The Challenge to Faith

Exodus 4 and 6, selected passages

When Moses first attempted to lead his people out of Egyptian bondage, his efforts were a resounding and total failure. He was gifted, and well-trained, and he was utterly sincere. He was willing to put his life on the line. But the very best that Moses had to offer was far too little for the task at hand. And somehow God did not seem interested in helping Moses in his project.

The failure of Moses was the final scene in what we could call "Act I" of the drama of his life. And Moses life was dramatic! It began with the faith and love of a mother and father that hid him in a basket in the bulrushes along the Nile. It continued with the almost unbelievable adoption into the royal family of Egypt, but with his own Hebrew mother as his nursemaid and teacher. There is no doubt that Moses felt in his own heart that he was destined for some role of leadership and noble greatness. But at the age of forty Moses tried to fill the role of emancipator, tried with all his own strength, and was bitterly rejected by his own people. He turned his back on Egypt and left, a failure.

But now, forty years later- yes, at an age when many people have no strength at all- Moses was back on the scene in Egypt. How he got there, and what he had done and seen and experienced is a thrilling story. We know that he had encountered God! The hot-blooded, impulsive, arrogant Moses was now Moses the meek. Somehow in the first attempt it had been 'Moses the gifted whiz-kid' pitting his talents against injustice, with the hope and prayer that God would see the wisdom of siding with him.'

But now it was Moses the meek, obedient to God's direct commandment, and instead of Moses against injustice, it is now GOD and Moses against the injustice! And that is quite a difference! But remember, it was still the same person- Moses. The same human being, a lot less glamorous, a little less sure of himself, a bit sun-baked, with leathery skin, perhaps. The same leader that the children of Israel had rejected out of hand before. And now they believe him! The Exodus is about to begin. And I am very interested in just what made these people decide that this message was really from God. Just what constitutes a LEGITIMATE challenge to faith?

I. FAITH IS ALWAYS A DECISION AND REQUIRES COURAGE AND EVEN DARING!

1. Leaving the story of the Hebrew children in Egypt for just a moment, it is important to see that in every age and time, whenever God speaks to men and women it is decision time.

   God is NOT in every voice that makes a claim on our spiritual allegiance. Every human being has deep feelings and needs that may be exploited as well as ministered to. Have you ever thought about the decision that had to be made in the hearts and minds of many people during the earthly ministry of Jesus? The struggle to decide whether or not He was really the promised Messiah?

   We are so sure and certain that we would have recognized Him! We would have followed Him without question! But I am sure that it was not that simple!

   And this struggle to know if this salvation-dream/vision is from God- if it is within the realm of possibility that we can be free under God- or, if this is just a pipe-dream of some false messiah- this struggle is very much a part of the Exodus story. There was a great deal of drama in those first meetings of the people with this desert-man Moses who had returned after all these years— and after his encounter with God.

2. Let's look at how the Hebrews came to their decision of faith:

   Just to meet together was an act of daring and courage. It tells us how desperate their situation really was. But then they had to decide: are we willing to risk all, and stand up to our oppressors, or shall we just recognize the situation as hopeless, and get along as we have, as best we can? And, as it turned out, it was NOT a nice, neat, one-time-for-all kind of struggle of faith.

   The first meeting seemed to go pretty well. (Exodus 4:31 So the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord was concerned about the sons of Israel and that He had seen their affliction, then they bowed low and worshiped.) The meeting was called; the people dared to attend; God's LOVE for them and God's PROMISE to them was revealed. And there was faith! It was small, imperfect. But the people believed! This is God!

   But then— instead of the doors simply flying open, and things getting better and better until they simply walked out of Egypt and bondage with a handshake from the dictator, things began almost immediately to get worse!

   Faith was being tested! Sifted! Honest doubt began to surface, along with a great deal of carnal unbelief and self interest and cowardly fear. And from that very time of decision until the night of the Passover the struggle to believe God and follow Him on the basis of faith in His Word was ON! The conviction that God wanted His people free had begun! WHEN GOD CONVINCES (CONVICTS) THE BATTLE OF FAITH IS BEGUN! It isn't saving faith as yet! But the battle is joined! Will God prove Himself TRUE?

II. FAITH IN GOD IS ALWAYS VINDICATED! GOD IS NOT CAPRICIOUS!

Just how bad things got when the people began to believe is recorded in Exodus 6. The taskmasters, or slave-drivers among the Egyptians increased the daily tally of bricks required, and at the same time they cut back on the supply of ingredients necessary to come up with that tally. The making of bricks required straw. Evidently this had been provided by the Egyptians before they had requested their freedom. But now the task of gathering their own straw was added to the heavy burden of brick making, and the load became humanly intolerable. Faith was being sorely tested!

