Series: Called
Part 4 – The day the Lord’s anger burned
 Today, I want to move on to the last message in this series….and revisit the day God got pretty angry!!!  The Bible describes it as the day when the “Lords anger burned”!!
We will turn to our Scripture readings in a bit, reading a fair bit of what we have read last month, again.  But before we get to the part of Moses being called by God – let’s just familiarise ourselves with some of the prior events in Moses’ life.
We will quickly recap some of his background details, look at a bit of geography and in this process to see if we can refresh our memory about Moses’ life prior to God’s call.  So, I will read some events from Scripture (not our main reading) and just remind you of others.  You can keep your Bibles open at Exodus 3 if you wish, as we will get to that or you can just follow on the screen.
I’ll start the recap from Exodus 2:1-10
So we know that, essentially, Moses was an Egyptian Prince from that day on – he was not going to be the next Pharoah, but he was ROYALTY!  He grew up in the same palace as the future king – the future Pharaoh; he knew exactly what was expected and when that was expected.  He knew how to address fellow royalty, he knew when to bow, and when to expect others to bow….He didn’t just study the palace protocols of the time… he lived them.
That’s how we are introduced to Moses: the Hebrew boy that became an adopted Egyptian prince….
But then he sees the way the people of God are treated as slaves, how they are beaten…and it only started out as Him feeling sorry for them, but in time He identifies with them….it is his people!
Now I really don’t know why – maybe someone reminded him constantly that he wasn’t really Egyptian royalty, maybe a sibling, maybe there were slaves speaking out – reminding him that he was one of them.   Maybe it was a positive encounter – one of the Hebrew slaves, an old man perhaps, who would talk with Moses and teach him about God – I don’t know.  But the Bible tells us – Moses knew they were “his own people”
Then Moses saw an Egyptian beating a slave…. and He just lost it – so Moses started beating the Egyptian – and killed him.  And we know, that because of this, Moses had to flee for his life – so he fled into the desert.  Sometime during his flight through the desert, he got to a place called Midian.
Stopping at a well for a drink of water, Moses saw how the seven young women got bullied by a group of men, as they tried to draw water for the sheep they were tending.  Moses wasn’t having any of this, and stepped up to protect them, and watered their flock.  It turns out their father was a priest in the area – and extremely grateful.  So he took Moses in and offered one of his daughters in marriage.
This was the recap of Moses’ life.
So, at this point, let’s turn back to scripture for a bit….
Reading Exodus 3:1-2
And this is where God called Moses…
Moses was his father in law’s shepherd, and he got to Mount Horeb / Sinai (exact same place) and saw this burning bush at the same place God’s people would worship Him after leaving Egypt. Moses knew the same desert he was going to lead the Israelites into.
You just couldn’t find any person more suitable for the task Moses had been called for: I mean look at this:
*  He knows the palace protocol in the Pharaoh’s court – he knows what to say, what to do, how to make the correct impressions, how to push the royal’s buttons – he knows it all – he grew up in that same place!!  He was an insider for many years!!  No one, expect other Pharaoh’s, princes and princesses growing up in that palace would have the same knowledge!
*  He knows what it means to leave everything behind and just go….He had to do it before as well!  He also had to leave Egypt in a rush, taking only what he could carry with him.  So when the time comes when he would expect the people of God to just pack up and leave – he will understand the emotions they feel.
Actually, Moses had to do it twice!  He had to leave Egypt 40 yrs ago, and now he has to do it again – he just packed a donkey, left the rest behind in Midian, and set off.  He knows what it means to leave a whole life behind and just go!
*  Moses spent 40 years in the same desert he was going to lead God’s people into.  This is where he lived – in the desert, the same desert the Israelites would wander in – and here is the kicker – for 40 years!!   Moses knows what 40 years in a desert – in that desert feels like.  He knows what it means to have sand in your sleeping mat every night – and he knows what mental capacity it takes to SURVIVE 40 years in a desert – in that very same desert.
*  Which would also mean… He knows the whole area pretty well.  After living somewhere for 40 years you get to know it ALL! J  He knows the weather, he knows that if the wind blows from that side, you’d better make sure your tent is secured….there is a sandstorm on the way. If it blows from the opposite side, it means it will be a cool night, so you’d better get the blankets rolled out.
He’d know where the good hiding spots are, should they be attacked by other people – after 40 years in one place – you know quite a bit!
*  And he knows how to keep a flock alive in these conditions.  That is what he did the last 40 years in this area – he looked after his father in law’s sheep.  He understood how to care for a flock in these harsh conditions – when to move them to the next pasture.  He knows, just by looking at the amount of grass after some torrential rains, how long they will be able to graze there before it will be time to move.  The Israelites don’t know any of this yet – but Moses will be able to teach them!
He will help them keep their animals alive in these conditions for 40 years – he did it before!
*  Moses also had his own problems of faith.  He found it hard to trust God.  He was one of those people that needed signs – physical signs – to facilitate his faith. He asked God for signs – extraordinary signs – because his faith wasn’t strong enough.  This is the same thing the Israelites did in the Exodus – they constantly had to SEE before they believed.  Moses can resonate with this – he was the same – and this will be part of our main scripture reading today – Moses asking God for signs to facilitate his faith…
Reading Exodus 3:7-10; 13-15; 4:1-14
You see the problem was Moses is looking for excuses to not accept God’s call.  He didn’t want to do it!  He was afraid!  But God countered every excuse with reassurance, He gave physical signs….but Moses wouldn’t budge!
And God got angry.
So angry that it written that “His anger burned”!  That is not your everyday anger – a few verses on in v.24 we read that God was about to kill Moses!   God’s anger really did burn against Moses!!
Because Moses is JUST the man for this job!  God has prepared him for this his whole life – it took YEARS.  And now God called him into service…. and Moses said “No!”  And God got angry because Moses wouldn’t accept God’s call.  God called him.  God spoke to his fears by reassuring time and time again.  But when he had to make the decision – whether or not to except God’s call – he opted for a big fat “NO”.
And God got angry!! The God who is slow to anger and compassionate and merciful (Ps 103), because Moses wouldn’t accept God’s call.
Here is an uncomfortable question: Do you think God ever got angry at us for not accepting His call to serve in His Kingdom?
And this is not meant to be a fire and brimstone sermon – we know that Moses was a friend of God, there was no other prophet like him ever again.  This is the extreme anger of someone getting hurt by a loved one.
We have spent four months looking at God calling us to serve him.
Firstly, we know that we have all been called – called to be us for Jesus – you (put your name here) for Jesus!
Secondly, we know that God doesn’t let Himself be dictated how to choose people, how to call people.  God doesn’t subscribe to the criteria of our society – when God calls people He doesn’t think of anyone as too insignificant!!
In part three, we’ve learned that there usually are phases of progression when people are called by God.  And should we get stuck somewhere in the call process, we know how to get unstuck.
The last part of the series is: Will you surrender to God….will you accept His call to be fully you, all for Him? Or would you rather have his anger burn against you?
I mean, we all want to be like the faith heroes in the Bible – but on this one – I would hate to be like Moses.  I would hate to be the one to push the God of love, the God that is compassionate and slow to anger – to that point where all of that is traded for His burning anger against me!
During his Stanford address in 2005 Steve Jobs delivered one of most famous speeches, in which he said:
“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.  So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.”
God says: Trust me….trust me that I have been connecting your dots your whole life!!  Now, answer my call!  This is where all the dots have been leading to!