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THE MOUNTAIN OF GOD EXODUS 3:1-15 Pastor Stephen Muncherian June 6, 2010 |
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This morning we are going on in
our series of messages focused on Godly manhood and the life of Moses. The society we live in says that
manhood has to do with sexuality and performance. Manhood
is what we look like - what we possess - rugged individualism that’s in
touch with our feminine side. Rambo in
high heels. Which is a tad confusing. Isn’t it? What
makes a man manly? We’ve been looking at how God -
Who created men - we’ve been looking at how describes manhood - Godly
manhood - how God defines it - enables it - what God desires of men. We’ve been looking at Moses as our example of
Godly manhood. We’ve seen that Moses was raised
both Hebrew and Egyptian - a unique background that God had given Moses
- that Moses tired to use - and failed miserably at because he was
trying to be God’s man without God. We saw Moses sitting by a well
in Midian - wondering what had happened to his life - as we often
wonder how we end up in the places we end up. Moses
who ends up shepherding his father-in-law’s flocks - learning that our
lives are not so much about how we view our lives so much as our
willingness to be used by God wherever and whenever and in whatever God
leads us to do.
The bottom line of what we’ve
seen is that for a man to be manly he first needs to be Godly. That means having our hearts - the core of who
we are - strengths - weaknesses - wounds - desires - whatever - laid
bare before God - daily laying all of that before God in sacrificial
surrender and passionately seeking after God from the depths of our
hearts - so that in God’s timing and in God’s strength - according to
God’s plan - God will lead us forward to the awesomeness of what He has
purposed for us to be. Which brings us to Exodus 3 -
starting at verse 1 - which is the whole scene with the burning bush. There’s no better way for us to get into the
right frame of mind to look at this scene than to sing the “Pharaoh
Pharaoh” song together. (Song: Pharaoh,
Pharaoh) You all ready to look at Exodus? Exodus 3 - starting at verse 1 - we’re picking
up where we left off last Sunday: Now Moses
was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of
Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and
came to Horeb, the mountain of God. Let’s pause and get our bearings. Looking at the map - Midian - where Moses was
pasturing the flock of Jethro - is way to the southeast of Egypt. Somehow Moses leads Jethro’s flock over to
what is probably this mountain - known as Mount Sinai.
We’re not exactly sure which mountain it is.
But traditionally this it. Verse 1 tells that the “mountain
of God” is in a place called Horeb - which literally means “desolation.” Hold on to that - the mountain of God is the
middle of where? Desolation.
Middle of no where. Verse 2: The angel of
the Lord appeared to him - Moses - in a blazing
fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was
burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. So
Moses said, “I must turn
aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.” In the middle of no where -
desolation - with a bunch of sheep anything would be interesting. But a bush burning and not burning up is like
Disneyland - a huge tourist attraction. Irresistible
to investigate. Verse 4: When the
Lord saw that he -
Moses - turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of
the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he - Moses - said, “Here
I am.” Verses 1 to 4 focus on God’s Presence in Desolation. Let’s
say that together, “God’s
presence in desolation.” Have you ever read this scene
and asked yourself, “What is God
doing on a mountain in the middle of no where?” Answer: We
really don’t know all the reasons. But one reason that God is out
there in all that desolation is because that’s where Moses needed Him
to be. All that desolation is a picture of
Moses’ life. He’s failed in Egypt and now
he’s out in the wilderness hanging out with sheep.
His life is a barren landscape - dry - rocky - empty. For 40 years Moses has been going no where. Have you ever been there? There are times when we may feel like that. Empty. Dry. Alone. The last place we’d expect to
meet God is in those dry lonely places of our lives.
And yet, there’s God - hanging out in Horeb calling to
Moses. We may think we’re alone. But we’re not. Then there’s this bush. The bush burns but isn’t burned up. You all got that right? Why? Why isn’t this bush charcoal? Answer: We
don’t know. But we do know that the bush
burning isn’t about the bush. The bush is
just an ordinary shrub out in the middle of no where.
This isn’t about the bush its about God - God Who’s in the
midst of the bush - the awesomeness of God’s presence - God’s glory on
display. That the bush isn’t consumed by
the holy God is a picture of God’s presence in Moses’ life. Moses - who is a sinner like us - in the very
presence of the holy God Moses should be toast. But
God chooses to be in the midst of Moses’ life without destroying Moses.
