I invite you to turn in the Scriptures tonight to the book of Exodus chapter 6. Exodus chapter 6. And we're returning. This is our morning series. I moved it to this evening and we're returning to this after a few weeks. And we pick up at verse 10. Actually, it's verse 14 all the way to 7 verse 7. Actually, it's back up to verse 10. I'm sorry. So the Lord said to Moses, go in, tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to let the people of Israel go out of his land. But Moses said to the Lord, behold, the people of Israel have not listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me? For I am of uncircumcised lips. But the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge about the people of Israel and about Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt. These are the heads of their fathers' houses. The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, Hanak, Palu, Hezron, and Carmi. These are the clans of Reuben. The sons of Simeon, Yameel, Yamin, Ohad, Yaqin, and Zohar. And Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. These are the clans of Simeon. These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generation. Gershom, Kohath, Merari, the years of the life of Levi being 137 years. The sons of Gershom, Libnite, and Shammai, by their clans, the sons of Kohath, Amram, Ishar, Hebron, and Uziel, the years of the life of Kohath being 133 years. The sons of Merari, Mahli, and Mushai. These are the clans of the Levites according to their generations. Amram took his wife, Yochabed, his father's sister, and she bore him Aaron and Moses. The years of the life of Amram being 137 years. The sons of Izhar, Korah, Nephe, Zichri. The sons of Uziel, Mishael, Elzaphan, Sithri. Aaron took as his wife Elisheba, the daughter of Amenadad, and the sister of Nashon. And she bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. The sons of Korah, Asir, Elkanah, and Abisath. These are the clans of the Korites. Eleazar, Aaron's son, took as his wife one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phineas. These are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites by their clans. These are the Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, Bring out the people of Israel from the land of Egypt by their hosts. It was they who spoke to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, about bringing out the people of Israel from Egypt. This Moses and this Aaron. On the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, the Lord said to Moses, I am the Lord. Tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt, all that I say to you. But Moses said to the Lord, behold, I'm of uncircumcised lips. How will Pharaoh listen to me? And the Lord said to Moses, see, I have made you like God to Pharaoh and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. You shall speak all that I command you and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land. But I will harden Pharaoh's heart. And though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them. Moses and Aaron did so. They did just as the Lord commanded them. Now Moses was 80 years old and Aaron 83 years old when they spoke to Pharaoh. May the Lord bless the hearing of his word. After everything went wrong in the calling God gave Moses to go to Egypt and deliver Israel, he brought some severe charges and concerns to the Lord. Do you remember that last time? He really laid it out and we were somewhat surprised at how direct he was to the Lord. Why are you bringing evil on this people? And why did you ever even send me? And you haven't delivered your people at all. And we sort of read that and we were stunned that Moses spoke to the Lord that way. And God was so gracious in his response. I mean, it really was a moving passage to consider how the Lord responded to this struggling servant, how the Lord treated him. How would we respond to somebody who spoke to us that way? God came to him and God spoke a covenant of grace sermon to him, gave it to him. And he reassured his servant. He helped his servant. Moses, everything's going just according to plan. And as he preached that sermon, as he gave that sermon, he reminded Moses of the oath that he took. The thing that he swore to Abraham when he passed through those pieces. He has to complete this. He has to do this because he promised it and said it and swore the oath. Here's my question tonight. In light of this text, in light of what we just read, why is God inspiring all of this? Why so much detail? Aren't you ready to get this going? I am. You know how I feel studying this? I feel like this is really hard to get off the ground. That's the sense I get. As I'm studying this, I'm starting to feel a little bit like, let's go. What's the hang up? Moses. Moses. You say, I'm tired of hearing about Moses. Why is God giving us this? Why is God doing this? Two things I came up with. He's teaching us a lot about salvation, isn't he? There's been an ongoing debate in the history of the church about free will. It used to seem to be really hot in the 90s. It doesn't seem to be as hot today a debate. But it was really hot between the Arminians and the Calvinists about free will. And who is sovereign in salvation? Does God make the choice or does man have a free will to do that? And I remember this. It just seemed to always, people always fighting about this and always arguing about this. Well, no one would debate that for somebody to receive or accept a message of salvation, it's got to be delivered to them, right? It's got to come. No one would debate that for salvation to be delivered, there's got to