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God Reveals The Future Series
Contributed by John Bright on Nov 23, 2019 (message contributor)
Summary: Working through the book of Exodus using consecutive expository preaching. Exodus 3:16-3:22. Teaching Sheet for the bulletin included at end of text.
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Exodus 3 “19 But I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not even by a mighty hand. 20 So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in its midst; and after that he will let you go. 21 And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be, when you go, that you shall not go empty-handed. 22 But every woman shall ask of her neighbor, namely, of her who dwells near her house, articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing; and you shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians.”’
Any TV show or movie that involves someone having knowledge of the future- it seems to always be connected to saving the world. But somewhere in there they want to know the winning lottery numbers! What if I could send you back in time to meet your younger self… what advice would you give yourself for the future?
God knows… He knew then… He knows now… He will know in the future.
Here are two more attributes of God:
God is both ETERNAL and OMNISCIENT – God has always existed (pre-existant) and He will continue to exist forever (Infinity). He knows everything - past, present and future. "And He said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. 7 He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son." Rev. 21:6-7
Does God always knowing give you hope or fill you with dread? Moses needed hope, so God tells him that he doesn’t have to do it all by himself. God tells Moses that he will not work alone (like us). Exodus 3 "16 Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them…" 18 Then they will heed your voice; and you shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt…"
So, God had a plan for them to work together. I believe that God has a plan for today, for here, for right now, and He DID NOT (let me repeat that) – GOD DID NOT send me to do it, all alone. How long will it take us to see that we are all in this together?
So then, if God wants us to do something and we say “YES”… then it’s all going to be easy peasy lemon squeezy. Right? Ministry? Life? Relationships? Work? Actually, it’s all hard! No where in God’s Word do you read it’s going to be easy when we are in His will.
God knows that Moses will face trouble (like us) Exodus 3:19 "But I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not even by a mighty hand."
It bothers Church folks when we get to the point in this story that we read “God hardened Pharaoh’s heart.”(Ex. 10:27) Why? There will be 10 plagues that will fulfill the promise of Ex. 12:12 “…against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord.” They will leave Egypt only after 10 plagues – from blood in the Nile to blood on the doorposts. We are going to cover each one.
Everybody has it hard. An easy life is no guarantee of being in God’s Will, but the opposite – be in God’s Will and be blessed – that’s the message of the Prosperity Gospel. You will never hear it from me! NEVER! If you are suffering it does not mean you are out of God’s Will – it definitely means you live in fallen world. That’s looking at the Whole Counsel of God’s Word. How long will it take us to realize that life is hard… no matter who you are or how much you have?
God goes on to tell Moses exactly what will happen! This is not the Prosperity Gospel when God tells Moses that the people in Egypt will give them anything they ask when they leave. The riches they receive will be used for 2 purposes in the wilderness:
• Some will be used to make the Golden Calf. What happens to that? It was ground into powder and they drank it (Ex. 32:20) – it was gone.
• There was large amounts of the plunder that was used to construct the Tabernacle – some estimates put the amount of gold, silver and bronze needed to be as much as 8 tons. It was used to bring Glory to God!
It’s just like money, that’s neither good nor evil. It all depends on how it is used.