Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20090419.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Exodus: God's Forming The Nation Israel For His Abrahamic Covenant
Part I: God's Deliverance Of Israel From Egypt, Exodus 1:1-15:21
B. God's Use Of His People's Failures To Prepare For His Deliverance
(Exodus 2:11-25)
    Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

    Many people today face seemingly insurmountable trials, and wonder what is causing them, and how they can respond well:

    (1) The April 16, 2009 Waterbury Republican-American, p. 8A ran a full-page ad by the Family Institute of Connecticut Action group claiming that if the Same-Sex Marriage Bill 899 that is up for a vote this month in the state legislature passes, "Schools that wish not to teach gay marriage will have no choice in the matter. Their parents won't either. Church groups who won't comply will be punished by the government. Businesses will have to close their doors."

    The gay lobby seems unstoppable in its political influence on legislators, a seemingly invincible force against Biblical believers!

    (2) The same paper's lead story told of the April 15th "TEA Parties" that occurred all across America as frustrated taxpayers protested "government spending, bailouts and taxes". (Ibid., p. 1A, 5A) Some of the posters read: "Stop Stimulus Bills", "Next Time Read The Bill", and Laura Watkins of Louisville, Kentucky posted a sign on her 2-year-old daughter, Zoe's stroller that read: "My Piggy Bank Is Not Your ATM"! (Ibid., p. 5A)

    The Cleveland Leader in Cleveland, Ohio reported the next day that the federal government's tax, spending and debt policies are so troublesome to him, Texas' Governor Rick Perry at a TEA Party had claimed that Texans might one day wish to secede from the Union!

    However, the White House said the President was not even told about the TEA Parties, regardless if 1,000,000 people attended them according to legendary local talk show host, Brad Davis (4/17/09)! Thus, it is easy to wonder what is causing such a chasm between the people and their leaders, and what can possibly be done about it!

    (4) Seemingly overwhelming, unfair trials are hitting us locally, too: (a) In the last three weeks, two local parents have told me of the unavoidable, unjust trials their young adult offspring faces! (b) A local woman with special medical needs is finding it hard to get the right doctor due to red tape, and her search complicates her problem! (c) A man in our Church told me last Sunday of a coworker and his wife who are troubled at the political and economic direction the nation's leaders are taking us, and they have pressed him with questions!

    Thus, we may ask, "Life seems insurmountably hard right now, so, WHAT is going on, and HOW am I to respond?!"

    Need: "I face seemingly overwhelmingly difficult trials, so, WHAT is going on, and HOW am I to RESPOND effectively to it all?!"

