Drew Boswell

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“Counterfeits” Exodus 7:8-24

“Into the Wilderness”

A Sermon Series in the Book of Exodus

“Counterfeits”

Exodus 7:8-24

 Introduction

Let’s play “Real or AI”

For every one of God’s truths there is a counterfeit. How can we, as His people, know the difference between the truth of God’s Word and the counterfeit the Evil One offers? This is what we will talk about today.

Prayer

The Miracle of The Staff to Snake (vv. 8-13)

8 Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Prove yourselves by working a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’” 10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent.

“All the main themes of the next five chapters of Exodus: the obedience of Moses and Aaron, the counterfeit miracles of Satan and his servants, the superior power of God and his rod, and the perpetual hardening of Pharoah’s heart. All of Satan and his plans will be ‘swallowed up.’”[1]

We see in (v. 10) a Moses that has changed, “So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD commanded” He didn’t argue, or give excuses, he did just as God commanded.

The pharaoh says, “Prove yourselves by working a miracle,” – Does God give miracles today to prove Himself? God does not perform random acts of omnipotence but instead displays his miraculous power in order to confirm the truth of his Word. Pharaoh is asking for a miracle as proof that Moses and Aaron are telling the truth, the Word of God.

Religious leaders of Jesus’ day did this same thing, Matthew 12:38 “Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” 39 But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. 42 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.” The ultimate sign to prove that God’s Word is true is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead; which shall not be repeated. The resurrection is the last miracle we need to confirm the gospel truth that Jesus died to save sinners.

11 Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts. 12 For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. 13 Still Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said.

There are different ways we could interpret this passage. (1) These magicians were the same as today’s magicians. Through misdirection, slight of hand, and trickery they fool the audience into thinking they see something that they don’t really see. But this is not what we see Moses’ staff became a serpent, and the Egyptian magicians also made their staffs become serpents. The same idea of later when the Nile is turned to blood. Was it really red algae, or a flooding of a particular red soil that made the water look red?

(2) So, Another interpretation would be that these Egyptian magicians really did have some kind magical power. The snake was a symbol of Egyptian power, to when Moses threw down the staff and picked it up again – it would have been very obvious that the Hebrew God was challenging the Egyptian god. It would be like a person goes into the oval office in Washington DC and wrings a bald eagle’s neck. It was a statement. But the text indicates that their trick was a version of what Moses and Aaron did. The Evil One does have power – to try to excuse it away robs it of its’ danger.

2 Thessalonians 2:9-10 “The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.” Evil has power and it’s alure is very attractive.

There are two powers going head-to-head, and both show their miracle.  If you have already “refused to love the truth,” when the counterfeit is given, you will go with what your heart really wants – your sin.

God never said that what He had given Moses as a sign of his authenticity as a prophet could not be duplicated.  But the means that they come about the same end was “by their secret arts.” Satan is not capable of creating anything new he must take what God has created and pollute it and pervert it to meet his purposes.

Christ came to save the world from sin and to teach the truth, the Anti-Christ will come to tell lies and to keep people from salvation. Sex within the bounds of marriage is a blessing, sex outside of marriage is sin because it is not how God designed it to be.

Then the Lord’s staff swallows up the magician’s staff. And with that event, the duel begins between God and Satan. The one who truly deserves to be praised, and served verses the false god who only offers slavery and death. At this display of force, pharaoh’s heart is hardened.

Is this fair, that God would harden a man’s heart?  Is he making him incapable of obeying him, is it right then to judge him? Scripture is clear that God makes no man to sin.

Every man’s heart is in God’s hand and it is God that restrains him from sin, not forces him into it.  However, when a person resists and resists long enough the worst thing that could happen to them is for God to let them go and allow them to do all that their heart truly desires. Romans 1:24-25 “Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.”

Like a dog on a leash pulling away from its’ owner, the owner just let’s go of the leash and the dog runs toward what his heart desires. Man at his core/heart level is wicked and corrupt and only desires to do evil. Therefore, God in his mercy and grace restrains them. It is a choice we make to run away from God – to harden our hearts toward God.

