Vision Quest, Learning From Men Of Vision
Part 3 – Moses
June 2, 2002
Have you ever sensed God leading you to do something but you hesitated to follow through because you knew it would upset your routine, confuse your schedule even change your life? Maybe you heard God speaking to your heart but you knew deep inside that following the Spirit’s lead would likely bring you pain and misery. Consider Hosea who heard God calling him to marry a prostitute. Or what about Jonah who heard God calling him to go to a foreign land, to a very large city, full of pagan sinners to preach the message of repentance. Now that would put a damper on your day. I can just hear the conversation between God and Jonah:
“Pssst, Jonah, here’s what I want you to do. Go down to the docks in Joppa and catch the first ship you can to the city of Nineveh.”
“Nineveh! I’ve never even heard of Nineveh! What? Why me Lord?”
“Never mind that. Now when you get there I want you to preach against the people of that city because their wickedness has finally driven me to anger.”
“God, excuse me but… ARE YOU CRAZY! You want me to jump a ship to Nineveh, a city full of people I’ve never met, and quite frankly, couldn’t care less about, and to ice the cake, You want me to preach to them! Tell them all that they’re bad, bad people who must turn from their sins or be destroyed! Is that all you want me to do!”
Now Jonah had a pretty peaceful life. He was the president of the lions club. He was very popular among his neighbors. You really couldn’t ask for a better life than Jonah had. Then suddenly, without notice, enters God.
Isn’t that just like God? I mean we live our lives in peace and harmony. We obey the law, we look both ways before crossing the street, we even buy our share of Girl Scout Cookies every year. We go to church. We faithfully give a percentage of our income back to the Lord, we pray and read our Bibles. By and large we have pretty safe and peaceful lives and then God breaks in.
Hey Jason Paulin, I want you to share My Gospel with that guy who sits in front of you in Statistics class. Uh-hum, excuse me Penny Martin, I’d like you to tell your co-workers that I love them. Mr. Kauffman, yes you in the back, I’d like you to take a little trip to AFRICA and demonstrate My love to as many Liberians as you possibly can.
Ladies and Gentlemen, God is no respecter of our comfort. It just never fails, as soon as one of His children settle into a peaceful rhythm of life, all of a sudden we hear this… [create feedback with the mics]. Kind of gets your attention in a nerve-wracking way doesn’t it?
If you have your Bibles turn with me to the book of Exodus. Let’s watch how God interrupts the peaceful life of Moses, the shepherd. Now Moses wasn’t always a shepherd mind you. In fact, Moses was about as prestigious as one could get in his day. You see, he had been adopted by the daughter of pharaoh into the royal family. Moses grew up as a prince. So how did he end up herding sheep in the deserts of Midian? Good question.
Turn to Exodus 2:11-12 & 15
Now it came about in those days, when Moses had grown up, that he went out to his brethren and looked on their hard labors; and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. [12] So he looked this way and that, and when he saw there was no one around, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
[15] When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well.
Hard to believe. Moses a well-respected prince of Egypt became a murderer. As a result, pharaoh sought to kill Moses and thus Moses fled into the wilderness until he finally decided to rest at a well in the land of Midian.
Before he knows it, Moses is married to a fine girl by the name of Zipporah and becomes a father. Yeah, right about this point in his life the ex-prince kind of figures life is good. After all, better to be a simple shepherd in Midian than a corpse in Egypt. Reasonable thinking. However, God has a plan for Moses and forty years later, God interrupts the shepherd with a vision. Turn over to Exodus 3:7-8:
[7] The Lord said, "I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings. [8] "So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey…
Isn’t that just like God? For forty years Moses has led a peaceful existence in the land of Midian working for his father-in-law when suddenly HELLO… God interrupts everything! Just prior to my marriage, I had plans to become a wealthy real estate mogul. I was working for a relocation specialist in Phoenix and had successfully opened two new offices for my company. But only months after my wedding, I found myself interrupted by God. As it turned out, He had plans for me to become a full-time pastor and those plans included pursuing my seminary education in a city far from home where I had the security of friends and family.
