Exodus 4.29-5.23
Moses finally gets to work. He confronts Pharaoh. He declares God’s word,
‘Let My people go!’ But it doesn’t turn out exactly how Moses expected. In
fact, the situation actually becomes worse. There are lessons about
ourselves to be learned from our text – and, more importantly, lessons about
our God. The sermon is timely. I wrote it before Jim’s surgery and
considered preaching something different after his surgery and the news of
his cancer. But I think this fits. This past year or so we have had more
than a few families deal with surprises – and here I’m just talking about
health matters. I’m sure that there are lots of other things that have
surprised us. Like Moses, things have not gone as we have expected. There
are lessons to be learned from our text. Heed what the Spirit has to say.
Let’s, first, set the situation. Moses goes to Egypt. With Aaron, his
brother, he meets with the elders of Israel. He performs the signs and tells
them what God has said. They believe him. Moses then moves on to the next
step. He meets with Pharaoh. He tells Pharaoh what God has to say. Pharaoh’s
response is not quite as positive as that of the elders of Israel. In fact,
Pharaoh has a rather strong reaction against Moses and his message.
Actually, if we’re going to be totally honest, Pharaoh gets really steamed.
‘All you people are lazy. Lazy! That’s why you want to go and have this
feast. None of that! You need to work. No more straw. From now on you’ll
have to provide your own. So, get going and be sure that the daily quotas
are maintained.’ I’m sure that this isn’t what Moses was planning on.
And so, what do we see as a result? The officers of the people meet up with
Moses and, in effect, they curse him. ‘May God judge you for what you have
done!’ And then we hear Moses. ‘Lord, what are you doing?!? It’s worse for
the people now. And why me? Why am I involved?’ And then there’s the kicker
from Moses. ‘And You have failed also. You haven’t delivered Your people at
all.’ Things have fallen apart. The people are angry. Moses falls into
despair. He thinks that both he and his God are failures. But look more
closely. Do you know what we are seeing? We are seeing ourselves. At the end
of chapter four we see the expression of faith. ‘God is at work! He is going
to rescue us.’ By the time that we get to the end of chapter five that faith
has evaporated. Hope dies. And why? Because things didn’t turn out the way
that everyone expected. Instead of packing to leave Egypt, the people are
hunting for straw. And then there is Moses. Maybe he remembers his first
abortive attempt at rescue some forty years earlier, and the bitter taste of
failure is renewed. And so, he accuses God. ‘O LORD, why have you done evil
to this people?’ He follows this with self-pity. ‘Why did you ever send me?’
And then, as icing on the cake, Moses turns on God. ‘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.’ Does any of this sound familiar?
So, what is the problem? Well, there are a few. For one thing, there is the
problem of expectations. It seems that Moses expected to march in to Pharaoh
’s court, deliver his message from God, and then have Pharaoh say something
like, ‘Uh, well, I guess that will be okay.’ Why is it that we always expect
life to be problem-free, or at least that the problems will always be small,
the kind we can manage on our own? But it isn’t as if God hadn’t explained
what was going to happen. Let’s go back a chapter and re-run what God told
Moses. ‘When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the
miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that
he will not let the people go.’ [Exodus 4:21] God told him that it wouldn’t
be that easy. He told Moses that he would get turned down. Why is it that
Moses didn’t listen to that part of the conversation? Why is it that we also
forget the different times that God has told us that it isn’t going to be
that easy? We have expectations that life will go along relatively smoothly.
And we, like Moses, get upset when we encounter a problem that’s more than
we can handle. Could it be that this is one reason we have been confronted
by some of the troubles that I mentioned earlier? Is this the lesson that
our God has been leading us to?
A big part of our problem is that we don’t keep in mind the big picture. Our
text can help us what that. And it turns on something Pharaoh said. Back in
verse 2 he said, ‘Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice and let
Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.’
That’s how most English translations will put it. But putting it that way
can be misleading. Putting the language of lordship in Pharaoh’s mouth makes
it sound as if he is consciously rebelling against the true God whom he
knows to be Lord over all. But that’s not what’s going on. So, let’s
translate it a bit more literally. Pharaoh is referring to God’s name. His
name is not ‘LORD’. His name is Yahweh. That's what the Old Testament Hebrew
actually says. Some used to think that the Hebrew was pronounced ‘Jehovah’,
but it’s more likely pronounced ‘Yahweh’. So, this is what Pharaoh is
actually saying. ‘Yahweh? Who’s that? I don’t know anybody by that name.
Moses, I don’t know this Yahweh, and so Israel isn’t going anywhere.’ Now,
let me remind you of one of the key themes of this book. ‘By this you will
know that I am Yahweh.’ One key theme of Exodus is coming to know Yahweh.
