Echoes of Time - Lesson 6 - Moses & Zipporah

Second to Jesus,
Moses is probably one of the most important people
in the history of the world.

We could look at him as the Law Giver,
the one God used to give Israel the written code
that served as a model for many of the law systems in Western societies.

We could also see him as the great deliverer,
the one God used to bring Israel out of slavery;
or as God's prophet,
the one who mapped out God's will and plan for Israel;
or even as the first writer of Scripture.

In our Discipleship II class
Pastor told us we are to look for Jesus
when we read the Old Testament.
We can see many examples of Moses
and Christ having similar experiences.

Both were preserved in childhood
Moses in Exodus 2:2-10
And Jesus in Matthew 2:14-15

Both had to contend with masters of evil
Moses in Exodus 7:11
And Jesus in Matthew 4:1

They both fasted forty days
Moses in Exodus 34:28
And Jesus in Matthew 4:2

They both controlled the sea
Moses in Exodus 14:21
And Jesus in Matthew 8:26

They both fed a multitude
Moses in Exodus 16:15
And Jesus in Matthew 14:20-21


They both had radiant faces
Moses in Exodus 34:35
And Jesus in Matthew 17:2

They both had to endured murmurings
Moses in Exodus 15:24
And Jesus in Mark 7:2

They both made intercessory prayers
Moses in Exodus 32:32
And Jesus in John 17:9

They both had seventy helpers
Moses in Numbers 11:16-17
And Jesus in Luke 10:1

They both established memorials
Moses with the Passover in Exodus 12:14
And Jesus with the Lords Supper in Luke 22:19

They both re-appeared after death
Moses in Matthew 17:3
And Jesus in Acts 1:3

They were both discredited in their home
Moses in Numbers 12:1
And Jesus in John 7:5

The scriptures also state that this will happen to us.
The definition of a prophet is someone who hears the word of God and tells others.

John 4:44, ‘For Jesus himself testified, that a prophet hath no honour in his own country.’

How does this apply to us?





Even before God spoke with Moses in the wilderness,
His people rejected him when he tried to intervene
during a quarrel between two Israelites.

When God called him,
some forty years later from the burning bush in the wilderness,
Moses was no longer as confident in his leading abilities
as he had been before.

So he argued with God
That he really wasn't able to do the things
God was sending him to do.

We might say that Moses became a "reluctant" leader.

What was Moses' reaction to God's call?
He gave four Excuses.

He told the Lord he was personally unfit

Exodus 3:11, ‘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?’

Do you ever say that to God?





He had fears that the people would not believe him

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.’

Do you ever have those same fears?





He said he laced eloquence

Exodus 4:10, ‘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.’

Have you ever thought this about yourself?
What was the Lord’s response to Moses?




Then he finally requests some other leader be sent

Exodus 4:13, ‘And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send.’

It sounds like Moses was praying outside of the will of God
Have you ever done that?




Then, when he returned to Egypt
and began to approach Pharaoh about letting Israel go from their captivity,
things seemed to go badly.

Pharaoh made conditions even worse for the Israelites
than they had been before,
and the Israelites, in turn,
began to grumble about Moses' interference.

They were short sighted
and would have preferred to be left alone
rather than for someone to come along and stir things up,
making things uncomfortable for them.



Then, when in the wilderness,
the children of Israel rebelled against Moses' leadership several times.
When the Israelites were in the wilderness,
they soon fell away from Moses' leadership.
Even though they had seen God's mighty work through Moses
during their escape from Egypt,
they still turned to idol worship
while Moses was receiving the Law from God on Mount Sinai.

Later they grumbled against Moses
because they didn't have meat to eat.
Even his sister, Miriam, at one point criticized Moses
for taking too much leadership to himself.

We might say that Moses was a "reluctant leader of a rebellious people."

I wasn’t able to find much about Zipporah,
One scripture speaks of her bringing some trouble to the family,
Was it her fault?

Numbers 12:1, ‘And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman.’




Sometimes we think that serving God
will mean that everyone will recognize our call
and will cooperate with us to help accomplish God's will.

But we need to remember
that often times people are focused on themselves.
Sometimes people want roles different from the ones they find themselves in.

Sometimes they even rebel against God's plan for themselves
and try to frustrate God's plans for others.
Serving God does not guarantee
that He will make everything go smoothly for us,

We need to stay focused
Practice delayed gratification
Keep our eyes off ourselves
And remember that we were created to serve Him.

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