinary things to do
great stuff and does.
What are some of the ordinary things in your life? A musical instrument? Lord knows I have
plenty of them. How about a pen or a hammer? A gentle touch or your voice? I can tell you
first hand that a gentle touch or a kind word can make a world of difference. You want to
see this at play? You go watch a CNA or a nurse tech at work. Beautiful, beautiful thing.
We all like to think it is special skills that God is going to use. But do not ever
discount anything. It does not matter how small or how mundane it might seem. God can
use anything. Anything.
Carrying on through verse 10, we see God continuing to equip Moses. He has given him signs which
are miracles in themselves. He has promised to be with him. He has reminded him of the
promises that he has already made and that he is going to keep as well. Yet Moses continued
to act like a whiny teenager. In verses 11-13, Moses continued to weasel his way out of what
he has been told to do. I cannot do it. Have someone else do it. He is continuing to talk
back to God. It is really easy to see why in verse 14, God is getting angry. Here is
Moses going, but, but, but, but. So God is doing what any parent would do at this point.
He is telling Moses, what did I just say? Boy, you better listen. Despite the protest
coming from Moses, God still continued to show his mercy by sending his brother Aaron
to help him. At this point, Moses has just run out of excuses and it is time to go to
work. The time for reluctance is done. God drew the line in the sand at this point. He
is like, we are going to work. Like it or not?
Moses had stumbling blocks from here on out as well. However, this right here, this is
where the reluctance goes away. He is beginning his ascent into becoming a great leader for
his people. He shows us that no matter how defiant we get, that we cannot argue with
God. Like Moses, sometimes, and really often times, we are our own worst enemy. We all
like to take that easy way out. We like to push things off for someone else to do. What
is the easiest way to do this? Let me tell you something. Being a good person is hard.
Being a Christian is even harder. God will show mercy and walk with you every step of
the way through fear, self-doubt, outright defiance. God can and will still use us just
like he did with Moses, whether we like it or not. He will help every one of us break
the chains of reluctance. Really, reluctance is just another chain of fear. He will help
us to become the people we need to be for his kingdom.
In this series, we have looked at a few examples of reluctant leaders. They all have common
traits, not only to each other, but to us as well. We all need to talk to God. We all
need to trust in him. We all need to march forward. We need to tell him what we are feeling.
This all becomes a lot easier to do when we realize that we are not alone. We all feel
all the same things that all of these leaders have been feeling, the doubts, the lack of
confidence and everything. Like, oh, there has got to be someone better. It is like,
really me? Sometimes even at that point, it is like, really me? No, I am not fortunate
enough. I hate to say that term. I do not have that kind of luck. It is not my luck.
God is here. He is with us and he will help us. Now you know what the Bible says on reluctant
leaders. Thank you for tuning in to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton. If you would like
to know more about our ministry, you can find us on Facebook at Be the Light Sanctuary or
you can visit our website at BeTheLightSanctuary.org. Thank you so much for listening. We will catch
you next time. God bless.