“But What Happens When People Don’t Listen to God?” Exodus 4:18-6:30 (Sermon Recap)

It can be extremely frustrating when you sense that people are not really listening to you. And it is especially frustrating when people aren't listening to you who really should be listening to you. Parents regularly face this with their kids. Kids should listen to their parents. But many times they don't, and this can be frustrating as we then see them going in directions that we know they will later regret.

However, just because your kids aren't listening to you one day does not mean that you stop being their parent. In fact, the mark of a good parent is when you are able to still lead and guide your children even when they aren't really listening to you. You do so because you are their parent, and that always remains the same, even when they aren't listening to you.

What we have in Exodus 4:18-6:30 is a whole section of Scripture where God is setting things up to save his people, the Israelites. During this process they experience some apparent setbacks and face some major difficulties. The Israelites soon become frustrated and begin to doubt God and even stop listening to what he was telling them.

So what does God do? Well, just because God's people aren't listening to God doesn't make God any less their God. Instead, God makes clear that the situation they were facing would be an occasion for them to see just much God truly is God, and specifically their God. This is in essence the main theme for this section of Scripture – to show that God is the Lord God, and he is the Lord God especially for the salvation of his people.

Some examples of people not listening to God in this section of Scripture are:

1. Moses' failure to circumcise his son (Exodus 4:24-26). Circumcision was a required rite for God's people. It was a sign of the covenant between God and Israel. Moses' failure to obey God in circumcising his son was essentially a rejection of this covenant. God was fully ready to judge Moses for this but Moses gets saved when his wife steps in and does what Moses was supposed to have already done.

2. Pharaoh rejects God's command to let Israel go. Pharaoh saw himself as equal to the Lord (see his sarcastic response in Exodus 5:2). For Pharaoh there is no "thus says the Lord" (Exodus 5:2), there is only "thus says Pharaoh" (Exodus 5:10). Pharaoh reinforces this point by making the Israelites work even harder, forcing them to find straw in order to make their daily quota of bricks (Exodus 5:10-11).

3. The Israelites doubt God in the wake of Pharaoh's actions, even though they had already witnessed several powerful signs that God was with Aaron and Moses (see Exodus 4:29-31). It's as if they no longer saw themselves as God's people but as Pharaoh's slaves, and so their main concern was to make sure that things didn't get worse for them as slaves.

4. Moses again doubts God after all these setbacks. At this point he wonders why God sent him to Egypt in the first place!

God in response shows Moses how none of these setbacks will get in the way of his plans. God is still God, and he is still in charge. Several times in Exodus 6:1-8 God states, "I am the Lord." God is stating that everything that has happened and will happen is meant first and foremost to remind his people and to show the world that he alone is the Lord God. There are also a number of "I will" statements in these verses. God is stating his intention to follow through on everything he's promised concerning his people. He will save and redeem them, he will adopt them as his own people, and he will bless them. All of this will be entirely God's work. God will get the credit for every aspect of their salvation and future blessing.

The Israelites sadly remained discouraged and depressed, even after Moses relayed God's words to them (Exodus 6:9-13). Difficult situations can deeply affect us and often threaten to break our spirit. However, God still speaks. God still gave the charge to Moses to lead his people out of Egypt. He still intended to accomplish his purposes.

In the end, it is all about God. He alone is the Lord God - self-existing, self-sustaining, mighty and strong, able to do all that he wants, even to a supposedly powerful man like Pharaoh. And this powerful, mighty, Lord God shows who he is especially in relationship to his people, and especially when he acts to save his people for himself. He does this even when they don't listen to him and doubt him.

This is the kind of thing God has always done and still does today. God still declares, "I am God. I am the Lord God. There is no other besides me. And I am the Lord God who is still shaping and forming a people for himself." Today the people of God are called the church. And the Bible tells us great things about the church – for example, that we are God's children and that we are God's special possession. But all those things are true of the church not because of any great listening habits on our end. They are true not because we are so much smarter or more spiritual than the Israelites were. No, God's people are made God's specially chosen and blessed people in the same way that it has always happened, namely, through God taking the initiative and acting as God for the saving sake of his people.

See for example Romans 8:28-32. Verse 28 tells us how "all things" are brought together for good for God's people. All things includes all our difficult circumstances. It includes all the times we disobey God and all the times we fail to listen to God. God is able to take all those things and still work out good for us. Why is this? Because we were "called according to his purpose."

Indeed, God foreknew us and predestined us (v.29) so that ultimately we might say, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (v.31). What we are seeing here is God's relentless, dedicated pursuit of his people. There is nothing that can get in the way of God grabbing people for himself. This is why Jesus came. He came because God sent him, so that through Jesus God might forever secure a people for himself, sons and daughters who are siblings with Christ in God's family.

