The Source of Sufficiency. The Return of Moses. Exodus 4:1-31

Transcription

1 1 The Source of Sufficiency The Return of Moses Exodus 4:1-31

2 2 The Source of Sufficiency The Return of Moses Exodus 4 Text: Exodus 4:1-31, 1. Moses answered again, And if they do not believe me or pay attention to me, but say, The Lord has not appeared to you? 2. The Lord said to him, What is that in your hand? He said, A staff. 3. The Lord said, Throw it to the ground. So he threw it to the ground, and it became a snake, and Moses ran from it. 4. But the Lord said to Moses, Put out your hand and grab it by the tail so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand 5. 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. 6. The Lord also said to him, Put your hand into your robe. So he put his hand into his robe, and when he brought it out there was his hand, leprous like snow! 7. He said, Put your hand back into your robe. So he put his hand back into his robe, and when he brought it out

3 3 from his robe there it was, restored like the rest of his skin! 8. If they do not believe you or pay attention to the former sign, then they may believe the latter sign. 9. And if they do not believe even these two signs or listen to you, then take some water from the Nile and pour it out on the dry ground. The water you take out of the Nile will become blood on the dry ground. 10. Then Moses said to the Lord, O my Lord, I am not an eloquent man, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant, for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue. 11. The Lord said to him, Who gave a mouth to man, or who makes a person mute or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12. So now go, and I will be with your mouth and will teach you what you must say. 13. But Moses said, O my Lord, please send anyone else whom you wish to send! 14. Then the Lord became angry with Moses, and he said, What about your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that he can speak very well. Moreover, he is coming to meet you, and when he sees you he will be glad in his heart. 15. So you are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth. And as for me, I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you both what you must do. 16. He will speak for you to the people, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were his God. 17. You will also take in your hand this staff, with which you will do the signs. 18. So Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, Let me go, so that I may return to my

4 4 relatives in Egypt and see if they are still alive. Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace. 19. The Lord said to Moses in Midian, Go back to Egypt, because all the men who were seeking your life are dead. 20. Then Moses took his wife and sons and put them on a donkey and headed back to the land of Egypt, and Moses took the staff of God in his hand. 21. The Lord said to Moses, When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders I have put under your control. But I will harden his heart and he will not let the people go. 22. You must say to Pharaoh, Thus says the Lord, Israel is my son, my firstborn, 23. and I said to you, Let my son go that he may serve me, but since you have refused to let him go, I will surely kill your son, your firstborn! 24. Now on the way, at a place where they stopped for the night, the Lord met Moses and sought to kill him. 25. But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off the foreskin of her son and touched it to Moses feet, and said, Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me. 26. So the Lord let him alone. (At that time she said, A bridegroom of blood, referring to the circumcision.) 27. The Lord said to Aaron, Go to the wilderness to meet Moses. So he went and met him at the mountain of God and greeted him with a kiss. 28. Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him and all the signs that he had commanded him. 29. Then Moses and Aaron went and brought together all the Israelite elders.

5 Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people, 31. and the people believed. When they heard that the Lord had attended to the Israelites and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed down close to the ground. (NET) Introduction: I. God is with Moses on Mount Sinai. Moses is not convinced he is the person to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. A. God gives Moses three (3) signs to perform to convince the Israelites that God has in fact sent him to lead them out of bondage. 1. A staff that turns into a snake and back to a staff (4:2-4) 2. God made the hand of Moses leprous. Then restored it. 3. God instructed Moses to take water from the Nile River and turn it to blood. B. Moses continues to have doubts about his abilities as a speaker and leader. (4:10) C. The Lord God responds that as Creator he knows what each person is capable of doing or becoming. (4:11-12)

6 Psalm 139:13, 16, Certainly you made my mind and heart; you wove me together in my mother s womb. Your eyes saw me when I was inside the womb. All the days ordained for me were recorded in your scroll before one of them came into existence. (NET) D. Moses still asks God to choose anyone but him. (4:13) E. God finally gets angry with Moses. He explains that he will also use his brother Aaron as his spokesman and they will work as a team. (4:14-17) 1. The prophet Jeremiah had similar doubts about his abilities to do God s will when he was called. a. Jeremiah 1:4-8, The Lord said to me, Before I formed you in your mother s womb I chose you. Before you were born I set you apart. I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations. I answered, Oh, Lord God, I really do not know how to speak well enough for that, for I am too young. The Lord said to me, Do not say, I am too young. But go to whomever I send you and say whatever I tell you. Do not be afraid of those to whom I send you, for I will be with you to protect you, says the Lord. (NET) F. The Lord revealed that the men in Egypt who wanted to kill Moses were now dead. He told Moses that he was to perform all of the miracles for Pharaoh, but he was going to

