Transcript Moses A Child Saved, July 1 2012

Children of the Bible
Lesson 5
Lesson Text—Exodus 2:1-4
Exodus 2:1-4
1 And there went a man of the house of
Levi, and took to wife a daughter of
Levi.
2 And the woman conceived, and bare
a son: and when she saw him that he
was a goodly child, she hid him three
months.
Lesson Text—Exodus 2:1-4
3
And when she could not longer hide
him, she took for him an ark of
bulrushes, and daubed it with slime
and with pitch, and put the child
therein; and she laid it in the flags by
the river’s brink.
4 And his sister stood afar off, to wit
what would be done to him.
Lesson Text—Exodus 2:5-7
Exodus 2:5-7
5 And the daughter of Pharaoh came
down to wash herself at the river;
and her maidens walked along by the
river’s side; and when she saw the
ark among the flags, she sent her
maid to fetch it.
Lesson Text—Exodus 2:5-7
6
And when she had opened it, she
saw the child: and, behold, the babe
wept. And she had compassion on
him, and said, This is one of the
Hebrews’ children.
7 Then said his sister to Pharaoh’s
daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a
nurse of the Hebrew women, that she
may nurse the child for thee?
Lesson Text—Exodus 2:8-10
Exodus 2:8-10
8 And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her,
Go. And the maid went and called the
child’s mother.
9 And Pharaoh’s daughter said unto
her, Take this child away, and nurse it
for me, and I will give thee thy wages.
And the woman took the child, and
nursed it.
Lesson Text—Exodus 2:8-10
10
And the child grew, and she
brought him unto Pharaoh’s
daughter, and he became her son.
And she called his name Moses: and
she said, Because I drew him out of
the water.
Lesson Text—Exodus 2:11-12
Exodus 2:11-12
11 And it came to pass in those days,
when Moses was grown, that he went
out unto his brethren, and looked on
their burdens: and he spied an
Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of
his brethren.
Lesson Text—Exodus 2:11-12
12
And he looked this way and that
way, and when he saw that there was
no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid
him in the sand.
Focus Verse—Isaiah 49:25
Isaiah 49:25
But thus saith the LORD, Even the
captives of the mighty shall be
taken away, and the prey of the
terrible shall be delivered: for I will
contend with him that contendeth
with thee, and I will save thy
children.
Focus Thought
In spite of the powers of evil and
darkness that attempt to destroy
our children, God’s plan involves
us in preserving them
for His divine purpose.
I. An
Culture Connection
The
Evil of Infanticide
Evil
Command
Given
It probably would be difficult, if not
impossible, to find anyone who would
approve of the heinous act against
children perpetrated by Pharaoh
Thutmose I, the ruling Egyptian
pharaoh at the time of Moses’ birth. (To
control the Hebrew population, he
commanded that all newborn males be
killed.)
I.
Interestingly, however, many
who would condemn
Anindividuals
Evil Command
Given the
pharaoh for killing babies in Moses’
day would defend the barbaric
practice of abortion today.
Nevertheless, the debate rages on
over abortion, legalized in the US
since a Supreme Court ruling in 1973.
I.
In a Reuters article by Laura
dated AprilGiven
5, 2011, she
AnZuckerman,
Evil Command
noted, “The Idaho legislature on
Tuesday gave final approval to a
measure that would outlaw abortions
after twenty weeks of pregnancy and
subject abortion providers to criminal
prosecution and civil lawsuits. The
Senate-backed bill cleared the House
in a 54-14 vote and now heads to
Governor Butch Otter, who is expected
to sign it.
I.
“The legislation is linked to
medical research
suggesting
Andisputed
Evil
Command
Given
the unborn feel pain at twenty weeks
and is modeled on a 2010 Nebraska
law that has yet to face a legal
challenge. The bill is similar to one
recently approved by the Kansas
legislature and to measures proposed
by lawmakers in more than a dozen
other states” (Reuters.com, accessed
April 5, 2011).
