0:00 Father, we thank you for your presence in this place. And, Lord, we just, right now, in this moment, set our hearts to engage you. And we pray, Lord, that you would grant us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, that you would enlighten the hearts of every individual in this place. And so, Lord, we come believing that every time we open this holy book, you speak. And, Lord, there are people in here with different situations and circumstances.
0:33 And, Father, no man can meet those needs. We lean into you tonight by faith, and we receive what you have for us by faith. And for those that need to be encouraged, would you encourage them? For those that need strength, would you strengthen them? For those that need conviction, would you provide conviction?
0:54 Father, as we learned last week, we believe that we are on holy ground tonight. We tremble at your word. We look to you like children looking to their father for an answer. And we ask, Lord, that no man would be seen, no man would be heard, but that Christ would be exalted. And that every person in this place would leave with a greater adoration for Jesus.
1:16 And so, Lord, we come desperately hungry for righteousness, thirsty for righteousness, Lord. And so we ask, God, that you would be in this place and that every man would know it, that it would be said on the lips of every single person that God was here tonight. We believe that and we pray that in the name of Jesus Christ. And all of God's people say, amen. Well, here we are in Exodus chapter three.
1:42 We started last week in Exodus chapter three. We did not finish in Exodus chapter three, and so we ended in verse 12. But just for those who weren't here and for the sake of going over what we talked about last week, here is the main point. Exodus chapter three in the first part focuses on the call of Moses, how God called Moses, and we discussed the principles of how God called him and how he can call us. And it wasn't until Moses gave that burning bush what?
2:20 His full attention. His full attention that he heard God speak to him. And it wasn't until he took off those sandals that he could draw nearer to God. And in drawing nearer to God, two things happens. The same two things that happens to every single person that really sincerely wants to know God, that give God his full attention, our full attention.
2:42 If we give God our full attention, he gives us revelation. And God revealed himself to Moses, and God revealed what he had for Moses. And that's true for every single person that really wants to take this thing seriously. And when we really wanna grab a hold of God, we give him our full attention, and we wait on God, and we remove those filthy sandals that have picked up all the dirt of the world and separate ourselves in holiness, God will reveal himself in greater ways, and God will reveal what he has for us in greater ways. And we ended on the note in verse 12 how Moses was a different man.
3:15 In verse 11 rather, he says, you know, Who am I to do this? And that's a different kind of Moses than we read about in chapter two. And God reassures him in verse 12 saying, But I'm gonna be with you. That makes all the difference, doesn't it? When God is with us.
3:30 When we try to do it in our own strength, we end up like Moses, trying to take out one Egyptian at the time when God can take them all out at the same time. And so we need to learn how to lean on God and receive from him in order to be effective in what we wanna do for him. So we talked about the call of Moses. And now we're still in the call of Moses, but it's a different element. It's a different perspective.
3:59 Moses knows the call, but we're gonna find out, like many people today, he needs confidence for the call. He needs confidence for the call. And the point of this bible study really is to be reading every week a chapter, so I trust that you read ahead. And so I'm gonna I'm gonna start out instead of reading verse by verse, we're gonna start out by asking the general observations of the rest of this chapter, including chapter four. What does Moses do in the rest of these verses?
4:31 What does he do concerning the call? Yes, Evan? Yes. What to do? Yes.
4:35 What to do? Sure. Yes. Yeah. In the end of it, he says, you know what?
4:43 Thank you, but, I don't think so. Okay. Yes. He doesn't see that he's fit for the task. Doesn't see that he's fit for the task?
4:50 Sure. How do I win over my people? How do I win over my people? So we're seeing that he's doing something. What is it that he's doing?
4:58 How is he responding to the call? Sorry? Making excuses? What is that rooted in? Doubt.
5:09 That's what it's rooted in. Doubt. He's doubting God, and he's doubting what God can do through him. And so if we include verse 11 all the way to midway through chapter four, how many times does Moses give these excuses? You can scan over real quick.
5:31 If you include verse 11, how many times does Moses doubt? Yes? Five! Yeah. Right.
6:51 Right. Sure. Sure. Absolutely. Absolutely.
7:14 Well, we're gonna see how God is a patient God even with our doubts. Yes. And so five times we see that he brings up these obstacles, he brings up these doubts. And if you look over them real quick let's go let's scan over them together. Exodus three thirteen.
7:30 We're gonna go over the four. We talked about one where he says, am I the one that's gonna do it really? But look at verse 13. If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, the God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they ask me, what is his name? What shall I say to them?
7:42 K? That's one. We scroll over down to chapter four verse one. Then Moses answered, but behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice for they will say the Lord did not appear to you. Two or three if you include verse 11 of chapter three.
7:57 Exodus four ten, I am not eloquent either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue. There's the third or fourth. Here's the fifth, last one. But he said, oh my lord, please send someone else. He's just like, that's it.
8:09 I I'm I'm not even gonna give an excuse. I'm out of here. What observations can we make out of those doubts that Moses brings before God? What can we say about those doubts? Because here's the reality, every single person in here this every single person in here, if you identify as a true follower of Jesus Christ, we all have been commissioned for something.
8:33 There are general commands in the scriptures. Guess what? All of us are called to make disciples. All of us are called to preach the gospel. All of us.
8:42 Maybe on a different level, not full time ministry, but all of us, like Moses, have been called to go into Egypt and to see people come out of affliction and come out of the hand of pharaoh into the Promised Land. All of us. So we can identify with Moses on that part. And on top of that, God has a specific ministry for you. That's not just wishful thinking, that's scriptural.
9:05 Ephesians four eleven-twelve tells us that God has gifted the church with apostles and prophets and evangelists and teachers and pastors for what? To entertain the saints? No. To equip the saints. For what?
9:16 For the sake of the ministry. So what that says is that God has given calls to specific people for full time vocation, not so they can do all the work in church, not so they can go out and win all the souls, no, to equip every single believer for the ministry that God has called to them. And And Paul says that to this random guy named Archippus. At the end of Colossians, he says, hey, listen. By the way, can you tell Archippus to fulfill the ministry that he received?
