Moses' Faith, Part 7

If you have your Bible, turn with me to Hebrews chapter 11, Hebrews chapter 11. And as you're turning there, I want to read to you something that was written by the late, great Dr. Richard Halvorson. He was a pastor that covered three decades, and he was the chaplain of the U.S. Senate from 1981 to 1995. And he said these words, In one respect, at least, a man is like a horse. He is not really of much practical use until he is broken. A wild horse out on the mesa may be thrilling to watch, but he never carries a rider or pulls a load.

All his energy, strength, speed, and beauty are wasted until he is broken. A man is that way too. He may be quite exciting and attractive when wild and untamed, but he doesn't pull a load. He needs to be broken for harness. He may lay hold of great promise, purebred pedigree, intelligence, strength, drive, but until he is broken, all these qualities are dissipated. What Mr. Halvorson says applies to the man Moses in Hebrews chapter 11. For brokenness burns out shallowness. Brokenness is that process where God erases my independence from him to establish my dependence upon him.

And that was no more true of anyone in scripture than the man Moses. Hebrews 11, where we have been for many, many weeks, and will continue to be for several more weeks, looking at this great hall of faith, looking at each and every character individually, some longer than others, more written about Abraham and Moses than all the other characters, and yet there is so much to uncover in Hebrews chapter 11. And there's so much there simply because we're not Jewish. We don't know all the history of all these Jewish characters that, if I'm a Jew in the synagogue hearing this letter read, I would know about all these characters in great detail.

I grew up studying each and every one of them day in and day out. But we've gone through Hebrews 11, and we began by looking in Hebrews 11 at the parents of Moses in verse number 23. We saw two things primarily about the parents of Moses. Number one, they portrayed the incredible.

Number two, they practiced the inconceivable. It says, by faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents because they saw he was a beautiful child, and they were not afraid of the king's edict. Well, they had a son, they had a daughter, two sons to be exact, but the man Moses is the one we're looking at. And because his parents were people who portrayed the incredible, who practiced the inconceivable, Moses was a man who would prefer the imperishable because he perceived the invisible, and therefore he performed the impossible.

So the Bible says, by faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to endure ill treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.

By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is unseen. By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that he who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them. And by faith they passed through the Red Sea, as though they were passing through dry land, and the Egyptians, when they attempted it, were drowned. Now one thing that is not evident in the passage is the fact that although he preferred the imperishable and perceived the invisible, and although he was one who was able to truly perform the impossible, he had to pass through the invaluable.

And that was the desert experience. And although the writer of Hebrews doesn't tell us about it, Stephen in Acts 7 does tell us about it, and the book of Exodus tells us about it. Before he could ever perform the impossible, he had to pass through that which was invaluable. Of the 137 chapters in the Pentateuch, not including Genesis, just Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, two deal with the first 80 years of Moses' life.

135 of them deal with the last 40 years of his life. Because if he ever performed the impossible, he had to pass through the invaluable. Stephen picks up on that in Acts 7, where he says these words, so crucial. Stephen is given the history of Israel. He gives great details about Moses, because Moses is that great leader of Israel. In fact, any Jew would tell you that their greatest leader in their history was the man Moses. He was the great deliverer. He was the emancipator. He was the one who God used in a mighty way.

The Bible says this in Acts 7, verse 35. This Moses whom they disowned, saying, Who made you a ruler and a judge? That is the nation of Israel. That's how they perceived him, as he would break up two Hebrew individuals fighting one with another. And the day before, he would slay an Egyptian to show that he was a man of great power and strength. They said, Who made you ruler and judge over us? This was in the first 40 years of his life.

This is the one whom God sent to be both ruler and deliverer. Now listen carefully. With the help or the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the thorn bush, this man led them out, performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness, for 40 years. Before he ever performed the impossible, he had to pass through the invaluable. And although we can go back to the book of Exodus, and we know that by faith he fled Egypt, and he went to the land of Midian, modern-day Saudi Arabia, as he was there on the back side of the desert for 40 years.

And we don't know all the details that are there. The Bible doesn't give them to us. We know that he met his wife. We know that they got married. Well, that's why she's his wife, right? And they got married. They had two sons. He ten sheep for his father-in-law Jethro. That's out of Acts 7 and Exodus 3. That's all we got. Not much else. That's all we know. But when he comes out of the desert, when he speaks to God in the burning bush, and God speaks to Moses from the burning bush, Moses is a changed man.

