A Big Failure

1. A Big Failure Exodus 2:11-25 ICEL 20 February 2011

2. What is the biggest mistake you’ve ever made? Let’s talk about failure. A Question

3. 11 One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. 12 Glancing this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?” Scripture text: Exodus 2:11-15 (1)

4. 14 The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “What I did must have become known.” 15 When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well. Scripture text: Exodus 2:11-15 (2)

5. Moses sees the people’s hard labor. Then he sees an Egyptian mistreating an Israelite. All of the suffering is localized into one event. Moses knows that what he will do is a crime. But he acts impulsively… Moses Sees

6. Moses has a heart like God’s. God is working out His plan over time. God wants to deliver His people in 40+ years. But Moses is impatient. Time

7. 22 “Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action. 23 When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his fellow Israelites. 24 He saw one of the them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. 25 Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not.” Scripture text: Acts 7:22-25 (1)

8. Moses is highly educated. Moses is rash and impulsive. Moses has a sympathetic heart. Moses sees with emotion. His drive was not wrong; but his action was. Moses

9. Moses kills a man. An eye for an eye—a form of justice. Moses is now an outlaw—who flees to the desert. The slaves don’t recognize their deliverer. Failure

10. God cares about justice. His ear is inclined to those who suffer. From the macro to the micro—from nations to a mother and her son. Hagar and Ishmael Justice

11. 14 Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the desert of Beersheba. 15 When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went off and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And as she sat there nearby, she began to sob. Scripture text: Genesis 21:14-20 (1)

12. 17 God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. 18 Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” 19 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. 20 God was with the boy as he grew up… Scripture text: Genesis 21:14-20a (2)

13. Moses chose to take things into his own hands—he kills the Egyptian. Now he’s running for his life. From the Egyptian palace to the desert. Has Moses fouled everything up? The Detour (1)

14. 16 Now a priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock. 17 Some shepherds came along and drove them away, but Moses got up and came to their rescue and watered their flock. 18 When the girls returned to Reuel their father, he asked them, “Why have you returned so early today?” Scripture text: Exodus 2:16-22 (1)

15. 19 They answered, “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock.” 20 “And where is he?” he asked his daughters. “Why did you leave him? Invite him to have something to eat.” 21 Moses agreed to stay with the man, who gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage. 22 Zipporah gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, saying, “I have become an alien in a foreign land.” Scripture text: Exodus 2:16-22 (2)

16. Moses rescues Reuel’s seven daughters from the other shepherds. He waters the girl’s flocks. Moses will spend 40 years in the desert. Moses waits on God. The Detour (2)

17. 23 During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. 24 God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. 25 So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them. Scripture text: Exodus 2:23-25

18. Moses had trouble waiting. He thought that Israel was ready. He thought that they would recognize their deliverer (i.e. him). Israel wasn’t ready. God wasn’t ready. Waiting (1)

19. Waiting is hard. Even Jesus struggled with waiting. Waiting (2)

20. 14 When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He is an epileptic and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.” 17 “O unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy Scripture text: Matthew 17:14-20a (1)

21. here to me.” 18 Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” 20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith…” Scripture text: Matthew 17:14-20a (2)

22. Jesus says, “O unbelieving and perverse generation” to his disciples! These men had left everything to follow him. Jesus had to endure our unbelief. Jesus had to wait. And then came the cross… Jesus’ Impatience

23. 45 From the sixth hour until t he ninth hour darkness came over all the land. 46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” –which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Scripture text: Matthew 27:45-46

24. The Father who sees oppression, who hears the cries of the downtrodden, turns His face away from Jesus. And Jesus dies. Too Late (1)

25. Jesus waits for his deliverance. But it will come too late. Does God care? Too Late (2)

26. God has a plan to deliver His people. God wants to include us in His plan of redemption. But we often have to wait. Jesus’ patience—on the cross—bought our salvation. God’s Deliverance

27. We need to learn to be patient. We need to trust that God is at work in our lives, and in the world Past failure doesn’t necessarily disqualify someone for future service. But we may have to spend 40 years in the desert! Making It Personal

28. What does God want to do with your life? Have you asked God? After you find this out, are you willing to take the long road? Are you willing to wait, as God works His plan out through your life? Questions

29. Make the hard—but right—choice. Avoid shortcuts. Trust that God will bring the good into your life. Remember: God sees and He cares. Our Response