9:46 So if Archippus has a ministry, guess who else has a ministry? Every person in here. Apostle Paul had a revelation that he received a ministry. Random archippus has a ministry. You have a ministry.
9:57 I have a ministry. But like Moses, whether you know the call of God on your life or not, whether you know what God has called you to do if not, you gotta lean into him like Moses did but if you do know the call of God, we all need confidence in the call of God. And Moses brings doubts, and they're not exclusive to Moses. These are doubts that arise in all of our hearts. And so what observations can we make?
10:23 Yes, Tamir? Lack of willingness? Lack of willingness? That's the last straw. Yeah?
10:33 Gil? Yes. Absolutely. He's focusing on himself. That is one observation.
10:48 Absolutely. Yeah. Sure. It was one thing for Moses to realize weakness and rely on the Lord completely because of it, but it hinders him. So Yeah.
11:10 Absolutely. Well, I think you guys are nailing it here. I think the one of the main things that Moses has trouble with right now, the reason for Moses' doubt to fulfill what God has called him to do is rooted in this. He has a lack of understanding who God is, and he has a lack of understanding of who he is in God. He says, when people ask me who you are, what shall I say about you?
11:30 He doesn't know. Not only do the Israelites need to know who God is, Moses needs to know who God is. Moses does not have the depth of revelation of who God is. And not only that, as we mentioned, he doesn't even know who he is in God. He keeps bringing up his weaknesses to God, and God says, it's not about you, Moses.
11:45 Moses, it's not about your ability, it's about your availability. I'm not looking for your ability. That's the point. I want maximum glory. Why do you think I brought you out into the wilderness in the first place?
11:55 I wanna strip you of everything that you have in order for me to work through you. And so Moses' doubt and what he can do for God in his calling is the same reason why so many people doubt today. They don't really understand who God is and his fullness. They don't have a depth of God's faithfulness, the depth of God's power, the depth of God's ability, and they are looking at themselves and what they can do and what they can't do, and God is saying stop looking at yourself, please. Because it's not about what you can and can't do.
12:25 It's about you just being yielded to me, and I wanna work through you. You. Yes. Absolutely. So those things can cripple us from moving forward.
12:35 I don't know. I can't do it. I don't know how God's calling me to this. I don't have the ability. I don't have the knowledge.
12:39 I don't have the degree. That's fine. If he's called you, he's gonna equip you. What else can we say? What are other reasons why this man is doubting?
12:52 What's crippling this man from fulfilling the call of God on his life? Look at verse one of chapter four. Then Moses answered, But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say the Lord did not appear to you. What is that? Yes?
13:14 Fear of man. Fear of man. You wanna know what cripples people so much? From fulfilling God's call in their life? When they care so much about what people think.
13:35 Oh, the times of people being so scared of moving forward in God because it's just a little bit too out there. Or not even that, what if I'm not effective? What if people won't receive me? Like, Jeremiah says, I'm a youth. How are people gonna listen to me preach?
13:49 He goes, no. No. No. No. Don't worry about that.
13:51 Think about all the people that doubted because of the worry of how other people will perceive them. And how many people today are afraid to step forward because what is mom and dad gonna think? What are my friends gonna think? What is my family gonna think? Fill in the blank.
14:11 And they are crippling themselves and moving forward. Not only just what are they gonna think if I step into the call, what are they gonna think if I go and be obedient to the call for God and do what he tells me to do? Like what what happens if I stand up for the word of God? God? What happens if I stand for righteousness?
14:29 What happens if I do what God told me to do and the response is not what I think it should be? And this is what we need to do for ourselves the same way Moses need to do it for himself. We gotta stop caring about how people respond to the call and understand that it's about obeying the call. That's what this is all about. It's about God.
14:47 If God has called you to something and people don't agree with it, it's not about what they think. That's not saying you don't seek wise counsel. That's not saying you seek the the opinions of others and the wisdom of others. No. But when you know it for sure and there is opposition, obey God.
15:03 Obey God. Because here's a little insight. I hope this helps. If you are going to obey God, do not be surprised at opposition. If you want to obey the call of God on your life, don't be surprised if not everybody approves of your ministry.
15:24 Why do we want the approval of so many why? You know what Jesus said? He says, if everybody speaks well of you, you gotta put a question mark over your head, man. That's dangerous. This little text, I hope this helps as well.
15:40 It's about Saul. Now Saul didn't have a good ending, but he did he did have a really good beginning. We all know Saul, right, the first king of Israel? This is what happens in first Samuel chapter ten twenty six to 27. You don't have to turn there.
15:55 You can if you want, but I'm just gonna read these verses. This is after Saul, the first king of Israel, was chosen to be the king of Israel. Look at the reaction here. Everybody goes home after the ordination. Saul is king.
16:09 Awesome. We have our first king. Now look what happens. It says here in verse 26 of first Samuel 10, Saul also went to his home at Gibeah, and with him went men of valor whose hearts God had touched. So hold on for a second.
16:25 Here's Saul. He was just publicly declared to be king of Israel. And you know what the Bible says? Saul is on his way home, and who you know who's going home with him? These men of valor.
16:34 Men of valor whose God God whose heart they touched. So these men had a heart for God. These men were touched by God. And when they saw Saul promoted to kingship, you know what they did? Yes.
16:48 Awesome. Praise God. Glory to God. We're by you, Saul. We're for you, Saul.
16:53 Here, we're supporting your ministry. God touched our hearts, and we see what he's doing in you and through you, and we support that. But look at verse 27. But some worthless fellow said, how can this man save us? And they despised him and brought him no present.
17:10 When God's hand is on your life, you can expect one of two things a majority of the time. One, you'll have people who love God, who are for his kingdom, who are for his glory that will support you, that will pray for you, that will not envy you, that will not be jealous of you because their hearts have been touched with God. They're not intimidated by you. They're not threatened by your ministry because they're kingdom minded. But you'll have those, like these worthless men, that will criticize you unjustly, that will try to tarnish your reputation, that will try to bring you down, that will try to discredit you.
