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This blog post is Part 33 of a series entitled "From Fear To Freedom" by Pastor Jeffrey Dean Smith of Donelson First in Nashville, TN. 

Message Date: November 10, 2024

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What is your “thing?” Everyone has a “thing...” And those who eventually admit their “thing” are those who find freedom on the other side of surrender. To what “thing” am I referring?  Well...  For the gambler, it is one more roll of the dice. For the addict, it is one more hit. For the alcoholic, it is one more drink. For others, there thing is... Worry. Pride. Sexual perversion. Love of money. Lying. Gossip. Lust. And on and on... You have a “thing.” This is true for us all. You possess within a propensity to allow your “thing” to overtake you; control you; consume you; ruin you.

Over the course of the last eleven months, we have discussed so very many attributes of the man Moses. We have witnessed him take nothing short of amazing strides as a leader; a man of tremendous faith; and one willing to leave his country, his wife, his children, and his entire family to do the will of the Lord. We sat on the edge of our seats as we studied, on 10 different occasions, Moses stood before the most powerful man on the planet and demanded the Pharaoh let God’s people go. We journeyed with Moses as he orchestrated the world’s most intense and systematic exodus of 2 million plus people out of the land in which they had been held captive as slaves for 400 years. We journeyed with Moses as he led God’s people across the hot, dusty, Sinai desert. We held our breaths as the Egyptian army chased Moses and the Hebrews into what appeared as an inescapable dead-end blood bath, only to watch as Moses led God’s chosen people across dry ground passing through the seabed of the Reed Sea. And we just concluded a 9-week study of Moses’ time with the Holy Father on the Mountain of God, Mt. Sinai, where God inscribes with His very finger the 10 Commandments for His people, for all of His people, by which we as His followers are to live.

Moses has been labeled a Hebrew prophet, an Egyptian Prince, the father of Israel, the slave redeemer, and the great provider for the nation of two million Israelites. He is known as a man of tremendous character; as faithful; steadfast; a true leader; and courageous. But did you know that Moses is also known for another attribute? This attribute, I would say, is Moses’ “thing.” Now, if you are not looking for it, you might not see it. And even if you do see it, you very well may excuse it, tolerate it, or even justify it. But as we are going to see today, it was this very “thing” that continues to surface and re-surface throughout Moses’ life... and it ultimately cost Moses entrance into the land flowing with milk and honey.

As we near the end of our journey with Moses and the nation of Israel from fear to freedom, we are going to spend our final four weeks in this epic excursion zeroing in on this man; this one-of-a-kind man; the one man whom God chose at birth to be His instrument in delivering His people, the Hebrew people, from their 400 years of captivity and leading them into their new land, God’s holy land, the land promised by God to His people... the land of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the very land upon which God’s one and only Son, Christ Jesus, will appear and live and die and conquer death... and the land upon which our Savior is one day returning to take home His people. So... What is Moses’ thing? Any idea? Let me give you a hint... We have read on three different occasions about Moses’ “thing.” We have read it and read it and read it... and I presume you never noticed it... not even once! So again, I ask: What is Moses’ thing? It is... Anger. 

I presume most people do not attribute the personality of Moses to such a flaw as anger. But it is true. From early on in his life, even unto his final steps with the Lord, Moses displayed moments of tremendous anger. And today you are going to see that, not only did Moses, at times, give into this struggle, but again, it is exactly this veracity that prohibits Moses from ever stepping foot into the land God promised to Abraham under the stars so very many years ago. Of all that we can glean from the story of Moses, and with only a few weeks left in this study, “Why?” you may be asking, “... are we focusing on this very negative and destructive attribute of one of the greatest lives ever lived and one of the most powerful stories ever recorded in all of time?” Well, it is really quite simple y’all:

Anger uncontrolled will lead to devastating consequences for both you and for those closest to you.

So this morning I want to accomplish these three things:

1. Reveal to you critical decision-making moments in the life of Moses in which he responds with anger.
2. Highlight the impact with how these decisions to respond with anger shaped the ministry of Moses.
3. Offer to you three take-homes as you consider the importance of managing anger and its potential devastation in your life, in your home, with your family, and ultimately, the impact it can have on your own ministry.

