Moses Departure From Egypt

[0:00] to the book of Exodus, chapter 2. We're continuing our study through the book of Exodus.

[0:10] We're still pretty new into it, but we're continuing through the book of Exodus, and we're in the second chapter there. Today we will be focusing in on verses 11 through 22.

[0:30] I think in your order of worship it probably says 1 through 22. I'm going to start reading verse 1. We'll read to verse 22, but again we'll focus in at verses 11 through 22.

[0:41] So let's look there together. Now a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite woman. The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months.

[0:57] When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and dabbed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank.

[1:11] And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river while her young women walked beside the river.

[1:22] She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her servant woman, and she took it. When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, This is one of the Hebrew's children.

[1:37] Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you? And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go. So the girl went and called the child's mother.

[1:51] And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages. So the woman took the child and nursed him. When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son.

[2:06] She named him Moses because, she said, I drew him out of the water. One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people.

[2:22] He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together.

[2:34] And he said to the man in the wrong, Why do you strike your companion? He answered, Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?

[2:46] Then Moses was afraid and thought, Surely the thing is known. When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well.

[3:00] Now the priests of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. The shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and saved them and watered their flock.

[3:15] When they came home to their father, Reol, he said, How is it that you have come home so soon today? They said, An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and even drew water for us and watered the flock.

[3:31] He said to his daughters, Then where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him that he may eat bread. And Moses was content to dwell with the man. And he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah.

[3:44] She gave birth to a son, and he called his name Gershom. For he said, I have been a sojourner in a foreign land. Let's pray together. Oh Lord, again we thank you for your word and pray for your spirit's help in understanding your word and applying the word.

[4:02] Lord, that this would not be just some mental exercise, but that we would, Lord, be changed by your word and that you would be glorified in it. We ask this in Christ's name.

[4:14] Amen. Well, last time we saw God's sovereign preservation of a son, when Pharaoh had intended to kill all the sons of the Israelites, we saw God's sovereignly preserved a son, Moses.

[4:29] And this would be the son through whom God would deliver his people. And today I want us to consider Moses' faith and how we see that displayed. His time out in the wilderness that we'll look at really in the second half of this section that I've read.

[4:45] And as I said last week, there will be some overlap for those of you at the men's retreat. At the time I was looking at Hebrews 11, I didn't realize how soon we would get to Moses. But here we are again, and I think the way I said it there, the way Hebrews 11 really enlightens us about Moses and his faith, I can't really say it very much different.

[5:05] I think that's what I want to communicate. So there will be some overlap for you men. Maybe I shouldn't have said that and just talk to you later to see how much of you even realized that, how well you paid attention at the men's retreat. But we're going to look today at Moses' faith.

[5:18] And really what we see is a quick, I mean a really quick overview of 40 years of Moses' life. Ages 40 through 80 are all covered in verses 11 through 22. So almost all we know, we're going to see in a little bit, in a few weeks, the burning bush.

[5:35] Lord willing, next week we'll look at the burning bush. And that would be right at the end of those second half of his life, the second, maybe the second third of his life, but around age 80.

[5:47] So, but we're covering 40 to 80 years, sorry, ages 40 to 80 of Moses' life really quickly. And I want to look at some of the aspects that stand out to us. Why are these things recorded?

[5:59] Moses is writing this. He's given inspiration by the Holy Spirit to write what he's supposed to write. Why do these things matter? Maybe if I said this another way, maybe I should not divulge, but I am 40 years old now.

[6:15] And I think of the all, I mean, so this is the entirety of my life. 40 years get covered in this small section. And imagine if you tried to recount 40 years of your life, what might you include?

[6:30] Well, this is what Moses gives us of those 40 years of his life. And so I think we're, what's being communicated is of great importance. Why do these things matter? I mean, maybe we read this and think, oh, this is an interesting story.

[6:43] He's out there with some shepherds by well. Of everything that happens in 40 years of your life, what might you recount as being those things that communicate God's story of your life?

[6:54] And so we want to look at this. And the first point, the first thing I want you to see that's communicated to us is Moses, he's developing an identity.

[7:07] You guys know for my Union with Christ project, one of the main things I'm focusing on is our identity. Who are we? How do we determine who we are? How do we define ourselves?

[7:18] And so how does Moses define himself? And I think one of the main things we see here is Moses' development of an identity, a self-identity. Who am I? So let's observe some things in this passage.

[7:33] Again, beginning in verse 11, we see this encounter that Moses has with this Egyptian who's beating a Hebrew. That's really there in verse 11. It begins in verse 11.

[7:45] And the word that's used there, and this makes it difficult for us when we translate it into English, but let's read Hebrews 2.11. I mean, it says 2.11. One day when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people.

[8:03] He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. So one of the things that's difficult for us is the same word is used in both these encounters. The same Hebrew word for beating that the Egyptian is doing to the Hebrew is the same word that's used for Moses when it says he struck down the Egyptian.

[8:24] So the ESV renders him differently because there's a different end result. We know that Moses actually kills the Egyptian because he hides him later. But the same words used in Hebrew, which has led many to conclude, I think probably rightly, that the intention of the Egyptian may well have been to kill this Hebrew man.

