Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb19941009.htm

THE MAN MOSES: LEARNING HOW TO BE USED OF GOD
Part III: After Ministry Failure, Being Mightily Used By God
A. Step One - Viewing Ourselves As God's Slave
(Exodus 3:1-10)
  1. Introduction
    1. When a believer has attempted to serve the Lord with all good intentions and motivations, and after his best efforts have met with failure or discouraging feedback, how can he ever rebound?
    2. This question is marvelously answered in God's encounter of "washed-up, 80-year-old" Moses on the back side of the Sinai desert in Exodus 3:1-10.
  2. After Ministry Failure, Being Mightily Used By God: Step One - Viewing Ourselves as God's Slave:
    1. Moses had miserably failed in serving the Lord to this point:
      1. He killed an oppressive Egyptian, hoping to rally a following from his Hebrew countrymen and be the promised deliverer, Ex. 2:11-13a with A. 7:24f.
      2. Failing to win such a following, and seeing that Pharaoh desired vengeance for this murder, Moses fled for his life to the Sinai wilderness, Ex. 2:13-15.
      3. In this land, Moses married and had a son, naming him Gershom. The name means, "a stranger here," picturing his discouragement over having "missed the brass ring" of effective service, Ex. 2:16-22!
    2. However, Moses' God was bigger than his failure, and He planned to do something about it:
      1. God saw the plight of the Hebrew people, and He felt a compassion for them in that plight, Ex. 2:23.
      2. God also remembered His promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob about blessing their seed and giving them the land of Canaan, Ex. 2:24-25 with Gn. 15:13-21.
      3. Thus, God decided to raise up a deliverer to bring the Hebrew people out of Egyptian bondage into the Promised Land: His choice of a deliverer was the beleaguered Moses, Ex. 3:9-10!
    3. However, Moses' past ministry attempts had failed since Moses had "done his own thing!" Accordingly, the Lord set the record straight in His call of Moses by telling him that Moses was the SERVANT of God, Ex. 3:1-6:
      1. When God introduced Himself visibly to Moses, He appeared in a dry bush that was afire, but which was not being consumed to ashes by that fire, Ex. 3:1-2. This miracle signified the fire of Egyptian bondage and Moses' failure: though these trials would normally destroy people, God's promise to the patriarch's resisted the destruction of the Hebrews and Moses to preserve them for His will!
      2. When Moses turned aside to investigate why this bush was not being consumed, God spoke to him out of the burning bush, Ex. 3:4.
      3. As the first order of business, God commanded Moses to take off his sandals, for the ground on which he was standing was holy (separated from sin), Ex. 3:5. It was the custom in Moses' day for slaves to go barefoot, and to do so in the presence of a Master to show respect, Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, ftn. to Ex. 3:5. GOD THUS INFORMED MOSES THAT, FROM NOW ON, HIS MINISTRY WOULD BE THAT OF DOING WHAT GOD WANTED AND NOT WHAT MOSES ENVISIONED OR AUTHORED ON HIS OWN!
      4. Having acquired Moses' deep respect (v. 6), God gave him some marching orders: he was to deliver the Hebrew people from bondage in accord with the Word of God, Ex. 3:6-10 with Gen. 15:13-21!
Lesson: Following ministry failure, the first step toward renewal is to ABANDON all personal independence from God and SUBMIT to His AUTHORITY!

Application: If we "do our own thing" in serving the Lord with all good intentions, we, like Moses, will inevitably fail, for the angelic conflict and the sinful state of those we seek to disciple will entrap us every time, cf. Ex. 2 with Acts 7 (l ast week's lesson). Rather, yielding to the sovereignty of God brings us into a form of spiritual slavery where we enjoy divine protection, sustenance and guaranteed results!