I.
Perhaps there is no sin for which
present
generation Given
will be judged
Anthis
Evil
Command
more harshly than for the sin of
abortion. And what is the difference
between abortion and infanticide? Not
much—just a few weeks of
development and a nearly forty-yearold Supreme Court ruling. May God
deliver us from this lawful, but awful,
evil.
Contemplating the Topic
I. An Evil
Command
Given
Moses, a child saved from a cruel
king’s edict, became the savior of the
fledgling nation of Israel. He is a type
of another child, Jesus, who was also
saved from a cruel and jealous king.
Jesus not only saved Israel from
physical oppression, but He also saves
all mankind from the slavery of sin.
I.
We live in a terrible and wicked time,
Anboth
Evil
Command
Given
morally and spiritually. Jesus
warned this would be a sign of the end
times—the time just before He would
return for His church. The media seem
to be focused on destroying the
innocence of our children. Graphic
violence and inappropriate sexual
content warp our youth. Even the
music often is crude and portrays the
dark and evil side of life.
Transparency 1
I.
These evil influences can destroy
children unless the parents and the
Anchurch
Evil raise
Command
Given
up a standard against
them. If there ever was a time to
proactively promote God’s holy
principles, it is today. God desires
strong, godly families and strong
marriages through which He may
guard against the ungodly forces of
modern culture. Isaiah 49:25 tells us
God is in the battle with us against the
enemy, and we can stand on His
promise that He will save our children.
I.
In spite of the powers of evil and
Andarkness
Evil Command
that attempt toGiven
destroy our
children, God works with us and
through us to preserve a godly people
in this generation. (See Malachi 2:15.)
God’s people love Him and want to
save their children from this
“untoward generation” (Acts 2:40).
Searching The Scriptures
I. An Evil
An Command
Evil CommandGiven
Given
Moses was born during a dark time
in Israel’s history. As long as Joseph
had lived, Israel enjoyed a favored
position in the eyes of the rulers and
people in Egypt. Pharaoh had given
them Goshen, a fertile region in the
eastern part of the Nile delta. Four
hundred and thirty years passed and
times and circumstances changed.
I.
Joseph had died, along with his royal
and a new pharaoh
Anbenefactor,
Evil
Command
Given
reigned—one that “knew not Joseph”
(Exodus 1:8; Acts 7:18). Israel had
come to Egypt with only seventy
individuals, but now they numbered
“about six hundred thousand on foot
that were men, beside children”
(Exodus 12:37).
The new king grew uneasy about
the millions of foreigners who lived in
the choicest area in Egypt.
I.
He had at first seen the Hebrews as an
a Command
source of free labor
for his
Anasset,
Evil
Given
massive building projects. His
taskmasters forced them to reach their
brick-making quotas and to stay on
schedule in the erection of buildings,
cities, and tombs. Even when sorely
oppressed, however, the Hebrews
increased dramatically in number to
the point the king feared they would
outnumber and overwhelm the
Egyptian population.
I.
Pharaoh’s solution to control the
Anrapidly
Evil expanding
Command
Given
Hebrew
population
was infanticide. He decreed that the
midwives should kill the male babies at
birth but keep the female babies alive.
A. Response by Midwives
A. Response by Midwives
Pharaoh dealt harshly with the
Hebrew midwives, but they feared the
judgment of God more than they
feared the anger and recrimination of
the king. Their fear and faith in God
gave them a reverence for life and the
courage to risk their own lives.
Trusting in the power of God, they
disobeyed the king’s command and let
the male babies live.
B. God’s
Blessings
on Right
B. God’s
Blessings
on Right
Decisions
Decisions
God honored and blessed the
midwives for their courage and godly
fear. He protected them from the king’s
retribution and blessed them with
families and households of their own.
Pharaoh, however, did not give up
his quest for a final solution.
I.