He's a different man. He's a broken man. As Richard Halverson said, he was out on the range, and all of his beauty running to and fro, but he was untamed. He couldn't pull a load. He couldn't lead Israel out of Egyptian bondage. God had to prepare him for that. So God took him to the back side of the desert for 40 years. And when he comes out of the desert, he's a different man altogether. And God uses him in a mighty way. And so we started a number of weeks ago looking with you at that desert. What is this desert?

And we used the word desert as an acrostic to tell you that it's a desolate place. Midian was a desolate place. It was a hot place. It was a dry place. It was the wilderness. There's nothing there. God drives you to the place of desolation. He wants you in a place where there's nothing there. There's nothing that you can hold on to. There's nothing that you have in your own resources to make it work. You're all alone. And God drives you to a place of desolation. And will do whatever he can to get you into that place so you can rely totally upon him.

Because you rely upon so many other things. And Moses, as we saw earlier, was a man of great knowledge, great education, great experience, great leadership. All those things. But none of that qualified him to lead 2 million disgruntled Druze out of Egyptian bondage. He needed to be broken. So God drove him to the backside of a desert. A desolate place. We told you that it was an established place. Remember? God established this place. It's not by accident that that's where he went. By faith, that is, he heard what God said.

He listened to God. He fled Egypt and he went to the land of Midian. That's where he went. He listened to the voice of God, but God drove him there. God kept him there. There was an appointed place for Moses to go. He would meet his wife. He'd have two sons. And God then would begin to train and teach and move in his life. It was an established place. It was all by divine appointment. It wasn't an accident that he showed up there. It was all appointment by God. And then we told you the desert is a silent place.

A still place. There's no noise. There's no ruckus. There's nothing to distract you. Nothing to disrupt you. Because it's you in your silence. It's you alone with God. Be still and know that I am God, Psalm 46.10 tells us. But no, we don't want to be still. We want to be busy. Some of us are way too busy. And when you're too busy, guess what God does? He's going to slow you down. And how he chooses to do that with you will be different than he chooses to do it with me. But he will slow you down. Because you have to be silent before him.

That you might come to know him. Then we told you that it was an essential place, right? The desert is an essential place. It was essential for Moses. It was essential for Joseph. It was essential for Paul. It was essential for David. It was essential for Daniel. You name the great characters of the Old Testament. And they all had their desert experience. Hebrews 12, which we'll look at in a few months.

Verses 5 to 11 talks about how God disciplines his own. That we might be able to produce the peaceful fruit of righteousness. James 1 tells us about the trials that come. Cannot know joy when, not if, but when you pass through various trials. John 15 talks about every branch in me. He prunes. The pruning process is a painful process. If you're in Christ, you will be pruned. He's going to cut away all the excess baggage. So that you can produce more fruit for him. It is an essential place. In order to perform the impossible, you must pass through the invaluable.

And that is the desert experience. And Moses did. Then he told you it was a rugged place. The desert is void of all creature comforts. There's no pool of water in the desert. No place where you can lounge under a cabana with someone bringing you your drinks and your food. No, it's a rugged place. It's rough. And therefore, God uses the desert like sandpaper to rub out all the gruff areas of your life to smooth you out. And then we told you it was a timeless place. That is, we don't know how long the desert experience will last.

For some, it's a week. For others, it's a month. For some, it's a year. For others, it's years. For Moses, it was 40 years. Forty. So God would mold him and shape him to be the man that would deliver his people, Israel, out of bondage. This is all review. Why do I do that? Because I'm sure you've probably already forgotten all that I've already said. So we just keep reviewing why this is so important. So important. Because some of you today are right in the middle of your place of desolation. You're all alone.

It's silent. There's no one there. I talked to you about a few weeks ago, Job. Talk about a silent place. When his friends approached him, they sat in silence for seven days. They didn't know what to say. When he finally spoke, they said the wrong thing.

