Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / Exodus

Exodus 4:18-31 11/23/03

Introduction: We live in an time of unkept promises. Nations sign important treaties and then break them at will. Politicians make promises in order to get our vote and once they are in the office, they often forget about the promises they made.
 In this kind of society, we who are God’s people should be known for keeping our promises.
 
Explanation: We make all kinds of promises. Some are big like Marriage Vows and others are small, like promising our kids we will play with them right after we’re done reading the paper. But when it comes down to it…a promise is a promise.
 In this kind of society, we who are God’s people should be known for keeping our promises. Why? Because our God is a promise keeping God.

Transition: This morning we will find that our text talks about a promise that was not kept in Moses’ Personal Walk with God and we will see how it affected his Public Work for God.

Read: Exodus 4:18-23

But, notice that Moses doesn’t tell the whole truth about why he is going back to Egypt. Can you imagine Moses going to Jethro, his father in law, telling him he and his family were leaving to go to Egypt. ‘Why are you going Moses?’ Jethro would ask? ‘I am going to tell Pharaoh that God wants the children of Israel to be released from slavery and to return to Canaan.’ Jethro asks ‘Where did you get that crazy idea?’ ‘Well,’ Moses would reply, ‘God spoke to me from the midst of a bush in the desert that was on fire but didn’t burn up.’  How do you think that would have gone over?

Perhaps it was Moses lack of self confidence, that kept him from telling the whole truth. Or perhaps it was like Jack Nicholson in the movie A Few Good Men who when questioned by Tom Cruise about telling the truth replied ‘The truth…you can’t handle the truth.’ Perhaps Jethro couldn’t. We don’t know why Moses didn’t tell Jethro why he was really leaving, the text doesn’t say.

All we know for certain is that Jethro gives his blessing for them to leave. I suppose Jethro thought the best of Moses and trusted him, even when everything wasn’t perhaps made as clear as he would have liked. Perhaps we can learn a lesson here about relationships and trust.

 God told Moses not to forget to do all the miracles God had given him to do. God had promised Moses spiritual power.

 God told Moses, I am going to harden Pharaoh’s heart, I am going to make it so that when you do all you have to do, he will say no. God promised there would be trouble.

 God told Moses, I want you to tell Pharaoh that Israel is my firstborn son, I desire Israel to worship me, let them go. God promised Israel will be his child and will worship him.

 God told Moses that Pharaoh will harden his own heart and not let the Israelites go, so God will kill Pharaoh’s first born son. God promised judgment for disobedience.

Lets take a closer look.

 First, God made a lot of promises to Moses that I am sure seemed impossible to believe. Yet, in Moses Personal Walk with God there doesn’t seem to be any unbelief because in his Public Work for God, he is moving forward, under the promises of God.

 Second, there has been much theological debate over the centuries concerning God’s promise to harden Pharaoh’s heart so he would not let Israel go. This is another case of the centuries old debate over the Sovereignty of God and the Freewill of Man. I am not going into this here, but it seems pretty clear here whose in charge.

 Third, God promises judgment on Pharaoh for hardening his own heart and refusing to obey God. This is not a case where God hardened Pharaoh’s heart and God killed his firstborn son because of it. Look closely, Pharaoh refuses to let the Israelites go, Pharaoh in rebellion against God, is intentionally disobedient and for that he stands judged by God.

Look, I don’t know where you are in relationship with God. But I can tell you that regardless of your faith in God or lack of it, God does not look kindly on intentional, disobedience.

Read: Exodus 4:24-26

What is up here? Moses’ Personal Walk with God was going pretty good, and his Public Work for God seemed to be progressing well. After all he had left Midian and was camped for the night on the way to Egypt. He had done all that God had said…or had he?

This text doesn’t seem to fit, does it? And to top it off, God wants to kill Moses. I thought God’s plan was for Moses to be his instrument to deliver Israel from the bondage of slavery in Egypt? God now wants him dead? Why? Because of an unkept promise.
 
Track with me on this.
 Vs 20: Moses took his wife and sons
 Vs 22: Israel is God’s firstborn son
 Vs 23: God will kill Pharaoh’s first born son for his disobedience.
 Vs 25: Moses’ wife performs a circumcision  on her son.

These verses are not an interruption to the flow of the text as some commentators have suggested. The flow of the text revolves around sonship, obedience and promise.

Read: Gen. 17:10-14

Had Moses just forgotten to circumcise his son? No. Circumcision was such a part of being a Hebrew that even though he was away from his people for 40 years, he still would have remembered this.  Circumcision was the Gospel to the Hebrews in that day. No, Moses didn’t forget to circumcise his son.

