When Things Go From Bad To Worse!

When things go from bad to worse!

Reading: Exodus chapter 5

Question:

• Have you ever had one of those days that started out bad;

• And only got worse as the day wore on?

• Some of you are thinking days…

• I have weeks (or months) like that!

ill:

• I like the story of the couple who had been married a few years;

• When arguments and disagreements seemed to be constant in their relationship.

• They had been at each others throats for so long;

• That counselling seemed to be their only hope of making the marriage work.

• He was incredibly insensitive and dull;

• She was hyperactive and dominant;

• And that is never a good mix!

When they arrived at their first counselling session, things did not start well:

• The husband slumped in the chair, stared down at the carpet;

• And gave the impression he would rather be somewhere else!

• The wife however launched into a 90mph conversion;

• Describing all the wrongs within their marriage.

• Every problem could be traced back to him,

• His failures, his insensitivities, his failure to communicate, and she went on & on & on.

• After 15 minutes of the wife talking non-stop;

• The counsellor stood up and without saying a word,

• Walked around his desk and bent over in front of the wife;

• He picked her up by her shoulders, gave her a big hug,

• And kissed her passionately for several minutes on the lips,

• He then sat her down….

• Looked at the husband and said,

• “That is what your wife needs at least twice a week”

• The stunned husband thought for a minute, scratched his head and said;

• “Well I could bring her in on Tuesdays and Wednesdays”

• When we miss understand what’s going on;

• We can often make a situation worse and not better!

Now Cecil B. DeMille did not write the script for Moses’ life - God did!

• And contrary to popular belief Moses did not look like Charlton Heston!

• He was just an ordinary human being, like you and me;

• And he was driven by the same impulses, that each one of us experience;

• The same highs and lows, the same kinds of ups and downs.

• And Moses, like each one of us;

• Had to learn to cope with days, weeks, months – when things went from bad to worse!

We are picking up the story in chapter 4 verse 29:

• For Moses this particular day started with him riding the crest of a wave of confidence:

• He had called together the Hebrew elders (leaders);

• And he has received their full support.

• He had also performed miracles (supernatural acts) to support his call from God;

• And he had spoken powerfully (something he thought, that he had forgotten how to do).

• Verse 31: He got the Leaders of the Hebrews to spontaneously worship the Lord;

• For Moses and his brother Aaron, things could not have gone any better than they did!

But…

• Then they encountered a stubborn, arrogant, and cruel individual named Pharaoh,

• He would start a chain of reactions that would mean life for Moses and his people;

• Life suddenly going from bad to worse.

• For Moses and Aaron this would turn into the type of day:

• That they wished they could have just pulled the covers over their heads & stayed in bed.

• Moses was about to encounter two problems;

• These two problems would not be mere inconveniences,

• They would turn out to be colossal struggles!

Problem no 1: Pharaoh (vs 1-14).

“Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh”.

Those words in verse 1: are so simple and easy to read but remember:

• Pharaoh was at this time and in this setting the most powerful man on the planet.

• Among the Egyptians he was more than a man – he was a god.

• He was worshipped;

• Colossal structures and sculptures bearing his name and image were everywhere!

• Note: What this man said was law – and there was no appeal;

• He held life and death in the casual snap of his fingers.

• He was not a man to be messed with;

• There was a name for people who messed with Pharaoh – ‘Corpse!’

Ill:

• I suppose a modern equivalent of what Moses and Aaron are doing;

• Would be like you or me standing before Zimbabwe tyrant Robert Mugabe;

• And ordering him to give back all the white-owned farms that he had taken!

• And to do it immediately!

• It’s only a guess but I don’t think you would get very far;