Expect Opposition

Today’s Passage – Exodus 4 – 6 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)

(Second Milers also read – Mark 13 – 14; Proverbs 21; Psalms 101 – 105

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – 1 John 4:7 & 8

Read a previous post from this passage – “What’s Your Excuse“

Read the “0121 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

“And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh: And they said unto them, The LORD look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us. And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.” – (Exodus 5:20-23)

Moses did exactly what God had called him to do. He went to the people of Israel and convinced them that God had told him to deliver them out from under the bondage of the Egyptians. He then went to Pharaoh and demanded on behalf of God to let the people of God leave. However, things did not work out exactly the way Moses thought they would. Instead of things getting better, in the short term, things actually took a turn for the worse. Not only did Pharaoh refuse to let the people go, he also made their jobs harder by making them gather their own straw for the bricks that they had to make for their labor. Pharaoh was mad at the people, the people were mad at Moses, and Moses was mad at God.

Notice the opposition that Moses faced in the will of God:

1  He had opposition from without the congregation. I guess Pharaoh could be symbolic of the devil. The devil will vehemently oppose anyone that seeks to do the will of God.

2  He also faced opposition from within the congregation of Israel. They were all for God’s plan until their life got uncomfortable, then they wanted to go back. Many Christians today are the same way. They claim to love the Lord, and want to do His will, but when it begins to cost them something, they will often quit.

3  Notice also that Moses faced opposition from within himself. When the pressure was on him, he began to second guess the will of God.

Nobody ever said that the road was going to always be easy. You can take to the bank the fact that opposition will come to those who are doing the will of God. But you can also count on the fact that God will always bring His victory, if we will just stick with the plan and not quit.