The beginning of the battle
Category: Suffering, Trials & Burdens
Key Passage: Exodus 4:27
Speaker: Paul Chisgar
Date: June 7, 2024
Turn your Bibles, if you would, to Exodus chapter number four. Exodus chapter number four. In God’s Word tonight, Exodus chapter number four, and the title for the internet would be “The Beginning of the Battle.” This is it, and the battle’s just beginning, heating up over in Egypt.
This is kind of the start of it all. Kickoff, amen. We might have the kickoff of the game. It’s exciting.
The Lord has gotten Moses ready. From day one, He was preparing him. And, of course, born as a Levite and group, I would say the first years, we don’t know how long, in his mom and dad’s house. And then a couple years into it, I’d say he went over to Pharaoh’s court as Pharaoh’s daughter and was raised there. God was preparing him there.
And then that 40 years, boy, a big change came. He knew what he was supposed to do, but he went about it all the wrong way and his own power, and he fell flat on his face and he ended up running to the backside of the desert. He’s over there for 40 years, and God’s kind of showing him, “I use nobody’s now.”
At that point, God appeared to him in the burning bush. Remember that? Take off your shoes, standing on Holy Ground, and God said, “I got something for you to do. We’re going to go back to what originally you’re supposed to do, but now you’re ready to go.”
And Moses said, “I can’t do it.” And God said, “You can’t do it, but you can’t without Me. I can do it through you.”
We’ve been discussing that for the last several Wednesday nights about that important confirmation from God, the calling from God.
And Moses went back to his father-in-law, Jethro, and he said, “Well, I’m going to go to Egypt,” and didn’t tell him the whole thing he’s going to do, but so go back to Egypt, and Jethro said, “Go in peace.” And they headed out to Egypt.
You remember last week we talked about it? God said, “No, wait a second, Moses. You’re going to go to Egypt to deliver My firstborn. I’m going to end up killing the firstborn of the Egyptians over there that don’t have the blood applied. And you don’t have your firstborn, your son’s right.”
And what in the world, Moses, you’ve got to get your family right, got to get your son right before I can use you. And actually, his wife, the poor, finally she took care of business and circumcised their son, and God said, “All right, that’s the covenant” made way back underneath Abraham.
And Moses is ready now. And we’re going to pick it up right there in chapter number four and verse number 27 tonight.
Exodus 4, we’re going to start in verse number 27.
And the Lord said to Aaron, “Aaron’s back in Egypt. Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” And he went and met him in the Mount of God. That would be Mount Sinai, Mount Horam, same place.
And he kissed him. And that’s tradition there. I got to explain a little bit there. And there’s a friendly meeting. I wonder, they’re bonded. I don’t know, maybe they’ve seen each other the last 40 years, but maybe not. And a warm greeting.
And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him and all the signs which He had commanded him.
I don’t know. I just had this thought. Just had this thought. But maybe, of course, brothers, Aaron three years older, but maybe when they were young, they talked about these dreams: “Wouldn’t it be amazing if God uses somebody to deliver the children of Israel?” Wouldn’t that be amazing? Maybe they talked about it as little boys. I don’t know.
Moses, when he was 40, he knew what he was supposed to do. Maybe instead of playing cowboys and Indians or whatever, maybe let’s play Hebrews and Egyptians, you know. Hebrews, I don’t know. God’s bringing them together and God’s going to use them together. And just awesome how God used them.
“Where the Lord guides, He provides.” Moses, “I’ve got a job for you.” “Well, I can’t even talk.” “Well, I made your mouth. I’m going to be with you.” But all right.
Where God guides, He provides. The Lord will never lead you to where He will not provide for you. When God calls you to do a work, He’ll provide the things, the personnel, the people. God doesn’t call the equipped; He equips those He calls.
Aaron was hundreds of miles away. It’s amazing. I’ll be honest, it’s amazing if you research a little bit how far, biblically, where we think Mount Sinai to Egypt, where they’re out—it’s amazing the difference. They’re not to be exactly sure. The majority think they know where Mount Sinai is, but some will even debate that. Nobody would argue it’s hundreds of miles. It could be about 250 to up to 400, over 400 miles. And they didn’t have Lear jets, they didn’t have buses. They didn’t have bicycles back then, as far as I know, you know, I mean, never read it in the Bible. I mean, that’s the long ways. And Aaron’s way over there.
