Exodus 2:11-15; 3:10-12; 4:1,10,13-14; Judges 6:11-13; 1 Kings 19:1-4, 11-14.
This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Father’s Day, June 16, 2024.
I preached a sermon on Mother’s Day with this same title. There we looked at Eve, Sarah, and Naomi. Each of them had spiritual hurts and emotional wounds that made it difficult to believe God. When a person is wounded in life, it always has a lie or half-truth that surfaces in our heart, perhaps more than one. We can be tempted then to live our life believing those lies to be true.
Today we are going to do the same thing, but with three men: Moses, Gideon, and Elijah. I want to make it clear that the lies we believe are not generally specific to whether we are female or male.
In fact, there are many different hurts that can lead us to believe the same lie, similar to how a geographical destination can have many different roads that lead to it. Women can learn from the stories of men and men can learn from the stories of women because the specific details of our experiences are not the most important thing to them. Rather, what is most important is to see the mistakes that we make and how the Lord gives grace for us to overcome them.
The flip-side of this title, “The Lies We Come To Believe,” is this: “And The God Who Saves Us From Them!” Amen?
May we see a little bit of ourselves in these three men, and may we be encouraged to have faith in God for the week ahead of us.
Let’s look at our first passage.
We have skipped the story about the birth of Moses. Pharaoh was afraid that his Israelite slaves were growing too numerous. He decreed that all infant males born to the Hebrews would be put to death. Thus, Moses is born under the threat of death. I wonder if his mother had been reading or thinking about the account of Noah when she had the idea of making a little “ark” out of bullrushes and casting her little boy upon the waters of the Nile, hoping for God to protect him from the dangers of the world. The Egyptian princess “just happens” to find the boy in the make-shift ark and raises him as her own. The event of chapter 2 doesn’t happen until Moses is 40 years old, according to Stephen in Acts 7:23. It “just happens to come to him” to check on the condition of his fellow Hebrews, and he finds that it isn’t good. Moses kills an Egyptian task-master, has an exchange with a bitter Hebrew slave, and has to run for his life because Pharaoh found out what he had done.
Moses then goes into the land of Midian, which interestingly enough means “strife.” He will spend the next 40 years living in this rustic place raising a family and being a shepherd. When we come to Exodus 3 and the story of the burning bush, Moses is now 80 years old. The Angel of the Lord appears to him within a bush that is on fire but not being consumed. The exchange continues into chapter 4. If you pay attention to this exchange, you will see that God is calling Moses to go to Egypt and help deliver his people out of slavery. Yet, Moses is not interested. He offers up several protests, or excuses, as to why it shouldn’t be him. We will look at those in a second, but first notice Exodus 4:14.
The continual protests of Moses stirs up the anger of the Lord against him. This is called trying the patience of God. It is one thing to try the patience of people, but quite another to test God’s patience. Yet, we see here that God’s mercy is still extended to Moses.
Let’s talk first about the wounds that Moses received. His life is divided into three very distinct periods of 40 years each. He is a prince in Egypt, lacking nothing, from birth to 40. He is a shepherd in the wilderness of Midian from 40 to 80. Lastly, he is a leader of Israel in the deserts south and south east of Canaan from 80 to 120. It is the event at 40 years of age in Exodus 2 that helps us to see his wound, which begins with the killing of the Egyptian. Clearly Moses feels like he needs to do something, but in a moment of passion, he kills an Egyptian. He believes that no one has seen him do this. However, the next day he finds two Hebrews fighting. He challenges the one who had struck his brother, but receives a bitter reply. “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Are you a murderer going to lecture me about striking my brother? Are you who have lived a princely life wanting to play the prince of slaves?
We need to understand that bitter people who have endured bitter lives have a knack for wounding others. They have so many emotional wounds that they cease to care about how they impact others. The devil wants us acting out of the pain of our wounds because we will then hurt others instead of finding the healing of God, even being a channel of the healing of God. Please read this paragraph over again because many Christians still live their lives rooted in legitimate wounds they received in the past.
The wound that Moses receives is one of rejection. Pharaoh wants to kill him for daring to kill an Egyptian. His own people aren’t interested in what little help he wants to offer. The fact that Moses had never made a single brick in his life probably added to their distaste for him.
You might object that this was only one man. That is precisely the point. Our emotional wounds are not always rational. Moses had to run because Pharaoh had the power to find him and kill him in Egypt. Yet, that bitter reply of another Hebrew went deep into the heart of Moses. You have nothing to offer these people. They don’t want you. Rejection is a bitter pill and it really messes people up..
