Exodus 2:11-22
I. Introduction
Our
text this morning is the anatomy of a success and a failure, and the faith that
it takes to handle both.
II.
God prepares the deliverer.
1. The passage has two movements. The first occurs in
2. We know that Moses was approximately forty
years of age at the beginning of vs. 11.
We also know that he had received a classical court education (in
paganism) but rejects it. See Acts
7:22-23 & Hebrews 11:24-26. While in
the court, he is not of the court. He
rejects his adopted identity. By faith,
he does not forget who he is. Appl: You are in the world but you cannot buy into
the world system and adopt its conduct.
You are different. Faith makes
you so. And you must be ready to say no
when that system tries to make you over or compromise your conduct. I suspect Moses had a sense that God was
going to use him; a sense gathered from his deliverance (2:1-10). Appl:
It is so with us. Thus, it is a
positive that Moses is by faith rejecting his worldly identity and is willing
to suffer loss. We fail here. The second positive is that he identifies
with his people. Read 2:11 and notice
the verbs he went out and he saw. There
is a sense of finality here. Moses is
going to take a stand. Appl: Some people try to straddle the fence all of
their lives; it will ruin you. God will
put you in a circumstance in which you must take a stand. And what Moses sees is the injustice borne by
his people. The text reads by his
brothers. Appl: Identification with God’s people; this is
family so get involved. I remind you
that Christianity is not your own private affair; it is a corporate one. You are placed in the body of Christ to
serve.
3. But the positives are not total. Moses rejects the court to identify with the
oppressed. These are great and
commendable, but they are not comprehensive and total. Successes are neither final or total in this
life. We are flawed human beings. Moses, in an attempt to break with the past
and forge a link with his people, fails by overreaching. He takes a path of violence which is
forbidden. When Christians see
injustice, they should cry out and use non-violent means. Read 2:12.
Appl: In the Church today, we are
using worldly means to achieve divine motives.
It does not work. See 2
Corinthians 10:4 & Zechariah 4:6.
Illus: Abraham and Hagar & Rebekah deceives Isaac.
It is a less to never forget who you are.
4. And when Moses tries to use his violence to
help his brothers, he is rejected and has to flee. There is a dispute over whether Moses failed
here or not. I obviously think he
did. The author of Hebrews says he fled
not fearing the king’s anger; therefore, the flight had to be based on his
rejection by his countrymen. See Hebrews
11:27. Regardless, the author is not
validating the act of violence. I am
merely affirming that he failed in the means he used. Appl: rejection is part of preparation.
5. The second part of the movement begins in vs.
16. The reference to Midian
is a tribal one. They were nomadic and
lived in the desert. Moses flees there,
takes a wife, and has sons. He is there
some forty years. See Acts 7:30. But I love what the author of the Book of
Hebrews says. He fled there by
faith. He still believed God had a plan
for him. I think the years were
hard. I suspect they were troubled and
lonely years of confusion and dismay.
Appl: reality of life. But it is here that we learn that the failure
is not final for God is not finished with him.
He is on the backside of a question mark playing what if games. But he continues to trust God. We think otherwise. O my!
Times are hard. I guess God has
forgotten me or this is not the Christianity I want for myself. In contrast, we are to walk by faith
regardless of the times because they are in the hand of God. The dynamic reference to the wilderness (Acts
7:30) means, for me, that despite his failure, God is not finished with
him. It is here that God will test and
refine him. It is here that God will
prepare him. We are much too fragile for
this. Who waits forty years for
anything? But by faith, we look to God
and not the circumstances. Faith is a
conviction of things not seen.
6. It is hard to be rejected. It is hard to be forgotten. Once again, the writer of Hebrews is
instructive. See Hebrews 11:27. The NAS reads endured. The verb can also be translated to be patient
or steadfast. In other words, he waited
upon God for his time and his way. Even
Moses’ failure will not obviate God’s providence for God is not finished with
him. Ironically, he too is despised and
rejected which is part of the resume of every deliverer. Thus, God is at in a dark time in the life of
his servant. Illus: Calvin, Pink.
I am reminded of the metaphor from the photographic studio that pictures
are developed in the dark. It is a good
reminder. It is a wonderful and
redeeming thing to know that our failures are neither final nor terminal. Moses knows this for he names his son Gershom meaning stranger or alien. It is our heritage. We too must wait upon the purposes of God.
7. Lastly, it is instructive that our Lord was
led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. See Matthew 4:1. It was a foreboding place. But God led him there. He is there for 40 days. By faith in his Father and the word, he
conquers. He is the ultimate deliverer!