Wednesday, May 28, 2008
". . . and the prophets who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised" (Hebrews 11:32b-33a, NIV).
IDEA: God often uses rather ordinary people to do extraordinary things.
PURPOSE: To help listeners see that God can use ordinary instruments to do extraordinary things
There are phrases in Hebrews 11 that we’re not quite sure what they mean: for example, “. . . the prophets through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised.”
We like to hear about those victories.
Let’s take one man who was called a prophet (Deuteronomy 34:10), Moses, and see how he fulfills this phrase.
I. Through faith Moses conquered kingdoms. What kingdoms did he conquer?
You can see it in its rawest form: as he trusted God, God open the sea to him. When the Egyptians tried to follow, they were drowned. He defeated Pharaoh’s army. Moses could not have done that if God had not worked in Pharaoh’s heart to do stupid things and worked in Moses to bring the victory.
In the course of the 40 years in which he led the people through the wilderness, he engaged and defeated the kings of a number of nations. The most spectacular victory was over the Egyptians.
He had to trust God to keep His word as he confronted Pharaoh.
He had to trust God to keep His word when he led the people out and then was confronted with the Red Sea.
He had to trust God when he moved forward to the sea while it was still a sea, to see it part.
Here is a prophet who spoke to the people for God, conquering kingdoms.
II. He administered justice, Exodus 18:
Moses took it on himself to administer justice to the people.
With the advice of his father-in-law Jethro, he divided up the responsibility among mature men.
It was essential in all that judging that the people felt that they were being dealt with justly.
III. Moses received what was promised.
God had said that he would deliver the people from Egypt and take them to the Promised Land. Although Moses did not enter the land, he led the people to the border of the land God had promised.
CONCLUSION: God often uses rather ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Moses was a great leader, he was a great leader because he trusted a great God.