Why, Lord?
Exodus 5: 22 – 6: 12.
Introduction
What do you do when things don’t work out exactly the way you had planned? I guess in many ways that is the story of life. After all, John Lennon once sang that “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”[1]
The truth is that most of our plans never really work out the way we dreamed they would. We want something. We know that what we want is a really good thing. But for some reason…It just doesn’t work out the way we envisioned.
I don’t think I have ever said this in a public setting. But, this isn’t what I had dreamed for our church when I first came here five years ago.
Five years ago, we had an average Sunday morning attendance of 500. I was excited to be here. You were excited that I was here. I really thought that we would experience five years of growth. I thought that in my first five years, we would have an average attendance of 700. I thought in five years, we would be seriously talking about needing two Sunday morning worship services.
It actually seemed like we were heading in that direction during my first two years. Then, we had a series of unfortunate events that affected our city and county. Temple-Inland restructured, Lufkin industries closed the trailer plant, Citation Corporation closed the Lufkin foundry, and our nation entered into a recession.
One day, I was feeling sorry for myself and decided to count how many people had joined our church and how many people had left our church. I set up a spreadsheet and write down the names of every person who had joined our church over those two years. It was remarkable! 173 people joined our church during my first two years. Then I wrote down all the names of people who had left our church and the names of the members who died during that same time period. 161 people had moved or died. That left us with a net increase of 12 new members.
I think it is safe to say things haven’t worked out exactly the way we planned. So, what are we supposed to do?
We have a tendency to look at things from a human perspective instead of God’s perspective. Humanly speaking, we usually look for someone or something to blame. We could blame it on any number of factors. Some churches blame the pastor. Some pastors blame the economy. Some people may even want to blame God.
In fact, in the story of Exodus, Moses blamed God for his troubles when things didn’t work out the way Moses expected. Moses confronted Pharaoh, and things went from bad to worse.. Moses cried out, “Why, Lord? Why have you done this to me?”
The proper response is for us to focus more on God than on our circumstances. When we focus on our circumstances, we look for someone to blame. When we focus on God, we discover something much better. We discover that God is faithful and will always keep his promises.
Read Exodus 5: 22 – 6: 12.
22 Moses returned to the LORD and said, "O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me?
23 Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all."
CHAPTER 6
1 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country."
2 God also said to Moses, "I am the LORD.
3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them.
4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they lived as aliens.
5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.
6 "Therefore, say to the Israelites: 'I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.
7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.
8 And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD.'"
9 Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and cruel bondage.
10 Then the LORD said to Moses,
11 "Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his country."
12 But Moses said to the LORD, "If the Israelites will not listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering lips?"
(NIV)
Do you hear the way Moses is blaming God? He doesn’t really sound like the model for living a godly life. That’s probably because this is only the second time we have seen Moses speaking with God. He wasn’t always a godly example. But, the good news is that he grew. Moses grew in his ability to lead God’s people. AND Moses grew in his ability to trust God.
That’s just not who Moses is at this point. At this point, Moses wants to know why things aren’t working out the way he had planned.
More than likely, Moses expected to have immediate success. He thought he could march into Pharaoh’s court with all the confidence and authority of God himself. He thought he could demand that Pharaoh let God’s people go. He thought Pharaoh would recognize the authority of God and immediately give in to Moses’ demands. But, that’s not what happened.
Instead, Pharaoh rejected Moses and made a smart political move to turn the Hebrew people against Moses. Pharaoh made the work more difficult on the Hebrews and told them that it was all Moses’ fault.
As a result, Moses felt like a double failure. On one hand, Pharaoh won’t listen to him. On the other hand, the Hebrew people want Moses to leave them alone. Can you even imagine that? The people Moses came to save don’t really want to be saved. They just want to be left alone.
Pharaoh won’t listen to Moses. The Hebrews won’t listen. So Moses turns to the only person who will listen to him. He cried out to God, “Why, Lord? Things have only gotten worse since I got here. Was this your plan all along? Were you trying to punish me and your people?”
Underlying Moses’ questions, there is an assumption. Moses assumes he knows better than God. Moses thinks that if God would just do things his way, life would be a whole lot better. But, it doesn’t work that way. We don’t get to tell God how to manage his business.
Questioning God is a natural response. But just because something is natural doesn’t make it right. When things don’t work out the way we expected, we have two choices. We can do the natural thing and question whether God really knows what he is doing. OR, we can realize that when things don’t work out the way we expected…God is doing something different. God is not through with us. God has something else in mind.
One of the most interesting things about this Scripture is to notice that God never answered Moses’ questions. Moses asked “Why?” God never told him why. Moses asked God, “Is this why you sent me?” God never answered.
Instead, God answered the question Moses should have asked. Moses should have asked how his experience of rejection and failure fit into the character of God. That is the question God answered.
