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出埃及记 3:16-4:31 借口 借口 I. 借口或理由
My fellow brothers and sisters, my friends, good morning. Welcome to listen to the new teaching of the Church in 2015, September 6th. Today, let us continue to look at the book of Genesis. Today's chapter is recorded in chapter 3, verse 16 to chapter 4, verse 31.
Today's topic is, Excuses. Have you ever set your goals and plans for the future? For example, to lose weight, to learn a new skill or technology, language, or to make a resolution to pray every Saturday, to read the Bible, etc.
But, you have not completed it. You say that you have a reason, but what is it? Maybe it is just an excuse. You dare not watch TV shows, play soccer, or play video games, or get up early, etc. You just need to run on the Dane River to do your meditation.
That is free of charge, and it can strengthen your body. When you read the Bible, the Book of Revelation, or the Book of Kings, you will feel that it is very old-fashioned. So, you stop for a day. Slowly, it turns into a week.
Three weeks, or even a month. And then, you stop reading the Bible. Many times, we think that we have a good reason. But, in fact, it is just an excuse. Some people give such an explanation as an excuse.
An excuse is to cover up a lie based on a reason. So, the general excuse is no. For example, I cannot control my desire. I cannot refrain from idle talk. I cannot refrain from watching porn, etc. They are trapped by these things that they cannot control.
What they need is the power of the Lord Jesus Christ, to save them, to free them from the shackles they are trapped by. And not to find an excuse, or a reason to free themselves. In the Exodus, the Israelites need the salvation of Jehovah to be able to leave Egypt.
Last week, we saw Jehovah calling Moses. Moses' first reason was,.
Who am I?
Jehovah replied, I am the God of freedom, and I will send you. And I will be with you. In Exodus 3 -16 to the end, Jehovah repeatedly called out to Moses. Here, Jehovah used 6 verbs, God, in the past, now, and in the future, to explain his actions.
Let's look at these 6 verbs. The first word in the past tense is, to manifest. This is in Exodus 3 -16. Jehovah ordered Moses to go to the elders of Israel and say, God, manifest to me. At this time, Jehovah was not commemorating his God.
He, through the miracle of Moses, manifested his glory to Moses. He is the God of the elders of Israel, and also their God. In the Exodus, we give people the love and grace of God. This is not a theoretical or rational statement.
It is the love and grace of God, that he manifested to Jesus in 2000 years ago. He saved 4 people. This is recorded in Exodus 3 -15. The wounds on his body, the blood on his nails, his flesh, my God, why did you leave me?
Jesus knew, that 2000 years ago, in order to save us, he was nailed to the cross. The second word in the past tense is, I will take care of them. The people of Israel thought that their God, did not know their suffering.
When their men were thrown into the river,.
They cried.
When they were beaten,.
When they were hungry, they cried. These Jehovah's Witnesses, saw and heard, that Jehovah was with them. Yes, God was with us, protecting us. When we were in trouble, when we were oppressed, God was with us.
Many times,.
We thought that we were the ones leaving. We doubted, God, where are you? So, God was with us, moving forward. He was with us, when we were down,.
When we were hurt,.
When we were unhappy,.
He was with us, moving forward. The third word is,.
In the present tense,.
This is recorded in the 17th chapter,.
The promise.
At this time, Moses had to make a promise to the elders of Israel, the Jehovah's Witnesses. What were these promises? Jehovah would remove the slavery system of the Israelites, and give them the land of Nile and the land of Myrrh.
It was a promise to remove the shackles, in exchange for a rich life. He would fulfill it. So, Jesus also made a promise to those who believed in Him, a promise of a rich life. There is a Holy Spirit living among us, in the future, we will be resurrected, and He will lead us to a new heaven and a new earth.
This is an iron-like promise. This is an iron-like promise. In the 18th chapter, Jehovah ordered the elders of Moses to go and meet Pharaoh of Egypt.
Pharaoh said to him,.
Jehovah, the God of the Israelites, has met us. This refers to the past. This is the God that Jehovah showed to Moses. He continued, Now, I beg you, take us to the wilderness,.
A journey of three days,.
To remember Jehovah, our God. You may ask,.
Why only three days?
Is Jehovah's purpose, not for the Israelites to leave Egypt forever? To go to the land of Nile and the land of Myrrh?
Not to come back?