  1. Exodus 2:11-23 reports how Moses and Israel UTTERLY FAILED in their OWN efforts to FREE Israel from Egyptian bondage!
    1. Moses' best efforts to free Israel from Egyptian bondage utterly failed:
      1. When he was 40 years old, educated in Pharaoh's court and mighty in word and deed (Acts 7:22-23), Moses failed to get Israel to follow him by killing an Egyptian who beat a Hebrew, Ex. 2:11-14.
      2. His second effort to settle a fight between men of Israel failed, and he fled when Pharaoh heard he had slain the Egyptian, Ex. 2:14-15.
      3. Moses' third effort, helping Jethro's daughters, prevailed (2:15-21), but it left him living with Jethro's family in the Sinai wilderness unable to save Israel, 2:22; Ryrie St. Bible, KJV, 1978, ftn. to 2:15.
    2. In Israel's case, Acts 7:20-27, 35, 51-52 critiques Israel's spiritual failure to accept Moses' Exodus 2 effort to deliver her from bondage!
  2. However, God HAD to LET His people fail as the ONLY WAY in a HUMANLY FUTILE situation to glorify Himself and bless Israel:
    1. God let His people fail so as to defeat Satan's superhuman efforts:
      1. Exodus opens with Satan AGAIN trying to invert God's plan:
        1. Luke 4:5-8 shows us that the Genesis 11:1-4 apostasy with Ham's offspring, Nimrod as a world ruler had been influenced by Satan to invert God's Genesis 9:24-27 Noahic Covenant in which Shem's and Japheth's lines were to be blessed, Ham's line left unblessed, and Ham's son, Canaan cursed to be in bondage.
        2. To overcome that Nimrodian apostasy, God gave the Genesis 12:1-3 covenant to set Abraham's line in Shem over all other lines to bless all men through Christ in Abraham, Gal. 3:13-16!
        3. Yet, Exodus 1 opens with Satan trying to invert the Abrahamic Covenant, for Israel in Shem's blessed line (Gen. 11:10, 26) is in bondage to Egypt's unblessed Hamites (Psalm 105:23-27) though Israel is set to defeat cursed Canaanites (Gen. 15:18-21)!
      2. However, as only God can defeat Satan (Jude 9), only GOD'S power could overcome this Satanic inversion of the Abrahamic Covenant, so God HAD to LET Moses and Israel FAIL in their OWN efforts so God could give Israel victory over Satan!
    2. God let His people fail so as to fulfill His Word over Satan's efforts:
      1. God had foretold Israel's Exodus in Genesis 15:13-14 of His Word.
      2. That prophecy came after God had put Abraham into a trance so he could not pass between the covenant animal parts (15:9-12), and only God, seen as a smoking furnace and a burning lamp, could go between the parts to teach only He would fulfill this covenant!
      3. The smoking furnace and burning lamp prefigured God's leading Israel out of Egypt by a cloudy (smoke) pillar by day and a fiery (lamp) pillar by night, cf. Genesis 15:17; Numbers 9:15-16!
      4. So, God let Moses and Israel totally fail so He alone might deliver Israel in fulfillment of His Genesis 15:13-14 prophecy that was made in God's foreknowledge of Satan's effort to invert His plan!
    3. God let His people fail so as to counter pagan self-help efforts:
      1. God's Genesis 15:13-14 prophecy was based on His Genesis 12:1-3 Abrahamic Covenant that in turn offset the Genesis 11 Nimrodian apostasy where man under Satan had acted independent of God!
      2. Such independence from GOD reflected the paganism evident in the pre-Noahic world despots who tried to manipulate events around them independent of God's involvement, Genesis 6:2-5!
      3. Thus, in the EXODUS, God sought to counter PAGANISM, judging ALL of Egypt's PAGAN GODS (Exodus 12:12), an effort REQUIRING that God LET ALL HUMAN EFFORT FAIL -- INCLUDING the EFFORTS of MOSES and ISRAEL!
    4. God let Moses fail so as to equip him to be used by God in the end:
      1. Moses's flight for his life led him to the Sinai wilderness, Ex. 2:15.
      2. Well, when God later led Israel from Egypt for Canaan, though the fastest route would have been along the seacoast, God knew Israel would flee in immaturity if she soon faced war in Canaan, so He led her into the Sinai wilderness to mature her by trials, 13:17-18.
      3. God thus let Moses flee in his failure from Egypt into the Sinai wilderness (Acts 7:30) in order to prepare him for 40 years there to lead Israel there later! (Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 111)
  3. ONLY AS Moses AND Israel had ENDED THEIR OWN efforts to save Israel, Exodus 2:23-25 shows GOD BEGAN to DELIVER His people for HIS OWN GLORY OVER SATAN'S INVERSION effort!
Application: If our trials overwhelm us, (1) we face supernatural evil, and must (2) trust in Christ for salvation and protection, John 1:11-12; Colossians 1:12-14. (3) Then, we must cease our efforts (4) and trust God to use what we face to mature us for the future!

Lesson: God HAD to let Moses and Israel FAIL as the ONLY way in a HUMANLY FUTILE situation to GLORIFY Himself and BLESS Israel!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

 In the last two weeks, the Lord has revealed to us in special ways His application of this sermon's lesson (as follows):

(1) One of the women in our Church reported in the April 8th Prayer Meeting service how the Lord had opened up an opportunity for her to witness her Christian faith to a medical doctor in his office.

The doctor had expressed how troubled he was at a spiritual direction being taken by a member of his family, and he chose to relay this concern to this woman whom he knew was a Christian. She had merely answered his questions, and was surprised at the answers she herself was giving that pointed the Doctor to the cross of Christ, and to his need to believe in Christ for salvation from sin!

A key element in this woman's testimony was her admission that SHE was SURPRISED at how GOD had opened HER mouth to direct this DOCTOR to the GOSPEL when it was NOT in HER NORMAL ABILITY or DEMEANOR to DO so!

(2) Also, as noted in our sermon introduction, last Sunday, in our Fellowship Hall, a man who is a member of our Church told me of a coworker and his wife who had become concerned about the direction our nation is going. Consequently, they had begun to ask him pointed questions about it.

In fact, the coworker's wife had expressed such interest, she had actually written questions down on paper to send along with her husband to work to get answers from this man in our Church!

Our member relayed that he was only taking the teaching he had heard at Nepaug Church and was giving it to this couple. He had even told them about their need to believe in Christ to be saved.

I told this member how glad I was that God was using him!

Again, the man who testified of his witnessing the Gospel to these folk has often spoken to me of his desire to see a greater witness occur to the lost! GOD was at work to make his desire a REALITY in this man's OWN life, and all by GOD'S power!

God wants to BLESS us, but it has to be on HIS terms, for the forces of evil we face are far stronger than anything OUR poor powers can handle! Thus, if facing insurmountable trials, may we (1) trust in Christ as Savior to become a child of God, and then (2) CEASE trying to succeed on our OWN, but (3) RELY on GOD and HIS GIFTING, LEADING and POWER for BLESSING!