The CHALLENGE OF GOD's CALL-III—Exodus 3:1-22
Assistance/Availability/Discovering/Significance
Attention:
Helicopter Pilot’s licence—
A tourist with more money than she had sense, went to the Bahamas where she went to a flight school, insisting she wanted to learn to fly that day. After flashing some major bucks his way, the instructor agreed to instruct her on how to pilot the helicopter solo by radio.
He took her out, showed her how to start it & gave her the basics & sent her on her way.
After she climbed 1000 feet, she radioed in. "I'm doing great! I love it!
The view is so beautiful, & I'm starting to get the hang of this."
After 2000 feet, she radioed again, saying how easy it was becoming to fly.
The instructor watched her climb over 3000 feet, & was beginning to worry that she hadn't radioed in.
A few minutes later, he watched in horror as she crashed about half a mile away. He ran over & pulled her from the wreckage.
When he asked what happened, she said, "I don't know! Everything was going fine, but as I got higher, I was starting to get cold.
I can't remember anything after I turned off the big fan!”
The 'wanna be pilot' faced a true Challenge in Answering the Call to being a pilot.
We all face a true Challenge in Answering God's Call.
Exodus records the significance of God’s call to Moses.
Answering God’s call presents a significant challenge.
To What does God’s call present a challenge?
16 challenges of/to God’s call.
We found earlier that,
God’s call presents a challenge to...
1. Our OCCUPATION(:1)
2. Our OBSERVATION(:2-3)
3. Our AVAILABILITY(:4)
4—God’s call presents a challenge to...
Our APPROACH(:5)
Explanation:(:5)
:5—“Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.”
There is a difference between God & ourselves, yet we are made in God’s image(Gen. 1:26-27). God is holy...& we are to be holy as He is(Lev. 19:2; ).
Lev. 19:1, 2—“And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, & say to them: ‘You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.”
Lev. 20:26—“ ‘And you shall be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy, & have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine.”
God then informs Moses that he is not to “draw near” the bush(?& environs?) with his “sandals” upon his “feet” due to the “holiness” of the very “ground” under his feet. God’s holiness demands an approach in cleanness, whereas “sandals”/shoes assume contact with dirt/dust/the world/sin etc.).
“With them the removal of the shoes is a confession of personal defilement & conscious unworthiness to stand in the presence of unspotted holiness.”—JFB
A presumed custom in those days, was the removal of one’s sandals when in the presence of a superior. Minimally, it was a sign of humility. Beyond that it was a personal recognition of God’s majesty/glory.
Many modern cultures(as well as individuals) associate the removal of one’s shoes at the door in this manner. How much more-so, being in the presence of God Almighty!
The “ground” is “holy” because God/YHWH is there & God is “holy.” Man is not “holy”(apart from being declared such by God) & thereby that cognizance should compel one to not only recognize, but to also respect God’s holiness.
“Draw near/Come near/Come closer”(See :20—“Midst”)—brq kaw-rab’—Qal Imperfect—1) To come near, approach, enter into, draw near. Strong—a primitive root; To approach(causatively--Bring near) for whatever purpose.
“This Place/Hither”—Adverb—1) Here, hither. Strong—from the article [see halh haw-leh-aw'; from the primitive form of the article [hal]; To the distance, i.e. far away; also (of time)--Thus far]; Hither.
“Take...off”—lvn naw-shal'—1) To slip off, drop off, clear away, draw off. Strong—a primitive root; To pluck off, i.e. Divest, eject or drop. Used 7X.
“Sandals”—len nah'-al—1) Sandal, shoe. Strong—from len naw-al’]; properly--A sandal tongue; by extension--A sandal or slipper(sometimes as a symbol of occupancy, a refusal to marry, or of something valueless).
“Feet”——
“Place”(See :8)—Mwqm maw-kowm'—1) Standing place, place. Strong—properly--A standing, i.e. A spot; but used widely of a locality (general or specific); also (figuratively) of a condition (of body or mind).
“Stand”—dme aw-mad’—Qal Participle(unbroken continuity) Active—1) To stand, remain, endure, take one's stand. Strong—a primitive root; To stand, in various relations(literal & figurative, intransitive & transitive).
“Holy”—vdq ko'-desh—1) Apartness, holiness, sacredness, separateness. Strong—A sacred place or thing; rarely abstract--Sanctity.
“Ground”—hmda ad-aw-maw'—1) Ground, land—1a) Ground (as general, tilled, yielding sustenance), 1b) Piece of ground, a specific plot of land, 1c) Earth substance (for building or constructing), 1d) Ground as earth's visible surface, 1e) Land, territory, country, 1f) Whole inhabited earth, 1g) City in Naphtali. Strong—from Mda aw-dam’[To show blood(in the face), i.e. Flush or turn rosy]; Soil(from its general redness).
Argumentation:
Isa. 6:1-10—“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high & lifted up, & the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, & with two he flew. And one cried to another & said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, & the house was filled with smoke. So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, & said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.”
Isa. 59:1-2—“Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.”
Rom. 10:2-4—“For I bear them[Jews] witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, & seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
1Pet. 1:13-19—“Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, & rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish & without spot.”
2Pet. 2:10-11; Jude :8-9—“& especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness & despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil[blasfhmew] of dignitaries[doxa], whereas angels, who are greater in power & might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord.”.....“Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, & speak evil[blasfhmew] of dignitaries[doxa]. Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”
Micah 6:6-8—“With what shall I come before the LORD, And bow myself before the High God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, With calves a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, Ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?”
Php. 2:9-11—“Therefore God also has highly exalted Him & given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, & of those on earth, & of those under the earth, & that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Illustration:
Milton-Bradley’s(Now Hasbro) “Operation” board game—Electronic—Board has cut-outs shaped like the items to be ‘surgically’ removed/Each successful surgical procedure is worth a certain amount of money for the would-be ‘surgeon’/BUT if the tweezers touch the sides(during the ‘operation’), then a circuit is completed, causing the nose of the patient to glow red(a lightbulb) & a loud noise is made, declaring the surgery failed!/Manual dexterity is a major part of the game/Our APPROACH
A Sanctuary & an Auditorium are different—Their intent & purposes are different, yet they can be one-&-the-same place!/Depending upon the presentation, we approach them in different manners-mindsets/Our APPROACH
?How do you APPROACH God?
Application:
?God’s call present a challenge to Your APPROACH?
?When is the last time you APPROACHed God?
?Has God’s call Challenged you?...Or do you Challenge it?
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
Helicopter Pilot wanna-be—“I can't remember anything after I turned off the big fan!”
Action:
God’s call presents a challenge to...
4. Our APPROACH(:5)
1. Our OCCUPATION(:1)
2. Our OBSERVATION(:2-3)
3. Our AVAILABILITY(:4)
Pt. 4 only! Presented 01/25/2015am to:
FBC Cbelle
206 Storrs Ave. SE
Carrabelle, FL 32322
