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??Lets play Who Said It？I'll say the words from one of our Moses lessons, and you try to guess who said it! Ready？
??* All Hebrew boy babies must be thrown into the Nile River! Did you guess pharaoh？
??* Shall I call a Hebrew woman to nurse this baby for you？That was Marian!
??* Take care of this baby for me, and I will pay you. Did you guess the princess of Egypt？
??* I think I’ll call you Moses, because I drew you out of the water. That was the princess again.
??* Don’t come any nearer, take off your shoes for you are standing on holy ground. That was the Lord!
??* Who am I that I should go lead the people out of slavery？That was Moses, wasn’t it？
??Do you remember how many times Moses offered excuses to God because he did not want to go back to Israel？Finally, as we begin our lesson today, Moses is ready to obey the Lord. Exodus 4：19 says, And the LORD said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return to Egypt：for all the men are dead who were trying to kill you.
??God was also saying Go to someone else. Moses had probably not seen his brother Aaron for the entire 40 years he was gone from Egypt. But as Moses began to travel back to Egypt, God spoke to Aaron there in Egypt：Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And so the two brothers met. Can you imagine the hugs and tears and excitement, as the two brothers not only enjoyed the reunion, but also shared the news of what God was going todo for His people. Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord.
??Together they began to speak to the elders of the people of Israel. They all gathered together for a meeting, where Aaron spoke all the words that God had told Moses, and Moses did those miracles God had shown him.
??The Bible says in Exodus 4：3l, And the people believed; and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped. I’m sure their wholehearted response encouraged Moses and Aaron. And they would need encouragement as they took the next step of obedience to God. They now had to confront Pharaoh, the king of Egypt!
??Being ushered into the presence of this wealthy and powerful king must have caused Moses and Aaron to feel nervous, but their message was just as God had commanded.
??”Thus says the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. “ Pharaohs answer was proud and disdainful：Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go？I do not know the LORD, and no! I will not let the people go.
??Pharaoh was right in one way. He did not know the LORD, the true and living God. In Egypt there were many false gods. People worshipped the Nile River, the snake, the cat, and Pharaoh himself was considered to be a god. But our true and living God says in His Word the Bible：“For all the gods of the nations are idols：but the LORD made the heavens. “ (Psalm 96：5)
??The LORD God not only made the heavens, He made all things, including you and me! And what a loving God He is, to tell us I have loved you with an everlasting love! There is no other religion or god anywhere in the world that can truly say those wonderful words! Do you remember what Gods wonderful love caused Him to do for us？The Bible tells us there is none of us that do good, we all sin by breaking God’s laws. Even though children don’t usually murder or rob a bank, even children break Gods laws. How？Well, Do you disobey your parents, or pout to get your way？Do you say unkind words or think you are better than others？Those are all things that God calls sin, or breaking His law. The punishment for breaking Gods law is that we are forever apart from God in a terrible place called Hell. But even as God said that sin must be punished, still His love caused Him to send someone to take that punishment for us. Yes, you remember, it was Jesus His perfect Son. Jesus suffering, bleeding, dying on the cross were all-necessary to pay for our sin. Jesus died and was put away in a cold, dark tomb. But God raised Him up on the third day. Now Jesus is alive in Heaven. He loves you so much and He is ready to save you from your sin. He says, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. There is no other god who loves us like that, because there is no other TRUE and LIVING God! It is sad that Pharaoh did not know Him.
??Again Moses and Aaron made the same request. “Let my people go!” But Pharaoh angrily lashed back at the two men：You are keeping the people from their work! Then Pharaoh called in the officers who were in charge of the Hebrew slaves. From now on, don’t give them any straw to make brick. Make them find their own straw, and still demand that they make just as many bricks as before. They’re getting lazy and idle, that is why they are asking me to let them go.
??Of course the officers had to obey the kings cruel order. But of course, the poor Hebrew people could not perform this impossible task! They were already being overworked, from dawn till dark. When the people were sent out to gather straw, they could not make as many bricks. And because they couldn’t make many bricks, their Hebrew leaders were beaten by the Egyptian officers. Very soon those leaders came to Pharaoh to complain and ask why. What an evil and cruel king! He would not even listen, but demanded that they go out and do as he had said. Oh, how discouraged, how hopeless those Hebrew leaders felt as they left the palace!
??As they went out, the Bible says that they met Moses and Aaron who were not far from the palace. And they turned their anger to Moses and Aaron：”You! You are the ones who have caused this! You might as well have put a sword in the hand of Pharaoh to kill us! “
??Oh, those words broke the heart of Moses! But he went straight to the Lord, and cried out in prayer：Lord, why have You made it even worse for this people？Why did you send me here？It doesn’t look like You are delivering Your people at all! At this point, neither Moses nor the Hebrew people could understand what was happening, and they were not trusting God.
??When something painful or unpleasant happens to us, isn’t it sometimes hard to trust God. Was it ever hard for Moses and Aaron and the Hebrew people! But God was working out His perfect plan, even when things seemed to be getting worse! And God encouraged Moses and said to him：I am the LORD. I am going to keep my promise. Tell the people of Israel that I will bring you out from slavery to freedom! You will be my people and I will be your God. I will give you a good land for your very own. I am the LORD.
??Moses took that message to the people of Israel, but the Bible says they did not listen to Moses because they were in such great heaviness of spirit. They were so beaten and tired from their cruel treatment. Then God told Moses to go back to Pharaoh. You and I can understand why Moses didn’t want to go. He said to God, Look now, the children of Israel have not listened to me, how can I expect Pharaoh to listen to me？Doesn’t that sound sensible'still God told Moses to go back to Pharaoh with that same message：Let my people go.
??What would you do if you were Moses？Moses himself knew he would have to trust
??and obey the Lord. He would have to go back to Pharaoh. Did Moses understand why？No!
??If you have believed on the Lord Jesus and asked Him to save you, you are His child.
??Will you trust and obey God even when you don’t understand？No matter how long you have to wait, no matter what painful or unpleasant changes come, remember there is a wise and loving Heavenly Father Who is quietly working all things for your good.