[8:45] At the very least, it communicates to us that this is a severe beating that he's giving him. If we use the same word, he's striking him down just as Moses struck down the Egyptian.

[8:56] But we know, again, that Moses' striking down ends in death. So it may be that this Egyptian is beating down or striking down this Hebrew slave or servant with the intention of taking his life.

[9:14] It's headed that way. He's about to kill the man. And Moses steps in to preserve his life. And I think there's probably some merit to understanding that Moses is stepping in to save the life of the man, not just to keep him from some small physical abuse, but to save his life.

[9:29] Stephen in Acts 7, 23 through 24, he kind of recounts redemptive history. He says, speaking of Moses, when he was 40 years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel.

[9:42] And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. So Stephen paints this in a very positive light.

[9:54] First, it says, when he saw him being wronged, he defended the oppressed man. And again, this may be preserving his life. He stood in to save this man. And it says, and avenged him.

[10:05] So he sees it as vengeance that's done. He avenged the man by striking down the Egyptian. Now that's led some people like Calvin to conclude that what Moses did was right.

[10:22] And I think there may be aspects in which Moses did something good in trying to save a man's life, but at the same time, I believe he went too far. What he did, I think, was still wrong. Another way of viewing this might be to say he tried to take matters into his own hand.

[10:35] We know that God is going to deliver his people from slavery. Moses steps in. I'm going to do it today. I'm going to stop this man. I'm going to prevent the injustice.

[10:47] Now's not the time and now's not what God had intended. We're going to see soon that it's God who defeats the Egyptians. It's God who gets the glory in it.

[10:59] I don't want to take it too far, but we can almost see this in terms of how we might view salvation. Is it a work of man or is it a work of God? Who gets the glory in it? And here, I think Moses is trying to take it into his own hand.

[11:12] He's trying to depend upon works maybe more than grace. And yet, I can say there's good things in what he did. You see, so if he was being beaten to death, we have an obligation to preserve human life.

[11:24] But he preserves human life in the process he takes it perhaps unnecessarily. I want to argue that Moses knew it was wrong. So, again, I think Calvin's what he did was right, but Moses knew it was wrong.

[11:38] How do we know Moses knew that it was wrong? Well, look at verse 12. He looked this way and that and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hit him in the sand. This wasn't just a immediate act of passion.

[11:51] He wasn't just seeking to save the man's life. He knew he was about to do something that he would be in trouble for. And so, like, maybe many of us do if we're facing sin, looking around to see who's going to know about this.

[12:08] If we think we can get away with it with no one knowing, maybe we go ahead and do it. And so, here's Moses. He chats. And he, like us, he likes to hide his sin like we like to hide our sin.

[12:22] And so, I think he knows what he's going to do is wrong. I would argue we also know he's wrong because he hid the body in the sand. If he thought he was justifying what he did, he could have well, I mean, he was in the royal family.

[12:35] He probably had some legal authority to take some justice matters into his own hand. He probably could have appealed to Pharaoh and said, this man was wronging this man. He was abusing him.

[12:45] He was about to kill him. And I stepped in and stopped it. But no, he hid the body in the sand because, again, he knew that what he had done was wrong. Matthew 5, 38-39 says, You've heard that it was said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

[12:58] But I say to you, do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him also the other. And really, what we see Moses doing is stepping in and taking justice into his own hand.

[13:15] But I think there's a message, again, that's being communicated to us. Why does this matter in Moses' life? Well, we know it's going to have major effect in terms of where he dwells. We'll look at that in a minute. But the major point here is that Moses identifies with God's people rather than the Egyptians, which Hebrews 11 recounts to us is an act of faith.

[13:33] So Moses now is saying, remember, he's been raised in Pharaoh's household. He's in the royal family with all that that entails. And this is the moment, at least the moment acted out, lived out, where he's identifying no longer with Pharaoh's household.

[13:51] He's identifying with the Israelites, the Hebrew people. That is who I am. They are my people. Which again, I think is one reason he hides a body.

[14:04] He doesn't go back to Pharaoh's house and say, you know, what I did was right. You can't touch me because of who I am in the family. He's already decided that's not my family. He's already identified with his people, which is why he steps in to save the man.

[14:19] I read for you, we read just a second ago verse 11, but if you'll look there again with me, one day when Moses had grown up, he went out to, who did he go out to?

[14:36] He went out to his people, which again, I think it's significant. Not much is recounted to us of his life, but here's something that matters. This one day in his life, when he was 40 years old, he goes out to his people.

[14:53] These are the people with whom he identifies, those to whom he belongs, even though he's been raised in Pharaoh's house.

[15:05] 40 years in Pharaoh's house. That's a long time to be there. We talked earlier about his mom nursed him and then gave him to Pharaoh's daughter.

[15:15] How long might that have been? It may have been two years, maybe a little bit longer, but if it was strictly speaking, nursing, he spent maybe two years as an Israelite that he didn't remember.

