Moses In The School Of Hard Knocks Series

Introduction:

A. Has anyone here ever made a mistake?

1. Probably a better question for us is there anyone where who has never made a mistake.

2. Have you ever made a really foolish mistake? Like this boy sawing off the branch he was sitting on! That’s really dumb and painful!

3. Have you ever made a really silly mistake? Like misspelling something for the whole world to see! How embarrassing.

4. Have you ever made a really big, painful, and tragic mistake and need a big eraser?

5. I like the story about something that happened at a certain university.

a. Most universities have a rule that if the professor does not arrive in the classroom by 15 minutes past the time the class is to begin, then the class was considered a "walk" and the students are free to leave - with no penalties for missing the class.

b. Well, at this certain university the rooms were equipped with the type wall clocks that "jumped" ahead each minute, in a very noticeable fashion.

c. As it were, these clocks were also not of the most sophisticated construction.

d. Some enterprising student discovered that if one were to hit the clock with chalkboard erasers, it would cause the clock to "jump" ahead 1 minute.

e. There was a certain professor who was not very punctual – kind of an absent-minded professor.

f. So it became almost a daily practice for these students to take target practice at the clock and a few well aimed erasers later, and lo, 15 minutes were passed, and class dismissed itself.

g. Well, when the day for the next exam rolled around, the professor strolled into the room, passed out the exams, and told them “You have 1 hour to complete the test.”

h. The professor then proceeded to collect the erasers from around the room, and gleefully took aim at the clock.

i. When he had successfully "jumped" the clock forward 1 hour in a matter of minutes, he announced that the hour was over and collected the exam papers.

6. Some of us have to learn things the hard way.

B. Truth is – we all make our share of mistakes.

1. We are all sinners. No one is perfect. We are broken.

2. Guess what? God knows this.

3. The God we worship and serve is perfect in every aspect of His being.

4. God is certainly perfect and He makes no mistakes, but God is also realistic – He not only expects us to make mistakes, He forgives us and uses our failures to teach us.

5. The great theologian, Al Franken said: “Mistakes are a part of being human. Appreciate your mistakes for what they are - precious life lessons that can only be learned the hard way. Unless it's a fatal mistake, which, at least, others can learn from.”

C. Moses was a man who made his share of mistakes.

1. God not only didn’t give up on Moses, He used Moses mistakes to teach and train him.

2. In our story today, we are going to see Moses go to school – Moses is going to attend the school of hard knocks.

3. Have you ever attended that school? Personally, I’ve taken quite a few courses there.

4. I’m guessing that I am probably not done taking courses at the school of hard knocks.

I. The Story

A. Last week in the story of Moses, we witnessed his birth into a very difficult time in the history of the Hebrew people.

1. His family hid him for three months, and then carried out a plan that they hoped would save his life.

2. Unfortunately, the plan meant that he would eventually be raised by Pharaoh’s daughter as her own son.

3. So when he was old enough, Moses’ mother, Jochebed, marched him up to the palace and turned him over to his new mother, Pharaoh’s daughter.

B. In the New Testament book of Acts, Stephen, one of the servants of the early church, gave a inspired account of the story of Moses, as he gave his defense before the Sanhedrin.

1. Stephen said: 20 “At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child. For three months he was cared for in his father’s house. 21 When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. 22 Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action. (Acts 7:20-22)

2. After Pharaoh’s daughter adopted Moses, she immediately began to prepare him for a proper life in Pharaoh’s court.

3. The historian Josephus tells us that because the Pharaoh had no son and heir, Moses was being nurtured for the throne.

4. As I mentioned last week, this transition must have been quite a shock to young Moses.