Exodus 35-40
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Well good morning my name is Chet I'm one of the pastors here grab your Bibles and go to Exodus chapter 35. we are working our way through the book of Exodus we have six chapters left and we are going to go through all of them today so I hope uh we did send you an email to pack your lunch right um now here's what's happening in the book of Exodus we have walked through and we've made it to the place where in Exodus chapters 25 through 31 Moses was on the mountain.
God said you're going to build a tabernacle and here's how you're going to do it and so chapter 25 26 27 28 29 30 and 31 is God explaining to Moses in detail how to build the Tabernacle what they're going to do to accomplish this and then chapters 35 36 37 38 and 39 is them building in detail the Tabernacle so in chapters 25-31 God says this is what I want you to build and in chapters 35-39 they build it and it's this picture of this culmination of God's plan coming together from start to finish in the book of Exodus where ultimately what he's rescued them out of slavery.
For is going to be accomplished and so it's a little bit like if we went and watched a fireworks show they're shooting off fireworks the whole time but then at the end they shoot off about as many as they've already shot off it's all coming together to kind of finish it off that's kind of where we are is that we're in the the crescendo of the book of Exodus and so we're going to take all six of these chapters together so let's pray.
And then we will study through this together this morning as we try to take in the full picture of the book of Exodus God we're thankful for your word we're thankful that we get to gather and study it together we ask Lord that you would help us to sit under the weight of the authority of your word that we would believe you more than we believe culture that we would believe you and trust in you more than we believe and trust in ourselves that.
Lord where we need to repent we would repent where we need to Rejoice we would Rejoice we ask the Lord that your spirit would teach us work through your word this morning and help us to see the glory of Christ reflected in the book of Exodus in Jesus name amen so we're going to be in Exodus chapter 35 and that's why I'd like to begin by reading something from Exodus chapter 25 it'll be on the screen Exodus 25 because this is where.
God on the mountain begins to tell Moses this is what you're going to do this is verses 8 and 9 it says and let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell in their midst exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the Tabernacle and of all its furniture so you shall make it okay the Tabernacle is a movable tent it's a big tent that they're going to use particularly for worship and it's this place where God is going to dwell in a particular specific way among them he's not entombed in it he's not imprisoned in it.
But he's choosing to place his glory there in a specific particular way to be a blessing and a sign for the people of Israel but the word Tabernacle literally just means Dwelling Place so he says I'm going to show you a pattern that you might make a dwelling place for me that I might dwell among you and that's his plan that he would rescue them out of slavery and not just say okay you're free best of luck but that he rescues them out of slavery and says.
Now I'm going to dwell among you you're going to be my people I'm going to be your God we're going to Delight in one another there's going to be Joy here and so that's that's what he's doing is that he takes them out of slavery that he might dwell among them and so here's what happens in chapters 25-31 God says this is what it's going to look like and then in chapters 35-39 they do it it should be chapter 25 through 31.
God says this is what it's going to look like and then chapters 32 is when they begin to accomplish it but that's not what happens in chapter 32. Moses comes down the mountain the dust isn't even out of the grooves of the stone that all of this is carved in and they have rebelled against God and broken the Covenant they immediately destroyed it I remember when my wife and I had first got married we were renting a house in Clinton South Carolina and the there was a guy who had come over to fix something and he knew the lady we were running from and he had helped fix something he's an older gentleman and he.
While he was there he got to talking to me and he whittled and he handed me a little whittled figure and I cannot remember if it was like a dog or a horse or a boat I don't remember but he handed it to me and I was looking I was like that's neat and he said it's made out of teak wood antique wood is one of the strongest Woods that's why he was talking to me as soon as he said that I just oh strong wood I just kind of did this and I snapped it in half.
And so I just quickly put it back together and I looked at him and he had not noticed and so for about two minutes while I held it like I was still looking at it but I'm really just you know holding it together formulating a plan he told me that Teakwood is very strong it's kind of expensive hard to get hard to carve they make ships out of it like he was going on and on about how great Teakwood was and I was like it's not as strong as you think.
So when he got done I just handed it back to him and said I broke it and he just went hmm I think he said something about it broke along the grain because I tried to explain what you said it was strong I was just but I wasn't trying to put too you know I didn't try to break it and then he just left and we didn't talk anymore after that that's somewhat what chapter 32 feels like is that God has designed this beautiful Covenant he's made this plan he's going to dwell among them and he says this is what it's going to.
Look like and they're like great we broke it that's immediately what they do it falls apart and so we hit this moment in chapters 32 33 34 where we're going what's going to happen and God in his grace and in his goodness Works to redeem and overcome their sin and he renews the Covenant which he does not have to do but he does and we get to see Moses in this intercessory role and so in 35 we pick back up with a renewed Covenant and they're going to build the Tabernacle.
So go to 35. Moses assembled all the congregation of the people of Israel and said to them these are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do six days work shall be done but on the seventh day you shall have a Sabbath of solemn rest holy to the Lord whoever does any work on it shall be put to death you shall Kindle no fire in all your Dwelling Places on the Sabbath day Okay so Moses about to tell them we're going to build the Tabernacle he's about to give them a whole lot of work to do.
But all the time in the book of Exodus whenever that's happening is that there's this reminder you're not slaves anymore and one of the primary ways that we're going to worship and enjoy the Lord is in rest so we've got a lot of work to do but we're going to work for six days and we're going to rest for one it's actually interesting in the book of Exodus one of the words that's described for their slavery is the same word that's described.
For their worship so that they used to slave and serve and worship Pharaoh and now though slave and serve in Worship the Lord but it's going to look different their their value doesn't come from their labor anymore it comes from him and so this service to Pharaoh becomes service to the Lord but there's always this reminder of a Sabbath so verse 4. Moses said to all the congregation of the people of Israel this is the thing that the Lord has commanded and that was in 25 through 31.
Take from among you a contribution to the Lord whoever is of A Generous Heart let him bring the Lord's contribution gold and silver and bronze blue and purple and Scarlet Yarns and fine twined linen goat's hair and tanned Ram skins and goat skins acacia wood oil for the light spices for the anointing oil and for The Fragrant incense and Onyx stones and stones for setting for the ephid and for the breast piece so everyone whose heart stirs them they're going to take a collection.
For this purpose let every skillful Craftsman among you come and make all that the Lord has commanded the Tabernacle its tint and its covering its Hooks and its frames its bars its pillars and its bases the ark with its poles The Mercy Seat and the veil of the screen the table with its poles and all its utensils and the bread of the presence the lamp stand also for the light with its utensils and its lamps and the oil for the lie and the altar of incense with its poles and the anointing oil and The Fragrant incense and the screen.
For the door at the door of the Tabernacle the altar of burnt offering with its grading of bronze its poles and all its utensils the Basin and it stands the hangings of the Court its pillars and its bases and the screen of the Gate of the Court the pegs of the Tabernacle and the pegs of the court and their courts the finely worked garments for ministering in the Holy place the holy garments for Heir and the priests and the garments of his sons.
For their service as priests that's why it's multiple chapters because he tells them specifically how to make all of that how they're going to build it what it's going to look like how it's going to be designed how wide how he doesn't just say make a table he says make this table and so that's why it works through slowly to build all of this for the Tabernacle and now they're taking a collection for it verse 20. then all the congregation of the people of Israel departed from the presence of Moses and they came everyone whose heart stirred him and everyone whose Spirit moved him and brought the Lord's contribution to be used.
For the tent of meeting and for all its service and for the holy garments so they came both men and women all who were of a willing heart brought brooches and earrings and Signet rings and armlets all sorts of gold objects every man dedicating an offering of gold to the Lord and every one of them who possessed blue or purple or Scarlet yarn Yarns are fine the linen or goat's hair or tanned Ram skins or goat skins brought them everyone who could make a contribution of silver or bronze brought it as the Lord's contribution and everyone who possessed Acacia would of any use in the work brought in and every skillful woman spun with her.
Hands and they all brought what they had spun in blue and purple and Scarlet Yarns and fine twine linen all the women whose heart stirred them to use their skill spun the goat's hair and the leaders brought Onyx stones and stones to be set for the aphid and for the breast piece and spices and oil for the light and for the anointing oil and for The Fragrant incense all the men and women the people of Israel whose heart moved them to bring anything.
For the work that the Lord had commanded by Moses to be done brought it as a free will offering to the Lord so they respond and we're told in later in the next few chapters that the everybody who's working on stuff has to come to Moses and say tell them to stop we have enough tell them to stop giving we have enough and it's all those whose heart stirred them whose spirits of them he didn't say we need x amount of pounds per woman and x amount of pounds per man and this much gold per tribe it doesn't do any of that he just says.
If your heart moves you give and they respond in this generous way one of the blessings that our Church has gotten to participate in over the years is at the end of the year we have a give series where we intentionally pick something where we're going to try to bless and be generous and help fund a missionary or give some money to a Church plant or work in some sort of service area in our city and it's just so much joy.
When we all collectively as the spirit moves in our heart stirs give and the times that we get to to acknowledge that we were able to raise more than we needed to accomplish this thing and that's what they're getting to do here where they just respond in joy and delight and generosity to who God is then it's going to talk about bezalel and a holy AB that's the bulk of our reading so if you were thinking we were about to read all the stuff we're not just to help you out a little bit.
But it talks about bezel and holy ABS two of the ones that the Lord specifically sat apart for the work it tells us that they ended up bringing one ton of gold four tons of silver and two and a half tons of bronze so they have plenty and this thing is going to be decked out in Beauty and glory for God's Tabernacle in chapter 36 they make the frame and the tint of the Tabernacle in chapter 37 they make the Ark of the Covenant the table the lamp stand and the altar of incense and one of the things that happens in this is that much of what is built is designed to represent something to.
Display that God's going to dwell among his people that he's going to share meal with them that he's going to eat with them to display that he's their provision to display they have a a lamp a lantern that that won't ever go out and it's to burn continually and it's it's to display that God is their light and their life continually and this is what he does and there's all these pictures that are woven into this in the Tabernacle what's around the ark and the most holy place a lot of it has pictures that are meant to bring to mind the garden.
So there's blossoms there's blooming there's pomegranates there's cherubim and it's meant to be that God's original design in the Garden of Eden was that he would dwell among his people and y'all I just learned this this week the word Eden is just the Hebrew word for Delight or pleasure I didn't know that I thought Eden was a name The Garden of delight that is what he originally placed them in the garden of pleasure that that's God's original intended design was that we would Delight in him that he would Delight with us that there would be pleasantness with him.
And then when they build the Tabernacle that's some of what his image what's pictured here is that he's restoring that but also they're a cherubim there and the cherubim were placed at the Garden to keep them from entering and so there's still this picture of not only is he seeking to restore some of Eden but he's also picturing again that there still is some separation between them and him and that's why there's so much that goes into sacrificial system in the Tabernacle where they have to atone.
For sin to approach God in chapter 38 they make the Altar for the burnt offering the bronze Basin the court that's its hooks pillars bases and hangings but there's this one verse in chapter 38 that I want to draw your attention to because it just gets buried in here it's one verse but I want y'all to see this and I think it's beautiful chapter 38 verse 8 we'll have it on the screen but if you've got your Bible in front of you it's on page 45 of the blue one I don't know what page it's on.
If you brought your own Bible but I'm glad you brought your own Bible chapter 38 verse 8. he made the Basin of bronze and its stand of bronze from the mirrors of the ministering women who ministered in the entrance of the tent of meeting now you might be inclined to say who because that's the first and only time that they're mentioned this isn't the tent of meeting that's going to be a part of the Tabernacle when it's finished it's the tint of meeting that Moses used to set up outside of the camp where Joshua would stay in it Moses would meet with the.
Lord and that was also the place where people who wanted to seek wisdom from the Lord or from Moses would go and so apparently there were some women who served there that's what ministered means they served and when it came time to build the Tabernacle those women had bronze mirrors which means a solid sheet of polished bronze uses a mirror because they wouldn't have had glass and mirrors the way we have glass and mirrors this is one of the only ways you would have a mirror you could.
Look into some water or you could have some kind of a polished metal and so these ladies had polished bronze mirrors and I love this verse because I think it's such a beautiful picture of when you actually begin to see who the Lord is like they got to minister near the tent of meeting they got this glimpse of the glory of the Lord and he's going to come dwell among them and they turned their bronze mirrors in so that they might make the bronze Basin I think it's intentionally told us here.
So that we might hear the sacrifice that is involved in this I don't think mirrors were easy to come by and what do you use a mirror for looking at yourself and it's just a beautiful picture of when we get a glimpse of him we want more of him and less of us when we get to see what he's like and who he is and and the idea that he would come there they just turn this in there like I don't I don't want to.
Look at myself I don't want this to be about myself I want it to be about him and isn't that a beautiful picture of the Gospel for us that when you're trying to follow Jesus and so much you're thinking here's what I'm good at here's what I'm bad at here's why I'm succeeding here's why I'm failing y'all turn the mirror in quit looking at yourself it's not about you it's about Jesus when we say Jesus is better than everything else it's about what he's done what he's accomplished who he is it's about his glory and not yours.
When we show up in glory to Worship the Lord we will have our eyes transfixed on him there won't be a big line where they say welcome to Heaven here's your mirror now go sing stare at your face and sing about your it's not how it's going to work and I love this picture a sermon I could get amped up but I can't it's just one verse we gotta move on but it's a good verse just remember that we get to turn in our mirrors we get to.
See it set our eyes on him and some of you are spending right now a lot of time in Pride or despair because you're looking in a mirror I just want you to know the Gospel is way better than that chapter 39 they make the Priestly garments and in chapter 39 they repeat this phrase over and over again as the Lord commanded or as the Lord had commanded and it's this picture repeated over and over again that they they did this just the way the.
Lord told them so that phrase as the Lord of commanded is in verse 1 verse 5 verse 7 verse 21 verse 26 verse 29 verse 31 verse 32 verse 42 and verse 43 as the Lord had commanded and there's this beautiful picture of obedience and that they're doing exactly what the Lord called them to do now much of chapters 35 to 39 is repeated almost verbatim from chapters 25. 31. I picked one example we're going to look at the making of the table.
So this is chapter 25 verse 23 you shall make a table of acacia wood two cubits shall be its length a cubit its breath and a cubit and a half its height chapter 37 he also made the table of acacia wood two cubits was its length a cubit its breath and a cubit and a half its height chapter 25 you shall overlay it with pure gold and make a molding of gold around it chapter 37 and he overlaid it with pure gold and made a molding of gold around it chapter 25 you shall make a rim around it a hand breath-wide and a molding of gold around the rim chapter 37 and he made a.