But Job was desolate. Devastated. He was all alone. Isolated. Talk about ruggedness. Talk about roughness. Talk about the timelessness of it. You know, when you're in the middle of a desert, you think, okay, I can make it till tomorrow. Or till next week. But you don't know when it's going to end. Moses had no idea when it was going to end. No idea. Job had no idea when it was going to end. But he anticipated that maybe this would be the day where everything would be taken care of. And then he pleads to die, thinking that death will end it all for him.

He had such physical pain. Such emotional pain. Such relational pain. And the one person you think that would come alongside of him would be his wife. But she didn't. She too was a miserable comforter. Because God takes you to a place where you're stripped of everything except Him. He wants to erase your independence. To establish your dependence. That's what God does. Why? Having described the desert, we began to show you the design of the desert. What's it designed to do? Number one, to adore His presence.

Back in Exodus chapter 3, the Lord said to Moses, certainly I will be with you. Moses learned to adore the presence of God. Yes, he came to adore the person of God. So much so, he said, Lord, show me Your glory. I need to understand You. I need to know You. He was crying out to know His God. You see, most of us aren't there. We're not crying out on Friday night. Lord, teach me Yourself. Show me Yourself. Who are You? No, we're out doing this and out doing that. We're just having a grand old time.

Things are fine. But Moses would say, Lord, if Your presence does not go with us, we're not leaving this place. We need You. He adored the person so much, he adored the presence of the person. He just didn't want to know the God He served. He wanted the God He served to be with Him in His journey. And the Lord says, certainly, Moses, I will be with you. And the second design of the desert was to acknowledge His power.

For Moses says in Exodus chapter 3, who are you? What is your name? When I get back to Egypt and I tell them that you sent me, that I spoke to you from a burning bush, who's going to believe that, right? Who shall I say sent me? Tell them I am sent you. I am that I am. That great name of God made it by four Hebrew consonants that we understand as the great Yahweh of the Old Testament. We incorporate those vowels so we can pronounce it by saying Jehovah. But in Hebrew it's pronounced Yahweh. That's who He is.

And so we worship Him. Why? Because Yahweh is the memorial name of God. He tells them, Moses, verse 15, this is my memorial name. You can't forget this. You can forget anything else, but don't forget this. This is my memorial name. I am a deliverer. I am a savior. I am a redeemer. I am a rescuer. That's who I am. You see, it's no good to have a God who is present among you but is not powerful enough to act in your stead. But our God is. It's the all-powerful name of the living God, the almighty God, El Gabor.

This is who He is. I've come down. I've heard. I'm going to deliver. I'm true on my word. It's going to happen. So, Moses learned to adore the person and presence of his God. He learned to acknowledge the power of his God. And that's where we left off three weeks ago. You with me? Good. Point number three.

What is the design of the desert? The design of the desert, point number three, is to get you to appreciate and appropriate the promises of God.

To appreciate and to appropriate the promises of God. This is so vitally important. Someone has recorded there's over 7,000 different promises in the Scriptures from God to man. I didn't count them all. But I'm sure that there's a lot probably more than that. But the promise of God is essential. And Moses had to appreciate and then appropriate those promises. He had to appreciate as we would say in Hebrews 11 Joseph's bones. Because they were representative of the promise of God. That God would bring them out of bondage.

That God would take them after 400 years, he would take them out of Egyptian bondage and lead them back to the land of promise. And so Joseph made his brother swear to take his bones with them when they left Egypt. Because God had made a promise. And so Moses had to learn to appreciate and appropriate the promises of God. If you're in the book of Exodus turn there with me if you would to Exodus chapter 4. Listen to what it says in verse number 10. Moses said to the Lord, Please Lord, I have never been eloquent neither recently nor in time past nor since you have spoken to your servant, for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.

Now this is a different Moses than what was before the 40 year desert experience. Here was a man who was gifted in leadership. Here was a man who understood the Egyptian way. But all of a sudden he can't speak so good. So listen to what God says.

Who made man's mouth? Who makes him mute or deaf? Or seen or blind? Is it not I the Lord? Now then go and I, even I, will be with your mouth and teach you what you are to say. I'm going to teach you Moses. I'm going to be with your mouth. Here's my promise to you Moses. It's okay. Go do this. I will be with your mouth and I will teach you what you need to say. You don't have to make an excuse. You don't know what to say. I'm slow of speech. I'm slow of tongue. No, no, no, no. I am going to teach you what you are to say.

