The Masterful Work of God (Part 2)

[0:00] We left off last week when Moses' mother had placed that ark in the water and as it flowed down the river.

[0:22] And when that took place then, remember that Moses' older sister Miriam was back in the shadows watching to see what happened.

[0:38] She was curious to see what was going to take place with this ark containing her baby brother floating down the river Nile. And so she takes a look and sees what takes place there.

[0:52] So in verses 6 through 8 is kind of where we left off last week. Remember that Pharaoh's daughter sees this ark floating down the river unknowing what was inside.

[1:06] And she bade one of her servants to go and fetch it out of the water. They did that. They brought it back to shore. When they opened that up, she saw the baby and heard the baby crying.

[1:19] And so that's where we're at in verse 6 through 8. When she had opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby wept.

[1:30] And she had compassion on him and said, This is one of the Hebrew's children. 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?

[1:45] And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child's mother. Scripture said when she saw the baby and heard him cry, she had compassion on him.

[1:59] We, I think, briefly looked at this last week. The definition of that word compassion is the same as we look at the word mercy. Mercy is the idea of seeing someone in a bad situation or condition and doing what it can, what the person can to take it out of that condition.

[2:22] Mercy goes a little further in that it sees the person or the object that it views as something very pitiful. And then has the desire to do something about that and then has the ability to do that and changes that condition.

[2:40] So it's akin to that word mercy that we know of and use quite a bit. So she had compassion on the baby, not knowing the full details about what took place and why that baby was floating down the river.

[3:01] I'm sure she probably conjured the idea of why, but it doesn't say anything about that. Now, there's a, probably not a motivation per se, but there's a way for her to get out of the difficulty of her father's edict.

[3:19] Because history or tradition has told us that it was regarded, such mercy, compassion, tenderness was regarded by the Egyptians as a condition of acceptance in the afterworld or the afterlife.

[3:36] There was a saying that went around at a funeral ritual that said, at the appointed time, each spirit had to answer this.

[3:47] I have not afflicted any man. I have not made any man weep. I have not withheld milk from the mouth of sucklings. So that provides grounds, if you will, for Pharaoh's daughter to be justified in what she does here.

[4:04] She's going to rescue this baby. She's going to be sure it's taken care of. And, you know, traditionally, she'll find acceptance now when she goes to the afterlife.

[4:19] So she thinks anyway. Now, there's a question at this juncture, really. Some time has passed since the edict was issued to kill all the male children and throw them in the river or whatever to put them to death.

[4:40] And the time that Moses has found, there's a period of time there. Belief is there's a possibility that the strictness of that edict kind of faded away as time went along.

[4:54] Because there's no real indication of anything really transpiring as far as any further strict policy that's followed of killing the firstborn.

[5:08] And so, you know, don't really know how much trouble Pharaoh's daughter would have been in. But undoubtedly, she wasn't in very much, if any at all.

[5:19] And so we kind of get the picture there. Again, God's remarkable work behind the scenes as all this transpires. Now, hiding in the shadows, as we said a minute ago, is Moses' sister, Miriam.

[5:35] She now steps on the scene. And she knows who's in that ark. And she jumps Johnny on the spot. And when they determine this is a Hebrew baby, she comes to the aid and says, gives some good advice here.

[5:54] Would you like for me to go and fetch a Hebrew woman that can nurse the Hebrew baby? How amazing would that be?

[6:05] Stop and think about that just a moment. I don't know what custom would say to the idea of anybody, even an Egyptian, much less a Hebrew, stepping forward in the presence of Pharaoh's daughter and speaking to her.

[6:23] She's royalty of sorts. But she does that. What a remarkable expression of the faith that she has here.

[6:34] Again, don't know how old she is. But we recognize that she's not frightened here at the idea of doing this. So she goes right up to her and asks the question.

[6:48] She's no doubt filled with excitement because of what she's seen take place. Shall I go and fetch a Hebrew woman that she may nurse the child for you?

[7:03] Now, when you stop and think about who this girl is, she is the daughter.

[7:13] This is a brilliant, brilliant deduction here. She's the daughter of her mother. Amen? Amen? Yeah. Yeah. The daughter of the mother of Moses.

[7:25] What's her name? Miriam. No, no, no, no. What's the mother's name? Jochebed. Jochebed. Yeah. She's the daughter of Jochebed.

[7:37] And so she pictured here. Remember, we've already seen the scriptures talk about the faith that Moses' mother and dad had and putting him in the river, floating him down the river.