God says that as a great blessing to Israel. And He also says that as a
powerful threat to Pharaoh. Time and again God’s message comes through, ‘By
this you will know that I am Yahweh.’ So, did Pharaoh and Egypt come to
understand who this Yahweh is? Fast forward. It’s just after the first
Passover. Israel is on their way to the Promised Land. But what is going on
in Egypt? If you went back there you would find a ruined nation. It’s once
mighty army – gone. The economy of the land – destroyed. And there would
have been a crisis of faith. The gods of Egypt had been conquered. And if
you were to ask one of the Egyptians, ‘Do you know Yahweh?’, I think that
you would have seen fear enter his eyes. No one was saying, ‘Yahweh? Who’s
that? I don’t know anyone named Yahweh.’ They knew.
What you need to see – and this is the big picture that Moses missed at
first – is that the events of the Exodus from Egypt isn’t about freeing
Israel, not primarily. Moses’ commission, and all that went with it, had
this as its primary goal: that all might know who Yahweh is. ‘By this you
will know that I am Yahweh.’ The goal of Moses’ commission was that Israel
might know who He is by experiencing His great blessing and that Egypt might
know who He is by experiencing His great curse. ‘I am Yahweh!’ This is why
Moses ‘failed’ at first. God determined that Pharaoh would resist and reject
Moses’ command to let Israel go. It would be because of Pharaoh’s stubborn
refusal and all that flowed from it – remember the plagues – that all would
know, by experience, who this Yahweh is. Seeing that as the big picture
changes everything. Moses was turned down by Pharaoh so that the greater
purpose of our God might be achieved. ‘By this you will know that I am
Yahweh.’
Let me take you now to a key New Testament passage. ‘Therefore God has
highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and
under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the
glory of God the Father.’ [Philippians 2:9-11] Fast forward. It’s just after
Jesus’ return. The dead in Christ have risen and all the saints have met Him
in the air. It’s the time for the separation of the sheep and the goats, of
the saved and the lost, the justified and the damned. Who then will say,
‘Jesus? Who’s that? I don’t know any Jesus. And I’m not doing anything He
says.’ I don’t think so! On that day, everyone will know the name of Jesus.
Everyone will know who He is. Some will know because they have experienced
His great blessing. These have been rescued from the house of slavery. They
are finally being ushered into the Promised Land. And the rest will know Him
also. They will know Him because they will experience His great curse.
Everyone – and I do mean everyone – will bow before Him and declare who He
is. ‘We know who You are. You are Lord over all. You are Jesus.’
The primary goal of Moses’ commission was not the freedom of Israel. The
primary goal of Moses’ commission was that all would come to know Yahweh,
that His power and majesty and sovereign rule would become clearly known.
And a necessary ingredient for that to happen was Moses’ apparent failure
and all the troubles that Pharaoh brought upon Israel. Pharaoh’s refusal led
to Israel’s greater suffering which led to opportunity for Moses’ God to
reveal Himself. Each of you, likewise, has a commission from God. And the
primary goal of your commission is not about your kids, not about your job,
not about your house. The primary goal of your commission is that all would
come to know Jesus. ‘By this you will know that I am Jesus.’ Your goal is
that His power and majesty and sovereign rule would become clearly known by
what He does in you and through you. And a necessary ingredient for that to
happen is all the troubles that come your way. These provide opportunity for
Jesus to reveal Himself to the watching world. But just as Pharaoh’s refusal
led to great suffering for Israel, it also led to great blessing for Israel.
While Egypt was being cursed and crushed by the plagues, Israel was being
blessed. When Egypt lay in ruins, Israel was on its way to the land that
flowed with milk and honey. Along with the troubles come the blessings.
Jesus is known by His works in the midst of our difficulties as well as by
the many ways in which we are a blessed people. But even the blessings need
to be seen in the context of the big picture. The point of your life is that
Jesus would be known. You need to understand it in that light so that you
might fulfill your commission. Absolutely nothing else makes sense of this
life.
So, what does this mean? First, don’t expect a relatively smooth life.
Faithful living will mean that there will be surprises. Expect them. And
when they come, thank God for them. Not because you enjoy pain, but because
you know that through these surprises Jesus will become known. And that is
what really matters. But then thank God for the surprises because He will
also use them for your sake also. Jesus will become better known to you.
What a blessing! The foolishness of this world will become clearer to you so
that you will be less and less deceived by it. And the beauty of the Gospel
will also become clearer to you. Jesus will become so very precious. You’ll
find yourself saying that all the surprises – with all that they bring – are
worth it.