Moses is suddenly confronted with God’s vision for his life which included returning to the land he had fled from 40 years prior. Understandably Moses is just a bit hesitant. After all he had murdered a man in Egypt. Certainly his own people, the Hebrews, would remember the incident even if the new pharaoh didn’t. I mean who was Moses to go back to Egypt and free his people, he had long accepted and embraced his new life as a simple shepherd. Truth be told, Moses just wasn’t interested in God’s Vision for his life. Listen to the conversation between God and Moses in Exodus 4:10-13:
But Moses pleaded with the Lord, "O Lord, I’m just not a good speaker. I never have been, and I’m not now, even after you have spoken to me. I’m clumsy with words."
[11] "Who makes mouths?" the Lord asked him. "Who makes people so they can speak or not speak, hear or not hear, see or not see? Is it not I, the Lord? [12] Now go, and do as I have told you. I will help you speak well, and I will tell you what to say."
[13] But Moses again pleaded, "Lord, please! Send someone else."
Sound familiar? Now let’s be completely honest with ourselves. Haven’t you sensed God calling you at one time or another and failed to answer the call? I know I have… “But God, you got the wrong person here.”
“Impossible Lord, I’m just too shy”
“No way God, I’m a lousy speaker”
“Sorry Jesus, I’m not educated enough to pull that off”
“But God, I don’t have the training”
“Are you crazy Lord! I can’t speak in front of people!”
We all have a myriad excuses and yet isn’t it true that God calls us to do things that are beyond our abilities? Doesn’t our Lord call us to do the impossible so that He can receive the glory? Where do we Christians get the idea that God will only call us to do things that are comfortable, or possible or realistic? I mean even Paul says,
And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. [10] Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Cor. 12:9-10
Friends, God has not called us to go where we think we ought to go. Where we think we would be most comfortable or effective or even happy. God has called us to obey. Obedience means we listen to the Master, and then go precisely where He sends us. In other words we must embrace God’s Vision for our lives.
Let’s consider Moses again. Not only did God call him to do something seemingly impossible, but God also allowed Moses to see the future trouble he would have. God informed Moses that He would harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he would not listen and as a result there would be trouble. God made it clear to Moses that his mission would not be an easy, nor a comfortable one. But Moses eventually submitted his will to God’s will and obeyed.
So Aaron and Moses finally enter Pharaoh’s court and declare God’s Words. Turn to the scene in Exodus 5:1:
And afterward Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ’Let My people go that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness.’ "
Now this is not well received by pharaoh who is not accustomed to being ordered around. You see in ancient Egypt, the pharaoh was perceived as a god himself and thus was worshipped by the people. Now you can understand why Moses’ pronouncement doesn’t sit well with pharaoh. Listen to pharaoh’s reaction in verses 5-8: Again Pharaoh said, "Look, the people of the land are now many, and you would have them cease from their labors!" [6] So the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters over the people and their foremen, saying, [7] "You are no longer to give the people straw to make brick as previously; let them go and gather straw for themselves. [8] "But the quota of bricks which they were making previously, you shall impose on them; you are not to reduce any of it. Because they are lazy, therefore they cry out, ’Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’
You know Moses knew he wasn’t going to be a popular guy in Egypt, but now he’s really going to catch heat. Because of his decision to obey God and keep his vision clear, Moses has now created a very miserable situation for the Hebrews. Listen to how the Hebrew foremen reacted to all of this, verses 19-21:
Since Pharaoh would not let up on his demands, the Israelite foremen could see that they were in serious trouble. [20] As they left Pharaoh’s court, they met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting outside for them. [21] The foremen said to them, "May the Lord judge you for getting us into this terrible situation with Pharaoh and his officials. You have given them an excuse to kill us!"