7 7 harden his heart. Since Pharaoh was refusing to obey God s commands, the Egyptians firstborn sons would die. (4:18-23) G. God directed Aaron to meet Moses at Mount Sinai. They returned to Egypt together and met with the Elders. The people believed the signs of Moses and the words of Aaron and they were grateful to God. (4:27-31) a. Psalm 95:1, Come! Let s sing for joy to the Lord! Let s shout out praises to our protector who delivers us! (NET) b. Psalm 69:29-30, 33, I am oppressed and suffering! O God, deliver and protect me! I will sing praises to God s name! I will magnify him as I give him thanks! For the Lord listens to the needy; he does not despise his captive people. (NET) c. Isaiah 25:9, At that time they will say, Look, here is our God! We waited for him and he delivered us. Here is the Lord! We waited for him. Let s rejoice and celebrate his deliverance! (NET) d. Isaiah 12:2, Look, God is my deliverer! I will trust in him and not fear. For the Lord gives me strength and protects me; he has become my deliverer. (NET)

8 8 Commentary: I. The Source of Sufficiency. Exodus 4:1-9, Moses answered again, And if they do not believe me or pay attention to me, but say, The Lord has not appeared to you? The Lord said to him, What is that in your hand? He said, A staff. The Lord said, Throw it to the ground. So he threw it to the ground, and it became a snake, and Moses ran from it. But the Lord said to Moses, Put out your hand and grab it by the tail so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand 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. The Lord also said to him, Put your hand into your robe. So he put his hand into his robe, and when he brought it out there was his hand, leprous like snow! He said, Put your hand back into your robe. So he put his hand back into his robe, and when he brought it out from his robe there it was, restored like the rest of his skin! If they do not believe you or pay attention to the former sign, then they may believe the latter sign. And if they do not believe even these two signs or listen to you, then take some water from the Nile and pour it out on the dry ground. The water you take out of the Nile will become blood on the dry ground. (NET) Moses continues to question God, fearing that the Israelites will not believe that the Lord God has sent him on this mission. God gives him three (3) signs that will prove he has been sent by God and they are to follow his instructions. A. God turns the staff into a snake, then tells Moses to pick it up by the tail! This was a real test of faith as this is the

9 9 most dangerous way to handle a snake. To avoid being bitten, it should be grabbed right behind the head. When Moses obeyed God and picked up the snake, it again became his staff, proving that God is in control. 1. Numbers 21:6-9, So the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and they bit the people; many people of Israel died. Then the people came to Moses and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord that he would take away the snakes from us. So Moses prayed for the people. The Lord said to Moses, Make a poisonous snake and set it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will live. So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole, so that if a snake had bitten someone, when he looked at the bronze snake he lived. (NET) 2. Mark 16:18, they will pick up snakes with their hands, and whatever poison they drink will not harm them; they will place their hands on the sick and they will be well. (NET) 3. John 3:14, Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, (NET) B. God shows his power over disease by making Moses hand leprous, then restoring it to perfect health. This demonstrated what God could do to Egypt. He has the

10 10 power to curse and heal. And as the great physician he can heal us physically and spiritually. 1. Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Pg. 1025, Leprosy is a general term applied to a variety of skin disorders... its symptoms range from white patches on the skin to running sores to the loss of digits on the fingers and toes. For Hebrews it was a dreaded malady which rendered its victims ceremonially unclean that is, unfit to worship God. (Leviticus 13:3) 2. Mark 1:40-42, Now a leper came to him and fell to his knees, asking for help. If you are willing, you can make me clean, he said. Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, I am willing. Be clean! The leprosy left him at once, and he was clean. (NET) 3. Matthew 10:8, Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give. (NET) 4. 2 Kings 5:10, 14, Elisha sent out a messenger who told him, Go and wash seven times in the Jordan; your skin will be restored and you will be healed. So he went down and dipped in the Jordan seven times, as the prophet had instructed. His skin became as smooth as a young child s and he was healed. (NET)

