You Are My King

Moses encountered God at a burning bush.  He worked through his misunderstandings, doubts, and fears by hearing God’s Word, talking to God in prayer, and discussing it all with others.  Then, he lived out his part of God’s plan, telling Pharaoh to let God’s people go.  Nine plagues and at least as many confrontations later, Pharaoh had still not set God’s people free.

Now the LORD had said to Moses, "I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. After that, he will let you go from here, and when he does, he will drive you out completely. (Exodus 11:1 NIV)

Moses needed to walk through this pattern over and over again before The LORD’s plan was complete.  Even when Pharaoh set God’s people free, he changed his mind and came after them.  Even when Moses and the Israelites crossed the Red Sea and left Pharaoh behind, they needed food and water in the wilderness.  Even when they had food and water, they needed leadership, a justice system, and God’s specific direction for their lives.

While the Israelites were still in the land of Egypt, the LORD gave the following instructions to Moses and Aaron: "From now on, this month will be the first month of the year for you. Announce to the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each family must choose a lamb or a young goat for a sacrifice, one animal for each household. (Exodus 12:1-3 NLT)

That is why the Passover was established for Israel.  The Israelites needed to Encounter God, Make It Real, and Live It Out just like Moses did.  They needed to repeat this pattern over and over again to hear God, trust God, and take another step with God.  They needed reminders that The LORD had set them free, The LORD fed them, The LORD protected them, and The LORD led them to the land promised to their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Israel (Jacob).  They needed to remember that The LORD is their King.

All the Egyptians urged the people of Israel to get out of the land as quickly as possible, for they thought, "We will all die!" The Israelites took their bread dough before yeast was added. They wrapped their kneading boards in their cloaks and carried them on their shoulders. And the people of Israel did as Moses had instructed; they asked the Egyptians for clothing and articles of silver and gold. The LORD caused the Egyptians to look favorably on the Israelites, and they gave the Israelites whatever they asked for. So they stripped the Egyptians of their wealth! That night the people of Israel left Rameses and started for Succoth. There were about 600,000 men, plus all the women and children. (Ex. 12:33-37 NLT)

How about you?  Do you regularly Encounter God, Make It Real, and Live It Out?  Do you have reminders built into your days, weeks, months, and years that The LORD is our King?  Do you live a life that says to God, “You are my King.”?

Live It Out

When Moses encountered God at the burning bush, he did not get on the same page with God right away.  He listened to God’s Word, talked to God in prayer, and then discussed it with other people.  All this helped him make that experience, his faith, and his trust in The LORD real.  This process didn’t just affect Moses.  It affected all the people around him, too.

Then the people of Israel were convinced that the LORD had sent Moses and Aaron. When they heard that the LORD was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped. (Exodus 4:31 NLT)

Then, finally, after this whole process, Moses did what The LORD sent him to do.

After this presentation to Israel's leaders, Moses and Aaron went and spoke to Pharaoh. They told him, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Let My people go so they may hold a festival in My honor in the wilderness." (Exodus 5:1 NLT)

Perhaps you know the rest of the story.  Pharaoh did not give in to The LORD and The LORD’s servant, Moses.  He did not let God’s people go free.

"Is that so?" retorted Pharaoh. "And who is the LORD? Why should I listen to Him and let Israel go? I don't know the LORD, and I will not let Israel go." (Exodus 5:2 NLT)

Living out our faith is not always easy.  Often times there is a struggle involved.  But the struggle against the world is always easier than struggling against God.  The benefits, blessings, and rewards of obedience always far outweigh the hurt, pain, and emptiness that comes from fighting God.  So, we struggle.  We fight the good fight.  We walk together with God and help others to do the same.

But Aaron and Moses persisted. "The God of the Hebrews has met with us," they declared. "So let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness so we can offer sacrifices to the LORD our God. If we don't, He will kill us with a plague or with the sword." Pharaoh replied, "Moses and Aaron, why are you distracting the people from their tasks? Get back to work! Look, there are many of your people in the land, and you are stopping them from their work." (Exodus 5:3-5 NLT)

How about you?  Do you know God’s call on your life?  Do you know what it is that God wants you to do?  Do you live that out?  Do you see the benefits, blessings, and rewards that come from obedience?  Do you enjoy walking together with God?

Make It Real through Discussion

Moses did not immediately go to Pharaoh after his God-encounter at the burning bush.  He listened to God’s Word, yes.  But he didn’t like what he heard – especially the part God was calling Moses to do.  So, he talked it through with God in prayer.  The discussion didn’t go where Moses wanted it to go.  It ended with The LORD still sticking with the plan.  Moses needed to go to Pharaoh.

