The book of Exodus is one of the great history books of the Bible. The word "Exodus" is from Latin, of all things, and means "departure" or "out going". The book of Exodus narrates the journey of the children of Israel from bondage to freedom; from a people who weren't sure who and what their God was like, to a people who witnessed great miracles from their God. Exodus has a lot to do with the physical salvation of the twelve tribes of Israel, the twelve sons of Jacob. Exodus has a lot to do with God's written law to his people. And of course, Exodus gives us the man Moses, one of the great servants of God; one who over time learned to put his full trust in Him; and so became a man greatly favored and used by God. God loved Moses. The Bible clearly states that Moses was a very humble, a very meek individual. Moses had no desire to be a chief, a top dog, and the lead ruler over the Israelites; he was not looking for that job. Moses seemed to have a real concern for the common person; he cared about the Israelites. He was happy to see others prosper in their religious life before God. Moses, at first didn't want that commission that God gave him to do. He tried to reason and argue his way out of that commission several times, but with time Moses accepted the task. It was a great task: leading the people of Israel out of Egypt. How would you like to have that job? It would be intimidating.

Moses learned to rely and have faith in God to work things out. Moses sometimes questioned how something was going to work and what should he do if "this or that" happens. But with time, Moses understood: God will work all things out. Moses became a strong, but compassionate leader for the stubborn, stiff-necked children of Israel. I'm going to spend some time today in the book of Exodus going through one or two well-known incidents involving the disobedience of Israel. I want to focus on the man Moses, on his inner heart and on his special relationship he had with God. We too have a special relationship with God by virtue of having God's Spirit; that puts us into a special relationship, very similar to the one that Moses had. I want to confirm that Moses was indeed humble and he was fervent for God and very caring toward his fellow Israelites. Moses was willing to sacrifice himself for the people of Israel. I've entitled this message "Exodus and the Man Moses".

My main message will begin just after the Ten Commandments were given by God to the people of Israel, but before we get to that point I want to give some background leading up to that point. In Exodus 1, we see the Israelites as slaves and treated harshly by the Egyptians. In Exodus 2 Moses is born and grows up being the son of Pharaoh's daughter, but Moses retained his Hebrew connection. He never forgot where his roots were, where he came from. We later see a grownup Moses escaping to the land of Midian and there we read of God's miraculous calling of Moses. It's only then that he realizes his mission in life. Exodus 3:10 "Come now therefore and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel out of Egypt." That was his mission. We then see a hesitant Moses, maybe revealing some of his humility or maybe because of his age, Moses was around eighty years old at this time. Verse 11: "But Moses said to God, 'Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?'" Moses is asking, "Why me, God? Pick someone else, I'm not sure I'm up to this job." Moses did his best to escape God's calling… what God wanted him to go do. We have to ask ourselves, do we at times try to run and escape from God's calling, from the things that God wants us to do. You know, God has duties for us, opportunities for us to serve him in this life and I think everyone of us at times tries to run away from those duties and those opportunities. I have and I would imagine you have too. But, ultimate happiness does not result from running away from God; sometimes we just have to accept the things in life God wants us to do. Every time I get a new speaking schedule I think, “Maybe this is the best time to run away now because I see what I have to do over the next two to three months." Jonah ran away; it's not uncommon for the people that God chooses to want to go run away or not to accept that He chooses those that He wants for the job. Moses eventually accepted his calling; he gave up trying to run… he wasn't getting anywhere. He accepted in full God's call. 

Later Moses and Aaron go before Pharaoh to plead God's request: "Let my people go that they may hold a Feast to Me in the wilderness." We know Pharaoh's response, "God, who's this God you're talking about?" In Genesis 7 the plagues begin on Egypt and they end in chapter 12 with the death of the first-born males on Passover evening. The Israelites were protected that night from that death by the fresh blood of a lamb (sheep or goat) on their doorposts. That blood shed by the lamb protected God's chosen people that night. For those who did not put the blood on the doorpost, there was disaster in their family (if the family had a first-born male). We see great symbolism in this blood, because at the appointed time, Jesus Christ came to shed his blood for our sins and to protect and save us from spiritual death.

The Passover and the Holy Day Season will soon be upon us and we're reminding ourselves of these events, as we get closer to this time. Finally Pharaoh told Moses and the children of Israel to, "GET OUT! GO! GO WORSHIP THE GOD YOU WANT!" So now the true exodus begins. The people begin to depart Egypt and it commences with the Feast of Unleavened Bread. We have a lot of symbolism in that festival of leaving, forsaking the sin in our lives, as the Israelites physically left Israel. As we eat unleavened bread for seven days, we picture our departure, our exodus from spiritual slavery and beginning a new life with Jesus Christ living in us. These are beautiful analogies this season of the year.

