I was about -- I'm guessing 19 or 20 years old when I first did this, what I'm doing tonight. My first bible study at a church, it was a real gig, it was real church service and a pastor who had a church in California, his name was Paul Smith, had invited me on a Sunday night to teach a bible study. I had never done one. I've done one in homes before and I never done one in a church so I got all prepared and I studied Jonah Chapter 1 and I was going to each about Jonah. I was a nervous wreck and the long and short of it was is after that evening I felt like such a failure. I felt like I wanted to go home and crawl under a rock and never do that again ever. I just thought, "This isn't for me."

After the service, Paul Smith came up to me put an arm around me and said, "That was so good," now he might have gone [Laughs] But he said, "That was so good," and he encourages me and goes, "I want you to do it again next week, only next week do Chapter 2 on Jonah." There's four chapters and it, finish out the book.

So what I felt -- I like was a failure and I saw within a man an encourager to help me do it again. While we're dealing with the time of God's deliverance for his people and I love that of all the people he chooses, he chooses what would probably to himself, Moses, he would consider himself a failure, an 80-year-old failure. But 40 years after his failure of murdering an Egyptian, of fleeing to the wilderness, of getting lost 40 years later, God uses him and gives him a second chance. Very similar to the second chance that I get. Well, here's the rub. As soon as God tells Moses what he is going to do, Moses isn't all that excited about being in the ministry.

He doesn't really want the second chance. In fact, you're going to discover he has some excuses, five of them, of why he shouldn't do it, why he doesn't want to do it, why God wouldn't be calling him, why he's not the right person, it's fascinating. God chooses him because he wants to use him, but Moses doesn't want to be used.

I bet you've heard the story about the husband and wife getting up on a Sunday morning getting ready for church. Wife comes in all ready to go church, sees her husband lying around the bed and she says, "Get up, it's time for church!" He goes, "I don't want to go." She goes, "What do you mean you don't want to go? Give me three good reasons why you shouldn't go." He goes, "Oh, that's easy. Number one the people of that church are cold and uncaring. Number two, nobody there likes me. And number three, I just don't feel like it."

And she says, "Well, let me give you three reasons why you should get up and come to church with me. Number one, the church is warm and very sensitive. Number two, a few people like you. And number three, you're the pastor. [Laughs] So get up and get dressed."

Now, the truth of that matter is the basis of divine choice is often contrary to what makes sense as a human being. The basis of God's choice doesn't always make sense to us. In fact, it's contrary to human reason. Classic example, the 12 apostles. Honestly, if those guys were in the Bible and you didn't know their names, I bet none of you would pick them. Jesus knew about them and he knew about them in advance and he picked them. And I would say that the Bible is filled with people who had second chances, people who had failed and God used them to do a powerful work and Jonah would be a perfect example of that.

He failed the first time God tried to get him motivated. Do you remember that story? God wouldn't let him go and when he was down and out and really down in the mouth, literally, of the whale, he cried out to God and God used him.

Peter was another one, he denied the Lord. Jesus wouldn't let him go. "Peter, do you love me?" "Peter, do you love me?" "Peter, do you love me?" John Chapter 21, "Then feed my sheep." John Mark was another one. On Paul's missionary journey, that young man decided to run away and it was a great falling out between Paul and Barnabas because of it. But years later, Paul said, "Bring John Mark for he is profitable to me for the ministry." God is all about second chances and can I just add a PS? And third chances and fourth chances and you might be on 79th chance. He's all about that as well.

Verse 1, "Now Moses was tending to flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Median, and he led the flock to the back of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai. Actually, technically, Mount Sinai is here and Horeb would be like right here. A little bit lower but right next to it. I climbed both peeks. Mount Horeb and Mount Sinai right in the same location. Have you ever thought of what Moses' daily routine was like at this time in his life? Forty years in the dessert, same terrain, same sheep, same smell, same routine every single day for years. He's shepherded. He's out in the middle of the dessert. What a contrast to how he lived growing up in Egypt. He was no doubt pampered; he had the best of everything, now he is out in the middle of the desert.

In fact, Moses has the job he had grown up to despise. Do you remember that text back in Genesis Chapter 46? When Joseph brings his family into Egypt he gives them the land of Goshen. Very, very good for racing live stock but sort of tucked out of the way. The Egyptians really didn't go there, that's where the shepherds went and the writer of Genesis, Moses, says, "For every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians." And now, Moses, once an Egyptian, or at least raised in an Egyptian home, is what he grew up to despise, a shepherd.

Yet this is preparation for his future. He's going to find it very valuable. Think of it. Spending that much time in Median in the Sinai Peninsula was very helpful because soon he would be leading the children of Israel to that same topography. He'll get a hands-on knowledge of what is going on in that region.

Number two, he's leading a lot of sheep. Good preparation for leading lots of people whose behavior isn't a lot different than sheep by the way. Number three, a very important aspect of leadership will be learned by Moses and it's called humility. Forty years of being in the desert after you're an Egyptian prince brings humility. And that would be absolutely necessary if he is going to lead men or women in any capacity at all.