Let’s begin by returning to Moses’ childhood:

Exodus 2:10-12

Moses is around the age of 40 when he commits murder. His anger got the best of him. I’ve heard some say, “Well, this murder was justified by God because Moses killed an Egyptian, and it was the Egyptians who had enslaved the people of God.” But y’all... You cannot instinctively justify your own actions, or the actions of others, on merely the merits of one’s circumstances... no matter how debilitating, or difficult, or devastating. Moses knew what he was doing was wrong. He acted in anger, and he wanted to make sure that no one was watching... and too, he took extreme steps to hide his misdeeds:

Exodus 2:12

Paul gives us even more clarity about the emotional complexity of Moses at this moment:

Acts 7:22-24

Moses believed he was God’s chosen man to “save the day” for the nation of Israel. Though God would in fact choose Moses for such a monumental position, no such position excuses Moses’ act of vengeance in killing another man. Jesus said this about one using a “self-righteous” platform to bring condemnation upon another:

Matthew 7:3-5

Y’all, in so very many places of worship, the Church is failing here...failing! I have been so very disappointed this week to see the online battle of words ongoing between Republicans and Democrats, Harris supporters and Trump supporters, the unchurched and the churched...

The #1 reason people choose to not attend church: [Church Report, Inc. September 2023]
5. Fear of walking into a room unknown.
4. Church is outdated.
3. Guilt.
2. Cannot be forgiven.
1. Fear of being judged.

The one place in which the world should be at peace and receive a consuming peace - the Church. The world is immersed in fear – fear of the unknown; fear of consuming guilt; fear of being judged by the Church. Y’all... If we are to reach a world of unchurched people, we must become a church of people reaching out with open arms – loving; humble; gracious; and cultivating the message: “You are welcome. You are loved. You are received. You are family.” You cannot, you must not be one who judges, who condemns with words, and who closes the door in the face of anyone... no matter, NO MATTER, their past, their present lifestyle, nor their actions of hate against you.

No matter how unjustly and unholy you perceive another’s actions, your response of anger never unites.

Instead, your anger says to the world, “I do not accept you. I do not care for you. I do not love you.” In actuality, such anger will only cause greater dissension. Now, I do not know a single Christ-follower who would allow their beliefs, their anger, to rise to such a level that one kills another and buries him or her in the sand. But, what I have seen, what I do see, is Christians burying one another with divisive and angry words over church traditions, people not getting their way, over politics.... If we are ever to reach the world with the love of Jesus, then we have to love like Jesus. You are not God’s savior to the world. You are not judge and jury over another. And calling out another’s sins does not excuse your own! This is exactly what happened with Moses. 

Acts 7:25-29

So he flees to Midian. And there goes 40 years of his life! Moses loses here because he assumes the role of distributing a self-righteous anger. Let’s learn from this y’all – as we love others; as we love on others; as we assume the posture of a people who love without anger. For the next 40 years, you would think that Moses learned his lesson and got his anger under control. He does not. When God calls Moses to stand before Pharaoh, he does so on nine occasions, ten including the final blow that led to the final plague from God – the death of the firstborn... including the death of the Pharaoh’s firstborn son. And here is a question for you: What did God tell Moses would happen every single time that Moses was to meet with Pharaoh?

Exodus 4:21
Exodus 7:3
Exodus 7:13
Exodus 8:15
Exodus 9:12
Exodus 9:35
Exodus 10:20
Exodus 10:27
Exodus 11:10
Exodus 14:4

Have you ever wondered, “Why? Why did God harden the heart of Pharaoh so very many times?” Yes, in part it was to bring glory to Himself. Yet, I am convinced there is more, so very much more to this reasoning on the part of the Holy Father. More specifically, “Why? Why did God tell Moses on at least 10 occasions... so very many times that He would harden Pharaoh’s heart? Again, in hardening the heart of the most powerful human on the planet in the eyes of the world, God brought a holy reverence upon Himself. However, there is a very specific reason as to why God chose over and over and over again in this story to tell Moses that He would harden the heart of the King of Egypt. Why!?

My opinion: God did not continually tell Moses that He would harden Pharaoh’s heart to merely prolong this entire process. God did not continually tell Moses that He would harden Pharaoh’s heart to make things go worse for the King. God did not continually tell Moses that He would harden Pharaoh’s heart to simply allow the story to be more interesting. No! I am confident God did not harden Pharaoh’s heart for any of these reasons! Instead, I am most assuredly convinced that God continually told Moses that He would harden the heart of the Pharaoh for one reason; for one person... Moses!

God hardens Pharaoh’s heart and conveys to Moses over and again that He is doing precisely this so that Moses would see and understand and be convinced and undoubtedly know that God is fully in control; that He can be trusted; and that Moses, most assuredly can faithfully and without anger move forward, obey God, and watch God do what only God can do. Yet... Moses is still a man dealing with immense anger, isn’t he? After revealing to Moses all of these times exactly what He would do, look at what happens when Moses visits Pharaoh between Plague 9 and 10! (Again... we have already studied this, but I presume you missed this one too!)