During their departure from Egypt, the Israelites were guided by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night; a tremendous miracle! This was an unbelievable miracle in itself but then the people crossed the Red Sea on dry land and witnessed the destruction of Pharaoh's advancing army. God using Moses as the instrument to lead his people did all this. Exodus 14:30 "So the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore." Verse 31 "Thus Israel saw the great work which the Lord had done in Egypt. So the people feared the Lord and believed the Lord and his servant Moses." The people witnessed all of this; they knew God had placed special favor on Moses because God used Moses to have a part in all of these miracles. Yet as the days passed, the people soon forgot what they saw; they began to complain to Moses. They complained about there not being good water to drink and about there being no meat to eat. Then God being very merciful gave the people a steady supply of manna and gave them quail to eat. In about forty-five days or so after leaving Egypt, the people arrived at Mt. Sinai and camped at the foot of the mountain. In less than two months, they arrived at Mt. Sinai. Exodus 19:3 "And Moses went up to God and the Lord called to him saying, 'Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the house of Israel:" Verse 4: "You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagle's wings and brought you to Myself." verse 5: "Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people for all the earth is mine." Verse 6: "And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words you shall speak to the children of Israel." Verse 7: "So Moses came and called for the elders of the people and laid before them all these words which the Lord commanded him." Verse 8: "And all the people answered together and said, 'All that the Lord has spoken, we will do.' So Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord." We see the people pledging themselves to obey and serve God. They wanted to be a special treasure to God, so they were on board. They had seen the miracles, they agreed to obey and serve God. Soon in God's great power, in thunder and lightning and smoke and fire and trumpet blasts God descended onto Mt. Sinai and delivered the Ten Commandments to the people. All these sights and sounds put great fear in all the people; they marveled. For several chapters we see that God is communicating to Moses various laws and physical instructions that were to be relayed to the people… laws on how to be just and fair; how to be responsible in life even in time of accidents that happen; to observe the Holy Days; to be holy people before God and how to enter the Promised Land with confidence and to take that land. 

Exodus 24:3 "So Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the judgments and all the people answered with one voice and said, 'All the words which the Lord has said, we will do.'" It's like a broken record; they keep saying they'll obey. Verse 12: "Then the Lord said to Moses,' Come up to Me on the mountain and be there and I will give you tablets of stone and the law and commandments which I have written that you may teach them.'" Verse 13: "So Moses arose with his assistant Joshua and Moses went up to the mountain of God." Verse 14: "And he said to the elders, 'Wait here for us until we come back to you.' Indeed Aaron and Hur are with you; if any man has a difficulty, let him go to them.'" Verse 15:"Then Moses went up into the mountain and a cloud covered the mountain." Verse 18: "So Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights." During these forty days and forty nights, God freely talked with Moses, describing a host of laws, instructions and ceremonies; going through all the intricate details about how to build the tabernacle of God; how to build the ark of the covenant; the table of showbread; the golden lampstand; various curtains; priestly garments; and many other details of worshiping God once the tabernacle was built. God conveyed all this information to Moses to be later given to the people. We also see during this time period a special relationship developing between God and Moses, a deeper relationship where they begin to communicate very freely with each other. There was a spiritual connection between the two. They communicated face to face with each other. Yet, sadly on the other end, the Israelites in general had not developed a special relationship with God. Oh, they had said that they would do all that God had told them to do; they pledged themselves, but many drifted further away from God and from Moses.

Exodus 31:18 "And when He had made an end of speaking with him upon Mt. Sinai, He gave him two tablets of the testimony, TABLETS OF STONE WRITTEN WITH THE FINGER OF GOD! 