This is my promise to you. Now God's already made several promises. Back in Exodus chapter 3 he says, I've given heed to the cry of my people Israel. He says, so I'm going to come down to deliver them. That's a promise. I'm coming down. He says, certainly I will be with you. That's a promise. Over in verse number 16, I am indeed concerned about you and what has been done to you in Egypt. So I said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite to a land flowing with milk and honey.

Here's a promise. I'm going to bring you out that I might bring you in. Here's my promise to you Moses. Verse 19, but I know that the king of Egypt will not permit you to go except under compulsion. So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all my miracles which I will do in the midst of it and after that he will let you go. I will grant this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians and it shall be that when you go you will not go empty handed. But every woman shall ask of her neighbor and the woman who lives in her house articles of silver, articles of gold and clothing and you will put them on your sons and daughters.

Thus you will plunder the Egyptians. Promise. Here's my promise. Moses, I'm going to be with you. So adore my presence. I know that Pharaoh's not going to let you go but under compulsion so acknowledge my power. I'm going to make it so he has to let you go. And then on top of that when you leave you're not going to go empty handed. I'm going to give you everything you need to leave. So, have the women go to their neighbor. Ask them for silver. Ask them for gold. Ask them for clothes and they'll give it to you.

Why? After those ten plagues in Egypt they would give anything to get the Israelites out of Egypt. These are all promises. And Moses had to come to a place in his life where he appreciated all that God said. So much so he would appropriate all that God said. How about you? The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 1 verse number 20 that all the promises of God are yes in Jesus. Every promise of God is yes in Jesus. The promise of forgiveness yes in Jesus. The promise of restoration reconciliation reconciliation is yes in Jesus.

The promise of peace yes. The promise of joy yes. The promise of goodness yes. The promise of faithfulness yes. All the promises of God are yes in Jesus. Yes. And God has granted to us all these promises. Listen to what Peter says. So rich. Peter says to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours. Another great statement. You don't have faith to believe in God. God grants you faith to believe in Him. You do know that, right? That faith is a gift. You don't muster up faith to believe in Jesus.

It's a gift. So Peter says to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours. How? By the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. Seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises. They're precious and magnificent.

Peter could say grace and peace be multiplied to you. Not just grace and peace to you but grace and peace be multiplied to you. Why? Because that's part of the promise, the precious promise. The invaluable promises that God gives to those who have received a faith like ours. Wow! Think about that. The promises of God are all yes in Jesus. I wonder if you appreciate that. I love what it says in the book of Matthew when Christ began to preach those beatitudes. Bless our poor in spirit for theirs and theirs only is the kingdom of heaven.

Those who are broken and crushed in spirit are given a promise. The kingdom of heaven. It's only for those. The promise is given to the poor in spirit, to those who are broken and contrite. Blessed are those who mourn. Blessed are those who cry? No. Blessed are those who mourn. Mourn over what? Their sin. You're not blessed because you cry but you are blessed if you cry over your sin. Your sin pains you enough to mourn over it. For they, he says, and they only shall be comforted. How many times have you cried and you're not comforted?

But when you mourn over your sin, comfort comes. They and they only receive comfort. Then it says, blessed are the meek or the gentle for they shall inherit the earth. What's the promise given to those who are meek? Our Lord said, Come unto me all you that labor and are heavy laden. I will give you rest for I am meek and lowly at heart. And so what you have is a very God who is meek, who commands us to be meek, and those inherit the earth. That's a promise. The whole earth is yours. The whole earth is mine.

California is yours. Russia, yours. China, yours. They think they have it. No, no, no. It's yours. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they and they only shall be satisfied. The promise is given to those who hunger and thirst for righteousness that they're going to be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful. They and they only shall receive mercy. The pure in heart, they are the only ones who are going to see God. You don't see him with the physical eye, you see him with the spiritual eye.

You're going to see the true living God in the word of God as it's portrayed and proclaimed. The peacemakers, they're blessed because they're called the sons of God. Wow. To be called the son of God. I think it was pretty important growing up that I was called the son of my father. I was the sparks. But that's nothing compared to be called the son of God. And so the promises of God are insurmountable. But I wonder how many of us appreciate them enough to appropriate them. That is to apply them to your life.

