Let's return to Exodus chapter four. Exodus chapter four. Let's read again in verse one. Then Moses answered, but behold, They will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, the Lord did not appear to you. Children, imagine if you were sitting in your home one day, and one of your brothers or sisters comes running inside and says to you, there's a talking cat outside. What would you do? Would you jump up from your seat and run outside and look for the talking cat? Or would you have a little question in your mind that says, can cats talk? And then maybe you would ask your brother or sister, well, what did it say? Or, did anyone else hear this? Or, if I go out, will I be able to hear it? What are you doing there? You've heard a claim, there's a talking cat outside, and instead of just believing everything you're told and rushing out and looking for this talking cat, you start a series of questions in your mind to see, is there proof of this? Is this believable? Is this possible? And it's sort of like an internal detective, a police officer who is presented with a claim and starts looking at that claim with questions to establish whether it's true or not. Now, I'd like you to think of that little detective doubt like this. Okay? He's a very friendly character. He's a good character. He's a helpful character. Because although There's no big danger if a cat talks or not, whether you believe it or not. What's the worst that can happen? People laugh at you for believing it. Well, what if you're standing maybe beside Lake Michigan in a couple of weeks when it's defrosted, and you're with your friends, and your friend says, hey, jump in. It's really warm in there. Well, do you do that? just because somebody else says it's really warm, you'd enjoy it? Or do you, again, bring out little detective doubt to question this? It's March. Is Lake Michigan warm in March? No, it's not. Why would somebody be trying to get me to jump into Lake Michigan in March? Do they have my good at heart, or are they trying to make me at least uncomfortable or maybe even put me in danger. So detective doubt is needed. He wasn't needed before the fall because there were no lies, no false claims before the fall into sin. But ever since then God has given us this little internal detective. to help us, to keep us safe, and to protect us in this world. But there's another detective that this little detective can morph into. And he's not good. And he's not helpful. And this is him here. And we're gonna call him Detective Devil Doubt. Because although he raises questions, and he investigates claims, and he examines what is said, his motive is not your good, but your harm. His desire is to make you doubt what is true, and believe what is false. and his hope is that by doing that, he will destroy you. Now, Detective Devil Doubt appeared first of all in Genesis chapter three, when God had promised Adam and Eve, our first parents, the whole garden of Eden to enjoy, eat of all the trees apart from one, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And you'll remember the serpent, the devil in the form of a serpent, slithered in. And what was his first words? Has God really said? So he's expressing doubt about God's word, God's truth, God's claims. And his aim was the destruction, not just of Adam and Eve, but of all of us who have descended from them. And so, while detective doubt is a really helpful, good, protective detective, detective devil doubt is not. And therefore, we have a choice in life. Which is going to be our detective? Are we going to follow Detective Doubt or Detective Devil Doubt? And so I want to ask you today, not just the children, but all of us, who is your doubt detective? Who is your doubt detective? Is it helpful doubt or is it harmful doubt? Is it life-giving, life-protecting doubt, or is it deathly and deadly doubt? In this chapter, Moses is in the middle of a great assault by Detective Devil Doubt, who's raising questions. about God and Moses and God's will for Moses. You'll remember God appeared to Moses in chapter three and God said to Moses, I'm sending you to Egypt to deliver my people Israel out of Egypt. And what did Moses do? Did he jump at the chance? Say, yes, I can't wait to do this. I'm afraid not. If you look at verse one, Moses says, but behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, meaning Israel, for they will see the Lord did not appear to you. Now, we read this chapter this morning at home, as we usually do before we go to church. We try and read the chapter. And I asked Scott, who was doubting here? Was it Moses? Or was it Israel? Moses says they won't believe. They're a bunch of doubters. But as Scott said, that's just a cover up. Because it's not just that Israel won't believe, he was right about that. But Moses is using Israel as a scapegoat for his own unbelief and doubt. And so God here, in all his patience and compassion, approaches Moses on the grounds he gives. Okay, let's talk about Israel. Knowing that as he ministers to Moses about Israel, he will also be helping Moses to move from detective devil doubt to detective doubt. So, what is the first thing that we see in this chapter? It's this, God will crush the serpent's head. And you might ask, how do we get there? Well, let's look at verses one through five. As we read together, Moses answered, behold, they will not believe me. And behind that is, I don't believe you. You can't possibly be thinking I can do this. They won't believe or listen to my voice for they'll say the Lord did not appear to you. So what's God's answer? The Lord said to him, what