I think, this is Jehovah's consideration of Pharaoh's dignity, and to give Pharaoh an excuse. If the Israelites do not return in three days, of course, they will not return. Pharaoh has an excuse to say,.
I don't know why they don't want to come back. This way,.
Pharaoh can retain his dignity. And the Israelites can also never return. This is a double-edged sword.
But,.
The stubborn Pharaoh, is not satisfied with this position. He is unreasonable.
In the end,.
When the disaster comes, he has no excuse. The fourth word is,.
Now,.
In the 19th verse, I know. Jehovah knew from the beginning, that he must use the hand of the Lord. The Israelites do not need you to go. He knows. Today, Jehovah must use the hand of the Lord. The hand of the Lord, is the way to escape the world, the world of the weak, and the world of the wicked.
And to be a judge, so that the heart of the stubborn can find a new life. So that the enemies of God,.
Can turn into friends,.
And become his children. The fifth word is, in the 20th verse, I will.
Jehovah will do everything.
I will do everything. I will do everything. I will do everything. I will do everything. I will do everything.
I will do everything.
The fifth word is, we do not know the future, but we will use these words.
God is the God of the future. So he said, I will. Here, when Jehovah spoke to the Pharaoh, he already knew the decision of the Pharaoh.
So,.
Jehovah reached out his hand, and he also knew, in the 20th verse, and then he allowed you to go.
The world will be saved,.
This is what God knows. What will happen, is what he said in Romans 8. We have received the glory of God's freedom, the 21st verse,.
Which means,.
We have been saved,.
We have been saved, we have been saved. It is according to his will, we have been saved. We have been saved, we have been saved. It is according to his will. The last word, is also a future word, I will.
I will. When the Israelites came out of Egypt, Jehovah told them, that the Egyptians would not go empty-handed.
The Egyptians would give them.
Gold, silver, and clothes. Jehovah made the Egyptians pay their debt of slavery to the Syrians. The Bible also records, that God would pay back the things lost due to famine and death. This means, to believe in his eternal life.
Jehovah is the God of power. He is in charge of people's hearts, in other words, he is in charge of people's will. He said, I will teach you, in the eyes of the Egyptians, to be ungrateful. He is in charge of the Egyptian mentality.
He made them like the Israelites. He made them like the Israelites. He made them like the Israelites. He made them like the Israelites.
He made them like the Israelites.
He made them like the Israelites. He is in charge of everything, including people's will.
In the next part,.
We will see how Jehovah is in charge of Pharaoh's will. What was Moses' reaction? He made excuses. Many excuses. Moses' first excuse was in chapter 4, verse 1. They will not believe me.
In chapter 3, verse 18,.
Jehovah said,.
They will listen to you.
Jehovah showed Moses three signs, from chapter 2 to 9. Each sign was for love. The first sign.
Was.
War and snake. In ancient Egypt,.
The snake.
Represented the power of love.
When.
Moses grabbed the tail of the snake,.
Recovered and became a palm tree.
This means.
That the power of love was in Jehovah's hands. The second sign.
Was the plague.
This was a common disease in Egypt.
Jehovah's hand became a plague, the plague took over Egypt's disease and suffering. The third sign was water and snow.
That he took over the life of Egypt.
Because.
He was the source of life. These three signs.
Were shown to.
Moses and to Jehovah,.
Were.
Released from the prison. Moses' second excuse was recorded in.
Chapter 10,.
I am not a man of words. Moses said that he was not a eloquent speaker who could use.
The words of the Pharisee.
This should be a satisfactory excuse. However, Jehovah asked in chapter 11,.
Who.
Is the mouth of the people? Here, he said again, Jehovah is the God of all.
Is the mouth of the people? Isn't it me,.
Jehovah?
For most of us, this should not be Jehovah's hand Because he is the God of love and grace. Therefore, we say that.
If all of these.
Are not Jehovah's hand, then we can accept Jehovah.
Is that so?
Think about it.
If Jehovah.
Cannot take over all of these, then how can we pray for these.
Things?
How can we pray for healing?
If Jehovah cannot stop.
Disasters from happening, such as the 9 -11 incident, this coming Friday is the 14th Anniversary. How can we.
Pray for.
Those who are in the midst of it? How can we pray for God who cannot take over all of this? What good.
Is that?