Exodus 11:1-8 

Though God told Moses, “I got this!”, Moses leaves fighting mad! He’s angry, y’all! The key to managing your anger: Take God at His word. If God says it, He means it! That’s it! 

My responsibility is not to take care of God’s responsibility. My responsibility is to take God at His Word... period!

Sadly... Moses leaves Egypt as still a man dealing with anger. And his anger is about to lead Moses to do the unthinkable... twice! First, we see this anger manifest when Moses finally descended from the Mountain of God. We have just spent the past 10 weeks studying this moment in history. Moses has been on Mount Sinai meeting with a Holy God. God says:

Exodus 32:7-8

I find this to be so very funny.... God is preparing Moses for what he is about to step into...And look at what Moses says to God!

Exodus 32:9-14

How very ironic... Moses tells God to not be angry! Unfortunately, Moses does not listen to his own words:

Exodus 32:19-20

Moses’ anger is so intense that he makes the nation of Israel drink their idol bull! Sadly... before doing this... Moses does the unthinkable: He breaks apart the two stones upon which God Himself had written with His very finger the 10 Commandments! Look at what verse 15 says about the workmanship of these two tablets which now lay as crushed rock on the dusty sand of the desert floor:

Exodus 32:15-16

Think of something most precious to you. What is something you possess that is of great importance to you? I presume for us each there is something to which we hold so very tightly. But y’all, I must tell you... there is nothing ever given to us as a humanity more precious, a part from the very words we have as God’s Holy Bible, that is as precious and priceless as were these two tablets, written upon by the very finger of God:

Exodus 31:18

Imagine God Himself handing you a piece of rock upon which are written His Commandments for how you are to live; a rock personally written upon and given to you in full trust that you will keep them and guard them with your very life! Yet, look again at what Moses does with these precious stones:

Exodus 32:19

Now some may say, “Well, was not Moses justified? After all, the Hebrew nation had turned to a sexual worship of a golden calf while Moses was away?” Well... yes... Of course... there is a time for what I would call a righteous anger... a holy indignation. But Moses’ anger did not stop at such did it? No! After shattering these precious stones, Moses allowed his rage to transition from holy to unholy as he made these people drink water saturated with the gold powder that was just moments ago an idol being worshipped by God’s people. No matter how deplorably unholy their actions, God never approved of Moses doing such in return! Here is a thought that really impacted me this week during my time of study... I have heard this story throughout my life, growing up in church, being in Sunday School, hearing of this moment when Moses, outraged with a disobedient people, shatters the tablets. But a closer look reveals a deep and dark pattern of anger in this man’s life. For mostly all of my life, I have excused the actions of Moses in this moment...

But God does no such thing! God did not approve of the actions of Moses. As a matter of fact, a gracious God provides two additional tablets for Moses. Yet, this time, God essentially says, “I already made the first ones for you. This time Moses, you do the work of cutting out the stones:

Exodus 34:1-4

Let me show you one more example of Moses’ anger. Y’all get ready for this one... this is the one that ultimately cost Moses entrance into the land promised by God to His people, the land of Cannan:

At this point in the journey, the nation of Israel has been wandering in the desert for roughly 39 years. They are about to take possession of the land. Sadly, we find them still, like so very many Christ-followers not getting what they want, and what they believe they deserve from God, complaining to God’s leader... in this case, to Moses. Though we will not study this place in the story in great detail, let me quickly pause to explain to you a very important piece of information that you need to know as the nation of Israel is now camped right on the edge of the land they are to inherit as a promise from God.

This is not the only time the nation of 2 million plus have been in this location. Almost 40 years ago, near the onset of their journey out of Egypt, the Israelites arrive at the border of Canaan. At this point, God tells Moses to send men to explore the land of Canaan. Read what happens next:

Numbers 13:26-33
Numbers 14:1-4

So... the Hebrews refuse to go into the Promise Land. Why? One word: Fear! Fear that they could not defeat their enemies. Church, what a very important, all-powerful reminder, and too a warning to us to never, never, never stop trusting in the power of the Lord and His promises to His people! For when you do, destruction surely awaits. As a result of their disbelief in the very God who led them out of Egypt, safely across the dry grounds of the Reed Sea, God says to them:

Numbers 14:26-38

Wow! Too, such a powerful reminder...

My words matter; my disbelief matters; my fears matter.

God hears my negativity. God hears my complaints. God very well may give me what I fear most... Difficulty. Defeat. Denial. Denial of His blessings, of His protection, and of His promises.

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Jeffrey Dean Smith is a husband, father to Bailey & Brynnan, author, and the Senior Pastor at Donelson First in Nashville, TN. If you are in Music City, meet Jeffrey and enjoy iced tea on the front lawn each Sunday at 10:30a.