[15:29] I mean, let's be honest. How many of us remember the first two years of our life? He spent 38 years as an Egyptian and now he's identifying with the Hebrew people.

[15:41] They were his people. I find it even striking that we look at verse 11, it says, one day when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people. Again, that Hebrew phrase, he went out there, is the same word that's used when it's spoken of Egypt, that they, of the Israelites, they went out from Egypt.

[16:03] And so we see, almost modeling for us, this experience. We're going to see in a little bit, where does Moses go and how long has he spent there? He goes to Midian in the wilderness and spends 40 years there.

[16:15] So he goes out from Pharaoh's house, out from Egypt, symbolically as it were, identifies with his people and he's going to spend 40 years wandering in the wilderness.

[16:27] And so he's typifying, he's experiencing what his people experience. God's equipping him to be a good leader, but he's identified with them. What's striking to me about this, listen to Hebrews 11, 24 through 27.

[16:42] It says, By faith, Moses, when he was grown up, that same language, in verse 11, one day when Moses had grown up, by faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.

[17:01] He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of heaven. for he was looking to the reward. And so Hebrews 11 gives us some insight into what happened.

[17:15] First, I'd say, when did Moses decide not to be identified with the Egyptian people? When was the decision made? I think Hebrews 11 helps us with this.

[17:26] When he was grown up, he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing to be mistreated with the Hebrew people. I think the decision's made probably before he gets out there.

[17:38] It had to be for him to decide to defend the Hebrew. Those are my people you're messing with. You don't mess with my people. Right? He's identified with them. He's already decided.

[17:50] And Hebrews 11 tells us, by faith Moses did this. By faith, when he was growing up, he decided he would be called a Hebrew. Hebrew, he, it says, chose to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.

[18:07] And so I think what's communicated to us is that Moses is measuring two things against each other. This is what happens when we make a choice, right? We decide between some things.

[18:18] He's got two choices. I can be an Egyptian or I can be a Hebrew. And what does that mean? You know how we make pros and cons lists?

[18:29] Can you imagine the pros and cons list here? He stays in Egyptian. What would it mean? He's living in Pharaoh's household. It means probably unlimited wealth.

[18:41] Luxury. As much luxury as there was in that day he had. All of it. Probably a never-ending buffet. You notice I went to food. Maybe some of you would like other things. Shopping.

[18:52] All the shopping he could do. Probably had warm baths. Things that probably no one else imagined. Someone else to do the laundry. Luxury. Or he could be mistreated with God's people.

[19:07] And he chose to be mistreated with God's people. Now this is what I told to the men. The example I gave but let me use it again. And I haven't updated the numbers since then because I know that Tesla stock went down a little bit.

[19:20] But what I said to the men then was imagine Elon Musk wants to give you his wealth. And the latest latest the last measurement I looked at was before the men's retreat and it was $215 billion.

[19:34] Now I know that's easy for us all to comprehend right? We can't even imagine billions of dollars. So $215 million million dollars is a billion.

[19:46] So $215 billion now that is more than Bill Gates and Warren Buffet put together. And Bill Gates used to be the richest man in the world.

[19:57] So let's just say Elon Musk decides he wants to adopt you take you into his family and give you all his wealth. But only if you renounce Christ. Only if you don't go to church and identify with God's people.

[20:13] That's the one condition to receive the money. What do you choose? Now I think it's remarkable I want to say there were legitimate reasons at least initially with COVID we didn't know what it would be like and there were reasons why we might wanted to avoid public gathering but it's been remarkable to see and to hear accounts from other churches just how COVID became an opportunity for people just to stop going to church.

[20:45] And even now when the risk seems minuscule people still are avoiding church. And I think at some point we begin to realize that it's not really about COVID at all. And I want to go further and say what would it take for us to renounce Christ?

[21:03] $215 billion would solve a lot of problems in this life wouldn't it? Moses is faced with a similar kind of argument.

[21:18] You can identify as an Egyptian or you can choose the reproach of Christ. The reproach of Christ was real in that day. What would it mean to identify with Christ and his people?

[21:30] They were slaves. They were being mistreated. Probably what Moses saw that one day when he went out was a daily occurrence. Hebrews were being beat. Probably some of them were being killed.

[21:43] So, which life do you choose? Do you choose the life of ease and comfort or do you choose the life of faith that's going to mean probably abuse, mistreatment, suffering, desolation?

[22:00] And God's Word presents it was an obvious decision for Moses. Right? This is an obvious one. What's $215 billion compared to Christ? It's nothing.

[22:12] And so he chose to follow God and to become destitute with his people. He chose to endure mistreatment with God's people. Which I think means by faith Moses was not primarily concerned with personal comfort.

[22:29] Moses was not primarily concerned with personal comfort. If comfort was the main thing that he was worried about, Pharaoh's house would have given it to him. Now I think that's huge for us because we live in America.

[22:44] And what characterizes Americans? Wealth, affluence, comfort. I think comfort is a major one. Right? We're really concerned about comfort.

[22:57] We saw an advertisement recently for a new vehicle. And it's remarkable how much comfort must weigh in Americans because of the level of comfort they're trying to put in these vehicles.

