God, Are You Sure?

In Exodus 4, we saw the RELUCTANT PROPHET that came up with all kinds of excuses for why he could not be God’s man to lead Israel out of Egypt.

In Exodus 5, Moses became willing to obey God in the PERMISSIVE WILL OF GOD, BUT NOT THE PERFECT WILL OF GOD.

The PERFECT WILL OF GOD was for God to use Moses alone in delivering God’s people from bondage. But Moses came up with many excuses and finally, his last excuse was that he had a speech problem. God reminded him that He is the One who created his mouth and that was no problem.

But Moses insisted he had a speech problem, so God used him in delivering God’s people in the PERMISSIVE WILL by PERMITTING Aaron, his brother, to speak on his behalf.

When we get to Exodus 5, Moses has his first encounter with Pharaoh. Evidently he did not make a good FIRST IMPRESSION.

Illus: He reminds me of a young doctor that was just setting up his first office when his secretary told him there was a man to see him.

The doctor wanted to make a good first impression by having the man think he was successful and very busy.

He told his secretary to show the man in. At that moment, the doctor picked up the telephone and pretended to be having a conversation with a patient.

The man waited until the "conversation" was over. Then, the doctor put the telephone down and asked, "Can I help you?" To which the man replied, "No, I'm just here to connect your telephone."

Things went about as well when Moses first met Pharaoh for the first time.

HOW DID MOSES GET AN APPOINTMENT TO APPEAR BEFORE PHARAOH? Pharaoh probably granted the interview to the elders of the nation, thinking that some of?cial business needed to be discussed. Whatever the case, there stood a group of slaves before the Pharaoh of Egypt.

WHAT WAS THEIR PURPOSE? To demand that he free God’s people so they could make a religious pilgrimage to worship and serve God out in the wilderness.

We see . . .

I. THE REQUEST

In Exodus 5:1, we read, “And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.”

We live in a land today called America. We believe that FREEDOM, LIBERTY, AND JUSTICE FOR ALL, IS GOD’S WILL FOR MAN.

Man’s heart cries out for freedom, the freedom to live and worship as he chooses. Yet, there have always been those like Pharaoh who opposed God’s will for man to live in freedom.

WHY DO MEN WISH TO ENSLAVE PEOPLE? There are THREE reasons:

• There are men and women who seek power

• Some seek wealth by forced and cheap labor of others

• Some want fame

This battle of enslavement has been going on since the beginning of time.

Moses came with the message that God wanted him to deliver to Pharaoh. That message was clear and simple; “LET MY PEOPLE GO!”

This was the FIRST ENCOUNTER of Moses with Pharaoh to free God’s people. But Pharaoh did not receive this demand very well. He was used to MAKING DEMANDS, not RECEIVING DEMANDS.

We see THE REQUEST and . . .

II. THE REJECTION

Moses was having a very bad day. Have you ever had a truly bad day?

Illus: You Know It Will Be a Bad Day When …

• Your twin sister forgets your birthday.

• Your birthday cake collapses from the weight of the candles.

• You call the suicide prevention hotline and they put you on hold.

• Your income tax refund check bounces.

• You put both contacts into the same eye.

• Everyone loves your driver's license picture, but you think it looks awful.

• You invite the peeping Tom in ... and he says, “No thanks.”

We all have experienced bad days that steadily got worse throughout the day. Moses had some of those bad days in his life.

Illus: We have to remember what Lyn Anderson sang about: God never promised us a ROSE GARDEN.

When Moses made an appointment with Pharaoh, we cannot help but wonder how he slept the night before he met with him.

Illus: Most preachers can remember the first time they preached. The night before they preached, they did not sleep well knowing they were preparing to do something they had never done before.

Moses was preparing to appear before the most powerful man on earth and unload a message that God gave him. The message was, “Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.”

After he unloaded that message, see how Pharaoh responded.