Rim around it a hand breath wide and a molding of gold around the rim chapter 25 and you shall make for it four rings of gold and fasten the Rings to the Four Corners at its four legs chapter 37 he cast for four rings of gold and fastened the Rings to the Four Corners at its four legs 25 close to the frames the ring shall lie as holders for the poles to carry the table 37 close to the frame were the Rings he's going a little off script here asshoulders.
For the polls to carry the table it's like when you're cheating off your friend for their homework but you just mess some of them up you make it look like you did it okay chapter 25 you shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold and the table shall be carried with these chapter 37 he made the polls of acacia wood to carry the table and for a second you're like oh no and overlaid them with gold it just flips it he builds some suspense this is much of how these chapters read and one of the things that happens.
While you're reading through them at least for me is my mind goes kind of numb and I'm just like okay okay okay yep okay okay hand breath got it polls got it gold and if you've already read through like if you sat down to read through the book of Exodus and you read through chapters 25 through 31 unfortunately you're a little excited that it doesn't immediately go into 35 you're glad they go off the rails and something gets to happen it doesn't immediately go into 35 where it just repeats the same stuff and you're reading it.
Now when you're back in 35 you're going okay okay and there's a little bit of you that's like why didn't they just say they did it the way that he said to do it that's like a sentence and I would have believed him why does it go through the process of repeating all of this what I'm about to offer is some speculation because it doesn't tell us but I have some I've thought about it I have some guesses I'll share with you I think one of the reasons is intentional thoroughness and a desire to show the strict adherence to God's instruction and their obedience beautiful walkthrough of obedience of taking God's word seriously honestly it.
Would be delightful for us if all of us could live our lives with the same amount of rigor and seriousness to the word of God that chapters 35-39 take in the book of Exodus that we knew what he had instructed and we followed it your life would be better if you did that and so there's this display of thoroughness but there's also and and obedience but there's also this display of God working out things according to the purpose of his will that.
God tells Moses on the mountain this is what you're going to do and then it happens and it happens after everything falls apart where God works to redeem and to forgive and to help accomplish what he's set out to accomplish and it's a beautiful picture that When God says this is what I'm going to do he does it and so it's this picture of human obedience and God's will together so I think there's obedience I think there's thoroughness I think there's the Fulfillment of God's will that he accomplishes what he set out.
But I also think there's something that we miss y'all there's delight and excitement in these chapters I don't know when you've had the opportunity to prepare for the arrival of a loved one I don't know if you've ever gotten to prepare a house where you'll move in with a spouse you're not married yet but you're going to be I don't know if you've had the opportunity to to labor away at that I don't know if you've had the opportunity to to prepare a room where a baby's going to dwell I don't know.
If you've ever had the chance all your grandkids are coming home or a friend you haven't seen in a long time is going to come to visit and you have a week to prepare and you're thinking about what you're going to cook you're getting the place ready you're washing the sheets you're getting the room ready you're setting it up you stand in you think okay like I don't know if you've had these opportunities but that's what chapters 35-39 are when we get done building this he's going to dwell here our.
God is going to dwell Among Us the one who rescued us out of Egypt is going to come be here you know there's Delight this these were slaves who slaved away with endless toil and the only thing held out in front of them was death I bet there are days when they still wake up and have to remind themselves oh I'm not a slave anymore I bet some of them are just now getting to where they walk a little taller getting over some of the the beatings that they had taken loosening up a little bit learning how to to be a little Freer.
When they wake up and they labor towards this it's in Delight of the God of the universe who has specifically rescued and chosen them to come dwell among them they're preparing diligently for something wonderful and if you ever talk to a person who took the time to build a table for the house they're going to move into to make a recipe for their grandchildren that are going to come visit to paint a room and prepare it for a baby if you ask them about it I'm willing to bet that they will joyfully go into about as much detail this chapters 35-39.
Well you know what I went and I went and I was looking at two different pieces of wood and I decided to go with Oak now your Pond's good but and I've got laughter I mean they're going to go into it it's just a Sprinkle of cinnamon now don't you don't want to do too much cinnamon but you're going to want to just a pinch like just you know maybe just two fingers if you do too but you got to get it it's like oh yeah I bet it was good that's what's happening here.
Because there's delight and joy and in preparing for the Lord to come this is a refrain it's a crescendo it's all coming together and it's work to prepare so move to the end of chapter 39. verse 42 and 43. according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses so the people of Israel had done all the work and Moses saw all the work and behold they had done it as the Lord commanded so had they done it so Moses blessed them there's a little Echo at the end of creation here where.
God views all that he made and he sees that it's good and then He blesses the man and woman to be fruitful and multiplying to have dominion over the Earth like there's a little a little echo of it now God is able to discern on his own that it's good Moses has to just see that they did what God Said So it's still God's standard it's not Moses standard but he looks and sees it it's all done that it's been done the way.
God told them to do it and He blesses them chapter 40 verse 1. the Lord spoke to Moses saying on the first day of the first month you shall erect the Tabernacle of the tent of meeting so on the first day of the first month you'll erect it and then it goes through you're going to set this up this up this up in this way and it goes through a big list of some of the stuff that we read earlier that they were getting everything together go to.
Verse 33. and he erected the court around the Tabernacle on the altar they've gone through the process of setting the stuff up and um consecrating it for the presence of the Lord so they didn't just throw it up but they went through a process of getting it ready and marking it with oil and doing some sacrifices and he erected the court around the Tabernacle on the Altar and he set up the screen of the Gate of the court so Moses finished the work you read through chapter 25 through 20 through 31.
And then you read through 35 and 39 you'll appreciate how much fun it was for Moses to write this I think when he got to write so Moses finished the work because it was a lot of work then the cloud covered the tent of meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle y'all that's what we've been working towards that these people who were slaves would have God dwell among them and all the stuff that we've gone through where he's shown signs and wonders where he's rescued them where he brought them out or they wandered and argued and he had to provide.
For them with Manna and he had to work through all of this and when he gives his instructions on how to do this and he gives the Ten Commandments and he sets up a covenant people and they rebelled and he has to work to restore and to renew this Covenant and then they work to build all this it's all so that he might dwell among them that he desires to have his people in his presence in his place where they belong to him and his desire is like a.
Father who's trying to adopt and fill his household the children that he loves and it says the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle we shouldn't move quickly past that we should enjoy and Savor how good that is for the people of Israel that he desired to have them belong to him verse 35 and Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle throughout all their Journeys whenever the cloud was taken up from Over the Tabernacle the people of Israel would set out.
But if the cloud was not taken up then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up for the cloud of the Lord was on the Tabernacle by day and fire was in it by night in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their Journeys now if you'll remember the pillar of cloud and fire was leading the people of Israel but at a distance and they had attend a meeting that was set up outside of the camp.
Now the pillar of clown fire dwells on the Tabernacle in the midst of the camp he's surrounded by them and he told Moses if I show up like that I'm going to kill everybody because they're Wicked but Moses intercedes and God gives Grace so that this might happen the way God's designed it to happen but there's this whisper there's a whisper in this text that shows us that it's not done God's full final realized version of what he set out to do is not done I want you to.
See it it let's look back the 34 and 35. then the cloud covered the tent of meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle and Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the clouds settled on it and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle picture of God's glory his holiness the Moses Moses to just walk in it's not like God walking with Adam and Eve in the garden there's a separation from God's glory and there's this whisper in the midst of this Crescendo and this delight in this Wonder there's this Whisper of not yet not exactly it's not fixed just yet.
And so Exodus points us to the glory of the Lord but it also in a very specific and real way points us to the glory of Christ that the story of The Exodus is meant for us to see how good our God is and then as it unfolds more to see how good the Lord Christ is because Jesus is the one who redeems us out of slavery to make us his people my wife watches these um murder shows True Crime stuff I have to make sure she's not like taking notes you know like on how to get away with things.
But she she watches these and one of the things that police will often ask people when something really terrible happens and they're doing investigations is they'll say is this the sort of thing that this person would do they'll interview friends and say is this something does this seem like something they do does this seem out of character does it seem in character I read the book of Exodus and then we consider that we were lost that we were rebellious that we were Wicked that we were dead in sin that we were slaves to sin that we desired to go back to our old Masters is is rescuing a people like that overcoming their sin.
When they work to actively break the Covenant so that they might belong to him and he might dwell in their midst is that the sort of thing Our God would do yes it's exactly the sort of thing he'd do when we read the book of Exodus we're meant to be able to see that's exactly the sort of thing he'd do that's exactly the type of God he is that's exactly when you look at the times that they sin and you think he's just going to eradicate them and he doesn't like that verse we read earlier that in his Divine forbearance he overlooked former sins.
So that he might be just and Justified that there's this moments where God carries it forward to pay for it in Christ so that he might be gracious so that he might be loving so that he might redeem a sinful people and Jesus is the one who rescues us out of slavery Jesus is the one who shows Mighty signs and wonders Jesus is the one who is our Passover Lamb whose blood is painted on the door that we might not have judgment fall on us.
Jesus is our bread from Heaven that comes down to to fulfill us and to give us life Jesus is the one who not only teaches us about the law but fulfills the law on our behalf so that the weight of the law does not fall on us but it falls on him and then the righteousness of the law is carried out in him and fulfilled in us because of his work Jesus is the one who in the midst of our Rebellion intercedes.
For us who goes up the mountain and says to God take me instead and who God accepts his sacrifice Jesus is the one who Tabernacles among us as the Incarnation of God in human flesh Jesus is the one who by his sacrifice makes it possible to where the spirit dwells inside of us that God would be surrounded by Wicked people is exactly what he's done when he renews us and restores us and his Spirit dwells in us in a specific and beautiful way just as he was intending to do with the whole nation of Israel he.
Now does inside the hearts of Believers and he does it in the Church to his great glory and credit of the work that Christ has accomplished and Jesus is the one who can enter into the tent where even Moses is cast out because of his Holiness and his righteousness and so as we studied the book of Exodus I hope that you grew in your love for Christ who is a better Moses who leads a people to the promised land fully and forever through his glory not ours in a way that resounds in the praise to our.
God let's pray God we're thankful that you're the type of God who saves rebellious slaves and we're thankful that you're the type of God who overcomes sin so that we might belong to you and we're thankful that you're the type of God who Delights to dwell among your people to get rid of their sin without getting rid of them so that we might have pleasure and Delight with you well we're thankful that you fulfilled the Covenant that you fulfilled the law that your blood covers Us and that ultimately we can trust you to be at work in us and to lead us to the Fulfillment of all things May there be great Glory given to.
Christ amen Matt's going to come back up we're going to take a moment together as a Church to take communion communion is a tangible reminder in Celebration of what Christ has done for us on the cross it's us proclaiming his death until he comes it's us remembering his sacrifice and so that when we take communion what we're acknowledging is that Jesus died for us he literally died to pay for our sins that he's our propitiation that we deserved death and wrath.
But that Jesus paid for and we're celebrating that that covers us and so that when God looks at you he does not see you in his sin but he sees you in Christ and so when we walk in Repentance we're moving ourselves into Delight in the Lord but we're not oscillating out of his salvation and back into it for we are covered by Christ and so you get to take seriously a moment to repent and to confess and then you get to come forward and Delight in and rejoice in that.
Jesus Christ and that our hope is in him if you are not a Christian communion is not for you can trust in Christ you can place your faith in him and he will save you he will not put the shame any who call on him but if you have not blessed your faith in Jesus we would ask for you to refrain from taking communion we have communion set up in the front and in the back and there's gluten-free communion elements at the back as.
Well so take a moment to pray and confess to remember our glorious Lord who redeems Sinners and when you're ready we'll take communion and then we'll sing together.
The Glory of God, Pt. 3 (34:10-35)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Good morning so Fall allergies have hit me in full effect so you're going to hear some earthier tones this morning as we walk through the text today we are in the Book of Exodus chapter 34. verses 10 through 35 is on page 43 in the blue bibles if you want to grab one of those you can follow along the text will also be on the screen the past few weeks we have looked at the glory of God that Moses made this bold request to.
Behold the glory of God Show Me Your Glory and we saw that glory in God's goodness are are the same terms that in asking to see the glory of God his wonderful goodness would be uh displayed and we looked at that as God's uh Fierce love and his Fierce Justice held together to displays the character and the goodness of our God and then last we we looked at that the really the centralized aspect of God's glory some of the most powerful aspects of who he is and his goodness is displayed in his revealed face and that what Moses was asking was actually too wonderful.
For him to behold that as a sinner beholding God in this in his face which would lead to certain death that Sinners cannot gaze upon the glory of God because of our broken sinful natures and our broken sinful bodies and we looked at that bold request with the hope that one day we will behold the face of God that the end of the story for Christians is beholding the face of God in eternity forever and ever amen that we will get to gaze upon the Perfection of beauty and who he is forever and that's where we are going.
But there's also another aspect of God's glory to begin to look at today that as we finish out chapter 34 we're going to look at that what that means for us as Christians as we still get to meditate on the glory of God so let me pray and we'll want to this together heavenly father I pray that you would open our hearts to receive your word that with glad and generous Hearts we would receive it that it might shape us to be a people that are.
So in love with you and so in love with your glory that we would seek you and that comes through the initial step of faith that comes through daily enjoying you that comes through repentance that comes through worshiping you like we just got to do and I pray that you'd give us a wonderful vision for them in Jesus name amen all right so Exodus 32-34 we've been in this for a couple of months now and what's happening in these chapters is the people who were had received the Covenant of Moses they'd received the Ten Commandments.
And then they immediately rebel against God they reject him and worship a golden calf instead Moses coming down the mountain sees this and then he goes and he pleads with God do not destroy this people and then and then we get to see in the coming chapters there's this lingering is the Covenant going to be restored is God going to restore his Covenant with his people and then the past couple of weeks we've seen yes this Covenant will be restored and the rest of this chapter in 34 is kind of repeated language bringing up different uh passages that we saw on in Exodus 23 different aspects of this Covenant as it's being renewed.
So a lot about what to walk through is going to sound very familiar you've been walking with us through Exodus so we're going to start off in verse 10 it says and he said behold this is God speaking behold I am making a covenant before all your people I will do Marvels such as have not been created in all the Earth or in any Nation and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you and I just I.