But God provided for Moses what he needed in the middle of the desert. God sent Aaron all the way over. I don’t know why. Some say, “Well, why didn’t God just bring Moses all the way over there to Egypt?” I’m not exactly sure why. Maybe they needed that trip where they were together to get bonded before they’re faced up against Pharaoh. But Aaron came. Maybe Moses was just in a state of fear, maybe a little bit, panic. He just had some issues with his family. Maybe he wouldn’t have gone if Aaron hadn’t come.
But he’s hundreds of miles away, but God provided what Moses needed. If God’s called you to do something, however big or little it is, don’t be fearful about the provision, whether it be personnel or finance—what, God can handle that. Right in the middle of the desert, God provided what Moses needed. God can provide for you. If God called you there, God knew what you needed to accomplish. You can handle that.
It’s amazing how God, over the years at Rutherford County Baptist Church, how God has provided the people we need. Now, I could say so many—we could go back from the very beginning and, you know, to hear—but I thought about it recently in the last year and a half or so. Even tonight, tonight’s a classic case. Patrick and Marlin, of course, nobody knew there would have been a car accident. And yet God had some people from a foreign country drive all the way down from New York. I mean, can I use the word “Yankee” in church? Would that be all right? Well, honestly, man, a great couple. God, they just found it, don’t lie, and started watching on YouTube and all that. And I’m just saying there’s so many others that we can cite. But God provides the people you need, finances you need.
When I’ve told this before, you know the story, but I think it would be an encouragement. Some of you may not know it, but I think it’ll be just to be reminded. We were trying to get the loan for the new property, and that’s a hefty amount for a church our size. And just a touch before we were putting in for the loan, I just thought of this: the banker that would typically use, for some reason, he had found our church on YouTube and been watching on YouTube. And he said, “Man, that sermon you preached,” so we’re going to go. He said, “That is my life right there.” I thought, “Wow, I don’t even know how. I haven’t talked to him in a while.” How in the world do you know? But God was preparing him.
And then remember, we needed a roof at the time here at the church. And praise the Lord, insurance paid for it. And then, Brother Michael McNeil did a wonderful job putting it on, but by the time I got it on there, he realized there was just a slight color difference. I mean, even at the beginning of it, most people never ever saw it. I don’t know if I would have seen it unless he said, “You see that?” And I said, “Well, okay, now that you say it, you know.” I don’t even know if you can see it nowadays, really. I don’t know. We’d have to look sometime in the sunshine. It’s on this side of it here. But you have to look really close, but it bothered Michael McNeil. He wanted everything perfect for his church. I said, “Praise the Lord, man, you know.” And he went after the shingle company that provided a man. He was after me, you know, and I thought, “All right, we’ll do whatever we can to help out.” He did all the work.
Here’s the thing: We got a brand new roof, insurance paid for it, and we got $20,000 back in the church account. You ever heard of anything? A new roof and you got $20,000 in the bank when it’s all said and done, didn’t pay a dime? Anybody ever heard of that? And that kind of looks good when they’re checking your books, you know, to see if they can give you a loan. “Wow, you just got $20,000. Boom, how did that happen?” God, that’s how it happened. I mean, I’m just saying God provides.
I never forget the very first church service in the little bitty, makeshift auditorium. And, hey, you know, it’s my first Sunday, you know, and you’re doing it. First, you got to do it all. I mean, you know, you, you, you’re the—you cook the food and you serve it, and you wash the dishes out. You do it all, you know. But I tried to prepare, you know, for the song service and the visitor cards and the offering, and, oh yeah, it’s the first Sunday—way to happen to that, you know. And I forgot one detail: the invitation song number. I never forget, you know, I mean, we had 42 that day, half of them weren’t from out of town, and about half, I’d say. But I wasn’t ready for that, and I got it. We’re going. All right, we’re going to pray, and then we’re going to sing the invitation song. What are we going to sing? You know, my mind went blank, and I didn’t have it, couldn’t find if I’d wrote it down. And a man sitting over here decided to come.
And praise the Lord, he’s a missionary today. He’s been on the mission field now for, I don’t know how many years, in Cambodia. And God really worked his heart. But he’s sitting over here. He had been in church before. And he said, “Are you looking for?” And I don’t know what it was. I don’t know if it’s one of the typical invitations on. But he said, “Are you looking for such and such on page number such and such?” I thought, “That’s exactly what I’m looking for.”