2 Samuel 6:6 “Why should you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts?”  So, when it says that God hardened their hearts, it means that in his omnipotence he kept pharaoh’s heart in the hardened state – he couldn’t change his mind. All grace was removed and his heart was able to fully pursue what it truly desired.

Many Scriptures tell us that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Ezekiel 18:23 “Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?” Ezekiel 33:11 “Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?”  2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise vas some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”

The atheists says, “give me more evidence. Then I will believe.” “The real issue is not the evidence, but what a person does with it. The Israelites were given the same signs that Pharoah was given (see Exodus 4), and they believed and were saved. But pharaoh later perished, which is what happens to everyone who follows Satan.”[2]

People are condemned to their own depravity because they do not believe in God’s truth.

The Miracle of the Nile To Blood (vv. 14-24)

14 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water. Stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that turned into a serpent. 16 And you shall say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness.” But so far, you have not obeyed. 17 Thus says the LORD, “By this you shall know that I am the LORD: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood. 18 The fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will grow weary of drinking water from the Nile.”’” 19 And the LORD said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, so that they may become blood, and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’” 20 Moses and Aaron did as the LORD commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile turned into blood. 21 And the fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. 22 But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts. So Pharaoh’s heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said. 23 Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart. 24 And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the Nile.

This is the first of what the Bible calls “signs and wonders,” We use the word plague, from the Latin meaning “blow or wound,” because this is what God says, “I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it.” (3:20)

“In order to understand these plagues we need to understand that they were directed against the gods and goddesses of Egypt and were intended to show superiority to the God of Israel to the Egyptian gods. There were about eighty deities in Egypt, all clustered about the three great natural forces of Egyptian life: the Nile River, the land, and the sky. It does not surprise us, therefore that the plagues God sent against Egypt in this historic battle follow this three-force pattern. The first two plagues were against the gods of the Nile. The next four were against land gods. The final four plagues were against the gods of the sky, culminating in the death of the firstborn.”[3]

Later in Numbers 33:4 Egypt is mentioned, “On their gods also the LORD executed judgments.” God is showing that He is the ultimate God, all-powerful, and He is the only one worthy of mankind’s worship.

The annual flooding of the Nile brought new life and sustenance to over 1,000 miles of Egyptian-dominated settlements, and the watery event was perceived by the Egyptians as the best evidence that the gods of the Nile were pleased. Moses through Aaron struck the Nile and it turned to blood. The river was their lifeblood, the basis for their entire civilization. It was their means of transportation, they ate the fish for the river, the river watered their crops (without the Nile they would be in a desert), it would flood annually leaving behind a rich layer of new soil, they drank the water – everything revolved around the Nile.

Many times this is how God gets our attention and causes us to look toward Him.  He takes away those things that we thought we would always have, those things that we take for granted.  For the Egyptians it was the Nile.  This is something that they thought would always be there, something that had always been, like air.

Then the Egyptian magicians “did the same by their secret arts.”  What I find interesting is that if they were to look around all the water had been turned to blood. Now they manage to find some water left, but in their effort to one-up God, they turn that water to blood as well.  Who really won? What it not make much more sense to turn the blood back into water?

The chapter closes with a picture of the Egyptian people digging along the Nile, trying to find fresh drinkable water – the once great Nile River is now a picture of death and filth. The people are left to their own resources when their gods fail them. Pharoah “ turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart.” His heart is hard and this is just the beginning of showing all of Egypt’s gods to be false.

Conclusion

A Chinese boy who wanted to learn about jade went to study with a talented old teacher. This gentle man put a piece of the precious stone into his hand and told him to hold it tight. Then he began to talk of philosophy, men, women, the sun and almost everything under it. After an hour he took back the stone and sent the boy home. The procedure was repeated for several weeks. The boy became frustrated. When would he be told about the jade? He was too polite, however, to question the wisdom of his venerable teacher. Then one day, when the old man put a stone into his hands, the boy cried out instinctively, ‘That’s not jade!'”

