20. Not About You! Moses, Pharaoh and the Faithful God Part 5

[00:00:00] G'day, welcome to Stories of a Faithful God for Kids, the podcast where we discover just

[00:00:07] how kind God can be. Dave here, ready to go.

[00:00:13] Have you ever noticed that sometimes people act as though they can do anything? Like nothing

[00:00:19] can stop them because they're so great. Do you ever do that? Maybe it's like put

[00:00:26] me in the best spot on the sports team. I'll make us win. Or to the teacher, please let me do that job.

[00:00:33] I'm the most responsible in the class and I won't mess it up. Or even, what's that? You need someone

[00:00:41] to jump onto the moon, dig a hole, plant a tree in it, jump back to earth, run on their hands

[00:00:46] along the bottom of the Pacific Ocean or while holding a potato in their mouth. Sure I can

[00:00:52] do that for you. Other people, and maybe you're more like this, they feel like they can't do anything.

[00:01:01] Like no please don't ask me to keep all your money safe. I'll probably just trip and drop

[00:01:08] it down the drain. It'd be much safer with pretty much anyone else. Even that bank robber over there.

[00:01:15] These people feel like they can't do things. They can't get things right. They'll just

[00:01:20] mess it up. I think I'm a bit more like the second person though sometimes I am like the first one as

[00:01:27] well. Even though these people sound really different, did you notice that they actually

[00:01:34] have the same problem? They both spend all their time thinking about themselves. Their own power,

[00:01:43] their own strength, their own ability. They're not really thinking about others.

[00:01:50] That's bad enough when we're dealing with people. But what about when we're dealing with God?

[00:01:56] In today's story, even though Moses is speaking to God, he can't stop thinking about himself.

[00:02:04] Get ready for episode 20 of Stories of a Faithful God for Kids.

[00:02:14] In the last episode, God showed that he's the powerful promise keeper who cares for his people.

[00:02:45] He told Moses how he'd use his power to save his people the Israelites from Egypt,

[00:02:52] how he'd take them to a new good land of their own, how he'd make the Egyptians give them lots

[00:02:58] of treasure. God was going to do it all. It's all his power and plan. He has a special job for

[00:03:06] Moses in the plan. He was going to use Moses to speak to Pharaoh when Moses made an excuse and said,

[00:03:14] who am I? I can't do that. God basically said, it doesn't matter. I'll be with you.

[00:03:20] I'm the powerful one. I'll do all the hard work.

[00:03:24] Moses, though, he still doesn't really trust God. He's still thinking about himself and how weak

[00:03:31] he is. He's probably also thinking about how there are people back in Egypt who want to kill him.

[00:03:38] He doesn't believe yet that God's got it all sorted. So he keeps going with the excuses.

[00:03:46] In chapter 4 verse 1, Moses says,

[00:03:50] what if the people of Israel do not believe me or listen to me? What if they say the Lord did not

[00:03:56] appear to you? I think he's actually saying there's no way they're going to believe him.

[00:04:02] He's thinking who would believe me? No one's going to listen to me. Why would they think the

[00:04:08] Lord appeared to me? Do you see the problem? It's the word me. Moses is thinking about his own power,

[00:04:20] or how he doesn't have any power. He hasn't realised that of course God can make them believe

[00:04:26] Moses. God can do anything. Well God stays calm and he's really kind to Moses. He gives him

[00:04:34] three signs to show the people. Signs that will prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that he's spoken

[00:04:41] with God. The first one is really famous. Let me read it to you from verse 2. The Lord said to him,

[00:04:49] what is that in your hand? Moses answered, it is my walking stick. The Lord said,

[00:04:55] throw it on the ground. So Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake.

[00:05:01] Ah! How much would that freak you out? Sometimes snakes can look like sticks,

[00:05:07] but this actually was a stick and it turned into a real snake. Then the Bible says,

[00:05:13] Moses ran from the snake. But the Lord said to him,

[00:05:16] reach out and grab the snake by its tail. So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake.

[00:05:23] When he did this, it again became a stick in his hand.

[00:05:27] The Lord said, when this happens the Israelites will believe that the Lord appeared to you.

[00:05:35] I am the God of their ancestors. I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.

[00:05:43] Phew! He's safe again. That's really amazing isn't it? Do you think you could do that trick?

[00:05:51] Next time you have a stick throw it on the ground and see if it becomes a snake.

[00:05:57] Don't! Let me repeat this. Don't try and pick up a snake by the tail to see if it becomes a stick.

[00:06:06] If you see a snake far away, just back away slowly. If it's close,

[00:06:12] just stand still and it won't be able to see you.

[00:06:16] I'm gonna say though, I don't think you can turn a stick into a snake.

[00:06:23] But actually, neither can Moses. It isn't him doing it. It's God and it'll prove that God's with Moses.

[00:06:33] Then God gives him another sign. In verse 6 God says,

[00:06:37] put your hand inside your coat. So Moses put his hand inside his coat. When he took his hand out

[00:06:45] it was white with a harmful skin disease. Ah! That would freak you out too. Imagine if you put your

[00:06:52] perfectly healthy hand inside your pocket pulled it out and suddenly all the skin was rotten.

[00:06:59] But it's okay. Verse 7 says, Then the Lord said, Now put your hand inside your coat again.

[00:07:06] So Moses put his hand inside his coat again. When he took it out his hand was healthy again.

[00:07:14] It was like the rest of his skin. Phew! Are you noticing a bit of a pattern with these signs?