is that in your hand? He said, a staff. And he said, throw it on the ground. So he threw it on the ground and it became a serpent. And Moses ran from it. But the Lord said to Moses, put out your hand and catch it by the tail. So he put out his hand and caught it and it became a staff in his hand. So you've got a wooden staff, becomes a living serpent, snake, which becomes a staff again when Moses has the courage to actually obey God and lift it up again. Why does God do this? Why does God give this sign? that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abram, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob has appeared to you. So he gives a sign to help them believe. He gives them a sign to move them from believing and questioning like detective devil doubt. And you'll notice God is still saying, okay, Moses, You say it's not a problem to you, you're saying it's all about them. Well, okay, let's deal with that problem. But all the time, he's also ministering to Moses. And the amazing thing is here is that God uses a serpent to grow faith in Moses here and in Israel later when Moses would perform this sign. So he picks up this serpent and it becomes a sign that moves Moses and Israel from doubt to faith. Now what does that remind you of? Remember, the people of Israel know their Old Testament. They know, though they're living in the time of the exodus, they know Genesis. What would they have thought of? And what would Moses have been reminded of? when this sign was performed. The first gospel promise. In James 3.15, God addresses the devil and says, I will put enmity, hatred, opposition, war between you, devil, and the woman, Eve, and between your offspring, unbelievers, and her offspring, believers. He, that is the seed of the woman, shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. Here God is pointing down the road of history and saying eventually from Eve will come a seed, come a son who will rise up and who will crush or bruise the serpent's head. And yes, he'll fight back and he'll crush, bruise this seed's, this son's heel. But that's not a fatal injury, is it? Whereas the crushing of a head is. And the New Testament makes clear that this promise was fulfilled at the cross. Because there, though the devil tried to attack Jesus, the seed of the woman, and injured him greatly, and even resulting in his death, yet he rose again. So yes, his heel was attacked. But in the process, Jesus crushed the devil's head. He defeated the devil. He dealt him a fatal blow from which he would never recover and from which he has been dying ever since. And so here, in the dust of the desert, God takes a piece of wood, turns it into a serpent and turns it into wood again. And what's he saying? He's saying, I can show my great power, my victory over the snake and the devil represented in it by changing this wood into a snake and into the wood again. And that's what the cross did too, isn't it? That piece of wood. that appeared to be the serpent's, the devil's great victory, yet God transformed it so that eventually it became the source of God's victory and power. The cross was where Jesus took the serpent by the tail and crushed his head, and ultimately resulting in his defeat. God will crush the serpent's head. He's saying to Moses, the devil seems to be winning here in Egypt. My people from whom this Son, this Messiah, this Savior would come, it appears to be all lost. But just know this, they will never win. The devil and his forces will be defeated. My people will be delivered. Yes, it can look at times that we're injured badly and on the ground and defeated, but God is going to turn this all around. I think also what comes across here is God's great compassion to doubters. You know, when Moses said, but they, meaning but I, they won't believe, I won't believe, God could have simply said, fine, I'll find someone else. But he didn't. So okay, let's talk this through. Let me help you. Let me strengthen your faith. God's great compassion to doubters. So if you have doubts in your mind, questions, if you feel devil doubt is growing, Know that God cares. He doesn't just throw you off and discard you. He wants to come to you and to rebuild and regrow your faith again. So God will crush the serpent's head. But secondly, God will give life to the dead. And we see that in verses six through eight. In verse six we read, the Lord said to him, so he's given him one sign, I think he must have seen Moses was still sceptical. There's no dialogue recorded here. And you would have thought, well, that sign surely would have been enough. I mean, if you picked up a piece of wood and it turned to a snake and then that snake turned to a piece of wood again, I think that would be enough, wouldn't it? To give you faith to do whatever God wants you to do. But clearly it wasn't. So the Lord said again, put your hand inside your cloak, your jacket, put his hand inside. And when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous. That's full of leprosy, a deadly skin disease like snow. Then God said, put your hand back inside your cloak. So he put his hand back inside his cloak. And when he took it out, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. And this in itself is remarkable. Leprosy was a deadly disease in these days. We're not quite sure what it was, but it was some kind of disease that started in the skin and then just ate away, like ate the flesh and then internal organs, until eventually somebody died. It was incredibly infectious, so much so that anyone with leprosy was put outside the village. They were not allowed inside