[23:13] The things they can do. We're very much concerned with comfort. And I think because of that maybe it makes it hard for us to understand or to imagine what it would mean to identify with Christ in giving up comfort.

[23:30] Because for most of us as Christians we get to experience the comfort while still remaining a Christian. Moses doesn't have that option and he chooses the reproach of Christ. That's what it says in Hebrews.

[23:43] They chose the reproach of Christ. Now, this may be difficult for some of you. Right? Because there's a tendency even in some churches today to kind of act like Christ was not in the picture until he was born in the New Testament.

[23:57] The Old Testament is not really about Christ. God's Word tells us that Moses chose the reproach of Christ. He didn't just choose the reproach of God's people. I think that would have been fine to say.

[24:08] He chose the reproach of Christ. Why? Because he understood he was looking to the Messiah. He understood way more of Christ than we give Moses credit for understanding, I believe.

[24:22] And so he chose to identify with Christ. Christ hasn't yet come. He hasn't yet suffered. But we know Christ's life. He was one who was destitute.

[24:33] He was one who was afflicted. He was one who suffered. He was one who died. And Moses is identifying with that even though it hasn't happened yet. He chooses the reproach of Christ to be counted with God's people meaning to be hated by the world.

[24:45] And he says, oh yeah, that's what I want. Give me some of that. And I've said before, we're not there yet, I think, in America. Maybe some of you experienced some of this in your family or at work to identify as a Christian, to not go along with what they say about gender confusion, to not go along with abortion, to not give the nod to homosexuality in the workplace, may mean reproach today for you.

[25:16] But we're not yet at this point. Not what he's facing. And he's choosing that rather than all the wealth that he had in Pharaoh's house. And God's word tells us that's an act of faith.

[25:33] His faith was in the unseen Messiah who was to come. It was his vision of Christ and not wealth or comfort which guided his decision.

[25:44] He was looking to the Messiah. That's what he set his eyes on, Christ. He's not looking at all the good stuff he can get in this life. And you can notice as well in the passage it says, this is the Hebrews 11 passage, it says, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.

[26:08] Now, we're not told exactly what those fleeting pleasures of sin was. It may be that what's being communicated to us is that most of what was enjoyed in Pharaoh's house was sinful.

[26:18] It may mean because it was tied to false gods, polytheistic. It may be because of the way Pharaoh's household treated the Egyptians in plundering their wealth that for him to enjoy this food it was stolen from those in the community.

[26:39] That's not a slight on taxes. I'm not saying anything about that yet. But it's stolen from the people. And so to enjoy it may have been wrong in some way. It may be that the pleasures that they were enjoying themselves were sinful.

[26:53] Debauchery, fornication. I think it's possible as well that what Hebrews is telling us is that if he chose to stay in Pharaoh's house that would be a sinful pleasure. Even legitimate pleasures may have been sinful because he was choosing to forsake Christ to enjoy those things.

[27:11] And so even those things may have been sinful but for whatever reason it's sinful. And Hebrews 11 also tells us why he did it. So what was the faith that motivated Moses to identify with them? Now my summary is this, that he was greedy.

[27:25] Moses was too greedy to take all the wealth of Pharaoh's household. It wasn't enough. Can you imagine, here's Elon Musk, he says, I'm going to give you all my wealth and you say, but he says you have to renounce Christ.

[27:38] And you go, that's just not enough. What do you mean? I mean, $215 billion just isn't enough for me. I want more than that. You want more than $215 billion?

[27:50] You can buy you whatever you want. I don't know if you guys saw, I think the big news last week was that, I forget who the organization was, but they were arguing that Elon Musk with, I think it was with $16 billion, he could rid all starvation in the world.

[28:09] There would be no one who would be without food if he just gives $16 billion of his wealth, which by comparison is a drop in the bucket for him. So just put that in perspective.

[28:20] If you could feed everybody in the world with $16 billion, what is, now I've lost count, what are we at? $215 billion. What will that do? 16, 17 times that much.

[28:33] And you go, that's not enough for me. That's pretty greedy, isn't it? Well, we're told, listen to Hebrews 11 again.

[28:47] It says, he considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. And so, why does he turn down all the wealth of Egypt? Because he was looking to the reward, which is why I say he's greedy.

[29:01] He wants more than that. He's wagering, measuring against each other. What's the reward? What do I get in the favorite household? Unlimited wealth. I can get whatever I want. What do I get with Christ?

[29:11] Reproach. That's a greater reward. Well, I think not temporarily. But he would not settle for all the wealth in all of Egypt, the greatest kingdom of the world, because he wanted a greater reward.

[29:28] reward. I think C.S. Lewis has said this so well. He said this way, he said, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward, and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak.

[29:47] We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink, and sets, and ambition, when infinite joy is offered to us. Like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum, because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday or a vacation at the ocean, we are far too easily pleased.

[30:08] And so he argues, we're far too easily pleased. Why are we far too easily pleased? Because we settle for worldly pleasures, when God offers us something far greater. He offers us eternal reward.

