Man of Destiny, Part 1

If you have your Bible, turn with me to the book of Exodus, the second chapter. Exodus chapter 2. Moses, the man of destiny. Mos, unlike any other person born in Egypt, had a specific destiny, a remarkable destiny. And that destiny consisted of delivering Egypt from bondage and destroying the Egyptian army. And through that, God would use Moses and the nation of Israel to be a significant force for him as they would begin their journey into the land of Canaan. The unique thing about Moses is that God specifically prepared him to do a great work.

He was prepared because he had been called by God and chosen by God. If you are here today and you are born again, God has called you into His kingdom. And God has chosen you to be a son or daughter of His. And he wants to use you in a remarkable way. Oh, he might not use you to lead three million grumbling Jews out of Egyptian bondage, but he can use you in the lives of three other people. He can use you in the lives of one other person if you are willing to be used. And God prepared Moses. In a very significant manner.

And today and next week, we're going to look specifically what God did to prepare this man, how God would use the circumstances of life in Moses' life. And how God would bring him to a point where he would be used in a mighty way. Because God is going to use things in your life as well. People in your life, whether it be your family, whether it be those you don't know, whether it be those you stumble across in a very significant way to mold you and to shape you so that one day When in God's time he decides to use you in a powerful way, he will.

Moses. The man of destiny. Exodus chapter 2. We pick up the narrative in verse number 11. Now it came about in those days when Moses had grown up that he went out to his brethren and looked on their hard labors. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. So he looked this way and that, and when he saw there was no one around, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. And he went out the next day, and behold, two Hebrews were fighting with each other. And he said to the offender, Why are you striking your companion?

And he said, Who made you a prince or a judge over us? Are you intending to kill me as you killed the Egyptian? Then Moses was afraid, and said, Surely the matter has become known. When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well. Now the priests of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father's flock. Then the shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and helped them and watered their flock.

When they came to Ruel their father, he said, Why have you come back so soon today? So they said, an Egyptian delivered us from the hand of the shepherds. And what is more, he even drew the water for us and watered the flock. And he said to his daughters, Where is he, then? Why is it that you have left the man behind? Invite him to have something to eat. And Moses was willing to dwell with the man, and he gave his daughter Zi to Moses. Then she gave birth to a son, and he named him Gershem. For he said, I have been a sojourner.

In a foreign land. Turn with me in your Bible to Acts chapter 7. Acts chapter 7 is going to help us fill in some of the blank spots of Exodus chapter 2. And keep your finger in Exodus chapter 2 because we're going to go back there. But two things I want you to notice with me this morning.

Number one is God's protection of Moses. And number two is God's preparation of Moses. First of all, his protection.

And two things I want you to notice about how God protected Moses. One is through his arrival. And second is through his adoption.

That is how this man arrived. Now we know the story. If you were with us last week, you know that it was a very dangerous time for a Hebrew child to be born. Especially if it was a male child. Because the Pharaoh had given the edict to throw all the male boys into the Nile River and drown them. And yet, Am and Jacob had unique faith. They believed their God because the Bible tells us in Acts chapter 7 that God looked fairly upon Moses. That God had done a unique work in the life of Moses. And the Bible tells us in Hebrews chapter 11, and you must read Acts 7, Hebrews 11, along with Exodus 1 and 2 to understand the full grasp of the story.

And Hebrews 11 tells us that the parents of Moses, Am and Jacob, by faith hid him. They understood the plan of God. And therefore, even though it was a dangerous time, the arrival of his birth. Was significant for these two Hebrew people because they would believe in their God. They would trust their God. They had faith in their God. Now, this is important for you to grasp. You see, without faith, it is impossible to please God. What does that mean? What does that mean? Without faith. It's impossible to please God.

Again, I want to take you back. Faith is believing what God has already said. That's important. How do we know that? Because the Bible says so.

Now listen, when you're a parent, as parents, when your children obey you because you told them to do something, are you pleased? Of course you are. As parents, we are very pleased when our children obey us and they follow our directions exactly, right? Oh, that pleases us. Well, the same thing is true about our God. Without faith, it's impossible to please Him. If you know what God says and you obey, oh, you bring great pleasure to God.

If you know what he says and don't do it, you bring displeasure to God. Without faith, it's impossible to please him. Abraham and Jac had faith in God. They believed him. They believed what he said. And they followed him. Moses would do the same. Now, I want you to notice something.

Moses was born from a particular tribe. The tribe of Levi. If you recall our study in the book of Genesis, it was the tribe of Levi that received a curse from their father Jacob. On his deathbed. Remember, it was Levi and Simeon who dec to kill the men of Shechem. Remember, Shechem had taken Dinah, their sister. And he had raped her. And then he came and asked Jacob if Hamar came and asked if his son Shechem could have Dinah for his wife. And the boys, Simeon and Levi, got together and dec, well, if all the men of your city are circumcised, then we can do that.

So all the men of the city were circumcised. And on the third day, when they were in the greatest amount of pain, Levi and Simeon went in with the other brothers and slaughtered all the men of Shechem.