And my heart says, “Hey, I’m going to provide the people you need right when you need it, the very first Sunday.” I’m just saying God always—He always, if He calls you to do something, don’t let the devil kind of flip your head: “I can’t do that.” Oh, God always provides what you need. Always does. Plenty of you can tell stories how God has provided the people, the vehicle, or the finances. Or just talking about Marlin, and boy, it’s been tough with this situation, all these surgeries, but God’s provided just the right doctor that they know to help them get to the right doctor they need to know. And God’s—He always provides in such unique ways. God here is providing for Moses.
Moses is trying to head back to Egypt. He stops at the mount, and God says, “I’m going to send you who you need right there in the middle of the desert.” Aaron shows up. God spoke to Aaron. By the way, Moses didn’t even go looking for Aaron. God just sent him. That’s the way God works.
Let’s keep going. We’re going to try to cover a lot of territory tonight. We’re just going to try to go fairly quick if we can. We’ll see how that goes.
Verse number 29 right here, verse number 29: “And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel.” So they’re in Egypt, getting all the leaders together. And Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken unto Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people. Help me out. What were the signs? Remember three signs? What were they? Help me out. Water to blood? Good, good, good. The snake? And the hand, right, right, putting the hand in the bosom—that’s it, that’s it. They did the signs.
Verse number 31: “And the people believed.” Oh, that’s always nice. Praise the Lord for that. And when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel, that He had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.
Moses and Aaron did a wise thing. They got the people on board. They kind of rallied the people and got the people unified for at least the first beginning of the battle, you know. And boy, they’re on board. They’re unified. And that’s just a wonderful thing. The people believe God.
Can I just say a word here real quickly on this point here? You’ve been so good over the years about… I think about we’re going to start the school. I called the man that runs the Tennessee Association of Christian Schools, and he said, “First thing you need to do, Pastor, you need to get your people on board.” I said, “Praise the Lord, our people, man, they’re on board already. They’re excited. They’re ready to go.” I appreciate that. Some churches, “We’re going to do something for God.” “Well, you do it, buddy, but I ain’t going to do nothing,” you know, that type of attitude. You know, “Well, just make me then, would you?” You know, you’re not like that. I appreciate it. It’s awesome.
And you’ve been patient to build it. I thought we’d build an early start in 2020. We haven’t. And you’ve been good about it. And we’re going to try to be patient, wait on the Lord. You’re so good about that. March 19th, man, I’m excited. I told my wife the other day, I said, “I’m excited about March 19th,” and boy, I’m just looking forward to it and trying to keep it in front of the people, but I said, “I don’t know if it’s catching,” you know, but here lately, seems like it’s catching with some people. So I’ve got my neighbors coming or my co-worker coming up. Praise the Lord, amen. I appreciate people that will and say, “All right, let’s do this for God.”
And that’s what’s happening. Moses and Aaron and the people, and they said, “Yes, sir,” they believe God. And it was exciting. They got on board. Wonderful, wonderful thing.
We’re going to jump to chapter five. We’re going to try to finish chapter number five tonight. I feel a wave of disbelief coming across about that right there. We’ll see what happens on it. But we’re going to go quick tonight, chapter number five and verse number one: “And afterward, Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh.”
So they got the people together, the leaders, now they’re going to Pharaoh. And look what happens. “Thus saith”—they’re talking to Pharaoh now, world leader, most powerful man in the world, humanly speaking—“Thus saith the Lord,” that’s capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D, that’s Jehovah. “Thus saith the Jehovah, God of Israel.”
First time He’s been addressed exactly like that in all the Bible up to that point. Pharaoh, hey, the God of the Hebrews is Jehovah God. That’s what he said. “Thus saith the Lord, God of Israel, let My people go.” Boy, I like that. Pharaoh didn’t like it, but I like it. I mean, you can see them. They’re coming in both sides of town on the same street, you know, they got their guns ready. That’s what’s happening right here. Moses, Aaron, and Pharaoh and his—they’re coming in. Here it is right here: “Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, let My people go, that they may hold a feast unto Me in the wilderness.”
By the way, by the way, that’s what God had said over chapter 3, verse number 18. He said, “Just start with that. I’m going to take you all the way out, but just start with that.” That’s what Moses and Aaron are doing.
Verse number two: “And Pharaoh said, ‘Who is this Lord, Jehovah? Who is that?’” You’re about to find out who He is, buddy. I mean, you’re going to have a rude introduction with Him here real soon, you know. “‘Who is this Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go.’”