[7:52] In doing that, she simply trusted God to take care of the whole situation because she trusted him. She believed in him. She trusted him. She felt like this baby was something special, that God had something special in mind for her.

[8:08] And so she trusted him. Same thing happened here with Miriam, his sister. Such strong faith and determination that God's going to work all this out.

[8:21] And indeed, he does. He honored their faith and their faithfulness. So, parents had done everything they could to nurture the child until the point of time when they had to let him go.

[8:35] And now they are going to save him or as God has initiated the possibility of them doing that. So, now she flows him down the river to save him and they just simply left all the results up to God.

[8:52] Isn't that simple faith? Isn't it? Yeah. No doubt, they have got to believe that they had some kind of inkling from the Spirit of God to do that.

[9:03] They wouldn't just do that. Well, they had to have some sense of God's direction here. And I believe that's what they did. And any time God gives us direction, we can trust him and just leave all the results to him and to do with it what he wants to do and how he wants to do it.

[9:25] Isn't it amazing how God doesn't really need any help? Amen? He doesn't need any help. He could do what he wants to do and he will do what he wants to do in every circumstance.

[9:37] So, God never fails to honor the faith and faithfulness of a people. He always does that. Now, at the instruction then of Pharaoh's daughter and under, of course, the providence of God, she's told to go ahead and take the baby.

[9:56] Go ahead and take the baby. And she brings it then to her mother. Now, mommy's given the most improbable possibility here that could ever exist.

[10:10] When she floated him down that river, she had no idea what was going to happen. She's no idea what was going to become of him. What is going to turn out to be?

[10:22] Who's going to find him? If anybody does, surely she felt somebody would. She had no idea. But now, all of a sudden, the most improbable opportunity arises here.

[10:35] She's going to get to nurse her baby. Now, recognize something with me here. Nothing ever lies outside the realm of possibility as long as God is in the mix here.

[10:51] Doesn't make any difference what the circumstance is, what the situation is. There's nothing that lies outside the realm of possibility as long as God's in the mix.

[11:03] And that goes for us as well. Doesn't matter what our circumstances are. If God's in the midst of that, and he is to some extent, if we've been saved by the grace of God, he's in control of our lives.

[11:19] He's in the midst of that. So nothing lies outside the realm of possibility. Now, be careful with that. It's not all. It doesn't all lie within the realm of probability.

[11:34] But it's a possibility. Don't ever know for sure what God's going to do until he does it. Amen. And when he does the seemingly impossible, then we tremendously rejoice in what he does and recognizing his sovereign will and power.

[11:52] Now, so in verse 9, 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.

[12:04] Now, what a tremendous thing here. Take the baby, take it away to a Hebrew woman and nurse it, and then bring it back to me, and I'll pay you.

[12:18] She's not only going to just get to nurse the baby, she's going to get paid for it. Amen. Boy, you can't pay that. How many of you have been paid to nurse your baby? Yeah.

[12:29] Yeah. What a tremendous work of God here. Amen. Now, remember, the Hebrews are still under bondage here. Still under servitude.

[12:41] They work hard. They labor long. Their income is meager. But now, God says, or God arranges it so that Pharaoh's daughter is going to pay Jacobad to nurse her baby, to raise it up for a period of time.

[13:01] Now, so, what a grace, what a provision of grace and favor that God provides for her here. And no doubt, she's going to be able to do this at home.

[13:14] Raise that baby, raise that child at home. Now, there's a tremendous importance to that that we're going to see in a little bit. What do you think that is? Why do you think it's so important for Jacobad to be able to raise Moses at home for a little while?

[13:34] In just a minute, we're going to see that ingrained within Moses, even when he gets older, is a reality that he's a Jew. Yeah.

[13:44] Yeah. Yeah. That had to begin at the very early stages of his life. I'm kind of getting ahead of myself here, but that's all right. I can repeat it and you still don't remember it.

[13:58] All right. Yeah. You know, ingrained. I don't care. I don't care where they're at, what their status is, what kind of person they are.

[14:13] A true blue, if you will, or red, I don't care what color. True to earth, full blood Jew.

[14:27] Feels an inherent kindred and brotherhood to all the other Jews. That's just inbred within them. Same thing about the land.

[14:40] That reality of that land that God had promised through Abraham, continued through Isaac and Jacob, is inherent within them.

[14:52] They love that place. How many have just, through the years, flocked to the Holy Land, flocked to Canaan, when they had that opportunity, even before it blossomed like a rose?

[15:08] Yeah. It's inbred within them. They're Jews. They're the seed of Abraham. And that's inbred within him. So in Moses' case here, that takes place.

