Sermon 4: Moses

Sermon given by Janet Binns 30/01/11

Bible reading: Exodus 12  1-19 & Matt 26

Themes: Faith Grace Salvation

 Application:  Our great and wonderful God can use unlikely people in his service

1.     Introduction

-         We live in a world that gets more complicated every day. Ask a simple question and more often than not you will get a very complicated response.

-         Illustration: [overcomplicated directions to the Vet]

-         Have you ever overcomplicated something? Sometimes we overcomplicate things and in the process we miss the point.

-         4^th week of E100 challenge

-         many complicated stories and journeys involved

-         This morning we are going to be looking at a series of complex events surrounding the exodus of the people of Israel from Egypt. But rather than overcomplicate things I want to draw out the simple truth about God’s plan to save mankind.

2.     Joseph story recap

-         Last week’s readings introduce the situation in Israel. Joseph, the youngest and Jacob’s favourite son, had been sold into slavery in Egypt by his brothers, largely because of jealousy. You could say Joseph asked for it by the way he taunted his brothers with his dreams. But what they meant for evil, God meant for good. Joseph became a force to be reckoned with in Egypt, becoming the second in command. The only greater power being Pharaoh himself. What we see is God using Pharaoh in an extraordinary way to nurture the very person He has chosen to bring great blessings to Israel.

3.     God blessings comes through unlikely sources

-         The events described in the early passages of Exodus bring us to a place generations after Joseph, to a time when the Israelites had become enslaved, were persecuted and even feared because of their increasing numbers.

-         Joseph had indeed gained great power in Egypt and Moses was raised secretly by Pharaoh’s daughter.

-         Here we see a principal that we do well to recognise in our own lives. That God is sovereign ruler over all the earth and is able to use whatever means he deems fit to deliver and bless his people. Just as God use unlikely people and situations. The blessings of God do indeed come through unlikely sources.

[Illustration: journey to Oxford on Wednesday]. Broke down in the middle of the road. The RAC helped. Went beyond the call of duty to take me to my intended destination. Going that extra mile made a huge difference to me.

God do indeed use unlikely sources to bring blessings to his people

4.     Moses’ life

-         Exodus 2 outlines Moses birth, the events surrounding his having to flee from Egypt.

-         Exodus 3 the Lord appears to Moses in the burning bush, the invisible becomes visible as God interacts with Moses, giving him instructions on what to do. I always find this interesting how Moses responds.

-         Who am I that I should ask the king, the mightiest ruler in the entire world to let the people of Israel go?

-          (Exodus 5) Moses and Aaron are standing in front of Pharaoh demanding that he let the people go so that they may worship the One true God.

-         Pharaoh response.” Who is the Lord that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go”. And to prove his point he made the labour of the people of Israel harder by forcing them to make mud bricks with no straw.

-         No doubt Moses and Aaron may have been surprised, but they should not have been. They had been warned. God was prepared he knew exactly how Pharaoh would respond, because Pharaoh heart had been hardened.

-         I wonder if that happens to us sometime? Our hearts are hardened to what God is asking of us.

-         Now come the series of plagues that God through Moses delivers upon Egypt in an effort to get pharaoh to relent.

5.     The ten plagues

-         I will go thorugh them briefly to demonstrate the length to which God goes in order to deliver and bless his people.

The plague of blood- god turn the Nile into bold

The plague of frogs; when frogs came up from the Nile and covered the land.  

The plague of Gnats.

The plague of flies.

The plague of the livestock; all of the livestock of the Egyptians died but none of the Israelites.

The plague of boils; men and animals alike were covered in festering boils.

The plague of hail.  

The plague of locusts; covered the land and devoured what crops were left over from the hail.  

The plague of darkness; as light hid itself from Egypt for a period of three days.  

 And finally the devastating plague was that of the firstborn.

6.     The plague of the first born

Moses message to Pharaoh was that God said that He would kill the first born of all the land of Egypt on that very night.

The passage tells us Pharaoh arose in the night after his son had been killed. This means he had been asleep. How could he sleep after what Moses had told him, that the Lord himself would kill all the firstborn of the Egyptians? He even told him what time it would happen.

After all God had proven through the previous nine plagues that he was real, more powerful than any god in Egypt, and he meant business.

But of course Pharaoh was stubborn, proud and arrogant- so he slept through the whole thing.

Only the children of Israel the children of the covenant made with to Abraham Isaac and Jacob.

Those under the provision of God’s sovereign protection were spared.

7.     The cross of Jesus revealed

-         What we see here is the paving of the way of the cross of Jesus. You see God made a way for salvation through the blood of the lamb. The spotless and blameless lamb which was sacrificed as part of the Passover meal. In the same way he made a way for salvation for the whole world through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

-         The Passover

-         Passover is the oldest religious feast/festival celebrated by any group of people in the world. Celebrated by orthodox Jews and by us in its fullness in the elements of Holy Communion.

-         The central elements of the Passover Feast are a lamb roasted over an open fire which speaks of God’s protection and provision for his people – Israel is God’s firstborn. The bitter herbs present in the meal represent the bitter suffering of Israel while in captivity in Egypt. The flat unleavened bread recalls the haste of their departure as they had no time to prepare the bread with yeast (leaven).

In Matthew 26 when the people celebrated the Passover the primary purpose would have been to bring to mind what God had done for his people in their deliverance from Egypt. And yet contained in this celebration is the fulfilment of God in Christ to free his people not only from earthly captivity, but from spiritual enslavement to sin and its eternal consequences.

-         The blood of the lamb which was sprinkled on the door post of the house of every Jew in Egypt to mark the home of God’s covenanted people

-         the blood of the Lamb of God would ultimately save all who would call upon his name for forgiveness.

-         There is no division to what we are taught in the Old Testament and what we are taught in the new.

-         Jesus said I have not come to abolish the law but fulfil the law

-         There aren’t two God, one of wrath one of grace. There is but one God of promise fulfilment and salvation, law and mercy.

8.     Conclusion

-         The prevailing theme remains that on the eve of the Passover, as God spared the first born of Israel and slay the first born of Egypt, God revealed Himself as the God of the Fathers of Israel, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who remained steadfast in the covenant.

-         On the eve of the crucifixion, in not sparing  his son he quite simply with no complications what so ever revealed himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God who had delivered His people Israel from Pharaoh and who offers deliverance to all who receive His Son; the spotless and blameless paschal (Passover) lamb!

The same God who delivered the people of Isreal delivered us! The same God who delivered His people from the bondage of Pharaoh and the affliction of slavery has delivered us from sin! The same bitterness represented by the bitter herb of the Passover has been removed from our lives as well.

Jesus is the Passover Lamb. He foreshadowed Passover lamb the only real question to ask ourselves is, “Is He my Passover Lamb?”

-         Last night’s visit to Soul Survivor 900 young people there.

-          the spirit is at work

-         In John 13 something happened at the Passover meal, Jesus washed the feet of the disciples.

-         And he wants us to wash each other feet.

-         Are the doorposts of our home  covered in the blood of the Lamb? Amen.