Oh, he just made a mistake. Oh, it’s not going to be good. Not going to be good for you, buddy. Oh, my goodness, you better find a hole and crawl in it or something. You just did a bad thing right there.
Let me say something about it. Would you notice? Chapter number five, the beginning of this contest, you do not find right here God hardening his heart. Now, you’ll find it later on once he makes this decision. Aaron said, “Hey, I ain’t letting them go.” God said, “All right, you want to go that way? I ain’t letting you out of you’re going that way.”
But you don’t find here at the beginning of it God hardening His heart. You’ll find it many times later on. We’ll read it over and over again. But at the beginning here, Pharaoh made the decision. That’s people that die and go to hell. They make that decision to die and go to hell. God doesn’t make the decision. You’re going to be saved. You’re going to be lost. They make the decision. Pharaoh made the decision. Now, God hardens him later on. Boy, Pharaoh, you made a bad—oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, Pharaoh, you shouldn’t have gone there, but he did. God’s going to harden his heart in him.
Let me say, in the coming weeks, we’re going to study this battle and these ten plagues, and it can seem that kind of like God said, “Well, let me just see. What can I do to pester them? I’ll just—I’ll make some frogs, you know, or give them lice. How about that? That’ll be a fun one,” you know.
But it was, it was, if you study it out in the coming weeks, every single one of these plagues was against the Egyptian gods. They had thousands of gods. Every single one of these plagues was about—it’s really not a battle of Moses and Pharaoh. It’s a battle of the gods, if you will: Jehovah God and these little false gods. Did they have some power? Yes, we’ll find out they had some power.
But friend, friend, every single time God has a reason. It has just calculated the plague that He pours out to show them the folly and the weakness of their little puny gods. Every single time. It’s amazing.
In fact, look over in chapter number 12, if you would please. This is the last plague that He brings on Egypt, the death of the firstborn and the Passover for the children of Israel. And I want you to notice how God words this. This is at the end pretty much of the contest. Exodus 12 in verse number 12 right there. He says, “For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night and will smite all the firstborn of the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and against all the—what? Gods of Egypt.” Oh, yeah, God, God, He’s nailing them. He’s sending one of those missiles, I mean, just guided missiles, boom, it hits one of their gods every single time, boom. “Against all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. I’m Jehovah.”
And so you’ll see it as we study in the coming weeks. God’s just knocking out their little puny gods so bad every single time. They have a god of the frogs. We’ll get to that. But after a while, they weren’t supposed to kill frogs. Well, man, you wake up in the morning and frogs are in your bed, and you put your slippers on and frogs are in your slippers. And you try to cook that egg and frogs hop in. I mean, I like frog legs. Anybody else ever eat frog legs? But I like to plan on eating out and all that. I like for that hat before they were jumping the fries. But I mean, after a while, I’m sure the Egyptians said, “I’m so sick of these frogs. I’ll kill them. I don’t care if they are gods.” But I’m just saying every single time these plagues, God’s just wiping their gods out. It’s awesome. Awesome. And we’ll study that in the coming weeks.
We’re back over here at the beginning of chapter number five. We’re going to finish this chapter. We’ve got to hurry along. You’re making me stop for all these things. It’s all your fault. I better duck when the tomatoes come this way, you know. We’re going to try to hurry.
We’re in verse number three there, verse number three, chapter number five. And, oh, I got to find a place myself.
And they said, “The God of the Hebrews hath met with us.” Now, if you can tell somebody that and you mean it, that’s wonderful. You can tell somebody and you mean it, everything’s going to be all right. “God met with me.” I mean, you just say that, man alive. Miss Robin, when Brother Mike was in the ICU and he was kind of hanging in between life and death, she told me that one day. She said, “I had to go get in my closet.” And I thought I knew what she meant, but I wasn’t sure what she meant. And she said, “I went down and got in the car.” She said, “It didn’t take long. But I was in the car alone with the Lord,” and she said, “I met with the Lord, and I’ve been all right since then.” Man, if you can say, “The Lord met with me,” everything’s going to be all right.
That’s what they’re saying right there. They’re talking to Pharaoh, and they said, “The God of the Hebrews hath met with us. Let us go, we pray.” Now, they’re being nice about it. “We pray thee. We ask them, we pray thee, three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice unto the Lord our God, lest He fall upon us with pestilence and with sword.” Now they’re being super nice. I mean, maybe even overly, I don’t know. “We’ve got to do it or else God’s going to get us.” Well, okay, you know.