[30:20] That's what Moses set his eyes on. He wouldn't settle for lesser pleasures. What C.S. Lewis is summarizing is really what's communicated to us in Jeremiah 2, 12-13.

[30:34] God says there, Be appalled, O heavens, at this. Be shot, be utterly desolate. For my people who are called by my name have committed two evils. And so what does God declare evil?

[30:47] Here are the two evils that God says his people have committed. They have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and have hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.

[31:01] And so two great evils. Number one evil is to forsake God, the fountain of water, the fountain of all joy and all pleasure, to forsake God, and instead the second great evil is to try to find joy in something else other than God that won't hold the water.

[31:19] It's a broken cistern. It leaks. We taste the joy for a minute and it's gone. And so here's what I see communicated to us. Why does this matter?

[31:32] Moses has decided for joy. He's greedy for the reward. He wants something greater so he's going to identify with God's people. Is that going to be a great life for him? No! He's a third of the way done with his life at this point, living in Pharaoh's household.

[31:48] The next two-thirds of his life, 80 years, is going to be lived in the wilderness in destitution. He says, yes! Give me that! That's what I want! That's not how we Americans typically think, is it?

[32:02] But God's word says he's greedy for the reward. He has eyes set on what he's going to get and what is he going to get? I'd argue it's Christ. He wants the reproach of Christ because he wants Christ.

[32:14] He wants eternal life. He wants to be with God the Father forever. And I think for us oftentimes today we get stressed when the Wi-Fi is not working.

[32:28] Right? We get stuck in a traffic jam. The road is going to be closed. The bridge is closed. On my way to work, we have to detour. how much do the things of this world consume our thoughts and minds?

[32:46] How willing are we to give up the pleasures of this life if it were to follow Christ? So that was just my first point, his identity. Secondly, he finds a home, at least temporarily, maybe not exactly.

[33:00] He's searching for a home. Verses 14 and 15. He answered, who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you kill the Egyptians? Then Moses was afraid and thought, surely the thing is known.

[33:12] When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well. I did this at the men's retreat, but if I were to ask you, why does Moses, what's communicated to us in Exodus 2?

[33:29] Why does Moses leave Egypt? verse 15, when Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. So, just imagine the President of the United States wants you dead, and he's imploring all of the United States to find you and kill you.

[33:49] How long are you going to hang out here in the United States? You're going to find somewhere else to hide. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. Now listen to Hebrews 11, 27.

[34:02] By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured seeing him who is invisible. I think when we look at Exodus 2, it sounds a lot like fear, doesn't it? Moses is trying to kill you, excuse me, Pharaoh is trying to kill you, you fled from Pharaoh.

[34:18] That sounds like fear. But what Hebrews 11 communicates to us is that that was not his ultimate motivation. And again, I think what we're seeing is that he's already decided to leave Egypt.

[34:29] That's not his home. He's found a home and it's not in Egypt. And so, yeah, he leaves when Moses wants to kill him, but that's not ultimately his motivation, faith is. He endured his seeing him who is invisible.

[34:42] What is his eye set upon? The invisible God. I think what's being communicated there is that what are his eyes not set upon? The king. Pharaoh.

[35:00] I felt as though this is one of the truths I tried to communicate when we were going through the book of Psalms. Our Sunday school series, we've been looking at how the church and how Christians should interact with the world and the culture around us.

[35:14] So we've been going through that. I think the same truth is being communicated, but what is our focus upon? Can we endure even lousy existence in this world because our eyes are fixed upon Christ?

[35:31] Because our eyes are fixed upon God? In this instance, I think he's looking to God. He's not looking to the king, which is why he leaves Egypt. And I wonder, maybe in the last two years, how much have our eyes been fixed upon the king, the pharaoh, the president, or the governor, or even sometimes the secretary of health, or the mayor, or whoever the authority may be.

[36:02] How much are our eyes focused upon that and worried about what's going on there, instead of being focused upon the eternal God? if we change our focus, how might it change how we live?

[36:13] How might it change our worry, our anxiety? So Moses made a decision that was already made before Pharaoh decided to kill him.

[36:29] It's not fear or reverence of man, but it's fear of God that leads him to leave Egypt. And we see that Moses was a stranger and an exile in this world, much like Abraham, much like so many other Christians throughout human history.

[36:47] He was a stranger and an exile in the land. Look at verse 22. It says, She gave birth to a son, and he, Moses, called his name Gershom, for he said, I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.

[37:01] Now, I strongly believe that Moses was being taught that while in Midian. But where has Moses been a sojourner? A foreigner, a stranger in a foreign land?

[37:14] We're going to talk a little bit about Midian, but I don't think he's speaking primarily about Midian. I think he's talking about his life. He's been a sojourner in Egypt. He's been a sojourner in Midian.

[37:26] The next 40 years he'll be a sojourner again in the wilderness. Moses has no home. He lived in Pharaoh's household. He lived in the palace.

[37:38] But all his life he's been a sojourner because that's not his home. He's identifying with God's people. Moses received the promise from God that Israel would receive Canaan just as Abraham received that promise.

