WEBVTT 00:00:09.720 --> 00:00:13.300 Hello and welcome to the Kalamazoo church of Christ podcast. 00:00:13.519 --> 00:00:14.839 Thank you so much for listening. 00:00:15.300 --> 00:00:16.199 We're startup church. 00:00:16.280 --> 00:00:23.460 We just planted in September, 2020 and at the Kalamazoo church, we believe that Christianity is done best when it is done together. 00:00:23.539 --> 00:00:32.299 And so if you live in the Kalamazoo area, we would love to connect, be it coming to a Sunday service, one of our small groups, or even just grabbing coffee with a member to learn more. 00:00:32.500 --> 00:00:36.439 You can visit kalamazoo.church in order to do that. 00:00:37.039 --> 00:00:40.399 We pray that you are inspired by what you hear today. 00:00:58.380 --> 00:00:59.079 There we go. 00:01:02.310 --> 00:01:08.090 His name in the Hebrew language means to pull out. 00:01:09.329 --> 00:01:11.469 It means to draw out. 00:01:13.530 --> 00:01:17.390 His name was not given to him by his mother. 00:01:17.730 --> 00:01:19.030 Think about that for a moment. 00:01:20.390 --> 00:01:23.810 His name was given to him by Pharaoh's daughter. 00:01:24.849 --> 00:01:32.590 His name is Moses, Moses today, kind of like Tim, I'm going to be bouncing around. 00:01:32.930 --> 00:01:45.969 And so if you have three fingers, it would be good maybe to use all of them or to bookmark Exodus chapter 1 and 2, Acts chapter 7, and Hebrews chapter 11. 00:01:46.750 --> 00:01:52.310 We'll actually begin reading a section out of Hebrews chapter 11 this morning. 00:01:53.540 --> 00:01:59.170 Beginning in verse number 24, we're going to do a lot of reading today. 00:01:59.209 --> 00:02:02.769 We're going to let the word of God speak to us quite a bit here this morning. 00:02:03.939 --> 00:02:04.730 So here we go. 00:02:04.730 --> 00:02:08.729 Hebrews 11, starting in verse number 24. 00:02:09.889 --> 00:02:16.090 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. 00:02:16.349 --> 00:02:25.110 He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 00:02:26.150 --> 00:02:35.550 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. 00:02:36.430 --> 00:02:41.069 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger. 00:02:41.370 --> 00:02:45.550 He persevered because he saw him who is invisible. 00:02:46.330 --> 00:02:56.750 And by faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel. 00:02:57.449 --> 00:03:02.750 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea on dry land. 00:03:03.110 --> 00:03:06.430 But when the Egyptians tried to do this, they were drowned. 00:03:07.090 --> 00:03:12.430 Do you see the emphasis and the amount of times that the word faith was used in this passage? 00:03:12.909 --> 00:03:22.990 Well, it does come from Hebrews chapter 11, which is commonly known as kind of the hall of fame when it comes to faithful examples that we've had in our past. 00:03:23.110 --> 00:03:24.830 Our faithful ancestors. 00:03:25.439 --> 00:03:36.090 What's striking to me in addition to that was not just the faith that Moses had, but if we back up there a verse in number 23, it says this. 00:03:37.090 --> 00:03:51.330 By faith Moses's parents hid him for three months after he was born because they saw he was no ordinary child and they were not afraid of the king's edict. 00:03:51.889 --> 00:03:54.289 By faith Moses's parents. 00:03:54.629 --> 00:04:07.810 So see this ancestry of faith, this lineage of faith that we hear, I don't think there's any mistake in the way that Moses demonstrated his faith because it started even before he was born. 00:04:08.349 --> 00:04:15.149 I heard a minister one time put it this way, the best time to start praying for your kids is before they are here. 00:04:15.889 --> 00:04:18.209 And so I think that's wonderful advice. 00:04:18.269 --> 00:04:19.829 I think that is great advice. 00:04:20.170 --> 00:04:28.509 And then as the scriptures continue to go on and tell us a little bit about Moses's parents, it mentions that they noticed he was no ordinary child. 00:04:28.629 --> 00:04:32.709 Now I know parents, I've been one, I've seen them constantly. 00:04:33.069 --> 00:04:36.170 They're a little bit despicable when it comes to their kids, right? 00:04:36.290 --> 00:04:37.769 They're so blinded. 00:04:37.910 --> 00:04:39.829 They have on the rose colored glasses. 00:04:39.990 --> 00:04:43.829 They think their kid is the best ever and they're going to tell you about it, right? 00:04:44.170 --> 00:04:58.990 But I don't think that this was simply a matter of parental bias that we find here, that the scripture says that Moses's parents witnessed something in their child to the extent that they referred to him as being no ordinary child. 00:05:00.180 --> 00:05:12.750 As we back up a little further in Hebrews chapter 11 and verse number 13, it says this, that all of these people were still living by faith when they died. 00:05:12.949 --> 00:05:16.170 There's that heritage again that we've referenced a couple of times. 00:05:16.769 --> 00:05:18.709 They did not receive the things promised. 00:05:18.709 --> 00:05:26.589 They only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 00:05:26.910 --> 00:05:31.389 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 00:05:31.769 --> 00:05:40.790 If they had not been thinking of the country they had left, or if they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 00:05:42.009 --> 00:05:46.610 Instead, they were longing for a better country, a heavenly one. 00:05:46.610 --> 00:05:52.910 Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. 00:05:53.069 --> 00:05:55.230 Isn't that, it's just awesome. 00:05:55.569 --> 00:06:07.610 All of these people that we're reading about, the promises of God, the things that God talked to them about, wanted them to be, a lot of the fruit of their labor, it did not come to fruition. 00:06:08.110 --> 00:06:11.550 It did not come to bear fruit necessarily while they lived. 00:06:11.629 --> 00:06:18.209 Sure there was fruit there then too, but a lot of them didn't see the extent of what happened during their own lifetime. 00:06:18.970 --> 00:06:21.709 Church to me, that means patience. 00:06:22.230 --> 00:06:29.889 You know, we need to be a lot less excited about the moment and a lot more excited about the trajectory, I think, in our lives, right? 