And the king of Egypt said unto them, “Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works? Get you unto your burdens.” And Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye make them rest from their burdens.” And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying, “Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick as hithertofore. Let them go and gather straw for themselves.”
By the way, just a side note, archaeologists have dug up bricks over there in that part that are made of straw. They have straw in there. Usually not on the top level, but there are bricks there that have straw in them. Of course, we know it’s true because the Bible says so.
Isn’t it amazing when you try to do right, so often it gets a little worse? Here’s what’s going to happen: Somebody—the preacher is going to preach on tithing. “God will bless you. He’ll rebuke the devourer.” “I need a—I got a curse on me. I’m not tithing.” And you’re going to tithe. Boy, this is a stretch. First fruits. “I’m going to give my first fruits.” “All right, Lord, you know, I don’t.” And so you put your tithe in the offering plate. I passed it alone. And Brother Tim’s taking the offering, and he thinks about putting it—he doesn’t steal it. He leaves it in the offering plate. That’s a good thing right there. But anyway, you put your tithe in there, and you’re like, man, this is going to be a stretch. And you know what’s going to happen? Your car’s going to break down. I’m just telling you. I mean, the hot water heater is going to go out. I mean, you know, the dog’s going to get sick, and nowadays they’ve got to take it to the vet, and they want an arm and a leg, you know, and they said, “Nothing we can do after it’s all over anyway,” you know.
But here’s what I’m saying: More often than not, it’s going to get worse before it gets better. Now, talk to someone that’s tithed for six months or longer. Talk to somebody who’s tithed for about a year or two or 40 or 50. You know, I guarantee this—oh man, God’s promises are true. You just ask. I guarantee you ask somebody who’s tithed very long, and they’ll say, “You can’t explain it, you can’t put it on paper.” It’s just amazing. God’s—God’s Word’s true. He’ll rebuke the devourer. It’s just amazing. But I guarantee you when you first start, the lawnmower won’t run. I mean, car broke down, flat tires. It’s just so typical. Hang on, friend. That’s not the end; this is just the beginning of the thing here. I think, yes, it got a little worse at the beginning, that yes, Pharaoh said, “Stop giving them straw.”
But hang on there. God’s Word’s still true. I’ve watched it. It’s amazing the first time somebody goes out sowing with us. That’s always an event. It’s just an exciting day. And it seems like—I don’t know, I don’t know if I have a Bible verse for this—but it’s just amazing. It seems like typically, not always, but typically, the first time they go out, either God blesses in a great way and people get saved—I mean, I like to go the first time people go out because a lot of times people get saved—or it’s horrible. I mean, they throw the kitchen sink at you, you know. I mean, you just never know. But those that just go faithfully… Hey. He said, “You shall come again with her joy and bring in the sheaves with him.” It works. They’re out there. But I’m just saying when you obey, so often they go through a time of testing.
And so it got a little worse at the beginning. Pharaoh said, “Don’t give them any straw.” They got to gather their own straw, but don’t let up. They got to make 10,000 bricks a day. No, don’t lower it a bit in the world. They’re lazy. They’re wanting to go worship their God and Moses there and having conferences with these people. Fully on all that. Give them more work to do. That’s where we’re at, all right?
Now, we’re not going to read 9 through 13, all right. We’re going to try to hurry along with time. But the Israelites could not keep up the production. They’re falling behind, all right? That’s what’s going on.
Now look in verse number 14, verse number 14 of chapter 5: “And the officers of the children of Israel, which Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and demanded, ‘Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and today and heretofore, as heretofore?’”
Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, “Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants? There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us, ‘Make brick,’ and behold, thy servants are beaten, but the fault is not in—is in thine own people.”
But he said, “Ye are idle, idle. Therefore you say, ‘Let us go and do sacrifice to the Lord.’ Go therefore now and work, for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall you deliver the tale of bricks.”
And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case after it was said, “Ye shall not diminish aught from your bricks of your daily task.”
Now, hard times came. If you’re doing right, don’t think everything’s going to be a bed of roses.
But friend, even when you’re going through the hard times, remember the bigger picture. God’s doing something here. God’s working. When you’re going through a hard time, the promises of God are still true. First Corinthians 10:13, He’ll still make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it. His grace is sufficient.
