GOD’S PLAN FOR LEADERSHIP
Exodus
3:1-12
INTRODUCTION
In Biblical names had meanings. The
name Moses in Hebrew means “drawn out of the water. The name embodies the
history of the Hebrew nation. The nation in Egypt started when Joseph the son
of Jacob was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers.
Joseph end up in Egypt and rose to
second in command to the King. He brought his
family from the promised land to
Egypt to escape the famine. Over 400 years the family grew to a population of 2
million people.
A king rose up who didn’t know
Joseph. The Egyptian pharaoh feared the rapid growth of the Hebrews would take
over his country. He enslaved the people and decided to kill all male Hebrew
babies.
To save her baby, Moses’ mother put
him in a basket that floated in the river
where the Pharaoh's daughter was bathing.
She took Moses as her son and
unknowingly paid Moses’ mother to
nurse him until he was weaned.
The Pharaoh’s daughter raised and
educated Moses as her son.
Moses at 40 years old, knowing he
was a Hebrew, killed an Egyptian who was
fighting a Hebrew brother. Moses
fled Egypt and landed in Midian where he
married the daughter of a Midianite
priest.
God Gave Moses a forty-year
detoxification period. He was detoxed from the
Egyptian culture and the Egyptian
idol gods. Under his father-in-law, a Midianite
Priest, he learned the true and
living God and became devoted to Him. He became
a family man and the leader of his
father in laws flock.
At 80 years old, after Moses had
trained, God called him to serve.
God uses the circumstances of our
lives to prepare us to lead others to Him.
GOD DRAWS US TO HIM
V:1. Now Moses was tending the flock
of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the
far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the
angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses
saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought,
"I will go over and see this strange sight — why the bush does not burn
up."
A. God uses working people. He uses
the ones who are dedicated to serving.
1. If we are faithful in the little things, God will give us greater
things.
2. The name Horeb in Hebrew means a
desolate place.
3. Why would Moses lead a flock of
animals to a desolate place?
4.
It was not Moses, but God doing the leading.
5. God can take that which we call
desolate and make it a place of abundance.
6. God claims the mountain as His to
show us His glory.
B. For Moses the mountain was the place
where he met God in the Spirit.
1. It was a place of new directions
Moses had heard about God, but he came to
know God.
2. We are naturally curious about things that
are out of the ordinary.
3. It is evident that Moses spent some
time watching the bush burn
expecting the fire to go out.
4. When we are in the presence of God,
we should expect the extraordinary.
Sometimes God uses what we cannot
explain to get our attention.
5. Sometimes what we cannot explain is
the Lord in the form of an
angel.
6. Since the Lord is everywhere all
the time, He shows up to give directions
when we need them.
7. Since life is not all about us, the
Lord's presence is our opportunity to serve
Him.
GOD REVEALS HIMSELF AS HOLY
V:4 When the Lord saw that he had
gone over to look, God called to him from
within the bush, "Moses!
Moses!" And Moses said, "Here I am."
5 "Do not come any closer," God
said. "Take off your sandals, for the place
where you are standing is holy
ground."
6 Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God
of Isaac and the God of
Jacob."
At this, Moses hid his face, because he was
afraid to look at God.
A.
God gets our attention to
communicate with us.
1.
The burning bush may represent the purity
of God
2.
The fact that the bush was not
consumed by fire may
Represent God’s everlasting presence.
TIME OF MEDITATION
B. It was when Moses was alone, that
God presented Himself.
1. We need that alone time to
hear a word from the Lord.
2. Notice God made Moses aware that He was
holy and the meeting place
was holy.
3.
When we come before the Lord, we
should present ourselves in a holy
manner.
C. God identified Himself as the God of Moses' forefathers.
1. God knows us by name and our
response to Him should be immediate.
2. It is evident that Moses had been
taught about God, perhaps from His
Mother and his father in Law.
4.
Moses knew enough about God to fear
Him and to listen to His
commands.
5. Let me suggest today the church
knows God’s commands but doesn’t fear
Him enough to be obedient, until
there is a need.