be a postman. We need a postman. What does Exodus show us out of the gates? The incredible work of God to raise up a postman, a messenger, a deliverer, to bring his message. And what does Moses want to do before you? Quit. God's got to deal with this, doesn't he? He wants to quit. You know how hard it is to get a project like this off the ground when you're sending people like me out to do this? Or Moses to preach? Things are hard. Think of the impossibilities of this, really. Humanly speaking, think of the impossibilities of this. The discouragements can be so numerous. Moses wants out, and it hasn't even started. You ever feel like giving up? when do you ever experience the problem of i really just am tired and i can't do this anymore i just can't the frustrations the lack of progress the lack of fruit all the labor what is really showing for it moses can't take it what is the message in this well the message seems to be really clear. It's the faithfulness of your God that he doesn't quit. This passage is about his persistence to do what he said. This passage is about his persistence to do what he said. Why he uses sinners to do this, why he uses great sinners to do this is a question I'll never be able to fully answer i'm amazed by it i marvel that he uses and the people that he chooses to do this we're all backwards about that we've learned this but god swore an oath nonetheless he swore an oath to abraham and that's where we are he swore an oath and he made a covenant with his son and nothing can stop it that's what i want you to sense tonight that's what i want you to learn from this tonight and what the lord does before us is call moses again to the task The Lord encourages him, and the Lord provides for him, and the Lord tells him, you leave the results to me. So that's what I want to look at, and we need to hear this over and over again as Christians, that the Lord's plan of redemption is being fulfilled. It's working just according to plan. He's working it all out just as he has determined, and all the results are perfectly happening according to his power. Well, that's where we are. Moses has just heard this gospel sermon. Moses has just heard the Lord preach to him a sermon about the gospel and about his promises. And then he says to Moses, you go tell Israel this. I want you to go preach this to them. And so he goes to preach this gospel sermon as God's mouthpiece to Israel. How does it go? I don't know what it must have been like. I think that must have been an incredibly hard sermon, believe it or not. I'm guessing they put him up on a large platform. By the way, they didn't have microphones. They put him up on a large platform, and he stands to all of these Israelites, out in their burdens being inflicted, now gathering straw themselves, and he's trying to preach comfort to them. And the text tells us very clearly they didn't listen. they wanted nothing to do with it because of the anguish of spirit and the cruel bondage they could not hear it they could not listen it could not get past anyone's head it was they were so discouraged can you imagine i have to say i can't imagine preaching a sermon and on the way out of the door everyone's shaking their head and putting their head down and cursing me can you and it's a gospel comforting sermon i mean to be a little open here i get really messed up when i get two bad comments what about a million and i look at the history of the prophets and i look at the prophets in the old and and what was their story jeremiah at one point wanted to quit because it was such a hard project or how about this isaiah i'll go send me go but hearing they will not hear and seeing they will not see. That's a successful ministry, right? How would you like that for your ministry? That's hard. It's confusing. And the Bible has presented us this hard reality about ministry. It cuts both ways. It's a two-edged sword. Well, we saw and we've heard from the Lord now. He told us, I'm hardening and I'm softening here. So he goes back. Now the Lord says, Moses comes back. god says okay go to pharaoh now do what did you notice that now i want you to go to pharaoh i'm trying to think in verse 11 of how that must have felt go in tell pharaoh king of egypt to let the people of israel go out of his land to which you say are you kidding if israel won't listen we're going to go from the lesser to the greater here why do you think pharaoh would listen moses is completely distressed no one's listening what's your conclusion if israel won't listen pharaoh won't listen this is an absolute to do then verse 13 comes and it leaves us with god gives a command that's all it says god gives a command to moses and aaron that they were to go do this for israel and for pharaoh and to give the command they are to come out you go command them come out now you're standing back and you're saying we're stuck in exodus we're just stuck at this point that's the sense that's the feeling the whole feeling of the dialogue is one the one hand the prophet who is so discouraged so downcast so frustrated ready to give up the other God giving a command to do it and nothing's working put yourself there we all like movies about the little engine that could right I think I can I think I can I think I can Moses this would be our day. Just pull out the beast in you. Think of the montage of Rocky here, you know. Go into a training session. Be the little tortoise. Steady and push through. We all love Rudy's. We all love the movie of the guy that finishes the race even though he fell down. We all love Louie Zamperini that he could push a log over his head in a