Moses sees this marvelous site
and decides to turn aside and investigate. Its
a God moment that comes as a result of 40 years of exile shepherding
sheep and wandering in the wilderness. 40
years earlier - when he killed the Egyptian - trying to be the
deliverer of the Hebrews - Moses looked this way and that - but not to
God. Now - in desolation - for the first
time in the whole account of Moses’ life - Moses looks to God. When Moses turns to God what
does God do? God speaks to Moses, “Moses,
Moses!” God speaks when Moses is ready
to listen. Grab that for yourself - in the
aloneness of where we often find ourselves - after we’ve exhausted all
our resources - exhausted all our efforts at trying to be so clever at
making our lives work - after exhausting ourselves resisting doing what
we know is what God would have us do - when we’ve finally been humbled
by the desolation - broken by the wilderness - when we’re finally ready
to turn to God - to listen to God - God is right there where we
desperately need Him to be. Let’s go on.
Verses 5 to 9 focus on What Moses Needs To Learn About God. Let’s
try that together, “What Moses
needs to learn about God.” Verse 5: Then He - God - said, “Do
not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place
on which you are standing is holy ground.” Four lessons Moses needs to
learn about God. Lesson number one: God
is holy. How many of you - when you’re
going into your home - how many of you take your shoes off at the front
door? Outside our homes where we walk with
our shoes - all that out there is dirty. People
want to respect the cleanliness of someone’s home - so when we come in
shoes get taken off. Sandals - especially in the
wilderness and when we’ve been around a lot of sheep - sandals get
dirty. We can picture that.
God tells Moses, “Take off
your sandals. You’re on holy ground. Respect the purity - the sacredness - of where
you’re entering.” What makes the ground holy? God. God’s
presence. Where God chooses to dwell
becomes holy because God is holy. God is morally holy - universes
above us - completely separate from us - in moral purity - and a whole
of other ways too. Morally God is other
than what we are. Totally different. We live in the filth of sin.
There is no sin in God. Its
hard for us to even begin to understand that kind of purity. All that calls for a reverential
awe - an awareness of our unworthiness - to be in His presence. We don’t casually come into God’s presence to
hang out with our good buddy - the big guy upstairs.
When we take off our sandals - treat this sanctuary as
different - dress differently when we come here - when we’re
consciously reminded of Who we have come to worship - or in our
individual times of prayer and meditation and worship - we get a sense
of that reverence. We’re in the presence of the
holy God because the holy God calls us to be in His presence. The holy God Who chooses to enter into our
dirty world - to dwell on a mountain in the midst of desolation - to
call to us - to turn to Him - to be in His presence without being
consumed. Verse 6: He - God - said also,
“I am the God of your father; the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and
the God of Jacob.” Then Moses
hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. God is holy.
Second lesson: God
is faithful. Moses turns away because he gets
Who it is Who’s talking to him. A huge God
moment. Have you ever grabbed that for
yourself? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob - the God of the Bible - think about all of that history and all
of what’s transpired - that God is here with us - with you - today. God made promises to Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob - now God is at work honoring those promises. God shows up in our lives not to destroy us -
poof - wrath of God stuff - God shows up in our lives to help us - to
fulfill His promises to us. God is holy.
God is faithful. Verse 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. Third lesson:
God
is compassionate. God says, “I have seen
the affliction of My people.” “Seen” is more than just
observing something. “Well, all
that suffering is really interesting. That
must really be a bummer.” “Seen” in Hebrew means
being emotionally attached. Seeing with
compassion. Paying attention to the
details of someone else’s life because we deeply care about them. God says, “I have
given heed to their cry.” Do you ever have the experience
where someone is listening to you but you get the impression that
attention-wise they’re actually in a different zip code?
Have you ever done that to someone? You
don’t have to raise your hand. God doesn’t blow His people off. He’s paying attention - listening carefully to
the cries of His people. He’s deeply
interested in what’s going on with them.
God says, “I’m aware
of their sufferings.” “Aware” is a Hebrew verb we
looked at last Sunday - “Yaw-dah.” Like
Yoda - the little green guy. Yaw-da has
the idea of fully knowing someone - intimately. The
same word the Hebrews used to describe sexual intercourse.