As a believer in Christ, you may at times feel unsure about whether or not you belong to God. You may doubt whether or not God is truly your God and if he has acted to save you. You may feel like God really has forgotten all about you and that he's not really on top of things, especially when it comes to your life. So where can we find the assurance we need? It's Jesus who gives it to us in John 6:37, "All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out."

Thus, God gets all the credit for saving us and keeping us saved as his people and him as our God. And thus, we have all the security and assurance we need for our salvation and all the blessings that God promises for those he saves through Jesus. We also have the encouragement and motivation we need in order to really live and stand out in our world as God's people.

Truly, only a Lord God could save a people like us! In fact, the initial failures of Moses and Aaron set things up so that it would be clear that it was the LORD GOD who was saving his people, and it is only the LORD GOD who is able to save his people.

“God Tells Moses to ‘God Up’” Exodus 4:1-17 (Sermon Recap)

Moses had major doubts about his ability to do what God asked of him during his meeting with God at the burning bush. His doubts are frankly not all that surprising. God regularly asks people to do big, hard things, and usually to do these things means going in directions where we feel weak and inadequate and where there is some risk to us.

Why does God do this? Couldn't he check out how we test out in our personality test and our strength finder quiz and then make sure that whatever he calls us to do lines up with where we feel the strongest and most comfortable? Well, the reason for this is because God is not looking for us to do things because of who we are but because of who he is. In everything he calls us to he wants us to have to "God up." By "God up" I am talking about doing things out of the fullness of the Spirit of God, where the question that constantly drives us is, "How much more can God do through me?" Where the big things that happen in our church and in our city do not make people more aware of how gifted and talented and strategic our church is but instead make people more aware of how gifted and talented and strategic God is! Where the people around us are sometimes dumbfounded that God could accomplish such big and amazing things in and through a humble, simple, even insignificant church like us. In so much of what we do we ask ourselves, "Can I do this? What do I bring to the table?" To get to the level of doing big Godlike things in our world, we must begin to say, "We've got God at the table! So let's go and do as much as he will let us do!"

Unfortunately, our strong natural bent is to become overwhelmed by fears and doubts that lead us to think that we really can't do all that God wants of us. These fears and doubts lead to a kind of spiritual paralysis. This is where Moses is at during his meeting with God. Moses gives three objections to what God wants in Exodus 4:1-17. In his mind these objections should show God that what he wanted of Moses did not fit with his strengths and his comfort level, so it made no sense for Moses to move forward in the direction to which God was calling him.

God though had answers for every one of Moses' objections, answers which we do well to consider when we begin to complain to God like Moses did.

Objection #1 is found in Exodus 4:1 - Then Moses answered, "But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, 'The Lord did not appear to you.' "

God answers this objection Exodus 4:2-8 by giving Moses powerful signs to perform that will validate him in front of his people. However, these signs are given so that the people will not necessarily believe in Moses but believe in God and believe that God is really with Moses (Exodus 4:5). Again, this is all about God, not Moses.

It is interesting to note here that these signs were to be done through the use of Moses' shepherd staff. This would have been an ordinary stick, certainly not the kind of thing you would expect a mighty magician to use. The Egyptian magicians would have had elaborate charms and staffs and they would perform their "magic" through special words and incantations.

God however has Moses use his simple shepherd's staff and then has him do only what he tells him to do, nothing more, nothing less. The emphasis throughout Moses' mission in Egypt will be on God. Moses will be proven to be God's leader not because of any fancy spells or techniques. He will be proven to be God's leader through God's power working through Moses' simple actions.

Objection #2 is found in Exodus 4:10 - But Moses said to the Lord, "Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue."

God's answer to this objection is very interesting. God doesn't say, "Man you're right. Let me send you to Toastmasters; they'll help you become a better public speaker. Oh, and here are some great books to read on public speaking." No, instead God tells Moses, "I'm the one who makes people able to speak! For that matter, I'm the one who makes people able to also hear or see!" (Exodus 4:11)

What was God doing here? He was once again emphasizing that doing big things in God's system depends not on us but on God. God makes this point by emphasizing his complete sovereignty over all things. This means then that God has complete control over human life, even specific aspects of human life like hearing and seeing and talking.

In hearing this we may be tempted to think that perhaps God has messed up a bit in how he made us. If he really is calling us to big things, then he should have given us a more engaging personality or intellectual ability or creative skill. We think to ourselves, "God, why did you make me this way? How can you expect me to talk to people about Jesus, or be a leader in my family and in my church, or to be a successful parent, when you made me this way?"

