1. Exodus - Friday Night Genesis - Friday, Feb. 3, 12
Well here we are in the book of Exodus. We have fast forwarded some 400 years since
we have buried Jacob and Joseph at the end of the book of Genesis. We only get a very
rough summary of this time period, stating that the descendants of Israel prospered and
became very numerous in Egypt. After a while a new king, a new Pharaoh, ascended to
the throne and evidently this guy had no appreciation of how God had saved the nation
of Egypt through a Jewish kid called Joseph. Being nervous about the number and
strength of the Jews, this Pharaoh decides to turn them into slaves, so that he would
have control over them. And it is here that the story of the Exodus begins.
As the name of the book suggests it is a story of exit, the Israelites coming out of Egypt.
It is a story of freedom and deliverance. Although not as prominent, it is also a story of
purpose. God called Abraham well over 600 years ago, and this nation was the
fulfillment of the promise God gave to Abraham. It is in the book of Exodus that we start
to see how the purpose of this nation is beginning to take shape. You may remember
that God said both to Abraham and Jacob that through their descendants all peoples of
the earth will be blessed. On the first blush, however, it seems that the Israelites were
nothing but trouble for the Egyptians, with all the plagues and whatnot. Yet God says to
Pharaoh, king of Egypt: “I have raised you up for this very purpose” (Exodus 9:16) And
tomorrow morning we will be talking a good deal more about how the plagues were to
bring a blessing to the people of the earth and what was Pharaohs role in all of this.
But to me, the interesting part of the story is God’s plans for individuals, and sometimes
rather unlikely individuals. Moses was born to a typical Jewish family. We have no
indication that they were particularly prominent in their community. But it just so
happened that Moses was put in a basket on the river Nile, and it just so happened that
Pharaoh’s daughter happen to spot the basket and take an interest in Moses, and it just
so happened that she adopted him, so that Moses grew up in Pharaoh’s court, receiving
the best education then available and being trained how to lead a nation.
Do any of you watch NCIS? Those of you who have seen it, tell me, if I had told Gibbs
what I have just told you, with all the “it just so happened” ’s, what would Gibbs say? “I
don’t believe in coincidences”. And neither do I. I believe that God was preparing Moses

2. for the purpose of his life - to lead the nation of Israel from slavery of Egypt into
independent existence. The first 40 years of His life Moses spent at Pharaoh’s court.
After a moment of madness when Moses actually murdered an Egyptian, he found
himself on the run, eventually spending another 40 years tending sheep in the very
wilderness that he would later traverse with the nation of Israel. 80 years of training for
what would become the ultimate purpose of his life - to lead the nation of Israel out of
slavery into statehood. God had a purpose for Moses and everything was a preparation
for that purpose. When he was at the top of the then known world, learning at Pharaoh’s
court, it was for a purpose. When he wound up at the bottom of the pyramid - wandering
in the wilderness with no one but someone else’s sheep for company - it was for a
purpose.
Of course, very few, if any of us will get the burning bush experience where God appears
to us and tells us: “It is time, this is what I have prepared you for - go for it.” And so we
often find ourselves wondering: what is the purpose of my life? What am I supposed to
do? Pastor Rick Warren tapped into this universal question and built an empire helping
people to live purpose driven lives.
The purpose of our lives may not seem as grandiose as leading a nation. That doesn’t
mean that God’s purposes are reserved only for those in leadership positions. If
anything, the book of Exodus teaches us that God is a God who does everything on
purpose. If something is to be done, do it on purpose, and do it well. When God says
roast a lamb, don’t boil it, don’t eat it raw - there was a purpose to it - it became finger
food. When God added “This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your
belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the
LORD’s Passover.” (Exodus 12:11) - this also had a purpose, because they did end up
leaving rather suddenly in the middle of the night.
When the Israelites had gotten away from Egypt God gave them laws to govern the new
nation and He also said: “Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell
among them. Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will
show you.” (Exodus 25:8,9) God wanted a place for the specific purpose of being with
His people and if you have had a chance to read through the book of Exodus, you will no
doubt remember that the plans for this Sanctuary were all rather detailed. Everything

3. was planned and done on purpose. But here is the part that I found interesting. Not only
had God designed this Sanctuary in great detail, but then He told Moses: I have people
that I have been grooming for this one.
“Then Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the LORD has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the
son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with
wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills - to make artistic
designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood and to
engage in all kinds of artistic crafts. And he has given both him and Oholiab son of
Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach others. He has filled them with skill to
do all kinds of work as engravers, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple and scarlet
yarn and fine linen, and weavers—all of them skilled workers and designers. So Bezalel,
Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the LORD has given skill and ability to know
how to carry out all the work of constructing the sanctuary are to do the work just as the
LORD has commanded.” (Exodus 35:30-35; 36:1)”
How sweet is that?! Can you imagine being in Moses’ shoes? You have 603550 men
over the age of 20, God has just given you the plans to build His house, how do you go
about finding the right people for the job, so that it’s done right?! Just to provide a bit of
perspective, the whole of Calhoun county including Battle Creek and Marshall has about
135000 inhabitants, and we already have enough difficulty choosing the right plumber,
mechanic or contractor. Wouldn‘t it be nice if God did what He did for Moses, come
down and tell you - these two guys, one from the tribe of Judah and one from the tribe of
Dan is who you want. I have prepared them for this purpose - a perfect blend of skill,
creativity, leadership and ability to teach others.
God gives us different skills and He has a specific purpose for us based on the skill set
that He has given us. I am going to cheat a little bit here and jump forward in the Bible,
but I do want to show you that the Bible is consistent in this.
Many centuries after Bezalel and Oholiab, God once again called two individuals to lead
the building of the temple. The Israelites were exiled into Babylon and Solomon’s
temple, that succeeded the Sanctuary Bezalel and Oholiab built, lay in ruins. As the
Israelites started to trickle back into Jerusalem, prophet Haggai had a message: “I am

