Please open your Bibles to Exodus 2…..
In the last couple of weeks, we learned how a Hebrew boy was adopted by the daughter of the King of Egypt; she named him Moses. Moses grew up in Egypt for 40 years until he heard about God and that he was a Hebrew. Moses believed in God and left the worldliness of Egypt and ended up in Midian. We noted last week that God doesn’t tell us who told Moses about God. The important truth is that someone without recognition shared God with Moses. Even though no one knows who, that person who shared God with Moses must be full of joy because Moses became a hero for God!
Only god knows the potential of a Believer but God calls us to share to that potential Believer the truths about God!
But I forgot last week to mention another possibility which is also significant. We noted many people who could have told Moses about God. The significant thing is Moses could have heard the truth since he was a boy, but Moses did not believe God till he was 40 years old! The significant thing for us? – We must always share the Gospel when opportunities arise and let God make the conviction at the right time, it could take 40 years!
Today, we will read again what happened to Moses in Midian. But in preparation for communion, we will look briefly how God related to the Israelites while Moses was in Midian and the Israelites were still slaves in Egypt.
Read along with me now Exodus 2:16-25…..
v16-22: Moses stayed away from Egypt and started a family in a foreign land called Midian.
Now, there are at least 3 significant things we can note from v23, what are they??
- Looking at other Scriptures, the long period could range from 10-40 years!
- new Egyptian King was likely even more cruel!
- Israelites cried out to God for help – first time we note them humbly praying
(note Ezekiel 20:8) God states: “But they rebelled against me and would not listen to me; they did not get rid of the vile images they had set their eyes on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and spend my anger against them in Egypt.”
Let us note that humble prayers will get a hearing from God. We read in v24-25:
- God heard
- God remembered
- God looked on with concern
Let’s ask these questions: Is God hard of hearing? Does God forget things? Does God occasionally have no care for people?
Let us note these truths:
Psalm 147:5 - Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; his understanding is infinite!
Proverbs 15:3 - The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.
1 John 4:8 - Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
And so based on these truths, God hears everything; God knows everything and never forgets; God is always loving! And so, how do v24-25 relate to v23??
God was waiting for humble hearts before releasing His power to them!
And so, what should we remember?
God is a jealous God and will discipline those He loves and He loves everybody!
1. God will discipline us for our own good because He loves us!
2. Never wait to pray; there is no other time than the present to humbly pray! God waits for us!
The almighty God will always respond positively to a humble heart! How are our hearts to God? How are our prayer lives?
Now, God tells us to do communion as often as we can till Jesus Christ returns to earth; but why do we need to do communion??
And what are we doing when we are remembering what Jesus did for us??
When we do communion, we are to remember what Jesus did for us and humble ourselves for we are all sinners in need of a Savior! In preparation for Communion, take a quiet time to humbly pray to the Lord your need for Jesus Christ and for power to live the Christian life…..