So, ask yourself this question. The Bible says these words, the Lord is next. The Lord is next. Or the Lord is near. Or the King James Version says the Lord is at hand. Right? So you can translate it different ways. The Lord is at hand. That is, he's at your hand. He is near. Some texts say the Lord is near. Some would say the Lord is next. In other words, the return of Christ is next on the prophetic calendar. And all that is true, right? The Lord is near. The Lord is at hand. The Lord is next. Because the Lord is at your right hand.

Because the Lord is near to you. Adore his presence. Acknowledge his power. Appreciate. And appropriate his promises. Because this is what he says. Because the Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing. You can appreciate that, but you have to appropriate that. In other words, do you live an anxious life? Is your life filled with worry? Is your life filled with all kinds of fretting? Matthew 6, Christ says, do not be anxious.

It's a command. Don't do that. So to be anxious, to worry, is a sin. Because God said, you can't do that. But I do. After all, I'm only human. You know, that's just an excuse, right? And excuses are like armpits. Everybody has them, and they always smell. So don't give an excuse. Be anxious for nothing. Nothing. Why? The Lord is in hand. See, that's why Moses said, Lord, we're not going anywhere unless you go with us. If you don't go with us, we're not leaving. We're staying right at the base of the Mount Sinai.

Well, God is present among his people. That's why he said, go into all the world and make disciples. Why? As you go, lo, I am with you always. The reason we don't go, the reason we don't make disciples, is simply because we don't adore the presence and person of Christ as we should. Nor do we acknowledge the power of God as we should. And nor do we appreciate and appropriate the promises of God as we should. If that continues, guess what? The desert is coming your way. It's coming. Because God wants to get you to that place.

And so he says, the Lord is at hand, Paul says. He's near. Be anxious for nothing. What are you worried about? His presence is right there. His power is available. So he says, be anxious for nothing. But in everything, my prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. For the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Here's my promise. You want the peace of God that surpasses all understanding? All human comprehension?

Well, you must pray with thanksgiving, letting all your requests be made known to God, because he's right there. The Lord is at hand. He is near to you. He is present among you. But not only is he present among you, he's powerful enough to handle everything that comes your way. He's going to do all that for you. So I'm going to give you a promise. You want the peace of God that surpasses all understanding? Then don't be anxious. Pray. Give it to the Lord who's right there next to you. Book of Proverbs, very familiar verse.

We've covered it greatly. 12.25 says, Anxiety in the heart of a man weighs it down, but a good word makes it glad. Today, you've received the good word that makes it glad. Therefore, you can appreciate the promises of God. So when we say, Psalm 94.19 says, When my anxious thoughts overwhelm me, thy consolation is the light of my soul. You ever had your anxious thoughts overwhelm you? Of course you have. You lay in bed at night and anxious thoughts about the condition of my marriage, condition of my family, situation surrounding my work, my future.

All those things loom large in the mind of the one who stays awake at night and they overwhelm you. So the psalmist says that when I get to that point where my anxious thoughts overwhelm me, I know that the consolations of God will delight my soul. That's a promise. Do you appreciate that? Will you appropriate that? That's the design of the desert. That's why God takes you through this place that is absolutely invaluable to your spiritual growth. He truly wants you to adore him and him only. Adore his person and his presence.

Acknowledge his power. Appreciate and appropriate his promises. And here's the good news. We're not done yet. So come back next week. Let's pray. Father, thank you, Lord, for today. Thank you, Lord, for your word. Thank you, Lord, for an opportunity to be reminded once again of the splendor and majesty of your person. Today, Lord, as you think about your promises, there are so many countless promises in Scripture. Our prayer, Father, is that we would appreciate them more today than ever. Begin to appropriate them in our lives.

Live according to them. You didn't give them just to give them. You gave them so we would understand you and trust you to fulfill your word to us. So with that person who is here today, they find themselves in the midst of their desert, in the midst of their brokenness, in the midst of their suffering and trial and difficulty, in the midst of their isolation. May they be reminded of the man, Moses. What you did in his life. Because you want to do the same thing in our lives as well. We love you, Lord.

Thank you for today. In Jesus' name, amen.