17:46 But look at Saul's reaction, but he held his peace. He held his peace. Why? Because when God is for you, it doesn't matter who's against you. When God has called you, no man hear me no man can stand against the call of God on your life.
18:07 It doesn't matter what opposition, it doesn't matter who stands, it doesn't matter what people say. If God has truly called you, they're in trouble with God because God is the one who's gonna lead you and guide you and empower you to fulfill it. So Saul himself had both. He had those who supported him and he had those who spoke against him. But his reaction is what we need to have.
18:24 He held his peace. Moses was freaking out. What if they don't believe me? How are they gonna believe my testimony? How are they gonna take me seriously?
18:31 They don't know who I am. I've been in the wilderness for oh. Has God called you or not? Then you need confidence in knowing that it's not about what man says. If God has called you, it's about you standing before him one day and saying, Lord, I did it all for your glory.
18:47 I did it all for your glory. You get the final word. Man does not get the final word. You get the final word. And I did everything through all the opposition, through all the persecution, through all the slander, through all of it all.
18:58 God, I did it for you. He was worried about what people thought. That was rude in his doubt, and that could have crippled him to move forward. What else could we say about his doubts? What are the observations?
19:18 Yes, Lydia? Right. Sure. Hebrew. Right.
19:37 Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah.
19:40 Right. Right. Right. Yes. Absolutely.
19:53 No. I I wholeheartedly agree with that. That's why in the beginning he says, when I say who sent me, what am I supposed to say? What's your name? What am I supposed to tell these people?
20:04 And that's why he reassures us, it's the God of your father. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob sent you. Let them know who I am. So Moses even felt inadequate because of his own lack of knowledge. He had lack of knowledge, and he felt not ready to do this because he didn't know enough.
20:19 I'll tell you one thing about these observations with these doubts. For every doubt that Moses brought before before God, God brought brought before Moses a solution. Every obstacle that Moses brought before God, God brought a solution before Moses. In fact, the first two obstacles that he brings before God, God gives him multiple answers. He says, listen, you're bringing this all to me like as though as though I don't know.
20:47 You're worried about the future, you're worried about this, you're worried about that, and you think, I don't know about these things? It's amazing. You might be nervous about your future, but you know who isn't? God. God is not nervous with you when you're nervous.
21:00 He's not up there saying, you know what? I don't know. I didn't see this coming. I didn't see that you needed finances when you're gonna obey my call. I'm sorry.
21:06 Let's just figure this out. Here, pray a little bit longer and I'm gonna he didn't he doesn't do that. He sees it all ahead of time. And for every doubt, every obstacle, every roadblock, every hindrance, God goes, yeah, I already knew that. And here, there's not just one plan, here's two, here's three.
21:23 I don't know what to say to them. Say this, don't say that, say that and this. Okay, well I don't know about that. Okay, here's you want plan a or plan b? Like which one?
21:33 God is not nervous, though we are, and we shouldn't be nervous either. This is important for all of us as we're in majority of us are in transitional period of our lives, not knowing the next step. God has it all planned out. Not only is he have he planned out all the blocks, all the hindrances, all the all of that, he has a plan for you to get around it. So for every single doubt that he brought, God covered it already.
22:04 And so we start now verse by verse with that general observation. Let's start in verse 13. Then Moses said to God, if I come to the people of Israel and say to them, the God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they ask me me what is his name, what shall I say to them? And verse 14 says, God said to Moses, I am who I am. And he said, say this to the people of Israel, I am sent me to you.
22:33 God also said to Moses, say this to the people of Israel, the Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob has sent me to you. This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. God, what's your name? I am who I am. What does that mean?
22:59 What does that mean? Yes. So, he doesn't really have a description, in a sense? Did you hear that? He has no equals.
23:22 You know, God uses references a lot throughout the scriptures to help us understand his character a little bit. He's like an eagle. He is like a father who shows compassion to his children, Psalms one zero three. He has these characteristics, these images for us to have a general understanding of how he is or to to to focus on one of his attributes. But ultimately, God is incomparable.
23:45 You can't compare him. So you know how he describes himself? With himself. What's your name? Because remember, names are associated with the character of the individual.
23:55 That's biblical truth. Majority of time when a name is given to a person, even when a name is changed, is to speak of that person's character and destiny. God saying I am who I am is not random. It's to describe who he is. And you know what he says?
24:08 I am so incomparable, the only way I can define myself is with myself. I am who I am. I am transcendent. I am holy. I am nothing like you.
24:21 I am nothing like anything else in this universe. I stand above it all. I cannot even be compared to anything. I am so exclusive. I am so unique.
24:31 I am who I am. What else can we say about I am who I am? I mean, only a few words but so jam packed with revelation. I am who I am. It refers to his essence.
24:47 Say that. It refers to His essence. What about His essence? Deity? Yes.
24:56 I am the only God. Exclusive. There's no one else like me. There's no one else that's God. I am God.
25:02 I am who I am. Absolutely. What else? I am who I am. Sure.
25:19 Sure. I am who I I can be for you. I am who I am or need to be in your situation if it's consistent with my character. I am, once again, your healer, your provider, your strength, your fortress, your refuge. Yes.
25:39 That's it. Absolutely. Mhmm. Job. Yeah.
25:48 But it's in there. You're good. You're in the Bible. We're safe. We're safe.
25:54 That's a great point. I am who I am references the eternality of God. I didn't come into existence. Nobody gave birth to me. Nobody created me.
26:03 I always was, and I will never cease to exist. I am outside of time. Just think about that. It's hard for us to understand, but time is created, and God is outside of time. So he is eternal.
26:14 I am who I am. I'm I'm always there. I'm always there. Yes. Yes.
26:27 Yes. Yes. And we're gonna get to that in the last point. Check this out: God is eternal, but he's also what? Unchangeable.