00:06:30.110 --> 00:06:47.850 As we back up further in the book of Hebrews chapter 11 into verse number 6, a powerful, powerful verse as they begin, as the writer of Hebrews then begins to follow, giving us great examples of faithful ancestry that we all share in. 00:06:48.370 --> 00:07:06.430 It says there, and without faith, it is impossible to please him, to please God, because whoever comes to him must believe that number one, he exists and that he is a rewarder of those who earnestly seek him. 00:07:07.310 --> 00:07:07.810 Wow. 00:07:09.009 --> 00:07:14.110 Great, great words to use as the foundation for our lesson here today. 00:07:14.529 --> 00:07:16.670 I want to skip to our next slide here. 00:07:16.850 --> 00:07:19.290 This is a quote by D.L. Moody. 00:07:23.290 --> 00:07:25.069 Is it clear enough? 00:07:25.370 --> 00:07:26.250 Is it just me? 00:07:26.350 --> 00:07:26.550 All right. 00:07:26.569 --> 00:07:28.449 I took off my glasses to read the Bible, right? 00:07:28.829 --> 00:07:30.730 I actually thought about this before I got up. 00:07:30.769 --> 00:07:34.829 I took off my hearing aids because every time I take off my glasses and try to put them on, my hearing aids fall out. 00:07:35.509 --> 00:07:38.589 So I have this dilemma, do I want to see or do I want to hear? 00:07:38.829 --> 00:07:40.389 That's basically what it comes down to. 00:07:40.389 --> 00:07:42.629 So I can see much better right now. 00:07:42.870 --> 00:07:48.129 I love the description that D.L. Moody gives of the three phases of Moses' life. 00:07:49.410 --> 00:08:03.350 This is his quote, Moses spent 40 years thinking he was somebody, 40 years learning that he was a nobody, and 40 years discovering what God can do with a nobody. 00:08:04.470 --> 00:08:05.829 That's awesome. 00:08:06.069 --> 00:08:07.250 That really is awesome. 00:08:07.250 --> 00:08:11.209 And you know, I wondered, I tried to kind of apply that to my own life. 00:08:11.290 --> 00:08:14.069 Now, we have to shorten the range, at least I think we do. 00:08:14.149 --> 00:08:17.310 I don't anticipate living 120 years on this earth. 00:08:17.709 --> 00:08:21.209 So I divided it up into like these 25-year segments. 00:08:21.329 --> 00:08:24.189 I look back at my life, and perhaps you could do the same with yours. 00:08:24.829 --> 00:08:25.790 I think it's helpful. 00:08:26.589 --> 00:08:39.710 The first 25 years we spend growing up, we spend going to, you know, elementary school and then junior high or middle school and then high school and then college and then perhaps even getting married within this time frame. 00:08:40.090 --> 00:08:46.490 The second 25 years of our life, at least for me, it just, it seems like a blur, a real blur. 00:08:46.690 --> 00:08:51.090 I spent 25, actually closer to 30 years of my life, raising my family. 00:08:51.250 --> 00:08:52.370 And I had four kids. 00:08:52.450 --> 00:08:56.490 We did our best to evenly space them out, and that kind of worked out. 00:08:56.610 --> 00:09:00.370 But you know, that's a long, that's a long journey. 00:09:00.370 --> 00:09:02.090 And it just seems like a whirlwind. 00:09:02.230 --> 00:09:09.809 We're so caught up in just living day to day and putting food on the table and making sure there's money to pay the electric bill, all those kind of things. 00:09:11.330 --> 00:09:16.269 Finally, here we are in the last 25 years of life, empty nesters. 00:09:16.830 --> 00:09:17.429 Well, sort of. 00:09:17.509 --> 00:09:23.529 We had kind of reverse form, and we have, you know, the mom coming back to live with us now, not the kids. 00:09:23.610 --> 00:09:24.490 Oh, we've had that too. 00:09:24.490 --> 00:09:25.870 We've done it all, man, all right? 00:09:26.210 --> 00:09:27.429 We've lived a full life. 00:09:28.710 --> 00:09:31.370 But it's also a time of great reflection. 00:09:31.909 --> 00:09:33.690 You know, what have I done with my life? 00:09:33.830 --> 00:09:35.730 And why did all of this happen? 00:09:36.330 --> 00:09:40.889 And there's also great reflection on what remains undone. 00:09:41.450 --> 00:09:43.070 What, what, what's left? 00:09:43.330 --> 00:09:44.929 What do I need to accomplish? 00:09:45.529 --> 00:09:52.690 I just wondered to myself today, you know, did Moses have similar thoughts or, or did this not really occur to him? 00:09:52.690 --> 00:09:55.590 I have to believe that at least part of this did. 00:09:55.590 --> 00:10:01.429 I need your help today, and I need your participation, because I want you to think. 00:10:01.549 --> 00:10:03.750 I want you to dream with me here a little bit this morning. 00:10:05.029 --> 00:10:20.750 If you lived during Moses' last 40 years of his life, and you were the senior editor with the Nile Publishing Group, assisting Moses in writing his memoirs, what would the title of his book be? 00:10:20.789 --> 00:10:23.950 What would you suggest that the title of his book be? 00:10:23.950 --> 00:10:26.470 I want you just to let that sink in for a little bit. 00:10:26.549 --> 00:10:27.809 I want, I want a couple of responses. 00:10:28.230 --> 00:10:30.710 Here's a couple maybe to, to get you started. 00:10:31.769 --> 00:10:37.629 Mama Sent Me Up the River, perhaps as a subtitle without, without a paddle. 00:10:38.490 --> 00:10:39.649 Maybe that would work. 00:10:40.549 --> 00:10:45.970 My Life Among the Frogs, or insert your favorite plague that, you know, he, he had to live with. 00:10:46.470 --> 00:10:47.250 How about you? 00:10:47.850 --> 00:10:49.409 You have, you have a suggestion or two? 00:10:51.679 --> 00:10:53.539 I made it, okay, all right. 00:10:53.539 --> 00:10:55.340 That might not be too bad either. 00:10:55.980 --> 00:11:04.399 All of these things could be true about Moses' life, and I'm sure that there's parts of his life that stick out to you more than others. 00:11:04.720 --> 00:11:07.259 But today, I want to try to keep it as simple as possible. 00:11:07.340 --> 00:11:09.179 We're going to stick with these three divisions. 00:11:09.720 --> 00:11:18.139 The first 40 years, when he was thinking that he was somebody, we're going to talk about Moses being delivered. 00:11:18.620 --> 00:11:31.860 The second 40 years of his life, which would fall in that description of the 40 years where he was learning that he was a nobody, I'm going to entitle that living in the desert or living in the wilderness. 00:11:32.419 --> 00:11:43.879 And then finally, this last 40 years of Moses' life, we're going to talk about how God used this nobody to be somebody, actually to be a deliverer. 00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:45.919 And so that's going to be the message today. 00:11:46.419 --> 00:11:54.360 Moses, who was delivered, Moses living in the wilderness, and then finally, Moses becoming the deliverer. 