God's answer to Moses here is an answer to all these kinds of personal doubts and excuses. His answer is, "Yes, I made you. So who you are is no surprise to me! Now go and be who I've called you to be and do what I've called you to do, because I will be with you." Notice how in Exodus 4:12 God tells Moses that he will give him the words to speak and that he literally be "with his mouth" so that he can speak these words. God did not say, "Alright, I will take away your weaknesses so you can do what I need you to do." Instead, God leaves Moses' weaknesses in place and tells him to go, but with the conscious awareness that God is with him and that he will need to directly depend on God.

I believe God has designed each of us in uniquely imperfect ways so that have we will have regular opportunities to depend on God. 2 Cor 12:9 says as much. Our weaknesses are occasions for God's divine power to be perfected in us.

This is a new way to look at yourself. Instead of ignoring or being anxious about your weaknesses, you can look right at them and see them as unique, specially designed ways to "God up."

Objection #3 is found in Exodus 4:13 -
But he said, "Oh, my Lord, please send someone else."

There are some who, no matter what is said to them, just don't want to do what God tells them to do. This is what Moses does here. He tells God, "Look, I don't want to do this. Send someone else!" It's possible to focus so much on yourself that your fears and doubts overwhelm you, to the point that you let them become the operational God ruling over your life.

God's response comes in v.14-17. He is obviously angry with Moses. He easily could have wiped the slate clean and moved on from Moses to someone else. Yet God shows grace towards Moses. He encourages him by promising that Aaron will go with him and be Moses' spokesman; Aaron will do the public speaking for Moses. However, it is worth mentioning that Aaron does this only in the beginning; eventually it is Moses that does all the speaking. This is because God's way will always win out in the end, even when we disobey him. It just means that we will miss out on knowing the fullest expression of God and his power working in our lives. Thankfully, God does not let go of his people. Notice in the end of the conversation, in v.17, God says, "Don't forget the staff. Because YOU WILL be doing the signs I've given you." God will still work through Moses, even if he's not still quite ready for the tasks set before him.

God does big things, and he intends to do them through his people, and intends to do them in ways that are often uncommon, surprising, unexpected, and risky. Basically, all the ways that will make it clear that what's happening is not based ultimately on you or me but on him. For if depended on us, the reality is that nothing would ever happen. The Bible describes all people as being naturally sinful, meaning that we naturally doubt and disobey God.

Thus, to expect much of sinners would be like expecting a drowning person to be able to go and save another drowning person. If you are drowning, you'll find it impossible to do anything else but be overwhelmed by your fears and anxieties caused by the fact that you are drowning. It is no surprise then that our doubts and fears and anxieties get in way of much of what God wants of us. All of us have pushed God out of the center of our lives, and by doing so we lost the anchor we needed to stay afloat and so we spend our lives adrift, slowly being suffocated by our sin. How then can God use anyone in this world in any significant way?

Well, God can use us, and it's because God sent someone into the world who never did push God out of the center of his life, someone who was perfectly obedient to God and so never went adrift. This someone was Jesus Christ. Since Jesus was perfectly obedient, he was able to answer God's call to do the biggest thing of all – give up his life - so that his obedient perfect life would make up the difference in our failure to do all that God wants. When we put faith in Christ, we are wholly changed so that we can be free from the downward drowning pull of sin and the constant echoes ringing in our minds that tell us that we aren't good enough, smart enough, pretty enough, talented enough, important enough, or cool enough to do much in this life. This is because faith in Christ brings Christ into our life. And because Christ is the Son of God, that means we now have God in our life. Not just with us, but in us. Faith in Jesus then is the means by which every person can God up!

This makes the ultimate difference for us. Moses had the promise that God would be with him, which was a great promise, and it really was all he needed in order to do what God wanted. But through Jesus, we have the promise of God actually being in
our lives. So now we can truly do all that God calls us to. We can be salt of the earth. We can be God's witnesses. We can be God's ambassadors. We can speak and act with all boldness, even through our weaknesses.

And what people will notice when they interact with us is what they noticed when they interacted with Peter and John. In the eyes of that culture, Peter and John were uneducated, common men. They should not have been able to do the big and bold things they were doing. So what was the difference? The people "recognized that they had been with Jesus." (Acts 4:13)

Embrace all of how God has made you, especially your weaknesses. Bring them to the cross of Jesus; by doing so you are saying, "This can't be about me. It's got to be about you, and it's got to be about Jesus in me for you."

What kind of amazing surprises would God bring about in your life if every day, you took one big weakness or one big anxiety or one big doubt, gave it over to God, and asked him to transform it through Jesus into a big expression of God's power working through you?

It would be something special, wouldn't it?