Now, the day that God calls Moses was a day like any another day, no different, it was an ordinary day. The sun rose, he gets up, he takes his father-in-law's flock, he goes out to the desert, tries to find pasture land for them, which by the way in Median was a challenge because it's so barren you really have to hunt for some land that is filled with water and lush enough for animals to feed on.

So it was an ordinary day and what I like about that is to simply say that when God is going to move in your life he won't warn you in advance. He won't give you a dream the night before and say, "Just be aware, tomorrow will be a very special day." Because you wouldn't get any sleep the rest of the night because you would know exactly what that meant. Your life just sort of goes on and it's an ordinary day and when you least expect it, God can change directions or speak to you dramatically or start something wonderful, a new relationship, a new journey. I never forget the evening when my now father-in-law, who that time was Dr. Farley, called me and wanted to have a man to man talk with me and why I dated his daughter and is it over and if it's over at least contact her and tell her it's over. I've dated her for a year. But you owe her at least a communication and a conversation. Well, guess what that lead to, this. [Laughs]

That was a wonderful day. But it was an ordinary day until that phone call and things changed. And things are going to change for Moses, Verse 2, "The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. And he and behold, the bush was burning with fire." But the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, "I will now turn aside and see this great site, why the bush does not burn."

An unexpected source of revelation. Now the angel of the Lord will speak through the bush and it will be the Lord speaking, we discover, called the angel of the Lord but through a burning bush.

Now so far in the Old Testament, God has spoken in a couple of different ways. Sometimes in audible voice, Abraham must have had some audible voice, Isaac, Jacob heard the voice of God. That's pretty dramatic and in of itself. But sometimes there was the angel of the Lord who appeared in here once again but this is not really unusual. Now, a burning bush on the other hand is very unusual. And as Moses is gazing out over the terrain, he sees something that he has never seen before and got attention and goes, "I got to go check that out, I never seen a bush burn in the desert that doesn't immediately get distinguished because it's consumed." So he goes to check it out.

Now, when God speaks there are normal typical ways that God speaks and I want to be very careful how I frame this because I believe that God spoke in many ways, Hebrews Chapter 1 Verse 1 and has in these last days spoken to us by his son and principally, God speaks through his word. But I just want to say be open to the Lord getting through to you in ways that are unusual and unpredictable and different. If you remember back in Genesis Chapter 15, this weird thing that Abraham saw when he was sort of half in a sleep and half out of sleep. Do you remember that? That burning oven and flax traveling through the two halves of different animals and as the sun was setting and it was really a weird thing. We made mention of that when went through it and yet God was speaking.

And so, if God chooses to speak in unusual means, he does it because he wants to do it. Number two, he could do it because maybe, just maybe, you're a little bit harder headed and the normal means haven't worked. So this is really going to work. I mean this is going to be something Moses is never going to forget. Verse 4, "When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and he says, "Moses! Moses!" Why did he say his name twice? I don't know. [Laughs]

Well, I don't. And he said, "Here I am." This is the good thing to say if the Lord's talking to you. And he said, "Do not draw near this place, take your sandals off your feet for the place where you stand is holy ground."

I got a question for you, what's so holy about a barren desert? Holy ground, I mean he's been looking at this ground for 40 years. This is desert. This is the place I leave my sheep from to find pasture and something that is irrigable and drinkable. What makes this ground so holy? Well, what's the answer? The presences of God and that's the point. God's presence gives ordinary places and ordinary circumstances extra ordinary status. If the Lord is in this place and the Lord has brought you to this place then embrace it.

Now as I preach that I'm speaking to myself because I want to make a confession. When I have moved years ago from Southern California to New Mexico and I remember the first winter I thought -- I just look at my wife and said, "Lenny, there's like this stuff on the ground I've never seen before." She said, "Honey, that's -- it's called frost." I go, "Really? Wow, so it gets really cold here. That's frost, Hon." I mean I was used to winters with flowers and grass and green stuff and not like leaves falling off the trees. And so it was quite a shock for me and I developed overtime a real complaining spirit and it was basically, honestly sinful because if the Lord brings you to a place and the Lord is in this place then you embrace the place and that is holy ground for you, friend, and for me. Take your shoes off or your sandals off in this case. The place on which you stand is holy ground.

Now why a burning bush? And I don't want to get to deep into this because I'm already looking at the time thinking, "Yeah right, two chapters, it's not going to happen." Why a burning bush? Well, you'll just be able to see in a few chapters how that when God, in his presence, comes down on Mount Sinai, it's not too un-similar or dissimilar to this. It will be in fire and in lightning and the whole mountain will quake and light up with fire. It was a symbol of the glory and the presence and the power of God. It was a sign that attracted attention but the burning is emblematic of the presence of God. And there's another reason perhaps. If you just think back, Moses was pretty fired up when he wanted to deliver the children of Israel on his own -- in his own strength.

And he killed and Egyptian to deliver the Israelites, which didn't turn out all that good, and maybe its sort of like God is saying, "Moses, you burned out, man. You flamed out last time. I'm going to kindle something within you that will never burn out. I'm going to give you the power above and beyond yourself to do something that will never burn out."