Here is the thing to ponder. All wounds tempt us to believe things that are either blatant lies or are half-truths. The wounds and the feelings about them are real. We shouldn’t discount them. However, our wounded feelings are extremely bad at discovering truth. The gravity of our injured self is always towards a self-deception. It takes a miracle of God to pull a person out of that trap.
Think about anger. We are told in the Bible that “the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (James 1:20). However, it does not say along with that, “Don’t be angry.” Rather, we are told “’Be angry, and do not sin’: do not let the sun go down on your wrath…” (Ephesians 4:26; Psalm 4:4). Anger is a powerful emotion that can result from unjust situations as well as out of our own sin. When we allow anger to drive the responses we make (even when that anger is justified), we will find ourselves falling into sin.
Anger is not the only emotion that can take control of us because of wounds in our past. No feeling should be used to justify sinful actions. Rather, we must submit ourselves to the commands of Christ and his Apostles.
I do want to be careful pretending to be in the head of Moses. This is not an attempt to psychoanalyze Moses. Instead, this is about how we all respond to hurt and seeing the similar dynamic in him. I want us to see ourselves in what he is going through. We need to recognize how we have been wounded, and then, how God wants to heal that wound.
So let’s get into the five protests that Moses gives to God. We will see that there is a lie or half-truth that is beneath these protests.
1. Exodus 3:11. Moses questions who he is to do what God is saying. The lie beneath this is: I am nobody. Rejection always affects self-worth. A person can’t help the emotional response that says, “What is wrong with me that you would reject me?” Kids do this when their parents fight and divorce. Generally, this has nothing to do with the kids, but they feel that way anyway. In fact, it is quite common that people who hurt you aren’t even thinking about you. They are thinking about themselves and not caring about what you think or feel.
The world’s answer to all of this is to boost up your self-esteem and kick the negative people out of your life. If Jesus had done that, then none of us could be saved. Jesus didn’t kick the negative people out of his life. He loved them to the bitter end, entrusting His life to God.
For the believer, our self worth needs to be anchored in Jesus and his love for us (as well as for the people who hurt us). You may be nobody in the eyes of the world, but this doesn’t make you a nobody. You are somebody that is loved by God. He has a purpose for you, and no matter what it is, He will help you to do it!
2. Exodus 4:1. The next lie is this. They will not listen, believe, or follow me. Out of that injured self-image flows the doubting of what God can do through us when He calls us to something. In fact, parents can do this with their kids. You can be offended that your kids are responding to your wisdom, instruction, and correction. This doesn’t give you the right to write your kids off. God’s calling remains on you regardless of how your kids respond.
In this case, Moses is somewhat right. The story of Israel coming out of Egypt is full of the murmuring and protests of the Israelites against God and Moses. They may have physically followed Moses into the wilderness, but most of them perished there because they didn’t trust God. Their lack of faith often caused them to take out their frustrations on Moses. However, this isn’t the problem of Moses. It is God’s problem, and He is quite capable of taking care of His problems (and ours).
3. Exodus 4:10. Here is another lie. I am not eloquent (skilled) enough to do it. This is the same argument as before. Doing something for God is never dependent upon your level of talent. It is dependent upon the blessing of God.
The Bible tells us to ask for wisdom if we lack it. I suppose we could also ask for talent if we lack it. However, let me talk about wisdom for a moment. When God does supply wisdom, what does that look like? Do you instantly sound amazingly like Solomon? Does everyone around start remarking about how wise you are? Of course not. Yet, God gives you wisdom, here a little and there a little. It builds up. You don’t have to “sound wise” to the world in order to be wise. Perhaps, it is best if you don’t.
4. Exodus 4:13. The lie here is this. Someone else would be better than me. This is a cop-out. Why would God be asking you? Why would the Holy Spirit be stirring it up in you, if this was true? Maybe it is better for you that you do it? God doesn’t just “use” people to help others. He is simultaneously helping the person who chooses to obey him and help others. It is good for us to be both receivers and givers. Receiving teaches us humility, and giving teaches us compassion and mercy.
Of course, the attitude that says for God to find somebody else can also be sheer laziness, but I don’t get that vibe in this passage. Moses has tried that and has the proverbial T-shirt to prove it.
5. Underlying this whole account is a final lie. I can’t go back there. This was Egypt for Moses, but what is it for you? We can go anywhere if God is with us. Whether out of fear or out of pragmatism, Moses is not interested in going back to Egypt. Going back will only make things worse: a Pharaoh who wants him dead, and a people who despise this non-slave Hebrew.