GOD IDENTIFIES THE PROBLEM AND THE
MISSION
V:7 The Lord said, "I have
indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out
because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So
I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring
them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with
milk and honey — the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites,
Hivites, and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and
I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am
sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt."
A.
God knows every event that happens
in our lives. He knows every wrong
that
is done to us. He allows all things for our good.
1.
430 years earlier, God told Abraham
that his descendants would be
enslaved.
2. Abraham was in the promised land
when God gave him the prophecy.
3. The question becomes what was the
purpose of the planned slavery for
Israel?
Let me suggest that God wanted to
grow a nation forged together by slavery
to keep them focus on Him for
deliverance.
In the middle of their misery was
the hope for salvation. According to the text
the whole nation cried out to God
for deliverance.
The nation grew up surrounded by the
worship of idol gods yet for 400 years,
managed to keep their hope in the
true and living God.
Perhaps slavery was God’s way of
keeping the nation from being scattered among
other idol-worshiping nations.
God started with one family whose
forefather was Abraham with the promise of
Building a great nation. One family
went to Egypt to start the nation’s growth.
Israel was not always slaves in
Egypt. There is no mention of the growing nation
Before slavery wanting to return to
their homeland. Jacob and his 11 sons settled
in Egypt under the cover of Joseph
and became complacent.
By enslaving Israel in Egypt, God
prevented intermarriage with foreign nations.
Steve Best a Bible Teacher
suggested the following:
First, God was biding time for the fulfillment of the iniquity of
the Amorites to be fulfilled (Gen 15:16).
Second, it was in suffering that they learned obedience, for God
scourges all sons he receives (Heb 12:5-11, Ex 3:27; 4:31; Rom 5:3-5, Jam 1:2-4).
Third, they were subject to mankind’s unjust laws, in order to see
the superior wisdom of God, when he handed down his Torah to them.
Fourth, it was in their miraculous deliverance that God
demonstrated to the entire world, the power and sovereignty of the one true
God, and the fact his hand was upon them.
God's ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts.
Whatever God
Does, is in our best interest.
WHAT GOD HAS FOR YOU IS FOR YOU
B. After 430 years, the promised land was still intact.
God placed it in the
hands of the enemy to cultivate and keep it.
1. What God has for you
is for you.
2. God may delay giving
us what He prepared to get us ready to
receive it.
C. God has a mission for each of us. It is up to you to discover
what God wants from you.
1. It is the mission that brings success to
our lives.
2. You have been prepared for the mission God
assigns you.
Moses was trained and educated in Egypt by
the Pharoah’s
daughter.
3. At an early age, God was instilled in
him by his mother
4. When
Moses left Egypt, God placed him with a Mediante priest to
learn family and leadership skills.
5.
Under the Midianite priest,
Moses came to know God.
QUALIFIED TO SERVE
A. We are uniquely qualified to do the work God
has for us.
1. You are never too old to work for God.
Moses was 80 years old when God assigned Him
the task of
leading Israel to the promised land.
GOD USES YOUR LIFE EXPERIENCES
A. The pharaoh and his
attitude were no stranger to Moses.
1. The oppression of
Israel was known by Moses.
2. Moses had all the knowledge He needed to deal
with
Pharoah.
3. Moses was given the
power and authority to free Israel.
4. With God on your side,
you are well equipped.
WHO ARE YOU?
V:11 But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the
Israelites out of Egypt?"
12 And God said, "I will be
with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When
you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this
mountain."
A. There are no buts with God.
1. You should never devalue your worth to serve God.
2. If God calls you to it, He will see you through it.
3. Who are you? A powerful messenger of God.
Who are you? A qualified messenger of
God.
Who are you? A faithful messenger of
God.
Who are you? A devoted messenger of
God.
Who are you? A chosen messenger of
God
Who are you? One empowered by God.
Who are you? One prepared by God
Who are you? One authorized by God
Who are you? A child of God.
Who are you? One who has God on
his side.
Who are you? One who loves God and
is loved by God
DON’T LET NO ONE DEFINE WHO YOU ARE
ONLY GOD HAS THAT RIGHT
Rev. M. Mitchell
No comments:
Post a Comment