God’s doing something. He may be changing the whole scheme of things. He’s probably changing you very much going through it all. He’s doing things you don’t even know He’s always doing. He’s working. Don’t lose heart when the hard times come. That’s part of it. Don’t get bitter. Don’t get mad. Don’t throw in the towel. Oh, oh, oh, oh. Jesus had to go through tough times. He was tested also. Yeah, God’s doing something. He’s working. Every word’s true. You just hang on till you see. In the end, you’ll say, “Wow, every word’s true.” But part of it’s going through tough times. Jesus didn’t take a detour around the hard times. He is tested too, more than we can imagine.
Let’s look and see what happens. Verse number 20. This is a little bit of a sad part, but I want you to see it. Verse number 20: “And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way as they came forth from Pharaoh.” Now, these are the foremen of the jobs. They went to Pharaoh to complain. “Well, we can’t produce the same amount of bricks because you’re not providing straw.” Pharaoh said, “So you’re not getting straw, you go get the straw, and we’re not lowering your production rate, not a bit in the world.” And they’re leaving from Pharaoh’s court, and they find Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way as they came forth from Pharaoh, and they said unto them, “The Lord, Jehovah, look upon you and judge, because ye have made our savor to be a horror in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.”
Has Moses done anything wrong? Moses just followed the Lord’s will. Aaron just listened to the Lord, but they were being accused. They were being blamed. They were basically saying, “You’re being a poor testimony. Now Pharaoh can’t stand Jehovah. He abhors our Savior now.” Why? They’re accusing Moses.
Can I say this? Be careful putting too much confidence in people. Just a couple of verses ago, they were all unified, but the tough times changed them. And people are wonderful, but be careful. They’re just people. And I love people, but boy, it can be hard. But when you’re doing right, you’re going to be accused. Can I just say that you’ll be accused? If you’re doing God’s will, it’s going to come in some form or some fashion. You’ll be accused. It’s just part of it. It’s going to happen.
I can’t remember somebody—I can’t remember who it was, but, boy, that’s a wonderful—I’ll remember who it is now—somebody doing God’s will and somebody’s accusing them. And what a wonderful promise over there. I think it’s Isaiah 54:17. Would you look that up, please? Isaiah 54:17, a wonderful promise when you get accused, and you will. “Well, you’re just too mean on those kids.” “You shelter them too much.” “You go to church all the time.” You just hear it in some form or something. “You’re always witnessing. You’re driving people away from the Lord Jesus.” “Those tracts turn people off.” You just hear it. I don’t know what it was that like, but you’ll hear it, you’ll hear it, part of it.
Here’s a wonderful promise, a wonderful promise in God’s Word when you’re accused. If you do right, you’ll be accused. I love it. Isaiah 54:17: “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper. And every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn.” This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of Me, saith the Lord. I like that last part. You said, “Well, I’m not perfect.” Your righteousness doesn’t come from you when it comes to the Lord.
Oh, friend, how many—some of our bus workers, you’re going to hear this if you haven’t: “Well, you bribe those kids to come to church.” I remember as a teenager, you had a bus route, and our bus director, he printed up the definition of “bribe” and “reward” out of the dictionary, and he said, “Take this with you.” And he had copied it out of the dictionary. Bribe is enticing someone to do wrong. And rewarding is rewarding or awarding someone for doing right. And you tell them, “Hey, we’re awarding them for coming to church.” But that doesn’t matter. You can show them in black and white all you want. You’re just going to be accused. It’s just part of it. And somewhat, you just have to get used to it. And don’t get off from the fight. Satan’s our adversary. It’s just part of it for him. “Well, if he weren’t so old school, you’d have a bigger church.” We’re not trying to do all that. We’re trying to honor the Lord. But it doesn’t matter who or what you do; you’re going to be accused.
And Moses and Aaron are following the will of God, and they’re accused. That’s just part of it.
Now here’s what’s even harder. You’re going to be accused. Diomede, when he was younger, he had the pre-bus ministry. It was called the horse and buggy ministry, and he’d get all the ragamuffins from Chicago that he could, all the kids, and he’d bring them into Sunday school, and they called him Crazy Moody. Crazy, but he won’t do anything to get kids in Sunday school? Yep, sure will. Moses, word of God, amen.
