"The Man Of God Is Made In The Hardships Of The Wilderness"

The man of God is made in the hardships of the wilderness. That's our message. The text is taken from the book of Exodus.

Israel's departure from Egypt and their 40-year journey to a new land that was promised by the Lord God to the children of Israel, was much more than a journey to the promised land. In fact Israel sojourned through the baren wilderness, led by Moses was the miraculous formation of a new nation a people being made from the ground up. The Lord formed a spectacular nation from one man, his four wives, 12 sons, and one daughter! And they will eventually become the most powerful nation on Earth! Yet, historically they have been the most persecuted people in the entire world. Hitler and Nazi Germany killed 6 million of them during World War II. But this nation is alive and well today after having enormous challenges! Even after having not been a nation for many years.

This large group moving through the wilderness at a snail's pace was a sight to behold. More than a million people, led by Moses, moving through the desert guided by a cloud. It was an awesome sight, never before seen on Earth! It must have been something to behold. There was this huge pillar of cloud that was in front of them continually. When that cloud lifted and began to move, they moved with it, and when it stopped they stopped and rested, for however long the cloud remained at rest. At night the pillar of cloud was filled with a bright light to show them the way from place to place. And this continued for the entire time of their 40-year journey.

When the money-loving prophet known as, Balaam was hired by King Balak to curse Israel, he was forced to bless them instead. Looking down from Mount Peor at the beauty of God's children encamped in the wilderness, he found himself saying, "How lovely are your tents, oh Jacob. Your dwellings, oh Israel! Like valleys that stretch out. Like gardens by the Riverside. Like aloes planted by the Lord. Like Cedars beside the waters. He shall pour water from His buckets, and His seed shall be in many waters. His King shall be higher than Agag, and His Kingdom shall be exalted. Blessed is he who blesses you, and cursed is he who curses you. Numbers 24: 5-9.

LESSON LEARNED: Whom the Lord blesses, no one can curse.

Father we give You thanks and praise for Your love and mercy. And pray your blessing on the listener to this message in the name of Jesus Christ. Give wisdom, knowledge and understanding, guidance and direction. Bless this message Father in Jesus name we pray. Amen.

So what was it that the Lord saw in Moses that caused Him to determine that he was the one to whom He should entrust the most important job in the history of the Jewish people, aside from the redemptive work of Jesus Christ? As far as we know from the description scripture gives of Moses, there was no smoking gun that told us that he had outstanding leadership qualities. He seemed quick tempered, he stuttered, he lacked self-confidence, and he was a fugitive wanted for murder. Beside, he did not want the job, he turned it down more than once! But there were two outstanding qualities he had at the very outset. The first was his heart of compassion for the underprivileged. He did not like to see people being taken advantage of. And this virtue was on display very early in his journey. The second was humility, this was his greatest quality. While we were unable to see it, the God who looks at the heart saw it, and attached to it was Moses' faithfulness. While at the outset he might have appeared to be grossly unfit for the job, God was able to see the true character of the man.

LESSON LEARNED: God is able to see qualities in us that no one else can see, when even we ourselves cannot see it.

For a very long time there's been a great debate about whether leaders are born or made? Then there's another question about how you measure greatness in leadership, and whether it is a relevant question in God's Kingdom? As to the first question, the Lord appeared to build up Moses most holy faith, and mold him into a great leader as he went along.

LESSON LEARNED: The Lord God starts from scratch, making the man or woman of God for the job.

Now as to the question about greatness and leadership, we can refer to Matthew 20: 25-28 and let Jesus Christ give us the answer to this question. One day, He called His Apostles to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be a servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave - just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve." Moses served the children of Israel for 40 years under extreme conditions, and sometimes in downright vexing circumstances, falling on his face before God for them, and when necessary, falling on his face before them pleading with them to be obedient to the Lord.

LESSON LEARNED: God's chosen leader is one who places obedience to His Word first and foremost, and humbly seeks to serve God's people ahead of himself.

The Lord established a new calendar for His people as they prepared to leave Egypt, signifying a new start in life for them. While most of the world follows the Gregorian calendar, Israel and Jews around the world follow the Hebrew calendar. The Lord told Moses to tell them that this would be the first month of the year for them, a month called Abib, then later changed to Nisan. And He established the Passover feast which should begin on the 14th day of the first month of every year. This feast would be a memorial of their deliverance out of the hands of the Egyptians and as a continual reminder, they shall sacrifice an unblemished lamb as they did before departing Egypt. And they would celebrate a feast of unleavened bread for seven days from the 14th to the 25th of Abib every year. In Israel today it is from the 15th to the 21st for some, and to others it goes to the 22nd.

