Keith Battle - The Moses Factor

I’m going to talk to you today about Moses, specifically what I call the «Moses Factor.» When we discuss Moses in the Bible, we see that he was chosen by God; he was unique and had a special assignment, along with distinct abilities. He was designed by God for his mission because God doesn’t give us something to do without equipping us for it. Moses was uniquely created and called by God. One sign of his being chosen occurred early in his life — actually at the beginning of his life — when there was a hit out on all male children his age. The Pharaoh at that time ordered the killing of every Hebrew boy born. Despite this threat, he survived. One reason you know you’re chosen is because of what you’ve survived. Let me speak to someone over here: One reason you know you’re chosen is due to what you’ve survived. You’ve made it out of situations that others in your neighborhood didn’t escape, and some of you have gone further than anyone else in your family. That’s not just luck; that’s being chosen! Hallelujah! You’ve been chosen, and that’s why you have accomplished the things you’ve accomplished.

With being chosen, we also see that Moses' life was protected. Some of you should have been in cars that crashed, where people died, or in situations where you escaped right before something terrible happened. Or God’s protection kept you safe while something happened to the other children in your family, and you thought, «That didn’t happen to me.» That’s only because God covered you. Amen? Do you understand what I’m saying? In Moses' life, we see this protection, but we also observe his vices and shortcomings as he grows. In Exodus chapter 2, we learn about his flaws. It’s important to recognize that what I’m about to share are highlights or lowlights of his life; they don’t represent the totality of who he is. These are flaws that became evident because he got caught. How many of you know there are things you did that nobody caught you doing? Right? Is anyone grateful that your misdeeds aren’t being preached about? (Little John John!)

In Chapter 2 of Exodus, verse 11 states that many years later, when Moses had grown up, he went out to visit his own people. Understand that part of the miracle of saving his life was that he was placed in a basket and put on the river, where he was safe from drowning. Someone heard him crying, came to rescue him, and he ultimately ended up back with his mother. God arranged it so that the Egyptian people were even paying her to raise him. It’s a phenomenal story. When he got older, he went out to visit the Hebrews and saw how hard they were forced to work. During his visit, he witnessed an Egyptian beating one of his fellow Hebrews. The Bible says that after looking in all directions, and we all know that whenever you’re doing this, it means you’re about to do something you shouldn’t. He turned off his locational services — that’s a strong move when you don’t want anyone to know what you’re doing or where you are. He looked in all directions, ensuring no one was watching, and instead of breaking up the fight or calling for justice, Moses killed the Egyptian in a fit of anger and buried his body in the sand.

The first thing we see in Moses’ actions is that he was impulsive and harbored anger issues. There was a better way to handle the situation; instead, he killed the man and buried him. The next day, when Moses went out to visit his people again, he saw two Hebrew men fighting and asked the one who started the fight, «Why are you beating up your friend?» The man replied, «Who appointed you to be our prince and judge? Are you going to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?» This scared Moses because he realized someone knew what he had done. He said, «Everyone knows what I did.» Pharaoh heard about the incident and sought to kill Moses, forcing him to flee from Pharaoh and go to the land of Midian. This marked the second time in his life that his life was under threat; the first time, as a baby, he didn’t even know. That’s why you must say, «All my life, you have been faithful.» There are things God has protected us from that we don’t even realize!