So appreciate that verse before we walk through some of this repeated aspects of the Covenant being renewed that they rejected God they rejected him for a golden calf and God not only is granting forgiveness and restoration he says I'm going to do Marvels with you such have not been seen which is incredible if you've been with us through Exodus because you've seen God's Marvels poured out on the Egyptians you saw them cross the Red Sea we've seen God provide daily Manna.
For the people these are wonderful Marvels and God's saying I've got more that I want to do with you that I'm gonna do awesome things with you which is an incredible statement if you work for a big giant wonderful company I mean lots of employees a wonderful CEO and all of a sudden you at the break room for lunch and like a like a like a thoughtless child you took your tinfoil burrito and threw it in the microwave hit five minutes.
And then walked away and then came back and the microwaves on fire and the rooms on fire and the whole business Burns to the ground and it's all caught on footage backed up to the cloud and your boss invites you to your house and his house and shows the footage of you thoughtlessly throwing the Brito in hitting and walking away and you're waiting for the pink slip you're waiting like this is it I'm done and he looks at you and he says you messed up.
But I'm still gonna do awesome things with you you're gonna you're gonna stay on board here we're gonna rebuild this thing and I'm gonna do awesome things with you you'd go what I burnt your business to the ground what and now I get to do awesome things with you our God is wonderful y'all this is what he does he works with Sinners who Rebel all the time and he looks at us and he says I'm going to do marvelous things with you it's wonderful.
And then he continues in verse 11. observe what I command you this day behold I will drive out before you the amorites the Canaanites the Hittites the parasites the hivites and the jebusites take care unless you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go lest it become a snare in your midst you shall tear down their altars and break their pillars and cut down their ashram for you shall worship no other God for the Lord whose name is jealous is a jealous.
God lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and when they hoar after their gods and sacrifice their gods and you are invited you eat of his sacrifice and you take of their daughters for your sons and their daughters after their gods and make your sons after their gods this is repeated language from Exodus 23. God when we walk through that section we got to see how God has judgment coming to the people of the land the the jebusites the Hittites the Canaanites this people who have committed all types of atrocities and Abominations they've done things like sacrifice their own children to foreign Gods they've done all these things and judgment will.
Fall upon them and he's saying do not make covenants with them lest you fall into the same trap of worshiping therefore in Gods don't in a marriage don't know this judgment will be upon this people don't do it we saw that in Exodus 23 and God is bringing that language back to remind them don't do this lest you chase other gods which by the way just happened and we see this more directly in Exodus verse 17. it says you shall not make.
For yourself any gods of cast metal now some repeat language from the second commandment in Exodus 20 but there's there's a phrase in there that wasn't there before that is very much a reminder of what just happened the word the phrase cast metal that comes right out of Exodus 32 the same language when Aaron is making a cast metal calf of gold and that's kind of thrown in there to help them see don't don't break the second commandment in this way that you just did be like showing up to the new business show up to the new break room and all of a sudden above the microwave is do not microwave burritos in this microwave.
And everyone knows it's you Jason that that notice is for you bro that's a reminder you you worshiped this cast metal object don't worship foreign Gods especially the one which you just did continues this renewing Covenant language in verse 18 you shall keep the Feast of unleavened bread seven days you shall eat unleavened bread as I commanded you at the time appointed the month of Eve for in the month of bib you came out of Egypt all that open the womb are mine all your male livestock the firstborn of cow and sheep the firstborn of a donkey shall be Dean with a lamb or.
If you will not redeem it you shall break its neck all the firstborn of you all the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem and None Shall appear before me empty-handed so again this is language we've already seen we've seen it in Exodus 13 when they Institute the Passover and and the Redemption rights for the firstborn it's a reminder that I your God your Redeemer redeemed you out of Egypt by striking down the firstborn of Egypt I redeemed you from slavery and you will.
Remember this through Passover through Redeeming the firstborn over and over again this language being brought back into the Covenant again and it keeps going with language on resting and feasting in verse 21 it says six days you shall work but on the seventh day you shall rest in plowing time and in Harvest you shall rest you shall observe the Feast of Weeks the first fruits of Wheat harvests and the Feast of end gathering at the Year's End three times in the year shall all your mouths appear before the.
Lord God the God of Israel for I will cast out Nations before you and enlarge your borders no one shall covet your land when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in a year and it's this language if you're going to rest that you were slaves in Egypt you recogn the machine where you work seven days a week and did not rest and I redeemed you and I'm bringing you back into this rhythm of working six days and resting on the seventh it goes back to Creation you're not a slave to a foreign Pharaoh you belong to me and you will rest and you will feast you'll.
Remember we walk through this in Exodus 23 the keeping of the feasts that help the people regularly celebrate that they are the people of God and they get to do that through their whole Feast calendar which if you if this is if you weren't with us for Exodus I'd encourage you to go back and listen to some of these sermons where we walk through these different aspects of the Covenant that's being renewed again in verse 25 it continues you shall not offer The Blood of My Sacrifice with anything leavened or let the sacrifice of the Feast of passive remain until the morning the best of the.
First fruits on your ground you shall bring to the house of the Lord your God you shall not boil a young goat at its mother's milk which we saw this language in Exodus 23 but it's instructions on in this Covenant you're going to keep the sacrifices in the way that I tell you to do and you're not going to mix them in a way with some of the Pagan ways of offering Sacrifice from the Pagan practices like boiling a young goat in its mother's milk you won't do what the people of the land do you are going to do what I am telling you to do as my people separate from the Nations.
So this covenant's being renewed with some summarized language from before and it's getting wrapped up here in verse 27 and the Lord said to Moses write these words for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel he's like write these down bring them back to the people and and he's he's he's summarizing that bringing it to a to a conclusion here you you are my Covenant people I'm still going to walk with you still gonna be with you I will be your.
God you will be my people Moses has to be joyful at this point knowing yes we're back in favor with God and in verse 28 it says so he was there with the Lord 40 days and 40 nights he neither ate bread nor drank water and he wrote on the tablets the words of the Covenant the ten Commandments so he spends the next 40 days and 40 nights with God supernaturally sustains him with complete dependence upon him during this period of time through an absolute fast from both bread and water and he spends this 40 days and 40 nights with.
God ready to bring down the good news of this renewed Covenant to the Israelites and then when he comes down the mountain there's something different about Moses and that is because you cannot experience the power of our God like Moses did and leave unchanged you don't experience the power of God like this and leave unscathed in the best way possible he Journeys down the mountain we pick it back up in 29. when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone.
Because he had been talking with God Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses and behold the skin of his face Shone and they were afraid to come near him but Moses called to them and Aaron all the leaders of the congregation returned to him and Moses talked with them so Moses tablets in hand joyfully excited to tell the people you're not going to be abandoned God Is With Us starts coming down the mountain and then all of a sudden the people who are at the base.
See this light in the distance approaching and this isn't like a flashlight in the darkness or something different about this light and and this light has power in it and all of a sudden it's getting closer and it's getting closer and people are starting to to cringe a little bit they're starting to Shield themselves it's too much they're starting to be afraid and then at some point they piece together this is Moses and there's something about him his face is shining.
Now at some point as the people are stirring and Afraid witnessing Moses's face shining at some point someone has to tell them Moses you face is shining like get him a mirror get him a pail of water let them see this but your face is glowing there's uh one Theologian some or one commentator I think nailed it he said Moses glow is actually an Afterglow from being in God's presence this is Afterglow somewhere between Moses's profoundly wonderful experience with God when he asked to.
See his glory somewhere between him God covering him in the cleft of The Rock and passing by and in the next 40 days and 40 nights that he spent with God somewhere in that time Moses is very complexion changes his face begins to Glow with the glory of God there's Afterglow shimmering from his face displaying emanating the glory of God and that is because Moses experienced his glory and his power in a way that no one really has since Adam and Eve and you don't get to experience.
God like that and leave unchanged he has this intense experience and now Moses who's the the mediator he's the one in the middle between the people and God needs an intermediary for himself because the people can't stand in his presence and they're they're scared so he needs something that's going to kind of Shield a little bit this Glory verse 32 afterward all the people of Israel came near and he commanded them all that the Lord had spoken with him in Mount Sinai.
And when Moses had finished speaking with them he put a veil over his face so now Moses in order to be with the people and them not be fearful he has to put a veil of his face I mean this is very similar to the Tabernacle and we spent some time looking at the Tabernacle that in the innermost part of the Tabernacle was a place called the holy of holies this room is where God ruled and reigned from and there was a a curtain a veil that separated the holy of holies from the rest of the Tabernacle and this veil was needed.
Because God and His glory is too wonderful for Sinners to Behold Him so this Veil separates God from the people and in the same way there's an Afterglow of Glory bound up in the face of Moses and there's a veil that is needed so that the people can be in his presence so that Moses can be amongst his people which I just for a moment this isn't the main part part of the story but I just I appreciate if you've been with us long enough in Exodus just Moses as a person to study as a character study with things helpful to do sometimes we want to be like Christ.
Okay doesn't mean that you know you study David so you can slay Giants I'm not arguing for that but I'm saying is that sometimes it's helpful to look at different people in the Scriptures and notice things about them one of the things I love about Moses is that he is Meek he's Meek he is mild and God uses the meek and the mind to do wonderful things the meek shall inherit the earth for a reason so sometimes we just get it twisted we get in our ideas that strength is this idea that is not biblical.
But actually meekness is strength and God uses his meekness to the point now where he has to he's so powerful he has to keep his face bound up again it's not the main point of story but it's worth examining its own so verse 34 it says whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him he would remove the veil until he came out and when he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded the people of Israel would.
See the face of Moses that the skin of Moses face was shining and Moses would put the veil over his face again until he went in to speak with him and this is the pattern of ministry going forward after Sinai in fact this Mark's really the pivot in in the wilderness narrative where they're leaving Sinai and the ministry is going to be this point for going forward in the wilderness with Moses and his people and Moses is going to regularly enter into the tent of meeting he's going to meet with.
God and that is going to come out and teach them more about his laws where we're going to get the Book of Leviticus and numbers in Deuteronomy he's going to teach them more about who their God is and his face is going to continue to Glow and that's just what is going to continue to do and I just one commentator he talks about Moses and I'll summarize what he said but basically he just said this is really Exodus 32-34 this really does establish Moses as he's the goat the prophets he is the greatest I mean he just he's just amongst all the prophets in the Old Testament he he stands apart I mean even the.
Last few chapters when the people rebel and Moses comes down and he stands between them and God and he pleads with God mediates for the people and then when God says all right you can go to the promised land but I'm not going and he says God I'm going to go where you go I don't want the promised land without your presence God if you're in the wilderness that's where we'll be from that all the way into asking to see the glory of.
God we've got to spend some time looking at that to coming down the mountain and now the rest of his ministry he's going to have this these these intensely wonderful experiences with God where he leaves with some glory on his face just shows who Moses is as a prophet the reason why he was so revered and so rightfully respected for centuries to follow and Judaism I mean that and just what he brings to them which is something that is the foundation.
For their belief it's the law it really does help us see the ministry of Moses going forward how wonderful it is now that's the end of chapter 34. we this this hint of what's what's going forward is that he's going to regularly go into the tentative meeting he's going to meet with God it's going to come out he's going to have glow on his face he's going to teach the people the law now when we try to understand the Old Testament.
Okay when we're studying the Old Testament we're studying these stories one of the difficult parts of interpretation is that I understand these stories isolated by themselves but to actually understand these stories in light of the bigger message of the Gospel from Genesis to Revelation what we're trying to do is understand these stories in Light of Christ and that takes work it takes slowly reading passages like this and trying to understand like What's Happening Here how does this correct to this bigger story of God's Redemption.
And then every now and then we get a wonderful gift from the New Testament because every now and then the New Testament does the work for us and that's what we have for this story right here that second Corinthians 3 is that chapter that helps us look back at this story and understand it in Light of Christ for the rest of our time that's what we're going to be we're going to be in second Corinthians chapter three on your blue in your blue Bibles that's page 561.
If you want to follow along but we're going to the text will be on the screen as well second Corinthians 3 is really interpreting Exodus 32 through 34 in light of the New Covenant of Christ it's looking back at the event that we've been in the last few weeks that really find their ending in the story that we went into today it's understanding that in Light of Christ now let me give you some context for second Corinthians because we're jumping into a book.
Second Corinthians is a defense written by Paul who's an apostle it's a defense of his ministry of the Gospel and his apostleship to the Church at Corinth who at the time was Wayward in sin but also being led astray by people who were coming in and teaching a different message so Paul is having to defend his apostleship and defend the ministry of the Gospel that he established when he planted this Church so but he's going to use Exodus 32-34 to make that bigger Point pick it up in.
Verse 1. are we beginning to commend ourselves again or do we need as some do letters of recommendation to you or from you which by the way that's rhetorical and I think it's sarcasm he's like do we need a lot of recommendation answers no you verse 2 yourselves are our letter of recommendation written on our hearts to be known and read by all and you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us written not with ink but with the spirit of the Living.
God not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts so Paul says that I don't need a letter of recommendation to be able to justify the ministry that we established here the letter of recommendation is your changed Hearts it's the Holy Spirit changing your heart and that didn't come through reading the law so he says tablets of stone that's what he's talking about that didn't come through your interactions with the law which we catch a hint of what teaching has been weaving its way into the Corinthian Church it's at the same teaching that's weaved its way into many churches at that time and that was uh Jewish Christians who were upholding the law.
Saying you can have Jesus but you also need to obey the law so we see hints of that teaching that it's weaved its way into here and Paul is establishing no it is the Holy Spirit that changes Hearts verse 4 such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything is coming from us but our sufficiency is from God who has made us sufficient to be Ministers of a new covenant not of the letter.
But of the spirit the letter kills but the spirit gives life so he highlights here's the difference between the old Covenant and the New Covenant the old Covenant of the letter it kills it highlights the death that we deserve because we cannot uphold the law because of our sin the letter kills the spirit on the other hand gives life as one commentator puts it he says the spirit alone gives life because only the spirit can change the heart thereby enabling God's people to keep his commands.
So he says the law wasn't what changes your heart it's the spirit of God that changes your heart you know how we know this Exodus 32. the people receive the Ten Commandments and then 10 seconds later say you know what golden calf disregarding the second commandment let's worship this instead if the letter was sufficient at changing the human heart the Old Testament would read radically different because I don't know if you've read the rest of the Old Testament it goes poorly.