What could Moses say to the people now? His response to the challenge of faith was to repeat God's words to the people (Exodus 6: "Say therefore, to the sons of Israel, 'I AM the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage, I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. Then I will take you for My people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I AM the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you to the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you for a possession; I AM THE LORD.'"

Note the POSITIVE emphasis here. God does not merely say. "You will be free from this trouble... you won't be slaves any more." But from the very beginning God wanted the people to understand that their goal was to come to KNOW HIM AS THEIR GOD, and to make them possessors of their own land.

To Pharaoh and his people it was obvious that this was a religious matter.: "Let my people go so that they may worship Me!" was God's word to the Egyptians. The lines of battle were spiritual lines. Of course there were social and economic elements to the problem. Human greed has always sided with the forces of evil.

But to His people, God was revealing Himself as FATHER and FRIEND and GUIDE. The ultimate purpose of Exodus for the children of Israel was not merely freedom, nor was it getting a new set of religious habits, nor even the possession of their own homeland in Canaan, as important as those were. The ultimate purpose was TO KNOW GOD! (Sound familiar? Wollaston Church Mission Statement)

These words of the Lord God rang true with the will of God that had been revealed to them by word of mouth from their forefathers. Not an Israelite lived that had not heard of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Perhaps the Word of God was not as clear to them as the revealed Word we call the Bible today. But it was the same truth, from the same Source, and it was unmistakable.

They knew that Abram had followed God's call from Ur of the Chaldeas. They knew that Isaac had been born a child of promise. They knew about Jacob and his ladder to heaven, and they remembered Joseph's dying words (Hebrews 11:21 'a reminder that Egypt was not to be the Hebrew's home.')

So the challenge of Moses, their challenge to faith for deliverance, went along perfectly with the revealed word and revealed will of God that had been passed on to them. Their hope for freedom was now based on the character and integrity of God, and not the talents or programs of a human leader.

The challenge unfolded step-by-step, not all at once, and not neat and clear-cut. It had its set-backs, and struggles along the way. Not everyone who decided to leave Egypt made it all the way through to the Promised Land! As these early chapters close, the people are still slaves.

But by the time God and Moses were through dealing with Pharaoh, ten plagues had come. The people's faith had been raised to the point where they were willing to follow God's appointed leader. Their faith had progressed from conviction to persuasion to obedience. And THEN the actual Exodus began! A horde of slaves was in the process of becoming— the people of God!

III. THIS SAME CHALLENGE IS WHAT FAITH IS ABOUT TODAY!

Dare to follow God! Dare to be God's people! This call of faith is still being heard! The Exodus is both history and an object lesson. And it isn't any easier now to decide to put your life on the line and follow Jesus than it was for the Hebrews to believe Moses, believe that he had heard from God and had God's message for them. It isn't any easier for us than it was for Matthew and Nicodemus and the others to believe that Jesus really IS the Messiah and worth living for— and if necessary, worth dying for! It was hard for the slaves to believe that the Master of the Universe had heard their pitiful cry, and was asking them to follow Him out of their misery. It is hard for us to believe that God sees us in our sins, and in our weaknesses, and in our habits and in our dead-end relationships or situations— and that He cares about us and wants us to follow Him to freedom and power and into KNOWING HIM! Vaguely we think we know that when God calls we will have to change our life-style, or give up this or that. But give up WHAT? Go WHERE? How do we start?

So many conflicting and confusing elements enter in when we think of changing the way that we live. So many voices are eager to give us free advice! So many claims on our allegiance! Everywhere we turn someone has it all figured out, and knows exactly what we should do!

Everywhere we turn someone claims to be "Moses" or "Jesus" and says: "Follow me!!!"

HOW CAN WE BE SURE? WHAT TESTS ARE THERE FOR SAVING FAITH TO TAKE HOLD OF?

Conclusion:

There must be the conviction: this is the voice, the will of God! But everyone claims to be sent of God. And often there are wonders and emotions and miracles and success attending false prophets. (Worldwide Church of God is immensely wealthy. (In Zimbabwe the believe-and-get-rich church is booming.)

1. FAITH MUST COINCIDE WITH GOD'S PROMISES.

   Not by proof-testing; not in a special revelation to an individual or small group. When God reveals new truth He does so pretty much to the entire believing church. When He comes every eye will see Him.

2. FAITH WILL ULTIMATELY BE POSITIVE.

   God's promises are not based on sheer negativism; not on simply getting rid of bad habits, or beating some evil scheme. The end of salvation is to bring us into the JOY of the Father-child relationship! God challenges our faith because He loves us!

3. FAITH WILL CENTER IN GOD...

   ... and not in men or women! Not in Moses! Not even in FREEDOM! (Although it is bondage that makes us understand how much we need help!) In a PERSONAL way, God lets YOU know! Follow ME!