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UNDERSTANDING THE KINGDOM OF GOD
PART TEN - C   MOSES, GOD’S MAN

September 16, 2001
We are now going to follow Moses step by step as he begins his confrontations with the ruler of Egypt, Pharaoh. It must have taken a lot of faith, courage and strength to walk to the very palace in which he once lived, ask for an audience with Pharaoh and then tell the king to release all his free slave labor. At this time in history, the general belief was that there were many gods, each in charge of a portion of the earth. Thus, when Moses invoked the name of the God of Israel, that was not a big deal to the king - Exodus 5:1

Subsequently Pharaoh responded with arrogance, I do not know your God and I do not care to know him - Verses 2- 5

Pharaoh now commanded that the work burden should be increased upon the Hebrews - Verses 6-14

From the first day, the request for an exodus turned into a disaster; instead of getting better, it got more than worse. The Hebrew leadership stopped believing in Moses, lost all interest in leaving Egypt and went to Pharaoh to undo the work of Moses - V.15-19

As the leaders left the palace, they walked past Moses and Aaron, and the words spoken were hard, bitter and angry - Verses 20-21

Moses lost all his faith, became depressed and complained to the Lord - V.22-23

Again God spoke to Moses and told him, this is who I am, this is what I am going to do, now talk to the people. But instead of rejoicing, the people told Moses to lay off - Exodus 6:1-9

At this low point in his life, God said, go back to the palace and confront Pharaoh again - Verses 10-13; 28-29

Moses is now in anguish, so far he has seen no miracles, only rejection and unbelief - Verse 30

The Lord now informed Moses that he had done two things, first he had made Pharaoh to look upon Moses as a "god," and at the same time he had hardened the heart of Pharaoh, so the latter did not have the gift of faith in God - Exodus 7:1-5

THE TURNING POINT!  Galatians 6:7-9
It must have taken all the faith and trust in God that Moses and Aaron had when they went back to the palace and confronted the king - Verses 6-13

Now Moses received new orders - in the morning, stand by the road and confront Pharaoh! Verses 14–25

Seven days later, God said to Moses again, go back to the palace and confront the king again - Exodus 8:1-7 Up to this time the magicians (warlocks) were able to match the miracles of Moses and Aaron - Verse 7

This time it was Pharaoh who called on Moses and Aaron. The power had now shifted from the king of Egypt to the king of the Hebrews - Verse 8

At this time faith had taken hold of Moses and in confidence he asked Pharaoh, what time he wanted the frogs gone - Verse 9-11

As Pharaoh reneged on his word, God did not send them back to the palace, instead Aaron was told to smite the ground and create another plague - Verses 12-17

This time the power was removed from Pharaoh’s magicians, they could not match this miracle - verse 18, and they had to confess to Pharaoh that their gods could not match the power of the God of the Hebrews, but he turned a deaf ear: Verse 19

At this point, Moses and Aaron had been vindicated by God and elevated in the eyes of both the Hebrews and the Egyptians - Verses 20-24

Now began the negotiation between two kings, one who had lost his power and one who had the unlimited backing of almighty God - Verses 25-32

Now a number of plagues were to be executed, leading to the final death of every first born in Egypt - Exodus 9:1-35; 10:1-29; 10:1-29

The lesson that we as believers in Christ can learn from this is the following:

IF GOD HAS GIVEN US HIS WORD, IT WILL BE GOOD AND IT WILL BE EXACTLY AS THE LORD HAS MANDATED! Luke 10:1-22

  Do you have an ear with which to hear?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      To be continued . . . . 

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