00:11:54.639 --> 00:11:57.340 So let's look at the first 40 years of his life. 00:11:57.580 --> 00:11:58.720 Who's doing the slides anyway? 00:12:00.539 --> 00:12:00.980 Nobody? 00:12:01.259 --> 00:12:01.519 Okay. 00:12:01.980 --> 00:12:02.659 Oh, you are. 00:12:02.759 --> 00:12:02.879 Okay. 00:12:02.980 --> 00:12:03.940 Yeah, go to the next one. 00:12:03.960 --> 00:12:04.259 There we go. 00:12:06.659 --> 00:12:09.220 Thought I was up the river without a paddle there for a minute. 00:12:10.580 --> 00:12:11.759 Just like Moses. 00:12:16.120 --> 00:12:18.860 So a little bit of a lengthy scripture reading here. 00:12:18.860 --> 00:12:27.059 I'm going to go back to Exodus chapter one, beginning in verse number eight, and reading through the second chapter, verse number 10. 00:12:27.460 --> 00:12:30.860 I'm sure you're familiar with the story, but it does me good to review these things. 00:12:31.059 --> 00:12:33.279 I just love reading this story. 00:12:33.759 --> 00:12:37.299 I hope that you'll appreciate hearing it again as well. 00:12:38.440 --> 00:12:48.019 Exodus one, beginning of verse number eight, then came a new king to whom Jesus meant nothing or to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. 00:12:48.019 --> 00:12:53.340 Look, he said to his people, the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. 00:12:53.639 --> 00:13:02.799 Come, we must deal with them shrewdly, or they will become even more numerous, and if war breaks out, we'll join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the country. 00:13:03.059 --> 00:13:11.100 So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Python and Ramesses as store cities for Pharaoh. 00:13:11.600 --> 00:13:15.399 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread. 00:13:15.720 --> 00:13:21.580 So the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites and worked them ruthlessly. 00:13:21.899 --> 00:13:27.820 They made their lives bitter with harsh labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields. 00:13:28.120 --> 00:13:31.820 In all their harsh labor, the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly. 00:13:32.799 --> 00:13:45.059 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose name was Shifra and Pua, when you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him. 00:13:45.559 --> 00:13:48.460 But if it is a girl, let her live. 00:13:49.879 --> 00:13:50.419 Crazy. 00:13:51.100 --> 00:14:00.240 The midwives, however, feared God, praised God, and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do and let the boys live. 00:14:00.480 --> 00:14:04.519 Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, why have you done this? 00:14:04.580 --> 00:14:06.299 Why have you let the boys live? 00:14:07.019 --> 00:14:11.860 The midwives answered Pharaoh, Hebrew women are not vigorous or not like Egyptian women. 00:14:11.860 --> 00:14:15.019 They are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive. 00:14:15.519 --> 00:14:19.220 Not only were these God-fearing midwives, they were pretty quick on their feet too, right? 00:14:19.279 --> 00:14:20.379 I couldn't have dreamed that one up. 00:14:20.440 --> 00:14:21.480 That was pretty good. 00:14:21.799 --> 00:14:24.159 You Egyptian women, you're soft, soft. 00:14:24.240 --> 00:14:26.120 But us Hebrew women, we're strong. 00:14:26.700 --> 00:14:27.639 We're strong. 00:14:28.120 --> 00:14:33.039 So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. 00:14:33.659 --> 00:14:38.279 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own. 00:14:38.799 --> 00:14:40.980 Then the Pharaoh gave this order to all his people. 00:14:40.980 --> 00:14:48.100 Every Hebrew boy that is born, born you, you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live. 00:14:48.139 --> 00:14:51.000 I wish I could really bring this down to us today. 00:14:51.120 --> 00:14:53.840 I can't even imagine such an edict. 00:14:54.120 --> 00:15:02.799 I can't imagine taking your daughter, all right, even though it says it was the boys that were affected here, and just throwing them into the river. 00:15:03.100 --> 00:15:04.919 And how many of them? 00:15:05.100 --> 00:15:06.440 These people were numerous. 00:15:06.639 --> 00:15:08.980 I can't imagine the amount of babies. 00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:14.399 What kind of a crazy psychopath is this Pharaoh? 00:15:15.179 --> 00:15:19.679 How demented do you have to be to kill two-year-old boys? 00:15:20.220 --> 00:15:26.679 Now, a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. 00:15:27.179 --> 00:15:32.259 And when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. 00:15:33.539 --> 00:15:39.019 But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. 00:15:39.419 --> 00:15:44.220 Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. 00:15:44.419 --> 00:15:47.940 His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him. 00:15:48.480 --> 00:15:53.759 Then Pharaoh's daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. 00:15:54.200 --> 00:15:58.500 She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. 00:15:58.720 --> 00:16:02.080 She opened it and saw the baby. 00:16:02.379 --> 00:16:05.159 He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. 00:16:05.159 --> 00:16:08.299 This is one of the Hebrew babies, she said. 00:16:08.899 --> 00:16:16.700 Then his sister, Moses's sister, asked Pharaoh's daughter, shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you? 00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:19.000 Yes, go, she answered. 00:16:19.220 --> 00:16:21.919 So the girl went and got the baby's mother. 00:16:22.679 --> 00:16:27.000 Pharaoh's daughter said to her, take this baby and nurse him for me. 00:16:27.279 --> 00:16:28.279 I will pay you. 00:16:28.600 --> 00:16:30.879 And the woman took the baby and nursed him. 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:36.720 When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh's daughter and he became her son. 00:16:37.159 --> 00:16:41.639 She named him Moses, saying, I drew him out of the water. 00:16:42.299 --> 00:16:42.700 Wow. 00:16:43.000 --> 00:16:47.980 I mean, there's enough there to keep us busy for a long time when we really start digging into it, you know. 00:16:48.139 --> 00:16:49.200 How did this plan? 00:16:49.379 --> 00:17:04.299 First of all, how could a mother, how many of you mothers could actually take, you know, weave a basket of some sort, put your baby, your not even three-month-old baby, put it in an ark and put it in a river, okay? 00:17:04.299 --> 00:17:08.299 And the Nile River, as I understand, has alligators, which I'm terrified of, okay? 00:17:08.640 --> 00:17:14.380 I don't understand how this mother could bring herself to do such a thing. 