God Strengthens Faith
Exodus 4:1-17
- We’re continuing our study through the book of Exodus.
- As we go through this study, we’re asking the question, “What does this passage tell me about honoring God?”
- Last week, we looked at the confidence we can have in God.
- We have confidence because God “is”, He “was”, and He “Is to come.”
- Moses learned that as he talked with God through the burning bush.
- God tells Moses His name, “I AM that I AM”, and tells him to tell the people, “I AM has sent me to you.”
- God wanted Moses and the people to know that He was with them.
- He also reminded Moses of His past promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
- Those were promises that did not go away, so God wanted Moses to remind the people that God, who “was” the God of their Fathers, was also their God.
- Then, God told Moses how he was going to deliver His people, and this would give the Israelites confidence in the God “who is to come”, who has the future in His hands.
- Today, we’re going to look at how God builds and strengthens the faith of Moses.
- When I was in the Army, one of the things I hated to do was shovel dirt to make sandbags.
- It was hard work, especially in the burning sun, but it was also very important work, because it could save lives.
- We needed to be able to build strong, defensive, fortified positions in a short period of time, and sandbags were the way to do it.
- So we were taught to dig foxholes, and as we dug them, we took the dirt and sand and filled these bags with the dirt…
- They were heavy, but they were also life-saving, so the hard work was worth it.
- As we filled the bags, we’d stack them on top of each other.
- When we were finished, we’d have a safe, fortified place to protect our position because the sandbags would absorb the impact of any bullets or shrapnel fired at us.
- We also used sandbags to protect the buildings in Iraq from the shock waves of explosions.
- So you could take a weak, unprotected, vulnerable position, right smack dab in the middle of enemy territory, and within hours, have a fortified, protected, defensive position.
- Sometimes, our faith is like that weak, unprotected, vulnerable position.
- We know God can do amazing things, and His Word confirms that, but unfortunately, we oftentimes forget that.
- So instead of having a strong faith, our faith starts out weak, and we have doubts.
- That’s where we find Moses today, working through some of this weakness in himself, as God promises to strengthen his faith.
- Remember, last week, we saw 3 reasons that Moses could have confidence in God…
- Yet even when we have confidence in God, we are still vulnerable to doubts and struggles because we have a human nature.
- So let’s look at 3 ways that God strengthens Moses’ faith, and see how we can apply that in our lives today.
I.) He strengthens faith through signs- Vs 1-9
- A few years ago, my mother and father in law lived in Rockland, about 3 hours away.
- We enjoyed visiting with them but didn’t get to very often.
- One day, they called and told us that they wanted to move here to live closer to family.
- They weren’t sure if God wanted them to or not, so they committed it to prayer and asked us to as well.
- Then, they felt that God wanted them to step out in faith, and put their house up for sale, so they asked God for a specific price, so they’d know that it was His will.
- Then, at the same time, they asked God to provide a home near us for a very reasonable price.
- One day, they were visiting us and went walking around town.
- Turns out, they were praying about houses for sale as they walked.
- At one house they walked by, there was a for sale sign and some folks there with a moving truck.
- Mom and dad approached them asking about the house, and long story short, God led them to make an offer on the home at a price they felt God led them to make, and it was accepted!
- At the same time, there was a gentleman in contact with them about their house in Rockland, and he offered a price that was in the range they had prayed about!
- So now, they live just down the street from where my family lives, not even ¼ of a mile, all because they committed it to prayer, and God provided several signs to confirm it to them.
- The fact of the matter is that as we live our lives for Christ, He will provide signs to us that will strengthen our faith.
- Here in Exodus, Moses had faith in God, but he also had doubts…
- His doubts are understandable because he was going up against a powerful empire, the Egyptians…
- Not only that, but 40 years before, when he attempted to free his people, they rejected him.
- So here we have him in vs 1 asking, “But what if they won’t believe or listen to me, Lord?”
- Some of us might give Moses a hard time here.
