Finding Your Identity In The Desert - Exodus Part 3 Series

INTRODUCTION

• Sometimes when we mess our whole life up we are certain God could never fix it.

• The truth is God not only can fix it, it is what He does best.

• Take our mess and make a destiny out of it.

Romans 8:37, “37But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.”

• Literally says…what was intended to destroy us will be used to empower us.

• This was Moses’ story and it is ours as well.

I. IDENTITY AND DESTINY

Exodus 2:11-14, “Now it came about in those days, when Moses had grown up, that he went out to his brethren and looked on their hard labors; and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. 12So he looked this way and that, and when he saw there was no one around, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13He went out the next day, and behold, two Hebrews were fighting with each other; and he said to the offender, ‘Why are you striking your companion?’ 14But he said, ‘Who made you a prince or a judge over us? Are you intending to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?’ Then Moses was afraid and said, “Surely the matter has become known.”

• Identity – We’ve all struggled with it.

• Verse 11 - Picture of a man whose identity is divided (a Jew or an Egyptian).

• Tough today for all of us. How do you live in Christ and exist in the world?

• At work, do you see yourself as an engineer, a policeman, a contractor or as a Christian?

• This is a battle.

• Moses lived in two worlds one Hebrew, one Egyptian.

• He was groomed for war and to lead.

• At some point he knew he was a Hebrew maybe from an early age maybe not.

• By the time he was 40 he obviously knew.

Acts 7:20-22, “It was at this time that Moses was born; and he was lovely in the sight of God, and he was nurtured three months in his father’s home. 21“And after he had been set outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and nurtured him as her own son. 22“Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, and he was a man of power in words and deeds.”

• He was instructed by Egyptian tutors in protocol, culture, lifestyle, history.

• Completely reoriented for the throne…probably attended the greatest known school of that day…the Temple of the Sun…historians call this the “Oxford” of the day.

• Sciences, language, combat…and he did well…he earned their respect… Acts 7:22

II. A LEADER OUT OF CONTROL

• Vss.11-14 - Moses seemed to have some anger issues!

• Seriously Moses had some serious issues.

• Why did Moses go out there? “to his brethren”

• Certainly he had seen them before. Was there a plan formulating in his mind and heart?

• There was a destiny calling him.

Acts 7:23-29 gives us insight into Moses

23“But when he was approaching the age of forty, it entered his mind to visit his brethren, the sons of Israel. 24“And when he saw one of them being treated unjustly, he defended him and took vengeance for the oppressed by striking down the Egyptian. 25“And he supposed that his brethren understood that God was granting them deliverance through him, but they did not understand. 26“On the following day he appeared to them as they were fighting together, and he tried to reconcile them in peace, saying, ‘Men, you are brethren, why do you injure one another?’ 27“But the one who was injuring his neighbor pushed him away, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us? 28‘You do not mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday, do you?’ 29“At this remark, Moses fled and became an alien in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.”

• Acts 7:25 - Could he have had a sense from God that he was being groomed to deliver his people? I think so…I think it was in him to deliver.

• Moses had a sense that God was working in him but like many of us…he messed it up.

• Why he went out, two days in a row?

• He was anxious to move, impatient to wait.

• He was certainly deliberate, looking both ways before killing the guy.

• He may have loved justice, and hated what was going on…but somewhere deep inside I believe he had a clue.

• He was used to leading and didn’t seem one bit concerned about “powering up” on people.

• He had been trained to do that.

• This is a leader who is dangerous.