00:17:14.799 --> 00:17:23.559 And then the sister, approaching Pharaoh's daughter and making this suggestion, hey, I'll go find somebody to nurse, happened to be Moses' mother. 00:17:24.019 --> 00:17:36.660 And then Moses' mother not being able to call her son who she had named him, but using the name that Pharaoh's daughter used to name her son. 00:17:37.440 --> 00:17:49.559 In Sondra Van's handbook to the Bible, it says that Pharaoh's daughter was probably Pharaoh's child by a concubine, not a princess of blood royal. 00:17:50.200 --> 00:17:54.039 Ramesses had about 60 daughters. 00:17:54.880 --> 00:17:55.480 Busy guy. 00:17:56.460 --> 00:18:09.319 She would have taken Moses back to the harem to be brought up with the others, learning to read and write the Egyptian hieroglyphic and cursive scripts, studying laws and gathering expertise in various skills and sports. 00:18:09.700 --> 00:18:19.640 It was not unknown at the time for foreigners to be brought up in this manner and trained for responsible posts in the army, priesthood, or civil service. 00:18:19.839 --> 00:18:31.099 And the Jewish historian Josephus tells us, tells a story, an account of where Moses actually led the Egyptian army into battle against the Moabites. 00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:34.599 Interesting, interesting stuff. 00:18:34.880 --> 00:18:38.460 A Hebrew acting like an Egyptian. 00:18:39.359 --> 00:18:45.359 Let's turn over to the book of Acts, because there's plenty of Moses in the New Testament scriptures as well. 00:18:46.279 --> 00:18:47.400 Acts chapter 7. 00:18:52.390 --> 00:18:53.809 Are you tired yet? 00:18:54.109 --> 00:18:55.849 We got a little ways to go, okay? 00:19:00.700 --> 00:19:03.980 Acts chapter 7, 20 through 22. 00:19:06.390 --> 00:19:10.210 At that time, Moses was born and he was no ordinary child. 00:19:10.430 --> 00:19:12.930 For three months, he was cared for by his family. 00:19:13.730 --> 00:19:18.549 When he was placed outside, Pharaoh's daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. 00:19:18.970 --> 00:19:25.329 And Moses was educated in all of the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action. 00:19:25.470 --> 00:19:30.829 This gives us a little insight to Moses's everyday life. 00:19:31.670 --> 00:19:32.529 Verse number 20. 00:19:32.809 --> 00:19:37.470 Again, it reemphasizes this description of Moses not being an ordinary child. 00:19:37.829 --> 00:19:43.490 An alternate rendering of that translation said, he was fair in the sight of God. 00:19:44.730 --> 00:19:49.690 Verse number 20 tells us that for three months, he was cared for by his mother and his family. 00:19:49.809 --> 00:19:54.289 But after the three months, he was raised by Pharaoh's daughter as her son. 00:19:54.869 --> 00:20:00.650 In verse number 22, it says that Moses was educated in all of the wisdom of the Egyptians. 00:20:02.190 --> 00:20:09.970 The Egyptian government, the country of Egypt, was at that point in time, the strongest, most powerful nation on the earth. 00:20:10.589 --> 00:20:14.130 Moses was afforded that type of an education. 00:20:14.690 --> 00:20:24.170 In verse number 22, it says that Moses, and remember this segment, verse number 22 says he was powerful in speech and action. 00:20:24.569 --> 00:20:29.329 This is what people were saying about him, not what Moses thought about himself. 00:20:29.450 --> 00:20:30.549 We're going to learn later on. 00:20:30.549 --> 00:20:33.730 There was a huge gap in between the two. 00:20:34.450 --> 00:20:40.809 By all accounts, people, Moses lived a pristine life during his first 40 years. 00:20:41.109 --> 00:20:47.069 He lived in the biggest house in town, probably the biggest house in the country, perhaps the biggest house in the world. 00:20:47.589 --> 00:20:48.990 When he was hungry, he ate. 00:20:49.130 --> 00:20:51.549 When he was thirsty, he ate or drank. 00:20:52.609 --> 00:20:58.369 He got his bachelor's degree, then his master's, perhaps even his doctorate. 00:20:58.369 --> 00:21:03.049 He wore the finest clothes and his credit limit, and his credit card didn't have a limit. 00:21:04.390 --> 00:21:06.190 He had his choice of vehicles. 00:21:06.269 --> 00:21:12.369 You see, there was the BMW, the Maserati, the Ferrari all sitting in his garage there. 00:21:12.769 --> 00:21:20.950 No doubt he could have had his choice of Egyptian women who would conveniently overlook the fact that he was Hebrew. 00:21:23.130 --> 00:21:33.289 Despite all of this, during Moses's first 40 years of life, there was something deep down inside of Moses that kept gnawing at him. 00:21:33.690 --> 00:21:38.609 And this question kept coming up in his consciousness, who am I? 00:21:39.309 --> 00:21:43.109 And the truth of the matter was, he knew. 00:21:44.089 --> 00:21:46.549 He just not had come to grips with it. 00:21:47.109 --> 00:21:49.410 He was indeed an Israelite. 00:21:49.730 --> 00:21:54.690 He was a member of the Hebrew nation, but he was acting like an Egyptian. 00:21:55.269 --> 00:21:59.970 And so Moses, from the time he was born, he was under a death curse, right? 00:22:00.210 --> 00:22:07.450 He was delivered once from the river, but Moses is about to be delivered again in the country of Egypt. 00:22:08.569 --> 00:22:11.750 Let's go back to the book of Exodus. 00:22:11.930 --> 00:22:18.190 Exodus chapter two, beginning in verse number 11. 00:22:18.609 --> 00:22:21.109 Exodus 2, 11. 00:22:28.349 --> 00:22:35.250 One day after Moses had grown up, he went out to see where his own people were and watch them at their labor. 00:22:35.710 --> 00:22:42.450 He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people, looking this way and that way and seeing no one. 00:22:42.569 --> 00:22:45.910 He killed the Egyptian and hit him in the sand. 00:22:46.029 --> 00:22:53.910 The next day when he was out and saw two Hebrews fighting, he asked the one in the wrong, why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew? 00:22:54.369 --> 00:22:57.589 The man answered, who made you ruler and judge over us? 00:22:57.789 --> 00:23:00.369 Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian? 00:23:01.089 --> 00:23:14.990 Then Moses was afraid and thought, what I did must have become known, or perhaps who I am, who I really am, must have become known. 