11 Luke 17:11-19, Now on the way to Jerusalem, Jesus was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. As he was entering a village, ten men with leprosy met him. They stood at a distance, raised their voices and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. When he saw them he said, Go and show yourselves to the priests. And as they went along, they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He fell with his face to the ground at Jesus feet and thanked him. (Now he was a Samaritan.) Then Jesus said, Were not ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to turn back and give praise to God except this foreigner? Then he said to the man, Get up and go your way. Your faith has made you well. (NET) C. When we receive God s blessings, we must not fail to return thanks and praise to him for his healing. Let us be like the one leper that returned to Jesus and praised God, not like the other nine who failed to say thank you for this miracle. D. The third sign uses the life source of all animal and human existence blood and water. The Nile River is the source of life for all of Egypt, providing drinking water, crop irrigation and transportation. The annual flooding along the Nile deposits fresh fertile top soil on the fields for

12 12 agriculture. To have the ability to change the river indicates God s power to change or destroy life itself. 1. Genesis 6:17, 7:4, I am about to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy from under the sky all the living creatures that have the breath of life in them. Everything that is on the earth will die, For in seven days I will cause it to rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the ground every living thing that I have made. (NET) 2. Leviticus 17:11a, for the life of every living thing is in the blood. (NET) 3. Exodus 7:17-18, Thus says the Lord: By this you will know that I am the Lord: I am going to strike the water of the Nile with the staff that is in my hand, and it will be turned into blood. 18 Fish in the Nile will die, the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will be unable to drink water from the Nile. (NET) 4. John 6:53-55, Jesus said to them, I tell you the solemn truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in yourselves. The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. (NET)

13 John 7:37-38, On the last day of the feast, the greatest day, Jesus stood up and shouted out, If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me, and 38 let the one who believes in me drink. Just as the scripture says, From within him will flow rivers of living water. (NET) 6. Exodus 12:13, The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, so that when I see the blood I will pass over you, and this plague will not fall on you to destroy you when I attack the land of Egypt. (NET) a. The blood of Christ shed on the cross is our symbol of redemption and everlasting life. i. Ephesians 1:7, In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace (NET) II. Exodus 4:10-13, Then Moses said to the Lord, O my Lord, I am not an eloquent man, neither in the 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 gave a mouth to man, or who makes a person mute or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? So now go, and I will be with your mouth and will teach you what you must say. But Moses said, O my Lord, please send anyone else whom you wish to send! (NET) Moses is still presenting his argument to God.

14 14 A. God rebuts each point by reminding Moses of his ultimate power. Moses is focused on himself while God is revealing his power. Humans tend to do this when the Holy Spirit is attempting to lead them in a new direction or different aspect of God s plan. We say, Who me?, but God retorts, You can t do it, but I can! 1. Jeremiah 1:4-5, 7-8, The Lord said to me, Before I formed you in your mother s womb I chose you. Before you were born I set you apart. I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations. The Lord said to me, Do not say, I am too young. But go to whomever I send you and say whatever I tell you. Do not be afraid of those to whom I send you, for I will be with you to protect you, says the Lord. (NET) 2. Job 42:2, I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted; (NET) 3. Isaiah 40:13, Who comprehends the mind of the Lord, or gives him instruction as his counselor? (NET) 4. Isaiah 41:10, Don t be afraid, for I am with you! Don t be frightened, for I am your God! I strengthen you yes, I help you yes, I uphold you with my saving right hand! (NET) III. Exodus 4:14-17, Then the Lord became angry with Moses, and he said, What about your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that he can speak very well. Moreover, he

15 15 is coming to meet you, and when he sees you he will be glad in his heart. So you are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth. And as for me, I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you both what you must do. He will speak for you to the people, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were his God. You will also take in your hand this staff, with which you will do the signs. (NET) God becomes angry with Moses. A. Moses shows a pattern of stiff-necked refusal that carries throughout the history of the Israelites. By not willingly going along with God s plan they arouse the anger of the Lord. 1. Exodus 32:9-10, Then the Lord said to Moses: I have seen this people. Look what a stiffnecked people they are! So now, leave me alone so that my anger can burn against them and I can destroy them, and I will make from you a great nation. (NET) 2. 2 Chronicles 30:8, Now, don t be stubborn like your fathers! Submit to the Lord and come to his sanctuary which he has permanently consecrateed. Serve the Lord your God so that he might relent from his raging anger. (NET) 3. Acts 7:51, You stubborn people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, like your ancestors did! (NET)