26:48 The term is immutable. He's unchanging. His character is consistent. His promises are consistent. You know, we should praise God that we don't serve a schizophrenic God.
26:59 I thank God that I can pray and know that when I pray to God and I read this book, I don't have to worry that one day he's angry with me, one day he's happy with me. No. He's consistent. He is unchangeable. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
27:13 His immutability affirms the fact that he is constant, and that gives us security. It's kinda hard to be in a relationship with someone on any level that is not consistent in their character, that's not consistent in their personality. It's kinda scary. You can't trust somebody like that. You can't get close to somebody like that.
27:31 But God, you can because he is unchangeable. He is immutable. Why is he unchangeable? Because He's God? Sure.
27:44 He's perfect. For someone to change would mean that that person needed something to change about them, which means they weren't perfect. For someone to change for the better means that in the first place they weren't perfect, and that's not God, that's man. Man needs to change, God never changes. He's unchangeable, he is the same.
28:10 And for someone to change, change occurs when new information is registered in somebody's mind concerning themselves, and with that new information, they can either change for the better or change for the worse. But because God knows all things, he can't change. He knows everything. He's perfect. He's immutable.
28:30 We praise God for this kind of God. Yes. And finally, as Gil mentioned, he's eternal, he's immutable, he's holy, he's transcendent, nobody's like him. I am who I am. I can't find something to describe myself.
28:42 I can only describe myself with myself. And this is how Jesus refers to himself. John eight fifty eight, we know this. And people people criticize. Find me a verse where Jesus says, I am God.
28:55 I'll find something better. He says, I am. He says, I am. Before Abraham was, I am. He goes all the way back to Exodus, takes that description of God, Yahweh, and says, that's me by the way.
29:12 Three and one one and three. And people say, Well, that's not him saying he's God. Well, look at how the Jews reacted. As soon as he said that, he says, Oh, really? And they picked up stones to stone him.
29:22 A jam packed statement. What a declaration. Yeah, I am. And so what happens? This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.
29:33 Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, the Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me saying, I have observed you, and what has been done to you in Egypt? This is interesting. And I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey. What was that? I promise.
30:06 I promise that I'm gonna take you out of the land of affliction, and I promise that I'm gonna bring you into the land flowing with milk and honey. Now, if you know the book of Exodus, if you know the first five books of the Bible, you will notice something. Did they get into the promised land? Did The first generation get into the promised land, but he promised. What happened?
30:34 He says that you're gonna go into it. And what happened? They didn't go into it, only two did. So what happened? Yes?
30:53 They were complaining, complaining, complaining until they sinned. Well, they were sinning until God they Yes. Sure. Sandy and Phoebe, go ahead. Yes.
31:08 The final straw for them not to get into the promised land was unbelief. Can you imagine out of all the things, the one thing that really kicked them off the the trail was their unbelief? Yes, few. I was gonna say that. Yes.
31:20 Yeah. No one? So it's conditional. It's a conditional promise. Yes.
31:32 Right? I promise this if you do this, right? Sure. Was it the lack of water that made them not go into the promised land? Was it the lack of food?
31:47 Was it the desert heat? Was it the lack of provision? Was it the enemies attacking them throughout the journey? What was it that made them forfeit the call of God on their lives? You know who?
31:58 Themselves. Themselves. And that's the same thing for the only way that you and I cannot experience what God wants us to experience in this life is you. You and me are the problem to you and me. You say, Oh, I don't know about that.
32:17 First Corinthians 10 verse one. Right before this, Paul gives this illustration about the Christian faith, and he says, You know, the the Christian faith, it's like a it's like a race, and every runner runs, but not everybody receives a prize. Only one receives the prize. Do you believe the Christian walk is like a faith a race? You know what that tells me about the Christian walk?
32:38 It tells me this, that I am to run with everything I have within me as though there's only one prize at the end. I really wonder how many people are running their faith that way. He says, do you understand that in a race, all the runners run while only one receives a prize? Every athlete exercises self control in all things. They do it for a perishable crown, we do it for an imperishable.
32:58 So I don't run aimlessly. I I don't box as one beating the air, but I discipline my body and keep it under control lest after preaching to others, because you can preach and not live it, after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified. And then he goes into first Corinthians chapter 10, because that's first Corinthians nine twenty four to 27. Now he goes into chapter 10, and he gives a real life example of how to run the race, rather how not to run the race. And he goes in verse one of chapter 10, for I don't want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers, who are the fathers, the Israelites, were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.
33:47 So so stop there. He's making this point. You know, the Israelites, because people look at the Old Testament and they say, yeah, old covenant, new covenant. He goes, oh, a lot of what's in the old covenant is for us. A lot of it is for instruction.
34:02 And so he says, they all did what we did in a sense. They went through baptism, as people are gonna go this Sunday. They ate of Christ. They drank of Christ. They became one with Christ.
34:12 They were led by the cloud. He's trying to make a point that the Israelites are a picture of Christians today. The Israelite pilgrimage, the Israelite wilderness journey is the same thing as the Christian journey. And look what he says in verse six. Nevertheless, with most of them, God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
34:38 Because they all experienced what you experienced, and you know what the reality was? God was not pleased with them, and they forfeited their wilderness experience. They forfeited the promised land, and so many people think that that's heaven. I believe it is a picture of what God wants us to experience in this life, the fullness of the Christian life, the fullness of the call of God in our life. And he says they all forfeited that because God was not pleased with them.
35:03 And then he goes on to describe the four things that the Israelites have done to forfeit what God had called them to do. Four things. Can you guess what they are? Well, you don't have to guess, it's there. But does anybody know maybe at the top of their mind?
35:18 Four things. Sexual immorality. Number two, idolatry. Number three, testing Christ. And number four, grumbling.
35:35 So he names the four things that the Israel he I'm surprised he didn't mention murder, he didn't mention no no no. Grumbling, testing Christ, sexual immorality, idolatry. He says, these are the things that the Israelites have done that have forfeited what they could have experienced. Don't do the same. And this is the encouragement in those texts.