[37:54] But Moses never gets to step foot in the land. You guys know the story? He saw it from a distance. On a mountaintop in Moab, he looks from a distance. He sees the promised land but he will die and never get to enter it.

[38:09] He spent 40 years in Egypt, 40 years in Midian, 40 years in the wilderness with no lasting home. But Hebrews 27 tells us he endured seeing him who is invisible. He endured that because he set his sights upon God and he knew it wasn't about now.

[38:27] He had a home. But it wasn't Midian and it wasn't the palace, was it? It wasn't even the promised land. Canaan was a foreshadowing of a greater home that he loaned for, that he set his eyes upon just as Abraham did.

[38:43] And so today are our eyes fixed upon the visible or the invisible? What is it that consumes our minds and our thoughts? What do we worry about? What do we think about? What do we fix our eyes upon?

[38:55] I think if we spend all or most of our time with eyes fits in the visible, we should be surprised that we cannot endure the trials and the sufferings of this life when we find it hard to give up those things that we fix our eyes upon so much.

[39:12] Verses 16 through 21, we see most of his life in Midian. Moses is again faced with injustice. He comes to this well, he's sitting by the well and he sees injustice happening right there in front of him.

[39:27] These seven daughters are being mistreated by the shepherds. They drive them away and they take the water instead. And I think we can argue that this is a daily occurrence or at least an often occurrence.

[39:39] Why? Well, there's no explanation given to the father other than the shepherds came and drove us away. And it's almost implied again, it's those shepherds, those ones who keep driving us away, they did it again to us.

[39:52] Even the question that the father asked them, how is it that you're back so soon today? It always takes you longer to get home. Well, you know what always takes us longer? It's because those shepherds drive us away and we can't get the water.

[40:04] Well, not today. Moses stepped in and he got us water. He even, he watered the sheep himself. We didn't have to do the work. He did the job for us. And so we see in verse 17, it says that he saves these ladies.

[40:24] In verse 19, it says he delivers them. Now, I think those are important words because remember what we talked about Moses. Moses is a type. He's a prefigurement of the Savior. He's going to deliver and save God's people.

[40:38] And so now, here he's faced with injustice again. He steps in, he delivers them and saves them. And he even serves them. I think Moses is learning.

[40:48] He's been humbled. He's learning to be a servant leader. He even drew water for us and watered the flock, we read in verse 19. And so he spent 40 years in exile from Egypt in the wilderness.

[41:04] And of course, this points, I think, to the 40 years that Israel will spend in the wilderness as well as the 40 days that Jesus spends in the wilderness before he begins his earthly ministry. Here, Moses is being fit for his ministry, the work God has prepared for him.

[41:19] And so, too, we see Christ being prepared in the wilderness for his work, his service. And I think the time that Moses spends in Midian is used by God as preparation and training for Moses.

[41:35] Jethro, who he's called Jethro in chapter 3, here he's called Raul. He's a priest of God. And I think as we read this, we probably want to understand this as being the God.

[41:50] Now, you may be aware, but the name Yahweh is not being used now. The name is El that's being used. So, God or God Almighty, be El Shaddai. But God, El, is the Hebrew word.

[42:02] And if you look at Raul's name, you see that at the end of his name. His name means friend of God, the same name that they would have used or understood for God.

[42:12] You also want to understand that the Midianites are descended from Abraham. Abraham, we read in Genesis 25, 1, Abraham took another wife, Ketorah, and Ketorah bore him several sons, including Midian.

[42:31] And so the Midianites are direct descendants of Abraham. And so, here's Moses, he's out in the wilderness, he happens to stumble upon Abraham's descendants, some relatives. 400 years have passed, they're long relatives.

[42:44] And he marries this daughter of a priest of God. And I think, in all likelihood, what they knew, what had been passed down to them from Abraham, they are worshippers of the true God there in Midian.

[42:56] This is probably a true priest of God. And so, Moses is probably learning about God things that he had not been taught while in Egypt. And so, God even is equipping him. Maybe we're going to call this, Moses goes to seminary for 40 years to equip him to go back.

[43:13] He's been taught some theological truth and reality that's been passed down from Abraham. Midian, just if you're curious, would be in modern-day Saudi Arabia. North, western Saudi Arabia, just across the Red Sea.

[43:27] If you were to look on a map of where, in all likelihood, the Egyptians, when they leave Egypt, they kind of wander down through the mountains, south for a bit, through Egypt, and then they cross the Red Sea.

[43:39] We'll talk about this more when we get there, but the crossing of the Red Sea where they crossed was probably 105 miles. We oftentimes, I think, imagine they cross the Red Sea in 10 minutes, right? And then the Israelites try, in all likelihood, this would have been days with a caravan of people traveling, hiking.

[43:55] It may have been a week or more that they go across the Red Sea, but you can see right across the Red Sea where they would come out would be basically where Midian was. And Midian was a large land of nomads.

[44:05] So he happens across this well. He meets his family that probably traveled around. They probably spent maybe a season at this well and they go to some other area and graze the flock.

[44:17] They were shepherds which were despised by the Egyptians. And Moses is going to learn to be a shepherd, which again I think is preparation for what God has prepared for him.

