Agent Of The One & Only God Series

Jason Bourne. Dana Scully. Severus Snape. Natasha Romanova. What do these characters have in common? Not sure? Well, what if I included this name: James Bond. That’s right. These fictional characters are all agents of one kind or another. Yes, even Severus Snape, who was a double agent for (spoiler alert) Dumbledore!

Have you ever dreamed of being a special agent who gets to travel the world and confront the bad guys as you jump out of airplanes and moving trains? There are some people here who might tell you that being an agent is not as glamorous as they make it seem in the movies. They know because they are agents. Really? We have special agents in our midst? Sure. Take a look at the person next to you, and the one in front of you. He, she, even the littlest one here is an agent.

As we continue our sermon series “Moses: Made for More,” we’ll learn how Moses and each one of us is an agent of the One & Only God. As his agents we have important responsibilities and privileges. Let’s find out what those are. (Read text.)

This is now our fourth sermon in this series about Moses. In your opinion, what has been the best thing that Moses has accomplished for his people so far? What? Nothing momentous comes to mind? You’d be right about that. Last week, we heard how Moses’ first meeting with Pharaoh was a disaster, or so it seemed. After Moses demanded the release of God’s people, Pharaoh scoffed, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.” (Ex. 5:2) Then what did Pharaoh do? He made the lives of the Israelite slaves more difficult and blamed Moses for it! Rather than being a suave agent like James Bond who always saves the day, Moses seemed to be more Johnny English, the bumbling agent played by Mr. Bean.

How do you suppose Moses felt then when God said after that incident: “Look, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet. You are to speak [to Pharoah] everything that I command you.” (Exodus 7:1-2) “You’ve made me like God to Pharaoh? He laughed in my face and ran me out of the palace last time. Then he made the Israelites even more miserable!” But God assured Moses that he had a plan. “No, Pharaoh will not listen to you, [but] the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand over Egypt, and I bring out the Israelites from their midst [with great acts of judgment.]” (Exodus 7:4-5 paraphrased)

Agents Moses and Aaron were to confront Pharaoh again. To their credit, they did just that. In that way Moses and Aaron serve as good models for us. They were bold and persistent. They didn’t soft-pedal God’s message by saying, “We see that you’re quite spiritual, Pharaoh. The number of gods you worship is impressive. We just wish you would pay a bit more attention to the God of Israel.” No. Moses and Aaron were convinced: there is only one true God—the God of Israel. Pharaoh needed to hear and believe that if he too wanted to be saved. Are we as persistent and bold in our witnessing? I know I’m often not. So let’s discover the secret to Agents Moses’ and Aaron’s courage.

One reason they were so bold is that Moses and Aaron were convinced of God’s superiority. Look at how God demonstrated that superiority. With the Ten Plagues he smushed Egypt like a dump truck flattening a skunk. And with the Ten Plagues, God targeted Egyptian objects of worship starting with the Nile River. The ancient Egyptians were so dependent on the Nile that they had even composed hymns of praise to the world’s longest river. The poor Nile, however, was about to be assaulted with a deadly weapon.

God told Moses and Aaron to look for Pharaoh when he was out for his morning walk along the river. They were to take with them the staff which God had turned into a snake several times already and with it strike the Nile. When Pharaoh saw Moses and Aaron approaching with that staff, he should have been nervous—the way storm troopers would be tense if they saw Luke Skywalker coming their way with light saber in hand. Pharaoh’s fear would have been justified, for when Aaron struck the Nile with his staff and then waved it over the land, the river turned to blood as did the streams and ponds connected to the Nile. There was even blood in every container that held water from the Nile River! Fish died and the river wreaked. With one flick of the wrist God had bludgeoned to death, as it were, one of the Egyptian gods proving how superior he was.