 How will we know the truth from Satan’s lies?  We have the answer in our hands, like the jade in the boy’s hand.  When we study it, and live – when the lies and counterfeits come we know instantly that these are not real.

 Don’t be fooled into living a counterfeit Christian life, live the real thing.  God desires to show and prove Himself to you, don’t harden your heart.

 This morning, don’t harden your heart to the truth of God’s love and mercy.  Open your life to his will and calling for you.

 The first desire for your life is the same as it as for the Pharaoh.  Believe His word and let go of what is keeping you out of His will.  Whatever sin it is, having a relationship with God is far better.  A-B-C

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[1] Philip Graham Ryken, Preaching God’s Word, Exodus (Wheaton, Illinois; Crossway Publishing, 2015) 182.

[2] Ryken, 190.

[3] Ryken, 192. Ryken is quoting Boice.

“Consequences of Doing the Right Thing” Exodus 5-6

“Into the Wilderness”

A Sermon Series in the Book of Exodus

“Consequences of Doing the Right Thing”

Exodus 5-6

 Introduction

“In CIA jargon, “blowback” describes the unintended, undesirable consequences of covert operations, such as the funding of the Afghan Mujahideen and the destabilization of Afghanistan contributing to the rise of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.[54][55][56]

The introduction of exotic animals and plants for food, for decorative purposes, or to control unwanted species often leads to more harm than good done by the introduced species.

  • The introduction of rabbits in Australia and New Zealand for food was followed by an explosive growth in the rabbit population; rabbits have become a major feral pest in these countries.[57][58]
  • Cane toads, introduced into Australia to control canefield pests, were unsuccessful and have become a major pest in their own right.
  • Kudzu, introduced to the US as an ornamental plant in 1876[59] and later used to prevent erosion in earthworks, has become a major problem in the Southeastern United States. Kudzu has displaced native plants and has effectively taken over significant portions of land.[60][61]
  • The protection of the steel industry in the United States reduced production of steel in the United States, increased costs to users, and increased unemployment in associated industries.”[1]

In church life, there will be a time when you feel called by God to do something, lead an effort, make a change, but things don’t go as you had anticipated and the road is not smooth – you may even cry out to God, “I thought this was what you wanted me to do, why is it so difficult? That’s what we will look at today.

Prayer

Consequences of God’s Word (vv. 1-14)

Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’” 2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.” 3 Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.” 4 But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your burdens.” 5 And Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens!” 6 The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen, 7 “You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves.[2] 8 But the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on them, you shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words. 10 So the taskmasters and the foremen of the people went out and said to the people, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I will not give you straw. 11 Go and get your straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced in the least.’” 12 So the people were scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. 13 The taskmasters were urgent, saying, “Complete your work, your daily task each day, as when there was straw.” 14 And the foremen of the people of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, “Why have you not done all your task of making bricks today and yesterday, as in the past?”

Consequence #1 – Things may get worse before they get better.

So there you are a slave, living a miserable life. But its’ what you know, and your father was a slave, and his before him. You have a routine, and you are doing the best you can do under horrible circumstances. Then your horrible life becomes impossible. Until recently your work day started at the crack of dawn, now you are getting up in the middle of the night going further and further around where you live scrounging for straw. So are all the thousands of other people living around you.

We see Unintended Consequences (right now) for God’s people, and we see Promised Consequences (sometime in the future) for those who are not God’s people, (v. 3) “lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword”

Consequence #2 – Those that are supposed to be standing beside you may not show up.

 The consequence of Moses and Aaron – They already didn’t want to go, but they go to the elders of Israel and show the miraculous (staff to snake, leprous hand restored, and water to blood). Exodus 3:18 “And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him,” God’s plan was for Moses, Aaron, and the elders of Israel were to go to pharaoh.

“Exodus 4:29 “Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the people of Israel. 30 Aaron spoke all the words that the LORD had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people. 31 And the people believed; and when they heard that the LORD had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.”

But when it comes time to appear before the pharaoh in chapter 5 it says, “Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh,.” There is no mention of the elders. What happened to them? Where are they when it’s time to do what they all agreed was God’s plan for them to do? God knew what the plan was, and when things went sideways (as they always do) there would be a united front in the people’s leadership. But one critical piece of that leadership structure was missing – they didn’t show up when it was time to go to work.