00:23:15.329 --> 00:23:31.309 And so Moses is going to be delivered again from this country of Egypt, from one of the highest positions in the whole nation of Egypt to be delivered once again, but to where and to who and to what? 00:23:31.690 --> 00:23:37.210 Those are the questions that would be revealed to him during his second season of life. 00:23:37.670 --> 00:23:38.529 There we go. 00:23:42.099 --> 00:23:53.339 In Exodus two, as we continue in 15, when Moses heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian where he sat down by a well. 00:23:53.980 --> 00:23:59.799 Now priest of Midian had seven daughters and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father's flocks. 00:24:00.359 --> 00:24:11.900 Some shepherds came along and drove them away, but Moses got up and came to their rescue and watered their flock using some of those military skills that he had learned back in the country of Egypt. 00:24:12.579 --> 00:24:19.440 And when the girls returned to Ruel, their father, he asked them, why are you returning so early today? 00:24:20.640 --> 00:24:23.400 They answered, an Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. 00:24:23.680 --> 00:24:26.400 He even drew water for us and watered the flock. 00:24:26.960 --> 00:24:28.019 And where is he? 00:24:28.240 --> 00:24:31.480 Ruel asked, why did you leave him? 00:24:31.819 --> 00:24:33.940 Invite him here to have something to eat. 00:24:34.420 --> 00:24:40.799 Well, Moses agreed to stay with the man who gave his daughter Zipporah to him in marriage. 00:24:41.859 --> 00:24:48.819 Zipporah gave birth to a son and Moses named him Gershom saying, I had become a foreigner in a foreign land. 00:24:51.049 --> 00:24:53.450 So back in the day, you see things move rather quickly. 00:24:53.690 --> 00:24:57.269 Moses is invited to eat dinner with Ruel and all these daughters. 00:24:57.950 --> 00:25:01.690 And Ruel being the great host that he was said, can I get you some more coffee? 00:25:01.869 --> 00:25:02.890 How about a little dessert? 00:25:03.109 --> 00:25:04.049 How about a wife? 00:25:04.230 --> 00:25:06.049 I have plenty of daughters right here, okay? 00:25:06.750 --> 00:25:17.349 I don't know the time limit involved or how much time that Moses had actually spent with Ruel and all of these daughters of his, but this is exactly what happened. 00:25:17.730 --> 00:25:22.809 And he married Zipporah, the account says, and then they had this son named Gershom. 00:25:22.869 --> 00:25:23.970 Now I find it interesting. 00:25:23.970 --> 00:25:27.609 Did you catch what Gershom's name actually means? 00:25:28.490 --> 00:25:32.630 It means I have become a foreigner in a foreign land. 00:25:32.829 --> 00:25:34.490 That's not Gershom talking. 00:25:35.049 --> 00:25:36.950 That's not Gershom's experience. 00:25:37.309 --> 00:25:39.609 That is Moses's experience. 00:25:40.170 --> 00:25:44.569 Moses is thinking of himself almost vicariously through his son now. 00:25:44.950 --> 00:25:47.950 I am a foreigner in a foreign land. 00:25:48.069 --> 00:25:50.390 Again, the question is haunting Moses. 00:25:50.869 --> 00:25:52.450 Who am I? 00:25:52.970 --> 00:25:53.869 Who am I? 00:25:53.970 --> 00:25:59.609 And it's one of the most important, most powerful questions that we can ask ourselves. 00:25:59.910 --> 00:26:02.630 Who am I and what am I doing? 00:26:03.089 --> 00:26:06.910 And for 40 years, Moses wrestled with this question. 00:26:07.250 --> 00:26:13.069 I wonder how many nights under the stars that Moses would just look up, sit there for a moment and think. 00:26:14.130 --> 00:26:16.150 Think about those days in Egypt. 00:26:16.589 --> 00:26:19.109 Then I remember, I remember I had it all. 00:26:19.390 --> 00:26:21.789 I had everything, whatever I needed. 00:26:21.789 --> 00:26:25.289 I wore the finest clothes and look at me now. 00:26:25.470 --> 00:26:30.390 I wonder how many times he laid awake during those 40 years. 00:26:31.049 --> 00:26:32.970 That's a long time, my friends. 00:26:33.670 --> 00:26:40.710 I wonder how many nights Moses stared off into space and thought to himself, what am I doing? 00:26:41.309 --> 00:26:48.970 I must have to have my head examined because I had it all and here I am in the fair land of Midian. 00:26:49.009 --> 00:26:52.349 And I'm telling you what, it seemed like a different world. 00:26:52.930 --> 00:27:00.509 Comparing his life in Egypt to his life in the wilderness amongst the Midianites, that's like night and day difference. 00:27:01.049 --> 00:27:03.509 Midian is a dry and desolate land. 00:27:03.549 --> 00:27:14.910 And I think there's more to it than just acknowledging that fact as being something that is true, but also figuratively, it was a dry land. 00:27:14.990 --> 00:27:17.690 It was a dry period, I believe, for Moses. 00:27:18.170 --> 00:27:32.970 You do not going as close as you could get from being the Prince of Egypt to being wanted fugitive to being experienced shepherd boy without some serious introspection. 00:27:33.410 --> 00:27:36.230 No way that that happens, no way. 00:27:37.309 --> 00:27:37.930 The next slide. 00:27:38.190 --> 00:27:41.869 I love this quote by a lady called Lisa Tuckerst. 00:27:42.789 --> 00:27:47.289 To fix our thoughts on Jesus is to close our eyes. 00:27:47.690 --> 00:27:53.589 To mark this moment by declaring our trust, our faith in God. 00:27:54.170 --> 00:28:00.990 To declare to God out loud like Jesus did, not my will, but yours be done. 00:28:01.569 --> 00:28:06.890 To stop fixating on the circumstances raging around us. 00:28:08.130 --> 00:28:09.730 How often do we do this? 00:28:10.490 --> 00:28:15.930 To stop trying to make sense of things that don't make sense in the middle of the journey. 00:28:16.730 --> 00:28:21.349 And to stop asking for the knowledge that's too heavy for us to carry. 00:28:22.769 --> 00:28:24.549 Then these three points. 00:28:25.829 --> 00:28:32.190 We do not know, we do not have to know the plan to know that there is a plan. 00:28:33.170 --> 00:28:34.069 Think about that. 00:28:34.289 --> 00:28:37.930 We do not have to know the plan to know that there is a plan. 00:28:38.349 --> 00:28:42.390 We do not have to feel good to trust that something good is coming. 00:28:42.789 --> 00:28:43.009 Amen? 00:28:43.630 --> 00:28:45.390 I mean, isn't that our hope? 00:28:45.930 --> 00:28:49.269 If this is as good as it gets, I'm ready to go. 00:28:49.930 --> 00:28:50.109 Right? 00:28:50.470 --> 00:28:52.349 That's what I'm looking forward to. 00:28:52.829 --> 00:28:56.609 Just like those people that's mentioned in Hebrews chapter 11. 00:28:56.829 --> 00:29:04.950 They didn't realize all the good things on planet Earth, but they had their eyes set upon something else, something out there. 