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When Moses was going to have an
audience with Pharaoh he could not
go in apologetically and make a
suggestion to Pharaoh (Ex 5:1). He
went in with the confidence of the
assurance God was with him. He
declared that God demanded not
to
go in with hat in hand
(Ex. 5:1; 7:16; 8:1; 9:1; 10:3).
How could a man who
was slow of speech, who
possibly felt he had lost his
purpose for living, was to deliver
the Israelites and for those 40
years was a forgotten shepherd on
the backside of the desert (Ex. 3:1)
be used by God in such a mighty
work? Moses had to lose sight of
himself and be fixed on the
greatness of God. God had to
educate his servant to the greatness
of the One sending him.
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1) |
Step one |
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a) |
God had to assuredly get Moses’
attention. To do so Moses saw the
burning bush which was not burning
up (Ex. 3:2-3). Possibly he had
seen many bushes burn in the desert
but this was different, it did not
get destroyed. Curiously aroused,
Moses decided to investigate the
strange happening. |
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b) |
Lesson No. 1 |
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i) |
Where God is manifested it is holy.
God invites us to approach Him (Lev.
1:1-2) and to do it with boldness
(Heb. 10:19), but never with a
casual or patronizing attitude. It
is exceedingly serious to approach
God in the Name of Jesus. |
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c) |
Lesson No. 2 |
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i) |
God places regulations on how the
children of Israel were to present
themselves before Him (Ex.
19:10-15). This would come to
Moses’ mind when the children of
Israel would approach Sinai (Ex.
19:17-25). |
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d) |
Lesson No. 3 |
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i) |
Moses’ first objection, “Who am I,
that I should go unto Pharaoh” (Ex.
3:11). Moses was to learn a
fundamental lesson. God will never
reveal His purposes for an
individual without giving the
ability to fulfil His purpose (Ex.
3:10). Moses was not told he would
deliver the children of Israel, God
had made it clear that He would do
the delivering (Ex. 3:8; 17, 20).
God’s answer, “I will be with thee”
(Ex. 3:12). |
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ii) |
Moses’ second objection (Ex. 3:13),
“What shall I say unto them?” It is
to be remembered that at this time
the children of Israel were
idolaters so it was reasonable for
those who asked what God he was the
spokesman for? God’s answer is, “I
AM THAT I AM” (Ex. 3:14). |
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2) |
When we think of Moses, we consider
him as a great man, and that he
was. However, to the Israelites and
the Egyptians he was a nomad who
wandered across the desert and
declared to the children of Israel
that God was going to release them
and demanded of Pharaoh to let them
go. The natural reaction of the
Prince of Egypt was contempt (Ex.
5:2). The Egyptians had some 2000
gods and goddesses, so who was
Moses’ God to make demands of he who
was seen as a god to the Egyptians? |
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3) |
This posed a major question, “How
can a satanically darkened mind and
stubborn prideful heart be broken to
the point where it yields to God?
In so doing, there is the unspoken
acknowledgment that Moses’ God is
superior to the gods of Egypt. |
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The Process
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1) |
In the first meeting with Pharaoh,
Moses, in the name of God, declares
to Pharaoh to let God’s people go.
He declares to Pharaoh that they are
God’s people, “Let my people go”
(Ex. 5:1). The God of the Hebrews
meant nothing to Pharaoh so in
contempt he asks, “Who is the Lord?”
(Ex. 5:2). The Prince of Egypt,
being great in his own mind, failed
to realize God had raised him to
that position (Rom. 9:17; Ex.
14:17-18). Instead of letting God’s
people go he made life more bitter
for them. God knew that they would
be under great bondage and such
would be the case for 400 years.
That being so, from when Moses was
born there were still 80 years to go
before the exodus. When Moses
killed the Egyptians there were
still 40 years to go. Having looked
at the first and second objection
the third is now considered. |
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2) |
The third objection was, “They will
not believe me, nor harken unto my
voice: for they will say, The LORD
hath not appeared unto thee” (Ex.
4:1). The Lord knew the reluctance
of the human heart to accept the
truth of God so God gave three signs
(Ex. 4:2-9). |
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a) |
The purpose of the signs
(Ex. 4:3-9). |
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i) |
The signs were to convince the
Israelites that Moses was sent by
God to deliver them. They assured
Moses God was with him but would
they assure the people of this fact,
especially when the Egyptian
magicians could do the same things,
thus indicating their gods were just
as almighty as Moses' God. |
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ii) |
Moses and Aaron gathered the elders
of Israel (Ex. 4:29) and told them
God had sent him and showed the
signs. We read the people believed
(Ex. 4:31). The question then
becomes, “Did the signs have a
deeper significance, a spiritual
significance, or were they for the
sole purpose of assurance of who
Moses was? |
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iii) |
Since I am not aware of any
scripture to indicate they had a
spiritual significance, I accept
them as an assurance to the
Israelites that Moses was sent by
God. I am not aware of the rod
being a type of Satan before his
fall, becoming Satan and then coming
back to his previous condition.
Neither am I aware of any scriptures
showing the leprosy hand indicating
Israel in their defilement and then
becoming defiled and then returning
to the previous condition. Again, I
am not aware of water taken from the
river turning to blood and not
returning to water. Furthermore,
neither were they given to make the
Israelites aware of their spiritual
condition. |
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