Life of Moses

Sermon by Ps. Luke

The preacher spoke about lessons in leadership and management that we can learn from the life of Moses as detailed in the first four chapters of the book of Exodus. Chapters 1-18 in Exodus talk about God’s deliverance of Israel, their coming into the promised land, the religious practices, and building of the tabernacle. The exodus was the biggest migration on earth and an excellent example of management. We see in the book the preparation of Moses for leadership. He was a reluctant leader and we all are like this. We don’t realise where this reticence comes from. Many a times, it’s not the devil and the church that stop us but we stop ourselves from doing God’s will.

Chapter 1 and 2

• God brought His people to Egypt and multiplied them per His promise. The pharaoh got disturbed due to their rapid multiplication but the people grew in numbers even under the resulting oppression. Moses’ role was to take people out of the land of Egypt. In Manipur, no one came to the rescue of women being oppressed but we see here that God saved His people when they were being oppressed.
• Pharaoh told the midwives to kill newborns but they chose to trust God and are part of the history. We think our small actions may not count but God sees and blesses like He blessed their generations. 
• Pharaoh wanted all male children to be killed. This was devil’s scheme to nip in bud the large nation that was to come into being.
• The girl child responded to Pharaoh’s daughter in a very sensible manner; God spoke through her. She didn’t say the rescued baby was her brother and he could finally come to/grow up in his own house. God speaks through us and gives us the words when we feel that we don’t know what to do.
• Moses was weaned after a time; even we should know when to wean out/when to support, and when to depend.
• Moses got the best education, grew up, struck a man, and ran away. Sometimes, we take immediate action without consulting God but it has dire consequences.
• Moses, a Levite, went to the land of Midian and met Jethro who was a priest too (part of God’s plan for him).
• We see that justice mechanism was at work in Moses even then (the way he rescued the girls from the shepherds). 
• Gershon means foreigner (Moses’ first son). Moses’ time in a foreign land was preparation for the mission to transition him from a prince to a shepherd who would lead many.

Chapter 3 

• Here we see Moses’ encounter with God and his response. Often, we don’t understand what the fear of the Lord means but Moses had that reverence for God.
• God told Moses that He had heard the cries of His people. God was not silent but now time had come to act, He said.
• Divine plan to bring Moses out of Egypt and be prepared for 40 years. Our God is a God of preparation; if we have to stand as His generals, we need to be ready and equipped. Moses became humble and empathetic as a result of this experience.
• In Chapter 3:10, God told him to go and bring the people out. Moses asked how was he to do that; he dint want to go. But let us understand that when God stands with us, it’s He who is our hope and not people.
• God told Moses, “I am who I am” meaning I will do what I want to do. God meant that He would show Moses who He was.
• We learn from this encounter that we are not to ask questions about what God is doing even though we don’t see the big picture. He is a God of action; He keeps working though we cannot understand. 
• God gave Moses a strategy: Gather the elders (12 tribes that came from Jacob); Moses shared God’s vision with the elders. A father in a family is the head (God-given role) and like Moses, the man has to pass on the vision to others; only the leader can cast the vision to others.
• Why did God make Moses reach out to the elders? Moses dint know the people personally. They would listen when the team of leaders took down the vision to each tribe.
• The women also had a role to play in God’s plan; they took all the gold from the neighbours who had enriched themselves by exploiting the Hebrews. This was God’s way of arranging provisions for them as he knew they would be wandering for 40 years.

Chapter 4

• Moses found all possible excuses to not do the job; even we do that.
• God showed him how to perform miracles. We wonder why the Nile was turned to blood? All major cities/civilisations are near rivers that are their lifeline. By turning the Nile red, God told the Pharaoh that He controlled his life. 
• Moses reasoned that he wasn’t eloquent; when our pastor asks us to speak, we give the same excuse when instead we must go to God and pray. God will take control and we shouldn’t think it’s we who speak. When we are put in a situation, God gives the right words and speaks through us. We only need to pray and move in the direction God asks us to move.
• Then, for the fifth time, Moses gave this excuse: God please ask someone else to go. Leaders tell us to do something to build us up; we must listen and not give excuses. We must stop depending on ourselves; dependence on God is the ultimate thing. Giving excuses is not acceptable when God asks us to do something. In times to come, we would be removed from our comfort zone and then we would need to act so it’s best to equip ourselves this moment onwards.
• God remained patient with Moses and gave him Aaron; God divinely arranged Aaron to come to him even before Moses went to his brother. Let us not try to challenge God; He knows the things ahead and we are limited in our understanding. 
• Let us be available for God. Often, the blessings we that have occupy us too much and can stop us from being available. Our heart’s attitude should be this: God has called us for a specific purpose. 
• God placed our leaders over us; let’s respect that and submit to them out of the fear of the Lord without giving excuses.