Since the midwives had pleaded not
their disobedience
by
Anguilty
EvilforCommand
Given
claiming Hebrew women were so
vigorous they gave birth before help
arrived, Pharaoh ordered Egyptians to
seize newborn Hebrew males and
throw them into the Nile River. He
reasoned that Hebrews did not fear his
decree; but Egyptians would.
Egyptians had deified the Nile and
worshiped it at times as Hapi, “the
giver of life” and at other times as
Osiris, the “god of fertility.”
I. AnIronically,
Evil Command
Given
Egypt appealed
to the gods
of fertility and life to destroy the seed
of Abraham, God’s chosen people.
A Special Child Is Born
II. A Special Child Is Born
God gave Israel a miracle child to
save them. Down through time it has
been so—God uses individuals to
fulfill His redemptive plan for
mankind. The greatest example is
Jesus Christ. (See Galatians 4:4-5.)
A. A Goodly Child
A.
A
Goodly
Child
Moses was a beautiful baby,
“exceeding fair” (Acts 7:20). In his
mother’s eyes he was not only a
healthy, darling boy, but she somehow
knew her child was special and that
God had destined him for great things.
She could not know, however, that in
her arms she held the means of God’s
salvation for His people. Mothers
never know the full potential of the
child they hold in their arms.
I.
Jochebed, Moses’ mother,
her preciousGiven
baby would
Andetermined
Evil Command
never be thrown into the Nile. “By faith
Moses, when he was born, was hid
three months of his parents, because
they saw he was a proper child; and
they were not afraid of the king’s
commandment” (Hebrews 11:23).
B. A Mother’s Protection
B. A Mother’s Protection
Jochebed had only a short time—
three months or so—before it became
impossible to keep her wiggly,
gurgling baby hidden from watchful
Egyptian eyes. She knew her son
would be thrown in the Nile unless she
could devise a way to prevent it.
Perhaps through divine inspiration
she prepared a small “ark,” using
materials from the very river that
waited to swallow him up.
I.
She wove together and shaped
strands of thick, tough papyrus reeds,
Anthen
Evil
Command
Given
waterproofed the result with pitch
and slime dredged from the riverbank.
When the ark had dried, Jochebed
lovingly tucked in her infant son and
“obeyed” the king’s command by
putting the baby in the river. More
importantly, she entrusted him into the
arms of God. She had done what she
could and trusted God to do the rest.
She stationed Moses’ sister, Miriam,
among the reeds along the riverbank
to see what would happen to the
infant.
I.
At first the babe seemed quietly
content, rocked to sleep as the
An current
Evil Command
Given
lapped against the little ark.
Miriam turned her head when she
heard the noise of women’s chatter
and laughter. It was Pharaoh’s
daughter and her maids come to
bathe in the river. Then Miriam heard
an ominous mewling from the ark that
soon escalated into hungry cries. She
did not know what to do when the
royal princess, intrigued by the noise
echoing over the river, bade one of
her maids to wade out and capture
the ark.
I.
But instead of tossing the babe into
the current, Pharaoh’s daughter held
AntheEvil
Command
Given
little boy close and rocked him
gently in her arms. Her heart melted
when he stopped crying and gazed
into her eyes. She said, “This child is a
Hebrew.” Miriam, possibly out of
desperation or a sudden rush of
courage, approached the princess.
“Shall I go and call a nurse of the
Hebrew women to nurse the child for
you?”
I.
The princess agreed and Miriam ran
AntoEvil
Given
fetch Command
her mother. Pharaoh’s
daughter said, “Take this child away,
and nurse it for me, and I will give you
your wages.” Jochebed praised God
all the way home. God had answered
her prayer! She cherished the next few
years with her goodly child, training
him in the ways of the Lord.
C. God’s Intervention
C. God’s Intervention
“And when he was cast out,
Pharaoh’s daughter took him
up, and nourished him for her
own son” (Acts 7:21).
I.