Moses would have stayed in Midian another 40 years, if God had let him. However, God had different plans.
In moments where God is calling us to go back and face painful situations, it can feel like it is impossible. However, this is precisely why we need Jesus. He will go with us and lead us forth in victory, not against people, but against the lies, half-truths, and spiritual enemies that you have. You may feel like you can’t face it, but you can with Jesus. God has a good thing in the task that He is asking of you, and you can trust Him.
We won’t spend as much time on these last two. Gideon lives about 200 years following Joshua. There has been at least three periods of subjugation over Israel with several stories of judges or people who accomplished vindication for Israel.
Gideon’s wound is found in that he is a no-status person within a subjugated people. As Americans, we do not know what that feels like. We have no clue. So, when the Angel of the LORD shows up to explain to Gideon that God plans to deliver Israel through him, Gideon responds out of this mentality.
Gideon’s first response bristles at the idea that God is with them and for them. If God was really with us, then things would be better than this. This is a very common lie that we tell ourselves. We will even see every bad thing in our life as proof that God is against us (or worse, we think of it in terms of karma). “God, what am I doing wrong? If I was doing it right, surely it would be better than this!”
We need to be very careful with such ideas and questions. God’s calling on Israel had not changed. He had not rescinded it. When we are in times of discipline because of sin, or even when we are in a time of discipline to make us stronger (i.e., not because of sin), God is still with us and being faithful to us. It is foolish to interpret the Fatherly discipline of God as a rejection from Him. This is a lie. The reason we entertain it is because of our past hurts, wounds, and even our sin, which always harms us and others.
We see a better response in Ezekiel and Daniel. They were prophets during the period when God’s discipline cause Israel to be taken captive to Babylon. Yes, Israel was in trouble with God. However, after 70 years, they knew that God would bring Israel back. Daniel knew that God would bring them back, and he put his faith in God’s ability to accomplish this.
It is very common for Christians to misinterpret the discipline of God. We think of it as bad, and pray for God to return His goodness to us. We tell ourselves that we have to trudge through the “badness of God” in order to get the “goodness of God” some day.
This is a lie. The time in the wilderness was a special time of intimacy with God for Israel. Many other generations looked back to the miracles that happened in those days asking where God was in there day. We even see Gideon making this point in verse 13. He is wishing that God would do for him in his day what God did for Israel back when they came out of Egypt (yes, during the times of discipline).
There were no gardens, no grain fields, and no fruit trees in the wilderness, but God supernaturally fed them day after day and provided water in a place where there was none. Later, when they made it into the promised land (where they had all those “good things”), they tended to walk away from intimacy with God. A man like David stuck out like an odd duck because he came to intimately know God and acted out of that relationship. We spend entirely too much time accusing God of cursing us (letting bad things happen) when He is actually trying to bless us.
Gideon expresses the idea that he and Israel are forsaken by God. However, this is a lie. Jesus says this on the cross. I believe he says this (“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”) for two reasons. First, he is letting us know that he feels exactly what we feel when we have such a moment in our life. You know, the kind of experience where you are asking God to deliver you and not let the bad thing happen, but then you are crucified anyway. Jesus gets it. God understands how we feel. He has felt it Himself!
However, there is a second reason Jesus says this. This was a Hebrew way of telling people to pay attention to a particular passage in the Bible. In English, we would say, “Turn in your Bibles to Psalm 22 and pay attention to what it says.” The Hebrews generally used the opening word or line of a passage to refer to it. “Turn in your Bibles to My God, My God why have You Forsaken Me, and pay attention to what it says. That Psalm has a clear turning point: “He has heard me.” The lament of a man dying on a cross suddenly turns into a rejoicing in the God who has heard him. Try reading Psalm 22 as if it is Jesus speaking about his time on the cross.
When these kind of lies surface in your mind, you need to ask yourself these questions. Who told me that? How did I come to believe this? Is this what God’s Word says? The tough things you experience in life are not proof that God has or hasn’t forsaken you. The Word of God tells you that He will never leave you nor forsake you, not even to the end of this Age! See Matthew 28:20 and Hebrews 13:5.
I don’t have time to point out more, but we can look to Gideon’s response about his status in verse 15. I can’t do it because I am a low-status person in a subjugated people! This doesn’t matter when God is calling you to do something.
On the heels of a great victory, in which fire comes down from heaven and burns up the sacrifice to Yahweh, Jezebel sends word to Elijah that she is going to have him hunted down and killed. This causes Elijah to go on the run to the southern part of the Judean Kingdom. From there, an angel tells him to go further south to Mt. Sinai.