For the people over and over and over again it feels like watching a train wreck in slow motion on repeat the letter does not change it only brings death it only highlights the death that we have because we cannot be changed through our good works and Obedience of the law the change that happens that truly matters in the human heart it's by the power of the Holy Spirit he continues now if the ministry of death which I just appreciate it's like we're talking about the law right the law is wonderful and good he's like New Covenant the help the ministry of death carved in letters on Stone came with such Glory that the Israelites could.
Not gaze at Moses face because of its Glory which when we read the Bible we should go wait a second I know that story which was being brought to an end will not the ministry of the spirit have even more Glory for if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory I don't want us to miss what he just said there the old Ministry the old Covenant was a Ministry ultimately of death highlighting the condemnation that we deserved.
And if that came with this glorious picture that we just saw of Moses coming down the mountain face glowing if it comes with some Afterglow how much better is the ministry of the New Covenant that we have it's so much better because we have the Holy Spirit verse 10 indeed end this case what once had Glory has come to have no glory at all because of the glory that surpasses it four if what was being brought to an end came with Glory much more.
Well what is permanent have Glory so he finishes off this this first part is really interpreting those that story Exodus 30-34 and he says boy oh boy that which came to an end at glory in itself how much more glorious is faith in Christ and the spirit changing our hearts in a way that never ends has so much sweeter that's so much better so he makes a pivot there and interpreting Exodus 32-34 now he's about to apply it to the people.
Verse 12. since we have such a hope we are very bold not like Moses who were put a veil over his face the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end but their minds were hardened for this day when they read the old Covenant the same Veil remains unlifted because only through Christ is it taken away yes to this day whenever Moses is read a veil Lies over their hearts he says those who put their hope and the law those who put their hope and their own good works and their own good behavior through obedience and law he's talking about the Jewish people he says that Veil still.
Covers their hearts they can't see and behold God they don't know him they're looking for life but they're actually only receiving death because obedience to the law doesn't save and it never will and they're missing out on the glory of God there's a wonderful picture we've looked at for weeks now they're missing out on his glory their hearts are hardened their eyes are darkened they cannot see and behold God for who he is the veil Still Remains the only way that Veil is removed.
So that so that you can behold God but trusting and the finished work of Christ it's about trusting that he fulfilled the law on our behalf it's by trusting that he went to the Cross to die for our sins by trusting that he conquered death of the Resurrection it's by putting all of our hope in Christ and not the law because if your hope is in the law and if your hope is in good works the veil remains verse 16.
When one turns to the Lord the veil is removed now the Lord is the spirit and we're the spirit of the Lord is there is freedom he says that when we turn from our sin and from our hope in the law from our hope and good works and obedience and we turn to Christ the veil is removed and when that happens there is freedom there's wonderful freedom freedom from condemnation to sin freedom from a need to be good to be good to obey the law to do all the right things freedom from this ministry of death and freedom to Christ Freedom 2 beholding.
God Freedom two not having to go back to the old yoke of obeying the law but trusting the finished work of Christ as our holy hope there is freedom that is found in faith in Jesus alone there's freedom to enjoy him and to worship him and to Behold Him with this freedom we get to Behold Him and as we Behold Him we are changed and this is where the argument ends Verse 18 and we all with unveiled face behold the glory of the.
Lord beholding the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from one degree of Glory to another for this comes from the Lord who is the spirit just as beholding God changed Moses it's literally it changed his complexion so beholding our God through faith transforms us and it lifts the veil off the heart so that we can actually Behold Him so that we can experience more of his glory but it's continual it's one degree of Glory to the next one degree of Glory into another degree of Glory which I don't fully I can't fully picture what he's getting up there.
But it sounds incredibly awesome this idea that will conform more to the image of Christ from one degree of Glory to the next last week we sat in this picture of the end state of reality for Christians that's beholding God's face with new eyes and that's it that's where we're going and I want us to miss that that should be so like ingrained in the fabric of our being that we would look at this life and say I don't want what this life has to offer.
Because what what what what awaits me for eternity is is infinitely better but don't miss that that's not the only picture of Glory that we give because there is a regular daily aspect of beholding God from one degree of glory to the next and to the next and to the next and to the next and that's called sanctification that's called becoming more like Christ don't miss that right that we get to behold God regularly in Daily and when we do that it changes us from one degree to the next and to the next into the next some of you all have known Christians who have walked with.
God for decades I mean you've got you've gotten to see someone up close change the spirit work in their heart daily and daily through the decades and it's wonderful when you get to see that and if you have it if you haven't got to see this long-term play out I encourage you to spend some time with some of our older Saints in this Church get to know them in their stories and I'm sure what they're going to tell you is is that yeah they're not perfect at all far from it.
But they are different than what they were 50 years ago are different they were 40 years ago and that was through daily beholding God from one degree to the next to the next to the next in a way that they're not as anxious as they used to be they're not as angry as they used to be that there's this peace there's this love there's this Joy there's this faithfulness there's this gentleness there's this kindness there's this self-control that they've grown into.
Because the fruit of the spirit has been shaped in them because from one degree of glory to the next they have taste it in seeing that the Lord is good and they found their refuge in him and they've seen that he's actually truly better sometimes trying to take in faith just feels like I just don't know what I got you I mean I'm just so broken I'm so messed up I don't know if I'm gonna get this that's a great place to be in.
Because that's the best that's the beginning the Genesis of faith is recognizing that I'm broken and I need Jesus but boy oh boy faith is a lifelong journey from one degree to the next and the invitation is there you want the glory of God do you want the glory of God do you want to behold his face forever one degree at a time to the next and to the next into the next this comes through the things that we talk about all the time and we won't stop talking about them.
Because they're wonderful that comes through beholding God and his word this comes through growing in prayer this comes through repentance this comes through being open and honest at your community groups on care nights this comes through walking in the light with brothers and sisters this comes through uh Faithfully following Jesus every day from one degree of glory to the next so the invitation is there it's waiting for you you want Jesus believe in him you want more of them taste.
See every day and you're going to experience them from one degree of glory to the next into the next to the next and to the next and to the next and boy oh boy we won't even come close to the finished product not a chance but every degree of Glory ends up being better every degree of Glory is the spirit changing us until one day we will actually Behold Him and there will be no degrees left it'll just be Jesus let me pray Heavenly.
Father we pray that you would help us behold you and worship right now and when we leave here we pray that we be a people with veils off for hearts beholding you every day because you are beautiful and you are wonderful and you're better than anything this world has to offer and I pray that you would help us believe that with everything in us we would Bank Our Hope on that reality Jesus name amen band's going to come up so so much of the message sometimes gets mixed up especially in southern Christianity that following.
Jesus is about cleaning your life up and it's about getting your life together getting your stuff together so that you could be back in Church that you can so you can be around the Christians and I just want to say that's Moses y'all if you came looking for Moses and trying to clean your life up that's that's a Ministry of death don't do it some of y'all I just want to extend the invitation of Faith to actually behold God for who he is and that doesn't come through cleaning your life up doesn't come through a bunch of good works that comes through surrendering to our.
God so believe and surrender to him and behold him for who he is and then walk the journey with us as a group of broken Christians that are seeking to grow to be like Jesus one degree at a time.
The Glory of God, Pt. 2 (Exodus 33:18-34:9)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
The Glory of God, Pt. 1 (Exodus 33:18-34:8)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Good morning my name is Spencer I am one of the pastors here we are in Exodus chapter 33 18 verses 34 through 34 Verse 8. we're going to be in this passage uh for two weeks we're gonna hit it from two different angles I was in it original intent was to make this one sermon and then it was just like nah there's no way too too much so we're gonna look at this from two different angles this morning so you can be on page 42 in the blue Bibles around you uh the text will also be on the screen you can follow along uh with us.
So we uh uh pastors just got back from our pastor's Retreat um so the four Elders four Pastors in our Church plus our pastor and Elder and training Isaac we all went up to Lake Greenwood we do this once a year we get away it's uh we call it 100 Fun 100 work it really shouldn't be called a retreat because I think Retreat implies like getting away to rest um which it is not that but we spent a lot of time praying and debating and it's been formative and how our uh in shaping kind of the future of our Church and it's also a lot of fun we get to hang out together it's the.
One time of year we get to have some fun together one of the ways that we do this is we have a meal competition so we divide up teams every year uh there's this year it was Raz Chet and myself and Isaac and Matt and you have a breakfast and a lunch and a dinner and the goal is to execute the best set of three meals and every year it's come down to basically who takes two of the three uh and you know I'm not here to boast or brag.
But we did win uh and that's two years in a row for me which is nice because I was on a three-year losing streak up until a few years ago but uh we made a lunch where we did basically Cantina 76 style tacos all right so each you know Raz chat myself each took a taco we owned that taco as a part of the lunch so Chet made a delicious fried fish taco that was the best razzmade a carne asada Taco which lost us the round I'm not bitter about it I'm fine we could have had a sweep would have been two years in a row that's fine I made this Nashville hot chicken taco.
And uh and I was you know I brought Chet in because I was like we need to we need to make sure the flavor profile on this Taco is money like we got to make sure I don't want it to just be all overwhelming on the front end and then that's all you can taste I want some heat and some flavor on the front end I want you to bite into it and we were messing with the flavor profile to make sure that happens I want you once you swallow it the aftertaste to just be delightful.
So much so that as you continue to to chew on this you want more of it and I stuck The Landing it was great but that's a little bit of what Moses has been experiencing as he's walked with God from orib from that Horeb up until now that he's gotten to taste the Lord a little bit got it to see who he is experience him from Europe all the way to his uh the the ten plagues and experience in God and we saw last week a little bit that he was there was a temporary tent of meeting where you get to meet with.
God he met with him and he went into the cloud at Mount Sinai there's all these instances where Moses has gotten to experience more and more of God and what we get to today is this bold request from Moses who wants more because as he's experienced Our God he wants more of him and this bold request is what we're going to look at today and not just the request itself but how God responds to this bold request to see the glory of.
God and we're going to get to see how wonderful our God is the richness of his character and His glory and his goodness and what that means for us as Christians looking at this so let me pray and we'll walk through this text together Heavenly Father we thank you for the good news of the Gospel that saves redeems sets us apart to be a people who regularly get to taste and see that you are good you get to see how wonderful you are and the songs that we just sang and the Scriptures that were read.
Now in this text that we get to walk through together Lord may you open our hearts our eyes and our minds to experience you that may respond in faith and in Repentance and in worship and ultimately delighting in you we ask this in Jesus name amen all right so we pick up basically right where Chet left off last week so Chet walk us through uh that after the golden calf incident so after the people reject God for a golden calf instead and the tablets are broken and the Covenant is shattered there's this wondering what's going to happen next and what Chet walked us through last week is.
God saying you can go to the promised land I will make good on this you will get to the promised land I'm just not going to be there so you can have the land of it's flowing with milk and honey but I'm not going to be there and Moses just he just responses oh no where you are is where we're going to be if you're in the wilderness we'll be in the wilderness we're not going to the promised land without you.
God It's a Wonderful response and we pick up right in that same this is the next part of the interaction in verse 18. it says Moses said please show me your Glory please show me your glory now as I said earlier Moses has experience of the presence of God and some of his glory since he was called at Mount Horeb which when you look at the two kind of interactions of Mount Horeb he's fearfully kind of oh oh with God.
Now he's kind of boldly walking it's just a really cool difference in how he's experienced God and he's wanting more of him but it at Mount Horeb as he's walked with them through the plagues as they exit Egypt and the temporary tent of meeting that we saw last week is he's got to experience God over and over and over again as they went as he went into the cloud at Mount Sinai and he got the Ten Commandments even in Exodus 24.
When they when Moses and the elders have a meal at the feet of God and his presence on the mount he's gotten to experience God more and more and more now he just says Show Me Your Glory it's a profound request it's it's a big deal he has not experienced this what he's asking for here he has not experienced yet now we'll get into next week more of what's happening in that request but there's really two ways of reading this request one is that he's asking this as a representative of the people of.
God which he is he's asking this on behalf of Israel as their representative the other aspect that you can look at this is say that this is a personal request from Moses so show me us as a representative of your people Your Glory or God showed me personally Your Glory now theologians and Bible nerds debate back and forth which one it is and I would argue that I think both of them are true there's no way you can hear Moses request disconnected from that he's represented of the people of.
God so what he's saying Show Me Your Glory he's asking for a sign here that there's no right up until this point the Covenant is not good has not been restored okay the people are still in rebellion and God is he's not brought wrath on them fully but he has not restored the Covenant yet and there's a little bit of him asking on behalf of people of God give us a sign Show Me Your Glory are we good God so there's that aspect that that absolutely is a part of this.
But I don't think that's all that there is I think there's another aspect of this that has both a representative of God of the people to God and himself that he's saying God show Me Your Glory because he doesn't say show us your glory Show Me Your Glory that he wants to know more of God personally however that's a big request that's a huge jump from the interactions that he's had with God to show me who you are and your glory that's a big leap one of my favorite shows on YouTube which me presenting that makes it seem like I watch a lot of shows on YouTube one of the only shows I watch on.
YouTube and it happens to also be my favorite is a show called Hot ones all right and this show it's very simple it's a guy interviewing celebrities while they eat hot wings that's it they ten different hot wings and the first Wing is a milder sauce and it gets progressively more intense as it goes along and the Brilliance of it is that celebrities most of the time when they do interviews they're fake they're just not being themselves and I get that.
If you if I had to be interviewed all the time I'd also probably would be fake I think I would be tired I think I would just tell you what you wanted to hear I would probably say all kinds of things so a lot of times you hear these interviews they're just they're acting they're faking their way through it but the Brilliance of this show is that as they're eating these hot wings like their guard is let down their mouth is on fire like they they just start talking freely.
So it's pretty it's a pretty incredible concept but the first Wing is mild towards the end they're scalding all right and the eighth Wing is the same sauce every time it's called the bomb okay now it's technically not the hottest sauce it's not on the Scoville level the hottest sauce of the tin but by testimony of people it is the hottest sauce like every celebrity who eats it there's like this is like eating battery acid it scalds them and if you just want to spend 10 minutes watching compilations of like Shaq and Jennifer Lawrence and all these celebrities just like crying and losing it and melting and falling apart and drinking milk.