15 Then the foremen of the people of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, “Why do you treat your servants like this? 16 No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people.” 17 But he said, “You are idle, you are idle; that is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.’ 18 Go now and work. No straw will be given you, but you must still deliver the same number of bricks.” 19 The foremen of the people of Israel saw that they were in trouble when they said, “You shall by no means reduce your number of bricks, your daily task each day.” 20 They met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them, as they came out from Pharaoh; 21 and they said to them, “The LORD look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

Consequence #3 – The people will blame you for their worsening condition.

The foremen met Moses and Aaron as they were leaving from talking with the pharaoh and are angry that their lives are harder now than they were before. Their life was horrible before, but now their lives are impossible. The people blame Moses and Aaron, “you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh.” You have made pharaoh hate us and now he wants to kills us. Moses and Aaron were trying to lessen their labor, to alleviate their brutal condition, but the unintended circumstance was more labor, not less.

There is one word in church life that church people do not like. No matter how things might be, no matter how many bricks they are making, whenever a leader says the word change – chaos will ensue. The leader has no way of knowing what will happen when the change takes place, but you can count on unintended outcomes and you will bear the blame for something you felt called by God to do.

Later when the people are at the Red Sea and the Egyptian war machine is raging toward them, they say, Exodus 14:11-13 “They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” It is easier to be a slave (to trust in what you know) than to face the unknown and trust God who promises to give you freedom.

No matter how hard your life may be, that is your world – it’s all you have ever known. It is hard for us to comprehend that life can be different than we have experienced our whole lives. The abused wife would rather staff with the abusive husband because she feels like she can control her life, “If I just keep the house clean, or cook his food right, then he won’t hit me.” She would rather stay than to consider a world, a life of love and compassion, and safety where husbands do not hurt their wives but protect them and respect them. Abuse is all she has ever known, a non-abusive marriage is beyond what she allows her mind to consider.

You have to make a decision; trust in a God who promises a life you have never known,

He promises freedom from sin, or stay in a life that where you are a slave to sin;

Known Slavery or Promised Freedom

 22 Then Moses turned to the LORD and said, “O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? 23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.”

Then Moses turns to God and asks, “Why?” Moses knows why God sent him. God had told him in great detail how this was all going to go – but God didn’t mention the straw and bricks – so now Moses collapses.

When we seek to follow God’s plan, we don’t have all the details, people will not show up to stand beside you, it will more than likely get worse before it gets better, and God is not obligated to give us all the details. Moses is saying, God you didn’t tell me about the straw and brinks thing.” Why are you doing this? Are we promised that life will always go well with us?

Consequence #4; You Will Not Know Everything.

In response to Moses’ complaint that “you didn’t tell me about the detail of the straw and bricks.” God told him several times that he would harden pharaoh’s heart, but this was not what Moses had in mind.

But the LORD said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.” 2 God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the LORD. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them. 4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. 5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. 6 Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. 7 I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the LORD.’” 9 Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.

 In response to Moses’ objection – “you didn’t tell me all the details,” God responds back in these few verses, “I am the LORD,” multiple times, the text is heavy with this proclamation. What is this God like? The God who appears to multiple generations and remains the same. The God who has promised to lead them to a promised land. A God who hears the cry of His people. But at the end of the day God is God and Moses is Moses. God does not have to tell Moses all the details, why? Because Moses is not “The Lord God Almighty.

 But God also reminds Moses of the promises that He has made not only to him, but to the previous patriarchs. God made seven promises in these verses, “I will bring you out, I will free you, I will redeem you, I will take you as my people, I will be your God, I will bring you to the land, and I will give it to you.”

 God makes promises and He expects us to believe in the midst of difficulty.

 Consequence #5 People’s Lives May Keep Them From Listening

We are talking about the consequences you will encounter as you try to do what God has told you do. The next consequence is when dealing with people – many times they have a broken spirit and their slavery to their sin is treating them harshly – so it is hard for them to hear.

