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Volume 10 ... #23
Moses Shown By God That He Would Be A Deliverer to the Children of Israel
40 years before the burning bush incident, Moses knew in his heart that he would be a deliverer to the nation of Israel.
Stephen tells us this about Moses.
Acts 7 ... 22 And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds. 23 And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel. 24 And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian: 25 For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not.
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Moses knew ... Then Moses fled Pharaoh and was in another country 40 years. Then when the time was right God brought about the circumstances which would fulfill what Moses knew. And even though Moses fought God at first, we know from above scripture that Moses already understood how God was going to use him to deliver the nation of Israel from Egypt.
Exodus 3 ... 1 Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.
2 And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. 3 And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.
4 And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. 5 And HE said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.
6 Moreover HE said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.
7 And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of My people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; 8 And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
9 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto ME: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth MY people the children of Israel out of Egypt.
(Moses begins to strive with God ... and for a while God is patient with Moses' questions.)
11 And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?
12 And HE (God) said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.
13 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is HIS name? what shall I say unto them?
14 And God said unto Moses, I Am that I Am: and HE said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you.
15 And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is MY name for ever, and this is MY memorial unto all generations.
16 Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt: 17 And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.
18 And they shall hearken to thy voice: and thou shalt come, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and ye shall say unto him, The Lord God of the Hebrews hath met with us: and now let us go, we beseech thee, three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.
19 And I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand.
20 And I will stretch out MY hand, and smite Egypt with all MY wonders which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that he will let you go.
21 And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians: and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go empty: 22 But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.
Exodus 4 ... 1 And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The Lord hath not appeared unto thee.
(Then God makes a way.)2 And the Lord said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod. 3 And HE said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it. 4 And the Lord said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand: 5 That they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee. 6 And the Lord said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow. 7 And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh.
8 And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign. 9 And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land.
(Moses continues to strive against God)
10 And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.
11 And the Lord said unto him, WHO hath made man's mouth? or WHO maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord?
12 Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.
13 And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom THOU wilt send.
14 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and HE said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart. 15 And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do.
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But for more than 40 years, since fleeing Egypt after killing the Egyptian, Moses had known God would use him to deliver his people.
God puts it in our heart.
If you consider yourself to be a "follower", it is unlikely you will be turned into some kind of miracle leader, but spirit of devils might try to convince you so and trouble you making you think you have to do some great work "for God".
But God's yoke is easy and God's burden is light. (Mt. 11)
And the wisdom from God is gentle and "easy to be intreated" (James 3:17)
Don't go along with religious spirits which would try to make you think you have to do some "impossible" thing.
If you are to do an impossible thing, somehow God has long prepared you for this and has shown you long before.
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I was "on stage" all my life from childhood to time I was born again. I was accustomed to performing before crowds of people, first in basketball ...then in drama ... then in music ... then as owner of a secular business ... I knew I was to be "out front" ... I just didn't know in what area.
It was really an easy transition to me when God showed me I would be a "minister", though it seemed impossible to me, but I had long been equipped to do what God had me do.
It wasn't like it was totally new to me to be a leader ... I had been a leader in many worldly areas before I was born again.
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After I was born again, I was sleeping in the night and was transported into heaven. I was with God, with Christ, with the Holy Spirit. At that time, I was "merged into the body of Jesus", God and Holy Spirit witnessing. (It was a spiritual experience, I saw no images.)
A few nights later, the exact same thing happened again.
I thought this happened to all who were born again. I didn't tell anyone what happened to me.
After I found this was not a common experience to Christians, I was reading a book about Exodus and the author explained that when God is going to use a person in an unusual way, God will often give that person some unusual experiences.
This experience of being taken into heaven twice was part of that equipment that was going to be used by God in what I was ordained by God to do.
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So if you've never led people, it is highly questionable that God is going to have you step on stage at age of 75, when you've always seen yourself as a quiet follower ... that's probably another spirit speaking ... and especially if you are driven by fear that you must "do this", for fear you will fail God, then you can be assured that is another spirit trying to drive you.
The devil drives a person while the Holy Spirit leads us.
And when it is God leading us we certainly go forth with joy ... not by fear ...
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