Elijah’s wound has parts of it that are from rejection. His life is being hunted by a king and queen who cannot restrain themselves from evil. He was simply being a faithful prophet to Yahweh, and yet they hunt him down as if he were the one worshiping false gods.
There is one scene where Elijah shows up to confront King Ahab of his wickedness. Ahab calls Elijah, the troubler of Israel. Of course, it was Ahab and Jezebel that were bringing trouble upon Israel. Of course, governments that reject God love to point to those who do love God as the problem
Elijah simply feels defeated. He even begs God to kill him. Life isn’t worth it.
I will point out three lies that have taken root in Elijah’s heart. The first is this. Nothing I do makes a difference. There are a lot of young people today who are looking at the Church saying that it is not working or making a difference. However, this assumes that we know what making a difference looks like. It assumes we know what should be happening. Of course, everyone should be repenting and believing in God. This Republic shouldn’t be plundered by our spiritual enemy and fighting against one another, but we are. What is the difference that God has us here to affect? Be very careful in pretending that you know exactly what God is trying to accomplish through you, much more His Church. Yes, He wants to save people, but sometimes we have to go through some tough things in order to get back to a place of true repentance.
In some ways, Jesus did not send the Church to make the world into a governmental paradise. It could if we would all follow Christ and turn from sin. In fact, there have been times throughout history in which particular families and particular nations saw some powerful things happen to turn the whole towards the things of God. However, these often pass until we find a family full of people who don’t serve Jesus like their grandparents did, or a nation that no longer believes what their founding generation believed about God.
We are told that this varied experience will continue until the end of this Age of Grace. There will be a wholesale apostasy against the truth of Jesus in these last days. I am not saying that no one will be saved. We are in a time similar to the days of Elijah. Was he making a difference? It didn’t look like it, but God was using him to encourage the remnant of 7,000 people who hadn’t bowed the knee to Ahab and Jezebel’s false god, Baal. Yes, it is a discouraging time to work for the LORD, and our flesh doesn’t like laboring in that place, but it is where we are. God sometimes needs us to be in that place.
On one hand, He is ensuring that the baton of faith makes it to the next generation. But another reason can be this. Elijah was one of the “power prophets.” God did powerful miracles through Elijah. This is in contrast to a prophet like Jeremiah. We have no miracles of Jeremiah, except for his ability to tell people what was going to happen in the future, and be 100% correct. However, the power that was expressed in Elijah’s life was not about him. It was always about what God was doing in that period of Israel. Jeremiah’s generation were only given a sign of truth being spoken to them. They received no fire from heaven and no Red Sea’s being parted.
So, if you find yourself in a wilderness eating bread delivered by a raven, and you feel that normal feeling, “This isn’t getting me anywhere…This isn’t working,” then stop looking at your situation with the world’s eye, the eye of your flesh. Look with the eyes of faith in God. He has a purpose in it, especially when we don’t understand what it is.
Elijah could be killed at any time, but his life is in God’s hand. We should never presume God’s protection, but neither do we fear when we end up in the hand of the powers of the land. When Pilate challenged Jesus to speak to him, he emphasized that he had power to put Jesus to death. Do you know what Jesus said? Turn to John 19:11 and find out. Jesus knew that God had a purpose for His life and if Pilate was part of that purpose, then who was Jesus to fight against it? This is not an argument against his place in the Godhead. It is an argument for the function and role he performs within the Trinity.
We should also notice the words of Elijah, “I am no better than my fathers.” He had started out with so much hope, but now sees that he has failed just like those before him. In some ways, this is the same message that Isaiah presents in his book. He is faced with the absolute failure of Israel to bring forth any salvation in the earth, and yet he is also faced with the power of God to produce salvation by His own Right Hand, Jesus!
May God help us to surrender in those times that are hard on our flesh. May we recognize that He is making our inner man stronger, and He is giving us a spiritual gift that we can share with others so that they may be free.
The righteous will walk by faith. They will breathe, get up in the morning, and go to work by faith too.
Elijah was ready to quit. There is not a one of us who can’t relate to him in that moment. However, you need to trust that God knows how you feel. Jesus knows the feeling better than even you or I do.
Many a parent has given up on their marriage and their kids. Sometimes they are even still in the home, present, but really absent. When we operate out of the woundedness of our past, we simply continue the pain, continue wounding others and ourselves. Jesus wants to heal our wounds and neutralize the lies that we have come to believe so that we can be the devil’s worst nightmare when we run into others who are like we used to be.
I pray that God will help fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, to turn away from the lies of this world and turn to the truth of God in Jesus!