Here's just another thought, if you just indulge me a minute. Many scholars believe that the bush that burned was the Acacia bush or the thorn bush of the desert. Now, do you remember back in Genesis 3 that God said, "I'm going to curse the ground for your sakes, thorns and fizzles it will bring forth"? So thorns and fizzles became the emblem of the cursed earth because of the sin of man. God is speaking to the very thing that he wants cursed because that is the effect of sin and he's going to deliver the children of Israel's out of their bondage.

Fast forward, Jesus wore a crown of thorns and many scholars also believe that it was the same desert Acacia bush. He's bearing the emblem of the curse brought upon by the sin of man for which he came to take away. You could just tie those thoughts together.

Moreover, he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face for he was afraid to look upon God and the Lord said, "I have surely seen the oppression of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their task masters, for I know their sorrows and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land." You see that progression? I've seen it, I've heard it, and I know it. Let's put that way in human language called anthropomorphism.

Here is the idea. I know totally what these people are going through. With the senses of anybody who can have the sense and ability to hear or see and cognize it to know the situation. I've survey it, I know what they're going through and now I'm going to do something about it, I'm going to deliver them. And I'm going to bring them into a good and large land, and notice the specific identification of territorial allotment is given. To the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizites, the Hivites, the termites and – oh, they're not in there, and the Jebusites. Those are the Canaanite tribes that comprised the land of Canaan known as Israel today.

I'm going to give them that land. Now therefore, "Behold the cry of the children of Israel has to come to me and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel out of Egypt."

So you get the picture now, you get the scene now. We see the progress now after 40 years in no man's land. As a shepherd the very thing the Egyptians despised, God says, "I've got a job for you, Moses. You're the one I am now equipping and sending to be the deliverer for these people." Well, it won't be received with readiness on Moses' part. You know, I see a lot of Moses in all of us and at least in me. I can speak from me. Well, when I listen to Moses' excuses and I mention there are five of them. If by God's grace we get to them all, we'll see them tonight. But so often we want to use our problems as excuses not to do God's will. Well, I would do that if only, but I can't so I won't but maybe later.

We always have excuses; always use the problems as excuses not to do God's will. Maybe not always, but often. We're really good at rationalizing. It was Billy Sunday, the evangelist who said, "An excuse is the skin of a reason stuffed with a lie." Isn't that good definition? The skin of reason stuffed with a lie. I keep that in mind as we go through some of Moses' excuses.

By the way, I found a little article. It came out of a Canadian newspaper, The Toronto Sun, and they had recorded excuses that people gave them after they got into an auto accident. And I just thought I'd share some of these excuses with you. One driver said, "Well, I was coming home and I drove into the wrong house and collided with the tree I don't have." [Laughs] Okay, no further questions. Here's another excuse, "The guy was all over the road and I had to swerve of a number of times before I hit him." These are actual true things. One guy said, "I pulled away from the side of the road, glanced at my mother-in-law and then headed over the embankment." You know, that's honest.

Now we have a question that is just texted in because I mentioned Mount Horeb and Mount Sinai and it says, "What mountain was Moses told to worship on?" Well, here's the technical versus the general. Technically, you can look at two peeks, the lesser peek being Mount Horeb, the greater peek being Mount Sinai, and that's all contingent upon if you believe the traditional side of Mount Sinai is what I'm talking about, that's even contented. But the mountain range itself was sometimes called Sinai, as was the whole peninsula, and sometimes called Horeb. So their interchangeable terms, one means the other, but technically one peek is higher than the other.

Okay, let's look at the excuses, Verse 11. Excuse number one, "I'm incapable," that's the excuse, "I'm incapable. I can't do it. I'm incapable." Verse 11, Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?" I'd like to answer that. Let's see, you grew up in Egypt, that's who you are. If anybody is suited, you're the guy. I find that an odd question, "Who am I?" I find it odd because 40 years ago, it's as if you said, "Look who I am," and that didn't go over very well. And now he is saying "Who am I, that I should be the one?"

I think there is a lesson in being impetuous. I believe that when you're self-appointed and God hasn't called you but you just do it, "I'm going to do it. I'm going to be the one to do it" and you press a head and aren't called to do something. When you're self appointed, you will often become impetuous, you'll rush ahead and when you do that, you can blunder without counting the cost. Do you remember the story in the New Testament where a young man said, "I'll follow you wherever you go, Jesus"? And Jesus didn't say, "That's great, sign up right here." He knew that was an impetuous kind of a decision so he cautioned him by saying, "Well, just so you know fox have holes, birds of the air have nest, but the son of man doesn't even have a place to lay his head at night." So if you're going to follow me basically, count the cost. Moses hadn't counted the cost 40 years before. Now he's counting cost.

Now, the other extreme to being impetuous and being self-confident is to absolutely have confidence at all. And like Moses have said, "I can't do it, who am I?" Sounds humble, but it's just disobedient. I think there's a balance, and I want to give it to you. On this side, self-confidence. On this side, no confidence. Here's the balance, God confidence. See? What did Paul say? "I can do all things through Christ who gives me the strength." That's the balance. Don't be self-confident. Don't think, "I can do this." "I'm smart." "I'm gifted." "I'm talented." If you are, it's only because God gave it to you so don't trust in that, but in him. And don't say, "I can't do it." because if God called you to do it, guess what? You can. The balance is God confidence.