[44:28] He's going to be a shepherd of God's people. But he learned to live as an exile, which was instrumental in the outworking of his faith to continue to understand that he's not to identify with life in this world, that he's made for another world.

[44:45] I think that's one of the challenges that faces all of us and all the more so that really we're still living in Pharaoh's palace here in America. Right? We have all the luxury of Pharaoh's palace here in America.

[44:57] And so it's hard for us to remember sometimes that we're as Christians, we are at sales in this world. This is not our home. God has made us for another world. So in whatever situation God has you, he's preparing you as well, I believe.

[45:14] Just as he takes Moses out to prepare him, God's preparing us for service to his kingdom, to make us useful for his kingdom, to make us like his son, Jesus Christ.

[45:25] And so he's sanctifying us and making us ready to serve him. Is that how we're viewing our life? Is that how we view suffering in this life? Hardships that we face? Do we see it as God's using that to train us and to equip us to serve his kingdom, to make us more like a savior?

[45:43] Our eyes really fits in the reward of heaven, the eternal reward, or we fit on the discomfort, the loss of earthly reward that we're missing out on.

[46:00] Just a few points as we close our message of application. I said to you last week, let me continue that Moses is a type of Christ. I want us to see that. I don't mean a kind of Christ.

[46:12] I mean he's a prefigurement of Christ. He typifies Christ. He's the type, Christ is the anti-type. He fulfills, Christ fulfills what Moses was setting before us. And so as we go throughout, we're going to see ways again and again how Moses points us to Jesus Christ.

[46:27] And I've said some of that already. One of the things I haven't pointed you to is that Moses, like Jesus, identifies with the suffering of his people in order that he may save them. He identifies with the suffering of his people.

[46:39] He enters into their suffering that he might be their savior. And that's exactly what we see Christ doing. Christ humbled himself and took on human flesh and became obedient even to the point of death.

[46:51] That he might save his people. And so where Moses does this to an extent, Christ does it to the greatest extent. He gives his life for his people. He leaves not, we talked about how great it might be to be in Pharaoh's house or how great it might be to be Elon Musk adopted son.

[47:12] Jesus was in heaven with God the Father. He was eternally with God the Father and God the Spirit together. Father in perfect love, in a perfect environment, and he leaves that to come to earth.

[47:27] He entered into our suffering that he might be our savior. What a glorious savior he is. Secondly, I want to encourage you that we're called to identify with God's people even when it results in suffering or persecution.

[47:41] No matter what it may take, I still pray and hope that there will be some of you who will go to some of the hardest places of this world. The 1040 window, places where Christians are being killed.

[47:52] And we're reminded there, in maybe ways we don't know here now, but we may one day know here, that we are to identify with God's people no matter the cost. Even if that means death, we don't give up on Christ.

[48:08] Why? Because we're greedy. We want something better than life. We want something better than keeping our heads even. we want to be with him. And so, if we're going to have that kind of mentality when we face persecution, I want to say even a pioneer missionary mentality, if we're going to have that kind of mentality, how are we going to get it?

[48:26] Well, I think we have to realize that we have to forsake the world now for Christ. We have to be less consumed with the world, far, far less consumed with the world, and set our sights on the eternal reality.

[48:38] So when the time comes, we're used to it. It's not some new decision we have to make. Our whole life has been choosing Christ over those things. Thirdly, why do we find it so hard to live by faith like Moses and forsake the world?

[48:54] Well, I think the major answer for us is unbelief. I know none of us like to say that. We believe. We're believers. We're Christians. But the reason why we find this hard is because of unbelief.

[49:06] Do we really believe the scriptures when they say that our joy is to be found in God? That's hard for us to know because the things of this world, they're physical. They're things we can touch.

[49:17] They're things we can experience. We can enjoy them in a day. It's harder for us to understand and realize that there's greater joy to be had in eternity or in God that's intangible.

[49:28] But here's what God's word says. And my question is, do we believe God's word? So hear God's word and tell me, is that what you believe? And if it is what you believe, how does it affect how we live?

[49:38] So you guys know one of my favorite verses, Psalm 1611. In your presence, in God's presence, is fullness of joy and at his right hand are pleasures forevermore.

[49:50] And I've told you before, what's great about this fullness of joy, which is something we will never experience in this life. All the joys we get are, they're minuscule joys. They're great. Some of them are wonderful. But they don't really fill us up with joy.

[50:03] They point us to go for something that's more joyous still. And they're temporary. They don't last. Family members will pass away.

[50:14] We love them, but they will die. I mentioned food. We could enjoy the steak, but an hour from now we'll probably forget it unless it's giving us heartburn.

[50:26] It doesn't last, does it? The drug addict needs another hit tomorrow. The alcoholic has to take another drink. Right? Whatever the joys we're pursuing, it doesn't last.

[50:37] And what does God's word tell us? In his presence is fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore. If we believe that, would we not stop pursuing joy in everything else? And again, God's given us legitimate joys in this life, but they're meant to point us to him.