Exodus 32:1 "Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron and said to him, 'Come, make us gods that shall go before us. For as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt we do not know what has become of him.'" No matter how many times I read this and probably as you read about this incident, it seems incredible. In a matter of less than three months since crossing the Red Sea, and that's an estimate, the people had put aside and forgotten the multiple pledges and promises to obey and serve God. They'd put aside the multiple miracles that they witnessed from God, many performed by the hand of Moses. They were ready to just say 'we don't know where this man Moses has gone, it's been forty days and forty nights, he's gone.' The people had not grown religiously much during this time period. They had not developed a relationship with God anything close to what Moses had. They had lost any fear, any faith in God. Yet some did remain faithful to God and Moses, not all of them participated in this sin of wanting a god to be created for them. Verse 2: "And Aaron said to them, 'Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives and sons and your daughters and bring them to me'." Verse 3: "So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron." Verse 4: "And he received the gold from their hand and he fashioned it with an engraving tool and made a molded calf; and they said, 'This is your god, O Israel that brought you out of the land of Egypt'." Again, this just seems incredible, doesn't it? Unbelievable! How could they do this? How could Aaron of all people, Moses' brother; the one time spokesman for Moses do this? When Moses had felt he just didn't have the words to say or he stumbled in his words, he knew he could count on Aaron to help him out, to speak for him. Maybe Aaron felt threatened by the people; maybe his life or his family was in jeopardy. We don't really know; some commentaries suspect that Aaron may have felt that his life was threatened. But it reads as if Aaron just gave right in and didn't resist much in this rebellion and he had a key role in molding the calf. Most reference works say that the worship of bulls and calves were very common at this time in Egyptian culture, so that may have been the guide the Israelites used in choosing to create this calf. This is what they were used to; they came out of that culture. That culture was embedded in most of those Israelites, but not all.

Now let's try to relate this incredible turn of events to us today; hopefully today as God's people (as they were God's people then) our attention spans before God are a little longer than a few months. Are they? Let's say, 'yes'. Hopefully we would continue to serve and obey God if our human church leaders would go off on a long trip without communicating back to us for forty days. Would we give up on God? Hopefully not! Of course, there is a difference; the Israelites, in general did not have God's Spirit, but they plainly knew that Moses was God's servant. They had pledged multiple times to obey God; they had no excuse for requesting a golden calf, of all things. Genesis 32:5 "So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it and Aaron made a proclamation and said, "Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord."" Verse 6: "Then they rose up early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings and the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play." And it wasn't probably to play video games at that time. The Hebrew word for 'play' can mean reveling or carousing. The " Good News " Bible translates: "The people sat down to a feast which turned into an orgy of drinking and sex." That probably better describes the scene, since the worship of many pagan idols involves some sort of sexual activity. Remember the apostle Paul has some comments on this very incident in 1 Corinthians 10:7 "And do not become idolaters as were some of them, as it is written: the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play; nor let any of us commit sexual immorality as some of them did and in one day 23,000 fell." So it was a grievous sin before God, an unbelievable sin. Exodus 32:7 "And the Lord said to Moses, "GO! GET DOWN!! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt" God has to be upset when He says "your" people to Moses. Verse 7: "have corrupted themselves. Verse 8: "They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf and worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, 'this is your god, O Israel that brought you out of the land of Egypt." Verse 9: "And the Lord said to Moses, "I have seen this people and indeed it is a stiff-necked people." (A stubborn people) Verse 10: "Now therefore, let me alone that my wrath may burn hot against them, that I may consume them, and I will make of you Moses, a great nation." We see here that God is getting a little angry, maybe more than a little. He was basically ready to wipe them all out except for Moses and start all over. Moses at this point probably couldn't fully envision the enormity of the people's sin. As I read this, he couldn't see them from his position; he was still way up on the mountain. He couldn't see all the carousing below; he couldn't imagine what all was happening. Moses being the person he was, a humble man, a compassionate man spoke to God and entreated God to relent in consuming the people. Verse 14: "So the Lord relented from the harm which He said He would do to his people." Verse 15: "And Moses turned and went down from the mountain and the two tablets of testimony were in his hand. The tablets were written on both sides; on one side and the other they were written." Verse 16: "Now the tablets were the work of God and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on tablets." Verse 17: "And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, "There is a noise of war in the camp"." Verse 18: " But Moses said, "It is not the noise of the shout of victory, nor the noise of the cry of defeat; but the sound of singing I hear."" It was when he came near the camp and finally saw the calf and the dancing that Moses' anger became hot, he was furious now, just like God. He cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. Verse 20: "And he took the calf they had made, burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder and he scattered it on the water, and made the children of Israel drink it." Verse 21: "And Moses said to Aaron, "What did this people do to you Aaron that you have brought so great a sin upon them?" That's a great question, isn't it? Moses wanted to know the details of how this could happen!! Why did he let it happen!? It is a mystery, but someday when we're all made spirit, it will be made plain to us what went on here.