Verse 12, so he said – here's God's response to him, "I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will serve God in this mountain. I'll prove to you that I'll be with you because there's a coming a day when you're going to be on this mountain again with tons of people. You'll be here and when you are you remember that."

So what does God say to him? Moses says, "I'm incapable" and God says to him, "I'm proximal." or "I'm close to you." "I'm substantial." "I'll be with you." "I'm next to you." Here is the principle, "Moses, it's not who you are, it's who's with you. And if I'm with you doesn't matter who you are. That's the not the issue I will be with you."

Fast forward to the New Testament -- Gods bless you. Fast forward all the way to the New Testament and the disciples and do you remember what Jesus told his disciples at the end of the Gospels before he ascended into heaven, what was the great commission? He said, "Go, go into the entire world and preach your gospel to every creature."

Now, don't you think the disciples would have felt a little incapable? Me going to all the world? I haven't even been outside of Israel. You want us to go to all the world? And what did Jesus say? How did he answer that? Low(ph), I am with you always even to the end of the age, same idea. It's not about you, it's about who is with you. "I'll be with you even to the end of the age." Boy, if we could grasp that.

If we, as evangelical Christians who love God's word and love God's people and love God's church, if we could grasp that this isn't where it all happens. Okay, this is the salt shaker and it's great to get inside the salt shaker and get encouraged and get built up and get equipped. But it's not like, "This is where we come to meet God. This is God's house." When I was a kid they said, "Don't run in God's house." because I'd run through the church and get in trouble.

This isn't where it ends, folks. When you leave this building, wherever you go, God will be there. God will be there. You might go to a bar tonight. I don't necessarily recommend it, but I will say this, God will be there.

David said, "If I ascend into heaven you are there, if I make my bed in hell, behold, you are there." You can't escape God's presence. So if we can get that idea, God is in every place, the eyes of the Lord in every place beholding the good and the evil. "I'm with you, Moses. I'm with you in Egypt. I'm with you in Horeb and Sinai, I'm with you in Median, I'm with you whoever you go."

Okay, let me just say this. For the average guy, if they got an audible voice from God in a burning bush, that'd be enough, right? If God spoke to you audibly and you saw a bush burning, it wouldn't consume you go, "I believe. I'm going." The average guy. Moses isn't the average guy. So we get now to another excuse.

Excuse number two, "I'm un-knowledgeable." Number one, I'm in-capable, number two, "I'm un-knowledgeable. I won't know the answers." Verse 13, Moses said to God, "Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, the God of your fathers has sent me and them say, "What's his name?" What will I tell them?"

Now, you know why this was such a big thing for Moses is because he grew up in Egypt with a religious system, a world view that had a pantheon of deities and all of them had names. They were readily identifiable. There was Apis, the bull. There was Ra, the God of the Sun. There was Osiris, the God of the Nile River. There was Heget, the Frog Goddess. There was the crocodile god. All of them had distinct identities.

So Moses is sort of suffering an identity crisis for God. "I don't even know your name, I hear your voice, I see you wonder but what your name?" He asked for that, he doesn't know the answer. And God said to Moses, "I am who I am," and he said "thus you shall say to the children of Israel, I am has sent me to you." I am, not I used to be. Not I will be, but I am the eternal now, I'm the ever present one, the ever existent one, the all eternal one. That's the idea of "I am who I am." Moreover, God said to Moses, Verse 15, "That you shall say to the children of Israel, "The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob has sent me to you." "This is my name forever and this is my memorial to all generations."

Sometimes as Christians, I believe we live the life -- I heard it this way, we live the life of a saggy mattress. See, we look back and we say, "My past is secure, my sins are forgiven, all my sins are washed away by the blood of Christ. I trust that the Lord has done a work and he saved me from my sin. He won't hold it against me." And then we look to the future and we go, "Yeah, the future is secured, I'm going to be in heaven, it's going to be great, it's going to be glorious," I believe that but it's what's in between that sags.

The ends are taken care of but we lived the life of the saggy mattress. We're sagging in the middle. And it's the now that we get worried about. "Okay, he did a work back then, he'll do a work in the future in heaven," what about now? God wants to speak to you now. God wants to give you promises now. God wants to be the God of the here and the now and God, by the way, is not just the God of the now.

The idea of this name, "I am who I am", some believe could be translated the ever and all becoming one. I am. The ever and all becoming one, because sometimes you'll see the construction of the name of God, Yahweh -- I'll get to that in a moment, YHWH, the consonants or Jehovah, some say it's translated.

The name of God and then another name after it, like Jehovah-jireh, the Lord Provides or Jehovah or Yahweh Tsidkenu, the Lord our righteousness or another name Yahweh Shamma, our banner, Rapha our healer. So the point is that God reveals himself by this name but will tag other names unto it as if to say, "I am the all becoming one and I become to you whatever you need."

Whatever you need now is what I become to you. I am that I am. And you remember of course that Jesus appropriated this name for himself in the gospel of John. And he use up seven different times "I am," "I am the breath of life," "I am the light of the world," "I am the door to this sheepfold," "I am the good shepherd," on and on and on, "I am." And He said before Abraham was, "I am."