God taking that kind of intimate notice - knowing
intimately - what’s going on with His people. Moses responds to God in fear. God responds with compassion.
God cares deeply for His people. Our
suffering moves God deeply. Jesus - God incarnate - Jesus at
the funeral of Lazarus - aware of the suffering of Mary and Martha -
Jesus deeply moved - deeply troubled - Jesus weeps.
That kind of depth of compassion. Verse 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, to the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and
the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite (and the parasite - sorry - just
making sure we’re all awake). Now, behold,
the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me; furthermore, I have seen
the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them. Fourth lesson:
God
has a plan. God gets it.
God’s people are in bondage. They’re
suffering terribly. God is going to
take them to a better place. Way better. A land so much better they can only dream
about what it might be like.
That’s huge.
Isn’t it? Just connecting a
few of the dots - looking forward through what’s coming up in history
for God’s people. God delivering His
people - bringing them from Egypt into the promised land - God
establishing a covenant relationship with His people - setting up the
whole process of sacrificially atonement - how to live within that
covenant relationship with God. All of
that pointing the way to Jesus Who is the once-for-all atoning-for-sin
sacrifice on our behalf. God has a plan for history - God
through Jesus - God - taking people out of the filth of sin and putting
them into a relationship with Him. God enters into our suffering -
our bondage - our desolation - the filth of this world - giving to us a
life with Him now and forever. A place
with Him that goes beyond whatever we can possibly imagine. God gets it - the need of His
people. God’s got a plan that included
Moses and the people back then and even us to day. God is holy.
God is faithful. God is
compassionate. God has a plan. God is going to deliver His people. Verses 10 to 15 focus on God’s Promise of Involvement. Let’s
say that together, “God’s
promise of involvement.”
Verse 10: Therefore - because I am the holy faithful
compassionate God with a plan - Therefore - here it is - the plan - come now,
and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the
sons of Israel, out of Egypt.” But Moses
said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should
bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?” (Cartoon: When
God stopped communicating through burning bushes) Can you hear Moses pouring water
on God’s plan? “That’s the
plan. Send me? God
are you nuts? I tried this already. Remember? Kill
the Egyptian. Take leadership with the
Hebrews. In case you’ve forgotten that
didn’t go so well. Egypt and Pharaoh are
the last place I need to go. Seriously. We’ve all had a good laugh.
Now, what’s the real plan?” Verse 12: And He - God - said,
“Certainly I will be with you - underline that promise. “Certainly”
is the Hebrew particle “kiy” - it has the idea of indeed - of course. It could read something like this, “No
seriously - that really is the plan - and to prove it I’m going with
you.” Going on : “and this
shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you:
when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall
worship God at this mountain.” In other words:
“This is such a done deal - I have so got this one
covered - that you’re coming back here to this mountain to worship me. And when you come back it’ll be like
déjà vu. You’ll know as
certain as I’m telling you now that I am the holy, faithful,
compassionate, God with a plan who sent you.” Ever said that?
“If I only knew then what I know now.”
Faith
is the opposite of that. “I know now
what I’ll know then.” Certainty of God’s sovereignty
over future history - God working out His plan - the assurance of
things hoped for the conviction - the certainty - of things not yet
seen. (Hebrews 11:1) Don’t
you pray that you could live every day with that kind of faith? Verse 13: Then Moses
said to God, “Behold I am going to the sons of Israel - “Let’s just
say for sake of argument that I do go along with this plan of Yours” - “Behold I am
going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your
fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may
say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall
I say to them?” Reading through the rest of this
chapter and into chapter four Moses keeps coming up with objections -
excuses - why God should send someone else. “I don’t
know you’re name. They won’t listen to me. I failed toastmasters. Maybe
the next person on your list would be better.” Why? Bottom
line: Moses thinks he’s a failure. He’s already failed once.
Big time. For 40 years -
sitting by wells - wandering in desolation - shepherding sheep - Moses
has carried that failure with him.
When God asks Moses to go back
to Egypt God is asking Moses to step back into what Moses fears the
most. To go face-to-face with his own
fears and inadequacy. To give up control
of his own life such as it is. To trust
God with it all. To go and confront
Pharaoh - a man who wants to kill him. To
take leadership over a people that’s already rejected him - a people
that he will surely disappoint. The greatest need of a man is
what? Respect. Its
hard to imagine something more terrifying for a man than to do than
what God is asking Moses to do. Ever been there?
