"Moses Versus Pharaoh, A Battle For The Ages"

Moses versus Pharaoh a battle for the ages. That's our message the text is taken from Exodus 5 to 12.

Aside from Jesus Christ, Moses is perhaps the greatest leader that has ever set foot on Earth. What was his great accomplishment as a leader? Well here it is in a nutshell: 'Relying upon the Lord every step of the way, he patiently led a rebellious group of a million or more people through a dry and barren wilderness for 40 years, successfully bringing them to the mouth of the entrance to the promised land.' He spoke with God longer and more frequently than any man that has ever lived. Truly great leaders have an open channel of communication with the Lord God.

In addition, great leaders have another quality that many of us do not consider important to leadership, which is, humility. Numbers 12:3 says, "The man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the Earth." This was one of his greatest qualities.

We begin with Moses responding to God's call to him out of the burning bush. Standing barefoot before this bush that was on fire, but not being consumed, Moses proceeded to give the Lord three excuses why he was not qualified to do the job that he was being called to do. He said to the Lord number one: Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt? Secondly he said the children of Israel will not believe me nor listen to me. They will say that you did not appear to me. Finally he said I am not eloquent now nor have I ever been, for I am slow of speech and of tongue.

LESSON LEARNED: God uses weak people to do great things things. Apparently Moses stuttered, and as a result, he suffered from low self-esteem. Even with the Lord promising to back him up, he still did not feel confident in his ability to do the job. Starting out, he did not understand that, "We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us."

After the Lord rejected all these excuses, Moses had the unmitigated gall to respectfully tell the master of the universe to go and look for someone else to do the job! How could he? What could he have possibly been thinking? Oh the power of fear, the power of doubt in God's ability to carry us through. But the Lord would not have any of this talk. The Word of God says, "God's anger was kindled against Moses." He had called Moses for the job, and by golly he was going to do it. He gave him a rod with which he would perform miracles in order to convince doubters that he had the backing and support of the miracle working God. He told Moses that his brother Aaron was a good talker, and He would send him, and Aaron would be his mouthpiece. Aaron would say whatever Moses told him to say, and Moses would be in the place of God to Aaron.

LESSON LEARNED: Self-doubt can cast a shadow even over God's ability to carry us through. It can cause us to pass up on the greatest opportunity that God will ever present to us.

On the way to Egypt, something strange happened. Moses had not completely fulfilled God's commands to circumcise all males born in his household. And this was a command given to Abraham by the Lord, that all Hebrew males must be circumcised eight days after they were born. It appears that one of his two sons was not circumcised. As a result, the Lord tried to kill Moses on the way back to Egypt. The Lord must have had Moses in a virtual headlock that made him helpless. As a result, his wife had to perform the surgery on the child. And after she had done so, the Lord released his death grip on Moses. But his wife was not pleased to perform this ritual, perhaps it was not practiced by her father's kindred, therefore she did not understand the Covenant the Lord had made with the Hebrew people. In anger she threw the boy's foreskin at Moses' feet calling him a bloody husband.

LESSON LEARNED: Number one. We are reminded to clean up our lives, and fix what is broken before we undertake the work of the Lord. Secondly when a man or woman who follows the one true God marries someone who does not know the one true God, there will be problems. The enemy will attempt to use this unequally yoked-ness as a license to derail God's plan for our life, and to make a mockery of God.

It came to pass that Moses and Aaron were able to convince the children of Israel that the Lord had indeed appeared to Moses. Aaron spoke the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses, and they performed the Miracles that the Lord had given Moses power to perform, and the people believed him. On hearing that the Lord had visited the people with a plan to set them free from the bondage of the Egyptians, the people accepted Moses, and worshiped the Lord.

However, Pharaoh's response was quite the opposite. He refused to accept that the Lord God was calling the Hebrews to worship their God in the wilderness. He said he did not know their God, and he had no regard for Him. Instead of setting them free, he doubled their workload, making life even more difficult for them. And when the people saw that their trouble and hardships had increased, they turned on Moses and Aaron accusing them of making them a stench in Pharaoh's nostril, and of putting a sword in Pharaoh's hand to slay them. Moses went back before the Lord to ask the Lord why He had sent him to Pharaoh, if He was not going to deliver the Israelites out of Pharaoh's hand?

LESSON LEARNED: But when the Lord calls us to do His work there is a force that rises up against us to try and prevent us, and very often it gets worse before it begins to get better. And this can be confusing. But, do not be troubled, God is always in control! Be assured, if God calls you to do something, He's going to see it through to the very end.

The task of persuading pharaoh to let the Hebrew children go was a challenging one. They were used as slaves by the Egyptians for 400 years, and this was great for the economy of Egypt. They were a blessing to the entire nation in so many ways. Therefore, Pharaoh did not want to let them go, so he hardened his heart against it, and refused to hear Moses. And things were made worse by the fact that the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart even more. On top of that Moses's job was made even more difficult when the children of Israel refused to listen to him any longer, because they were in great anguish of spirit, scripture says, as a result of the cruel bondage that they had labored under! In other words they were in a place of total despondency.