concentration camp. If you think you can do it, you can. moses knows he can't and i love that moses knows he can't did you catch what he's his complaint is to the lord i am a man of uncircumcised lips bible test where else have you heard that in the scripture who else said that isaiah isaiah stands before the holiness of god and who is a consuming fire and he drops and it's the first thing he says of himself woe is me i'm undone i'm a man of unclean lips this was the struggle of the prophets what was moses's real problem god had been saying the whole time go say exactly what i tell you to say he rehearsed it promise covenant his name is faithfulness to preserve the line and when you go to israel when you when you go to pharaoh here's how you command here's what you say one of you walked up to me last time and says i don't know here did moses cower before pharaoh well look back i didn't address that yet i want you to look back at exodus 5 moses goes before pharaoh moses walks in bold at first this is this is right after the sermon was preached everyone's believing there's a roar in the camp they've all stopped working moses goes in and preaches and what happens he says thus says the lord the god of israel let my people go that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness what happened who's the lord thus says pharaoh i'm not gonna let them are you i'm not letting them go what does moses say please it's pretty close who is the lord nor then they said the god of hebrews has met with us please let us go three days journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest he fall on us with pestilence or with sword. In other words, this is not going to go well. Please let us go. That's not the authority he should have come with. You agree? I mean, when a police officer says, stick him up, do you think nowadays and what's going on that's going to be more effective if the police officer says, please? Well, stick him up. Stick him up. Stick him up. he cowered when met with opposition he turned away from speaking the lord's words and i believe he started speaking his own and all the authority of it was lost moses feels i'm a mess you feel failure in life you know you failed and this is where he is i'm a mess i don't have the power to speak, Lord, what you want me to speak. I don't have the power. I don't have it. And God commands him in verse 13. Now, if you were to look down at verse 28 of our text tonight in verse chapter 6, the same thing is repeated. God gives the command again, and then again in verse 30, but Moses said before the Lord, but behold, I am of uncircumcised lips. How shall Pharaoh hear me? did you notice that's twice said it's a bracket it's a bracket why is it a bracket well all of a sudden right in between this command you have a command on one side moses is complaining of failure uncircumcised lips command on the other end failure uncircumcised lips the narrative just stops and this difficult genealogy is now thrown in the middle to us it feels like one of those moments where something dramatic in a movie is happening and all of a sudden a commercial starts. And you're like, oh, worst thing ever. We know how genealogies are, right? How do you feel when you read a genealogy? Worst thing ever. Who wrote this? Moses. Moses, under the inspiration of the Spirit, wanted every generation at this point to understand something. To which we should all say, what? What does he want us to understand in the midst of this? Well, I believe we get into the heart of Moses here. I believe this was intended for future generations to read and to look at and say, okay, in the midst of the conflict, what did he learn? Why this bracket and why this here? Whatever this is, it was written down. Moses stops the story, stops the drama, and gives us one of the most amazing intermissions, if you will, that we ever get in the Scriptures. Why? Here's what I come up with. The whole thing is an encouragement directly from the Lord. Saying, Moses, I want you to step back and I want you to look at the big picture. Israel's been afflicted for how long? 400 years. And frustrated, year after year after year, wondering, is any deliverance ever going to come? You ever felt that these days? Is this ever going to change? Are we really going to see something good come out of this? God comes with a genealogy. And he starts giving names that if you were to trace this, you know what you find. Follow me here. I hope you see this. Because it's the greatest encouragement, I think, in this whole section of what the Lord is training Moses and Israel and us to see for future generations. If you trace this, what you would find is it begins with Jacob's sons. And these were all those born prior to being taken down to Egypt. And what you have then is a line tracing the names of the patriarch's sons who have lived throughout the 400 years of bondage. God said to Abraham, listen carefully. No, certainly, your descendants will be strangers in a land that's not theirs and will serve them and they will afflict them 400 years. The total amount they were in Egypt was 430. The first 30 years was peaceful. Jacob dies. Joseph dies. And then, for 400 years, intense bondage and persecution came. And that's what the Lord referenced to Abraham. 