TUESDAY 05 October 2021 ‘Strategist God’ Exodus 7:1-6

Click To Download and Print Document or PDF

Hello my “Walking with Jesus” friends,

I wonder… when you think about all the attributes of God as you understand Him, might you consider including these very practical attributes, which are so vital in modern societies around the world:

1. Strategist... it’s someone who develops specific action plans needed to accomplish a specific mission or goal. Do you see God as a great Strategist working His plans to accomplish His purposes?

2. Architect… is a person who designs all the details for construction of a building or accomplishment of a project assuring the details will work together as designed. Do you see God as a great architect?

So think about that a moment friends… is God the greatest strategist and greatest architect of all time? We’re following the story of Moses as God has commissioned him to leave his sheep tending and partner with God, following God’s specific instructions, for the accomplishment of something miraculous, unbelievable… the deliverance of 1 million Hebrew slaves from bondage in Egypt! And what about your life, your family ancestry, your city, your nation… do you see the evidence of God’s strategic work?

Yesterday I left you with a discouraged Moses who is having a very forthright conversation with God following the horrific response of Pharaoh to Moses’ first visit in the palace. It was evidently a short discussion and Moses was escorted out of Pharaoh’s presence having been told “Who is the LORD that I should obey Him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD and I will not let Israel go!” (Ex. 5:2)

Moses, discouraged, frustrated and perhaps frightened of what angry slaves might do to him, had found an isolated place, perhaps out in the desert, for a forthright conversation with God. Moses needed answers! Why had God allowed this? What was God going to do to fix this mess? Yesterday we looked at God’s response, but as wonderful as it sounded, the people were too discouraged, too exhausted to find any hope in God’s words. This is the record of their response: “…they did not listen to Moses because of their discouragement and their cruel bondage.” (Ex. 6:9) Evidently Moses went again to God to seek instructions about what to do next? The Exodus record says: “Then the LORD said, ‘Go, tell Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to let the Israelites go out of his country.” (Ex. 6:10,11) Look at Moses’ face with that furrowed brow and his shaking head. It doesn’t take but a moment for Moses to respond: “If the Israelites will not listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering lips?”

I think Moses feels stuck. Once before he had begged God to send someone else on this mission, and he had used his speech impediment as an excuse, but I don’t think that’s really the issue here. I think Moses simply wants out of this entire project. As unfulfilling as it is to wander around with smelly sheep on the backside of nowhere, at least it’s better than being mocked and thrown out of the palace by Pharaoh, and then watching the helpless slaves get beaten and their lives made more difficult because of what Moses had said to the Pharaoh. This wonderful idea of freeing the Hebrews is NOT working well, and I think Moses feels he’s in a no-win situation. Have you ever been there my friends… either in your job, or a relationship, or some other important aspect of your life?

The rest of Exodus 6 is sort of an interruption in the story of Moses, for it’s a partial record of the Hebrew tribe of Levi, and the lineage which includes details of Aaron & Moses’ family. Verse 20 says: “Amram married Jochebed, who bore him Aaron and Moses. Amram lived 137 years.” That little sentence tells us who Moses’ biological parents were. Remember Moses was adopted and named by the daughter of the man who was Pharaoh when Moses was born. That Pharaoh is dead, and Moses is 80 years old now. (Ex. 7:6) I presume both Amram and Jochebed have died, and very likely so has the daughter of Pharaoh who had adopted Moses more than 75 years ago.

Back to Moses’ difficult conversation with God. God is unwilling to renegotiate with Moses. God has selected Moses to be His ambassador to this Pharaoh. In fact God has been working in miraculous ways in Moses’ life, since he was born, preparing him for this assignment! While God is willing to bring Aaron alongside Moses for his support, in the end God calls Moses to step up and face the challenges ahead with the assurance that it will be very difficult. But also the promise that God will be with Moses, and in the end these Hebrew slaves will be freed and Egypt will be humbled. Here’s how God said it to Moses: “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply My miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt, he will not listen to you. Then I will lay My hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out My divisions, My people the Israelites. And the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I stretch out My hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out.” (Ex. 7:3-5)

Oh my friends, please take special note of the two phrases I underlined: “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart…” God had said that once before to Moses (Ex. 4:21) at the burning bush. Now God repeats again this almost impossible concept to understand. It seems God is saying that even if Pharaoh wanted to release the Hebrews, God will intervene and harden his heart so he will refuse their release. Why would God do that? My friends, this great historical event called the EXODUS, the deliverance of the Hebrew slaves from inescapable Egyptian slavery bondage, is the greatest, graphic representation of the ultimate story of the human race… the battle of God and Satan for every living human being! Pharaoh’s refusal provided the platform for God’s great, Hebrew rescuing strategy. It’s a picture of God sending Jesus to be our rescuer from our sin bondage!

God the great strategist, God the great architect is working in every detail of this great deliverance drama for multiple great objectives, and in verse 5 we see one of the most important objectives: “The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I stretch out My hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of Egypt.” This is the very same objective God seeks to accomplish in every generation, everywhere in the world. We human beings have a natural tendency to define God by WHO and WHAT we want God to be! This is true in every society of the world, in every generation. In some places people fabricate God in the form of some man made idol and people bow down and worship it. The prophet Jeremiah described the foolishness of this, listen: “The customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails, so it will not totter. Like a scarecrow in a melon path, these idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk… But the LORD is the True God; He is the living God, the eternal King… God made the earth by His power; He founded the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His understanding. (Jeremiah 10:3-5, 12)

In other societies people claim the sun or moon or stars are God. In other societies people reject God completely and say there is NO God, or that if there was God at one time, God surely has died. And some societies say that we, the people, are God, and we can make up all the rules of right and wrong, and we can do anything we want because we are God!! So what do you say my friends and what is the prevailing opinion in your city, your society? WHO is God and what are His attributes and what does He want of us, the human beings He created? Moses heard very clearly that God promised He will show Himself more powerful than anything the Pharaoh or the Egyptians had ever experienced. God said that eventually the Egyptians will realize the God of Moses and the Hebrews, is the only true, living, all powerful God!

For Moses God’s eternal, overall objective is becoming clearer. This adventure isn’t only about rescuing slaves out of their slavery, it is about Egyptians, and their Pharaoh, Israelites and their elders, Moses, Aaron and every living person on earth, coming to understand there is only one, true God, the creator of all. And this God desires a relationship with the entire human race He has created. This God wants humanity to know Him, understand Him, worship Him, experience His love, and learn to live in relationship with Him! That is what we are going to discover through this remarkable Exodus journey, together!

May I ask, do you know this God? Have you come to understand Him and have you entered into a relationship with this God through Jesus Christ? Jesus is the ONLY way, there is no other way to God! Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, the life, no one comes to the Father except by Me.” (John 14:6) I want to help you, all of you come to know God through His Son and our Savior, Jesus! This is our “Walking with Jesus” journey, and that is the core of the Exodus story, as we will discover! Now here’s a worship song to help us celebrate this great truth. . . I’ve given it to you before, but it’s so clear! Let’s worship Jesus, right now:

Today’s Scripture is Exodus 7:1-6.

Choose below to read or listen.

Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.

Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.

Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)

Archived back issues of “Walking with Jesus” and other resources are available by clicking here to open our ‘home page’ (or go to HOME at upper right of this page).

Share with friends. Subscribe below for daily “Walking with Jesus”.