Moses’ adoption into the royal
him the Given
advantage of
Anfamily
Evilafforded
Command
being educated in all of the wisdom
of the Egyptians. As the son of the
king’s daughter he enjoyed
experiences, opportunities, and rank
he never would have received as the
son of a slave. He grew up in the
center of government, seeing the dayto-day operation of the ruling of a
nation.
I. An
Josephus stated that Moses
Evil
Command
Given
probably
received training
in all the
education of Egypt: reading, writing,
arithmetic, chemistry, law, and the
art of governance. His education
also may have included the study of
music and how to work with metals.
Josephus especially stressed the
military education Moses would have
received as part of the upper
echelon of Egyptian hierarchy.
I. An
However, God did not intend that
Evil
Given
MosesCommand
would use his gifts
to rule
Egypt; instead, He arranged all of
this training to prepare Moses to lead
God’s chosen people, Israel.
D.
D.
Early
Teaching
Inspires
Early Teaching Inspires
Loyalty
Loyalty
Much more important than Moses’
Egyptian education was the training
he received at the knee of his mother.
God not only orchestrated the
salvation of Moses but also provided
motherly training at the most
important and vulnerable time of his
life. Who better to nurse him, love him,
and train him in the history of his
people and the faith of the God of the
Hebrews than his own mother?
I.
Every child is born with needs.
Equally as strong as the need for
Ansustenance
Evil Command
Given
and physical care, every
child needs the cuddling and security
of Mother’s love. We know this need as
“bonding.” This special attachment
begins even before birth. Studies show
that a baby recognizes and responds
to his mother’s voice even while in the
womb. Three-month-old babies can
distinguish familiar faces and can
connect Mother’s voice with Mother’s
face. Total bonding takes place in the
first eighteen month of life.
I.
The baby lets his needs be known by
crying and Mother is usually the one
Anwho
Evil
Command
Given
satisfies those needs. The baby
soon learns to trust her; he learns that
his mother is there for him.
As Mother holds her baby close
while feeding and talking to him, the
child develops a sense of security and
trust. For this to happen, the mother
needs to be accessible regularly and
consistently throughout the child’s
critical first two years. When Mother is
absent, the baby becomes fretful.
babies often
have
I. An“Unbonded”
Evil Command
Given
psychological and social problems
later in life. It is important for mothers
to be with their children during these
early, formative years. No one else can
play this crucial role as well as the
baby’s mother.
Isaiah 28:9-10
“Whom shall he teach
knowledge? and whom shall he
make to understand doctrine?
them that are weaned from the
milk and drawn from the breasts.
For precept must be upon
precept, precept upon precept;
line upon line, line upon line;
here a little, and there a little”
(Isaiah 28:9-10).
Proverbs 22:6
“Train up a child in the way he
should go: and when he is old,
he will not depart from it”
(Proverbs 22:6).
I.
How important are these early
Anformative
Evil Command
Given
years? One church
denomination claims that if parents will
subject their children up to the age of
five to be trained by the church, they
will never leave that faith.
We often see children of godly
parents stray; however, if the parents
intentionally train their children in the
truths of Scripture, those truths will
forever be in the hearts of those
children.
I.
Some have suggested that the original
AnHebrew
Evil language
Command
of the Given
Old Testament
would support one rendering of
Proverbs 22:6 as “Train up a child in
the way he should go and when he is
old it will not depart from him.” That
understanding of Proverbs 22:6 does
at least seem to be compatible with the
verse’s fundamental intent. We
recognize that children have a free will
and someday will make their own
decisions about serving the Lord.
haveCommand
no ironclad guarantee
I. AnWeEvil
Giventhey
will serve Christ, but we can be certain
they can never get away from their
early training. It is unforgettable!
The first five years are the most
important years of a child’s life. Onehalf of what he learns he acquires
before the age of two. One–half of the
remaining knowledge he learns before
five years of age.
I. An Evil
Given
Even Command
though Jochebed
kept the
toddler Moses for only a few short
years, she nurtured him during the
most important and formative years of
his life. It is no wonder, then, that
Moses as an adult made a right choice.
