Divine Interruptions
Exodus 3:1-10
8-25-02
Intro:
Ex 3:1-10
3:1Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. 3Then Moses said, "I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn." 4So when the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." 5Then He said, "Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground." 6Moreover He said, "I am the God of your father--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.
7And the LORD said: "I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. 8So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. 9Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt." NKJV
Moses’ life was wonderfully blessed with divine interruptions like the one we find here in this passage. God just would not leave him alone. Aren’t you glad God doesn’t leave us to our own devices and plans? Aren’t you glad “The steps of a good man are ordered of the Lord?”
There were those pivotal moments in Moses’ life when God unexpectedly showed and changed his life forever. Forty years prior to this time God had intervened in Moses’ life in a special way. We do not know the details like we know this event. But we know something significant happened. He had been raised as a prince in Egypt. In that position he had all the wealth, all the recognition, all the privileges anyone could ever want. But something happened that caused him to give all that up and identify himself with a bunch of oppressed slaves.
What would cause a person to do something like that? What causes a person to put his career on the line—relinquish all his money, his security, his status, to help a bunch of underprivileged slaves?
Hebrews 11:24-27 “By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, 26esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. 27By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.” NKJV
There is more than a hint in those verses as to why Moses made that choice.
He saw something other people were not seeing! He saw beyond the veil of this life into the glories of a higher realm. He saw beyond the temporal to the eternal. He saw a reward that is infinitely more valuable than anything Egypt had to offer. God interrupted his pursuit of worldly success with an offer he could not refuse. It is the unveiling of the eternal that causes a person to live by a different set of values and to pursue a different set of goals than the world.
Have you ever been interrupted in life by an intervention of God? If so you are blessed. It is a demonstration of mercy and grace when God does that. I am forever grateful for those divine interruptions in the course of my life. When I was fourteen years old God came into my life in a special way. He made me aware of my sin. He made me aware of my need for forgiveness. He granted me repentance and brought me into His glorious kingdom. In fact, He placed His hand upon my whole family and turned us all toward Him. When I was twenty-two there came another divine interruption.
There have been a few others since then.
One of the things that intrigues me most about life is the possibility of these divine interruptions.
Life can become so routine and predictable. You get up in the morning—go to work—do your job—come home and do a few chores—get some rest—and go to work the next morning. But just about the time you think nothing will ever change, God interrupts the routine and gives you a fresh assignment.
That new chapter in your life may or may not involve a geographic move. It may or may not mean a job change. It may or may not bring new relationships into your life. All those are possibilities. But when God comes on the scene in that way something marvelous always happens in our lives.
Consider with me this morning:
I. The Sovereignty of Divine Interruptions
II. The Opportunity of Divine Interruptions
III. The Responsibility of Divine Interruptions
I. The Sovereignty of Divine Interruptions
A divine interruption is a good reminder of Who’s in charge. It is something I cannot control or even predict. God does it when He wants to—where He wants to—how He wants to.
There’s always a surprise element in a divine interruption. That surprise element makes life extremely interesting. I’m glad I don’t know everything God has prepared for me. I like the fact that He has some nice surprises already planned out for my days ahead.
Notice in Exodus 3 this divine interruption came quite unexpectedly into Moses’ life. The chapter opens with these words, “Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law…” He was just doing his job, minding his own business, making a living. He didn’t even have his own flock—it was Jethro’s flock. He worked for his father-in-law. I think Moses had pretty well settled into this routine work and had given up all hope of ever doing anything really significant in life.
Have you ever had your bubble burst—your hopes so dashed that you really felt it painful to even hope again? Moses had gone through a terrible disappointment. When he was forty years old he thought he was going to do a great thing for God. He felt God’s call on his life—a call to deliver the children of Israel out of bondage. He was a man of action and he stepped right into the work. He killed a cruel Egyptian taskmaster and got the ball rolling. But the ball didn’t roll in the direction he expected. Nobody recognized his call but him. And he didn’t know what to do with it. He thought the Israelites would realize that God called him to deliver them. But their response to him was, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us?” (1) His efforts were a total failure.
That disappointment crushed Moses and left him resigned to a life of obscurity. I suspect the call of God continued to churn in his soul, but I don’t think he ever expected to fulfill it. He was just doing his job and staying out of trouble. There he was in the dessert. There he came to Horeb which means “The Waste.” (2) Have you ever felt like you were just wasting time and getting nowhere? That’s when this divine interruption occurred—in a dry dessert, in a boring, at a most unexpected time.
I think God likes to do it that way so that we know we didn’t earn it—He just gave it to us.
Divine interruptions are always a work of grace. They are always a reflection of God’s sovereignty. They are always according to His purposes.
I find it very encouraging to know that God could show up at any time, any place, for any reason and change everything. For some that may sound more like a threat than a promise. But I like an unpredictable element in life. I’m glad God is in charge. I’m glad I can’t control Him or predict Him. I just need to follow Him.
The Sovereignty of Divine Interruptions
II. The Opportunity of Divine Interruptions
When I read the Bible and examine these interruptions in people’s lives I see that they come full of opportunity.
This is Moses’ opportunity to fulfill the purpose of his life.
This is God’s second chance for Moses. Ex 3:10 “Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt." NKJV
Forty years earlier Moses felt up to the task. His response back then was “Let’s get on with it.”