And verse 16, I think I have just a snippet of time to just to talk about this excuse.

[Laughter]

I wonder if when we hear the plain commands of the scripture like one we just talked about. "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel." If like Moses, we become a little reluctant to do that because we say, "Yeah, but -- but what if they ask me something and I don't know the answer to it"? "I'm un-knowledgeable; I'm not equipped for it."

Well, good. Because what will happen is they'll ask you a question and you won't be equipped for it and you'll go home and you'll find out what the answer is. And next time somebody asks you the answer to that, you'll know it. That was my experience. Quite honestly, when I was a brand new Christian I was -- I was two weeks old, not literally, but spiritually. I was 18, but I was two weeks old in the Lord.

And I was part of a group of people that went street-witnessing. Anybody ever go street-witnessing? So we go on the street, you just start finding people and you start talking to them. Well, I'd never done that and I thought, "I can't do that," and even if I could I don't want to do that. But I did it because we got - I guess it was the contest how many people you could fit in a Volkswagen bus so we all fit in there. We got emptied out in the parking lot, I go out there, I'm watching this, I'm feeling very uncomfortable and I start telling a little a bit what happened to me in my life, and somebody comes up to me, or I'm already engaged in a conversation, somebody asked me a question about evolution.

I'm 18, I'm a new Christian, I've already gotten of some this heartache at college, and they're asking me a question I can't answer. So I go, "Well, I don't know the answer, honestly, to your question. But if you'll allow me, I go get the answer and I'll come back if you're here next week and I'll give you the answer." The guy said, "Okay, that's fair enough."

So I went home and I studied the answer to that question and I felt so good about it and so confident about it and the next week I was looking for that guy. I want to find that guy. [Laughter] And even if I can't find somebody, I'll find somebody else and tell him because I was so excited about it.

Well, that was the second week. Somebody else that night asked me another question, a different one, I couldn't answer. But you see the pattern? You keep going home, you keep getting the answer, and pretty soon you get equipped in your edge. The blade gets sharp and you're unafraid and you look for people to talk to, and it can't be an excuse because God wants to equip you.

Verse 16, "Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, "The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and Jacob appeared to me saying, "I have surely visited you and seen what is done to you in Egypt". And I have said that I will bring you out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the parasites," I won't say the other words, don't worry, "Levites, Jebusites into a land flowing with milk and honey."

And we got a question that was texted in, let's just throw up on the screen and deal with it. And I can't read in advance because it's so long and I have to actually stop to read it so I'm just going to read it with you. It says, "Why does God ask Moses to remove his shoes"? Now watch this, follow it up, can you see it? "Aren't feet dirty?" Isn't that a great question? Wouldn't shoes keep dirty feet from coming into contact with holy ground?

Well, that is a good question, but you know what? The ground itself wasn't any cleaner, right? So it's not like He was inside of a palace or a house or anything like that. Plus it was symbolic. Keep in mind in those days, in cultures, shoes were removed in places of worship. Shoes were removed and it was seen that nothing would keep the feet, the human body, from the touch of the ground in that place that was designated as special or holy or set apart.

So it was largely symbolic, it wasn't that piece of dirt was any different than that piece of dirt, but because the presence of God was there to symbolize and show us an act of worship, you leave your shoes off and you approach.

Verse 19, God continues with Moses on Verse 18, "Then they will heed your voice and you shall come, you and the elders of Israel so the king of Egypt and you shall say to him, "The Lord God of the Hebrews met with us and now please, let us go three days journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God". "But I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go", this is not good news so far to Moses. No, not even with the mighty hand. "So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders which I will do and its mitt and after that he would let you go, and I would give these people favor on the side of the Egyptians and it shall be when you go that you will not go out empty handed, but every woman shall ask of their neighbor namely of her who dwells near her house, articles of silver, articles of gold and clothing and you shall put them on your sons and your daughters and so you shall spoil or," as my translations says, "plunder the Egyptians".

But do you notice how effortlessly and how completely God knows the future and can predict it? And he knows every conversation that's going to happen, you're going before Moses, he is not going to let you go so readily. In fact, I'm going to have to do this; he tells this in advance to Moses to get him a little bit of a heads up, all preparation, but how effortlessly God can predict the future.

When it comes to the future, God didn't have to go, "Oh, man, I can't see it. Wait a minute. Oh, it's what's coming"? It's just like he knows everything, the end from the beginning. So what that means is that God never panics. Did you get that? God is never surprised, God never panics. We do, but if you could catch yourself at that moment and go, "Wait a minute, God knew this, God saw this and somehow God has prepared me for this".

Corrie Ten Boom, a Godly lady who suffered in a Nazi concentration camp. Toward the end of her life could say, "Never be afraid to trust an unknown future in to the hands of a known God". Do you know God? Then trust Him even when you can't see or understand. It's all played out.

Chapter 4 Verse 1, we come to the third excuse, ready? Here's the third excuse, "I'm fearful, I'm afraid" then Moses answered and said, "But supposed they won't believe me or listen to my voice? Supposed they say, "The Lord has not appeared to you". Boy, this guy is warrior. He's playing the what-if game. He's supposing a conversation and a situation that hasn't even happened yet.