[15:21] And we'll see that more here in just a little bit. Now, verse 10. And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son.

[15:40] She called his name Moses, and she said, because I drew him out of the water. So, this gracious opportunity for his mother to nurse and love on him for a while, now comes to an end.

[15:55] She's weaned him, and now it's time for him to be brought back to Pharaoh's daughter. What's the old saying? All good things must come to an end. And sometimes those are sad endings.

[16:06] But the reality here, this is the work of the sovereign God. This is the sovereign work of God here, that he comes back to Pharaoh's daughter.

[16:21] And she then takes charge of him, even names him, gives him an Egyptian name, and raises him up. God's work is in here.

[16:33] God's hand is in here. Though it may seem like a cruel thing, you know, I'm sure if this was on a motion picture, which, I don't know that this part, there's surely some Hollywood production has picked this up, at some point.

[16:49] And people would have thought, oh, I just thought maybe Pharaoh's daughter might have forgotten all about him. And that his mother was just going to be able to keep him, and all that kind of stuff.

[17:01] But no, it couldn't happen that way. Because God's perfect will and plan has been set in motion here through him. This isn't all about Moses.

[17:14] Amen? This is about God's redemptive purposes to Israel, in particular, and the world. It's just like us.

[17:26] When God does things with us, through us, in us, and to us, it's not about us, is it? Amen? It's not about us. Sometimes the preacher pastor comes out in me, and I just sometimes want to look up to people, say, it ain't about you.

[17:47] It's not about you. It's about what God wants, and what God is doing, and what his overall plan is, that includes a work through you.

[17:59] Yeah. Yeah. And so, she brings Moses back to Pharaoh's daughter. Now, take notice here.

[18:10] She adopted the child as her own son. Anybody remember what Pharaoh's daughter's name is? Just think of your thermos jug, and you've almost got it.

[18:27] Thermos, Thermothus, Thermithus? Yeah. Yeah. Thermothus. Yeah. Okay. Now, upon his return now, she names him Moses.

[18:41] And there's a reason for that. No doubt an Egyptian name, as I said. And she said, the reason she names him Moses is, because out of the water, I have drawn him.

[18:53] Now, the Greek form of the name is Musis. All right. Josephus affirms this, when he says, Thermothus imposed this name upon him, from what had happened when he was put into the river.

[19:10] For the Egyptians call water Mo, and those who are rescued from the water, Usses. U-S-E-S. So, from that, you get the word Moses.

[19:23] Now, interesting. Have no indication of what his birth mother, what Jochebed, named him, if she did. Have no indication.

[19:33] We find that, that his mother calls him Moses, and that's what he becomes known as, throughout the scriptures, and throughout his history. Now, according to Stephen, in the book of Acts, chapter 7, verse 22, as the adopted son, now, of Pharaoh's daughter, he received a thoroughly, equipped, Egyptian education.

[20:04] Alright? Now, as I said a moment ago, the fact that he's brought back, to, Pharaoh's daughter, when he's weaned, or after he's weaned, is a work of God.

[20:19] Because, it's in that time, that he's with, Pharaoh's daughter, his mother of adoption, that, that he receives, that, complete, Egyptian education.

[20:35] You gotta believe, he was educated, by the highest realm, of educators, in the land, and the realm of Egypt. Because of who he was, and how he was related, to Pharaoh, and Pharaoh's daughter.

[20:46] And so, thoroughly educated, completely equated, equipped, to know, what goes on in Egypt. Something, that's going to be vital, something that's going to be, very, necessary, for, him to be able, to carry out, the work of God.

[21:09] He's going to have to have, that education. He's going to have to know, about Egypt. How it functions, how it thinks. All of those things. for him to carry out, the work of God, through him.

[21:24] And thus, bring in, usher in, if you will, the establishment, of the kingdom of God, as it comes along. Vital. It's, it's interesting to me.

[21:40] How many, how many of us here, just really like to know, what's going on, in our life? Yeah.

[21:52] Yeah. Really like to know. That's why Ted, went to the doctor. Doc, I got to know, what's going on back here. Right? Yeah. We want to know.

[22:02] But how many times, down the road, do we discover, some things, that God has been doing, in our lives, through our lives, or to our lives, that we had no clue about, until a particular time, when all the pieces, begin to fit together.

[22:25] Amen. There again, is a matter of learning, to trust him, and do, just be obedient to him, be sensitive, to his direction, and, and go from there.