16 16 B. God is saying to Moses, If you don t trust in me and what I can do, I will bring your brother Aaron to help you. I will tell you what to say, and you will direct Aaron to speak. 1. Compare 4:16 when God says,... and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were his God, God is saying that Moses will be to Aaron as God was to the prophets! God is working through Moses, but he is still very much in control. 2. Deuteronomy 18:18, I will raise up a prophet like you for them from among their fellow Israelites. I will put my words in his mouth and he will speak to them whatever I command. (NET) 3. Exodus 7:1, So the Lord said to Moses, See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. (NET) C. God instructs Moses to keep his staff and use it to perform the miracles he commands. The staff represents the power of God to the Israelites, Pharaoh and the Egyptians. The staff was both a symbol of authority and the method of performing the signs and wonders directed by God. Moses, knowing his inadequacy, needed the staff to demonstrate God s powers. 1. Genesis 49:10, The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs; the nations will obey him. (NET)

17 Psalm 2:9, You will break them with an iron scepter; you will smash them like a potter s jar! (NET) 3. Psalm 23:4, Even when I must walk through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for you are with me; your rod and your staff reassure me. (NET) 4. Numbers 17:1-2, 7-8, a staff from each tribe, one from every tribal leader, twelve staffs; you must write each man s name on his staff. Then Moses placed the staffs before the Lord in the tent of the testimony. On the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony and the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted, and brought forth buds, and produced blossoms, and yielded almonds! (NET) IV. The Return of Moses. Exodus 4:18-20, So Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, Let me go, so that I may return to my relatives in Egypt and see if they are still alive. Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace. The Lord said to Moses in Midian, Go back to Egypt, because all the men who were seeking your life are dead. Then Moses took his wife and sons and put them on a donkey and headed back to the land of Egypt, and Moses took the staff of God in his hand. (NET) Moses returns to Egypt.

18 18 A. Moses goes back to Midian and asks his father-in-law Jethro for his permission to return to Egypt. At this time God reveals to Moses that the Pharaoh and those who wanted to put him (Moses) to death have died, so it is safe for him to return. Forty (40) years have passed since Moses fled from Egypt. 1. Exodus 2:23a, During that long period of time the king of Egypt died, and the Israelites groaned because of the slave labor. (NET) B. Moses packed up his family, Zipporah, Gershom and Eliezer and begins the journey back to Egypt. 1. Exodus 4:20, Then Moses took his wife and sons and put them on a donkey and headed back to the land of Egypt, and Moses took the staff of God in his hand. (NET) 2. Years later Joseph, Mary and the infant Jesus had to make a journey to Egypt to escape king Herod s death decree. a. Matthew 2:13-14, After they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to look for the child to kill him. Then he got up, took the child and his mother during the night, and went to Egypt. (NET)

19 19 C. The last line of verse 20 states,... and Moses took the staff of God in his hand. The fact that this is mentioned here in the narrative of the journey reinforces the importance of the staff and how it adds authority to Moses words. V. God warns Moses of what to expect once he is in Egypt. Exodus 4:21-23, The Lord said to Moses, When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders I have put under your control. But I will harden his heart and he will not let the people go. You must say to Pharaoh, Thus says the Lord, Israel is my son, my firstborn, and I said to you, Let my son go that he may serve me, but since you have refused to let him go, I will surely kill your son, your firstborn! (NET) A. In verse 21 the Lord God reinforces the importance of performing all the wonders that he has given Moses. Later, each of these will be used as a direct show-down with the Egyptian dieties ultimately proving the supremacy and authority of the one true God, Yahweh. B. God warns Moses he is going to harden Pharaoh s heart. This is going to be a long, difficult task culminating in the death of the Egyptians first-born sons. This will be the ultimate proof to all people that the God of creation is the supreme authority in life and death, and to go against his will brings death! This has been true since the beginning when mankind disobeyed God in the garden of Eden, and was condemned to a life of hardship and toil. Compare Genesis chapter 3 for the consequences of going against God s will. Mankind sinned and lost paradise. By the death

20 20 of Jesus on the cross, God provided the perfect atonement for our sins. 1. John 1:29, On the next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! (NET) 2. 1 Peter 1:18-19, You know that from your empty way of life inherited from your ancestors you were ransomed not by perishable things like silver or gold, but by precious blood like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb, namely Christ. (NET) VI. Exodus 4:24-26, Now on the way, at a place where they stopped for the night, the Lord met Moses and sought to kill him. But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off the foreskin of her son and touched it to Moses feet, and said, Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me. So the Lord let him alone. (At that time she said, A bridegroom of blood, referring to the circumcision.) (NET) Surely these are the strangest verses in chapter 4. A. Exodus 4:24... the Lord met Moses and sought to kill him. 1. Why would God seek to kill the one he has chosen to deliver the Israelites from Bondage? If Moses was blemished in some way, God, being omniscience, surely knew this from the beginning.