Exposed to great personal risk. Knowing
that there is no way to live up to the expectations of others. Failure is not an option but the only probable
outcome. It may be a conversation you
know you need to have - the restoring of a relationship - or the
confronting of someone you love. It may
mean taking on a new ministry or a new role or employment.
Opening yourself in vulnerability. Dealing
with sin in your life. Name it. A place you fear to go. Moses’ question in verse 11 - “Who am I?” is very closely tied to verse 13 - “Who are
you?” “I need to protect myself here. I know my inadequacy. If
I’m going to move forward I need to know Who You are.” Verse 14: God said to
Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of
Israel, “I AM has sent me to you.” God,
furthermore, said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel,
‘The Lord, the 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-name to all generations.” Names for Semitic people - especially the
Hebrews - names were a profound thing. Your
name was who you were - your reputation - the summary and
representation of your character. With a
good name you were respected. With a bad
name you were dishonored. In Scripture, the “name” of God
is the description of who He is - God’s reputation - His character -
His nature. The Bible contains a number of
different names for God that God uses to reveal different aspects of
His character or how He deals with mankind. Here,
God reveals Himself
as “I Am” - the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God
tells Moses, “This is My memorial-name to all generations.” “Generations
past and generations to come are going to know Me by this name.” “I Am Who I Am” speaks of God’s
self-existence. No one created God. He is the holy, faithful, compassionate God
with a plan who has always been - always is - always will be - absolute
- sovereign - unchangeable. God simply is. The Hebrew verb here in verse 14
translated “I am” is
the same verb that’s in verse 12 - what we underlined - where God
answers Moses “Certainly I will be with you.” In
the Hebrew that verb is in the same tense. “I am with
you”
Emphasis on the constant “now.” When
you go to Egypt - when you come back here - when you go to the promised
land - “I am and forever shall be with you.”
The transliteration of “I Am”
from Hebrew to English - as best as we can tell - is Yahweh. The most frequently used name of God in the Bible and yet
the one name the Hebrews would never write or say.
Its just too holy - too sacred to profane by writing it or
speaking it. Which is why we’re guessing at its
pronunciation. Stay with me.
Yahweh is the name that God uses to speak specifically of
His covenant relationship and promises to His people.
It is an intensely personal name. Yahweh
Who redeems His people. Yahweh Who
delivers them from bondage in Egypt. Are we still together? The name Jesus comes from the Greek form of the Hebrew “yeshua” - which combines the name of God
“Yahweh” with the word “yasa” - to help - to deliver - to save. God’s memorial name is for us
today. His presence is with us today. Same God - same presence - same plan - same
promise. “I am and
forever shall be with you.” No matter how desolate - how
alone - how dirty - how deeply in need of redemption - Yahweh - Jesus -
is with us now and forever. He is the holy
God who is faithful, compassionate - Who has a plan for our lives. “Moses - as
surely as I am aware of the suffering of My people I am aware of what
you suffer with. I know your fears. I have compassion on you.
But what you fear does not change my awesome purposes for
your life. So, you are going to need to
trust that I really do have a plan and that I am and I will be with you
always.” Can you hear God saying that to
you this morning? If we could be what it means to
be a godly man without God then that wouldn’t be what it means to be a
godly man. Let me say that again. If we could be what it means to be a godly man
without God then that wouldn’t be what it means to be a godly man. We would be simply a man - like
Moses - living in fear - alone in our desolation - trying to somehow
overcome our own inadequacy - certainly falling short of God’s great
purposes for our lives. God wants to take us where we
cannot go without Him. We men like adventure. Right? A
challenge - hills to climb - mountains to conquer.
With God - life really is the great adventure. But we can only go there if we’re willing to
stop trying to go there on our own strength and cleverness - to stop
making excuses - to stop coming up with objections and fears - and to
trust God to take us where we cannot go without Him.
What desolation are you in? What keeps you in bondage?
In fear? Alone?
What holds you back from God’s best for you?
From being the man God created you to be? Where does God want to take you? Are you willing to let God take you there? Even if it means being out of control and
trusting Him with all that you are? _________________________ Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the NEW
AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE ®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968,
1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. |