- After all, he’s been talking with God, in the burning bush, and that’s a miracle in and of itself…
- God has told him that He is going to do it, and even told him how He was going to do it.
- He told him in 3:12 that He would be with him, and in 3:18, He told him that the leaders of Israel would listen to his voice…
- So God made it pretty clear that they would listen and that He would deliver His people.
- But don’t be too hard on Moses here.
- At this point in Moses life, he hadn’t yet seen God’s Mighty Hand at work through all the plagues in Egypt.
- He hadn’t yet seen God’s miracles performed by parting the Red Sea, providing water, manna, and quail for His people...
- And there were many more miracles that God was going to perform in the future...
- Moses hadn’t seen them yet, so it makes sense that he would question God.
- You and I probably would have questioned Him as well.
- G. Campbell Morgan says, “We are ever prone, when God is calling us to some high service, to say ‘But,’ and this to introduce our statement of the difficulties as we see them.”
- But we must remember that difficulties to us are not difficulties to God!
- Thankfully, Scripture says that God is patient and slow to anger, so instead of consuming Moses with fire or rejecting him and using someone else, God instead gives him a sign.
- Moses carried a rod, which was more than likely his shepherd’s staff.
- This was one of the tools he used while caring for his flock of sheep…
- He had it with him at all times, and when a person saw him with the staff, they identified him as a shepherd…
- This is important because he was going to be leading God’s people, as their shepherd, and just like he used the staff while watching over his sheep, he was going to use it while leading and watching over his people, who of course were God’s people.
- So the first thing God does is draw Moses attention to the staff, and tells him to throw it down on the ground.
- I believe the reason God told him to throw it on the ground is because Moses needed to take a step of faith in order for his faith to be strengthened.
- By throwing the staff down, he was being obedient to God, not knowing exactly what God had planned, and he was also taking action.
- So he wasn’t just standing around, waiting for God to do something…he was believing God would make something happen.
- Immediately, the staff became a serpent, a real live snake, not a hologram or something like that, and this happens right in front of Moses.
- I get a kick out of his reaction to the snake…
- He gets scared and flees from it!
- I’ll be honest with you…I don’t like snakes, so I probably would have been running too!
- But Moses didn’t need to fear because this was a part of God’s sign.
- I’m sure God must have been smiling as He then tells Moses a second thing to do, which was, “Put your hand out and pick the snake up by its tail…”
- I definitely don’t think I’d have enough guts to do that!
- I’d probably be yelling, “Lord, I can’t! I’m afraid it’s going to bite me!”
- That might have been running through Moses’ mind as well, but taking this action required faith and courage on Moses part.
- Of course, when Moses obeyed, the snake immediately turned back into a shepherd’s staff!
- Don’t miss the significance of that.
- According to John Walvoord, “…snakes symbolized power and life to the Egyptians. God was declaring to Moses that he would be able to overcome the powers of Egypt.”
- The Children of Israel would recognize this as well, so it was not only a sign for Moses, but also for God’s people and the Egyptians.
- Through this miracle, God was strengthening the faith of Moses, but He also was teaching him the importance of trusting God instead of being overcome by his fears.
- Just a little side note here...
- When we think of serpents, we think of Satan because he appeared to Eve in the Garden of Eden as a serpent.
- Yet God chooses to turn the staff into a serpent.
- I believe He’s showing us that He has the power over Satan...
- Satan doesn’t get to just take the serpent and claim it as his own...
- No! God can use the serpent for His work too...
- Satan doesn’t get to claim it as his own.
- Anyways, I think at this point, Moses was still trying to process this amazing miracle in his mind, but in case he had any doubts, God performed a second miracle…He turned Moses hand leprous.
- In my opinion, this second miracle was scarier than the first.
- Leprosy was a horrifying disease that consumed a person’s entire body, and it had no cure.