[00:07:23] There's a really scary bit and a really happy bit. The first part's deadly. The second part brings

[00:07:31] safety. God's able to do both. He never does it in a nasty way or because he's feeling grumpy

[00:07:38] or bored. He isn't like a bully but he is the king of the universe. It's not right to mess with him.

[00:07:47] If you do, you can go really badly for you. That's what the Egyptians are about to find out.

[00:07:54] If you stick with God though it'll be better than you can imagine. Only God has the power

[00:08:01] to do all these amazing things. So God says in verse 8, The people may not believe you or be

[00:08:09] convinced by the first miracle. They may believe you when you show them this second miracle.

[00:08:15] After these two miracles they still may not believe or listen to you. Then take some water

[00:08:20] from the Nile River. Pour it on the dry ground. The water will become blood when it touches the

[00:08:28] ground. Ah! Water turned into blood. That'd freak you out as well. So where's the next bit?

[00:08:38] The happy safe bit? It doesn't come. I think God's giving a little warning to the Israelites.

[00:08:47] He's saying come on guys, if you don't believe after those other two miracles

[00:08:53] you're just messing around. You don't really want to believe. And it's really not a good idea

[00:09:00] to mess around with God. So Moses has these great signs proving that God's with him. He must be

[00:09:10] ready to go now. Except he comes up with another excuse. And it's a bit like this. Have you ever

[00:09:19] had to give a speech in front of the whole class or the whole school? For some people, that's terrifying.

[00:09:27] Their knees go wobbly, their mouth goes dry and they can barely get a couple of words out.

[00:09:33] That's what Moses says he's like. In verse 10 he says,

[00:09:37] But Lord I'm not a skilled speaker. I've never been able to speak well. And now even

[00:09:44] after talking to you, I'm not a good speaker. I speak slowly and can't find the best words.

[00:09:54] Did you hear the problem again? I'm not a skilled speaker. I've never been able to speak well.

[00:10:01] I'm not a good speaker. I speak slowly. I, I, I. He still hasn't got it. He's speaking to the

[00:10:11] God who made everything, including making Moses. So the Lord says in verse 11,

[00:10:19] Who made man's mouth? And who makes him deaf or not able to speak? Or who gives a man sight

[00:10:27] or makes him blind? It is I the Lord. Now go! I will help you speak. I will tell you what to

[00:10:38] say. Can you feel the tension really building? How many times does God have to say it?

[00:10:47] It's not about you, Moses. I have all the power in the world. Just trust me.

[00:10:57] And surely, surely God's given him enough to do that. God's shown his power. He's spoken

[00:11:05] to Moses directly. He's going with Moses and he's going to do all the hard work.

[00:11:12] Moses just has to do what he's told. But Moses still doesn't trust God. He still does not want

[00:11:22] to go to Egypt. He's run out of excuses, but in verse 13 he begs God with these words,

[00:11:30] Please Lord, send someone else. And you know what? Right about now I'm kind of thinking,

[00:11:38] Yeah God, send someone else. Moses is useless. But then I'm making the same mistake as Moses,

[00:11:47] aren't I? Because it isn't about Moses. Moses doesn't have to be great or powerful.

[00:11:55] He doesn't have to be a great speech giver or be able to use fancy words.

[00:12:00] God's the great and powerful one. God's going to give him the words.

[00:12:05] God is going to save his people. God doesn't change his plan to use Moses.

[00:12:13] But he does kindly give him someone to go with him, his brother Aaron.

[00:12:18] In verse 14 we're told that God becomes really angry with Moses. I know when I get angry

[00:12:24] I start to become meaner and nastier and stop caring about people so much.

[00:12:30] God's not like that. He's angry. But it doesn't stop him from caring for Moses.

[00:12:36] So verse 14 says, The Lord became angry with Moses. He said, Your brother Aaron

[00:12:43] from the family of Levi is a skilled speaker. He's already coming to meet you,

[00:12:48] and he will be happy when he sees you. I will tell you what to say, then you will tell Aaron.

[00:12:55] I will help both of you know what to say and do. And Aaron will speak to the people for you.

[00:13:01] You will tell them what God says, and he will speak for you. Take your walking stick with you.

[00:13:08] Use it to do the miracles. Do you know that? If you're a follower of Jesus,

[00:13:17] you are actually a part of God's plan to help people know Jesus. He's actually chosen you

[00:13:24] to be a part of that team, sometimes by living in a way that pleases Jesus so people can see

[00:13:31] how good it is to follow him, sometimes by speaking to people and helping them to know Jesus better,

[00:13:38] sometimes by praying for people. You might hear that and think, wow I must be awesome.

[00:13:45] I'm going to be so great at all that stuff. Others might think, oh I'm hopeless at that.

[00:13:52] This is going to be a disaster. Either way, both those thoughts have gone in the wrong

[00:13:58] direction haven't they? We find it so easy to think about ourselves. But actually,

[00:14:07] just like Moses couldn't save the Israelites from Egypt, we can't save people from sin

[00:14:13] to follow Jesus. That's God's job. He has all the power, he has all the wisdom. We're actually weak.

[00:14:23] We sin. We mess up. We forget. And yet, God can still use us. Not because we're great,

[00:14:34] but because he's great. And when you know that, it takes away all the pressure to try

[00:14:41] and be great. All we need to do is trust God. Pray and ask him for help. Pray and ask him to

[00:14:50] help us live for Jesus. Pray and ask him to give us the right words to say to people.

[00:14:57] Back at Mount Sinai, Moses is finally ready to trust and obey God. He's about to go

[00:15:06] back to Egypt. But that's a story for next time. See you then.

[00:15:21] Thanks so much for listening.

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