Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

OPENING hockey save

YouVersion: Showdown, Throwdown (The Staff)

We’re in Exodus 6:28-7:13

Exodus 6:28–30 (ESV)

28 On the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29 the Lord said to Moses, “I am the Lord; tell Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.” 30 But Moses said to the Lord, “Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips.

How will Pharaoh listen to me?”

Last week - Moses got a bad reaction

God says, “Go speak!”

Moses is dragging his feet...

1. It’s easy to drag our feet when we don’t expect good results

Cleaning the floor for the new sanctuary

Ridiculously mad - had a company come in

In the end, I had more than enough time

He was right, I was wrong

But I was dragging my feet because I didn’t want to fail

In truth, failure wasn’t going to happen unless I kept dragging my feet!

That’s what Moses is doing

D.L. Moody: “To fear is to have more faith in your antagonist than in Christ.”

What do we do with that?

Stop dragging our feet and remember God

But Moses points out his uncircumcised lips (AKA unclean)

Similar to Isaiah’s response to being in the presence of God in a vision

Isaiah 6:5 (ESV)

5 And I said: “Woe is me!

For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

When you meet God face to face, your shortcomings become clear

You want to back out - I’m not worthy

At the same time, we need to answer His call

Being a sinful human is complicated...

Exodus 7:1–2 (ESV)

1 And the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. 2 You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land.

Used to love Civilization IV

I’d build outrageous armies with stealth planes, carriers and nukes

Everyone else had spears and frigates

Any time a leader challenged me, I’d send 100 planes and subs and nuke them all

When they begged for peace, I’d send the next wave

No mercy!

How dare you question the great Dan Johnston!

With that, you might expect God to flick Moses off the face of the earth

He doesn’t even correct him!

But instead, He makes Moses “like God”

Wow, Moses became like God? What does that mean

Pharaoh has refused to deal with God, so God works through Moses

He became God’s representative with full authority

God is telling Moses his words will be God’s words, and his power will be God’s power

So Moses should speak and act boldly, because it’s not him, but God

One of my favorite verses

2 Corinthians 3:3 (ESV)

3 And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

What does that tell us?

2. God’s power in our lives makes us His representatives

When we go into the world, we show the world His power by letting our lives be evident

W.H. Griffith Thomas: “Are we giving those around us a true idea of God?”

How many people bear the name Christian...

But then don’t let God have an opportunity to change us?

People want to see God’s power...

But when we get in His way and let the world rule over us instead of Him

People never see His glory, because all they see is another example of the world

So if Moses was to be “as God,” Aaron was to be Moses’ prophet (the spokesman)

Aaron was to listen to Moses’ instructions

Is it going to work?

Not right away...

Exodus 7:3–4 (ESV)

3 But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, 4 Pharaoh will not listen to you.

Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment.

So God is the one that hardens Pharaoh’s heart?

Doesn’t that make all of this God’s fault?

Well, this is a mistranslation - sorta

This particular verse doesn’t necessarily communicate who is doing the hardening

HOWEVER!

We’re going to see some things in the coming weeks

Let’s jump ahead...

To get Pharaoh to release the Hebrews, He’s going to send 10 plagues

In each plague, Pharaoh’s heart is hardened - but is it God or Pharaoh?

1 - Blood: Pharaoh’s heart is hardened (7:14)

2 - Frogs: He (Pharaoh) hardened his heart (8:15)

3 - Gnats: Pharaoh’s heart was hardened (8:19)

4 - Flies: Pharaoh hardened his heart (8:32)

5 - Livestock Die: The heart of Pharaoh was hardened (9:7)

All of these are attributed to Pharaoh hardening his own heart

Then we hit the second half:

6 - Boils: But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh (9:12)

7 - Hail: he sinned yet again and hardened his heart (9:34)

8 - Locusts: I have hardened his heart (10:1), the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart (10:20)

9 - Darkness: the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart (10:27)

10 - Death of the First-Born: the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart (11:10)

There’s a back and forth here...

Romans 9:14–24 (ESV)

14 What shall we say then?

Is there injustice on God’s part?

By no means!

15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.

17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”

18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault?

For who can resist his will?” 20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? 22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— 24 even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?

What does that mean?

God allows those who reject Him to face the repercussions