- His hand would have literally been withering away, covered in thin, white scales…
- I might have fainted if I were in Moses’ shoes…
- I’m sure he must have been horrified, but God didn’t let it last long…
- He told Moses to put his hand back in his bosom, and this time, his hand was immediately cleansed.
- Once again, this was a way to strengthen the faith of Moses.
- Instead of screaming in horror, thinking he’d spend the rest of his life as a leper, Moses listened to God and obeyed His instructions, and his hand was healed.
- Sadly, even when God provides signs, people still find reasons not to believe.
- So God added a third miracle, just in case the Israelites didn’t believe the first two…
- Turning the water of the Nile River to blood.
- God knew the hearts of His people, so He knew some would be harder to convince than others.
- So He was willing to provide 3 miracles, and that shows you the love God has for His people, even when we’re being difficult.
- I believe that God was also giving Moses a peace of mind by providing a third miracle, showing him just a small part of what He was capable of doing.
- Because He could do these things, there was no way Egypt could stand against God Almighty!
- What about us today?
- Are there times when we need our faith to be strengthened through signs?
- The answer is yes!
- You might be thinking, “Wait a minute, Pastor. Doesn’t Jesus say in the Gospel of Matthew that “…a wicked and perverse generation seeks after a sign?”
- Yes, He does.
- But that passage refers to people who say they won’t believe in Christ unless He does a miracle to prove His existence to them…they want proof, but the fact is they really just want a reason to reject Him!
- No, as Christians, you and I want to follow God’s will, and there will be lots of times when we’re not sure if He wants us to do ‘A’ or ‘B’.
- When this happens, it’s important for us to commit the matter to prayer.
- God does not lead us astray, and when He wants us to do something, He makes it abundantly clear!
- One of my favorite verses is Psalm 37:4 which says, “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart!”
- That means you’re going to want what He wants, so the doors He wants to open for you are the doors you’re going to want to walk through…
- The doors He wants to keep closed are the doors you’re going to stay away from.
- That’s part of the joy of growing in a relationship with the Lord…
- The closer you grow in your relationship with Him, the more easily you hear His voice and recognize His will.
- And as you grow and recognize the signs He is sending you, the more your faith is strengthened.
II.) He strengthens faith through weakness- Vs 10-14a
- More than 10,000 evangelists and Christian leaders sat in a giant auditorium in Amsterdam in 1986 listening to world-renowned evangelist Billy Graham.
- While speaking, he made a surprising statement.
- “Let me tell you: every time I stand before the congregation of God’s people to preach, I tremble and my knees wobble!”
- How could such a great preacher who preached to millions with powerful sermons exhibit trembling and wobbling knees?
- He went on to describe not fear and stage fright, but intense humility and meekness as he felt inadequate for the daunting task to which God had called him.
- He relied on God for strength, not on his own eloquence.
- As Billy Graham said that day, “When God calls you, do not be afraid of trembling and wobbling knees, for He will be with you!”
- That is a lesson Moses learns here in this passage.
- After all that God has spoken to him, he is still struggling with his faith.
- “I’m not eloquent…I’m slow of speech and slow of tongue…”
- Wait a minute, now…
- Wasn’t Moses a prince in Egypt?
- Didn’t he lead the Egyptian army against the Ethiopians?
- A prince and a warrior would be used to giving orders and speaking in front of his subjects and his troops…
- On top of that, doesn’t Stephen say in Acts 7:22 that Moses was “powerful in speech?”
- So why would Moses say such a thing, if he had proven before that he could speak well?
- There are several possibilities…
- It might have been that he was fluent in the Egyptian language, but not the Hebrew language….
- Or it might have been some kind of a speech impediment that developed while he was in Midian, as a shepherd…stuttering or slurring his words, or his mind not being what it was 40 years before…
- But I believe it had to do with a lack of confidence.
- Moses had been tending to sheep for 40 years now.
- He wasn’t standing in front of groups of people, giving speeches and orders and using fancy words…
- No, he was a shepherd, watching over sheep.
