170702 God Remembered

When the time came for God to bring his people out of the land of Egypt he prepared a leader named Moses. This Moses had been born at a time when Hebrew boy babies were not to be allowed to live because they could lead a rebellion against the Egyptians. God arranged for Moses to be adopted into the household of Pharaoh. The writer of Hebrews tells us that Moses was hidden for three months because his parents had faith in God. As he was growing up, he was trained in the education of the Egyptians. He was mighty in word and deed. At the age of 40 he looked on the oppression of his people.

Moses saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew and he stepped into the action and killed the Egyptian. Then he buried the Egyptian in the sand. He believed that the people of Israel would recognize that he was trying to help them. However, the next day he tried to reconcile the differences between two Hebrews. One of them immediately said, “Who made you a ruler and the judge over us?” (Acts 7:26-28). Moses became aware that his action against the Egyptian had been reported on. As a result, he left Egypt and went into the wilderness of Midian. There he met a man who was a priest of God most high and married one of his daughters. Obviously, it seemed that Moses’ usefulness was over. He would just follow the sheep and live out his life. We tend to think that since Moses was willing God should have immediately raised him up. However…

God had told Abram his people would be afflicted. Let’s read Genesis 15:13. Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. …… ¹⁶ And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

This is an amazing thing! That God would show Abraham that his offspring would rule over this land that he was walking on but not yet. Among the many attributes of God his divine justice is very strong. He would not drive the nations out of Canaan until their iniquity was complete. In other words, until they got so bad that they deserved to be driven out.

In the very beginning of God’s relationship to Abraham God told him that there would be a specific period of time — 400 years — that would pass while his descendants grew into a mighty nation. That mighty nation would become a threat to the Egyptians. As time passed there came to be a king who did not know Joseph. It had been many years since Joseph saved Egypt and the surrounding territories from starvation during seven years of famine. This new Pharaoh could not see the Hebrews as anything but a handicap. The King instructed that all the boy babies born to the Hebrews be killed! Soon after this edict Moses was born. The Bible tells us that he was a beautiful child. God intervened and Moses was raised as a grandson of Pharaoh.

There are stories told about Moses during his upbringing. These are outside the bible. We know that he was Egyptian educated which would’ve included military training. He believed that he was prepared, by God, to set his people free. It would be a long campaign if he killed off the Egyptians one at a time and buried them in the sand.

When God prepares to do anything out of the ordinary he first prepares people, places and resources. Part of his preparing was putting Moses in a position to lead the Hebrews.

When Joseph settled them in the land he put them in the best part of Egypt for shepherds. Here they were several generations past Joseph and they were living on the fat of the land. Up until the decree from Pharaoh to make them slaves they had had it really good! So God had to make them uncomfortable. Many times when God wants us to do something out of the ordinary he makes us uncomfortable where we are so that we will give our cooperation in the move. The oppression of the Egyptians became heavier and heavier. Eventually, their oppression became too great to tolerate. Then, and only then did God prepare to bring them out of Egypt. In a new way…

God heard his people cry. Let’s read Exodus 2:23-25. During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. ²⁴ And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. ²⁵ God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.

From this we see that they were many days in their bondage. The King that brought them into slavery died and was replaced by a new king. That new king would have been a direct descendent of Pharaoh or one of his nephew’s. It is possible that this new Pharaoh knew Moses personally. He may have been Moses’ adopted brother!

The phrase “God remembered” is not intended to tell us that God had somehow forgotten them. There was never a time he did not know where they were and what they were doing. From the human perspective leaving people in a strange place for 400 years would imply that they were forgotten. But remember God told Abram they would be in a strange land until the people of Canaan became so wicked that they needed to be destroyed. Then, and only then, would God bring his people into the holy land. Moses had been chosen to be the leader and the time wasn’t right when he was 40 years old. Moses, of course, believed that it was time to act and he did so without checking with God. The consequence of that action — and there are always consequences — was that God had to set him aside until it was time for him to be used. Humanly, we might think that Moses was at the peak of his power at the age of 40 and could very well lead the people out of the land of Egypt. We need to remember that God does not operate the way we do. Many years later God would tell Zerubbabel “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6). Again and again we see God operating in ways that seem so unnatural to us yet, they always produce what God intends when God intends it. We now find that…

Moses had been parked for 40 years. Let’s read on Exodus 3:1-2. Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. ² And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.