God is not making excuses for not taking over all of this. In chapter 12, He said to Moses,.
Go now,.
I am the God of all. Because of Heaven and Earth, all the diseases of the world have been eaten by me. Matthew 28 .18.
Go,.
Save my people.
I am.
Like this to you.
If you cannot,.
I will eat your mouth. If you cannot, let us rely on the power of God. Do not rely on our own ability. Moses' third.
Excuse,.
In chapter 13, he.
Politely.
Rejected it.
He called Jehovah.
His Lord. In Hebrew, it is said, If you want to punish someone,.
Do so.
At that time, Moses was a hypocrite. He called Jehovah his Lord, but he rejected his passport. So, Jehovah rebelled in chapter 14. Moses had no more excuses. He could modestly.
Call.
Jehovah his Lord.
He did not regard him as the Lord of everything. So, Jehovah rebelled.
His humble.
Attitude could not please God. On the contrary, it enraged him. Jehovah called Aaron, Moses' brother, to speak on his behalf. In chapter 16, it is said, You should use him as an excuse. He should use you as an excuse.
This is a picture of how God inspired the prophet.
It is said that.
God used the prophet as his speaker. Jehovah passed on his words to the prophet. So, when we read the Bible, when we read God's words, every word. Maybe, for the sake of the prophet, Moses was looking for an excuse.
In chapter 19, Jehovah.
Said to Moses,.
Those who want to take your life are all dead.
Moses.
Took God's hand and.
Set off.
In chapter 21 -23,.
Jehovah.
Spoke to Moses again. Was it the prophet or Moses?
Was Moses looking for an excuse?
I will use you as an excuse. I will use you as an excuse. I will use you as an excuse. What Jehovah said was a sign.
To convince the.
Elders of Israel and the people. Now, what he is doing is a sign of.
The sign is.
A sign of.
Surprise.
God.
The Sign is just a sign they may not believe it as much as the sign of Jesus Christ. They may just believe it but they. So the elders of Israel and the people saw the signs of Moses and believed him. But Pharaoh experienced the miracle, but did not believe him.
In chapter 21, we know the reason. Because Jehovah wanted Pharaoh's letter to be sealed. He did not allow the people to take it. Jehovah told the Egyptians to give them all that Israel asked of them. He took care of the sick and those who could not pray.
He took care of people's hearts and minds. He took care of our hearts and minds. He, Jehovah, God, will follow his will. So that people's hearts will be firm or soft. In the 24th to 26th chapter, Moses forgot the sign that Jehovah was supposed to do for Abraham.
That is, to pray for his son. Today, we are not looking for an excuse. We do not accept gifts, we do not offer, we do not participate in worship, we do not follow the holy food, etc. Jehovah does not think this is a good excuse.
So, he wanted to kill Moses, who did not keep his word. Moses' wife, Zipporah, cut off her son's skin and threw it at Moses' feet. She said, you are really my blood. God used blood as our faith. Today, the holy food we are offering, the cup we are holding, is the blood of Jesus, which is our faith.
In the 27th to 31st chapter, Jehovah sent Aaron to Moses. Aaron repeated what Jehovah had said to Moses to the elders of Israel. The elders of Israel repeated what Jehovah had said to Moses to the elders of Israel.
The people believed. Just as Jehovah said to Moses on Mount Sinai, they will hear. They will hear. This is recorded in the 3rd chapter. The people of Israel heard Jehovah watching over them and their sufferings.
Just as he said in the 3rd chapter. Because of Jehovah's words and actions, the people of Israel believed. They bowed their heads in worship. What is your excuse? You did not bow your heads in worship to God.
You did not worship Him. Because you did not believe that He was watching over you?
He was watching over you?
With His only begotten Son, the blood of Jesus, and the faith that He had in you? What is your excuse?
Are you too busy?
Are you too busy in seeking money? Do you think that when you have earned enough money, or when you have resolved your relationship with your husband, or when you have married, you will bow your heads in worship to Him?
Maybe you have not yet accepted His words, or you have not seen what He is doing. Just as we are about to see today. So, you don't believe Him. Now, you should know, when you refuse to worship Him, when you refuse to worship Jesus Christ as your Savior,.
As your Savior,.
It is not a matter of humility. It is because you have recorded God. The consequences will be unimaginable.
Come on!
Believe Him! Bow your heads in worship to Him!