35:59 Because when he describes each one of those things, those roadblocks, those hindrances, he says, they committed this sin as some of them did. And with every single one of those sins, he says, some of them. You know what that means? Not all of them. You know what that means for you and me?
36:11 We don't have to fall into those sins. As some of them did, as some of them did, as some of them did, as some of them did. So he gives two warnings. In first Corinthians ten twelve, he says, Let no one thinks that he stands. Let him take heed because he can fall.
36:29 So if you're in a place where you say, I can never fall, you're probably on the verge of falling. If you think that you can never be susceptible to these temptations, beware, Be very careful. Let him who thinks he stands take heed, lest he fall. Then he goes into the next verse, which is a precious promise. He says, no temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.
36:55 God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your own ability, but with the temptation you also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it. So through this wilderness journey, we will experience temptation, but you don't have to be overcome by the temptation. I don't care how strong it is. Because he promised that all of us can escape every temptation regarding those things, and you and I can experience a fruitful wilderness journey called the Christian life. Where were we?
37:25 Now we come back to Exodus three verse 18, and they will listen to your voice, and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us go a three days journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God. Here's a fun verse: But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand. But I know that Pharaoh ain't gonna let you go. Does God know stuff in advance?
38:10 Yes, it's foreknowledge. All of us have that question, We're getting there. Paul, can you guess what it is? You wanna say it? Oh, yes.
38:23 Specifically with with this character named Pharaoh. What what's the ultimate question that people ask? Did God harden Pharaoh's heart? Eva? Yes?
38:35 No? Okay. Yes on this side, no on this side. They split up. No, I'm joking.
38:39 Eva? Tell us why. No. We're gonna get to this in more detail, but we can cover a little bit of it. I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand.
38:57 He knew that Pharaoh would harden his heart. And the ultimate debate, because of Romans nine, specifically, is did he harden his heart? And if he did, how could he? And the argument is, how could you even say that? Because he's God, he can do whatever he wants.
39:13 And then the other argument is, no, it's because Pharaoh first did it, and God just went with him. There's an interesting little commentary in first Samuel six six when the Philistines took the ark of the covenant and they were scared because they began to experience judgment, and they said to one another this, first Samuel six six, why should you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? Who hardened their hearts? The Egyptians and Pharaoh. After he had dealt severely with them, they did not send the people away and they departed.
39:58 If you really take from this moment on, when he comes into bringing the plagues, if you really take and you take the times where it says God has hardened Pharaoh's heart and Pharaoh hardening his heart, you will notice something if you pay attention. Does anybody know when God began to harden Pharaoh's heart? Was it immediately? It does mention first that God will harden his heart. Look at Exodus seven:three.
40:30 This is the first time where it mentions God is gonna harden his heart. Exodus seven:three. Actually, four twenty one, not too far. Exodus four twenty one. And the Lord said to Moses, when you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I put in your power, but I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.
40:53 So what does he say? I will harden his heart. Does it say I did harden his heart? No. I will harden his heart.
41:00 Then you fast forward to Exodus seven three, but I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. So we see what does he say again? I will harden Pharaoh's heart. Eva, did you have something? Sure.
41:24 He gave him over to the desires. Absolutely. That's a great point. So we just read here in four twenty one, I will harden his heart. We go to seven three, I will harden his heart.
41:34 Then you go to nine, twelve, but the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them as the Lord had spoken to Moses. So what do we see there? The Lord hardened it. The two verses prior, it says he would harden it. Then we see here that he finally hardens it.
41:58 But something happened before Exodus nine twelve. In Exodus eight fifteen, but when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen to Moses and Aaron just as the Lord had said. And a few verses after in Exodus eight thirty two, but this time also, Pharaoh hardened his heart and would not let the people go. Then we come to Exodus nine twelve, God hardened his heart. Do we see that?
42:30 There's a verse in Proverbs twenty nine one, probably one of the scariest verses in the entire Bible, no exaggeration. He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck, will suddenly be destroyed beyond healing. And we've heard this verse in bible study before. He who is often reproved yet stiffens his neck will suddenly be destroyed beyond healing. You know what that means?
42:57 This is what it means. That God can convict you, convict you, convict you. You resist, resist, resist, resist, and then finally God removes his conviction on your life, and you can be judged on this side of heaven and never be convicted again, and end up eternally separated from God. My spirit will not always strive with man, and people are against evangelism that is appealing, meaning making an appeal at the end of the message. The whole Bible is an appeal.
43:24 You see every preacher, you see the text in Hebrews where it says, today is the day of salvation. Today, if you hear his voice, don't harden your hearts. There is an urgency with every single message, every single service we have, and there's non believers, or if you're questioning your salvation, God has every right to convict you once, you not answer, he harden your heart, and you'd be damned to hell for all eternity. And he would be completely just in doing so. He who is often reproved yet stiffens his neck on this side of heaven, you read it, second Thessalonians.
44:00 God says, because they did not love the truth, he gave them over to a strong delusion. Isn't that scary that you can reject the gospel and God's punishment on your life because of rejecting the truth and righteousness found in Christ is him giving you over to a cult, him giving you over to a false religion. That is why the preaching of the gospel is the most serious thing in the world. That is why every meaning that we have carries eternal consequences and should never be taken lightly. God hardened his heart because Pharaoh hardened his heart.
44:39 Verse 21. And I will give are you guys doing okay? And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. And when you go, you shall not go empty, but each woman shall ask of her neighbor, and any woman who lives in her house for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing. You shall put them on your sons and on your daughters, so you shall plunder the Egyptians.
45:04 He's like, you're not going out empty. When you leave, you're gonna ask for their silver, you're gonna ask for their necklaces, you're gonna ask for their clothing, and you're leaving out of here with something. Do we know what happened with the jewelry? And what's the lesson there? Be careful not turning the blessings of God into idols.
45:33 Don't turn what God has given you and make it into a golden calf. It can be from anything of a relationship to a job, to an opportunity, to ministry. God put this in their hands as a blessing, and they took what God blessed them with and made it into something they worshiped. Very careful. Then we come into chapter four.