Exodus 32:22 "So, Aaron said, "Do not let the anger of my lord become hot; you know the people that they are set on evil." Verse 23: "For they said to me, 'make us gods that shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him."' Verse 24: "And I said to them, 'Whoever has any gold, let them break it off', so they gave it to me and I cast it into the fire and this calf came out." Poof! It just came out this way. That's a very feeble defense, a sad story. Even a young child could come up with a better one than that. Aaron is ' passing the buck' again, trying to avoid his responsibility before Moses and God. It's almost as if he's been drugged or something. Verse 25: "Now when Moses saw that the people were unrestrained, for Aaron had not restrained them to their shame among their enemies." What does that mean? It means that some of the people had turned against these rebels and transgressors and were now their enemies, so some of the Israelites were not participants at all. Verse 26: "Then Moses stood in the entrance of the camp and said, "Whoever is on the Lord's side come to me!" And all the sons of Levi gathered to him." Verse 27: "And he said to them, "Thus says the Lord God of Israel, 'Let every man put his sword on his side and let him go in and out to entrance to entrance throughout the camp and let every man kill his brother, every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.'" They were to kill the ones who were participating in this. Verse 28: "So the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses and about three thousand men of the people fell that day." Verse 29: "Then Moses said, "Consecrate, dedicate yourselves today to the Lord that He may bestow on you a blessing this day for every man has opposed his son and his brother." These Levites may have been forced to kill a very close friend or family member, but it was God ordained. Verse 30: "Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses said to the people, "You have committed a great sin so now I will go up to the Lord, perhaps I can make atonement for your sin." Verse 31: "And Moses returned to the Lord and said, "O these people have committed a great sin and have made for themselves a god of gold." Verse 32: 'Yet now, if you will forgive their sin; but if not, blot me out of your book which you have written." Let's stop here a little bit. Do you see the attitude of Moses? He still cared for the people; he was willing to sacrifice himself to save the people. The book Moses speaks of may be referring to God's spiritual " Book of Life" that's mentioned elsewhere in the Bible. God may have shared the knowledge of this book and its significance with Moses; they had a very close relationship. As we continue, we'll see how deep that relationship was. Some commentaries indicate that this book may have simply been a register of those living at the time; I tend to think it's God's spiritual "Book of Life". We see that Moses had a compassionate concern for the people; he volunteered his own life to be blotted out on behalf of the people. Again we see the inner character of Moses. Moses sought peace and he loved God's people. He wanted to see the mission fulfilled of God bringing the people to the Promised Land. Moses had a very good heart and no doubt God loved him dearly.

Exodus 32:33 "And the Lord said to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of my book." I think we have to look at this as long term, meaning the person who never repents from their sins will be blotted out from God's book. Verse 34: "Now, therefore, go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, my angel shall go before you; nevertheless on the day I visit for punishment, I will visit punishment upon them for their sin."" Verse 35: "So the Lord plagued the people because of what they did with the calf which Aaron made." It is good to remember that although God is a very forgiving God, He generally allows our sins that we commit to bring some form of punishment upon us; sometimes heavy punishment and sometimes light. God forgives upon true repentance, but God doesn't always take away the penalty. There may be physical or mental penalties that go along with the sins that we commit. SIN BRINGS ITS PUNISHMENT! We are rewarded according to our works. Forgiveness is one thing, but the penalty of sin is something else and God may choose to let us endure that penalty. Remember King David was forgiven, yet he suffered greatly in his life because of the things that he did. It's a principle we need to think about; that just because we're forgiven doesn't mean we'll be released from suffering.

I think we'll see even more of the relationship developing between God and Moses. Exodus 33:7 "Moses took his tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp and called it the Tabernacle of Meeting. And it came to pass that everyone who sought the Lord went out to the tabernacle of meeting which was outside the camp." Verse 8: "So it was that whenever Moses went out to the tabernacle that all the people rose and each man stood at his tent door and watched Moses until he had gone into the tabernacle." Verse 9: "And it came to pass when Moses entered the tabernacle that the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle and the Lord talked with Moses." Verse 10: "All the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the tabernacle door and all the people rose and worshiped, each man in his tent door." Verse 11: "SO THE LORD SPOKE TO MOSES FACE TO FACE AS A MAN SPEAKS TO HIS FRIEND. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua, a young man did not depart from the tabernacle." We see that Moses is a friend of God, the Eternal, the One who would become Jesus Christ and that they had a very special relationship. Moses could ask and speak freely to God; wouldn't that be great today if we could ask God to clarify some things for us about how some principles are to be applied? Moses had the opportunity to work out those details with God. We also see in these verses that the people, in general, finally began to respect and reverence this special relationship between God and Moses. It was plain to see that God treated Moses differently. It was obvious to them. They saw the pillar appear at the tabernacle door with Moses inside and they respected that.