And so in Genesis 49, Jacob pronounces a curse upon Simeon and Levi. That is very significant to the story. Why? Because God would use a prod of this tribe to be the Redeemer of Israel, to be the emancipator of Israel. To show you that no matter how much you sin or how bad your sin is, the possibility of redemption is always available. It's always there. And God would use Moses from the tribe of Levi to be the ultimate deliverer of people out of bondage, physical bondage. To show you that God is in the business of redemption.

That's what the book of Exodus is all about, right? It's about redemption. So why not? Take an individual from the tribe of Levi who had been cursed and bring redemption through that tribe to show you how much God loves His people and how much He wants to redeem you from your sin. To me, that's significant. You see, God doesn't just decide just to choose people, just to choose people. He's got a plan, He's got a purpose. And we need to understand what God's doing here. There's more to the story than a couple of parents who hide a baby and throw him in a basket in the water, and the prince is walking.

By and sees him and takes him into the house. He grows up to be the next pharaoh, and then he slays an Egyptian and runs off to the desert, gets married to Zipporah, comes back 40 years later because he saw the burning bush and heard the message of God and leads the nation of Israel out of bondage. That's all up here stuff, man. We want to get down here and understand all that God is trying to tell us through His Word. And God would use this man, Moses. In an extremely significant way. That's why his arrival is so crucial.

Don't miss it. Understand the implications. Around this boy's birth, his parents, the tribe he came from, the circumstances. Second thing, the adoption.

It's not like it is today. The princess just took them and adopted them. She wanted them, she took them. She didn't have to go through the court system. Her dad was the court system. She could do whatever she wanted to do. So she took him and adopted him. But I think this is so significant because, you know, we don't know what baby Moses' name was before he was named Moses by Pharaoh's daughter. We don't know his name. And that's insignificant to the story. Or else God would have put it in his word, right?

But what he did put in his word is the very fact, and we talked about this last week, that Pharaoh's daughter, the princess, named him Moses. Which means to draw out. And the one who was drawn out of the water would draw out the Israelites from Egyptian bondage. But here's what I want you to note: the significance of his name. The significance of his name. God was even in that. We forget that. It wasn't mom and dad, Abra and Jac, who named him Moses. It was this pagan princess who adopted him who named him Moses.

God was behind that. God is in control of everything. God is in control of the name that you have this day. I think it's very significant to understand the biblical meaning of your name. Why? Because God was involved in that as well. You must understand that God's involved in everything. Even your name and your parents naming you. I remember growing up, I used to ask my folks, How did you come up with the name Lance thinking that You know, somehow they might have got it from Sir Lance and the Knights of the Round Table, and I was going to be this great guy, you know.

But that 's not how they got my name. I said, How did you ever come by the name Lance? You know what they told me? They, well, we were reading the newspaper one day and we saw the name. We thought, that a good name, so that the name we're going to use. Oh, my hopes were shattered. I couldn't believe it. You were reading the newspaper and my name came up and that's what you decided to do. Didn't you have any thought behind it? No, because we thought you were going to be a girl. So I try to stay in touch with my feminine side every now and then.

But the bottom line is, I mean, it was just on a whim. Plants. Oh, there's a name. We'll use that name. But the meaning of that name is very significant. It means God's warrior. God's warrior. And I didn't know until I was in high school what that name meant. I didn't know the implications of what that name meant until I was out of seminary and realiz that 2 Timothy 2, verses 3 to 5, when Paul tells Timothy, suff hardship with me as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, Timothy. For no soldier entangles himself in the affairs of this world but seeks to please his commanding officer, realizing that God had called me to be his warrior.

And that's when I began to realize even more so the significance of my name. What does your name mean? I don't know what your name means. I'm not even know name. But the important thing is, if you got a name, God was involved somewhere in that name. That's what this story about the adoption of Pharaoh's daughter tells me. I mean, God was involved in that too. He's involved in everything. He cares about everything. Not just some things. You think God only cares about the big things. Let me tell you something.

To God, there's nothing big. Right? I mean, what's bigger than God? To him, everything is right there. To us, they're big and small, but to God, there's no measurement. And God is involved in everything. And that's why we challenge people to understand the biblical significance of their name and how God. Is going to use that in their lives to help them understand God's call upon them. For Moses was called by God in a very significant way. The second thing I want you to see is this preparation.

One man has said that there is a prepared place for a prepared person. Because God has a great and mighty purpose. And that's true. You will note that Moses will be 80 years old. When he is used in a very significant manner to lead out the nation of Israel from bondage. 80 years old, you're never too old to be used by God. Never too old. If you're 80 years old today, hey, you know what? Maybe God's getting ready to use you to do something great, like He did with Moses. I don't know. But you're never too old to be used by God.

If you're here today and you're up in age and you think that you can't be used by God, you need to understand the life of Moses. Because when he was 80 years old, that's when he led the Exodus. But God had to prepare him. I want you to notice several things about his preparation.