00:29:05.349 --> 00:29:14.450 And then finally, we do not need to see the evidence of changes to trust that it won't always be this hard. 00:29:15.049 --> 00:29:18.950 And it may not come in your lifetime, but there's the afterlife. 00:29:20.269 --> 00:29:21.650 And both are important. 00:29:22.109 --> 00:29:23.089 Both are important. 00:29:24.609 --> 00:29:25.450 All right. 00:29:25.710 --> 00:29:28.349 We've got Moses to the final stage of his life. 00:29:30.470 --> 00:29:40.950 Moses begins the last 40 years of his life kind of right here in chapter number three, Exodus chapter three, beginning in verse one. 00:29:41.470 --> 00:29:49.910 Now, Moses, who had been a shepherd now 40 years, you know, whether for better or for worse, that's where he's at. 00:29:50.329 --> 00:29:51.309 Yes, he has a wife. 00:29:51.410 --> 00:29:52.089 He has kids. 00:29:52.549 --> 00:29:56.289 You know, things are going pretty good that way, but he's a shepherd boy still. 00:29:57.509 --> 00:30:01.890 And he was tending the flock of Jephthah, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. 00:30:02.109 --> 00:30:08.589 And he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 00:30:09.750 --> 00:30:13.809 There, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within the bush. 00:30:14.069 --> 00:30:17.849 Moses saw that the bush was on fire and that it did not burn up. 00:30:19.210 --> 00:30:25.250 So Moses thought, I will go over and see this strange site, why the bush does not burn up. 00:30:25.710 --> 00:30:31.390 And when the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush. 00:30:31.930 --> 00:30:33.170 Can you imagine this? 00:30:33.710 --> 00:30:35.950 God called to him from within the bush. 00:30:36.269 --> 00:30:37.430 How did that sound? 00:30:37.710 --> 00:30:38.569 You know, how many of you saw that? 00:30:39.269 --> 00:30:40.910 I'm not sure it sounded like that. 00:30:41.029 --> 00:30:43.349 Not saying that, but maybe it did. 00:30:43.569 --> 00:30:45.990 Or maybe it was something else, but I'm telling you what, I'm terrified. 00:30:46.529 --> 00:30:48.430 I am terrified at this point. 00:30:48.890 --> 00:30:49.670 And so was Moses. 00:30:51.369 --> 00:30:53.369 Don't come any closer, God said. 00:30:53.809 --> 00:30:57.609 Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 00:30:58.369 --> 00:31:04.450 Then he said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. 00:31:04.990 --> 00:31:10.549 At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. 00:31:11.950 --> 00:31:15.589 Probably afraid to be able to see God even. 00:31:15.890 --> 00:31:17.269 He's looking at a burning bush. 00:31:17.329 --> 00:31:19.049 He's hearing things coming from the bush. 00:31:20.089 --> 00:31:21.690 He didn't know what the next step was. 00:31:22.549 --> 00:31:25.450 The Lord said, I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. 00:31:25.630 --> 00:31:29.410 I've heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 00:31:29.990 --> 00:31:32.509 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand. 00:31:32.589 --> 00:31:32.829 Who? 00:31:33.390 --> 00:31:41.269 I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them out of that land into a good and spacious land. 00:31:41.710 --> 00:31:44.150 A land flowing with milk and honey. 00:31:44.269 --> 00:31:48.410 The home of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 00:31:49.049 --> 00:31:55.170 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 00:31:55.269 --> 00:31:56.390 So now, go. 00:31:56.890 --> 00:32:04.750 I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt. 00:32:10.009 --> 00:32:20.569 I am sending you to bring my people out of Egypt, to draw them out of the land of Egypt. 00:32:21.369 --> 00:32:24.970 Moses, this is you. 00:32:25.970 --> 00:32:28.289 But he doesn't say, Moses, you're on your own. 00:32:29.190 --> 00:32:32.950 He says, I'm going to do it, and I am sending you. 00:32:34.009 --> 00:32:35.069 That's how it went. 00:32:35.329 --> 00:32:36.369 That's how it went down. 00:32:37.430 --> 00:32:39.390 And then Moses had some questions. 00:32:39.390 --> 00:32:40.650 I want you to listen. 00:32:40.750 --> 00:32:43.789 I think these questions are fair. 00:32:44.029 --> 00:32:47.210 I think these questions are honest from Moses. 00:32:47.210 --> 00:32:52.549 If he would have responded any differently, I think I would have thought, wow, this is crazy. 00:32:52.769 --> 00:32:53.809 This can't be right. 00:32:53.890 --> 00:32:54.769 This can't be true. 00:32:55.450 --> 00:32:59.750 But here are the questions, and I love the first one that Moses starts off with. 00:33:01.779 --> 00:33:05.099 We find it right here in chapter three, verse number 11. 00:33:05.099 --> 00:33:10.740 But Moses said to God, who am I? 00:33:12.339 --> 00:33:13.819 He's still wrestling. 00:33:15.420 --> 00:33:16.900 God, who am I? 00:33:20.720 --> 00:33:23.059 You see what's been going on down here? 00:33:23.660 --> 00:33:27.019 For the last 40 years, I'm running around in a wilderness. 00:33:27.160 --> 00:33:37.200 Every night before I go to bed, I'm thinking about my life and what it is and what it has become and where I've been, and I haven't a clue as to where I am going. 00:33:38.519 --> 00:33:39.779 Who am I, God? 00:33:40.119 --> 00:33:45.299 Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt? 00:33:45.700 --> 00:33:49.420 Moses' second question, who are you? 00:33:49.799 --> 00:33:50.799 I love this one. 00:33:51.279 --> 00:33:52.559 He knows it's God. 00:33:53.299 --> 00:33:55.200 He wants some affirmation. 00:33:55.819 --> 00:33:59.180 And God said, I, notice his answer. 00:34:03.000 --> 00:34:04.519 Let's go to 13. 00:34:04.519 --> 00:34:08.260 Moses said to God, suppose, this isn't right. 00:34:08.539 --> 00:34:09.019 Yes, it is. 00:34:09.519 --> 00:34:14.940 Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, the God of your fathers who sent me, and they asked me, what is his name? 00:34:15.280 --> 00:34:16.900 Then what shall I tell them? 00:34:17.219 --> 00:34:20.360 God said to Moses, I am who I am. 00:34:20.679 --> 00:34:23.139 Thanks for clearing things up for me, God. 00:34:23.340 --> 00:34:24.239 This is helpful. 00:34:24.599 --> 00:34:30.820 I'm gonna go to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians and tell them, God, I am who I am, sent me, okay? 00:34:33.800 --> 00:34:34.559 That's interesting. 00:34:35.260 --> 00:34:38.179 That's interesting that God made that statement. 