Because it's burning their lips and their tongue and their throat and their stomach it's worth it but they don't jump from one to eight y'all that's not how that works they progressively build their way up to it and Moses has had like Wing One Wing let two level experiences with God he's got to experience God and His presence and some pretty profound and amazing ways but what he just asked for was Next Level okay what he just asked for is the bomb level experience with.
God and he doesn't know what he's asking fully otherwise he would have asked it and if we don't have time to get into that this week but if he does experience the glory of God and what he's asking he'll die because he can't see the glory of God as a sinner and live but he's asking for this unbelievably profound experience with God Show Me Your Glory and this is how God responds verse 19 and he said this is the Lord I will make all my goodness pass before you and will Proclaim before you my name the.
Lord now a couple things here he says Show Me Your Glory and then God says I'll make all my goodness pass before you so goodness and Glory are the same here and how God is described by to describe himself that's important because for us glory is a very difficult concept to imagine it just is it's an American it's a western it's just Glory it's just not something we we think through well biblically we have ideas of it they're just not the most biblical ideas uh there's a movie that came out a few months ago called air uh it's a sports movie it's about how Nike landed Michael Jordan and his shoe contract.
So if you like sports movies and you like NBA basketball like I do to ride up your alley so 10 of you will love it all right so in air the whole bit the whole what's about is they're trying to land Michael Jordan Nike can't land Michael Jordan on their own because at that point they're a cute little running shoe company they're not cool at all in fact Adidas was the favorite to land Michael Jordan at the time because Adidas was the shoe at the time.
But they do this is a whole build up like it's a whole storyline of how they actually get to finally had an interview they got to sit down with Michael and they make their pitch the pitch isn't going well they're blowing it Michael Jordan's not interested at all and then in the most Pinnacle moment of movie Matt Damon goes off script who's the main character and he just makes this appeal to Michael Jordan he gets the speech and as the speech is going there's this Montage highlights of all of Michael Jordan's highlights and basketball and the music's building up and he says this to Michael Jordan the shoe is just a shoe until someone steps.
Into it then it has meaning the rest of us just want a chance to touch that greatness we need you in those shoes not so that you have meaning in your life so that we have meaning in ours and it's a little ridiculous because we're talking about a shoe and a basketball player let's worship y'all it's like so we we need meeting in our life so that you can be in these shoes now what he's capturing there is Glory okay that's what he's going.
For so we want to we want to we just want to be able to touch your glory Michael and it's showing all of his best moments in basketball as this speech is going on now the reason this speech has ridiculous and over the top as it is the reason it even makes sense is because Michael Jordan is arguably the best basketball player that has ever lived one of the best athletes that's ever lived and I know some of you are big LeBron fans you're like no.
But wait listen I'm not here to argue that I don't like LeBron or Michael Jordan to be honest you can have that debate on your own Michael Jordan is one of the greatest athletes that has ever lived the only the reason that scene even makes sense is because he scored 30 points a night over his career which is ridiculous in basketball for his career he averaged 30 points a night he won six titles in just heroic fashion okay if Michael Jordan doesn't do that there is no movie.
If he's a bust Matt Damon isn't fawning over him saying I just want to touch your greatness that's not no because of what Michael Jordan did on the court right because he was great on the court that's why that scene makes sense it's not because he's a great person which if you know about Michael Jordan he's a jerk I don't care I don't know Michael Jordan but every person that like he just pieced together all the stories it's not a likable person and maybe I'm a little bitter.
Because not only did he keep the Charlotte Hornets who I grew up brewing for from ever making the finals he ended up buying by he purchased the Charlotte franchise after his career and ran that franchise into the ground so for 30 years Michael Jordan ruined basketball for me but that's not the point the point is is that he was great on the court had nothing to do with him as a person but that's how we understand Glory y'all we understand Glory about the great things that people do it's the great things that you do that make you glorious that's how we understand Glory and certainly.
God is great because of the things that he has done but that is not the only reason he is glorious down to his very essence and his very being God is glorious he's not just glorious because of the things that he's done he is glorious he is the epitome of what glory is and in the English language the best catch-all term that we can have is is all the goodness of God which is wonderful but that doesn't even capture.
Because language can't even capture the glory of God it just can't he says I will make my glory who I am my goodness who I am past Before You O Proclaim my name the Lord which we spent on some time on earlier in Exodus that even his name is wonderful and glorious because of all the character that flows out of his name so God is glorious he says and continues and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show Mercy on whom I will show Mercy.
Verse 20. but he said this is the Lord you cannot see my face for man shall not see me and live and the Lord said behold there's a place by me where you shall stand on the Rock and well my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of The Rock and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by then I will take away my hand and you shall see my back but by face you shall not.
See shut my face shall not be seen which awesome we're not spending any time on that this week that's all next week so there's a lot of questions that come out of that a lot of things you want to talk about that's next week okay so as that chapter 34 verse 1. the Lord said to Moses cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you broke.
Now that that right there is sandwiched between some pretty big verses and passages and you got to skip over that and keep going but that's a big deal what he just said when he said cut for yourself two tablets of stone Moses probably went oh yes the Covenant is going to be restored that's what he just said it's been lingering here are we going to be able to go on the promised land with you are you still going to be our.
God are you still going to be your people and when he says cut for yourself two tablets of stone that I'm gonna write the Ten Commandments on oh yes Hallelujah God is with us he's not going to abandon us this is good news keeps going verse two be ready by the morning and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain no one shall come up with you and let no one be seen throughout all the mountain let no flocks or herds graze opposite that mountain.
So very similar to what we saw in Exodus 19. this is a holy moment a holy event no one comes to the mountain no animal comes to the mountain nobody continues verse 4 so Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first and he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai as the Lord had commanded him and took in his hand two tablets of stone the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the.
Lord so this is when everything he said about hiding them to cleft The Rock and putting his hand over him all that's happening right here and again it's wonderful and we're gonna spend all our time next week looking at that right there for the rest of our time and God descends by Moses this is what he says and this is where we're going to spend the rest of our time on verse 6. the Lord passed before him and proclaimed the Lord a.
God merciful and gracious slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness keeping steadfast love for thousands forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin but who by no means cleareth the guilty visiting the iniquity of the fathers and the children of the children's children the third and fourth generation and Moses quickly bowed his head toward the Earth and worshiped so God audibly vocally describes himself he says not a prophet speaking on behalf of God God descends in this powerful moment and he describes who he is the.
Lord the Lord his wonderful name Yahweh and that it is further described with this description this is the goodness of God you want the goodness of God summarized this is it I'll make your my glory and my goodness pass before you this is the description right here this is the goodness of God and this is one of the most powerful statements throughout the Old Testament this phrasing that God describes himself with is used over and over and over and over again throughout the rest of the Old Testament numbers 14 Deuteronomy chapter 5 and Deuteronomy chapter 7.
Second Kings 13 second chronicles verse 30 or chapter 30. Nehemiah 9 all over the Psalms Psalm 35 78 86 99 103 106 145 Jeremiah 20 Daniel 9 Joel 2 Jonah 4 it is either quoted or alluded to over and over and over again throughout the rest of the Old Testament so if that is the case and this is a summary description of the goodness of God then we should spend some time looking at how wonderful this description of God is and that's what we want to do we want to.
See that the goodness of God and the glory of God is not just a visual experience that Moses gets to be a part of but it is a description of who he is it is his character and it shows really the wide range of God's goodness and his character and if you were to categorize this in two broad categories one is the love of God the fierce love of God and the second is the justice of God so let's work through this starting with this.
First part of the description which is really the love of God so the first thing he says is that he's merciful and gracious God is merciful and gracious that is literally on display in the fact that he does not bring judgment upon the People by wiping them out when they reject him for a golden calf at the base of the mountain he's merciful he relents he doesn't bring his judgment upon them he's merciful he relents he's gracious maybe he gives favors to people that they don't deserve they don't earn this favor.
But he's merciful and he's gracious one of my favorite parts of the musical Les Mis is the very beginning when the main character Jean Valjean this is set in the French Revolution he gets out of prison when he gets out of prison and that period of the French Revolution he's can't get work starving he's he's a social pariah and he ends up on the doorstep of a bishop in the Catholic Church and the bishop acts like a Christian and he takes him into his house and it gives them a meal it gives him a bed to sleep in he takes care of them in the middle of the night Jean mil Jean grabs a bag.
And grabs as many valuable items in the house as possible loads it up steals his stuff and gets away now he doesn't get very far policeman catches him brings him back to the bishop knowing where these items came from and he says this man says that you gave him these knowing good and well he stole it and the bishop looks at Jean Valjean right for the police officer and this is what he says he says but my friend you left so early surely something slipped your mind and it goes and he grabs two silver candlesticks and he gives them to him he says you forgot I gave these also would you leave the best behind.
But remember this my brother see this some higher plan you must use this precious silver to become an honest man and he gives him the silver he says take this use this change your life and spoiler alert that's the whole rest of the musical it's in living a better life and it's such an overwhelmingly beautiful picture of the grace and the mercy of God that he he stole from him he stole fine objects lots of riches and he says now take this awesome we attempt to steal Glory from.
God all the time all the time as prideful human beings we sin against God all the time endless amounts of sin and rebellion and God and His mercy and Grace says take this also he gives us himself he's unbelievably gracious and merciful in spite of our sin he shows Mercy when we don't deserve it and it gives Grace when we don't deserve it God is unbelievably gracious and merciful and the nice thing he says is he's slow to anger he's slow to anger.
Now it's even slower when you understand this and read this wisely when you understand this theologically okay what happens is that Skeptics what they'll do is they'll say you know the Old Testament your God is just he's like a he's like an angry child like the people do things they sin against him and then he just pours out his wrath immediately and it's like you're not you're not a wise reader of the Scriptures you certainly don't understand this theologically because if you think that.
God is experiencing their rebellion in real time you you have completely misunderstood our God it's hard for us to picture and imagine but God created time so if God created a time and think of the time as this represented by this pen okay God created time he's outside of time okay so he's that means that God existed and Eternity passed Before Time which that breaks our brain and we can't reprimands around that but it's biblically true he existed in eternity past.
Okay is always existed and then he operates within time that he's created so the people of God Rebel here at this moment in time he sees it coming in eternity pass when we Rebel in this part of time God sees it coming way before it happens and God exists in eternity future which again breaks the brain and it presents a lot of other questions that I'm not going to resolve for you but God is slow to anger because he sees a rebellion way before it even happens and he doesn't destroy us.
God is he's so slow to anger y'all he sees it coming and he sees it coming and he's slow and he's patient and he's enduring and he's steadfast he's so slow to anger when I think about this in light of my own self man I just for all of sin and fallen short of the glory of God and I'm just like I know it because my children they do think sometimes and I'm like because I'm experiencing in real time and I'm just I'm not slow to anger I'm working on it.
But I'm not slowed anger God is slow to anger he's so unbelievably slow to anger with impatient as we sin and as we mess up and as we rebel against him he's slow to anger he's abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness abounding y'all and steadfast love and faithfulness that we do not deserve like we we can't categorize how rich that is we don't have we don't understand that like I play this game with my kids sometimes uh when we when I put them to bed and I say I love you.
So much and they say I love you too and I say well I love you more and I say I love you most and I say well I love you mostest and they're just because I love you times a thousand times infinity my kid watched Toy Story he said enter to infinity and beyond it's like nice move kid and we do this back and forth because I love my kids I have steadfast love and faithless my kid there's only one other person in the world that gets more of my stuff as love and faithfulness and that's my wife.
And then it's my children and then there's a gap that just that that's that's what happens it's just I I have this steadfast love and faithfulness towards my kids and that right there and if your parent you understand this this is even true for friendship there's speaking of steadfast love and friendship all of that pictures is a is a poor picture in comparison to the steadfast love of God you think you love your kids you don't understand the love of God you don't understand how steadfast and is his love and his richness and kindness and his faithfulness towards us he's.
So unbelievably loving towards his people and it continues keeping steadfast love to thousands for giving iniquity and transgression and sin God forgives his people of their sin and their repentance is a forgiving God he gives second and third and fourth chances all the time and y'all we love Second Chance stories we eat that up the plot line for so many movies and books we love the story when somebody gets out of prison and restarts their life we love the woman who declares bankruptcy.
And then restarts a business and then it succeeds we love those stories and that story Thompson Infinity you're getting the picture at this point God gives a second third and fourth chances over and over again he's so forgiving he's so unbelievably forgiving of all of our waywardness and Rebellion how how much of a relief must have been for Aaron when Moses came down the mountain with two fresh tablets man we're in he's not he's still with us he still loves us.
God is unbelievably forgiving now these descriptions he could spend sermons on each one of them they're just wonderful and as an American westerners like that's we like that aspect of the goodness of God preach right tell me more of that the next part we're less comfortable with and many of us If we're honest we wouldn't say this is an aspect of the goodness of God because it goes on to say God says but who will by no means cleared the guilty visiting the iniquity of the fathers and the children and the children's children to the.
Third and fourth generation now that exact phrasing is the same language that we saw in the second commandment when we walked to the second commandment a while back in Exodus same same phrasing that if you if you persist in sin the Obama means clear the guilty and what's being pictured here is generational sin and I'll say what I said then all those months ago still true I think John Piper Nails it when he describes this he describes this right here generational sin as like a disease.
If you're father gets the flu that does not automatically mean that you're going to get the flu it's how that works okay however if you get the flu did your chances of getting the flu because you live in the same house rise yes and so it is a generational sin you grew up in a household where father was abusive and cruel and hurtful maybe even outwardly religious went to Church every Sunday but by no means resembles Christ and he Christian sense and you can grow up in that household.
See cruelty vileness hate does that mean automatically that the moment you turn 18 when you bounce out of the house that you're gonna up and leave the Church and never come back no that's not how that works is it more likely possibly could be and you play this out for any type of sin pattern but if you are rounded enough inherit some of it the mystery of this is hard for us to wrap our minds around but you can pick up this generational sin and that that literally plays its way out and this story.
Because they're going to wander in the wilderness and they're going to settle into the promised land right now as a Church where a bunch of us are going through a reading plan a two-year Bible reading plan and when the Book of Judges which is a pretty painful book to be in because when you're reading the Book of Judges you just see over and over again this playing out they reject God they worship idols instead and they their kids worship idols.
Then their grandkids worship idols and it's just painful and by the way if you want to opt into that reading plan email me come talk to me after this I add you to it you'll be a little bit behind us but you can join with us it's just to help us continually read the Bible together as Church but you see it all over the Book of Judges you see it all over the people of God they they reject God they worship idols and they pass that on down to the Next Generation the Next Generation and we just.