Hebrews 11:24-25
“By faith Moses, when he was
come to years, refused to be
called the son of Pharaoh’s
daughter; choosing rather to
suffer affliction with the people
of God, than to enjoy the
pleasures of sin for a season”
(Hebrews 11:24-25).
E. Modeling Is Important
E. Modeling
Is
Important
Children imitate their parents. They
become, to a great extent, what they
see modeled in their parents. Parents
should be the kind of Christian they
want their children to be—at home as
well as at church. Training is much
more than what parents say; it is what
they do. Little eyes are watching
Mommy and Daddy.
I.
Children will likely follow their
parents’ paths in life. If parents want
Antheir
Evilchildren
Command
Given
to love and serve God,
the children must observe their
parents loving and serving God. If
parents want their children to love and
attend the house of God, the parents
must love and attend church. If
parents want their children to love
their pastor and God’s people, the
parents must build up the children’s
faith in the pastor and God’s people.
I.
If parents want their children to
Anworship
Evil Command
Givenmust
openly, their children
see them exuberantly and vocally
worshiping God. If parents want their
children to pray, they must lead them
by modeling prayer—both at home
and at church.
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is
Deuteronomy
one
LORD: and thou 6:4-7
shalt love the
LORD thy God with all thine heart, and
with all thy soul, and with all thy
might. And these words, which I
command thee this day, shall be in
thine heart: and thou shalt teach them
diligently unto thy children, and shalt
talk of them when thou sittest in thine
house, and when thou walkest by the
way, and when thou liest down, and
when thou risest up” (Deuteronomy
6:4-7).
I.
The early training of Moses marked
him for life. There came a time when
An Amram
Evil Command
Given
and Jochebed had to turn him
over to Pharaoh’s daughter, but by
that time Moses was a Hebrew not
only by lineage but by mindset. He
entered the Egyptian palace knowing
he was not an Egyptian.
Sooner or later the time comes
when life will test the modeling
parents have provided for their
children. Only then will the results of
the children’s training become
evident.
Saved to Serve
III. Saved to Serve
Moses was born with a purpose; he
was saved to serve. It seems as though
he sensed his calling, for one day when
he saw an Egyptian abusing one of his
brethren—a Hebrew—he took it upon
himself to dispense justice by slaying
the Egyptian. Unfortunately, his
methods and timing did not fit into the
plan of God. He needed further training.
I.
Egypt trained Moses to lead—now
AnheEvil
Command
Given
needed
God to train him
to follow.
He had lived forty years in the palace;
now God moved him to the
wilderness. This proud, assured
young man needed to learn humility.
What better way to train a man to lead
and minister to the people of God than
to have him spend forty years tending
a large flock of sheep!
A. Mission Given
A. Mission Given
When the time came in God’s plan
that Moses’ wilderness training was
complete, God appeared to him from
the midst of a desert bush that burned
brightly but did not burn up. God
revealed Himself to Moses as an angel
and told the astonished man He had
heard the cry of His people and had
seen their oppression.
I. An Evil Command Given
“Come now therefore, and I will send
thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest
bring forth my people the children of
Israel out of Egypt” (Exodus 3:10).
God sent Moses—but He Himself
would be their Deliverer.
B. Objections Stated
B.Moses
Objections
Stated
quickly manufactured
excuses why he was not the man to
lead Israel. First he asked, “Who am
I?” This question would not have
occurred to him forty years prior when
he was a self-assured, confident young
prince in Egypt. Now he felt personally
unfit for leadership.
God is not looking for self-assured
individuals; neither can He use ones
who are self-sufficient.
I.
He is looking for believers who will
depend upon Him. We cannot fulfill
AnGod’s
Evilcalling
Command
Given
in our own strength; we
must rely on His strength to
accomplish the commission. Paul said
with great assurance, “I can do all
things through Christ which
strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13).
God promised Moses He would go
with him; and one day Moses would
remember this promise, for he would
worship God, along with the Hebrew
nation, upon the very mountain where
he stood.