45:54 It's still a continuing thought. Then Moses answered, but behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, the Lord did not appear to you.' And now God does them. Does does somebody know what God does in this chapter? Yeah. There's different signs that God gives him, miracles that he's able to perform.
46:15 Anybody know the miracles? The staff turned into a snake. What's the second miracle? That's the one he puts his hand in and it comes out leprous with leprosy, and then he puts it back in and it's made new. And what's the third one?
46:39 So he's just gonna take water from the River Nile and put it on the ground, it's gonna turn to blood. And this is this is in response to Moses being scared that people were not gonna believe his ministry. But once again, when God has truly called you, you don't need to validate yourself. God will validate for you. God will back you up.
46:57 God will speak on your behalf. The fruit of your life will speak for itself if God is truly with you. I'm scared. He goes, Don't worry. I'll take care of it.
47:06 And so these three signs that are provided to Moses to give to the people, we know on a surface level that it's just miracles for them to see, okay, God is really with you. This is not a joke. You're really sent by God. Nobody can do this unless God is with them. We get it.
47:20 It's all there. But there's significant lessons. I believe something for Moses and something for us with every single one of those signs concerning Moses as a person. So let's go over these signs. The first one here, the lord said to him in verse two, what is that in your hand?
47:37 He said, a staff. And he said, throw it on the ground. So he threw it on the ground and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. But the Lord said to Moses, put out your hand and catch it by the tail. So he put it out 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.
47:59 So he says, okay. What's in your hand? He says, a staff. He says, store it in the ground, does it, turns it to a snake, runs from it, like I'm sure everybody would, and he says, don't be afraid of it. Grab it by the tail.
48:09 He grabs it by the tail and turns back into his staff. What can we say about that? Mhmm. Yeah. You don't do the tail.
48:19 You go for the head. You grab it by the head, and you have control over it. Sure. He does the opposite. Yeah.
48:40 Yeah. Sure. There is an element of not fearing, but trusting even in things that don't make sense. When things don't make sense, we still have to trust God. He's in control.
48:51 He's sovereign. What does he ask Moses? He says, what's in your hand? What's in your hand? He said, a staff.
49:05 And it's amazing. God will ask the same with us. What's in your hand? What's at your disposal right now? What do you have available right now?
49:14 And I want you to take what you have in this moment of your life, in this season of your life, and at my command, what you thought was ordinary, I can make miraculous. And I can do something with it. And think about this, Moses for years has been shepherding with the staff, has been dealing with sheep with the staff, has been walking with something that seems so insignificant. But at God's command, the thing that he thought was so little became something so amazing. And so in the same way, when you and I are in a season of our life where we feel like we're doing something insignificant at the right time, God can take it and do something miraculous with it.
49:53 God can take it and do something supernatural with it. Think about that. He goes, this ordinary staff, God can use to do miracles, and from this moment on, in fact, that staff is gonna come in handy. And so it's this idea of what you think that you're in right now, shepherd, God can take that thing and do something miraculous with it if you're willing to obey him. What's the second thing?
50:22 Verse six, and again, the lord said to him, put your hand inside your cloak. And he put his hand inside the cloak, and when he took out took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow. Then God said, put your hand back inside your cloak. So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. What else can we say about that?
50:50 Yeah, Evan? Sure. Yeah. He's close to us. Yes, Lydia.
51:01 Somebody said that, after that, after that, I'm saying that when he put his hand, it's like on his part, he came out as not Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I believe the same thing. That when this this he's he's going to a mighty call.
51:22 This is a mighty call that he's going into. He's gonna be a leader. He's gonna be dealing with rebellious people, inconsistent people, sinful people. And you know what would be a really good reminder for this man of God who had a mighty call in his life? Hey, remember how sinful you are as well.
51:41 That you are not susceptible, you are not the exemption for sin. That you yourself can fall into the very same sin, Moses. And so if you're gonna be a leader, make sure that you remember where you came from, Moses. And remember that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins, Moses. And so when you're gonna deal with people and their sins, remember that you can be a leper too.
52:06 Remember, Moses, if you're gonna be in if you're gonna be in leadership, you don't look down on other people because of their sin. You're a sinner saved by grace. Don't forget that. Okay? Okay.
52:17 Put your hand back in now. Alright. Now take it out. Thirdly, verse nine, if they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it out on the dry ground, and the water that you shall take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground. What can we say about that sign?
52:51 So if they don't believe this, they'll believe us. Yes? Sure. The life source of Egypt, God can turn and make it into something that's not a life source anymore. But think about the deeper understanding.
53:25 Yes, Noah? Go ahead. Yeah. So they're gonna die in the water later on in the in the Red Sea. There's a valuable lesson here.
53:39 That's miraculous on its own, the fact that he took water and he turned it into blood. But there is a deep, significant lesson here that should be terrifying to the Egyptians and should produce a healthy fear in every man. Take the water from the Nile. Pour it on dry ground. It will turn to blood.
54:00 Go to Exodus one twenty two. Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, every son that is born to the Hebrews, you shall cast where? Into the Nile. But you shall let every daughter live. Guess whose blood is showing up on dry ground?
54:29 Guess whose blood is showing up? What kind of a statement is God making there? Take that water, the same water that Pharaoh and the Egyptians try to cover their blood guilt. And when you take that water and pour it onto dry ground before the Israelites, you know what I'm saying? I saw what man tried to cover.
54:54 I see it. And all the blood of all those babies are crying out to me. And so all the pain and the hardship that you went through, trust me Israelites, they might have tried to bury it, they might have tried to put it under water, but I see it. And that's the first miracle that was performed, the first plague. It turns into blood.
55:12 What kind of statement do you think that was to the Israelites? He saw it, man. Oh man, he saw it. This God saw it, and he's uncovering it. You know, we might try to cover in America all the blood guilt and the bloodshed of every baby in the name of woman rights and health care, but god is gonna spill it over one day, and every child will cry out for vengeance one day.