- So he’d be changing hats from a nobody to a leader of God’s people who others would look to for guidance and direction…
- He’d be an ambassador for God before Pharaoh, who was a very powerful man…
- He was looking at his present circumstances, where he was…not where he would be, with God’s help, moving forward.
- So his focus was on his weaknesses.
- And that’s what God was trying to help Moses understand…
- “It’s not up to you to do this on your own with your weaknesses! You can do this because I am with you!”
- Notice God’s answer to Moses…
- “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Now therefore, go! I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say!”
- God is telling Moses, “I’ll use whomever I want, even if they can’t speak, or hear, or see! I created them and can use them for my glory! It doesn’t matter what your weakness is, if I’m with you, you can do anything!”
- So God has dismantled Moses’ argument, because it didn’t matter whether Moses could speak well or not…it wasn’t up to him or his own skills…it was up to the Lord!
- Yet Moses still struggled with his weakness, so much so that after all God has just told him, he says, “Please send someone else!”
- He’s basically telling God, “It doesn’t matter, I’m still too weak! There’s no way I can do this. I’ll mess it up! Send someone else better than me!”
- I really can’t give Moses too hard of a time here because I’ve done the same thing, and I’m sure everyone here today would admit that you have too.
- “I can’t do this, Lord. I’m too weak” or “I can’t do that Lord, I’m too scared.”
- There are many examples we could use of things we think we can’t do, but we haven’t asked God to help us do it.
- Yet He’s there, and He will use our weaknesses to strengthen our faith, if we let Him.
- I’m reminded of years ago sitting in the living room with my father who had been preaching for over 10 years.
- I asked him a question about how to put sermons together, and I’ll never forget what he did.
- He pulled out his Bible and turned to a passage of Scripture.
- He proceeded to read the passage, then he proceeded to give me an outline of the passage, and he proceeded to explain each point to me in detail…
- About 15 minutes later, he had given me a mini sermon, and he did it all without notes…he had put it together off the top of his head, with no help from commentaries or a study Bible or the internet.
- I thought, “Wow, there’s absolutely no way I could ever do that! What a great gift to have, I wish I had it!”
- Today, I still don’t have that gift…
- It takes a lot of time for me to sit down and study a passage and put an outline together, and then it takes me a long time to add information to each point, so that I can present the end product as a sermon.
- Part of the reason for that is because of a lack of confidence, which is a weakness, but thankfully, God strengthens our faith through our weaknesses.
- I can say that confidently…otherwise, I wouldn’t dare to stand before you and preach God’s Word…it’s only because of Him that I’m up here.
- I’m not saying you have to get up in front of a church and preach a sermon…
- But I am saying that if you think God is asking you to do something, and you’re hesitating because you think you can’t do it, talk to God about it…
- He will give you the strength you need to do it, otherwise He wouldn’t ask you to do it.
- Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 1:26-31…
- And 2 Corinthians 12:9-10…
- As you can see, even the Apostle Paul had his weaknesses...
- Some believe that Paul was short and bald...
- Others believe that the thorn in his side was an eye problem, that he was going blind or something...
- Yet Paul was the greatest missionary in the world!
- God was with him, and God used him because Paul didn’t let his weaknesses stop him from doing God’s work.
- God will strengthen your faith through your weaknesses, if you ask Him to.
III.) He strengthens faith through doubt- Vs 14-17
- Surprisingly, Moses doubted that he could do the job God called him to do, even though God promised to be with him.
- So now, in vs 14, God’s anger is kindled against Moses.
- I believe God has Moses record this in Scripture for a reason.
- Moses has made one excuse after another after another, and God has been patient.
- Even now, as Moses asks God to choose someone else, God does not punish him.
- His anger is kindled because Moses doubted, yet instead of pushing Moses away, God approves his request.
- God will speak His words to Moses, and Moses will relay them to Aaron, who will then speak them before the people.
- Obviously, God knew this was going to happen, even before Moses gave Him excuse after excuse.