Still, Moses
was not convinced
I. An Evil
Command
Given he
was the man for the job. He did not
believe the people would accept and
listen to him, for they had not accepted
his attempt to help them forty years
before. To convince Moses of His
divine authority and assure him that
God would go with him, God showed
the hesitant man miraculous signs. He
told Moses to throw down his rod and
it turned into a serpent.
I.
Moses thrust his hand into his coat
Anand
Evil
Command
when
he drew it outGiven
it was leprous.
Moses took up the serpent and it
became a rod. He thrust his hand back
into the coat and it came out disease
free.
Even the assurance of divine
enablement and the miraculous signs
were not enough to overcome Moses’
feelings of inadequacy. He pleaded
guilty of slowness of speech.
I.
This, however, belied Stephen’s
description of Moses in Acts 7:22:
An“Moses
Evil Command
Given
was learned in all the wisdom
of the Egyptians, and was mighty in
words and in deeds.” God overruled
his excuse. “Who hath made man’s
mouth? . . . Now therefore go, and I will
be with thy mouth, and teach thee what
thou shalt say” (Exodus 4:11-12).
Then Moses overstepped the
bounds of God’s patience and pleaded
that He choose another man for the
mission.
I.
In anger God told Moses He would give
necessary
words both
to Moses
Anthe
Evil
Command
Given
and to his brother Aaron, for God said,
“I know that [Aaron] can speak well”
(Exodus 4:14). It is interesting that
Moses did take Aaron, and Aaron did
speak to the Hebrew people, but it was
always Moses who spoke to Pharaoh.
Could it be that Moses was more
intimidated by his own people than by
a powerful, irate, and stubborn
Pharaoh?
C. God’s Assurance
C.
God’s
Assurance
God promised Moses He would
always be with him. (See Exodus 3:12.)
God granted divine authority and
empowerment and assured Moses that
if he went to Egypt, his people would
listen to him. And God would, through
Moses, give Israel a mighty
deliverance.
Feeling the need for something
concrete with which to face his people,
Moses asked for the name of the “God
of his fathers.”
I.
God revealed to him His powerful and
Anmeaningful
Evil Command
Given
identity: “I AM
THAT I AM.”
It signified that He is not only the God
of the past and the God of the future,
but He is the God of the present. At the
moment when Moses desperately
needed the strength of God, he learned
that his God was “I AM,” the everpresent One. The faith of our fathers
will not do for us today. We need to
know God personally and intimately as
the God who will supply our present
needs.
Internalizing the Message
I. An Evil Command Given
God inclined His ear when He heard
Israel’s cries ascending out of the
cruel bondage of Egypt. They needed
deliverance. When the time was right,
God prepared and sent a man to lead
Israel out of slavery and into the
freedom and blessing of a land of
promise. (See Exodus 3:7-8.)
I. An Evil Command Given
Today’s world is in the bondage
of sin. God prepared a Savior, the
man Christ Jesus, to deliver
mankind from spiritual and
emotional bondage. Jesus stated
this mission in a synagogue when
He read to the people from Isaiah
61. (See Luke 4:18-19.)
Transparency 3
I.
Jesus Christ has already provided
redemption.
Jesus came
to die on
AnforEvil
Command
Given
the cross so He might save the world
from sin and the results of sin. He has
gone away physically, but He is still
with us as the Comforter and
Encourager. This Redeemer was born,
grew to manhood, and died to save
humankind; now He has entrusted the
mission to us to carry on His work of
redemption. God always works
through humans to minister and to
save mankind.
I.
One of the greatest aspects of this
redemptive ministry is that of being a
Anparent.
Evil God
Command
Given
desires to give to every
child a godly parent, and parents
should not take this responsibility
lightly. In their arms they hold the
potential for good or for evil. As did
Jochebed, they should nurture their
children lovingly, train them carefully,
and protect them physically and
spiritually from this evil world as long
as they can, and then release them into
the arms of God.