Yup, they were mad, they were smokin’ mad at Moses and Aaron. Life up til’ now had been hard, but livable. Now, things are just plain ugly and who’s to blame for all of this? Moses, a man simply obeying God directive.
What do you think Moses is thinking at this point? Verses 22-23 say it all:
So Moses went back to the Lord and protested, "Why have you mistreated your own people like this, Lord? Why did you send me? [23] Since I gave Pharaoh your message, he has been even more brutal to your people. You have not even begun to rescue them!"
There’s no doubt, Moses is completely discouraged. Where Moses initially considered this whole plan a bad idea, now he’s sure of it and so he questions God’s wisdom. And once again we see a mirror image of ourselves don’t we? Have you ever doubted God’s plan for your life but reluctantly obeyed only to find yourself in a world of discouragement? Has this ever happened to you? The fact is each of us in only human and in our humanity we fail to see the long term results of our obedience. As a result we are tempted to call it quits before God is finished blessing us. Spiritual vision is long-range vision. It sees beyond the immediate situation to the long term purposes of God.
Here’s the bedrock and there’s really no getting around it… “Do you trust God to take care of you?” “Do you believe that God has your best interest at heart?” I mean really, do we actually think that God is out to make our lives miserable? Does God desire you and I to suffer as much as possible for suffering’s sake? Of course not! John 10:10 says that Jesus Christ came to give us life, and not just normal life, but abundant life! So when the discouraging times come we have a choice to make. Either we will stand upon God’s character and His promises or we will wallow in self-pity and play the blame game with God.
Moses played the blame game here didn’t he? Listen again closely to verses 22-23 again: So Moses went back to the Lord and protested, "Why have you mistreated your own people like this, Lord? Why did you send me? [23] Since I gave Pharaoh your message, he has been even more brutal to your people. You have not even begun to rescue them!"
In these two short verses Moses uses the word you or your in reference to God. I have to laugh here because I do this all the time it seems. Things start to get difficult and I start playing the blame game. God why did You… fill in the blanks.
Our vision can get distorted when hard times come. We can easily lose sight of God’s plan in a storm. So what can we do to refocus our vision on a regular basis? Our friend Moses can teach us several lessons. But before we consider Moses, let’s do a quick review of what we’ve learned about vision from Noah & Abram.
Noah taught us the following principles:
First, we learned that in order to receive God’s Vision for our lives, we must be intimately connected to Him. Listen to how Genesis 6:9 puts it: Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God. The New Living Translation puts it best when it says: Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless man living on earth at the time. He consistently followed God’s will and enjoyed a close relationship with him. In other words, we must be properly related to God.
Second, we learn that when God gives someone a vision, it is often revealed in phases and it is usually pretty specific. God wanted to use Noah to preserve the human race. First, He wanted Noah to build an ark and gave Noah specific dimensions. Next, God then gave Noah specific instructions regarding animals and provisions. And, finally, God gave Noah specific instructions on when to enter and when to exit the Ark.
Third, we learned that when God gives us a vision, He also empowers & equips us to see the vision through to completion. Noah was not completely alone in his mission, but had three sons to help him, along with his wife and daughters-in-law. Most significantly, God Himself, will use His own power to make things happen. Remember who shut the door behind them when they all entered the ark? Genesis 7:16: Those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered as God had commanded him; and the Lord closed it behind him.
Finally, we learned that when God gives us a vision, He will sustain us throughout the entire process. We know that Noah and his family were in the ark along with a host of animals for several months. This situation must have gotten on everyone’s nerves after a while. Noah must have been wondering, “God… have you forgotten us down here trapped in this floating zoo?” But then in Genesis 8:1 we read: But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided.
Abram taught us the following principles about vision:
Vision is born from faith. If I have trouble believing God, I will never be able to receive His vision for my life.
Abram chose to obey God and travel hundreds of miles to a land he had never seen because he had faith.