He is sort of projecting himself in to this situation and He's worried about what could possibly happen if this and then what? And God has already said, "Well, you got a bush and you got a voice and you got my presence, what else do you need?" He's not satisfied. He's fearful. He's worried about it. There's an old man at the end of his life, somebody asked him about worry. And he said, "What things in your life did you worry most about"? He smiled and said, "Things that never happened." I can look back and say I worried about stuff that never happened."

Moses is worried about stuff that hasn't yet happened. And I would say wouldn't you that the fear of man is one of the biggest hindrances to doing the will of God? We get afraid if we step out for Christ and we say something, we'd be rejected. "What if they don't like me?" "What if I get put out and rejected at the office?" "What if my family -- or they say this behind my back"?

We project situations that haven't even happened yet. That's why when God chose the prophet Jeremiah, God said, "Jeremiah, don't be afraid of their faces", you know why? Because young Jeremiah was going to proclaim the word of God and probably the people would look at him like this. I don't even know if that's a good grumpy voice. I can't even see it, you can.

[Laughter]

Maybe that, maybe that's better, maybe they look back real gnarly at them. Besides, don't even look at them. Don't even be afraid of them. "I've called you, don't be afraid of them don't worry about what hasn't happened yet."

Rasus of the Lord said to Him, "I love this." Here Moses is saying, "Yeah, but supposed – yeah, but what if -" God said, "Moses, what's in your hand"? He said, "A rod." Then he said, "Cast it on the ground". So he cast it on the ground and it became a serpent. And Moses fled from it -- I would too. I hate snakes. Indiana Jones does too. I'm dating myself.

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail," and he reached out his hand and caught and it became a rod, in his hand. And this is what God says about that, "That they may believe, that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob has appeared to you". Okay, let me tell you about shepherds, shepherds carried two things, a staff and a rod. A staff they would walk with, walking-stick, and they guide the sheep with it, and a rod to beat up wolves. To beat off predators and even to kill snakes.

And when sheep were approached in the morning with the shepherd and they saw in the hand the staff and the rod, they felt very comfortable; they felt together, they weren't skittish. That's why David said, "Your rod and your staff, they comfort me". In other words, I serve a God who will guide me and beat off the enemy. I feel very, very secure. Okay, "What's in your hand, Moses"? "A rod." A rod's just a stick. It's just a stick. But in the hands of a shepherd it's a tool. In the hand of a shepherd it's something powerful and mighty that gives comfort to the sheep. Whatever is in you hand, if you placed it in the Lord's hands can become a mighty powerful tool. I can ask you the question, "What's in your hand? "What do you do for a living?" Some of you would say, "A pen is in my hand. I'm a writer". Others would say, "A broom's in my hand".

Whatever skill it is you do or whatever you find your hands to do, it's just a stick, it's just a pen, it's a just a broom, it's just an occupation. But here's what I want to say, your simple deed, your simple task, your simple occupation can become, if you place it in God's hands, a mighty tool and a powerful tool to accomplish as well.

What was the sling? You know what sling is made out of? Leather? A Sling is just a little pouch made out of leather with two strings on it. It's nothing. It's a piece of leather. But in David's hands, it's a mighty tool. The jawbone of a donkey, worthless, nothing, throw it away, but in the hand of Samson it can kill a thousand Philistines. Very simple throw away items, but if they're in the right hands they can become very powerful. Put your ordinary sticks into the hands of an extraordinary God. That's sort of the lesson that Moses is learning here. He says, "I'm afraid", "What's in your hand"? "I got a stick", "Throw it down, check this out".

See, when you place it in my care, in my power, in my hands, look what can happen. Now, I have another question, I think it's a good question. I neglect to do explain it, so let's get back to it. The question is, "Can you explain the vowels in the name of God Yahweh?" Okay, now follow me hear, I need your attention. We don't know how that name is pronounced. You know why we don't know? Because the Jews believed that the name of God was so sacred that it was ineffable' or unpronounceable, that sinful lips should never pronounce the name of God. Moses knew what it was, but we don't have it preserved because what happened as that name got written down to history, the Jewish people left out the vowels and kept the consonants and the consonants that are left translated into English would be, Y-H-W-H. So is it Yahweh, is it Yahowa, is it Yaho -- it could be few different pronunciations.

The idea of the name Jehovah is because when there was a translation of the Old Testament called the Masoretic text, ever heard of the Masoretic text? Sometimes you read the Old Testament and you'll see a little footnote in your Old Testament says, "Masoretic text says", the Masory, it where a group of translators, and when translated the name of God, they kept the consonants, the Y-H-W-H. But they inserted the vowels of another name of God, Adonai, into the name Yahweh. So it became Yahova or later on Jehovah. That's how it became sort of corrupted into English.

But the truth is nobody knows what the name of God should be pronounced like. We only have those four consonants called by scholars the Tetragrammaton. It was four letters, the name of God. So it is often called and you'll often hear me refer to the name of God as Yahweh.

