２０００年２月１３日

『あなたは私を信じるか？』出エジプト記３ー４章

なぜ神を信頼できるのか？

１．神は私達を見守っておられる（３：１ー１０）

２．神は私達と共におられる（３：１１ー４：１２）

３．神は私達を忍耐してくださる（４：１３ー１８）

"Do You Trust Me?"

Exodus 3-4

Given at G.E.F.C. Japanese Dept.
on February 13, 2000

Text: Exodus 3:1-4:18

Title: "Do You Trust Me?"

Theme of the Exodus: God saves His people out of the bondage of this
world, and brings them into new
life with Him.

Theme of God's call to Moses: Our God can be trusted.

Outline:
Why can God be trusted?

I. He cares for His people (3:1-10).

II. He is present with His people (3:11~4:12).

III. He is patient with His people (4:13-18).

Introduction:

God seems very mysterious to us doesn't He? I mean, when you pray or
worship, have you ever tried to picture in your mind what God is like?
It's hard to do, isn't it? Try to imagine God right now. What does an
Eternal Being-- who created all the heavens and the earth-- LOOK like?
Most of us probably think that God looks like a wise old man with a long
white beard-- kind of like Santa Claus.
And what exactly does this Creator-- who holds everything together by the
power of His word-- SOUND like? Does He have a deep, bass, voice like
James Earl Jones? Or does He communicate silently through "ESP" or
something?
Yet as much as this is fun to think about, Scripture isn't very concerned
to describe the outward appearance of people or God. For instance, we
don't know what King David looked like, or Isaiah, or Paul, or even Jesus.
It seems that Scripture is much more concerned about describing the true,
inner nature of people's hearts. And about describing the true, inner
nature of God's heart. And this shouldn't surprise us, because as 1 Samuel
says (16:7), "Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at
the heart."
So the right question that we should ask is not, "What does God look
like?", but rather: "What is God's heart like?" What kind of God is He,
and can we trust Him? Is He for me, or against me? These are questions
that all of God's people should think about and answer honestly. "Do I
really trust God?" and "Why?" These are the questions that really matter
the most in life (pause).
Today's passage, Ex. 3-4, records a very important event in history. For
400 years, the Israelites were slaves in Egypt. And they too often asked
the question, "Where is God? Can we trust Him?" Then, after 400 years, God
finally broke His silence and He spoke his heart to Israel. We can see
what God actually said to Moses in today's passage.
In Exodus 3-4, God reveals Himself as He truly is so that all of us can
know what kind of God we really serve. (slowly) God wants us to know that
He is a God who can be trusted. We see in today's passage that our God does
not hide Himself from us when things become difficult. He may be silent at
times, but He assures us that He is never absent. (slowly) Our God can be
trusted.
And we will see today in Ex. 3-4 three reasons why Our God can be
trusted. Now let's hear what happened from Moses himself.
I. He cares for His people (3:1-10)

It had been 40 years since I killed that Egyptian and had to leave the
country. Since then, I have spent all my time in Midian watching sheep
for Jethro, my father-in-law. I often wondered why God allowed my people
to suffer so much Egypt. Where was He? How could my people trust God when
He had remained silent to their prayers for so long? It had been 400 years
and it seemed as if God would never rescue us from our trials.
But one day, when I was 80 years old, I brought Jethro's sheep to Mount
Horeb, which is also called Mount Sinai. And as I was letting them graze,
I saw something truly amazing! A desert bush was on fire, and I could see
the flames coming up out of it, but the bush itself was unharmed. I
thought that this was incredible, so I moved closer towards it so that I
could get a better look.
As I got closer, I heard a voice come from the midst of the flame. "Moses,
Moses!" And I was really surprised. I didn't know what to do so I said,
"Yesss, Here I am! I'm listening!" And the voice said, "Don't come any
closer. Take off your sandals, because you are standing on holy ground."
I wondered, "Who is this voice?" But before I could ask, the voice said, "I
am the God of your father. The God of Abraham, the God of Issac, and the
God of Jacob." And when I heard that, I was petrified so I hid my face. I
couldn't even look up. GOD HIMSELF was talking to me. This doesn't
happen every day. And all kinds of thoughts filled my head: "Was God
angry at me for killing that Egyptian? Was God going to punish me for
doubting that He cared for His people? Was I going to die right now?"
But it was nothing like that. God spoke to me again, and He said, "Do you
think that I have forgotten about my people in Egypt, or that I don't know
what is happening to them? I have seen their pain, and I have heard their
crying. I am very aware of my people's suffering.
So do you know what I am going to do? I am coming down to save my people
from the Egyptians. I am going to bring them out of Egypt, and in to a
good land. To a land flowing with milk and honey. To a land so big that
it could hold many nations.
I repeat, I HAVE heard the crying of my people, and I HAVE seen their
troubles. Therefore, I am going to send YOU to Pharaoh so that YOU may
bring my people Israel out of Egypt."
Application:

Vv. 1-10 of chapter 3 have shown us that We can trust God because He cares
for His people (repeat). Vv. 7 and 9 show us that God is very aware of his
people's trials. But He doesn't just sit by passively and watch, because
v. 8 shows us that our God also acts on our behalf. He saves His people.
BUT, He delivers us from our trials in HIS time, not OURS.
As Israel had learned, God may remain silent in our hardships for weeks,
months, or even years, but this does not mean that He has a cold heart.
Now this is hard for us to understand because we define love in a different
way than God does. We think that if God's truly loves us, then He will
want to protect us from every bad thing that comes our way. And since God
is all-powerful, He should be ABLE to protect us from every bad thing that
comes our way. But since bad things DO happen to us, we then wrongly
conclude that either God is NOT all-powerful or else He DOESN'T really love
us.
But both of these conclusions are wrong. As I've already implied, the
problem is that OUR definition of love is often wrong, NOT God's. Isaiah
tells us that God's thoughts are not our thoughts. His ways are not our
ways. And just as the heavens are higher than the earth, His thoughts and
ways are higher than ours. In the same way, God's way of expressing love
is also higher than ours.
We expect God to make us happy. But God's goal is to make us holy.
(slowly) And somehow, God is able to use our sufferings to bring us closer
into His holiness. Somehow, God is able to make all things work out for
good for those who love Him; and so this is one way that God shows His
love to us.
It is so hard for us to understand how His love can work this way, but in
the end we just have to accept it. God tells us in this passage that--
even when our circumstances seem bad-- we can trust Him. Why? We can
trust Him because we know that He cares for His people (pause).
He sees our sufferings, and hears our cries. And because He cares for His
people, He will deliver us in His time.

II. He is present with His people (3:11~4:12)

Wow! God really does care for us! And He wanted ME to be the one to
bring my people out of Egypt. But to be honest, I didn't have much
confidence in myself, so I didn't want to obey Him. And so I came up with
every excuse I could think of to get out of it.
My first excuse was that I was inadequate. I said, "You want ME to go?
Who am I? I'm no one special. The great Pharaoh is not going to listen to
someone as insignificant as me!"
But God said, "Don't rely on your own strength. Remember, I AM WITH YOU.
Everyone will know that it was I who sent you when you bring all of Israel
back to this mountain to worship me."
My second excuse was that I was didn't know enough. I said, "When I go to
the people of Israel and tell them that the God of Abraham has sent me,
they may say, 'Yeah, right! What's His name?' I can't answer these tough
theological questions!"
But God said, "Tell them that 'I AM WHO I AM' (3:14). 'I AM' has sent you
to them. I am called 'I AM', because I AM with you to help you and to save
you. I was with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And now I AM with you also.
This is what my name should mean to you and to all generations. When you
hear my name, I want you to remember that I AM with you. Now tell Israel
that I AM will bring them out of Egypt, and they will listen to you!"
I still wasn't confident, so my third excuse was that no one would believe
me. I said, "You say they will listen to me, but what if they don't? What
if no one believes me and they say, 'You're lying, the LORD never appeared
to you!"
But God said, "OK, I'll give you three miraculous signs so that people will
believe that I sent you. First, throw your staff on the ground, and then
it will become a snake. When you pick up the snake by the tail, it will
become a staff again. If they don't believe that, then here is a second
miracle: Put your hand inside your robe and take it out again. Your hand
will then have leprosy. When you put your hand back inside your robe
again, it will be healed. And if they don't believe that, then here is a
third miracle: take some water from the Nile river and pour it on the
ground. By the time it reaches the ground, it will become blood."
We can't really fool God with our excuses, can we? But I didn't give up!
I still had one more excuse. My fourth excuse was that I was too unskilled
for the job. I said, "Lord, You know that I have never been a good public
speaker! I will just mess everything up that you told me today."
But God said, "Moses, are you forgetting who made your tongue? I DID!
Stop being afraid and stop making excuses! Remember, (slowly) I AM with
you! I AM even with your mouth! I will teach you what to say, don't
worry. Stop trusting in yourself, and start trusting in the LORD."
Application:

We have already seen that we can trust God because He cares for His
people. Ex. 3:11~4:12 have also shown us that we can trust God because He
is present with His people (repeat). In 3:12 we see that God promises to
be present with Moses. In vv. 14 and 15 we see that the name that God
wants to be remembered by is 'I AM'.
'I AM' is not meant to be understood as a philosophical statement of God's
existence. God is not declaring by His name that He exists. Moses is
talking to Him face to face, so Moses already knows that He exists. But
what Moses and Israel did NOT know was whether or not God was still present
with them in their sufferings. By revealing Himself as the "I AM" God
assures His people that they can trust Him. He says "I AM present with
you, even in your sufferings."
And when we make excuses to God for why we think we can't follow His
calling, or live the Christian life, God reminds us that He is present. He
says, "I AM with you. Don't trust in your own strength. I will help you."
You may think that you are inadequate to teach CS. You may think that you
don't know enough about the Bible to share your faith with your friends and
co-workers. You may think that you are too unskilled to follow God's
calling and make a difference in this world for the Kingdom of God. But
God says, "Don't trust in your own flesh and in your own abilities. Trust
me. For I AM with you, and I will make your paths straight." Now let's
see what Moses does next.
III. He is patient with His people (4:13-18)

I heard what the Lord had to say. I knew that He cared about His people,
and that He was present with us. But I still had a hard time trusting Him.
I still didn't want to obey His call and go to Pharaoh to tell him "Let my
people go!" So with fear and trembling I said to God, "Please Lord, send
this message by whomever you want... except me." (pause)
Now I didn't actually say, "except me" but I implied it very strongly. Of
course, God understood exactly what I meant and He became very angry. It
is a scary thing to be in the presence of an angry God, and I realized at
once that I had made a huge mistake. But do you know what? Our God is
patient and merciful. I deserved to be punished for making so many
excuses. I deserved to be punished for refusing to obey the Creator of the
Universe. But do you know what? He didn't punish me. And I learned
that our God is patient and merciful towards us.
In the Lord's graciousness, He said to me, "OK Moses, I know that your
brother Aaron is a good public speaker. He will be happy to help you. So
I will put the words in your mouth, and then you will put the words in his
mouth, OK? Then he will speak to the people for you."
I felt ashamed that I hadn't trusted the LORD sufficiently to help me in my
calling. But at the same time I was grateful that the LORD had accepted me
where I was at. He even accommodated my lack of faith. You know, this
really helped me to trust the Lord even more in my life. (slowly) Because
now I know that the Lord understands human weakness. (pause).
God wants us to be holy, just as He is holy. But God is patient enough to
understand that holiness and total submission to His will is a process. God
understands that it takes time for people to become true disciples.
Knowing that our God is not harsh with us, but patient really made me want
to trust and obey Him more. So I went to Jethro, my father-in-law, and I
announced that I was going back to Egypt.
Application/ Conclusion:

The big idea of Exodus 3-4 has been that Our God can be trusted. Why can
He be trusted? We have seen that He can be trusted because 1) He cares
for His people. He is not cold or indifferent towards us. He genuinely
loves us and is concerned about us.
We can also trust God because 2) He is present with His people. He is
not far away from you doing "God-things." He is here with you right now to
comfort you, to help you, and to guide you in your day-to-day life.
And now we have seen in 4:13-18 that we can also trust God because 3) He is
patient with His people. God is not sitting up in heaven with a big hammer
looking for people weak in faith so that He can smack them with it.
"What? You don't want to teach CS because you're afraid of children?"
Smack! "You don't want to talk to new people on Sunday morning because
you're too shy?" Smack! "You don't want to share the gospel with your
co-worker because you've never been to seminary?" Smack! No, that's not
how God works. God is patient with His people.
Our God is the God of second chances. And third chances. And forth
chances. Our God is patient enough not to give up on you. He will work
with you on your journey of faith. And He will help you with your doubts
and unbelief, so that you can be gradually transformed in holiness. (pause)
I'd like us to pray now that God would show us areas of our life that we
might be refusing to submit to Him. (let's pray- Holy Spirit, show us
our hearts)
- Has God called you, or convicted you do something recently? Listen to
Him
now. What has He asked you to do?

- Have you made the decision to trust and obey Him in this, or have you
simply
made excuses?

- 1 John tells us that if we confess our sins, that God is faithful to
forgive us and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1Jn. 1:9).
- Ask God now to forgive your for making excuses.
- Ask Him to forgive you for trusting in your own flesh.

- Ask Him now for the strength to trust and obey Him, so that you can have
peace in your heart again.