road2answers

Exodus 6:13-30 At the beginning of the book of Exodus, we reviewed the members of Jacob’s family that moved to Egypt. They moved to Egypt because of widespread famine. Years before anyone knew the famine was coming, God sent Joseph to Egypt ahead of his family to prepare the way. This sounds nice, but in reality, it was a horrible ordeal. Joseph’s brothers hated him and sold him as a slave. Joseph spent years as a slave and then as a prisoner. As harsh as life was for Joseph, God was preparing him to fulfill a great role. Let’s review where Joseph was in the family. Joseph was number eleven out of 12. This simple statement misses the fact that he was his father’s favorite and was treated like a prince while his brothers were treated like hired hands. This family situation contributed to the malice of brothers who sold their younger sibling into slavery. With the family safely in Egypt, years passed and that generation passed away.

Exodus 6:1-13 Moses accused the Lord of doing evil to the people of Israel. In Exodus 5:22-23, Moses says: Then Moses turned to the Lord and said, "O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all." ( Exodus 5:22-23 ESV ) Moses is considered a man of God. He was used by God to deliver God’s people out of their slavery in Egypt and to give the law. But, here he is accusing God of doing wrong. Have you ever accused God? Have you ever asked something like, “Why did you ever send me?” Moses is not the only one in Scripture who made such accusations against God. For example, Job accused God of turning cruel toward him without cause. God answered Job by showing Job who God is. God answers Moses by proclaiming to Moses who He is. God begins His answer to Moses with a statement of His purpose. He says

Exodus 4:27-5:23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all. ( Exodus 5:23 ESV ) Moses and his brother, Aaron, arrived in Egypt ready to deliver the Israelites from their slavery. Sent by God, they were confident of their success. Exodus chapter 4 ends with Moses and Aaron meeting in the wilderness. Exodus 4:27 tells us that the Lord told Aaron to go meet Moses in the wilderness. The wilderness is a vast area. If I told you to go meet someone in California, where would you go first? San Diego? Los Angeles? San Francisco? Sacramento? Sequoia National Park?   Also, when would you go? We are not told how God directed Moses and Aaron as to their meeting place, but they would have had to have more direction than Moses tells us about. The Holy Spirit would have spoken to each one of them to bring them to the same place at the same time. This would have been the beginning of confidence

Exodus 4:18-26 Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses' feet with it and said, "Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!" ( Exodus 4:25 ESV ) The name of Moses is so closely related to God’s law that the law is referred to by the name “Moses.” For example, a person speaking of what the law says might say, “Moses tells us ...” God’s appearance to Moses in the burning bush is so well known that a reference to “the burning bush” is all it takes for a person to know that both Moses and God are involved. Moses is well known because he followed the Lord. He followed God. He obeyed God. In following the Lord, Moses laid the groundwork for an efficient system of government, established the nation of Israel, and he wrote some of the most enduring and ancient literature that is being printed even to this day. However, the route to such notoriety was not always easy or smooth. In the last few messages, we have