55:33 Oh, we might be trying to cover Oh, it's healthcare. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, it's doing it's beneficial. It's women's rights. Not in God's eyes.
55:39 You can justify it all you want, friend, but one day all that blood is gonna come out of the ground. It's gonna cry out for justice, and there's a just God that will deliver. Be careful. Because we think this is on a national level. It is on a national level.
55:51 God judges nations till this day. He judges cities. To this day, when Jesus walked on the earth, he looked at the people and he says, you know what? Sodom and Gomorrah is gonna look like Chuck E. Cheese compared to you, Horizon.
56:03 And Bethsaida, if they saw the miracles that you performed, that I performed, they would have repented. But they're gonna stand at the judgment and condemn you, Nineveh and all of them. So God sees cities. He sees governments. He sees the way that people deal with the sanctity of the human life, and he's gonna judge.
56:18 So national, citywide, oh, yes, and individually. It's all over the scriptures. It's just it's there. He sees it all. You can't hide from him.
56:30 You can bury it as deep as you want. You can take it, put weight on it, put it in a barrel, paint it in a certain color, throw it in the ocean, and you know what? Whoever conceals his transgression shall not prosper. Man cannot cover it. Moses, I wanna tell you something.
56:50 I saw it, and I will bring vengeance for the blood that was shed. What a final miracle to convince the Israelites. Verse 10. But Moses said to the Lord, oh my Lord, I am not eloquent either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue. Then the Lord said to him, who has made man's mouth?
57:19 Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? That's a pretty significant statement. Can we talk about that verse? I think it's important to talk about that verse.
57:40 Yeah. Yeah. I think Moses is at a place where he is so now not confident in himself, because acts tells us that he was a man of eloquence. He was a man of wisdom. He was a man of powerful speech indeed.
57:50 But at this point, he goes, I'm nothing. Yes, Noah? It's a wonderful verse. Yeah, it's a wonderful story to refer to. Did everybody think of that as well, with Yes.
58:09 Noah Noah referenced John chapter nine when Jesus and the disciples walked by the man born blind. And you know what the disciples did? Jesus, was it his parents' sin or his sin? Why is he born blind? You know what Jesus says in John nine verse three, Jesus answered, it is not that this man sinned or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.
58:34 In other words, God is sovereign over our suffering. God is sovereign even over disabilities. And this this this might make us feel uncomfortable because we say, well, why would God allow that? Why would God make a man mute? Why would God make a man blind?
58:56 Why would God be in charge of that? But we need to think deeper than that, is that God is in control of that, and that God has a plan in that, and that God has a sovereign purpose to bring glory through even a disability. I can't help but think of Nick Vujicic. I always think whenever I come to this verse, whenever I think of John chapter nine, I can't think of the man do you know this man? No limbs.
59:22 This man who has no arms and legs is happier than most Christians. I don't understand it. It's clearly God. The joy of God in him. And because of his disability correct me if I'm wrong, Eva.
59:34 Because of his disability, because of his testimony, because of what testimony he bears with the disability that he has, he has access to places to preach the gospel that no other man had access to. He was able to go into Muslim countries and preach the gospel. Why? Because they saw this man with no arms, they saw this man with no legs, and he has a grin on his face, and people have millions of dollars and they're miserable. What a testimony!
59:58 I mean, God's sovereignty. Yeah, I do all these things. I'm in control. I'm sovereign. So instead of looking at it and saying, that's unfair.
1:00:06 God says, no, no, no. You don't understand. Because with that, you have to understand that I'm a good God. I'm a good God, and I don't waste anything. And not one birth is by accident.
1:00:17 I am sovereign over suffering. And then what a precious promise in verse 12. Now therefore go and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak. Oh, put your finger on that verse. Why?
1:00:33 Because this thing called the tongue is dangerous. It can start forest fires. And it says no man can tame the tongue. You know who can tame it? God.
1:00:44 Would you teach me what to speak, God? Because this thing can get out of control sometimes. I can say some stuff that I'm not supposed to say. I can speak about somebody that I'm not supposed to speak of that way. Teach me what I ought to speak.
1:00:55 Be with this mouth. Fill it with your words. Season it with salt. Be with my mouth. Never mind my body.
1:01:04 This thing is so dangerous. Sorry, Tim. You had something. Absolutely. That was Jesus' promises to the disciples in Luke twenty one fifteen.
1:01:31 He says, when you're facing these persecutors, these kings, don't even think about what you're gonna say. In that moment, I will give you words that your adversaries will not be able to resist or contradict. What a promise. He says here, I will be with your mouth. Teach you what you shall speak.
1:01:49 And this is kind of the final straw for Moses. And people say, well, God got angry. I would have got angry at the first one. But God, after all that He said, after all that He revealed, I mean, think about it. Let's just be real here.
1:02:04 He goes, put your hand. Oh, turns it to oh, okay. Put it back in. Look at that. Oh, your staff turns it.
1:02:08 After all the promises, all the revelation, everything that he said, Moses goes, you know what? I think I'm I'm I'm not interested. In fact, he says, oh my lord, please some send someone else. It's like, what are you thinking, man? And what does it say?
1:02:26 Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and he said, is there not Aaron your brother the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and will teach you both what to do. Let's just stop there.
1:02:43 What just happened? What can we say about this? Yes, Tim? Even though God is angry, still, grace and mercy. Sure.
1:02:59 Yes, Meryl? So, is this an act of grace, or is this something else? Is it both? Both? Can we say both?
1:03:26 We can say both, I believe. I I believe we can say both. But I can tell you this one thing. I believe and Gorges is gonna say it. Sure.
1:03:40 Yeah. Because there's, like, there's power. By twos. Right. I'll give you an interpretation.
1:03:50 May you might disagree with it. That's okay. That's a point of bible study. We can disagree with one another. I believe Moses came to a place in which he didn't want the call, and on some level, he missed out on what he could have experienced because of that decision.
