Moses Makes A Stop (Part 2)

- Moses Makes A Stop -

Intro.: Have you ever known a famous person?

1. Have you every been privileged to know or even to meet someone famous?
2. I suppose there are two ways to understand a famous person

1. We could focus on what they did
2. Or we could focus on who they were – what made them tick

3. Last week we began to look at what made Moses tick.
4. I want to continue those thoughts today.

Read: Exodus 2:15b-22

Pray

1. Let's begin by remember ing that Moses was afraid

1. There seems to be an unwritten rule that the really strong person is not afraid. No one who wants to appear strong will want to talk about being afraid.
2. But then we have Moses – here is a strong man. A man brought up in Pharaoh's home, probably had the best education possible, but at the end of the day scripture says “Moses was afraid.”
3. Fear is something we will be living with – but it is not an uncommon feeling.
4. Before I move on, we also need to remember the words John wrote, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.”
5. Solomon once wrote, “The fear of God is the beginning of Wisdom.”

(Ill.) I don't know a great deal about Thomas Cramner – a vocal pastor who was a leader in the English reformation. But I do think he knew something about the Fear of God – listen to his what he wrote in the early 1500s, “...every man that cometh to the reading of this holy book ought to bring with him first and foremost this fear of Almighty God, and then next a firm and stable purpose to reform his own self according to what is written therein.”

6. Fear is a common feeling, but it does not need to paralyze us.

2. Moses seems like a fixer

1. Moses is afraid – so he runs. He runs to Midian. The actual location of Midian is not known, but most scholars think of it as shown on this map..
2. But when he gets there, he begins acting just like he did in Egypt:

1. He began by trying to protect a Hebrew man who was being beaten by an Egyptian – killing and hiding the Egyptian.
2. The next day he sees two Hebrews fighting and steps in – and it is in this context that he discovers that his murder was not really a secret.
3. Now he steps in when he sees a group of shepherds bothering a group of young women who had come to get water for their own sheep. Moses drives the shepherds away and then waters the flock that the young women had brought to the watering hole.

3. You see, running from a problem does not change the problem. Moses is the same person who left Egypt.

(Appl.) There is a principle here that is also true for our lives – running from our problems, hiding from our problems, kidding ourselves about our problems – does not solve the problems. Our problems are really only solved when we have a change in heart. Our problems are really only solved when we get to the point of saying “Here God – you can have them.” Not always easy, you see …

4. It would take another 40 years for God to finish the reshaping of Moses' life before he would be ready to lead the people of Israel.

3. Moses appreciated

1. Though Moses behaved very similarly to how he behaved in Egypt, the results were certainly different.
2. The seven women were daughters of a priest – and they got home early. Dad (his name here is called Reuel here, later we will be told his more familiar name of Jethro, but not yet) is curious – why?
3. They tell him of this man who drove the shepherds away and helped them. His response was, “Why did you leave him out there?” They eventually brought him home for lunch.
4. And he eventually married one of those women – Zipporah. Her name meant “little bird” - we don't know much about her, but it was the woman that would see Moses through his tough times.

(Ill.) Love stories are kind of special – it isn't hard for Sandra to get me to a date movie. Let me let you into a little secret – I met Sandra, or rather Sandra met me about 40 years ago at a meeting on our college campus. She will tell you she was sitting on a sofa and in walked this guy who she did not know – but, as she tells it, she had this thought go through her head, “He would be neat to be married to.” She would eventually become the Social Chairman, he would become the President of that organization. When I first proposed to Sandra, it was a mistake – it slipped out. Oh we had talked about it, but it was not planned. I had not bought a ring, Three and a half years after we first met, she was – married to him, that is.

5. Moses was 40 years old when he met Zipporah. He would live in Midian for another 40 years before returning to Egypt. And 40 more years before he would complete the task that God was going to give him. God would be patient as He took Moses from this broken individual, full of flaws, angry, wanting to solve everyone's problems , to one that God could use to lead His people from slavery to the promised land.

(Appl.) God would be patient with Moses – but he is also patient with us as he transforms us. Let me ask a question – a hard question – are you willing, are you willing today, tomorrow, to allow God to transform you?

Conclusion

Pray