But Moses again pleaded, "Lord, please! Send anyone else." Then the LORD became angry with Moses. "All right," He said. "What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he speaks well. And look! He is on his way to meet you now. He will be delighted to see you. Talk to him, and put the words in his mouth. I will be with both of you as you speak, and I will instruct you both in what to do. Aaron will be your spokesman to the people. He will be your mouthpiece, and you will stand in the place of God for him, telling him what to say. And take your shepherd's staff with you, and use it to perform the miraculous signs I have shown you." (Exodus 4:13-17 NLT)

At this point, you may think that Moses would go do what The LORD had called him to do.  But, he did not.  Now, he began the next part of his faith-journey process: discussion.

So Moses went back home to Jethro, his father-in-law. "Please let me return to my relatives in Egypt," Moses said. "I don't even know if they are still alive." "Go in peace," Jethro replied. (Exodus 4:18 NLT)

Moses didn’t need to talk to his father-in-law about his God-encounter, but he did.  He even asked permission to leave.  With God commanding Moses’ next steps, this wasn’t really necessary either.  But Moses’ process took him through relationship after relationship, preparing him for the calling that The LORD had placed on his life.  Discussions build our faith so we will do what God calls us to do.

Before Moses left Midian, the LORD said to him, "Return to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kill you have died." So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and headed back to the land of Egypt. In his hand he carried the staff of God. (Exodus 4:19-20 NLT)

Moses would talk things through with his wife and children as well.  On the journey, his boys would need to be circumcised in obedience to The LORD.  Moses’ wife wasn’t too happy about the idea, but they obeyed God as a family anyway.  Discussions influence those around us to do what God calls them to do.

Now the LORD had said to Aaron, "Go out into the wilderness to meet Moses." So Aaron went and met Moses at the mountain of God, and he embraced him. Moses then told Aaron everything the LORD had commanded him to say. And he told him about the miraculous signs the LORD had commanded him to perform. (Exodus 4:27-28 NLT)

God told Moses that he could do this ministry with his brother, Aaron.  God then spoke with Aaron to let him know what was coming.  We don’t have any record of Aaron’s early stages of the process.  How did The LORD appear to Aaron?  We don’t know.  Did Aaron have a conversation with God in prayer like Moses did?  We don’t know.  We do know, however, that Aaron did what The LORD told him to do.  He went to meet Moses.  Then they were ready to take the next step together as a team.  Discussions build teams of people committed to God’s Will.

Then Moses and Aaron returned to Egypt and called all the elders of Israel together. Aaron told them everything the LORD had told Moses, and Moses performed the miraculous signs as they watched. (Ex 4:29-30 NLT)

Finally, Moses and Aaron had a discussion with the elders of Israel.  God did tell Moses to have this discussion as a part of Moses’ “making it real” prayer.  All of this, though, was a part of Moses’ process.  Moses clearly needed to talk things through with people so that he would do what God had called him to do.

How about you?  Do discussions with other people strengthen your faith in what God is calling you to do?  Do your discussions help others around you to do what God is calling them to do?  Do discussions in your life build teams committed to God’s Will?  Do you make your faith real through discussions?

Make It Real through Prayer

Moses encountered God at the burning bush and God brought Moses a message.

Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead My people Israel out of Egypt." (Exodus 3:10 NLT)

Moses heard God’s Word, but his first reaction was not to believe God’s Word, trust God’s Word, or to act upon God’s Word.  In fact, Moses’ reaction was exactly the opposite.  Notice what Moses did.

“Moses protested to God” (Exodus 3:11a [NLT]), “Moses protested” (Exodus 3:13a [NLT]), and “Moses protested again” (Exodus 4:1a [NLT]).  Each time, The LORD had an answer to Moses’ protests.  Each time, God did not let Moses off the hook.  Moses had a job to do.  Moses had a ministry to perform.  Moses was supposed to go to Pharaoh and tell him, “The LORD says, ‘Set my people free.’”

But Moses pleaded with the LORD, "O Lord, I'm not very good with words. I never have been, and I'm not now, even though You have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled." (Exodus 4:10 NLT)

Now Moses has moved from protesting to begging (pleading).  Once again, God is unmoved.  Moses still has a calling from God.

Then the LORD asked Moses, "Who makes a person's mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I, the LORD? Now go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say." (Exodus 4:11-12 NLT)

I don’t know if you’ve ever thought of this process in this way, but Moses is praying to God here.  Prayer is simply conversation with God and Moses is having a conversation with God.  Moses heard God’s Word a whole chapter ago.  Moses knows what God is going to accomplish in general and the part that Moses is supposed to play specifically.  Moses likes God’s general plan, but is not too keen on his specific part.  So, he talks to God.  He protests to God.  He pleads with God.  He is making his faith real through prayer.