- So I believe God has Moses record this because it shows us just how patient God is with us.
- Imagine if you were at work, and your boss told you to do something, and you said, “But I can’t because of this, and I can’t because of that…” and you proceeded to give excuse after excuse after excuse.
- Do you think your boss would put up with that?
- In most workplaces, that would be considered insubordination, and you’ll either be written up or fired.
- Yet instead of squashing Moses for doubting, God gave Moses his request, and He even chose his brother to do the job, a man who Moses would be comfortable with.
- It really is awesome how loving, merciful, and gracious the Lord our God truly is!
- I think it’s important to point something out here, though.
- Moses thought he knew what he wanted...someone else to go and speak for the Lord.
- At the time, that’s what looked best to him.
- However, God could see what Moses couldn’t see...the future!
- That means God knew that Aaron was going to make a huge mistake at Mt. Sinai...
- He was going to give in to the troubke makers in the camp and build them a golden calf...
- So this “other person” that Moses wanted God to choose, Moses thought would be a better option than himself...
- In reality, Aaron was going to play a part in their idolatry.
- You see, when we doubt God, we are telling Him that we think we know better than Him.
- Yet God can see what we can't, and He’s never wrong.
- He knows what's best...
- Remember that next time He calls you to do something you think you can't do.
- So God used the doubts of Moses to strengthen his faith.
- You and I will also have doubts as we live the Christian life.
- Doubts about the way God is handling a situation in our lives…
- Doubts about ourselves, doubts about the work we’re doing for the Lord, or the work He wants us to do...
- For example, God might want you to share your testimony with a stranger who is facing a situation similar to something you’ve faced in the past...
- It’s a scary thought because when you share your testimony, you are opening up and are becoming vulnerable...
- You might doubt God and think you’re the wrong person.
- You might think someone else would do a better job.
- You might think your testimony is not very exciting and nobody wants to hear it...
- Doubt is a normal part of our sinful nature.
- But we can’t let doubt overwhelm us.
- God is stronger than our doubt.
- God can see what we can’t see, and God knows what we don’t know.
- It’s so important for us to hand our doubt over to the Lord.
- Instead of letting our doubt pull us away from God, we need to let God use it to strengthen our faith in Him.
- The following is a poem by Norman Shirk.
“Let me meet you on the mountain, Lord,
Just once.
You wouldn't have to burn a whole bush.
Just a few smoking branches
And I would surely be ...your Moses.
Let me meet you on the water, Lord,
Just once.
It wouldn't have to be on White Rock Lake.
Just on a puddle after the annual Dallas rain
And I would surely be...your Peter.
Let me meet you on the road, Lord,
Just once.
You wouldn't have to blind me on North Central Expressway.
Just a few bright lights on the way to chapel
And I would surely be...your Paul.
Let me meet you, Lord,
Just once.
Anywhere. Anytime.
Just meeting you in the Word is so hard sometimes
Must I always be...your Thomas?”
- Brothers and sisters, don’t be a doubting Thomas.
- Trust God, and know that He will use your doubts to strengthen your faith!
- In closing, I encourage you to consider what God is doing in your life right now.
- Are you like Moses, struggling with your weaknesses and doubts?
- Ask Him today to strengthen your faith.
- He might have something difficult for you to do, or He might be asking you to do something outside of your comfort zone…
- A couple examples might be sharing the Gospel with someone, or reaching out to someone in need…
- Don’t let your weaknesses and doubts stop you from being obedient to the Lord.
- He isn’t asking you to do it in your own strength…
- No, just like He was with Moses, He will be with you as well.
- Maybe you aren’t sure if He wants you to do something, and you need a sign…
- It’s okay to let Him know you’re confused, and it’s okay to ask Him for a sign to confirm His will in that situation.
- Turn it over to the Lord in prayer and ask Him to strengthen your faith today.
- Let’s take a moment now to reflect on God’s Word.