We have our own special relationship with God, we too can communicate with God. We have his word in front of us that speaks to us and guides us in his will. There are things there that we would like to have clarified at times, and in time they will be clarified. God has given us his word and we can read it, if we'll take the time to read it. We have to make the time; we all fall down in that at times. We can talk directly to the Father in prayer; we have two-way communication. Some day we will literally see God and speak to Him face to face in his full glory. 1 John 3:2 "Beloved, now we are children of God and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." We'll see Him in his full glory because we'll be spirit at that time, too.

Exodus 33: 17 "So the Lord said to Moses, "I will also do this thing that you have spoken. For you have found grace, favor in my sight and I KNOW YOU BY NAME."" Verse 18: "And Moses said, "Please, show me your glory." Moses was bold enough to ask God to show him his real presence, what God truly looks like in reality. Moses knew that he had not yet seen God's full-glorified appearance; God had revealed only a special form to Moses. Moses wanted more so he asked God to show him his glory. Verse 19: "Then He said, "I will make all my goodness pass before you and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion."" Let me say that it is good to remember that God chooses to whom, to when and how to reveal his grace and compassion on all of us. It's not like it's just automatic; it's according to God's will. He may choose to be compassionate to one person, but not to another one; but it's all being done for a very good spiritual reason. God understands our inner hearts; He understands what we need in life; He understands what we need to overcome in order to grow. God may be very gracious and compassionate at one time in our lives, but at other times not. Sometimes we have to suffer a little bit more because it's for our good. Verse 20: "But He said, "You cannot see my face, for no man shall see Me and live."' Verse 21 "And the Lord said, "Here is a place by Me and you shall stand on the rock so it shall be while my glory passes by that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and I will cover you with my hand while I pass by."" Verse 23 "Then I will take away my hand and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen." It was not God's will at that time for Moses or anyone to see the fully glorified face of God; as we understand, that will happen though later, after Christ's return. When we and Moses and all the saints are changed into a glorified spirit body, we will see God fully as He is.

Exodus 34:29 "Now it was so when Moses came down from Mt. Sinai and the two tablets of testimony were in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mountain, that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him." Verse 30 "So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone and they were afraid to come near him." Verse 31 "Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him." Verse 32 "And Moses talked to them and afterward all the children of Israel came near and he gave them all the commandments that the Lord had spoken with him at Mt. Sinai." Verse 33 "And when Moses had finished speaking with them he put a veil on his face." Verse 34 "But whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would take the veil off until he came out; and he would come out and speak to the children of Israel whatever he had been commanded." Verse 35 "Whenever the children of Israel saw the face of Moses and that the skin of Moses' face shown, that Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with Him." This shining face of Moses reveals the very special relationship that God had with Moses; that didn't happen to anyone else at this time. It was another way that God revealed to the people that Moses was a chosen vessel and that they needed to respect him as God's chosen vessel. They were given proof of that many times. Those of us, who actively have God's Spirit, also have a special relationship with God. We're part of the body of Jesus Christ and that spirit in us will produce the fruits and gifts and character of God; we will be different from the typical person in the world, unless we restrain that spirit working in us. We can restrain it. We can hold back and not allow the prompts of God's Spirit to work within us. The Spirit of God gives us somewhat of a face that shines as a light. Matthew 5:16 "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." This is symbolic, but there should be a difference in us that people can see. I know that in my place of work over the years when I was trying my best to let God's fruit come through and let that light shine, people began to see that and recognize there's a difference. Those who used to tell dirty jokes, when they came around me, they didn't do that as much; they realized I'm a little different, that I never tell dirty jokes. Sometimes we don't realize what other people are seeing in us, if we let God's Spirit flow through us and have a face that shines somewhat like Moses' face.

The apostle Paul encouraged those in their Christian walk in Philippians 2:15 "that you may become blameless and harmless children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world." So we are to shine and symbolically have a shining face like Moses. We have a special relationship with God; we are the light of the world. And just as Moses was courageous and humble and patient and compassionate and faithful and unselfish and very forgiving so should we be as we worship God… because we have this special relationship. We worship the same great God that Moses did; we need to develop our special relationship with God continually and shine (symbolically) as Moses did.

As the spring Holy Days approach, let's remember the history of Exodus. Let's remember the strengths and traits of Moses because he talked face to face with God and he was a shining light to the people of his time. Let's be a shining light before the people of our time that we interface with; and let's daily worship God in spirit and in truth.