The first thing I want you to notice Is his education. If you have your Bible and you're still in Acts chapter 7, that's good. Because I want to take you to Acts 7, verse number 22. It says, and Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians. Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians. This man was educated in the 18th dynasty of Egypt. This man was educated, listen, in the most sophisticated educational system known to man. Much more than what we have today. This man, Moses, was fine-tuned.

In Egyptian government, in Egyptian technology, this man was educated in the finest school of his day. His adopted mother, the princess, wanted to make sure that her son was the best son, and therefore he would receive the best of everything. Including the fin education known to man. The second thing I want you to see is not only his education, but his eloquence.

His eloquence. The Bible says in Acts 7, verse number 22: And he was a man of power in words. He was a man of great persuasion. He was a man who was educated in hieroglyphics. He was a man who had to be able to communicate with the intelligent people of his day. He was a man who would be able to best his critics. He was a man with the power of persuasion. He could get up, and he was a man. Same word is used in Acts 18, by the, of Apollos. Who was mighty in the scriptures. That was, Paulus was able to argue from Scripture the fact.

Of the coming of the Messiah and who he was. And he was a man who was very persuasive with his words, very powerful with his words. That's what Moses was. Now this is very interesting. Because what does he say at the burning bush? I'm not so good at talking. You hold that thought. Because when we get to the burning bush, we're going to see what happens in Moses' life that takes him from being a man who is powerful in his words and his speech. To best his critics in any argument, to saying to God, I'm not eloquent.

I can't say anything. Who am I? But that's the way this man was educated. That's the way this man was eloquent. Number three: exper.

Not only was he a man of power in words, but he was a man of power in deeds. I mean, he was a taskmaster. He was effective. He was a producer. He was a man of action. He was a respected warrior. He was a man who was bronzed by the sun, who was scarred from battle. He was a man who was mighty in deeds. Not only could the man speak, he could act. He could do it all. He had everything. Moses, in the eyes of his adopted mother, was the next Pharaoh. He was the next leader of the Egyptian dynasty. He was the man.

He was heads and shoulders above everybody else. And the scripture wants us to understand: he was powerful. But all those things are useless to God if you act independent of God. You're never really ready until God says you're ready.

And God never said, Moses, it's time. But Moses, at the age of 40, believed it was time. So you move from his education. To his eloquence, to his experience, to the execution, the execution of the Egyptian. Because you see, Moses thought this was the key. I will show my people on this day I am their man. And they didn't buy it. Who made you ruler and judge over us, Moses? And Moses, operating in the flesh, was afraid. Psalm 34 says, When you seek the Lord, He will answer, and He promises to deliver you out of all your fears.

It goes on to say in Psalm 34, They look to him and were radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. This afflicted man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all of his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him. and rescues them. That's happen to Moses. That 's what God did in the life of Moses. Which leads us to Point number five, which is the exile. The exile. Can you imagine how he felt? Here he is now going to Midian. You pick up the story now in Acts 7.

It says in verse number 29. And at this remark, Moses fled and became an alien in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons. If you go back to Exodus chapter 2, you realize that he goes to Midian. He's there. He sees these shepherds messing with these seven women. He goes in and rescues the women. He's the hero now.

He draws water for them. They go back and tell their dad. Dad says, Man, this is a great guy. Bring him in. And he gives them his daughter Zi. And for the next 40 years, Moses. It's a shepherd on the backside of the desert, right where God wants him, to break him of his independent, self-centered nature. It took him 40 years to break Moses. And when he finally broke him, God says, now you're ready.

I mean, I can understand Moses' frustration to some degree. You know, we try to tell people what God says, and we want them to understand what God's plan is for their life, and the frustration would set in.

You know, I understand that. He had some frustrations. Trying to help them understand that he was the deliverer, he was the chosen one. They didn't get it. They did not understand Acts 7 says. Even though he did, they didn't. And that frustration would well up inside of him. And for the next 40 years, he would deal with that frustration on the backside of the desert, tending sheep. Why? Simply this leads us to our sixth point, the effects. The effects. You see, leading God's people is like leading sheep.

And Moses had to learn that. It just hadn't taken 40 years to learn it. And he had to shepherd God's people. And God had to use the back side of the desert to teach him how to shepherd God's people. You see, a lot of us have that independent spirit still strong within us, don't we? We think we can be the kind of parents God wants us to be without His help. We think we can be the kind of husbands God wants us to be without His help or wives. We think that we can be the kind of pastors or elders that God wants us to be without any reliance upon Him.

We think we can live the Christian life without walking in the Spirit of God. We think we can do it. That's the problem. That's the problem. You can't. Not without God leading, directing, prompting, energizing, enabling us to be the kind of people He wants us to be. God's got a plan. And part of the plan for Moses was the backside of the desert for 40 years, to learn to depend upon his God. God wants you to depend upon Him for everything. And if at any moment you think you can do anything in the spiritual realm without Him, God's message to you is you will f and you will fail miserably but If you trust in your God, believe in what he says, by faith, live in line with what he says, God says, I can use you in a powerful, might way.