Okay so, I sort of lost my place, I'll get back to it. Furthermore, Verse 6, the Lord said to him, "Put your hand in your bosom. Do this," like pull a Napoleon, put your hand down in their vest. And he put his hand in his bosom and he took it out again, behold his hand was leprous, like snow. And then he said, "Put your hand in your bosom again." So he put his hand in his bosom again, drew it out of his bosom, behold, it was refreshed like the other flesh. And then it would be, if they do not believe you nor heed the message of the first sign, that they may believe the message of the later sign. And it shall be that they do not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice that you shall take water from the river, pour it on dry land, and the water which you take from the river will become blood on dry land.

Okay so, this excuse, excuse number three, "I'm fearful." How does God answer it? "I'm powerful." -- "I'm fearful." "I'm powerful." So for every excuse God has a wonderful answer. And it's all about his character, his ability, his working in Moses' Life. Here's the forth of excuse, "I'm unsuitable. I'm not the right man for the job. I lack natural qualifications".

Verse 10, Moses said to the Lord, "Oh, my Lord! I am not eloquent, neither before nor since you have spoken to your servant". "But I am - - slow of speech and slow of tongue", I'm just doing that for effect, obviously it's not having a good effect.

So the Lord said to him, "Who has made man's mouth?" I love this answer, "Lord, I can't talk". "Excuse me, Moses, who made man's mouth? Who invented the mouth, Moses?" "I did. I invented it, my idea." "Who made man's mouth?" or "Who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord?" "Now therefore go and I would be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say". Okay, so what this excuse is "I'm unsuitable. I can't talk."

The living Bible translates this excuse as, I have a speech impediment. The Moffatt translation says it this way, "I have no command of words," and still another translations says, "I'm a stutterer." "I'm a stutterer". "So look, God, I've never joined the toast masters, I failed speech in high-school, I'm not the right guy for the job, I lack the natural qualifications."

You know, I wonder if Cecil B. DeMille, when he made the Ten Commandments movie and he cast -- remember who'd he cast for Moses? Charlton Heston, right? Who remembers Charlton Heston? Please tell me you've seen the Ten Commandments movie. You're like not an American if you haven't seen that movie, okay. Okay so, I wonder if Cecil B. DeMille would have read this verse, I wonder if he would have picked Charlton Heston because he was so eloquent and spoke so beautifully and, "Let my people go!" When it really was sort of like, "Let, let, and let my -- people go!"

It puts a whole spin on things that are a little bit differently for us. He says, "I'm not eloquent. I can't talk". According to ancient documents that we have in Egypt, eloquence was considered a premium to the Egyptians. They considered it very important. Moses would have known that, he grew up under Egypt. And here's what's interesting and before somebody text me this I'm going to answer it. Because when Steven is giving the history of Israel in the New Testament before the Sanhedrin, he brings up the point that Moses was educated in all the wisdom of Egypt and was mighty in speech, powerful in speech. That's what's Steven says about him.

So would you consider that revisionism, historical revisionism? Is that an inaccuracy? Why now is he suddenly saying, "I'm not eloquent, I can't speak, I don't have a command of words"? A couple of reasons, number one, he totally at this point lacked confidence. He lacked confidence and he looked at his life and it's an excuse. It's a skin of reason stuffed with a lie. Maybe he realizes, "This isn't my strong suite. I can't do this. It's not my strong suite." Here's another possibility. He's been in the desert how long? Forty years in the desert with sheep. That's not like meaningful conversation. And you sort of lose your edge in talking with people and having meaningful deep explanatory conversations when you're dealing with sheep all the time. He's been out of that environment.

But the big problem is Moses is looking at his weaknesses rather than God's strength. God called you to do it, step out. Some might discover overtime. I believe this to be true, absolutely. It seems that God places on a much higher premium on you availability than your ability. "I'm not really good at this." "Perfect, you're the one for the job." "Well, why would I be the one for the job?" "Because when you do I'll get the glory." Yeah, you were the kid who said after that first Bible study, "I can't do this. I don't want to this." "Well, do it again next week, do Jonah Chapter 2". "I'm a failure. I don't want to do this."

In the very area where you maybe feel weak, maybe the area God wants to help you excel in. It's just - I love this. Moses is the spokesman for God and he says, "I ---can't talk." and he's about to be a spokesperson. So the Lord said to him, again, I just want to reiterate this and get into this really briefly, who's made man's mouth, who made the mute or the deaf or the seeing or the blind, "Have not I?" said the Lord. Do you find that interesting that God takes the responsibility for of the handicaps? That's not a little responsibility. That's quite a responsibility. When we read this, immediately my heart is set at odds with God in my natural man, my whole concept that God gets challenged. When God makes this statement and gives no explanation for it. He didn't even feel he needed to explain or justify it, "I'm responsible for blindness, deafness, pain. I'm sovereign," he is saying.

And this really is an impediment for lots of people. Our whole concept of God is challenged. However, if you can get over this hurdle, your faith will be unshakable. If you can ever get to a place in your walk where you absolutely trust God as sovereign, and even though I don't get it, I don't understand his purposes, he's got one and I don't need to know and He didn't have to explain it to me. I can live with it. Your faith will be so deep it would be unmovable.