For honest we don't like this how's that good how does that display the goodness of God how how is that I think the reason that we have that heart posture as westerners is because we are largely insulated from absolute Injustice and I'm not saying that Injustice doesn't have in America I'm not making that argument it does but it ain't like it is in the global South main like it is in other parts of the of the world ain't like it is in other parts of History it's just not and the way brothers and sisters in in Nigeria we're brothers and sisters in the Church in Nigeria who in the middle of the night extremists islamist.
Groups come in Murder Men kidnap they're 13 and 14 year old girls do horrible things them and force them into marriage and then forcibly convert them into Islam that ain't happening in America it's just not you think our Nigerian brothers and sisters aren't looking at this passage and saying praise God that he doesn't he by no means clears the guilty they long for the justice of God people experience Injustice long for his Justice to roll down like a raging River they want Justice flow and I think that's a weakness.
For us as westerners a weakness in our assessment of the character of the goodness of God we need both we need both a fierce love of God and as Fierce Justice we need both of us one commentator puts it on this passage he says this makes good sense in light of what would just happen which was then rejecting God for the golden calf and It prepares the way for the renewal renewing of the Covenant furthermore it indicates that Divine love and punishment must be held in balance it is wrong to give priority to one over the other.
So you read that and you are left thinking okay but still like how how can both of those things be held together how can God have this steadfast love and mercy and Grace and all of that while also not clearing the guilty like how do those meld together if you read the Old Testament you're like I don't know how that works I want to have faith and trust to you but how does that work and then you flip and you flip and you flip and you flip.
And then you get to the Gospels and wear that overlaps perfectly and wonderfully is the cross that's where the love and the mercy and the grace and it's Rich forgiveness and his Justice flow together flows of the blood of Christ on the crossed that's it because God steps into the timeline and says I'll be the one that accomplishes what I am about I will be the one that comes and absorbs the Wrath that they deserve for being Rebels against me I will be the one that absorbs their sin on the cross and I will give to them is love forgiveness grace mercy and the righteous of his kindness the cross is where all of this.
Makes sense that's where the balance comes together Colossians 2 13-14 and you who were dead and your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh that's the sinful nature of your flesh God Made Alive together with him Heaven forgiveness all our trespasses that through the cross that's what's offered but it only happens verse 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demand it's legal demand is death for the wages of sin is death Romans 6. by canceling the record of death that stood against us with its legal to man this he set aside nailing it to the cross that is where Fierce love and the fierce justice of.
God come together beautifully what God is announcing about himself the Lord the Lord who he is is most beautifully displayed at the Cross of Christ and when you realize them pull up a seat at the table taste and see that he is good take refuge in him so we open this website sorry that's our memory verse for the month the more that you experience Christ like Moses he's got a taste of God he's got to experience him and say I want more of Me Show Me Your Glory and we get to.
See the glory of God at the cross and when we pull up a seat at the table to worship Him and behold him we respond like Moses Moses hears this and it says Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth end worshiped and so do wait brothers and sisters the more you experience the Wonder and the glory of Christ the more it should lead to worship you should Show Me Your Glory show me your goodness show me your character experience him in his word and in prayer gotta want a seat at that table I want you I want you.
God you should worship and Delight in who our God is now there's some of you that have never had a seat at that table some of you have never experienced the goodness of our God you've never experienced his Fierce love and his unbelievable Justice and it's offered at the cross through faith you can lay down your life at the cross and say I want you Christ I want to experience your goodness I want you I want everything you have to offer and the moment I pray that you would do just that.
Let me pray Heavenly Father we thank you for the good news of the Gospel we're thankful that thousands of years ago when you declared your character and your goodness that we get that see that so beautifully displayed at the cross God I pray that if there's anyone here that has not tasted and seen that you were good that has not trusted in you as their only hope God I pray that you would absolutely melt their heart right now they would surrender their life to you.
For those of us that love you better struggle with our sin and struggle with understanding your Rich love and your mercy and your forgiveness got to pray that we'd be able to just respond like Moses bowerheads and worship in Jesus name amen Matt's going to come up we're going to take the Lord's Supper if you're a Christian we invite you to come to the table when you are ready Jesus Took on the night that he was betrayed he took bread and broke it he said this is my body that was broken.
For you he says take and eat took the cup of the New Covenant and he said this is my blood that was shed for you that as often as you eat and drink this you Proclaim my death until I return so as Christians we come to the meal of remembrance remembering what Jesus did at the cross remembering his goodness displayed at the cross so when you've considered your sin when you've considered our need for God come joyfully to the table knowing that our.
God is steadfast in love and rich in Mercy and Grace come and worship and then stand and sing there's gluten-free in that back corner of there if you have a gluten intolerance if you are not a Christian please don't come to this table if you had a Christian come to Christ pray and receive the good news of the Savior who came to rescue you.
Nothing Without You (Exodus 33:1-18)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
The Golden Calf (Exodus 32)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Well good morning my name is Chet I'm one of the pastors here grab a Bible and go to Exodus chapter 32. if you don't have a Bible with you there should be a blue one in the under the seat in front of you if you don't own a Bible take this one with you we want you to own a Bible we are working our way through the book of Exodus and we have gotten through where God has had a covenant ceremony.
And then Moses goes up into the cloud on the mountain and God has been giving him instructions and we're told that he's been there for about 40 days and so what we've been looking at the past several weeks are the instructions that God gave him for the Tabernacle for the Altar for the Priestly garments and the whole point of all the things that God has been giving the people of Israel and these instructions that he's been given to Moses is that Moses would go back down the mountain they would create these things build them together.
So that God can dwell among them so that he can have a place among them and that he can be their God and they can be his people that they're going to be set apart over and against all the peoples of the world to belong to him and they're going to have a tabernacle where his presence dwells now we said a while back that he's remaking some of what was lost in the Garden of Eden it's not perfect he's not going to just dwell with them the way that.
God dwelled with Adam and Eve but he's working back to he's going to have a people in his place that he dwells among that his presence is there and it's it's not the same but he's restoring some of this and so that's where we are I'm going to pray and we're going to get into the text together Lord we pray that you would help us to see your glory in this passage we pray that you would help us to see our sin and the.
Lord through your spirit we would run to Christ and we ask this in Jesus name amen so we're going to read Exodus 32 together today and so I want you to start in Exodus 31 you're welcome Exodus 31 verse 18. this is how Exodus 31 is ending and it says and he that's God gave to Moses when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai the two tablets of the testimony tablets of stone written with the Finger of God.
God has finished speaking with Moses and he gives him the tablets of the testimony and he's saying okay now go go do all that I've commanded you go down the mountain and let's get this thing started that's where we are chapter 32. when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain oh no no no no no he's not delayed he's coming that's that's the tension we should immediately feel when we read this no he's got the tablets and he's coming he's not he's you're wrong he's on his way it's a big mountain he's been up there he had a lot to get.
But he's coming it says but when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain the people gathered themselves together to Aaron now Aaron is Moses his brother and Aaron has been left in charge Aaron and her we don't see her in the story but we do see Aaron gathered to Aaron Aaron's going to be the high priest Aaron doesn't know that but Moses is going to come down and say hey we're about to make you some beautiful glorious garments and you're going to be high priest they gather themselves to Aaron and said to him up make us gods who shall go before us as.
For this Moses the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt we do not know what has become of him that's about as bad as it gets they're like hey Moses walked up into that cloud but he ain't come back we don't know what happened to him and so here's our suggestion now hear us out because it's going to be the dumbest suggestion you've ever heard up make us Gods who can go before us now if you'll remember back not 40 days ago.
For them or just that 40 days ago for them they had a covenant ceremony where Moses read The Ten Commandments and they practiced it they said everything you say everything you command us we will do and then the next day they had a government Covenant ceremony that is sacrifice he read it again and they say everything you command us we will do okay first commandment you will have no other gods before me second commandment do not make any Idols up make us some gods Moses has delayed we would like to aggressively break the.
First two Commandments this is a rejection of God a rejection of his Commandments is this is baffling so Aaron said to them take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives your sons and your daughters and bring them to me what we wanted Aaron to say was no shut up you're not allowed to talk for like three weeks go back into the camp but that's not what he says he says I'm gonna need some gold now these were slaves do you know how they all have gold.
God blessed them with it when he brought them out of Egypt he helped them plunder the Egyptians so they take what God has blessed them with they give it to Aaron verse 3. so all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron and he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf okay so that word calf when we hear it we think baby.
But it really means in the first one to three years so it in its prime it doesn't make it much better but it's some sort of a ox and that's what it's going to be called later in the in the Book of Psalms it's an ox and it's a healthy one the young healthy one that's what he makes and they said these are your Gods o Israel who brought you up out of the land of Egypt when Aaron saw this he built an altar before it and Aaron made a proclamation and said tomorrow shall be a feast to the.
Lord now you need to notice something interesting happen in this passage verse 4 these are your Gods o Israel now that God's there is the word Elohim and it's a plural word for God gods it is at times used to talk about God the one true God they call him Elohim which is a plural word and so it can be translated God or Gods but 90 something percent of the time and primarily in the book of Exodus in Genesis when they refer to.
God as Elohim all the verbs and sentence structure around it are singular so it's singular verbs singular singular singular and then God's plural Elohim which can be taken as God's but it's used to refer to God here they use the word Elohim which doesn't give us much Clarity but the Senate structure around it is plural so this is a pretty good Fair translation some of your Bible translations might translate it differently but this is a fair translation that what they are saying is here are your Gods this is representative of your God's plural.
And so it then Aaron though tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord capital L O R D we've already talked about this that's the Divine name for God Yahweh or Jehovah depending on how you you insert vowels and so he says you know it's the Lord so it seems as if they're saying let's break Commandments one and two and Aaron's trying to sue him down to just breaking the second one so he's calling it the Lord but he's made a calf What's Happening Here is that they've said this is who we're going to worship this is what's going to go before us Calvin says this is John Calvin who's one of the reformers he.
Says this is monstrous Madness mixed with stupidity and he points out the Cloud's still there like God's presence is still what are y'all what are y'all doing this is this is insanity this is the nation of Israel's fall if Adam and Eve fell in the garden and brought sin into the world as God's restoring this the nation of Israel collectively comes together to do the same thing that they reject the primary thing that God has taught them and so where we.
See Adam and Eve in the garden and then they fall into sin and everything falls apart we see God renewing restoring this relationship building it back fixing it rescuing them he's going to dwell among the people and they immediately undo it and if you are not a Christian and I know that even some Christians struggle with this concept but if you're not a Christian what you can often think is God has rules I'm supposed to follow the rules and he's mad at me.
For not following the rules and you can think that it seems wildly unfair and we'll say things like how could God send good people to hell how can I know somebody who they're just nice they're a good person and I just don't see how God could send them to hell but what you've got to wrap your head around is this is the primary sin is a rejection of God and a worship of something else this rejection of God and a worship of something else that.
God has designed the world that he might relate to us as creatures that we might love him and know him and and he might endear himself to us and that we might belong to him and that we might be his people and there would be joy and Delight in that that he is the greatest above all things and what we do is we pick something else to worship and love it says verse 6. and they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings this is the same thing they did in the Covenant ceremony with him 40 days ago and the people sat down to eat and drink and Rose.
Up to play that word carries um debaucherous sexual connotations and that Paul even refers to don't commit sexual immoral immorality like they did so this becomes a wild party they are off the rails this is what Psalm 106 says about this is we're to understand this idea of worshiping something else Psalm says this they made a calf in Horeb and worshiped a metal image they exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass but that's that's the primary sin is that we exchange the glory of.
God for some created thing some lesser thing that we swap him out for something else that's what Paul says in Romans that we exchange the glory of the Eternal God for images resembling beasts and calling things that we exchange the glory of God for a creature rather than the Creator and so this is idolatry this is the worship of something else this is the placing your hope in something else and so I want to trace out a few of the things that go into this.
First they say to him up make us Gods who will go before us if we're going to worship something else we usually we're going to pick something that we're going to base our whole life around this is going to go before us this is going to give us purpose this is going to give us Direction so that if you are worshiping something other than God you've picked a thing that wakes you up in the morning that gives you a reason to live that gives you guidance.
For how you're going to spend your days it goes before you it's the thing that helps you know Who You Are it's the thing that you look at and you say if I just have this then I'll be happy then I'll be fulfilled and then everything will be right that's idolatry that's the thing we picked that we're going to spend our time and devote ourselves to the other thing that if you'll look at this if you'll notice is that we often take something that.
God has given us so they took the gold that God had given them we have to take a good thing that God gave us and make it an ultimate thing y'all know the cake is delicious right but if you only eat cake you die I'm pretty sure it's not good for you I don't know if anybody's ever tested it it's meant to be in the spot that cake is supposed to be in a delicious good gift but not an ultimate thing and that's how everything works where.
God gives you health or he gives you physical ability or he makes you attractive or he makes you intelligent or he gives you a good job or whatever He blesses you with a thing and it's meant to stay in the spot for that in the food pyramid of your life it's meant to be there where it takes up that amount of space and it's a good gift it's a blessing but it's not meant to shift into an ultimate thing but the problem is we take good gifts that.
God gives us and we make them ultimate things most of the time when we pick an idolatrous something it's not a bad thing it's usually a blessing that we just make into an ultimate thing a God-level thing like children they become what you worship and serve and build your life around they become what makes you say I know I'm okay if or Romance becomes what you worship and serve and build your life around I know I'm okay if this goes before me this sets my day this helps me know who I am or work or attractiveness or physical health or whatever we pick something that's usually a good thing that.
God has given us and we place it in an ultimate spot and therefore it gets out of order and it's wrong the other thing I think we should notice from this passage about Idols is that they take work they don't move themselves they don't build themselves they take our effort our work to accomplish that he had to craft this into a calf and so whatever your idol is it's usually something that you're saying I'm building my life around this this helps me know who I am it's usually a good thing and it's usually something that you're putting in a lot of work.
For takes a lot of energy and time so if you want to try to discern where is that in my life look for those three things and you'll find most likely something that you have built an idol out of and this is the fundamental sin this is the sin and so they commit the sin which is a rejection of God a worship of something else they undo his whole plan which is he's they're going to belong to him and he's going to be among them and they're just like we're going to move on.