Vision is sustained through personal worship. My love, my passion for God is expressed through worship.
Abram was able to keep going through the difficult times because of his love for God and passion for worship. We know Abram was a worshipper because he built altars everywhere he went in order to honor the Lord.
Vision enables us to release control of our lives to God. In the beginning Abram struggled with a “control issue”.
Remember he referred to Sarai as his sister which was a half lie. When he panicked, he began to operate on fear rather than faith and subsequently took matters into his own hands by bending the truth. Later, Abram learned that when he kept focused upon his vision, God directed and blessed every situation in his life.
And this morning we learn three things from Moses regarding vision:
The first is, God can be unconditionally trusted because He keeps His Word. In Exodus 6:2-5 God said:
"I am the Lord. [3] I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, though I did not reveal my name, the Lord, to them. [4] And I entered into a solemn covenant with them. Under its terms, I swore to give them the land of Canaan, where they were living. [5] You can be sure that I have heard the groans of the people of Israel, who are now slaves to the Egyptians. I have remembered my covenant with them.
The words I am the LORD occur four times in verses 2-8. As the Lord, Yahweh, He is with His own and is always faithful and true to us. But what did God mean when He said, “…though I did not reveal my name, the Lord, to them.”? Was not God known by the name Yahweh to the patriarchs Abraham… Isaac, and
Jacob? In fact He had (e.g., Gen. 13:4). But He mainly appeared to them as God Almighty (el sadday), the One who provides or sustains (cf. comments on Gen. 17:1). He had not displayed Himself to the patriarchs primarily by the name Yahweh. So in Exodus 3:14 God meant that now He was revealing Himself to Moses not only as Sustainer and Provider, but also as the Promise-Keeper, the One who was personally related to His people and would redeem them.
Next we learn that God will sometimes give us a vision that doesn’t make complete sense to us. Listen to Exodus 7:1-3: Then the Lord said to Moses, "Pay close attention to this. I will make you seem like God to Pharaoh. Your brother, Aaron, will be your prophet; he will speak for you. [2] Tell Aaron everything I say to you and have him announce it to Pharaoh. He will demand that the people of Israel be allowed to leave Egypt. [3] But I will cause Pharaoh to be stubborn so I can multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt.
On the one hand God is telling Moses that he will be like God to pharaoh by the miracles performed, but at the same time God told Moses that He was going to harden pharaoh’s heart or make him stubborn. Why? Well God says in order to multiply His miraculous signs and wonders, but even so, this must have seemed quite confusing to Moses in the beginning. Sometimes we are required to follow God’s outlined mission even when the game plan seems rather illogical. Here’s the thing, we must always bear in mind those sobering words found in Isaiah 55:8-9: "My thoughts are completely different from yours," says the Lord. "And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. [9] For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”
Finally we discover that when we operate within the vision and mission God has given us, we are able to influence others to follow God. Hebrews 11:28-29 testifies that:
It was by faith that Moses commanded the people of Israel to keep the Passover and to sprinkle blood on the doorposts so that the angel of death would not kill their firstborn sons.
[29] It was by faith that the people of Israel went right through the Red Sea as though they were on dry ground. But when the Egyptians followed, they were all drowned.
Moses had influence over the people of God because He had faith in God purpose for his life. Moses stepped into the vision God had given him and as a result he became the leader of a large nation as they exited Egypt and stepped forward to claim the promised land. Even when the impossible seemed to block their progress, Moses believed in the dream of freedom for his people and he said to them: Exodus 14:13
"Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever.
That’s vision, that’s what God desires you and I to have. Where will God take you in the next week, the next month, the next year? Seek God’s Vision for your life and move into it by faith. This is living life at the highest possible plane!
Last week I challenged everyone to seek God’s Vision for your life. I also challenged you to release control of your life completely to Christ. I’d love to hear your stories this morning before you leave.
Let’s pray…