[22:40] Now, time goes along again, verses 11 through 14. This period of time, in which he was raised, by Pharaoh's daughter, has now, accomplished its purposes.

[22:56] And again, here, you know, we said a moment ago, we know that, we know that, no doubt, Jochebed, as she raised Moses, as an infant, instilled in him, the best she could, the idea of his, Jewish heritage.

[23:17] I don't know, you know, what, Pharaoh's daughter did. You know, it's, it's pretty obvious here, that she, some way, somehow, or at least, did not hide from him, the reality of his Jewish heritage.

[23:36] Because of some things we see take place here. Because of, because of the, of the, vital, relationship, he sees himself in, with the Israelites.

[23:54] You don't just get that, at, how old was he, when he was weaned? Maybe three.

[24:05] I was, I was thinking about three years old, probably. You don't just, you just don't instill that completely, and fully, and lastingly, in three years time.

[24:17] Unless, it's continued on, as you grow older. So, I got to believe, I've got to believe, that Pharaoh's daughter, at least, did not hide that, reality from him. Maybe, even, enhance that a little bit, as time went along.

[24:33] Because he has, forget what, forget what, Cecil B. DeMille said. he had to have a reality, a knowledge, an understanding, of who he was.

[24:48] And, the picture here is, he cherished that. Alright? Now, we move along here, take note. Verse 11 through 14, it came to pass, in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out, unto his brethren, in other words, the fellow Jews, and looked, on their burden.

[25:08] So here, we get the idea, of Moses, part of the Egyptian family, has, a real interest here.

[25:20] Something's piqued his interest. Something led him, to, go check on, see how, things are going, with the Israelites. He knew their burden.

[25:31] He knew they were under burden. Alright? They were in servitude. He knew that. He's going to go out here now, and check on them. So that's what it's saying here. When he was grown, he went out, unto his brethren, and looked on their, and looked on their burdens.

[25:47] And he spied an Egyptian, smiting in Hebrew, one of his brethren. And he looked this way, and that, and when he saw, that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.

[26:02] Yeah. Yeah. Couldn't you imagine that? He goes out, and he, he sees an injustice, being done here.

[26:13] There's a, Egyptian, beating up on a Hebrew. Not going to have that. So what does he do? Does he just walk up, to the Egyptian, and say, you ought not do that.

[26:27] No. No. What does he do? He looks this way, and that way, and makes sure nobody's looking. And he kills the guy, and then buries him in the sand.

[26:43] Now, interesting thing happens here. And when he, when he went out, the second day, goes back out, to the Hebrews.

[26:57] Behold, two men of the Hebrews, strove together. And he said to him, that did wrong, wherefore, smitest thou thy fellow? You know, he's going to set things right, with these two guys.

[27:11] Got to make them kiss, and shake hands, and make up, right? Why are you squabbling like this, and fussing with one another? And he said, who made thee a prince, and a judge over us?

[27:28] Intendest thou to kill me, as thou killest the Egyptian? Hmm. Moses feared, and said, surely this thing, is known.

[27:41] Now, Moses is about 40 years old, at this point, they say. Now, something happens here. What, when it says here, when he's getting ready, to smite the Egyptian, for his injustice, against the Hebrew, what did he do?

[28:04] He looked this way, and he looked that way. What does that tell you, about Moses, Chief Tom? The investigator? He was ready to smite him?

[28:20] Intentional. It was deliberate. He put him to death, deliberately. Or else, he wouldn't look, see if anybody was looking.

[28:33] He smote him, killed him, put him to death. All of those things. And he knew he was guilty, because he fled. Yeah. We look for that. It's like Rush Limbaugh said, he was graveyard dead.

[28:48] Yeah. Yeah. Now, this wasn't a desire, to attract attention, about the Israelites, and how difficult, they had things.

[29:01] It wasn't just a mere ambition, to do something, about the injustice, being done here. there was something else. Realize, if you will, 40 years old, up until this point, Moses, has been raised, no doubt, in Pharaoh's court, in his realm.

[29:31] could say, that Pharaoh, was a stepdad. He saw the ins and outs, of Pharaoh. He knew, he knew what a, what a prince of Egypt, was to be.

[29:49] Authoritative. Yeah. In a way, a judge. that's ingrained in him, here now.

[30:01] He goes out, yes, as a Hebrew, but he's, an Egyptian as well. An official Egyptian, if you will. And he sees this, injustice being done, and he just, takes things, into his own hands, as a result, of his upbringing, and what was inbred, within him, and he kills this guy.