The Bible tells us the theological history of God’s people—the people of Israel in the Old Testament and the church in the New Testament. When we read the Bible, we learn more about God than we do the history of God’s people.
When Moses complained, God did not tell him to “Cheer up” or to “get over it.” In fact, God didn’t even promise immediate success. Instead, God renewed his revelation…He gave Moses a better understanding of who God really is.
El Shaddai (Exodus 6: 2 - 3)
2 God also said to Moses, "I am the LORD.
3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them.
(NIV)
God reminded Moses how God has always been faithful in the past.
In the Book of Exodus, God spends a lot of time reminding Moses of the relationship God had with the Patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Patriarchs knew God by the name El Shaddai. The New International Version translates this name as “God Almighty,” but El Shaddai shows up in the footnotes.
There are various ways to translate El Shaddai. Shaddai is very close to the Hebrew word for “mountain.” So, it’s possible that El Shaddai means “God of the mountains.” Or, it could mean “God is like the mountains”—God is powerful and almighty. Or, we can try to understand the nature of God from the narrative histories of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
When Abraham was childless, God promised to make his descendants into a great nation. Abraham could not accomplish this on his own power. He had to trust in God. In the end of Abraham’s story, we discover that God was sufficient for all his needs. God could be trusted to keep his promises.
When Jacob was nothing more than a deceiver, God changed his name from Jacob to Israel. God promised to make him into a great nation. This promise seemed to be in jeopardy several times. Jacob’s son, Joseph, was taken away from him. There was a famine in Jacob’s land. Jacob’s son, Benjamin, was held prisoner by the ruler of Egypt. In the end of Jacob’s story, we discover that God was sufficient and God can be trusted to keep his promises.
Since this is the same God speaking to Moses, Moses needs to learn about God’s sufficiency. Moses needs to learn to trust God to keep his promises in God’s own way.
When God’s people are weak, God is still strong. When God’s people don’t understand how things will work out, God is still working.
Yahweh (Exodus 6: 2 - 3)
3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them.
(NIV)
The God who speaks with Moses is the same God who spoke to and called the Patriarchs. The Patriarchs knew God by the name, El Shaddai. But, God has revealed himself to Moses with a new name—the LORD.
Notice how the word “LORD” is written in all capital letters. This is something all English translations do to let us know this is the Hebrew word “Yahweh.” This is the name God gave to Moses at the burning bush in Exodus 3. Moses asked God, “What is your name?” God answered, “I AM WHO I AM. Tell my people I AM has sent you to them.”
The significance of God’s name is the way it emphasizes his unchanging character. God was. God is. God is to come. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. If God was faithful to you in the past, God will be faithful to you in the present and the future. If Abraham, Isaac and Jacob can trust in the unchanging nature of God, then Moses can trust God. If Moses can trust God, then you and I can trust God.
Your circumstances do not change the character of God. If you experience failure and disappointment, God hasn’t changed. If you don’t feel close to God right now, God hasn’t changed. God never promised Moses immediate success. But, God did promise that he would never change. God doesn’t change. And God doesn’t forget.
Savior (Exodus 6: 6 – 8)
6 "Therefore, say to the Israelites: 'I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.
7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.
8 And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD.'"
(NIV)
As God has been faithful in the past and the present, so will God be faithful in the future. In fact, God has big plans for both Moses and the Hebrews. God will reveal himself as their savior.
When God speaks to Moses about the future, notice the way God speaks about intimacy and relationship. God has a plan to rescue his people from slavery. But, it doesn’t end there. God wants to have a relationship with these people. He saves them, so that they can be his people. He calls them to be his people, so he can fulfill his promises to their ancestors. Salvation…Relationship…Inheritance.
God has the same plans for us today. God wants to rescue you. God wants a relationship with you. God promises to give you an inheritance.
These three things are only possible for us through Jesus. Jesus is our savior—he died on the cross to take away our sins. Jesus invites us into relationship with God—he broke down the dividing walls between us and God, giving us the rights and responsibilities of being priests before God. Jesus promises to give us the full rights of being the sons of God—to inherit everything that belongs to our Heavenly Father, eternal life and a room in our Father’s House.
Conclusion
Maybe your life hasn’t worked out the way you thought it would. Maybe you feel like a failure or you are discouraged by your circumstances. Feelings change. God doesn’t change. Circumstances change. God doesn’t change.
Moses felt like a failure. He was very discouraged when things didn’t work out the way he expected. But this wasn’t the end of Moses story. In fact, we haven’t even gotten to the really good parts of Moses’ story. The really good parts come when Moses begins to believe God really is who God says he is. And when Moses believes God, God does things through Moses that Moses never thought were possible.
The same thing is true for you…AND our church. When we believe God, God can do things through us that we never thought were possible. I believe God is going to do something in us that is so big no one will ever believe we did it. They will automatically believe it is God working through us.
No comments:
Post a Comment