The people would not listen “for shortness of breath,” “It was the inward pressure caused by deep anguish that prevented proper breathing – like children sobbing and gasping for their breath.”[3]

So you are saying, Consequence #1 – Things may get worse before they get better. Consequence #2 – Those that are supposed to be standing beside you may not show up. Consequence #3 – The people will blame you for their worsening condition. Consequence #4; You Will Not Know Everything. Consequence #5 People’s Lives May Keep Them From Listening

Why even bother in the first place – the final destination for God’s people is freedom. For the lost world around us, it means they may come to salvation. God has called us to be apart of His mission, to share the gospel to the nations, and to the neighbor across the street. In that struggle all those things may be true.

But there is joy in the work of the Lord. There will be consequences but there will be blessings. There will be people who will not listen, and there will be people who will. God has promised eternal life for those that place their faith in Jesus Christ, and He has sent us all on mission to tell them.

So how do you remain safe and be a faithful Christian? You could say, “If I don’t know what the final result will be, then I will not make the first move – I can avoid unintended consequences by not doing anything.” You can’t be faithful and safe. We are never promised safety only God’s presence with us along the journey. True hope is found in the recognition of and surrender in love to the one who is in control. Is He present in your life today?

______________________

[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unintended_consequences#:~:text=Kudzu%2C%20introduced%20to%20the%20US,over%20significant%20portions%20of%20land.

[2] The straw made the bricks stronger “by first binding the clay together and then by decaying and releasing a humic acid similar to glutamic or gallotanic acid.” Walter C. Keiser, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Volume 2 (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan Publishing, 1990) 337.

[3] Kaiser, 344.

“The Return” Exodus 4:18-26

“Into the Wilderness”

A Sermon Series in the Book of Exodus

“The Return”

Exodus 4:18-26

Introduction

“Everyone knows that you don’t eat bananas until they turn yellow. The internal transformation of the fruit inside the peel is what causes the yellowing effect indicating when the fruit is ripe (https://www.scienceabc.com/nature/bananas-change-colour-upon-ripening.html). Because we are God’s people, the work of Jesus changes our lives from the inside out. His grace transforms our hearts and minds, overflowing to our actions.”[1]This morning we will look at how our faith in Jesus should change us from the inside out.

Prayer

Freedom to Serve the Father (vv. 18-23)

18 Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Please let me go back to my brothers in Egypt to see whether they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” 19 And the LORD said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” 20 So Moses took his wife and his sons and had them ride on a donkey, and went back to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the staff of God in his hand. 21 And the LORD said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. 22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD, Israel is my firstborn son, 23 and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.’”

In the first five verses of this section the phrase “went back, go back” is repeated. This is the account of Moses leaving Midian and going back to Egypt.

(v. 18) When Moses was forty-years-old Jethro brought him into his family, and he lived with until here where Moses is eighty-years-old. Moses has is grown man, he has a wife and two sons, who themselves could be almost forty years old. He can go and do whatever he wants, but out of respect and honor to his father-in-law he asks permission to go and do what God has told him to do. He wants Jethro’s support.

(v. 19) Again, God comes and speaks to Moses, “And the LORD said to Moses in Midian” He is told that those seeking his life were dead, so it was safer to return, and then God comes to Moses again and speaks to him, “do the miracles, remember pharaoh is not going to listen, and gives him the words to say (that He promised He would earlier). Moses has already been told, and here he is told again, that pharaoh’s heart will be hardened (v.22) “But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.” In response to the pharaoh’s hard heart, Moses is to do “all the miracles that I have put in your power.”

Israel is described as God’s firstborn son, (v. 22) “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD, Israel is my firstborn son” God’s people were described as firstborn sons, and the purpose of the firstborn son was to serve the father, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” By enslaving God’s people, pharaoh demanded that they serve him, and prevented them from serving their father.

This is what sin does to creation. We are made in the image of God, we are designed as God’s creation to serve Him, to have a relationship with Him – but sin enslaves us, it lures us to serve false gods – to live a life that is contrary to our calling and design. In sin, we give our lives in service to that sin. Salvation is a releasing from this enslavement to sin, and it frees us to serve our true heavenly Father and have a relationship with Him.