21 21 B. Exodus 4:25 gives us a clue that the sin which was committed was that one of Moses sons had not been circumcised. Exodus 12:43-51 explains that all who partake of the Passover and, therefore, the Exodus, must be circumcised. Zipporah perfoms the act which then absolves Moses. 1. Exodus 12:43-51, The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the Passover. No foreigner may share in eating it. But everyone s servant who is bought for money, after you have circumcised him, may eat it. A foreigner and a hired worker must not eat it. It must be eaten in one house; you must not bring any of the meat outside the house, and you must not break a bone of it. The whole community of Israel must observe it. When a foreigner lives with you and wants to observe the Passover to the Lord, all his males must be circumcised, and then he may approach and observe it, and he will be like one who is born in the land but no uncircumcised person may eat of it. The same law will apply to the person who is native-born and to the foreigner who lives among you. So all the Israelites did exactly as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron. And on this very day the Lord brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by their regiments. (NET) 2. The Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, pg. 640, Apparently Gershom was the son circumcised in the

22 22 unusual ritual of Exodus 4:24-26 in which Zipporah delivered Moses when God sought to kill him. C. Why did Moses miss the ritual of circumcision of his firstborn son on the eighth day? Was he away from the family tending the flock at the prescribed time? He was aware of the requirement, so surely he would have complied with the law had he been present. D. Zipporah returned to Jethro along with her two (2) sons. She reunited with Moses at Mount Sinai after the Israelites departed from Egypt. 1. Exodus 18:2-3, 5-6, Jethro, Moses father-inlaw, took Moses wife Zipporah after he had sent her back, and her two sons, one of whom was named Gershom (for Moses had said, I have been a foreigner in a foreign land ), Jethro, Moses father-in-law, together with Moses sons and his wife, came to Moses in the desert where he was camping by the mountain of God. 6 He said to Moses, I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you, along with your wife and her two sons with her. (NET) VII. Exodus 4:27-28, The Lord said to Aaron, Go to the wilderness to meet Moses. So he went and met him at the mountain of God and greeted him with a kiss. Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him and all the signs that he had commanded him. (NET) God tells Aaron to meet Moses at Mount Horeb (Mount Sinai) where Moses explained to him all that God had commanded him to do.

23 23 VIII. Exodus 4:29-31, Then Moses and Aaron went and brought together all the Israelite elders. Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people, and the people believed. When they heard that the Lord had attended to the Israelites and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed down close to the ground. (NET) Moses and Aaron return to Egypt together and meet with the Israelite elders to explain God s plan to them. Aaron acted as spokesman as God had said, and Moses performed the signs as he was commanded. B. V 31,... and the people believed. C. This was the reaffirmation of hope the Israelites had waited over four hundred (400) years for! Moses and Aaron confirmed that God s plan for the fulfillment of his promise was beginning to take place. 1. With this response,... and the people believed, all the fears of Moses are swept aside they believe and they are thankful to God. D. The chapter closes with the words verse 31, When they heard that the Lord had attended to the Israelites and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed down close to the ground. E. They give thanks and praise to God for his mercy. They knew where their deliverance came from. They knew this was not something they could accomplish on their own without divine intervention.

24 Psalm 136:1-4, Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his loyal love endures. Give thanks to the God of gods, for his loyal love endures. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his loyal love endures, to the one who performs magnificent, amazing deeds all by himself, for his loyal love endures, (NET) 2. Lamentations 3:2, 25-26, 31-32, He drove me into captivity and made me walk in darkness and not light. The Lord is good to those who trust in him, to the one who seeks him. It is good to wait patiently for deliverance from the Lord. For the Lord will not reject us forever. Though he causes us grief, he then has compassion on us according to the abundance of his loyal kindness. (NET) 4. Psalm 13:5-6, But I trust in your faithfulness. May I rejoice because of your deliverance! I will sing praises to the Lord when he vindicates me. (NET) 5. Psalm 100:1-5, Shout out praises to the Lord, all the earth! Worship the Lord with joy! Enter his presence with joyful singing! Acknowledge that the Lord is God! He made us and we belong to him; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give him thanks! Praise his name! For the Lord is good. His loyal love