400 years they'll be afflicted. Now, if you're looking back at the truth of all this, and you interject a genealogy, what point are you making? Well, God said 400 years they will be afflicted, and here's the descent to prove it. What should that tell you? it's almost as if Moses wanted every single reader to understand here how he got through this, what he understood. It was all planned out. What do I mean? Well, God is saying to Israel through this genealogy, the time of your struggle was numbered to a T. The days, notice you have time references here. Look at verse 6 of chapter 7. Moses is how old at the end of our last verse that we're considering in chapter seven, verse seven, 80. Aaron's 83. Why does God put that there? Well, if Moses dies at 120, he spent the last 40 years of his life in the wilderness. That means that if he's 80, he's 80 at the time of the exodus. That means he was born at 350 years into the exodus, somewhere. Aaron 3.47. Here's what I believe Moses wanted everyone to see. It's time. It's time. God can't lie to Abraham. He swore an oath. It confirmed for all generations God's faithfulness to His promises and accuracy of His word and promise. Don't you need that? I feel in this struggle it's never going to end. I do. You live in this sad world and you see people die and you think about the future generations of your children and the sorrows and the effects of your children and you start really thinking, when is this going to come? When is the heavenly land that was promised us, when is eternal life really going to come? It seems so far off. Is it ever going to happen? One day is as a thousand years with the Lord. That didn't always comfort me, but this did. He's not slack in giving the promise. When the last of the elect comes in, it's done. Now, if you were to fast forward to the end of Exodus, this is what you get. Now, the sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in Egypt, this Exodus 12, was 430 years, and it came to pass at the end of the 430 years, listen to this, On the very same day, it came to pass that all the armies of the Lord went out of the land of Egypt. The genealogy was saying to Israel, was saying to Moses, is saying to us, from Jacob to the time of the deliverer was the exact time that the Lord had determined for them to be there. Not a day later, God is not a liar, and what an encouragement. It confirms everything. That's the first thing. The second's this. God then gives all these names of people who were in the affliction. How encouraging is that? For future generations that are there stuck in it and knew their struggles and by selectively recording these names, He tells us these names and He showed them these were your people in the same struggle you are. Go through a few of the names with me. Nephag means weak. Mahli means sick. You know names meant something. Somebody was sick. Karmai means vine dresser. Elzaphan means God has treasured. Some of the names maybe you can relate to. Korah means baldy. Some of you can really connect with that one. Shaul means prayers answered. Simeon, praying for deliverance. Eleazar, God has aided. Jemuel, day of God. Yamin, right hand. Ohad, beloved one. Yaqin, he will establish. Zohar, light. Shaul, prayers answered. There's a story here they would have known. And it doesn't matter how accurate we are with the translation of the names. They saw it. They were real people with real cries, in real struggles who went before them. Many of their names that revealed they were trusting. And here's Moses. In a short period of time, within a few years, is frustrated with God not being patient. Ordinary people waiting for the promise. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, But having seen them afar off, were assured of them, embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth, for they say, they declare plainly they seek a homeland. God's not going to renege on that. The other day, I picked up a copy, an early copy, of the original summons of the Westminster Assembly. And I was reading through it. In the second page, there was a list of all the names of the original assembly members of 16, 43 to 48. I got excited. These are guys I've read for years. There was William Twist. There's Samuel Bolton. There's James Usher. There's Jeremiah Burroughs. On and on and on and on. There were their names. Think if you saw a register of God's people, godly people, your parents and your grandparents and their grandparents and their children. I don't know about you, but it would have been very exciting to see the names of people we know in this genealogy when God inspired it. Here are my people. They've cried for a long time, Moses. They've waited for a long time. I'm not forsaking them. And this was a reminder to Moses and it's a reminder to us, it's much bigger than us. our struggles in the moment. One more reason I want to think about, and we'll close. He starts with Reuben and goes to Simeon. Then Levi stops. We're priests. We know that whole line, where that would go. But the genealogy doesn't focus on Moses. Do you know where the spotlight is put in this genealogy? Aaron. Aaron's wife and children and grandchildren, nothing about Moses. Moses' complaint brackets this, and I thought about this. I'm of uncircumcised lips. I'm of uncircumcised lips. The genealogy is interjected, and then he announces Aaron, who was Moses' what? Mouthpiece. I'm of uncircumcised lips. I'm of uncircumcised lips, and the genealogy focuses on Moses' mouthpiece. Aaron, His prophet. I'm going to raise up a priestly prophet for you, Moses. God had already planned for Aaron to be the spokesman. Well, commercial ends. We pick right back up where we were. Verse 28, I am the Lord. Speak to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, all that I say to you. And in verse 30, we come back to the excuse. Behold, I'm of uncircumcised lips. How shall Pharaoh heed me? So the Lord said to Moses, see? I have made you as God to Pharaoh