EXO.17:9-13 "STANDING IN THE SHADOW OF THE MAN OF GOD"
A) Israel had just crossed the Red Sea on a journey that should have taken from 11-14 days.
* They should have been crossed over Jordan in Canaan Land and inherited the presence and
promises of God! * A journey that should have taken less than 2 weeks, took them 40 years.
B) But as soon as they crossed the Red Sea, which is a type of being saved,
* The first conflict they had was with the people called Amalek, a perfect type of the flesh!
C) Amalek gave them problems from the Red Sea all the way to Jordan!
* You remember when Moses took one deacon out of every tribe and sent them to Canaan
Land to get a report, ten came back and said, "We can’t go in ......."
* Only two of them were full of the Holy Ghost, Joshua and Caleb! * They said,
D) "We are very well equipped and able to take over and conquer the enemy!"
* Do you know what enemy it was that stopped them from crossing over?
* Moses said, "Who is it over there that you are afraid of?" They said, "The Amalekites!"
* You see, the flesh will fight you from the moment you’re saved till the moment you see Jesus!
E) You will have a battle on your hands! * The people of Israel was in Rephidim.
* Moses told Joshua in v.9 ... and so in v.10, Moses goes to the top of the hill with Aaron & Hur.
* In v.11, the battle was going on hot and heavy! * As long as Moses had his hands up .......!
* So in v.12, as the sun was going down and his shadow was cast behind him, we find two
faithful men standing in the shadow of the man of God, holding his hands up!
F) I thank God for good women, young people and teen-agers!
* But we are living in a day and time when the church needs some men!
* I’m talking about men that will stand behind the man of God, stand in the shadow of .......!
G) How can we stand in the shadow and support our pastor?
* You do not have a television or radio pastor! * Man who supported Jimmy Swaggart .......
* And by the way, it wasn’t Mrs. Moses that went to the top of the hill, it was Moses!
* I want to show you from the Bible how you can be an encouragement standing behind .......!
(1) YOU GOT TO HAVE CONFIDENCE IN HIS LEADERSHIP!
* Now, I want to give you something to think about! * It’s really an awkward situation here.
A) Joshua is going to fight the first battle these new converts ever fought!
* You would have thought Moses would’ve said, "Look, we’re going to fight the Amalekites."
* "I am going to lead the way and be the example, I’m going to show you how to kill the flesh
and live a victorious Christian life."
B) But instead Moses said, "I want you all to go fight and I’m going to the top of the hill!"
* Now, if that had been in an average Free Will Baptist Church, they would have said,
* "Now wait a minute Moses, I think we ought to vote on this thing and see if you should be
the one to go to the top of the hill!"
C) But they had enough confidence in the man of God and they said,
* "If God tells you to go to the top of the hill or if God tells you to go to the lowest valley,"
* "You just do what God tells you to do ’cause we’ve got confidence in your leadership!"
* "God’s already used you to bring us out of Egypt’s bondage, and God has used you to lead
us across the Red Sea, and we have confidence that you’ll lead us through this battle!"
* I’m telling you, you will never be the church member you should be if you don’t have
confidence in the man of God!
D) They didn’t question him, they didn’t go half way up the mountain and say,
* "Hey Moses, is this far enough? God can hear us from here, we don’t have to go all ... up ...!"
* They never opened their mouth! * They said, "God has put you in leadership over us, and we
will follow you as long as you follow God & are faithful to the Word of God!"
* "You just lead the way and we’ll follow you and God!"
E) Now, imagine as they’re going up the hill what Aaron & Hur heard from other people!
* Someone may have said, "You’re worshipping a preacher, you’re not worshipping God!"
* I can imagine someone sticking their head out from behind a rock and say,
* "Let me tell you some things that Moses did before he got right! Did he ever tell you about the
Egyptian he killed before he fled from Egypt?"
* I can imagine Aaron saying, "We’re not gonna listen to your garbage, we’re gonna follow ......."
F) You cannot be right with God and not be right with your pastor!
* Now some of these people knew Moses when he was just a small boy.
* Some were old enough to be his parents or grandparents and may have said,
F) "Now, listen, Sonny, sit down here and let me teach you a few things!"
* "I’ve been in this thing a lot longer than you and Moses have!"
* But they said, "We don’t care if he’s 10 or 50 years old, he’s the man of God that God has put
in the place of leadership, we’re not going to buck him!"
* By the way, he wasn’t just "Ol’ Moses" either, he was Pastor Moses!
* When God puts a man in place of leadership, you ought to respect him for it!
(2) YOU OUGHT TO COMFORT HIM IN LOVE!
* Moses had his hands up in the air all day long! * He stood up there in the heat of the day!
A) His hands began to grow weary and began to fall!
* Aaron and Hur stood beside him, one on one side and the other on the other side.
* They did not argue who would be on the right side or the left side.
B) They just stood in love with the man of God saying, "We don’t want you to give in!"
* "We don’t want you to compromise, just keep the standards high like you’ve always had them!"
* "We’ll stand behind you Moses, we’ll be right here, we’re not going nowhere!"
C) The Bible says they moved a stone and put it under Moses and he sat on it!
* It would have been a whole lot easier to have said, "Hey Moses, step back just a little."
* It would have been a whole lot easier for Moses to have stepped back than to have moved .......!
D) They didn’t say, "Moses, if you’ll move, we’ll be good to you!"
* They said, "Because you’ve not moved, we’ll be good to you!"
* We need churches today to be good to their pastors, because they haven’t bowed their knees
to Baal! * God will bless a man and a church that will stand for what’s right!
* Your pastor needs his hands held up! * He fights enough from outside the church!
(3) YOU NEED TO CARRY THE LOAD! * v.12 says, "And his hands were steady ..."
* The word "steady" means a truss which means a frame work for holding up a roof.
* Between the outside 2x4’s that holds the shingles and the inside 2x4 truss that holds
the sheet rock, a little piece of 2x4 is cut out.
A) That is where all the weight is! * It’s not those long 2x4’s that everybody sees ... carries ...!
* And it’s not that crowd on top that holds the shingles together that keeps things going!
* It’s those little pieces in the middle that many of you have never seen!
B) I can’t show you the real structures that support a building, but I know they’re there!
* Because the building is being held together!
* Aaron and Hur didn’t have to have people notice them! * They was just part of the truss!
* They just wanted to be dependable and reliable in holding things together and carrying
the load for the man of God!
CLOSE
A) My E-mail I got yesterday from a member of our church!
* That was holding up my hands! * Gal.6:2 "Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so ......."
* We will never experience the real blessing of God until we know how to be supportive
of the man of God! (Respect him ... A judge is called "Your Honor" Police - "Officer")
* Let me encourage you to be found standing in the shadow of the man of God!