Also, notice the relationship – God will free his people from slavery, but God is not stealing Pharoah’s slaves to make them his slaves. God frees his people, but as sons – we become the family of God. Yes, the son serves the Father, but it is rooted in a relationship of love, not forced submission. Ephesians 6:1 “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” It is right for children to obey and serve their parents; it is right for the children of God to serve their heavenly father.

Our submission to God is voluntary, and together we join the mission of God – we go to what God is doing and willingly join in and seek to serve Him.[2] But these children and the father must be about the same business. In the case of God and His son, the son must follow the clear instructions of the father – the mission of salvation is too important.

We have already seen the God Moses encounters in the wilderness at the burning bush is a holy God. You cannot just enter into His presence, the unholy has to be made holy in order to get close to Him. Exodus 3:5 “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”

God has come to Moses multiple times; he is talking with him regularly. But God does not change – He is always holy. We may be set free, we may join Him in mission, and we may become comfortable in His presence, but wisdom should always remind us – God is holy, and He does not change.

(v. 23) In verses 22-23 there are two first-born sons represented. God’s first-born son and Egypt’s first-born son. There is a distinct line between them. “On one side are grace and life. On the other side are judgement and death. There is no middle ground or third option.”[3]

Fear of the Lord In His Service (vv. 24-26)

24 At a lodging place on the way the LORD met him and sought to put him to death. 25 Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!” 26 So he let him alone. It was then that she said, “A bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.

The family consists of Moses, his wife Zipporah, and their two sons. As the family is making their way from Midian to Egypt, they stop at an inn. While they are at the inn, something happens to Moses that the family comes to realize is a life threatening and is directly coming from the Lord. “However, the real question is not how God assaulted Moses but why?”[4]

Those that had wanted to kill Moses in Egypt are dead, but now God is his enemy? God had just given him another round of instructions for what to do when he had gathered the elders of Israel together (vv. 21-23). Moses was the one who God appeared to in the burning bush, and called to lead God’s people out of Egypt – why now, would God seek to kill him?

This passage has many challenges to interpretation – but there is one big idea that anyone seeking to understand what is going on here sees. Circumcision is important to God at this moment in history.

Genesis 17:9-14 helps us to understand what is happening, “And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, 13 both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

Moses had not circumcised his son – he had not kept the covenant. So, Zipporah grabs a stone knife and circumcises the son Gershom, and then places the piece of skin at Moses’ feet. When Moses gives excuse after excuse God patiently gives answers and seeks to reassure Moses, “I will be with you.” But when Moses neglects to circumcise his son, that becomes a matter of life and death. By Moses not following the word of God given to Abraham he “shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

 Moses almost lost his life because he did not follow the Word of God.

God’s people are identified as His people by the following of His law.

 We are Baptists, specifically Southern Baptists – we are described as being “people of the book.” God’s Word is sufficient for every endeavor we set our hand to do, and will not come back void, it will accomplish its’ purpose in our lives. Moses has incurred the wrath of God upon his life because he didn’t pay attention to what was required. What am I supposed to get from this passage? We have to pay attention as we enter into the presence of God (Moses removing his sandals at the burning bush), and we have to pay attention as we enter into service of God (Moses as he travels to Egypt). We ignore God’s Word to our peril.

 Zipporah takes the bloody piece of skin and smears it across Moses’ foot. Later, God’s people will take blood from a lamb and smear it across their doorposts. These are blood signs that they are seeking to follow God’s commands (circumcision and lamb’s blood). Jesus’ blood would be smeared across an old rugged cross. What must God’s people do to be saved from the angel of death? What must Moses do to be saved from God’s wrath? Blood has to be shed in a way that God accepts.

 “Circumcision was a sign of God’s covenant with his people. Within the covenant there is grace and life. Outside the covenant are judgement and death. Moses by not circumcising his son is acting like an Egyptian, rather than a member of God’s covenant people.”[5] These two groups go all the way through human history and on which side of the line you are standing on is eternally important – on one side will be eternal grace and life, and on the other will be eternal judgement and death.