and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet. You shall speak all that I command you. After affirming the promises, after strengthening Moses, he recommissions Moses to speak just what he commanded, only the words, don't renege, don't back off. You go in confidence, you go in boldness, you speak as I gave you the words and notice what he says, I've made you as God to Pharaoh and Aaron your brother shall be your, when you go to Pharaoh, you're coming as if you are me. And when the words come out, what I want you to come out and you to say, it'll be through your prophet. Aaron speaks for you. So, you have your own prophet that just as you speak for me, so Aaron speaks for you, and so you will be God to Pharaoh. What an amazing section. You say, well, what does that mean? What I can't help but see here is the provision from the Lord to teach Moses that the words that are spoken are not His, but they're another's. So Moses and Aaron were representing God and His prophet. Whoa. Who is His prophet? God would make a promise to Moses, I am raising up a prophet like you from among your brethren. It's his words. He's speaking. And that's Christ. Aaron's a type here to encourage Moses. To encourage him. It's his ministry of deliverance. It's Christ's ministry. And we need to remember that. Whatever he has for us, we are ambassadors, says Paul, of him. We're His workmen. We belong to Him. It's His ministry. It's His church. It's His building. It's His program. The strength has never been or ever will be us. And that now gives everything to be possible, doesn't it? Because through Christ, I can do all things. Through Him who strengthens me. All things are possible. And I need to be reminded that and you need to be reminded that that when we submit, when we trust Him, we're following His design. And His faithfulness drives this whole operation. His word will never return void. Just be sure that you're not a heart that it's cutting the other way and hardening. Believe Him. Pastors have struggled for a long time not seeing results at times. You read these guys, some who didn't see any conversions in their ministry. I'm shocked by that. Faithful men. And you wonder, what's the Lord doing? The Lord is accomplishing His perfect will. And we're going to be amazed at who's there on that day. But we shouldn't lose heart in the midst of it. I remember hearing one pastor was really struggling with his ministry and his wife tried to encourage him and she said, well, hey, Noah preached 120 years without a single convert. And then he said, yeah, but there wasn't another Noah down the street with people flowing into his ark. The pastor commenting on what Moses must have felt said, most people I know in the ministry are unhappy. They're failures in their own eyes. Most pastors do little more than survive in the ministry in piddly little churches. How can I go on giving all that I have without seeing the results, especially when others are? Everything to the end that my, as we think about the Lordship and power of Christ being displayed, we have to remember in all of this, there is one speaking. And to be encouraged, the results are His. Wait upon Him. And I believe that's the ending of this. It is going according to plan and you're going to see marvelous results in the end. You're going to see marvelous results along the way according to his purpose. But look at verse 4. You're going to be brought out, Moses, with great judgments because the time is now. There is a time coming when this will end. The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord and I will stretch out my hand and bring you out. There's a bigger picture here. You have one concern. Remember who we represent. And that's so important for us as a church tonight to close. Remember who we represent. And we can put it this way. I've already chosen to bring you out and to come get you at the very day I appointed. And not one day will go on longer than what's already been determined. That means so much for us tonight. He's renewed us in His promises. In all the sea of confusion and struggle as we go out into another week, God is working out his perfect will that Christ may be exalted. He will have the victory. The battle is won and he's redeeming a multitude of people that belong to him in body and in soul. So we should be faithful in whatever calling he's given us. To trust him. But the battle belongs to the Lord. And aren't you glad? Let's pray. Gracious Heavenly Father, thank you for encouraging us tonight with this genealogy thank you for being faithful and fulfilling your promises when we are such messes and we can relate to moses when we say uncircumcised lips we say on he says that we say uncircumcised hearts and you can answer that and you have by giving us life in the blood and the righteousness of your son thank you that it's your ministry lord jesus thank you that you are the one seated, that you are our mediator and intercessor, and that your perfect will is coming to pass, and that in the midst of the discouragements, we can look forward to know that on that day, you've shown us a vision in heaven of a multitude no man can number. Oh, Lord, that's just wonderful to think about. And so as we go out and do another week, give us boldness, give us confidence, let us not be ashamed of your word, let us speak it in truth. as it is in Jesus, the truth that you've revealed to us. And be confident that we belong to you and that very, very soon you're coming to get us. And it's a perfect timetable when the very last of your elect comes in. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.