Now Christians we're in danger of doing this too we're in danger of taking a good thing and making it an ultimate thing but we're also in danger of doing what Aaron seems to be doing remaking God where he says it's the Lord we're remaking Jesus into something else I want to point something out to you about that I love about this Psalm Passage they exchange the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass foreign I love how much shade is thrown in those three words an ox like a like an ox like one that eats grass and you immediately go yes.
So dumb and it is but you know why they picked an ox because everyone around them picked an ox that's why they picked an ox because an ox to them represented cultivation you need an ox to get crops so represented strength it represented uh being fertile both in uh cultivation and in your Fields but also in your house and everybody had an ox and so what we're in danger of is going that's so dumb but I don't think we can say that's.
So dumb I would never do that I think what we have to say is that's so dumb I'd pick something that more suits my taste I would pick something way better than a calf and we see this you'll talk to people who have just rebranded Jesus and the more you talk to them more you understand what they're talking about it's like hi that Jesus just sounds a lot like a capitalist he doesn't have a lot to say about loving the poor he doesn't have a lot to say about how the love of money is dangerous he just he's kind of you've twisted this up like.
If you've ever seen a picture of Jesus holding an AR-15 it's like you've rebranded him to something that you like so that you'll talk to somebody and they'll have like you're like that Jesus just sounds a lot like a Republican or you talk to somebody and you'll be a part of a Church and you're just like that Jesus man he sounds a whole lot like he's bought into the idea that God just wants me to be happy and that doesn't mean the rejection of sin and the embracing of him is our ultimate Delight it means the pursuit of whatever I want or you talk to him and talk to someone and it's like ah you.
Really think Jesus won't tell you who you're allowed to love you don't think he's going to come in and say this is bad for you this is wrong for you that he's going to just co-sign anything you have to say because you sound a lot more like the sexual Revolution you sound a lot more like things I'm reading on the internet you sound a lot more like what's popular right now than you then you line up with this and this happens where he gets re-branded.
And so we've changed it we've crafted him into something that fits with us better that actually we change him so that we don't have to change and then we say it's a feast to the Lord and it's wrong that he's been reshaped and sometimes we do this intentionally and sometimes we do it unintentionally due to our sin but this is what it says here I want you to understand that it's not just the times that we're doing that but it's every time we sin that we're practicing some form of idolatry.
Because it says they forgot God their savior who had done great things in Egypt and you know that every time we sin in some small form we're practicing that we're forgetting our God is doing great things for us we're forgetting that Jesus is our ultimate Delight I'll give you an example I know I'm not trying to brag I am a pastor but I know I'm not supposed to lie I know that I learned it in seminary I didn't get an mdiv.
But I did learn this don't lie but I know I'm not supposed to lie but you all know there are times where I catch myself lying sometimes I don't even catch myself I just think about it later and in that moment I didn't want to please Jesus I wanted something else I wanted to please another person I wanted them to think highly of me I wanted them to not think lowly of me I won't even fight him for highly I was just fighting.
For neutral I wanted to not have to leave my house and help them there's a lot of things we might lie for and what you might lie about and what I might lie about might be different but the reality is in that moment we want something more than we want Jesus we forgotten how good he is and we do this with all of our sin we do this when we gossip we want something more than we want Jesus we do this.
When we should help someone we make excuses we do this when we should be generous and we aren't we do this when we commit sexual sin we just want something more than we want Jesus in that moment and that's idolatry we're telling ourselves this will make me happy this will fill me up this will give me joy this will give me the light and it'll do it better than Jesus Does I know I'm not supposed to have sex but I really want a boyfriend.
And so whatever you're willing to sin to have is ultimately something that you value more than God and so I don't think we can read this passage and go what fools without acknowledging I think I'm at the base of the mountain I'm not up there with Moses I don't think I'm the one up there doing what's right I think I'm the one down there pulling my earrings out verse 7. and the Lord said to Moses go down for your people whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves they have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them they have made.
For themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said these are your Gods o Israel who brought you up out of the land of Egypt this would be like on your honeymoon watching your wedding video and seeing your spouse kissing someone in the wedding party in the video I mean just as as cataclysmically awful as you can possibly imagine the the derailing heartbreaking nature of this he's got him he's rescued them they're going to be his people he's going to dwell among them and they say we don't know where Moses went it's been too long and it's an utter rejection of all of that and the.
Lord said to Moses I have seen this people and behold it is a stiff-necked people now therefore let me alone that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them in order that I may make a great nation of you he says leave me alone I'm going to destroy them and we'll restart with you 11. but Moses implored the Lord his God and said O Lord why does your wrath burn hot against your your people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand did you.
Notice that God said you were people who you brought out of Egypt and then Moses says no you're people who you brought out of Egypt God says they're not mine anymore Moses says no they are they're your people why should the Egyptians say with the evil intent did he bring them out to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the Earth turn from your burning anger and relent from This Disaster against your people remember Abraham Isaac and Israel your servants to whom you swore by your own self and said to them I will multiply your Offspring as the stars of heaven and all this land that I have promised.
I will give to your offspring and they shall inherit it forever Moses says no remember your promises remember who you are remember that they belong to you remember be you that's what he's saying and the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people now you can tie yourself in a theological knot in this passage trying to understand how does a sovereign God who's planned all of this have a moment where he relents but he relents of something he spoke about doing and in the way he spoke about this in some ways he invited Moses to be an intermediary.
But this text is written so that we would see how much the people of Israel need an intermediary they don't know it but they needed Moses on the mountain pleading on their behalf they needed someone to stand in between them and God because they they need someone to stand in between them and God because of their sin and we're supposed to see God relenting out of his own goodness and out of his own choice and will to include Moses and how this works.
But we're also meant to see Moses who whined and came up with weird excuses about why he should not have to go in the first place who now stands with God and says please remember your promises and be good to them and God relents from what he had spoken about doing verse 15 then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand tablets that were written on both sides on the front and on the back they were written the tablets were the work of.
God and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets now the text just zoomed us beautifully in on how wonderful these tablets are and it did that on purpose verse 17. when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted so Joshua was midway Moses went up been talking to God Joshua's just been hanging out in the middle because he's waiting for Moses he's been camping out above the camp but below the cloud and Moses comes down to him he sees Moses he hears the noise down there and Joshua who leads in military things says this there is a noise of war in the camp.
Verse 18 but he said it is not the sound of shouting for victory or the sound of Cry of defeat but the sound of singing that I hear how bad do you sing that it sounds like War but it also means that we're not supposed to picture them holding hands and chanting in unison but a debaucherous chaotic celebration he says no that's a party and as soon as they came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing Moses anger burned hot and he threw the tablets out of his hand and broke them at the foot of the mountain that's why I zoomed in and told us how wonderful they were and it's this.
Picture of how wonderful everything was about to be and how shattered everything is now he was about to be exactly his God wants with them he's restoring it he's building them back into his people he's going to dwell among them and it's ruined I know a story of a lady who's felt like her husband was not holding up his marriage covenant and when he came home she had her China out and she was just breaking their wedding China while she was talking to him he said what are you doing she said I'm caring about our covenant as much as you do that's what this is he took the calf they had made.
So he just marches in 80 something year old Moses he's hot took the calf they have made and burned it with fire grounded to powder scattered it on the water and made the people of Israel drink it all this stuff's still going on snatches it down Burns it I don't know how long he has the weight before burning it to grind it but he turns it not into a calf but he's not done it's not like he melted it was like next step no he grinds that into powder.
And then he stands there throwing it in the water it's like here you go y'all gonna drink that gold lip fools it doesn't say that part but I'll just he made the people of Israel drink it verse 21 Moses said to Aaron what did this people do to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them and Aaron said let not the anger of my Lord burn hot you know the people that they are set on evil which to be fair they haven't been the greatest they followed them around complaining and whining and surrounding them multiple times and tried to fight like they haven't been this isn't been the easiest group of people.
To lead but it's not because these people are worse than other people it's because these people are people and if we wandered around the desert together we'd also do some of this mess he says you know the people that they're set on evil in verse 23 4 they said to me make us Gods who shall go before us as for this Moses the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt we do not know what has become of him.
So I said to them let any who have gold take it off so they gave it to me and I threw it into the fire and out came this calf I feel like that's kind of how his story had to go it had to start breaking down to the end y'all know he was quoting word for word what they said to him like he Nails it they said to me make us Gods who shall go before us ask for this Moses though they brought you up they said the man who brought us out of Egypt we don't know what happened to him.
So I said to them let me have your gold and then I took the gold and then there was I know remember there was a fire through I threw the gold in the fire I don't think I did anything else I think then it was a magic calf you ever talked to a kid in the middle of them being called in something that's what this sounds like to me what happened well he pushed me and then I don't like what comes after end.
Then give me a second how do I say I punched him in the face that's that's what that's where we're at this is pitiful out came this calf no response from Moses I think we're to assume he stares at Aaron like you've got to be kidding me 25 and when Moses saw that the people had broken loose for Aaron had let them break loose the division of their enemies if you were tempted to think Aaron didn't have a choice this passage says no Aaron could have led no Aaron could have had a backbone and I want to take just a.
Second there are a lot of people in this this room that lead things but I want to take just a second to speak to men culturally right now you're told a lot that you're the problem and that men are bad that's not true bad men are bad passive men are bad and you need to be real careful the times that you say it's them when it was really ah you should have led verse 26 then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said who is on the Lord's Side come to me and I think he has to say this a bunch he's calling people to himself all the sons of Levi gathered around.
Him that's his tribe Moses and Aaron of the Trap of Levi Levi shows up he said to them thus says the Lord God of Israel put your sword on your side each of you and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp and each of you kill his brother and his companion and his neighbor stop this find the people who are doing it and stop it and so they do verse 28 the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses and that day about 3 000 men of the people fell and Moses said.
Today you have been ordained for the service of the Lord each one at the cost of his son and of his brother so that he might bestow a blessing upon you this day faithfulness to God is often costly but it's worth it prior to this it does seem like it was in God's intent that the tribe of Levi would be as a tribe levitical priests but it's not mentioned and it seems like in this moment is where God seals it that it's not just going to be the sons of Aaron.
But it's going to be the whole tribe of Levi that's going to get to carry the being ordained set apart for his service seems like it we're slurdy so it settles down it goes from off the rails to a lot of death the amount of excitement this is a quiet and awkward and sad and the next day Moses said to the people you have sinned a great sin and now I will go up to the Lord perhaps I can make atonement.
For your sin so Moses returned to the Lord he walks up this mountain takes a while and he said alas this people has sinned a great sin they have made for themselves gods of gold but now if you will forgive them but if not Please block me out of your book that you have written and if you don't love Moses yet you should love him now because when he said maybe I can make atonement he meant maybe he'll take me instead maybe I can swap places with y'all you have sinned a great sin it's not that they've killed all the Sinners it's no collectively we've still.
So catechism cataclysmically failed and broken this Covenant judgment is on us but maybe maybe he'll let me swap out so he says if you'll forgive them forgive him but if you won't that can't happen can you take me instead 33. but the Lord said to Moses Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book God says no but now go lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you behold my angel shall go before you nevertheless in the day.
When I visit I will visit their sin upon them we're going to come back to 33 and 34. I want to finish the chapter 3 35. then the Lord sent a plague on the people because they made the calf the one that Aaron made because they made the calf the one that Aaron made so if we were unsure earlier as to whether or not Moses believed Aaron's story he does not but look at 33 and 34. the Lord said to Moses whoever sinned against me I will blot out of my book.
So who's that that's all of them but now go lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you behold my angel shall go before you nevertheless and the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them now 32-34 are meant to be read together and this gets clearer because at first you read this and go oh okay good good right like crisis averted but no this isn't good at all because what he says is go I'll send my angel the day I show up everyone pays.
For their sin and in 33 he's going to say I'm not coming because there's no way for me to come and not kill everybody safest thing not the best thing but the safest thing for them is that I'm not a part of this anymore I'll get you to the promised land but the whole plan of me belonging to you and you belonging to me is done and this is where I think we've got a wrap our head around idolatry and sin sometimes we say things like.
Well it's just not that big a deal I don't know why he cares that much I don't know why he can't just get over it and I want you to know that the Covenant he made with them and the Covenant that he desires for us is that we would belong to him and he would belong to us this is why the Bible talks about it as adultery and it's like you saying I don't know what she's so been out of shape about I know that they're married.
But why can't he just have a girlfriend it's like that it's because that's the whole point of marriage is that you won't have a girlfriend that was what you committed to and that's the whole design here is that we would belong solely to him and they would belong solely to him and he would belong to them and there would be delight and joy in this and he says I can't come because your sin stands in the way and I want you to know this the thing you want most in the world is that.
God would visit you and that you would belong to him the thing you crave and desire is that you would be able to Delight in him because he is wonderful that's the thing you want most but the thing you can't have and that you should fear is that God would show up and you would be in your sin what he's wanting is for him to belong to them but if he was up and their sin is there so the thing I most want is to get to belong to.
God and the thing I most fear is that he'd show up and I'd be in my sin and what we needed and what they needed was for God to say yes to Moses can you take me and forgive their sin and God says no because Moses is a sinner he doesn't even get to go into the Promised Land but what we needed was God to say yes so that we can have him visit us we can belong to him but not be in our sin we need somebody to go up the mountain.
God to say yes you can atone for their sin and that's what Jesus Does Jesus does what Moses can't do because Jesus is God who becomes a man and he's a man so he can stand on our side and he can stand in our place and he can live a perfect life but he's God so that he can live sinlessly and he can actually atone and so where Moses fails Jesus succeeds Moses walks up the mountain and says can you take me instead.
God says no and mo Jesus walks up the mountain and says can you take me and said instead and God says yes and that's what Peter comes and he proclaims in Acts 3 says this repent therefore and turn back that your sins may be blotted out that if we run to Jesus and ask for forgiveness he forgives because he's able to and those are your options be in your sin and be blotted out or have Jesus blot your sin out because there is a day.
When God visits and when he does he will visit the sin upon the people they'll pay for it but if you've trusted in Jesus your sin has been paid for there is no sin to visit upon you y'all this is the tension throughout the whole Bible that's what's going to be carried out throughout the rest of Exodus and moving forward is how is God going to have a people that belong to him how is he going to fix this problem because they're all sinful how will he ever bridge this Gap and the answer is.