LESSON LEARNED: Even though the Lord has called you and anointed you for the task, it will seem impossible at times. But we are not to lose hope. At all times we must keep hope alive.

Now the Lord elevated Moses more than any other human being has ever been elevated, and He told Moses that He had made him as God to Pharaoh, and He had made Aaron, Moses prophet. He told him to cause Aaron to speak exactly what the Lord was about to tell him. And He told him to tell pharaoh to send the children of Israel out of his land. And then He told Moses that, He will harden Pharaoh's heart, and He will multiply his signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. In addition He said the Egyptians shall know that He is the Lord when He stretches forth His hand upon Egypt, and brings His children out from among them. The Lord was setting the stage for the greatest battle ever!

LESSON LEARNED: The Lord fully equips the man for the job! He empowers him to perform above and beyond his normal capabilities, and at the level required to complete the task at hand. He does this, because He wants the man of God to be thoroughly equipped for every good work!

Now what follows in rapid succession are 10 of the worst plagues ever faced by any nation. The Lord would use these tragic events to humble Pharaoh and the Egyptian people. And in the end Pharaoh and the entire Egyptian army was destroyed. At the onslaught of each plague Pharaoh would foolishly dig in even more, instead of loosening his grip on the Hebrew slaves. When Aaron performed miracles with his Rod before Pharaoh then the magicians and soothsayers who worked for Pharaoh also performed the very same miracles, and this was not helpful. Next, when the Lord told Moses to have Aaron use the rod to turn the water in the Nile into blood, the fish died and the river stank. Again the magicians duplicated the miracle. And when the Lord told him to strike the land with frogs, the frogs came up onto the land, and into to every corner of the Egyptian homes. And once again the magician performed this miraculous feat also.

However from here on, Pharaoh's magicians could not compete with the rest of the miracles that the Lord led Moses and Aaron to perform. For instance when the Lord told Moses to strike the dust of the land, and the dust In the land became lice, the magicians could not perform this feat. Next the Lord sent a grievous swarm of flies into Pharaoh's house and all the Egyptian homes, and the magicians could not duplicate this one either. Then the Lord sent a plague among the cattle, the oxen and horses and they died. Next, the Lord told Moses to sprinkle ashes from the furnace toward heaven, and boils broke out among the Egyptians. Then there was the plague of hail, then locust covered the land. Next, darkness covered the land. And finally, every firstborn Egyptian male was killed by the Lord. In all of this the children of Israel were not affected by the plagues, and none of their male children died either. But when the cries of the Egyptian families filled the land as they mourned for their dead children, Pharaoh's will finally broke, and he allowed them to leave. And they did.

LESSON LEARNED: Persistence is the most necessary quality for God's faithful leader. Sooner or later there will be a breakthrough if we do not cave in.

However, Pharaoh and his army pursued them when he saw that they seemed to be trapped by the Red Sea with no way to turn. Then the Lord instructed Moses to stretch out his hand over the sea. The waters parted, and the children of Israel went into the sea on dry ground with a wall of water on their right, and a wall of water on their their left. And the Egyptians pursued them. When Moses stretched out his hand over the sea again, the waters came back upon Pharoah, upon the Egyptians, their chariots, and their Horsemen and, they all died. This was a fitting end to that great battle.

Suddenly a nation was born. A nation that would one day become the most powerful nation in the world. And the Lord used the humble Shepherd to perform amazing feats, and deliver his people out of bondage with a strong hand. My friend in the same way, God is a deliverer that we can depend upon to deliver us from every evil today. However it will require patient endurance on our part. God bless you in Jesus mighty name.

You've been listening to this message and perhaps you do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, as usual we want to give you an opportunity to make that commitment please engage your heart and say this prayer after me:

-Father I am a sinner.

-I am sorry for all my sins.

-I crave Your forgiveness.

-Thank You Lord for Your mercy and Your forgiveness.

-Today I invite Jesus Christ into my heart.

-Dear Lord Jesus make my heart Your home.

-I give You the key to my heart because I now belong to You forever.

-Please give me the Holy Spirit to lead me into all truth.

-Thank You Lord for saving my soul. Amen.

Welcome friend to the body of believers in Christ. There are so many of us awaiting the return of the Good Master. In the meantime we encourage you to become water baptized as quickly as possible. It is the the fulfillment of all righteousness. Begin reading the Word of God every day.

Begin in the Book of John, then go to Matthew, Mark and Luke, reading audibly as often as possible. Because faith comes by hearing the Word of God. Pray daily. Attend at your local church. And one glad morning the Savior will come and receive us all unto Himself and we shall indeed forever be with the Lord. God bless and keep you in Jesus mighty name. Amen.