April 3, 2016

Sidekicks of the Bible

Aaron (Moses)

Today we are in week 2 of our sermon series called “Sidekicks of the Bible” where we’ll be looking at the supporting characters of the Bible.  When you tell a story there is always a main character that you connect with, but often there is a sidekick that does great things also.

There is often a sense of thinking the main character is important and the secondary character is just filler, but without the secondary character, the main character can’t do what he/she was called to do.

When you look at the “main characters” in the Bible, most people know about Jesus, Moses, David, Joshua, and Paul, but not a lot is talked about with their “sidekicks.”

Moses

When Moses was in Midian, God spoke to him through a burning bush and told him to go back to Egypt to free the Hebrew people from slavery.  When God tells him this, Moses starts questioning everything, and didn't trust God.

When all off his questions were answered, this is how he responds:

Exodus 4:10-16
10 Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”

11 The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” 

13 But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.” 

14 Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you. 15 You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. 16 He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him.

So God get’s angry with Moses and relents by having Aaron go with him.

Aaron

Aaron was Moses’ brother/sidekick, but he was so much more than that. He was the first High Priest of Isreal, he was a spokesman for God’s chosen race, and he helped lead his people with humility and selflessness.

In an essay by Elie Wiesel, Aaron is described like this:
He is a man of peace. He succeeds at everything. Everyone admires, even loves him. Whether great or small, they need him, his understanding and his mediation. Whatever he does, he is well regarded.

So what makes Aaron such a good sidekick?

1. He was a man who TRUSTED God

Exodus 4:27-31
27 The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him. 28 Then Moses told Aaron everything the Lord had sent him to say, and also about all the signs he had commanded him to perform. 

29 Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites, 30 and Aaron told them everything the Lord had said to Moses. He also performed the signs before the people, 31 and they believed. And when they heard that the Lord was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped. 

God tells Aaron to go to Moses, and Moses fills him in on what’s happening.  We don’t really see any questions from Aaron listed here.  It appears that he just trusts God and accepts the calling.

I think that speaks a few HUGE things about Aaron:
- He trusts God for anything He throws at him
- He really trusts his brother’s leadership
- I think he also loved his brother well

2. Aaron was a HUMBLE SERVANT

Exodus 17:8-13
8 The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. 9 Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.” 

10 So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. 11 As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. 12 When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. 13 So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword. 

Aaron is humble enough to follow his brother, and serve him however he needs it in the moment. This wasn't about physically having hands up, it was about the fact that when the God-appointed leader exalted God publicly, they won.  No one can say anyone but God made that happen.

And I think Aaron embodies that Humility very well.  Aaron was Moses’ older brother. How many times must Aaron looked at his little brother, and said alright, I’m going to swallow my pride and trust God to follow Moses?

3. Aaron was willing to repent

Exodus 32:21-26
21 He said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?”

22 “Do not be angry, my lord,” Aaron answered. “You know how prone these people are to evil. 23 They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’ 24 So I told them, ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”

25 Moses saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of control and so become a laughingstock to their enemies. 26 So he stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me.” And all the Levites rallied to him.

The Levites, along with Aaron, rallied to him and they repented. He repented, and I think that’s why he wasn’t put to death for his actions.

Numbers 12:1-2
Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. 2 “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?” they asked. “Hasn’t he also spoken through us?” And the Lord heard this. 

Numbers 12:9-11
9 The anger of the Lord burned against them, and he left them. 10 When the cloud lifted from above the tent, Miriam’s skin was leprous—it became as white as snow. Aaron turned toward her and saw that she had a defiling skin disease, 11 and he said to Moses, “Please, my lord, I ask you not to hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed.

Instantly Aaron repents. Aaron was a man who owned his mistakes and asked for forgiveness instantly.

Communication Card

- I will work to trust God and the leadership he has put over me.
- I will look for ways to be a humble servant to the people around me.
- I will make it a habit of repenting quickly when I sin.