Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Prayer Meeting Lesson Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/pm/pm20060201.htm

EXODUS: FUNCTIONING WELL IN A HOPELESS GROUP ASSIGNMENT
Part I: God's Deliverance Of Israel Amid Humanly Helpless Trials
F. God's Directing The Restored Leader Unto Holiness To Lead Well
(Exodus 4:22-27)
  1. Introduction
    1. God graciously seeks to restore and to use spiritually defeated leaders though others and the leaders have given up human hope for their usefulness. We found this to be so in Moses' case in Exodus 3:1-4:21!
    2. Yet, as Exodus 4:22-27 shows, once the leader is restored, to RETAIN his usefulness as a leader, God demands he live a life that God reveals through His Word to be a HOLY one that is separate from SIN:
  2. God's Directing The Restored Leader Unto Holiness To Lead Well, Exodus 4:22-27.
    1. After God had called Moses to lead His people, the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage, and after He had equipped and encouraged Moses to do so (Exodus 3:1-4:21), God sought to kill Moses as he was at the inn in his journey back to Egypt to perform the calling of God, Exodus 4:24!
    2. Though we are not told the specifics of this encounter, the response of Moses' wife, Zipporah, reveals God had planned to kill him for failing to obey the divine requirement that Moses circumcise his son in accord with God's rule for all the seed of Abraham, cf. Exodus 4:25a with Genesis 17:9-14:
      1. God's attempt to kill Moses was followed by the act of his wife's circumcising his son, Ex. 4:24-52.
      2. This response by Zipporah led God to cease trying to execute Moses; it satiated His anger against Moses for his previous failure to obey the Lord's covenant regarding circumcising his son, Ex. 4:26a.
      3. Apparently due to a disagreement between his Gentile wife and Moses over a past suggestion that he circumcise the boy, the child had not been circumcised as God in Genesis 17:9-13 had required.
      4. Since failure to keep that covenant meant the uncircumcised child was to be "cut off from his people" according to Genesis 17:14, and since Moses was now a responsible leader of God's people, God had threatened to kill MOSES unless HE as a RESPONSIBLE LEADER obeyed God regarding his son!
    3. Now, this threat of judgment by God was not unexpected: Moses had known of his need to address this issue, for God had strongly hinted of it in the PREVIOUS context, Exodus 4:22-23, 25:
      1. In the previous context, the Lord had told Moses that he was to tell Egypt's Pharaoh that Israel was like God's own firstborn son, Exodus 4:22.
      2. Accordingly, Moses was to tell Pharaoh to release God's firstborn son, Israel from Pharaoh's bondage or God would slay Pharaoh's own firstborn son due to his failing to do God's will with Israel, Ex. 4:23!
      3. With this focus on the need for Pharaoh to act responsibly with his own firstborn son by letting God's firstborn son, Israel leave Egypt, God suggested Moses was to take responsibility in reference to his own firstborn son now that Moses was appointed human leader over God's firstborn son in Israel:
        1. God's threat to kill Moses at the inn led Zipporah immediately to circumcise Moses' firstborn son (Exodus 4:24-25), so she was aware of the reason why her husband's life was threatened.
        2. Her awareness reveals that Moses knew of the need and had communicated it with his Gentile wife, so God's focusing Moses' attention on the topic of the firstborn son of His in Israel and of God's focusing his attention on Pharaoh's firstborn was designed to get Moses to focus on his OWN need to address his responsibility toward his OWN son lest God deal with him or the son in discipline!
Lesson: Once God CALLED, EQUIPPED and ENCOURAGED Moses in his leadership of Israel, He REQUIRED Moses to CORRECT sin in his OWN life, giving him AMPLE WARNING on WHAT he was to correct by WAY of His WORD to Moses in his leadership role so that Moses was without excuse!

Application: May we who have been called, equipped and encouraged by God to lead in our marriages, homes, families, businesses, churches or government roles (1) focus on correcting errant situations in our OWN lives. (2) God holds US MORE responsible for righteous living in His power now that He plans to USE us to LEAD, cf. Luke 12:48b; 1 Timothy 5:19-20. (3) We need not think God will deal with us unfairly just because He holds us as leaders more accountable to live uprightly: He supplies ample, fair warnings in His Biblical insight He gives us in our lives! God only requires that we APPLY the WORD He GIVES us to our PERSONAL LIVES, and that we DO so as SOON as He gives it to us!