Moses (Part 2) Series

MOSES (Part 2)

Scott Bayles, pastor

Blooming Grove Christian Church: 2/25/2018

I came across a story from a few years back about President George W. Bush. While campaigning for his first presidency, he cross paths with a peculiar man in an airport lobby. The man wore dusty old robes with a long beard and flowing white hair. He carried a staff in one hand and some stone tablets under his arm. The soon-to-be president approached the man and inquired, “Excuse me, are you Moses?” The man acted as if he hadn’t heard George’s question. So, George tried again, “Excuse me, are you Moses?” But the man continued to ignore him and looked away. Finally, the governor tugged at the man’s sleeve and asked a third time, “Aren’t you Moses?” The man finally responded in an irritated voice, “Of course, I’m Moses”. So, George W. asked him, “Well, why are you ignoring me?” Moses replied, “The last time I spoke to a Bush I spent the next forty years wondering in the desert!”

If you’re just joining us, we’re in week-two of a quick four-part survey of the life of Moses. Moses’ role in Hebrew history can hardly be overstated. He led hundreds of thousands of Hebrews out of slavery and became a hero to the people—a champion to the downtrodden. As I mentioned last week, his story is one of doubt and deliverance, humility and heartbreak, conflict and courage, trials and triumphs. And it’s a story that remains just as relevant and relatable today as it was thirty-some centuries ago.

Last Sunday, we summed up the first eighty years of Moses’ life in three major events. First, Moses was rescued from the Nile River as a baby thanks to the careful planning of his mother and, of course, God—reminding us that God has a plan for each one of us. Furthermore, Moses was rejected by both Pharaoh and his own people when he killed an Egyptian in defense of the Hebrew slaves—demonstrating that sin comes with consequences. Finally, despite his earlier failure, God recruited Moses for a world-changing mission—showing that God can use ordinary people for extraordinary purposes!

The next installment in Moses’ story takes place in Exodus chapters 5-12. So, if you have a Bible or an app on your phone, you can open it to Exodus 5.

As this chapter begins, Moses is ready to return to Egypt. God gave him the ability to perform wonderous miracles and signs. He has the support of his wife and father-in-law. He even reunited with his older brother, Aaron, who introduced him to the elders of Israel. Hope began to rise among the people of Israel as word of a miracle-working emancipator spread throughout the community.

But then the time came to confront Pharaoh, which leads to the next episode in Moses’ story—the problem.

• THE PROBLEM

Returning to Egypt, the land he fled in shame, must have been intimidating enough for Moses; but walking into the palace and standing before Pharaoh would have been doubly daunting. Yet, the Bible says Moses and Aaron went right in and said to Pharaoh, “This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says: Let My people go, so that they may hold a festival for Me in the wilderness” (Exodus 5:1 HCSB).

As representatives of God, Moses and Aaron spoke with confidence and conviction. But Pharaoh responded with distain, saying, “Who is Yahweh that I should obey Him by letting Israel go? I do not know anything about Yahweh, and besides, I will not let Israel go.” (Exodus 5:2 HCSB).

Pharaoh dismissed Moses and Aaron because he neither recognized nor respected Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews. Moses and Aaron persisted and even performed miracles and signs in effort to persuade Pharaoh, but the more they pushed, the harder Pharaoh pushed back. In fact, just to spite Moses, Pharaoh issued an order to the Egyptian slave drivers and Israelite foremen, saying: “You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don’t reduce the quota” (Exodus 5:7-8 NIV).

No matter what Moses said or did, Pharaoh responded by making the Hebrew’s lives more miserable than before. We have to wonder why, don’t we? Why wouldn’t Pharaoh yield? Why was he so hardheaded? Well, as it turns out, his head wasn’t the problem; his heart was. The Bible puts it succinctly, “Pharaoh’s heart hardened” (Exodus 7:13).

In fact, we’re told 19 times in the book of Exodus that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart or that Pharaoh hardened his own heart. It seems that God and Pharaoh were both active in one way or another in the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart. Some people question God hardening Pharaoh’s heart, as if God miraculously made Pharaoh hardnosed and headstrong. I don’t think that’s what happened. Rather, God was just being God. But God also knew what Pharaoh was made of.