Strike the Rock (6 of 7)
Series: Walking with Moses
Jeff Strite
Exodus 17:1-7
OPENING: A small boy dialed ''O'' and asked the operator to call a number for him. He didn't speak clearly, so she couldn't understand him. After repeating it four times, he blurted out, ''You operators are dumb,'' and slammed down the receiver. Hearing this, his mother was shocked. She called the operator and made the boy apologize. Later, when his mother left the house, the lad got on the phone again. ''Is this the same operator I talked to a little while ago?'' ''Yes,'' came the reply. ''Well,'' said the boy, ''I still think you're dumb!''
APPLICATION: Like the telephone operator, many of us have had positions of responsibility or authority that have caused us to make decisions that others haven't liked I had a friend in business who once had a disturbed customer call up him twice, cuss him out, and the abruptly hang up.
Moses is in a similar situation. The people have quarreled with him, they've grumbled at him. They've misused and abused him. And Moses is disheartened. He's even wondered if they intend to stone him.
Have you ever felt like that?
Here at Rephidim, these people are not just thirsty - they're MAD. They've been 6 months in the desert with nothing but rocks and sand... and I can imagine what transpired:
1. They question Moses leadership (why did you bring us up out of Egypt)
2. They dwell on his faults (not hard to do since everybody has some imperfection)
Illus: A respected preacher in our area: George Faull, commented on the number of words he spoke and wrote each week.. He said, when you turn out that many words each week, you're going to make a slipup now and again.
1. And they question his character, his morality.
How can you defend against such people?
I. To defend yourself, you first need to know who to talk to about your problem.
Who did the Israelites talk to? They talked to Moses. No, they didn't so much talk to him as they ...
Series: Walking with Moses
Jeff Strite
Exodus 17:1-7
OPENING: A small boy dialed ''O'' and asked the operator to call a number for him. He didn't speak clearly, so she couldn't understand him. After repeating it four times, he blurted out, ''You operators are dumb,'' and slammed down the receiver. Hearing this, his mother was shocked. She called the operator and made the boy apologize. Later, when his mother left the house, the lad got on the phone again. ''Is this the same operator I talked to a little while ago?'' ''Yes,'' came the reply. ''Well,'' said the boy, ''I still think you're dumb!''
APPLICATION: Like the telephone operator, many of us have had positions of responsibility or authority that have caused us to make decisions that others haven't liked I had a friend in business who once had a disturbed customer call up him twice, cuss him out, and the abruptly hang up.
Moses is in a similar situation. The people have quarreled with him, they've grumbled at him. They've misused and abused him. And Moses is disheartened. He's even wondered if they intend to stone him.
Have you ever felt like that?
Here at Rephidim, these people are not just thirsty - they're MAD. They've been 6 months in the desert with nothing but rocks and sand... and I can imagine what transpired:
1. They question Moses leadership (why did you bring us up out of Egypt)
2. They dwell on his faults (not hard to do since everybody has some imperfection)
Illus: A respected preacher in our area: George Faull, commented on the number of words he spoke and wrote each week.. He said, when you turn out that many words each week, you're going to make a slipup now and again.
1. And they question his character, his morality.
How can you defend against such people?
I. To defend yourself, you first need to know who to talk to about your problem.
Who did the Israelites talk to? They talked to Moses. No, they didn't so much talk to him as they ...
There are 5117 characters in the full content. This excerpt only shows a 2000 character sample of the full content.
Price: $5.99 or 1 credit