25 25 endures, and he is faithful through all generations. (NET) F. Let us not forget to give thanks and praise to our Lord God for he is the source of all of our blessings day by day. God wants to hear us shout out praises to him! Make a joyful noise unto the Lord! Conclusion: I. Chapter 4 begins with Moses still expressing doubts about his adequacy for the task that God is giving him. God shows he will be in control by changing Moses staff into a live snake, making his hand leprous, then clean, and changing Nile River water to blood (4:1-9). When God says it, we had better believe it. A. Exodus 4:5, 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. (NET) B. Isaiah 46:11, who summons an eagle from the east, from a distant land, one who carries out my plan. Yes, I have decreed, yes, I will bring it to pass; I have formulated a plan, yes, I will carry it out. (NET) C. Isaiah 14:24, The Lord who commands armies makes this solemn vow: Be sure of this: Just as I have intended, so it will be; just as I have planned, it will happen. (NET)

26 26 D. Matthew 19:26, Jesus looked at them and replied, This is impossible for mere humans, but for God all things are possible. (NET) E. 2 Chronicles 20:20, Trust in the Lord your God and you will be safe! II. In 4:10-13, Moses continues to doubt his abilities and, by doing so, he is doubting God. A. James 1:6-7, But he must ask in faith without doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed around by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord, (NET) B. Genesis 18:13-14, The Lord said to Abraham, Why did Sarah laugh and say, Will I really have a child when I am old? Is anything impossible for the Lord? I will return to you when the season comes round again and Sarah will have a son. (NET) C. Jeremiah 1:6-8, I answered, Oh, Lord God, I really do not know how to speak well enough for that, for I am too young. The Lord said to me, Do not say, I am too young. But go to whomever I send you and say whatever I tell you. Do not be afraid of those to whom I send you, for I will be with you to protect you, says the Lord. (NET) D. Do not doubt or be afraid of what the Lord tells you. Sometimes you must be silent and listen.

27 Job 22:22, Accept instruction from his mouth and store up his words in your heart. (NET) 2. Isaiah 30:21, You will hear a word spoken behind you, saying, This is the correct way, walk in it, whether you are heading to the right or the left. (NET) 3. Psalm 5:3, Lord, in the morning you will hear me; in the morning I will present my case to you and then wait expectantly for an answer. (NET) 4. Psalm 85:8A-B, I will listen to what God the Lord says. For he will make peace with his people, his faithful followers. (NET) III. (4:14-17) The Lord became frustrated with Moses and told him Aaron was to be the spokesperson while Moses instructed him in what to say. Moses and Aaron are to act in concert just as God acted with the prophets. God will provide help to you to accomplish his tasks. A. Jeremiah 1:4-5, The Lord said to me, Before I formed you in your mother s womb I chose you. Before you were born I set you apart. I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations. (NET) B. Ezekiel 3:4-6, He said to me, Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak my words to them. For you are not being sent to a people of unintelligible speech and difficult language, but to the house of

28 28 Israel not to many peoples of unintelligible speech and difficult language, whose words you cannot understand surely if I had sent you to them, they would listen to you! (NET) C. Jonah 1:1-2, The Lord said to Jonah son of Amittai, Go immediately to Nineveh, that large capital city, and announce judgment against its people because their wickedness has come to my attention. (NET) IV. (4:18-23) Moses returns to Jethro his father-in-law to be released from his service to return to Egypt. God reveals that the previous Pharaoh has died and Moses life is no longer in danger. He instructs him that he is going to harden the heart of Pharaoh to the point Moses has to threaten to kill Pharaoh s firstborn son. A. Deuteronomy 32:35, I will get revenge and pay them back at the time their foot slips; for the day of their disaster is near, and the impending judgment is rushing upon them! (NET) B. Pray that we do not become a stiffnecked, hard headed people who defy God, but people who follow God s will and continue to be blessed by him. The lesson here is that we are not to go against God, but are to strive in all we do to be acceptable in his sight. C. Psalm 148:14, He has made his people victorious, and given all his loyal followers reason to praise the Israelites, the people who are close to him. Praise the Lord! (NET)