[50:52] Will we start making idols out of those things? Psalm 34, 8. Taste and see that the Lord is good. Psalm 37, 4. Delight yourself in the Lord.

[51:03] Philippians 4, 4. Rejoice in the Lord. And again, I say rejoice. Psalm 73. Whom have I in heaven but you and beside you I desire nothing on earth?

[51:15] Do you believe that? Is that true for you? Whom have I in heaven but you and beside you I desire nothing on earth? My flesh and my heart may fail. Just my life, guys.

[51:27] My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Then will I go to God my exceeding joy. And of course, we have his word that tells us enter into the joy of your master.

[51:45] Do we believe those realities? Do we live like we believe them? Fourthly, I want to encourage you that if we're going to get there, we need a bigger view of God and the gospel and a deeper love for God and the gospel.

[52:01] If we want to be less in love with the world, there may be ways in which we try to just kill that desire for the world. We can go through these steps, but let me encourage you the greatest way to have less love for the world is to love God more.

[52:18] Nothing kills sin like the enjoyment of God. If you realize that sin will mean I have to deprive myself of the joy I have in God and you really enjoying God, you don't want to do that.

[52:30] You don't want to give up that joy. You don't want to give up the lesser reward. I mean, give up the greater reward for the lesser reward. John Flavel says it this way. He says, it is a duty. He's a Puritan.

[52:41] He says, it is a duty and wisdom of every Christian to renounce, deny, and forsake all inferior interest and enjoyment when they come in competition with the glory of God and our enjoyment of him.

[52:57] So it's our duty to deny, forsake, and renounce inferior things that come in competition with God and the enjoyment of him and his glory.

[53:09] Do we view life that way? Are we thinking that way? My guess is that oftentimes we're welcome in all kind of stuff that competes with God for joy. I think if we have that foundation, then we can heed the commandment of God.

[53:24] And just want to encourage you again as we think about this. What I see Moses doing is what we see God's word commanding us to do. John 2, 15 through 17. Do not love the world or the things in the world.

[53:37] If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life is not from the Father, but it's from the world.

[53:50] And the world is passing away along with its desires. But whoever does the will of God abides forever. Romans 12, 1 through 2. I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God to present your bodies as living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

[54:06] Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. And then Colossians 3, 1 through 4. If then you have been raised with Christ, seat the things that are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

[54:22] Set your minds on things that are above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, if your life appears, then you will appear with him in glory.

[54:37] And so we're encouraged over and over again in God's word not to love the world and to set our sights on what's eternal, to set our sights on Christ. That's what I'm encouraging you to do. That's what I see Moses doing.

[54:48] Why are these things recounted of his 40 years of life? Why does it matter that he protected this Hebrew? That he left Egypt and lived in Midian?

[54:58] Because all of this is telling us that he's renounced the wealth of Egypt to identify with God's people. He set his sights on that which is eternal. He set his sights on God.

[55:11] Now, that would be the right place to close. I want to give maybe somewhat of a teaser because as I'm going through this, we just read verse 14.

[55:23] It's part of what I'm covering today and yet I didn't spend much time on it. I want to point you to verse 14 because it's going to be very significant, Lord willing, next week. Moses, after saving the life of one Hebrew, he steps in when two Hebrews are fighting with each other.

[55:40] They're arguing with each other. It seems as though he actually tries to decide the case. It says, 13, they were struggling together and he said to the man in the wrong, he's decided who's right and who's wrong.

[55:53] He's judged the case. He says to the one who's in the wrong, why do you strike your compatriot or your companion, your brother as it were? And listen to the Hebrews response.

[56:04] He says, who made you a prince and a judge over us? That question, I believe, is a significant question. Now, I haven't even touched on it today, but let me just say in the coming weeks and in particular next week, I hope to deal with that question.

[56:21] Who made you a prince and judge over us? You may remember in my introduction to the book of Exodus that I argued that this is one of the things that I think Moses is doing in the book. So this question is put here for a reason.

[56:33] Moses is going to show in the book of Exodus that God has made him a judge of his people. And that's going to be established in the weeks ahead. But I didn't want to just blow past that question and not go back and say, that question is important.

[56:45] And I'm not just skipping it. Lord willing, we'll deal with that more in the weeks ahead. Let's close in prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word and how it instructs us, how it teaches us, how it points us to Christ, our Savior.

[57:07] Lord, we pray that in this, in Moses' behavior, his actions, that we will see our Savior, Jesus Christ. And yet, Lord, we will also see an example for us that we would not identify with this world. Lord, there's so many appealing things about our culture and our world today that want to suck us in.

[57:27] Lord, help us to know how to live in this world. Help us to know foremost that we would not be in love with this world or the things of this world, but that we would set our sights upon you, upon Christ who's seated at your right hand, upon eternal life, and the heavenly reward that awaits us.

[57:50] Lord, we pray that we would have a holy greed in us that would not let us settle for lesser pleasures, pleasures that will not satisfy us, that will keep us hungry, maybe even that will make us feel empty inside.

[58:07] Lord, may we know joy in you and in your Son, in whose name we pray. Amen. Amen.