Forty years had passed and Moses had lost all his influence and power. Certainly, his age might be against him. And without a doubt, his occupation — sheep herder — would not seem to lend itself to Moses being a great leader. Previously, he had been at the height of his abilities. Well-educated, socially well-placed, and influential, Moses thought he was ready.

It must’ve been very confusing to Moses to see a bush burning that was not being burned up! He had seen many fires in these days in the desert but never one that did not consume the wood that was in it. For 40 years he had followed the sheep while his people the nation of Israel was in bondage and he was unable to do anything about it. He had once had the abilities he needed and now all of this was laid aside and…

He was now prepared to be used by God. Let’s read on Exodus 3:10-12. Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” ¹¹ But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” ¹² He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”

Out of that burning bush came a voice calling his name and telling him to take off his shoes because he was standing on holy ground. God introduced himself as being the God of his father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Later, Jesus would use a similar formula in saying that God is the God of the living not of the dead. If you believe Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are dead then you will never understand how God functions at all. Yes I know the bodies of these men had long since been laid in the grave. However, they were not then, and are not now, dead. We must remember that we are not a body that has a spirit. We are a spirit that has a body to live in. In the memorable words of John Newton, “Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail, and mortal life shall cease, I shall possess within the veil, a life of joy and peace.” Our existence will go on beyond the death of the body as either eternal life or eternal death. Now, having proclaimed that he is the God of the living…

God revealed his covenant name. Let’s read on Exodus 3:14-15. God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ” ¹⁵ 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, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.

Moses was concerned because 40 years before he had tried to rally the troops only to be challenged by the very people he wanted to save. He could easily imagine that now, since he had been out-of-favor for so long, that no one would listen to him. If he told the people that the God of their fathers had called him to usefulness who would he say this God is? The people of Israel would certainly have wanted to know who God is before they set out on a journey across the wilderness. “I Am has sent me to you” would be the words that Moses used. This is the title that Jesus claimed for himself. When he was challenged he said, “before Abraham was, I Am” (John 8:50). By this title God designated himself as the eternally existing ONE. He is the God who is the source of his own existence, he always has been and always will be. For that statement the Jews wanted to stone him to death. Later, partly for that statement, they would crucify him. This is the name above all names and it applies to Jesus as God the Son. God had now brought Moses to the place he needed to be. He needed to be stripped of his human ability and plugged into the power that created the universe. The only ability that God wants out of his people is “avail ability”. Be available and God will use his power when he chooses, how he chooses in your life.

God would not just take his people out of Egypt it is clear that…

God released his power in order to destroy Egypt. Let’s turn to Acts 7:35-36. “This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. ³⁶ This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years.

God could have focused attention on Pharaoh and caused him to release the Hebrew slaves. That would have served part of God’s purpose. But there was a greater part that included destroying Egypt! Egypt imposed slavery on the Hebrews in order for God to bring them to a willingness to leave Egypt. But on the way, the gods of Egypt must each be destroyed!

The Egyptians worshiped the Nile River so God turned it into blood. To the Egyptians the frog was an ancient symbol of fertility and so God filled Egypt with frogs until they could no longer stand the sight of them. The dust was turned into gnats destroying the worship of the earth. One by one each of the plagues God visited upon Egypt destroyed a part of their pagan worship. And finally, God took the firstborn in every household. The gods of Egypt could not stand against the God of heaven. Most importantly…

Through Moses God promised the Messiah. Now let’s look at the words of Peter recorded in Acts 3:22. Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you.

Peter could see the connection between Jesus and Moses. We usually do not associate Jesus’ name with a Prophet. Yet there is no doubt that there was an expectation of the fulfillment of Moses’ prophecy. When Jesus fed the thousands with a lad’s lunch of loaves and fish some of the people exclaimed, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” Indeed, Jesus was the greatest Prophet of all.

There is no doubt Jesus came into the world as the Prophet like Moses. However, that’s not the primary way he is considered in Scripture. He is not just a prophet he is the one the prophets told about. Remember his conversation with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus? Beginning with Moses… he told them all the things concerning himself. Also, Jesus was not a messenger from God like the other prophets. He is the source of revelation from God. The Old Testament prophets had to say, “Thus says the Lord,” while Jesus could say, “I say unto you”. He is still the deliverer from bondage! Have you placed your faith and trust in him? If not, do so today!

All scriptures quotes are from: The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.