But Moses again pleaded, "Lord, please! Send anyone else." (Exodus 4:13 NLT)

How about you?  Do you accept God’s Word and your specific part of The LORD’s plan as soon as you hear it?  Or, like Moses, do you struggle with the specifics?  Do you talk to God about it?  Do you make your faith real through prayer?

Make It Real through God’s Word

Yesterday, we saw that Moses Encountered God at the burning bush even though Moses wasn’t walking together with God at the time.  Moses probably wasn’t even seeking God at the time, but God was seeking him.  So, God got his attention with a burning bush.  Then God began to speak.

"Do not come any closer," the LORD warned. "Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground. I am the God of your father--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." When Moses heard this, he covered his face because he was afraid to look at God. (Exodus 3:5-6 NLT)

Moses knew that he was in trouble.  After all, he was a murderer!  God sought him out and now here he is, barefoot, with nowhere to run.  He is encountering the living God.

Then the LORD told him, "I have certainly seen the oppression of My people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land. It is a land flowing with milk and honey--the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live. Look! The cry of the people of Israel has reached Me, and I have seen how harshly the Egyptians abuse them. (Exodus 3:7-9 NLT)

God had a message to share with Moses, so God communicated in the way Moses understood.  God spoke to Moses with words.  Sometimes I forget about this.  The God who created the heavens and the earth, who still holds all things together, who is everywhere at the same time, takes the time meet us where we are and speak to us in a way we can understand.  God uses words.  Praise God!  These words brought hope and encouragement to enslaved Israelites.  These words also brought a job to Moses.

Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead My people Israel out of Egypt." (Exodus 3:10 NLT)

How about you?  Do you read or listen to God’s Words in The Bible?  Do they bring you a message of hope?  Do they bring you a specific calling from God?  Do you make your faith real through God’s Word?

Encounter God the King

We could look at any of the stories mentioned yesterday to see when they let God be King and when they did not.  In each of them, a pattern starts to emerge.  They go through a process where they decide and then follow through on their decision.  We’re going to look at this process a little closer so we can learn, through them, how to let God be King. We will look at Moses as an example because his story is well known.  Plus, it is detailed enough that we can see the process clearly in his own life.

One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai, the mountain of God. (Exodus 3:1 NLT)

Moses was not a strong “man of God” at the time of his God-Encounter at the burning bush.  Remember, Moses was hiding out in the wilderness because he was wanted for murder (Exodus 2:11-15).  Later, we will find out that his sons were not circumcised to dedicated them to The LORD (Exodus 4:20-26).  When he came upon the burning bush, Moses was not walking together with God.

There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. Moses stared in amazement. Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn't burn up. "This is amazing," Moses said to himself. "Why isn't that bush burning up? I must go see it." (Exodus 3:2-3 NLT)

God, however, wanted to walk with Moses.  So, God did what was necessary to get Moses’ attention.  God does things to get our attention, too.  The question is not whether God is reaching out to us or not.  The question is whether we will notice God’s overtures and draw closer to see what God wants.

When the LORD saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, "Moses! Moses!" "Here I am!" Moses replied. "Do not come any closer," the LORD warned. "Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground. (Exodus 3:4-5 NLT)

Moses wasn’t just encountering a strange fluke of nature.  Moses encountered the living God.

How about you? Are you walking together with God?  Does God want to walk with you?  Do you see The LORD reaching out to get your attention?  Do you draw near to God?  Do you encounter the living God?

Let God be King

We’ve looked at three different kings of Israel throughout this series.  With each one, we find a pattern.  The LORD talks to them and tells them how to walk together with God.  God tells them what will happen when they do.  God also tells them what will happen when they don’t.  Then, God let’s them choose.  Each one had a different pattern of walking with, and walking without, The LORD.  God’s pattern, however, remained the same.  The LORD always keeps promises.
And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the LORD commanded. (1 Kings 11:9-10 ESV)
This pattern extends far beyond the three kings we observed in this series.  In fact, we can look at all of the people we’ve examined so far in the past four series.  Look at these names and think about their stories.  The pattern is there for them, too.
Solomon, David, Saul, Samuel, Judges, Joshua, Moses, Joseph, Jacob (Israel), Isaac, Abraham, Babel, Noah, Cain, Adam & Eve
How about you?  Do you see this pattern in your own life?  When The LORD communicates with you, how often do you listen?  How often do you stray?  Do you let God be King?