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Deuteronomy 10:8 “At that time the LORD set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the LORD to stand before the LORD to minister to him and to bless in his name, to this day.” The Levites were to carry the ark, there were rings on the side, and long poles slid through the rings, and it was lifted up and carried. Later the ark was stolen and David and his troops recovered the ark, and were celebrating it’s return. But, someone decided to just put the ark in a cart to get it back home.

2 Samuel 2:6 “And when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. 7 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God.” God does not change, He is the I AM WHAT I AM, Being in the presence of God is dangerous. He has given us a means to be safe, but His Word have to be followed.

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(v. 26) Moses’ wife says that Moses is “A bridegroom of blood,”— Moses was adopted into pharaoh’s household. He grew up in the Egyptian ways of education and training. Acts 7:22 “And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds.”

When his eventual wife first met Moses after his fleeing to the desert, she referred to him as an Egyptian. When does Moses become a Hebrew, one of God’s people? He was more than likely circumcised on the eight day of his life – we are told that his parents were people of faith. But true circumcision is a matter of the heart.

Romans 2:28-29 “For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter.” When did Moses give his heart given to the Lord?

There is a fundamental life lesson that Moses needs to learn before he leads God’s people. God has established a blood covenant with His people. “First, God showed Moses the wages of sin by placing him under the wrath of God. But then God’s deadly wrath was turned aside – or “propitiated,” by the blood of circumcision. Blood is mentioned specifically because of a sacrifice and thereby identified with it. It was not a full sacrifice, but it represented Gershom’s entire person, offered in Moses’ place. Moses was saved from God’s wrath by the shed blood of a substitute.”[6]

Hebrews 9:22 “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.”

God is wanting to show His people how to be saved. This salvation story goes all throughout all of the Bible, but it includes the Abrahamic covenant – which Moses apparently ignored and failed to keep. Every human being is a sinner who stands under the wrath of God. The only way to be saved from eternal death is for God’s wrath to be turned aside, which can only be done through an act of blood.

By Jesus dying in our place, he turned aside the wrath of God against us. For the Israelites their covenant sign was circumcision – this is an act done to associate themselves with God and with His covenant. But what about Christians? How do we (today) show our association with God?

Colossians 2:11 “In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.” In the OT the covenant of association was circumcision and in the NT the covenant of association is baptism. But just like circumcision doesn’t make you a follower of God, getting wet in baptism doesn’t make you a Christian – it has always been and will always be a matter of the heart.

So, imagine a leader of the church standing up and teaching or leading in some area, but then you discover they have never been baptized. It’s the same as Moses going to lead the Israelites and never circumcising his son.

 Moses’ life has to reflect the faith that he is leading the people to toward.

 The sign that was given to Moses was that one day, in the future, God’s people will be on the mountain worshiping and serving God, the leader who will lead them back to that mountain was expected to worship and serve along with the people. Exodus 3:12 “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.”

 Matthew 29:19-20 is the great commission – we are to share how a person can come to Know Jesus, and then we teach them how to live a life before God that is pleasing to Him, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” How are you going to teach a disciple how to live a life pleasing to God, if you yourself are not living that same life? How is Moses going to lead God’s covenant people, if he himself was not following the covenant?

James 1:25 “But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.” And then later in James 2:14 “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?” Works don’t save us, but our faith in Christ should become a changed life. We are changed by the blood of Jesus Christ. Have you been washed in the blood, the soul cleansing blood of the lamb? Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb?

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[1] https://illustrationideas.bible/inside-out-2/

[2] Hebrews 2:11-12 “For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he (Jesus) is not ashamed to call them brothers, 12 saying, “I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”

[3] Tim Chester, Exodus For You (India; The Good Book Company, 2021) 49.

[4] Philip Graham Ryken, Preaching the Word, Exodus (Wheaton, Illinois; Crossway Publishing, 2015) 117.

[5] Chester, 49.

[6] Ryken, 119.

"For by grace you have been saved through faith." Ephesians 2:8

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