But life has a way of breaking down our arrogance and prideful self-confidence. Now he know he can’t do it. Now he is ready for God to use him. Now he doesn’t want to do it! Isn’t that the way it often happens? There is Moses. A part of him hungers and desires to fulfill God’s call on his life. Another part of him is saying, “I’ve already tried that and failed, let somebody else do it.” But God helps Moses through his struggles and leads him into the fulfillment of His plan. Aren’t you glad God is patient with us in the same way?
Think about some of the other divine interruption in the Bible. When God spoke to Noah it was an interruption full of opportunity—the opportunity to survive the greatest catastrophe man has ever seen on the earth--he opportunity to preserve the human race. When God spoke to Abram and told him to leave Ur of Chaldeans, it was an opportunity of a lifetime—an opportunity to become the father of many nations—an opportunity to become the father of faith.
There in Judges 6 is Gideon living under the oppression of the Medianites. He had no plan for deliverance. He didn’t even hope for it. It was God’s intervention that turned everything around. It was God—not man—that got “the show on the road.” And God can do it again. If He can use Gideon, He can use you. He just might want to use you or me to make the point that He could do it through anybody. “It’s not by might, not by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord.” (3)
Opportunity knocks when God shows up. Is He knocking on your door this morning? Open your heart to the possibilities and see what He can do. It’s not over ‘till it’s over, and if you’re breathing this morning it’s not over.
There is Joseph called out of prison and opportunity knocks.
There is David overlooked by everybody except God. Nobody was expecting the great prophet, Samuel, to come to town and anoint that lowly shepherd boy as king. I think God gets a kick out of blowing people’s minds by doing things like that.
1 Cor 1:26-30 “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 27But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29that no flesh should glory in His presence.” NKJV
According to those specifications you and I may be uniquely qualified for the job. Amen?
There was a little Jewish girl about fifteen years old engaged to a man named Joseph. In the world’s eyes she was nothing special. But God sees deep into the heart. And He gave this little Jewish girl the greatest privilege any human being has ever had—the privilege of giving birth to the SAVIOR. Her opportunity came suddenly. It didn’t come randomly—it wasn’t luck—for she was a virgin of Israel highly favored of God. Oh, what an opportunity came with that visitation.
III. The Responsibility of Divine Interruptions
“To whom much is given, much is required.” (4) God does not come to us with a message simply because He has nothing better to do. He brings into our lives the opportunity to partner with Him, the opportunity to be a part of what He is doing, the opportunity to fulfill real purpose in life.
The first thing Moses had to do was to “turn aside” and hear what God was saying. Sometimes God has to get our attention so we will slow down long enough to hear Him. God used a burning bush to get Moses’ attention. A burning bush in that dry dessert was nothing unusual. The fact that it was not consumed by the fire was unusual. That’s what God used to get Moses’ attention. What has God used or better yet what is God using to get your attention? Does He have our attention?
God spoke a message to Moses and that meant responsibility to obey. Moses had a lot of reasons why he could not do what God was telling him to do. It is usually the same with you and me. Why? Because we know our own frailty and vulnerability. We know our own imperfections. But here is God’s answer to all that: 2 Cor 12:9 “…My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness…" NKJV
God is not asking you and me to do what we can do for Him—He doesn’t need that at all. God is asking you and me to let Him do through us what we could never do ourselves. Amen?
It requires humility. It requires dependence. It requires faith and obedience. There is nothing in your life or my life better than the will of God. There is no better plan than the one God has for us.
Divine interruptions seem to carry a message and a calling with them. For Moses it was a call to deliver Israel out of bondage. For the disciples it was to be fishers of men. For Paul it was to be an apostle to the gentiles.
In the year King Uzziah died Isaiah had a divine interruption. The veil of heaven was pulled back and Isaiah saw the Lord “high and lifted up and his robe filled the temple.” The seraphim, holy angelic creatures, were crying out, “"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!"
How many remember what Isaiah’s initial response was to that vision?
"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." NKJV
To get into the presence of a holy God is to become extremely aware of our own sinfulness.
Self-righteousness cannot prevail in His presence. The glory of the Lord exposes the very thoughts and intents of our hearts. If you’ve had a divine interruption in your life like Isaiah did, you know what I’m talking about. Conviction of sin and repentance are very much a part of the experience.
The good news is this: God has made provision for our forgiveness and cleansing. He has made the way of escape. He has provided a sacrifice at Calvary that is altogether acceptable in His eyes. It is the blood of Jesus—it is His sacrifice on the cross—that qualifies us for service. In Isaiah 6 the seraphim took a live coal off the altar of sacrifice and touched Isaiah’s mouth and declared his sin purged.
Here is the question Isaiah heard during that divine interruption: "Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?" That is the call of responsibility. “Woe is me if I preach not the gospel.” The question is an eternal one. “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?”
Are you available or are you busy? Are you willing or are you unwilling?
When God calls how will we respond?
This is Isaiah’s response: "Here am I! Send me."
May our response be the same: “Here am I! Send me.”
Notes:
(1) Exodus 2:14
(2) International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, under discussion of word “Sinai”
(3) Zech. 4:6
(4) Luke 12:48
Richard Tow
Grace Chapel Foursquare Church
Springfield, MO
www.gracechapelchurch.org
