Well, we should be thankful that
God has recorded for us such an account and to realise how
God was fulfilling his great plan in bringing the Israelites
out of Egypt. And we should remember, of course,
that God had told Abraham that they would go down into Egypt
for some 400 years. And now the 400 years were coming
to an end. It was still the time that Moses
was going to be in the backside of the desert. But nonetheless,
God was mindful of his children and mindful of his great favor
and love towards them. And so he says, and we read it
together, in this chapter and they're wonderful words really.
Come now therefore and I will send thee unto Pharaoh that thou
mayest bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of
Egypt. And of course the response from
Moses we can understand. He said, who am I? That I should
go unto Pharaoh and that I should bring forth the children of Israel
out of Egypt. Obviously Pharaoh is inability
but the Lord responded so wonderfully and told him and said certainly
I will be with thee and this shall be a token unto thee that
I have sent thee when thou hast brought forth the people out
of Egypt ye shall serve God upon this mountain. So to recognise
God's wonderful sovereign grace in this case of Moses Remember
of course that there was Moses born in that difficult time when
all the male children were to be slain and his mother realized
he was a proper child or you might say a special child and
therefore she took him and hit him in the reeds in a basket
and the outcome was of course that many people would have passed
that spot but there was one person And that was the princess, Pharaoh's
daughter, came and found Moses and called that they would go
and pick the basket out of the water. The little baby cried
and she had compassion upon the little lad. And so the result
was that she decided to take him and to bring him up as her
own son. Well, there were very many, weren't
there, people, that that could have occurred too. But no, it
was ordained by God that Moses was the one that was chosen by
God in eternity past to carry out this amazing act. And so we realized that Moses
did this, and we're told he was there. And then there was that
occasion when he was 40 years old. He wasn't young. He'd been
in the palace of Pharaoh for 40 years. And then he saw one
of his brethren in a problem. And he rose up and slew the Egyptian
who was attacking one of his brethren. And he didn't realize
that people had seen it. The news got round. And Pharaoh
decided he would take his life. So Moses then decided to go away. And he went away. of course into what we know now
is the backside of the desert and there he was and then God
spoke to him and God blessed him and God encouraged him and
told him that he was the great God who would deliver him deliver
he would be the leader rather to deliver Israel from that captivity
in Egypt and it's so interesting to realize that God said he's
heard the prayers of the children of Israel and that should be
an encouragement to us we may have to wait a long time for
answers to prayers but you see in that case many years have
passed but God knew what he would do and at the appointed time
Moses was raised up Moses spent those 40 years in Pharaoh's palace
learning all the all the way that somebody should approach
unto the throne and he knew it very well and then of course
he went into what we're told is the backside of the desert
he was there for another 40 years and we're told first off and
when he was full 40 years old it came into his heart to visit
his brethren the children of Israel and seeing one of them
suffer wrong he defended him and avenged him that was oppressed
and smote the Egyptian for he supposed his brethren would have
understood how that God by his hand would deliver them but they
understood not and that still happens in the day and age in
which we live sometimes there are those situations where we
think people will understand about us but perhaps they won't
just like Moses and then we we move on remember he was 40 years
and then when he was four school years four school years another
40 years and Aaron His brother was forced gone three years.
They came to speak to Pharaoh by the command of Almighty God. And so God had ordained that
Moses would be the one who would lead the Israelites out of Egypt. And no doubt we're familiar with
that wonderful path that occurred. All those plagues that were brought
upon Pharaoh didn't have any effect until that very last plague
when the eldest, the firstborn of all the families died on that
Passover night. It was a very, very sad, sad
situation. And of course there was much
weeping and much sorrow but that was the turning point. Pharaoh
then said, be gone. And so they did and the Israelites
then went out of Egypt with a high hand. Well, coming back to the
account here, we see that Moses was blessed with this wonderful
view of this burning bush. There was something very special
in this bush, wasn't there? there it was burning and Moses
therefore, it attracted his attention and he stood, stopped and he
went aside and then it was that God spoke to him told him to
take off his shoes because the ground on which he was standing
was holy ground and then it was that God gave him the commission
which we've just highlighted really. And Moses was in that
position then. Having said he wasn't able, God
told him he would send his brother Aaron with him to be the spokesman
and so they returned to Egypt and after a short time then he
was told by God to go and to speak to Pharaoh. Well it's wonderful
really just to follow through God's work, God's plan. We could never have envisaged
a plan like this and yet God you see and planned it from eternity
past. And he had said he would deliver
the Israelites, they would be there for 400 years, and at the
appointed time, so it came to pass. And we should be thankful
in our little lives that if God has spoken, if God has given
us a promise, although perhaps it may seem to be rather dim,
And perhaps it may seem almost far off, perhaps it may seem
almost impossible. What we should realise is what
God has spoken comes to pass. God never makes a mistake and
God never says things which he will not do. What a wonderful
God we have and how encouraging it should be for us as we think
of an account like this. that the Lord is the same today.
He hasn't changed. He is still unchangeable. And
what a wonderful blessing it is to have a God who condescends
to hear prayer. The Israelites were brought very
low, but they prayed. They didn't give up, and God
heard, and God answered. And so may we, in our little
lives, recognise the wonderful power of prayer and not give
up when things appear to be going in the opposite direction. perhaps
they may even seem to be getting worse don't forget Moses had
gone away and he was in the backside of the desert feeding the flock
of Jethro and he was there not for just a short time 40 years
that wasn't a short time was it? but God appointed that time
to prepare him for that work that he was to do 40 years in
Pharaoh's palace 40 years in the backside of the desert and
then 40 years in leading Israel through the wilderness and bringing
them right to the borders of Canaan. Well, I'm sure if we
think of these things, can we not say, as for God, his way
is perfect.