4. with you,” declares the LORD. So the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of
Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest,
and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the
house of the LORD Almighty, their God, on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month.”
(Haggai 1:13-15) Zerubbabel and Joshua were God’s people of the moment, leading the
small remnant in the work to rebuild the temple.
As they were rebuilding the temple, the majority of God’s people were still spread out
across the Medo-Persian empire. An official by the name of Haman persuaded the king
to sign a decree to wipe out the Israelites. And it just so happened that at that time the
queen was a Jewish girl by the name of Esther who successfully interceded with the king
to save her nation. As her uncle Mordecai would tell her: “…who knows whether you
have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14) Ya think?!
Many centuries later Apostle Paul would explain how God has a unique purpose for each
and every one of us in his famous “one body, but many members” chapter in 1.
Corinthians 12. “There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences
of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same
God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the
profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word
of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts
of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy,
to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the
interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing
to each one individually as He wills.” (1. Corinthians 12:4-11)
God is still working today, calling and equipping people whom we may not necessarily
even consider, to rise up to their potential, and with God’s help accomplish what is
humanly impossible.
I’d like to introduce you to a remarkable couple whom you probably have never heard of.
This is Mira and Rade Nikolic. They had a heart for young people, but to their dismay,
they were never able to have children of their own. In 1992 Rade Nikolic was the
president of the Adventist church for the region that covered Bosnia and Montenegro

5. with the regional office based in Sarajevo. When the civil war broke out in Bosnia the
rest of the team and the local pastor moved out of Sarajevo along with their families.
Because they had no children Mira and Rade decided to stay and take care of the small
church family that remained in the city. Now it just so happened that with the war already
raging in neighboring Croatia, ADRA, the Adventist aid agency, stockpiled foodstuffs in
Sarajevo as a neutral and central point between Serbia and Croatia. And so when the
war broke out and Sarajevo was surrounded and cut off from the rest of the world these
stockpiles of food were feeding the people. By November 1992 the food was starting to
run out, and so Rade and Mira obtained permits from the Muslim government to go in
and out of their territory and teamed up with a Serbian Orthodox priest who smoothed
the way through Serb-held areas, and so they got out of Sarajevo to Belgrade. The rest,
as they say, is history. This pastor and his wife, who had no training in aid work, logistics
or anything remotely related, organized and personally brought in and out of Sarajevo
countless convoys of much needed food over the next 3 years. When the UN and the
Red Cross were no longer able to bring in supplies into the city because of politics, God
was opening the way for Mira, Rade and their colleagues to continue bringing the
supplies into Sarajevo, at times going past the UN and Red Cross convoys stranded at
check points. They operated the only mail service in and out of Sarajevo and organized
a distribution network in Sarajevo under most horrendous circumstances. Their van had
over 30 bullet holes in it, but the only injury they sustained was a small nick on the elbow
and a missing sole from a shoe caused by shrapnel that ricochet off a wall. They
continued to look after the local church to the point where in this city, which was mainly a
mixture of Muslims and atheists, a Christian church was running 2 packed out services
every weekend, giving hope in a place that was full of darkness.
I can only imagine how much they agonized the fact that they didn’t have children, yet it
was this that enabled them to stay in Sarajevo. God provided food for them in those
critical early months of the war, and then gave them the courage, skills and connections
with the right people to be able to accomplish an incredible work for God and the people
of Sarajevo.
You may have seen a quote that occasionally crops up on Facebook: “God doesn’t call
the equipped, he equips the called.” This sounds real nice, all warm and fuzzy, but it is
only partially correct. God calls everyone. He has a purpose for those who are equipped

6. and for those who are currently not equipped. God sees the potential in every single one
of us, and so He calls us to step up and make our contribution to His kingdom.
God has a purpose for your life. Like Moses, your entire life, as mundane as it seems,
may be a preparation for that purpose. Or you may be the unlikely person on the spot,
willing to follow God’s calling. What you lack - God will provide. If you’re not eloquent like
Moses, God will provide, If you need courage God will supply it, if you need skills God
will provide for that too, maybe guiding you to another willing person who has the right
skill set. God has a purpose for you, and should you accept the call, God will equip you
to fulfill that purpose.

7. and for those who are currently not equipped. God sees the potential in every single one
of us, and so He calls us to step up and make our contribution to His kingdom.
God has a purpose for your life. Like Moses, your entire life, as mundane as it seems,
may be a preparation for that purpose. Or you may be the unlikely person on the spot,
willing to follow God’s calling. What you lack - God will provide. If you’re not eloquent like
Moses, God will provide, If you need courage God will supply it, if you need skills God
will provide for that too, maybe guiding you to another willing person who has the right
skill set. God has a purpose for you, and should you accept the call, God will equip you
to fulfill that purpose.