It seems Moses decided not to circumcise his son. Why, we don’t know. Perhaps because it was not culturally acceptable in the Midianite society.  Perhaps Moses just put it off because he had so much else to do for God he didn’t think it was as important?

God brings Moses to the point of death. It seems he is not even able to move as it is Zipporah, Moses’ wife who circumcises their son. Somehow Zipporah knew why Moses was near death. This seems to imply that they had talked about circumcision and had decided not to do it. Both had realized that they had intentionally not followed through on their part of the covenant. And God would judge them for their disobedience just like he will judge Pharaoh for his.

Please don’t take this too far. I am not, nor is this text implying that when a Christian doesn’t keep a promise they made to God he will kill them. But I am saying that omissions are sin, so is direct disobedience, even if we don’t think being obedient to a particular promise or command of God is important.

The bottom line for this message is found here in this very graphic text.
 
No matter how well you think your Personal Walk with God may be, if you have intentionally disobeyed a command of God, a covenant  or promise made between you and God, it will hinder your Public Work for God.

To be a son of Abraham and therefore a firstborn son of God as part of Israel, not only did you have to be circumcised if you were a male, you needed to circumcise your sons to keep your promise with God.

Moses could go no further as an instrument of God while he still had unkept promises to God in his life. I am going to come back to that in a moment.

Read: Exodus 4: 27-31

Moses is healed and heads to the Mountain of God. There he meets his brother Aaron, just like God had promised and the reunion was a joyful one. They tell each other what God had been doing in their lives and then confident in the Lord to make this happen, they head to Egypt.

They meet with the Elders and just like God had promised Moses, they believed them. Not only that, the Israelites saw that God was keeping his promise to them and they worshipped him.  God kept his promises.

Conclusion

Moses could go no further as an instrument of God while he still had unkept promises to God in his life.

Samuel Goldwyn said, ‘A verbal agreement isn't worth the paper it's written on." No promise, verbal or written, is of any value except in relation to the integrity of the one who makes the promise. Some recall a time when "a man's word was his bond." If we make promises, we ought to keep them. God does.’

Question: What Covenants/Promises do we make as Christians?

Read: Marriage Vows, Baby Dedication, Church Membership

Wife
I _______, in faith, honesty and love, take you, _____, to be my wedded husband, to share with you God's plan for our lives, together united in Christ. And with God's help, to strengthen and guide me, I will be a loving helpmeet to you in our life, for better, for worse, in sickness and in health, in joys and in sorrows, until death do we part. I give you all that I have myself and my love. (All these things I pledge to you) In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. With this ring I seal my vow of love to you, and pray I may fulfill God's place in our home, in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

 It may be 30 years or longer since you have said those words to each other. It may have only been a couple of years, but the promise is still as important today as it was when you first made it to each other. Are you keeping your promise?

By your presence this morning, you are saying that above all else you desire that your child would personally come to love God, and walk with Him through faith in Jesus Christ.

Do you, therefore, professing faith in Jesus Christ as Savior, before God and His people, commit yourself as a parent to raise your child in the training and instruction of the Lord, to be an image bearer of Jesus Christ?
 
Do you promise and covenant to pray for and with your child for their spiritual growth in the knowledge of God through His Son, Jesus?

 No matter how long ago you may have made that promise, it is as important today as it was the first day you made it. Are you keeping your promises?

Will you allow God to work through you to make this fellowship more complete?

Will you open you life to allow this fellowship to minister to you and help you become more complete?

Members are expected to strive to grow in spiritual maturity by following the example of Jesus Christ in devotion and conduct.

Members are to attend the services of this fellowship on a regular basis and to give systematically and generously for it's support as God has so directed them.

Members are to actively participate in the ministries of this fellowship and to assist the Elders in making calls and visits to members and friends of this fellowship who are sick, hospitalized or shut in and not able to make it out to services.

Members are to pray for, believe in and support the Pastor and Elders in this fellowship as men whom God has placed in their lives as undershepherds .

Members are to do the work of an evangelist and to assist the Elders in reaching  Oceanport and it's surrounding communities for Christ.

Members are to lovingly  support, encourage, help build up and admonish other members of this fellowship as the Holy Spirit leads and touches their heart.  If you agree to these requirements respond by saying  'I DO'

Every member here this morning said ‘I Do’ to these promises or ones like them. While I know many of you are not official members of CBC, being a member of God’s family carries with it similar responsibilities.

It may have been a long time since you made theses promises but they are as important today as they were the first day you made them. Are you keeping your promises?

Moses learned that even though he felt his Personal Walk with God was good, he found that unkept promises hindered his Public Work for God.

Faithful followers of God keep their promises …are you a Promise Keeper?