Now having said that, I will say that the world that we live in now doesn't represent God's ideal or original intention. We are scarred and marred by sin and this is the long-term effect of that and it's been spread out many, many years but in every single generation. And whenever I see sickness and I see these issues that are brought up, these handicaps, the first thing I see when I say this, "Oh Lord, hasten the day". When the blind will see and deaf will hear and there will be no more pain and no more tears and no more death and no more suffering. But right now we're still living in this very sin-scarred world.

And I see that instead of a theological problem, as an opportunity to show the love and compassion of Christ to people who are suffering. So if we just look at and go, "I don't get this. This is really weird. This is kind of a--" You know what's a lot better? You reach into that person's life, you get involved, and you bring the love and joy and compassion of Jesus. More important than what you do or do not understand. In the name of Jesus and be his ambassador.

Okay, we have just enough time to barely cover excuse number five and I'm going to read quick. Here's what I want you see, this is the last and final excuse and here's the real reason. Here's the real reason, here it is. "I'm inflexible. I'm inflexible, I don't want to do it, I'm just not going to do it." But he said, "Oh my Lord, please send by the hand of whom ever else you may send." In other words, "I don't want to do it, send somebody else." So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, "Is not Aaron, the Levite, your brother"? "I know that he can speak well. And look, he is also coming out to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart".

This is very revealing. It reveals to me that all the other excuses were a skin of a reason stuffed with a lie. It was just a smoke screen. The real reason is, "Send somebody else. I don't want to do it. I'm inflexible." First he says, "Who am I?" You know how I did that? It really sounds spiritual. "Oh, I couldn't do that". Yeah, that's just a cover-up for being disobedient. But now you act so humble.

But you know what, if God tells you to do something and you go, "I can't do that." That's not humble, that's being disobedient. So the real reason comes out so the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses. I understand that.

Verse 15, "You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth," So you got two mouths going out that I'm going to be with, "And I will teach you what you shall do.

And he shall be my spokesman to the people and he himself shall be his mouth for you, and you shall be to him as God." In other words, I'll give you the message; you give it him and you just sort of stand there and he'll talk. "Now you shall take the rod in your hand with which you shall do these signs." And Moses went in and returned to Jethro, his father-in-law, and said to him, "Please let me go and return to my brethren who are in Egypt and see whether they're still alive." And Jethro said to Moses, "Go in peace". When your father-in-law is on your side, life is good.

And the Lord said to Moses in Median, "Go return to Egypt, for all the men who sought your life are dead". And Moses took his wife and his sons, sat them on a donkey, returned to the land of Egypt. Moses took the rod of God in his hand, notice not the little shepherd's rod, now it's God's rod. Won't you love that? It was just his shepherd rod but its God's rod now. He's got the God rod. And the Lord said to Moses, "When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all of those wonders before pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let my people go."

And what I'm going to do is I'm going to read all the way through and stop and I'm going to ask a few questions that you're going to find and answer to. "You shall say to pharaoh, "Does says the Lord is real as my son my, first born. "So I say to you, let my son go that he may serve me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your sons, your first born."

It will come to pass that on the way at the encampment of the Lord, the Lord or the encampment of the Lord met him and sought to kill him. And Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut of a foreskin of her son and cast it to Moses feet and said, "Surely you are a husband of blood to me." And so she let him go. And she said, "You are husband of blood because of this circumcision." Domestic problems.

The Lord said to Aaron, "Go into the wilderness to meet Moses," so he went and met him on the mountain of God and kissed him. So Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord that sent him and all the signs which he have commanded him. And Moses and Aron went and gather together all the elders of the children of Israel and Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses and then he did the signs in the sight of all the people. And so the people believed and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel and that he had looked on their affliction that they bowed their heads and worshipped.

I have two questions for you, why does it say that God hardened or would harden the pharaoh's heart? Why would it say that God would harden pharaoh's heart? You have to answer that question or come up with that, dig that out. Number two, why did God want to kill Moses? And I was thinking, wait a minute, I want to ask you that question, Skip. While I'm asking you that question, that's what you're going to dig up and find out for next week. And it's pretty fascinating stuff. Granted that's the whole last section of this chapter is an odd, weird kind of a thing from our modern perspective. We're going to look at that a little bit next week and get into the next chapter. Lets pray.

Heavenly Father, we believe that you speak to men and women. You speak through the means of your word, but also through unlikely things. You might use somebody that we don't necessary like, to speak a word into our lives, into our heart. You might use this circumstance of pain or problem to deal with certain things that becomes your voice to us. We always want to be open to match whatever that is with your word but always be open to you, dealing with us and speaking with us and giving us commands. And you've already given us one and that is to go into this world wherever we are and to make an impact by spreading the gospel.

I pray, Lord, that we throw away any excuses and we would just go for it and watch you work and get the glory and be used. And Lord, that doesn't necessarily mean we have to go overseas, we have children. And we can speak into their lives and we can disciple them and administer to them and train them up to be men and women of God. And we have parents and we have brothers and sisters and we have neighbors and we have friends. Just use us, we want to be used by you and be spokesmen and spokeswomen, in Jesus' name, Amen.