1:04:08 Because originally, God wanted to do it through Moses. Aaron was not the original plan. Moses was the original plan. And God wanted to get maximum glory out of Moses because Moses could not speak. Moses could not speak, and God wanted to fill his mouth.
1:04:27 But because of Moses's doubt, because of Moses's unwillingness now not to submit to what God wanted him to do, he took somebody that could speak. And God wants maximum glory. And what Moses could have experienced to the fullest is now shared. Not that God is against sharing, not that he's against two by twos. But some would even argue, as Tamara said, Aaron kinda caused a little bit of problems, didn't he?
1:04:54 I mean, when Moses was at the top of the mountain, who was there saying, Hey, let's make a golden calf, just bring you the gold. And so the original plan was, Moses, I wanna do it through you. I wanna fill your mouth. I wanna speak through you. And here's the truth.
1:05:10 I mean, if we wanna resist it long enough, God can give it to somebody else. God can give that task to somebody else. I don't wanna speak. I don't it was specific. He didn't wanna speak.
1:05:20 He says, alright. I'm giving you the opportunity. But if one is unwilling, what a tragedy that God would give that responsibility to somebody else. You know, this thought always comes just to be transparent, this thought always comes to my mind. You know, in anything God calls you to do, be careful of complaining because if you complain long enough, I believe God will give it to somebody else.
1:05:43 Be very careful of complaining in anything that God calls you to do. Oh, nobody appreciates me. Oh, nobody sees what I do. Oh, look how tired I am. Oh, look at this.
1:05:51 Oh, I didn't sign up for this. Oh, look how people mistreat me. They don't value me. Oh, look at this. Look at that.
1:05:56 And God goes, keep it up. Because if you do it long enough, I'll find somebody that's willing to do it. God forbid, remain in that place of thankfulness, remain in that place of faith that even if you're not feeling adequate in what you're doing and saying, God, just do some just choose somebody else, be careful because God chose you, and God wants to do it through you, and God wants to get maximum isn't that amazing that in our weaknesses, he gets maximum glory? Make me as weak as possible, Lord. Crush me to find power if need be.
1:06:27 What did Paul say? I boast in my weaknesses because the power of Christ rests on me. The weaker I am, the greater power. And so, I don't wanna do it. Alright.
1:06:43 Aaron, come here. I'll call you to do it. You guys go do it together. Is it an act of grace? I believe so, but I believe Moses robbed himself of the fullness of what he could have had.
1:06:53 And God wanted to get maximum glory out of the mouth of Moses. His plan was not Aaron who could speak eloquently. It says he could speak well. And so, may we have the same heart posture that we are willing to say yes to the Lord and have confidence in the call. So this is how we're ending.
1:07:13 In your life right now, the call of Moses, how he received this revelation of God and in that he received this calling in his life, his specific knowing of what to do in this life. And maybe you do know, maybe you have an idea of what the Lord is taking you to. Maybe it's going to a a school. Maybe it's going to do a specific business. Maybe it's starting something that you believe God is calling you to do, and it involves risk.
1:07:36 It involves the unknown. That is normal. Maybe God maybe somebody here has called for ministry, and you just have no idea how this is gonna work out. You have no idea how it's gonna this is the purpose of today's bible study, that God wants to give you and I confidence in the call that he has placed in our lives. And that confidence is rooted in this, knowing who he is, the I am who I am, and knowing what he's able to do through you, not what you can do for him.
1:08:04 It is a complete yielding to God and trusting in him. And the only thing that can limit you from what God wants to call you to do is you. Because we just talked about, just like Saul, people can talk about you, people can do this about you. Like David, people can try to rob what God has placed on David since he was a child, but no man can do it if God is with you. And so we're gonna pray into that tonight.
1:08:31 We're gonna ask the Lord to give us confidence for the future, not to fear what's to come ahead. And maybe God has called you to do something, and we just need to repent of complaining and comparing. Maybe we're frustrated because we have a staff in our hand, but God can take that staff and do something miraculous with it. Or maybe we feel we're in a place of self righteousness or pride, and we just need to put our hand in our own heart and pull it out and realize that we were once sinners too and we are susceptible to sin. Or maybe we need a revelation that God can take the things that are hidden and bring them to the surface.
1:09:44 And these bible studies are not just to receive fresh insight. It's for life changing truth. You know, ask the Lord, whatever point ministered to you, would you grab a hold of it and translate it into prayer. Saying, Lord, please, I I heard your word and I wanna respond to it. And so father tonight, we pray simply.
1:10:15 If anybody in here needs confidence, not in themselves, not in their networking, not in who they know or who they don't know. Father we pray for confidence in you. A fresh faith in the hearts of every person in this place. And Lord, let every person know that as long as we know you, as long as we grow in our knowledge of you, our confidence grows as well. And father, in so many young people's lives here, they're wondering what's next.
1:10:52 And Lord, maybe they're not at the place where they even know yet, but we pray that they would know. That as we pray, and as we seek, and as we consecrate ourselves, you are more than willing to reveal the next step of how we can serve you and honor you. And for those people that do know but are terrified, Maybe it requires them to move. Maybe it requires them to make a big financial decision. Maybe it requires them to do something that won't necessarily please their family or please their friends.
1:11:27 Would you grant confidence that you are with them? You are for them. And if you've called us, God, you will equip us. You'll provide for us. You will silence the voice of the enemy.
1:11:40 You will fight for us when people fight against us. We don't have to do anything. And so what we pray tonight into what we heard, and we say thank you for your goodness. Thank you for your patience. Thank you that when we bring doubts, you bring solutions.
1:11:59 When we bring obstacles, you bring a plan that you are never taken by surprise. So when we feel anxious, when we feel nervous, when we're facing something where we don't know how to even take the next step, you know it. And you guide us and lead us. And so father, tonight, may this be a turning point in those people here that just need faith. Faith to lean in and to receive from you or faith to move forward what you already revealed to them.
1:12:33 So tonight, we trust in you. In Jesus name, we pray.