Here’s the hard part. Look over in Psalm 55. Psalm 55, we’re going to get done with this thing. We’ve got to hurry along. Psalm 55. This is David. And I want you to see what David says in Psalm 55. And look at verse number 12, would you please? Psalm 55, verse number 12. This is what makes it so tough. You kind of expect it from the world. They’re going to shoot at you. But here’s what really hurts.
Look in verse number 12: “For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it. Neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him. But it was thou: a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance.” It was the children of Israel that were coming at Moses, and they expected Pharaoh to do that. But it was their own brother, and those that were on their side—they were unified with them a little bit ago—now the same people that are coming at them. That’s tough.
Job did pretty good, really, losing all that. He really did. And it made just seem like it was doing so good until his friends started accusing him. That’s always the tough part. But can I say again, it’s part of it. You know the Bible says Peter rebuked Jesus? Jesus, “Man, I got to go to the cross. You’re going to suffer and die.” Peter rebuked Jesus. Wow. You know what’s saying? “Hey, Peter, you know what you’re doing? You know, this is God you’re rebuking.” That’s what the Bible says.
Judas—it was one of Jesus’ apostles—came and kissed Jesus on the cheek, Judas. He’d been with Jesus. And yet, Jesus said, “Friend, don’t let it get you.” Satan, he’ll try to get you fighting the wrong battle. God’ll take care of that. Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord, “I will repay.” Don’t get caught up in the fight. Don’t fight with him.
By the way, all of us from time to time have been there, maybe to accuse someone. By the way, I’d rather be the one that gets accused than the one accusing my brother. But it happens. Don’t let it stop you. Don’t let it just hinder you. Don’t let it get you bent out of shape, mad and angry and bitter. I say this so often, but in basketball, they say it’s never—typically never. I shouldn’t say never, but it’s very seldom the first elbow that gets thrown. The refs usually miss that. It’s always the guy that retaliates; it gets called. And, boy, that’s Christianity. You don’t retaliate. You’re in pretty good company. Moses and Aaron got—Jesus got accused by His closest people.
Verse number 22, we’re going to finish this thing up, but Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Lord, wherefore hast Thou so evil entreated this people? Why is it that Thou hast sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Thy name, he hath done evil to this people, neither hast Thou delivered Thy people at all.”
Well, one thing I’ll say for Moses: at least Moses learned who to go to. Oh, I hope you’ll learn to pour your heart out to the Lord. I mean, just get along with God and just all those hurts and pains and questions, pour your heart out. At least Moses—I think as we go through this study of the life of Moses—sometimes I get so frustrated at the children of Israel. Go to God. He’s your God too, but they complained to Moses. Moses… At least Moses is wise enough to know who to go to. Now, I don’t like it. He’s a little bit questioning, accusing God, if you will, but hang on, Moses.
God’s mill usually grinds slow, but it grinds exceedingly fine. When it’s all said and done, Moses… When it’s all said and done, their crops are going to be ruined. Their animals, their flocks are being killed—so many of them. The money that comes home. When it’s all said and done, they’re going to give you their retirement. They would often wear it in their earrings and whatnot. Remember, they borrowed all this stuff. They’re going to pay you for all these years of work. The military is going to be wiped out when it’s all said and done, Moses. Remember, they all die in the Red Sea? They’re firstborn. By the way, the Egyptians owed their firstborn to their gods. They lose them. Moses, just hang on. We get so bent out of shape, God, but they’re going to do something about it. Hey, hang on, friend. Usually at the end of the day, the people that you’re so mad at, you feel sorry for because God, when He works, He works powerfully. But there’s that time when you patiently endure. Just hang on. It’s not all said and done, Moses. Don’t accuse too much. God slowly—He’s got a lot of work to do, but He’s slowly—He begins to take out their gods one after another.
By the way, the whole thing is a wonderful picture. God saves us and then He tries to bring us out of the world. And our god of music or money or immorality or whatever our god may be—just fun, fun, whatever our god is—God slowly shoots at him. And He says, “I’m going to deliver My people.” That’s My people now. And we’ll see God use a strong weapon out there: money. I remember Brother Jerry Hunter when he had open-heart surgery, I believe it was years and years ago. He said, “When I was sitting on that table, open-heart surgery,” he said, “it didn’t matter if I was a president or whatever, no matter how much money; we’re all in the same boat when you’re on that table.” God and money, everything will fail in the end besides Jehovah. God pulls you away from all that and says, “Let My people go to the old world.”
Original File: The beginning of the battle - Pastor Paul Chisgar - Wednesday PM 1252023