00:34:38.900 --> 00:34:57.840 God also said to Moses, say to the Israelites, say to the Israelites, say to the believers, say to the ones who have faith in me, that I am the Lord, the God of your fathers, the lineage, the history, the history, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob has sent me to you. 00:34:57.960 --> 00:34:59.099 This is my name forever. 00:34:59.340 --> 00:35:04.760 Your name shall call, the name you shall call me from generation to generation. 00:35:05.800 --> 00:35:08.420 Third question that Moses had for God. 00:35:09.139 --> 00:35:10.239 How can I know for sure? 00:35:10.619 --> 00:35:13.019 How can I know all this is really real? 00:35:14.820 --> 00:35:20.619 Chapter number four, beginning in verse one, Moses answered, what if they do not believe me? 00:35:21.139 --> 00:35:21.739 And you know what? 00:35:21.780 --> 00:35:27.000 I think Moses is always playing this game kind of like he's setting out. 00:35:27.219 --> 00:35:28.940 None of this is directed towards him. 00:35:28.980 --> 00:35:29.940 It's always about somebody else. 00:35:30.179 --> 00:35:31.940 What if they don't believe you? 00:35:31.940 --> 00:35:33.559 What if they don't have faith in you? 00:35:33.679 --> 00:35:37.099 I think what he's really asking is, what if I don't have faith in you? 00:35:37.599 --> 00:35:39.260 What if I don't believe in you? 00:35:41.619 --> 00:35:44.559 The Lord, what did they say to me? 00:35:44.619 --> 00:35:46.019 The Lord did not appear to you. 00:35:46.380 --> 00:35:48.860 Then the Lord said to him, what is in your hand? 00:35:49.159 --> 00:35:50.380 A staff, he replied. 00:35:50.460 --> 00:35:51.800 The Lord said, throw it on the ground. 00:35:51.900 --> 00:35:52.780 Moses threw it on the ground. 00:35:52.860 --> 00:35:54.539 It became a snake and he ran from it. 00:35:54.920 --> 00:35:56.000 That's just like me. 00:35:56.280 --> 00:35:59.360 That's me, me and Moses. 00:36:02.300 --> 00:36:04.460 Reach out your hand and take it by the tail. 00:36:05.420 --> 00:36:09.619 Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. 00:36:09.739 --> 00:36:19.219 This, said the Lord, is so that they may believe the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob has appeared to you. 00:36:19.559 --> 00:36:23.159 Now notice he's talking about him going back to the Israelites. 00:36:23.579 --> 00:36:26.059 Fourth question Moses had for God. 00:36:26.440 --> 00:36:27.900 What will I say? 00:36:28.440 --> 00:36:30.400 Verse number 10 of chapter number four. 00:36:30.400 --> 00:36:33.619 Moses said to the Lord, pardon your servant, Lord. 00:36:33.800 --> 00:36:34.519 Pardon me. 00:36:35.039 --> 00:36:40.039 I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. 00:36:40.400 --> 00:36:43.239 I am slow of speech and tongue. 00:36:44.559 --> 00:36:44.980 That's it. 00:36:44.980 --> 00:36:45.860 What am I gonna say? 00:36:46.119 --> 00:36:48.579 I can't, you know, I can't talk. 00:36:49.099 --> 00:36:50.059 I can't talk well. 00:36:51.280 --> 00:37:00.820 And again, remember the account in Acts where we read that it said that Moses was powerful in wisdom and speech. 00:37:02.179 --> 00:37:03.019 He was powerful. 00:37:03.619 --> 00:37:05.820 And yet Moses did not think that of himself. 00:37:06.440 --> 00:37:07.920 I can't talk, he says. 00:37:08.500 --> 00:37:09.599 What will I say? 00:37:10.539 --> 00:37:13.039 The Lord said to him, oh, this is good. 00:37:13.760 --> 00:37:18.619 You know, it's good to ask God questions because he's always going to win and he's always going to have. 00:37:18.780 --> 00:37:22.659 He may not reveal it to you right away, but this time he did with Moses. 00:37:23.019 --> 00:37:24.800 Moses was lucky from that regard. 00:37:25.119 --> 00:37:31.199 He cleared it right up because it said in verse number 11, the Lord said to him, who gave human beings their mouths? 00:37:31.960 --> 00:37:36.559 If I can give you your mouth, I can surely give you words, right? 00:37:37.059 --> 00:37:39.239 Who makes them deaf or mute? 00:37:39.380 --> 00:37:41.539 Who gives them sight or makes them blind? 00:37:41.679 --> 00:37:43.039 Is it not I, the Lord? 00:37:43.420 --> 00:37:48.280 Now go, I will help you speak and will teach you what to say. 00:37:49.599 --> 00:37:53.420 Finally, after all these questions, it comes down to this. 00:37:53.420 --> 00:37:57.699 The fifth question that Moses had for God was just this. 00:37:57.820 --> 00:38:00.039 In verse number 13 of chapter number four. 00:38:00.699 --> 00:38:04.599 And Moses said, I'm not your guy. 00:38:05.500 --> 00:38:06.719 I'm not your guy. 00:38:07.619 --> 00:38:12.639 He actually says, find someone else. 00:38:13.599 --> 00:38:17.099 Here's the part that Moses was missing in all of this. 00:38:18.500 --> 00:38:20.380 Was kind of missing and it wasn't. 00:38:22.320 --> 00:38:27.340 Moses was putting his faith in himself. 00:38:28.719 --> 00:38:42.280 Moses was not commended in Hebrews chapter 11 for having faith in himself, for being eloquent, for being the spokesperson, for being this mighty deliverer that everyone was looking for. 00:38:43.280 --> 00:38:46.619 But he was known for his faith in God. 00:38:46.800 --> 00:38:49.800 And it was credited to him as righteousness. 00:38:51.300 --> 00:38:51.739 Wow. 00:38:53.119 --> 00:38:58.199 I'm sure glad that the Israelites, that the Egyptians wasn't privy to this little conversation. 00:38:58.280 --> 00:39:00.400 I don't know, maybe it would have helped seeing the burning bush. 00:39:00.460 --> 00:39:01.420 I'm sure that would have helped. 00:39:01.940 --> 00:39:05.519 But if they just had the audio recording, there's no visuals. 00:39:05.679 --> 00:39:06.880 And they really, they heard voices. 00:39:07.260 --> 00:39:08.300 They heard the discussion. 00:39:08.480 --> 00:39:09.739 They were part of the conversation. 00:39:10.320 --> 00:39:13.099 And they heard Moses come up with this last one. 00:39:13.400 --> 00:39:16.199 Pardon your servant, Lord, please someone else. 00:39:16.340 --> 00:39:19.980 That wouldn't exactly instill a lot of confidence in those he was delivering. 00:39:19.980 --> 00:39:21.519 That's our deliverer? 00:39:24.219 --> 00:39:26.260 Yes, I'm with Moses on this one. 00:39:26.539 --> 00:39:28.320 Find somebody else. 00:39:31.960 --> 00:39:34.460 But Moses, as we know, and you can read on. 00:39:34.619 --> 00:39:36.639 We could go, this is a long, long story. 00:39:37.400 --> 00:39:40.460 Chapter number four tells how Moses went back. 00:39:40.940 --> 00:39:42.559 I like, where is this? 00:39:43.320 --> 00:39:45.059 Chapter four, verse 18. 00:39:45.219 --> 00:39:46.320 Moses went back to Jethro. 