the town. There was no contact allowed. And so for God to say to Moses, put your hand in there, now take it out. He's got leprosy. He's gonna die. And then God says, okay, put it back inside again, and pulls it out, and it's white again. It's skin color again. It's perfect again. Amazing miracle, this. But there's more than that there because There's a lot of teaching about leprosy in the Old Testament and the aim of it is that God uses this disease of leprosy more than anything else to teach people about sin. About the danger of sin and the deadliness of sin and the infectiousness of sin. And in the New Testament, when Jesus comes, there's still lepers, they're still cast out, they're still dying, they're still hopeless. And yet Jesus heals, in the course of his ministry, 11 lepers, showing that though sin is a deadly disease, he is the great physician, the great healer, the restorer of life to the dead. And there's that beautiful instant where the leper comes to Jesus and said, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. You can give me life again. You can take this deadly disease away from me. And really what God's saying here is, Israel is dying, but I can give life to the dead. Moses' faith was dying. but he can give life to Moses' faith. Israel's faith was dying, was leprous as it were, diseased, eating away, consuming them, and yet God can give life again to that faith. And he's really telling us, don't doubt my ability to heal and to give life from the dead, whether it's physical or spiritual, whether it's a disease that affects the body or that affects the soul. He could give life to the dead. Jesus did it to the physical bodies of these living lepers to show that he can also do it for our souls that are often eaten away with doubt and unbelief. If they will not believe you, God said, or listen to the first sign, they may believe this latter sign. It's all about moving Moses and Israel to faith and away from devil doubt. So God will give life to the dead. We can take our disease of sin, of doubt, of unbelief, of questioning, and take it to the Lord and have him heal it. And again, it's just, I find this so compassionate of God with Moses and with Israel that he gave one sign and it really didn't do the job. So again, it's not, well, I'm done this time. No, have another sign. Surely they'll believe the second sign. Well, we see next, God will judge the world in verse nine. Because you may look at this and say, well, okay, God will give life to the dead. Will he do that for everyone? Is this something he'll do for every human being everywhere in all time? Well, we read in verse nine, if they will not believe even these two signs. And again, Moses is the one that God is initially addressing here, although he's speaking of people in the third person, them, these. If they will not believe even these two signs, you'll take some water from the Nile, pour it in the dry ground, and the water that you shall take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground. And when that happens later on in Exodus, It's not just that water that turns to blood. The whole Nile River turns to blood. The Nile was the source of all life for the Egyptians, so much so that that was their god. They worshipped the Nile. Because they knew without it, in a desert, they were dead. But the Nile brought life. And here God says, I can turn death to life, but I can also turn life to death. In the Bible, blood is usually the symbol for death. And he's saying, I can take away the life of the most powerful empire on earth, and I can turn it into a river of death. And that's what happened. All the fish died. Every animal that drank from this blood river died. It was a desperate time. God's saying, I'll take that God, and I will judge it, I will show my anger towards it and those who worship it." So he turns the Nile River into blood. And this is a warning to Egypt. The first two signs were encouragements to Moses and Israel. The third one was saying to Egypt, And if you don't let these people go, this is what's going to happen. You're going to be judged. Throughout the Bible, you see this pattern of salvation through judgment. These plagues came on Egypt as a judgment, including this plague of the Nile turned to blood. But this judgment of God led to the salvation of Israel ultimately. We see that at the cross. where the judgment on sin resulted in life for his people. And God's saying, this life that I can give, it's not for everyone. It's only for those who believe. Those who utterly doubt, disbelieve, reject, this is what's coming. God can turn life into blood. but also he can turn blood into life as he did at the cross. And this is really a picture of the end of time as well because God's going to come and judge not just Egypt but the whole world and all who did not believe him or worship him. Any life that was An unbelieving life will be swept away in a divine judgment of just anger at the hands of God. Don't be part of that river. God will judge the world. And again, there's just amazing compassion here. We're up to the third sign. And God's still arguing with Moses. He's still trying to persuade him. He's still urging him. And yet, what's Moses' response? Moses' response is in verses 10 to 17. And this is where Moses gets honest. Because it's no longer Israel, it's me. He says, oh my Lord, I am not eloquent. either in the past or since you've spoken to your servant. I'm slow of speech and of tongue. Moses here is saying, I'm gonna be honest, I don't believe this. I don't believe I'm this person that you think is going to deliver your people. I'm