After passing through the Red Sea on dry land and seeing Pharaoh, his army, and all the Chariots destroyed as the water rushed over them, Moses led the Israelites in a new song of praise. And so they sang and worshiped the Lord in the wilderness beyond the Red Sea. There was great joy and celebration. Scripture says Miriam the prophetess and sister of Moses and Aaron took a timbrel, and all the women went out after her with timbrels, and danced unto the Lord. It must have been a glorious time for them! But the celebration did not last very long! Then Moses led the people from the Red Sea Into the Wilderness of Shur, and three days later they had a huge problem. There was no water to drink. They came to a place called Marah where the water was bitter, and they could not drink it. The people began to murmur and complain against Moses about the bitter water. And the Lord showed him a tree which he threw into the water, and it made the water sweet.

LESSON LEARNED: God's faithful leader gives Him thanks and praise for the victories instead of taking credit for the goodness of God. He must always be ready for the next challenge, however.

It was a journey which should have taken much less than a month according to many sources. However, because of disobedience, the Lord caused them to wander in in the wilderness for 40 years, instead of going direct to the land of promise.

Very early in their journey they were attacked by the Amalekites. Joshua, Moses' assistant led the charge. And Moses told him to choose some men and go out and fight with Amalek, and they fought a battle. As long as Moses' hands were upraised Israel prevailed, when his hands went down the Amalekites prevailed. So Aaron and Hur stood on either side of him holding up his hands, and the Lord gave Israel a glorious victory.

LESSON LEARNED: As long as our hands are upraised in praise and worship of God, He will give us the victory, when they hang down in despondency, the enemy prevails.

When Jethro, Moses father-in-law heard of what the Lord had done for Moses and for his people, bringing them out of Egypt, he came to Moses and brought his wife Zipporah back to him, along with their two sons Gershom and Eliezer. And his father-in-law blessed the Lord God for delivering them, and he held a sacrifice for God. Aaron and all the leaders of Israel came, and ate bread with Moses father-in-law before the Lord. When he saw that Moses would judging the People by himself for long hours every day, Jethro gave Moses excellent advice, to share the load of judging the people. And Moses selected suitable men from the various tribes, and appointed them as rulers to hear every small matter, while he judged the more difficult matters.

LESSON LEARNED: God's leader learns to share the load by passing some of the work on to spiritually led men and women.

In the third month the children of Israel came to the Mount Sinai and they pitched in the wilderness, encamping themselves before the mount. And Moses went up into the mountain where the Lord spoke to him. The Lord told him to tell the people that if they would obey His voice, and keep His Covenant, He would make them a peculiar treasure unto Himself, above all people in the Earth. He promised to make them a kingdom of priests, an holy nation. Then He sent Moses down from the mountain to sanctify the people promising to speak to them in three days. On the third day there were thunders and lightnings in a thick cloud. And the voice of the trumpet was very loud, and all the people were afraid! The Lord spoke to the people giving them the Ten Commandments.

And then the Lord Called Moses back up to the mountain and told him to bring Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and 70 of the Elders of Israel. He told them however to stand off and worship. And He then called Moses to come near to Him, and He gave Moses the judgments. Then Moses gave them all the judgments. With one voice and they all promised to be obedient to God's Word. Moses wrote all the Words of the Lord, and the elders saw the feet of the God of Israel, standing on paved work of sapphire stone. Then Moses went up again to receive the Commandments written on tablets of stone by the fingers of God. And he was in the mountain in this time with the Lord for 40 days and 40 nights while the Lord gave him instructions for building a tabernacle, and He gave him two tablets of stone.

LESSON LEARNED: The man of God that would be a leader must spend time with God.

This Mount Sinai is the same Mount Horeb, where the Lord appeared to Moses in the burning bush. He'd been given the impossible task of leading the rebellious children of Israel to the promised land. He would however fall short, and the Lord would prevent him from entering the land. He would only be allowed to look down upon it from the mountaintop. He was denied entry, because one day he slipped. He lost his cool and struck the rock in anger instead of speaking to the rock as the Lord had instructed him and commanded him. In other words he failed to honor God in front of the people. If Moses God's faithful leader was punished like this for his shortcoming, how will we fare when we fall? Nevertheless, the hardships of the wilderness experienced by Moses molded him into a powerful man of God, and out of these hardships, God formed a people that will one day become the most powerful nation on the Earth. God bless you, in Jesus mighty name. Amen.

You've been listening to this message and perhaps you do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and you want to do so at this time. Please engage your heart and say this prayer after me:

-Father I am a sinner.

-I am sorry for all my sins.

-Dear Lord I crave Your forgiveness thank You Lord for Your grace and Your mercy.

-I have decided to accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.

-Dear Lord Jesus make my heart Your home and please give me the Holy Spirit to lead me into all truth.

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

-Thank You Lord for saving my soul. Amen.

Welcome friend to the body of believers in Christ. There are many of us here awaiting the return of the Good Master. But in the meantime we want to encourage you to become water baptized as quickly as possible.

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 forever be with the Lord. God bless and keep you in Jesus mighty name. Amen.