[30:25] Thinking, he's doing justly. Because the guy, he was doing injustice to, was a Hebrew. So, I have a right, to put him to death.

[30:39] Buried him in the sand. Can't imagine, you can't figure that, when the wind blows, something's going to come up. Now, what was Moses, thinking here?

[30:53] Okay. When they see, all of this, and they see me doing this, they'll recognize, that though I'm a part, of the Egypt, I'm still part of them, and I'm fighting for them, and I'm standing up, for them.

[31:08] So, they'll, they'll think of me, no doubt, as, their, deliverer. Now, I think that was part, and partial, of what God, wanted, for them to see, but not at this juncture.

[31:27] Moses, committed, murder. Murder, is never, right. Yeah. So, what's going to happen here?

[31:41] Look at, look at, Acts chapter 7, verse 25, if you will. When he talks about this, there's a good, there's a good passage here, that deals with this, very, this very thing, that takes place here.

[31:59] Acts chapter 7, verse 1, ah, well, let's start, verse 21, okay, when he was, talking about Moses here, when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter, took him up, nourished him, for her own son, Moses was learned, in all the wisdom, of the Egyptians, and was mighty, in words, and in deeds, 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 he was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian, for, he supposed, his brethren, would have understood, how that God, by his hand, would deliver them, now look at the next phrase, but, they understood, not, hmm, they did not, understand, stand, the next day, he showed himself, unto them, as they strove, and would have set, set them, at one again, saying, sirs, your brethren, why do you, wrong one another, but he that, did his neighbor, wrong, thrust him away, saying, who made thee, a ruler, and a judge, over us, would thou, kill me, as thou did, the Egyptians, yesterday, well, then, fled,

[33:28] Moses, at the same, and was a stranger, in the land of Midian, now, Moses thought, surely they would understand, and think, realize, that I was trying, to free them here, now, Hebrews 11, verses 24, through 26, is a, a good passage, in this too, but it says, 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, esteeming the reproach, of Christ's greater riches, than the treasures, in Egypt, for he had respect, under the recompense, of the reward, so literally, Moses, was surrendering, to the sovereignty, of God here, he flees, he leaves, he knows, that, Pharaoh has heard, what Moses has done, he's killed an Egyptian, but he really, doesn't look, he doesn't,

[34:33] Moses doesn't see this, as having to be afraid, that Pharaoh's going, to kill him, he flees, sure, from the anger, of Pharaoh, but I don't, I don't see this, as being a death thing, for him, in his mind, the real, crux of it, is what the scripture, just said, by faith, in Hebrews 11, 27, by faith, he forsook, Egypt, not fearing, the wrath, of the king, for he endured, as seeing him, who is, invisible, Moses, is coming, to a recognition, here, and his life, you know, what a, what a contrast, he's got here, he's been raised, an Egyptian, but he's Hebrew, and, got to believe, that God, has been working, in his heart, and in his mind, about who he really is, not just the idea, of who he is, but what he is, what God, is going to do, that he's an instrument, of God, that God wants to use, to free his people, now he's not, told him that yet, but I got to believe, that there's a sense, within Moses, now that God, that he realizes, there's something here, that God's going to do, so he leaves, he'd rather, instead of staying, in the courts, of Pharaoh, and undergoing, what's going on, and seeing, what's going on, being a part of that, he'd rather, forsake that, and be, the man, and the person, of God, that he really, was to be, a Hebrew, alright, because, somehow, some way, he recognized, and knew, that the, that the, honor, that God gives, is a lot greater, and a lot better, and richer, than the honor, of Pharaoh's courts, again, gotta be God, speaking to his heart, in all of this, alright, because,

[36:57] Pharaoh's daughter, sure would not have, taught him that, alright, now, so, he flees, he leaves, Egypt, to associate himself, with his brethren, his Jewish heritage, alright, let's pray together, Father again, thank you, for your loving kindness, today, Lord again, we, simply stand amazed, in, seeing the work, that you do, it causes us, to realize, that there are things, you're doing right now, around us, and even in us, that will affect, down the road, your perfect design, for our lives, and so, Father, we rejoice in that, and so, we just want to, enjoy the ride, as we go along, and, then see, what you end up doing, with it all, so, Father, we thank you, for who you are, and for your love, for us, and for using us, to accomplish, your kingdom purposes, and we thank you for, thank you for these sweet people, and their love, for you and your word, and so, just bring us back, now Sunday, to enjoy, and rejoice, in what you do there, and we thank you for it, in Jesus name,

[38:15] Amen. Amen.