29 29 D. Psalm 147:6-7, The Lord lifts up the oppressed, but knocks the wicked to the ground. Offer to the Lord a song of thanks! Sing praises to our God to the accompaniment of a harp! (NET) E. 2 Chronicles 30:8, Now, don t be stubborn like your fathers! Submit to the Lord and come to his sanctuary which he has permanently consecrated. Serve the Lord your God so that he might relent from his raging anger. (NET) V. (4:24-26) In these verses we learn that Zipporah saved Moses from death by fulfilling the covenantal requirement that all males must be circumcised. She does the job Moses failed to do, which had caused his life to be in jeopardy. This points out the seriousness of upholding God s covenants. A. Genesis 17:9-11, Then God said to Abraham, As for you, you must keep the covenantal requirement I am imposing on you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. This is my requirement that you and your descendants after you must keep: Every male among you must be circumcised. You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskins. This will be a reminder of the covenant between me and you. (NET) B. God s promises are binding on us, and Him 1. Genesis 9:11-13, I confirm my covenant with you: Never again will all living things be wiped out by the waters of a flood; never again will a

30 30 flood destroy the earth. And God said, This is the guarantee of the covenant I am making with you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all subsequent generations: I will place my rainbow in the clouds, and it will become a guarantee of the covenant between me and the earth. (NET) 2. Psalm 89:3, The Lord said, I have made a covenant with my chosen one; I have made a promise on oath to David, my servant: (NET) 3. 2 Peter 1:4, Through these things he has bestowed on us his precious and most magnificent promises, so that by means of what was promised you may become partakers of the divine nature, after escaping the worldly corruption that is produced by evil desire. (NET) C. The Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, pg. 355 Covenant An oath bound promise whereby one party solemnly pledges to bless or serve another party in some specified way. Sometimes the keeping of the promise depends upon the meeting of certain conditions by the party to whom the promise is made. 1. Today Christians establish two (2) very important covenants, in baptism and marriage. Baptism is a declaration of a person s acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, before God and witnesses. That these are covenantal acts is shown in scriptures, and all

31 31 covenants taken before God are serious and not to be taken lightly. a. Colossians 2:11-12, In him you also were circumcised not, however, with a circumcision performed by human hands, but by the removal of the fleshly body, that is, through the circumcision done by Christ. Having been buried with him in baptism, you also have been raised with him through your faith in the power of God who raised him from the dead. (NET) b. Romans 6:3-4, Or do you not know that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may live a new life. (NET) c. Malachi 2:14B, The Lord is testifying against you on behalf of the wife you married when you were young, to whom you have become unfaithful even though she is your companion and wife by law. (NET) d. Genesis 2:24, That is why a man leaves his father and mother and unites with his wife, and they become a new family. (NET)

32 32 e. Matthew 19:4-6, He answered, Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator made them male and female, and said, For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and will be united with his wife, and the two will become one flesh? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate. (NET) VI. (4:27-31) The Lord sent Aaron to meet Moses at Mount Sinai where Moses told him all that God had revealed to him. Upon arriving in Egypt they gathered the elders and explained by words and signs how the Israelites were to be delivered from bondage. They heard, and they believed, and they gave thanks to God. A. This was proof to Moses that God had blessed the Israelites with understanding, and that they would follow him. B. If it is God s plan and we believe, it will come to fruition. They believed and gave thanks. 1. Psalm 32:11, Rejoice in the Lord and be happy, you who are godly! Shout for joy, all you who are morally upright! (NET) 2. Matthew 21:22, And whatever you ask in prayer, if you believe, you will receive. (NET) C. Let us remember that God can answer our prayers in three (3) ways; yes, no, or later. The Israelites were in

33 33 bondage over 400 years praying for deliverance. It did not happen quickly, but it did happen when God knew the time was right. We must learn to be patient in our prayer requests. God knows when the time is right.

34 34 Questions on Exodus 4: On Mount Sinai God gave Moses signs to perform. 2. What were these signs? 3. These signs showed that God has the power to 4. How did God finally convince Moses to return to Egypt? 5. What did God tell Moses to take with him to Egypt?

35 What role is Moses brother to play in the Exodus? 7. How does God describe this relationship between Moses and Aaron? 8. Why did God seek to kill Moses on the journey back to Egypt?_ 9. How did the Israelites react to God s plan, as revealed by Moses and Aaron?

36 How long did the Israelites suffer under bondage in Egypt?_