00:39:46.380 --> 00:39:51.639 His father-in-law said to him, let me return to my own people in Egypt to see if any of them are still alive. 00:39:51.639 --> 00:39:54.300 It's like, he's not even owning up. 00:39:54.380 --> 00:39:56.719 Like, no, I'm going to go back and leave the children of Israel. 00:39:56.920 --> 00:39:57.920 I'm their deliverer. 00:39:57.960 --> 00:39:59.139 And I'm going to bring them out. 00:39:59.219 --> 00:40:00.699 And I'm going to talk directly to Pharaoh. 00:40:00.900 --> 00:40:01.780 And I'm going to do this. 00:40:01.820 --> 00:40:02.260 And I'm going to do that. 00:40:02.420 --> 00:40:06.460 He's still, he was still hiding from that for whatever reason. 00:40:09.659 --> 00:40:12.579 Today, I just want you, as we conclude our thoughts here. 00:40:13.579 --> 00:40:19.780 I want you to see the two, the dichotomy of the life of Moses. 00:40:20.360 --> 00:40:23.360 I want you to see his flesh and blood. 00:40:23.780 --> 00:40:29.460 And in his flesh and blood, I want you to relate to Moses like never before. 00:40:30.239 --> 00:40:33.300 But then again, there's this opposite side of Moses. 00:40:33.920 --> 00:40:35.300 Moses' faith. 00:40:37.139 --> 00:40:42.420 And I want you to emulate Moses like never before in the same regard. 00:40:43.059 --> 00:40:44.659 Moses was still scared. 00:40:45.239 --> 00:40:48.280 He was scared to do what God had called him to do. 00:40:48.500 --> 00:40:51.659 But Moses still did it. 00:40:52.239 --> 00:40:54.099 He still did it. 00:40:55.039 --> 00:41:00.360 I want to ask you today, what phase are you at in life? 00:41:00.940 --> 00:41:07.380 And it doesn't have to be, you know, this neat little package of 40 years, 40 years, 40 years type of thing, or 25 or 25 or 25. 00:41:08.280 --> 00:41:13.219 It can be more of these large descriptives where we can, Paul, I'm 50 years old. 00:41:13.300 --> 00:41:16.599 And I still feel like I need to be delivered. 00:41:17.980 --> 00:41:24.119 Or Paul, I'm 30 years old and just feel like I'm running around in the wilderness, running around in circles. 00:41:24.260 --> 00:41:25.340 Nothing's making sense. 00:41:25.420 --> 00:41:27.880 I can't get life figured out. 00:41:28.840 --> 00:41:30.119 Perhaps that's where you're at. 00:41:30.820 --> 00:41:35.440 Or perhaps you are now at the point of where you've been delivered. 00:41:36.059 --> 00:41:37.440 You know what you need to do. 00:41:38.199 --> 00:41:39.500 You just need to go do it. 00:41:40.039 --> 00:41:44.000 You need to be the deliverer that God has called you to be. 00:41:44.199 --> 00:41:45.940 Not that you're going to save anybody. 00:41:47.260 --> 00:41:48.780 It's not your mouth. 00:41:49.000 --> 00:41:50.320 It's not your words. 00:41:50.460 --> 00:41:51.920 It's God almighty. 00:41:52.820 --> 00:41:53.960 It's God almighty. 00:41:57.059 --> 00:42:02.119 I wonder if we could ask ourselves the same questions that Moses asked God. 00:42:02.619 --> 00:42:05.019 I wonder if we could ask God those same questions. 00:42:05.619 --> 00:42:06.300 Who am I? 00:42:06.880 --> 00:42:07.780 Who am I? 00:42:08.420 --> 00:42:09.179 Who are you? 00:42:10.019 --> 00:42:11.460 How do I know for sure? 00:42:11.820 --> 00:42:15.360 And let me help you with this question because I can quote scripture. 00:42:15.500 --> 00:42:17.300 We did it right at the beginning of the lesson. 00:42:17.300 --> 00:42:23.280 Hebrews 11, 6 tells us we're not going to know everything. 00:42:23.800 --> 00:42:26.119 Lisa Tuckers did a wonderful job. 00:42:26.599 --> 00:42:30.000 We don't have to know the plan to know there is a plan. 00:42:30.599 --> 00:42:36.340 And so God tells each one of us without faith, Blaine, it's impossible to please God. 00:42:36.679 --> 00:42:39.760 Alec, without faith, it is impossible to please God. 00:42:40.099 --> 00:42:43.960 You can be a murderer and still please God. 00:42:44.139 --> 00:42:48.340 You can be a big coward and still please God. 00:42:48.739 --> 00:42:50.099 That's what I see in Moses. 00:42:51.820 --> 00:42:56.099 But only if we have faith because it's impossible to please him otherwise. 00:42:58.699 --> 00:42:59.840 What will I say? 00:43:00.380 --> 00:43:03.559 What will I say in response to all of this? 00:43:03.639 --> 00:43:04.760 What will I say to others? 00:43:05.380 --> 00:43:06.039 What will I say? 00:43:06.079 --> 00:43:07.199 Let's just start real. 00:43:07.500 --> 00:43:09.860 What will I say on the way home? 00:43:09.980 --> 00:43:11.059 Let's start real basic. 00:43:11.420 --> 00:43:21.199 What will I say to my wife, my husband, my child, my mother, my brother, my sister, my family in Christ? 00:43:21.360 --> 00:43:22.300 What will I say? 00:43:23.559 --> 00:43:29.260 And then finally, will we be an instrument of God's deliverance to other people? 00:43:29.880 --> 00:43:35.119 Are you going to be like the prophet of old who said, here am I, send me. 00:43:35.900 --> 00:43:36.980 Here am I, send me. 00:43:37.400 --> 00:43:42.300 Or are we going to be like Moses who says, I'm not your guy. 00:43:44.340 --> 00:43:45.980 He said, I'm not your guy. 00:43:45.980 --> 00:43:48.900 But he was still known for his faith. 00:43:49.659 --> 00:43:51.820 Be real, be real with God. 00:43:52.519 --> 00:43:56.900 He's not afraid to hear about your shortcomings because he knows them already. 00:43:59.559 --> 00:44:00.800 We're scared of ourselves. 00:44:02.159 --> 00:44:04.079 We're scared of other people. 00:44:04.940 --> 00:44:07.059 I'm, look, I'm right there at the front of line. 00:44:07.139 --> 00:44:08.340 You guys line up behind me. 00:44:08.699 --> 00:44:10.920 I'm the biggest coward there ever was, all right? 00:44:11.980 --> 00:44:15.139 But these are the things that we need to take seriously. 00:44:15.280 --> 00:44:20.739 The questions that we need to ask ourselves, will you stand as we close in prayer today? 00:44:21.079 --> 00:44:25.519 We will close as Jesus taught his disciples so long ago. 00:44:27.039 --> 00:44:29.920 Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 00:44:30.500 --> 00:44:34.679 Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 00:44:35.340 --> 00:44:37.559 Give us this day our daily bread. 00:44:38.079 --> 00:44:42.519 Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. 00:44:42.940 --> 00:44:46.980 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. 00:44:46.980 --> 00:44:51.739 For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever. 00:44:52.280 --> 00:44:52.639 Amen. 00:44:53.159 --> 00:44:54.699 Have a fabulous Sunday. 00:45:17.039 --> 00:45:18.659 You'll be hearing from us next week.