not him. I can't even speak properly. And as we'll see, God uses weak servants to accomplish his will. And we'll explain this in a minute or two. So Moses complained, that's not me, I'm not your man. And God replies, okay, listen to me Moses, who made man's mouth? Who makes him mute or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? The Lord's saying here, listen, I am the Lord of every mouth, of every eye, of every ear. and I can give you a tongue, I can give you a mouth, I can give you an ability to speak, and I can give Israel ears to hear. Am I not the Lord? Is it not I the Lord? Now therefore go, and I'll be with your mouth to teach you what you shall speak. Well, surely now Moses, okay, I'm done, I'll go. But he said, oh my Lord, please send someone else. If you're reading this with me, you're almost tearing your head out going, Moses, will you please believe? Will you please believe God's word? And you think when he says this, the Lord would be done with him. And he is angry. Unbelief, devil doubt, does anger the Lord. The anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, Well, what did he say? We're finished? The end? It's over? No, even then, he accommodates Moses. He comes down and he says to Moses, okay, you've got a brother, Aaron. He can speak well. Look he's actually, I've arranged for him to be coming out to meet you and when he sees you he'll be glad in his heart. You'll speak to him and put the words in his mouth and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and we'll teach you both what to do. What a weak servant this is and yet God uses him. And he says, I'm going to arrange this so that Moses, when I speak to you, then you will speak to Aaron, and then Aaron will speak to the people. So I'm still going to use you, Moses, but not as the mouth to the people. In fact, you will be like God, I am to you, you will be like God to Aaron, and then Aaron will be like God to the people. You will be my spokesman to Aaron, and Aaron will be your spokesman to the people. He shall be your mouth, and you shall be as God to him. And take in your hand this staff with which you shall do the signs." He's saying to Moses, I can make you a speaker. I can make you speak through Aaron. And I can make the people hear. God didn't give up. on Moses, did he? This doubter, this terrible doubter. And when you think of this, you know, Moses was an imperfect spokesman, and so was Aaron. But Jesus is God's perfect spokesman. He is the one who came and spoke to us all of God's truth in such a compelling and persuasive way. So all of this points forward to Jesus. God uses weak servants. He says to Moses, Aaron will be your mouth. So who is your doubt detective? Bring your doubts to your compassionate God to increase your faith in the truth. When we doubt, when we question, when we put a question mark at God's word, our temptation is to run away. I don't want God to know. I don't want to tell God. I'm ashamed of this. I'm afraid of what God will say. But what this tells us is, no, bring your doubts. As Moses did, though, under the cover of Israel. Bring your doubts and you'll find a God full of compassion, full of patience, full of sympathy. And if you're an unbeliever full of devil doubt, or a believer still with a lot of devil doubt, I believe help my unbelief. The answer's the same. Bring your doubts, your questions, your puzzles, your whys. to him, and just be honest and straightforward with it. And say, I believe, but help my unbelief. What is truth, you say? God says, through Jesus, I am the truth. But is there really only one way to heaven? Jesus says, I am the way. Did the resurrection, is there gonna be a resurrection? Really, life after death? Jesus says, I am the resurrection and the life. But will I endure to the end? If I believe, will I be able to keep believing? Jesus says, no one shall pluck them out of my hand. But I don't think I'm savable. I've been so bad, I've been engaged in gross and long-term sin. And Jesus says, him that comes to me, I'll never cast out, I'll never reject. But really, is it all by grace? I mean, surely I need some good works to be saved. And God says, come to me and I'll give you rest. By grace are we saved through faith, not of works, it's the gift of God. But does God hear prayer, my prayer? Ask, and it shall be given you. But will he provide for me? Is God in this providence? Can he really make something good out of this mess? He says, I can work all things together for the good of my people. Whatever your question, whatever your doubt, Bring them to your compassion at God to increase your faith in the truth. So children, good, bad. It's okay to question. It's okay to ask. I don't understand this. It's all about motive. This wee guy, he wants his questions answered so he can believe more. This bad guy, He brings questions because he wants an excuse for his unbelief. And there's a big difference. But even if you feel you're on that side of the picture, you can still come to God and say, I just feel head to toe. I'm detective deviled out. Make me a questioner, a seeker of truth, someone who wants reasons for my faith, but make my questions motivated by a desire to believe more, not less. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, we thank you for detective doubt, which we need in this world. And when we come to you with questions, we hope we can do so in His Spirit, innocently, sincerely, faith-seeking understanding. But keep far away from us this devilish doubt which puts a question mark on your word with a view to disbelieving it and acting against it. In Jesus' name.