Jesus Jesus is the one who unties this so that we can have God and not have our sin because Jesus can blot our sin out and if you don't love Jesus you should love him now you should see that he walks up the mountain and says can you take me instead and God says yes and Jesus dies so that you won't be in your sin so that you can have what you ultimately desire which is God and all the delight and all the life that comes with them let's pray.
Lord we're we're sinners and we're so thankful for Jesus that he blots out our sin that we have hope in you and you alone and so Lord may we trust in you may we worship you may we Delight in you may we run from our idolatry to you in Jesus name amen the band's going to come back up and I want you to know your hope is not that you will not be an idolater your hope is that Jesus walks up the mountain and pays.
For idolaters that's what Moses walked up there to do can I pay the debt of their idolatry and Jesus walks up and doesn't say they're all perfectly worshiping they're all perfectly loving they're all perfectly their hearts set on me he he goes up and says can I pay the debt of idolaters that's our hope and that's what we're going to sing about and rejoicing right now is that our hope is Jesus and only Jesus and nothing else.
Good Work and Good Rest (Exodus 31)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Good morning my name is Chet I'm one of the pastors here we are working our way through the book of Exodus if you will turn to Exodus chapter 31. we looked at Exodus chapter 28 and 29 last week the week prior we looked at 26 and on up and we looked at some of the sections in chapter 31. in chapter 31 there is a section on a census that is to be taken and we won't spend time studying that together but we are moving to chapter 31.
Today and we're going to study through this entire chapter together I um a couple years ago was on vacation and I ran into a store to buy some milk I think that's pretty much all I needed I might have needed one other thing but mostly milk and if you had stopped me on my way into the store and said hey how much should milk cost I would have said I don't know and I don't have any opinions about milk I just need some and I would have been thinking I told you the truth I walked to the back of the store and I get to the gallons of milk and milk was six dollars in.
Something and I said to myself six dollars what on Earth like I'm just standing there staring at this like if his milk lost its mind did this come from a magical cow what what on and apparently I had a lot of opinions about milk that were very deep inside of me that I cared deeply about because I was enraged in this grocery store and I wouldn't have been able to tell you that um two minutes ago and the reason I tell you that story is that this morning we are going to.
Look at a passage that is going to I think shine some light on how we view work how we view work and how we View Rest and how we view our labor and I think it's possible that you might think I don't really have like a philosophy of work I don't have a Theology of work I don't have something that I've I haven't given this much thought I don't really have opinions on it and what I'd like to say is you do actually have some opinions on work maybe you have thought it through.
But if you haven't I'd like to offer that you actually do have some sort of a viewpoint on work you're like me with milk you might not realize it but you have some thought process and I want to tell you the two primary ones that our culture gives us these are the ones that you're handed as like hey pick an option these are the two ways to think about work and I would argue that you probably have you lean in one of these directions option number one work gives you your identity it helps you know who you are and it helps everybody else know who you are and by having good work you are better.
And by having worse work you are worse this is identity this is one of the reasons not the only reason but one of the reasons why we ask people pretty quickly what do you do what kind of work do you do it's not just a good topic of conversation when you first meet somebody it also helps you know what kind of person are you who are you but people don't know how to answer that question so you say what kind of work do you do and it helps us to find that.
So work as identity is one of the cultural options we're given the other one is that work is a necessary evil that is useful for providing the type of life that you want work is a necessary evil that is useful for providing the type of life that you want so if you want a lavish life you need work that will provide that if you want to live in the woods and eat Roots you don't have to work at all you did it.
But whatever lifestyle you want the amount of rest that you want the amount of pleasantness that you want the amount of stability that you want work is there to provide that and you need to work the exact amount that gives that to you and one of the reasons I think I can help you see that this is how we think about this is we ask little kids what do you want to be when you grow up and B is a is an identity word what do you want to be.
When you grow up and we're interested in this answer and I my wife showed me one where this little kid was like going first day of kindergarten and said how they were and it said What class they were going into and then it said I want to be when I grow up and they put chicken nugget and I guess they thought what's the most amazing thing ever I want to set up my sights High I'm going to be a chicken nugget.
But we don't want chicken nugget as an answer you want to hear Dr lawyer scientist astronaut Batman like we want something good to pour yourself into and usually if you're talking to a kid and you say they say they want to be a doctor and you say that's great you are saying that's great either because what a good identity what a good person to be what a good honorable thing to make yourself into or that's great Doctors live at the lake.
And if a kid says something and you say you don't want to do that usually it's because it won't provide the type of life I want for you or it's not the type of person I want you to be because those are our primary things that we're given culturally now as a Christian we add a third thing into this because I talk to people they'll say things like I'm really trying to follow Jesus I want my life to matter is it.
Okay for me to just repair HVAC units my entire life is that okay is it okay if all I ever do is teach kindergarten is that okay like am I okay to do that or have I missed something have I rejected the mission of God somehow and so this passage I think shines some light and gives us some clarity on all of that and will help us have a better approach to how we ought to view work and how we ought to view living lives of a lot of normal work under the leadership of.
God and in worship and glory to him so let's pray and we're going to read Exodus chapter 31 together God we ask for your grace we ask for your help we pray that you would give us clarity as we study your word today that we might be Spirit-filled laborers that we might love you and love our neighbors well through them in Jesus name amen now I do not think that this passage is primarily here to teach us the things that we're going to talk about this morning.
So we're going to read through it and I'm going to try to help you see it in context with Exodus before we're going to walk through and point out some of the things that help kind of say hey this this gives us some handles here on how we ought to think about work so Exodus chapter 31 the Lord said to Moses Moses up on the mountain God's been telling him over and over again all the things he's going to have to do the.
Lord said to Moses see I have called by name bezalel the son of Yuri son of her of the tribe of Judah and I have filled him with the spirit of God with ability and intelligence with knowledge and all craftsmanship to devise artistic designs to work in gold silver and bronze in cutting stones for setting and in carving wood to work in every craft and behold I have appointed with him a holy AB the son of ahissamak of the tribe of Dan and I have given to all able men ability that they may make all that I have commanded you and this is a recap of what we've been studying the past few weeks starting.
In verse 7. the tent of meeting and the Ark of the testimony and The Mercy Seat that is on it and all the Furnishings of the tent the table and its utensils and the pure lamp stand with all its utensils and the altar of incense and the altar of burnt offerings with all its utensils and the Basin and its stand and the finely worked garments the holy garments for Aaron the priests and the garments of his sons for their service as priests and the anointing oil and The Fragrant incense.
For the holy Place according to all that I have commanded you they shall do so God's been telling him you're going to do this you're going to build this you're going to build this this is how you're going to build it this is how long it's going to be this is how wide this is what a span is all those things and then he says and I've set aside specifically these men to help they're going to build it and then he says this in.
Verse 12. and the Lord said to Moses you are to speak to the people of Israel and say above all you shall keep my sabbaths the Sabbath is the day of rest that one day in seven they would work six days and then they would rest and worship in the rest of the Lord and do no work you shall keep my sabbaths for this is a sign between me and you throughout your Generations that you may know that I the Lord sanctify you.
So he says the Sabbath stands here to show you that I'm the one who sets you apart who makes you holy who makes you good I'm the one who rescues you I'm the one who gives you your worth that's what's built into that word sanctify and it's important because of what he's about to say verse 14 you shall keep the Sabbath because it is Holy for you everyone who profanes it shall be put to death whoever does any work on it that Soul shall be cut off from among his people.
Now as we study the Ten Commandments one of the things we talked about is that we don't have a good radar As Americans for the sanctity of God the Holiness of God and so when he says things like you're going to keep the Sabbath and if you don't you're going to be put to death we immediately think that's an overreaction but it's because we have an under reaction to the Holiness of God to the weight of obedience and do you see what a rejection of the Sabbath is it's a rejection of knowing.
God is the one who sets them apart God has invited them into this sanctifying relationship and a rejection of the Sabbath is a rejection of God being the one who makes them holy who does the work and so they're in this in some ways a rejection of Sabbath for them is like a rejection of salvation for us to say that we don't want Jesus I'll be the one who makes myself good I'll be the one who makes myself holy and it does what to us what it does to them which it cuts them off from the people.
Because he said they if if they're to remember consistently that he's the one who redeems and then to to work on that day is to reject that it's a problem and he will not put up with that being rampant in them in among his people and you will be put to death verse 15. six days shall work be done but the seventh day is the Sabbath of solemn rest holy to the Lord whoever does any work on the Sabbath today shall be put to death.
Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath observing the Sabbath throughout all their Generations as a covenant forever it is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed if you have more questions about the Sabbath we taught about it when we looked at the fourth Commandment in the Ten Commandments we won't spend as much time on it today Verse 18 and he gave to Moses.
When he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai the two tablets of the testimony tablets of stone written with the Finger of God so he's handing off to him all that they've talked about Moses is about to go down the mountain and get to work all we've read so far is stuff that he's supposed to do he's leaving with a to-do list in so many ways he's got a bunch of things he's got to do God's given it to him and sitting down the mountain.
Okay so one of the first things though that I think is helpful for us as we try to understand how we ought to approach work because what's happening in this moment is God is giving Moses all these instructions and he's telling him who's going to accomplish it and he's reminding him of the Sabbath and sending him down and that's kind of where this fits in the context of Exodus but I think for us it's helpful for us to notice a few things that clarify how we ought to view work the.
First one is this look at verse two see I have called by name bezalel and then in verse 3 it says and I have filled him with the spirit of God now Moses is hearing this what for he's calling this guy specifically and he's filled him with the spirit of God what for and when we think of being filled with the spirit of God we think prophecy he's gonna he's gonna be like in the Priestly service there's something going to be something something really spiritual is going to happen.
And then he says filled him with the spirit of God he's filled him with ability and intelligence with knowledge and all craftsmanship to devise artistic designs to work in gold silver and bronze in cutting stones for setting and in carving wood to make every craft I filled him with my spirit for work for craftsmanship for competency that he's poured in him ability and intelligence knowledge and all craftsmanship that this is a gift from God and this is really interesting to me it's really encouraging and I also think that.
If we're to consider bezalel I don't think that he was sitting in his tent and had spent his entire life being incompetent and God Zapped him and suddenly he was like I must make artistic designs I don't think that's what happened I think that what happened is what happens in all of life for us where God is at work in this man and he grows in competency I don't think when he made artistic designs for the Tabernacle it was the first time he had ever done it one of the things he had to do was filigree that they were going to do this I want to show you all filigree this is filigree he had.
To engrave precious stones wrap them in that and put them on the shoulders of the Priestly garments I don't think it was the first time he'd ever made filigree I think this was something that he had been good at been competent been growing in that God had poured this ability in him and then God says I've specifically designed him for this purpose so go back look what he gives him his ability and intelligence so and then knowledge and all craftsmanship and these are gifts from.
God which if you think about this if God's the one who gives these things then it glorifies God for bezalel to be good at them that if Moses comes down and he says I'm looking for bezalel a son of Yuri son of her tribe of Judah like he goes to the tribe of Judah y'all got a bezel yeah we got seven okay son of Yuri son of her oh okay we got two that are under her but only one under Yuri that's the one I'm looking.
For and when he says okay show me what you can do how does bezelo glorify God by being excellent and Moses would be watching him and go and then look at God like wow you poured intelligence and ability and knowledge and craftsmanship into him this is amazing to bezel would glorify God well by being good at this and have y'all ever in life seen someone who had ability and it just you kind of marveled at it physical ability they could dance or play a sport they they could play an instrument.
For a moment you just kind of swept up in the actual beauty of it the glory of it because there's God-given ability that's in the world that points us to him it doesn't terminate on itself but it rolls us up y'all ever seen intelligence and just been blown away by it like someone who figured something out came out with something new fixed the problem designed something you ever just your car's not working so you pop the hood and you're sad but impressed.
Because it's like this thing is magical I don't know how to work it but somebody made up something really good here there's intelligence that's done these things but it also says intelligence and knowledge and I love that that's separated because intelligence and knowledge are not exactly the same thing we put them together a lot but someone can have knowledge without being the most intelligent person there have been times where you've interacted with somebody and they just know they know what they're doing they know how to fix the problem they know how to sort a thing out there are people.
If you ever watch anybody who works in food service or fast food that loves their job and does a good job and knows what they're doing have you ever seen like I'll get stuck watching videos sometimes of people who just know what they're doing and some kind of building a craft or working on a thing or who can just flip Burgers real quick or the people who do that little ice cream thing where they take the ice cream from you and they give it back to you or whatever have you ever seen this like you can go to Marble Slab and be blessed by someone being really good at doing what they're doing and enjoying.
It they have the knowledge the competence to do this and craftsmanship He blesses them with these things and he specifically calls him to these things that it's a God-given ability and a God-given calling for this but then he says this verse 6. and behold I have appointed with him a holy AB the son of a hissim a hyssamek of the tribe of Dan and I have given to all able men ability that they may make all that I have commanded you I have given to all able men ability I want you to.
Look at that for a second ability is a blessing can you highlight that for us that ability is a blessing y'all work is not a curse it's cursed by sin so there's aspects of it that are more difficult but work was in the garden God designed us to be competent and to work and that we bring him glory in good work so if God's the one who gives ability if God's the one who gives skill and craftsmanship and knowledge then we can glorify.
God by doing that well therefore all good work can be worship if there's a way in work to glorify God through ability and skill and knowledge and craftsmanship which I would argue that all jobs take something of one of those four take ability or they take intelligence or they take knowledge or they take some craftsmanship that all work takes some sort of then if that's a way to glorify God by doing it well therefore work can be worshipful now there are some occupations that you're not allowed to do like.
If you said God's gifted me with the ability and one of the things that I'm great at is hurting people who owe the mafia money we would just say he's given you other abilities find one of those you might excel at this but this is not an okay thing for you to do but most occupations most work is going to be something that you get to do in a way that glorifies God that's worshipful so there's a way for bezalel to be tied up where he thinks that work is just about himself.
Therefore the only way he could be humble in work is to be bad at it because if he's good at it it terminates on himself it makes him prideful there's a way for him to try to steal the glory from God and make it about himself wrap his identity up and that wrap his worth up and make it about himself but if good work is meant to glorify God then the way to be humble in work is not to be bad at it.
But to worshipfully be very very good at it the way to be humble in work is not to be bad at it but to worshipfully be very very good at it and do y'all see how if work can be worshiped that that undermines our two primary cultural options given to us that in this option work is about you it's about your identity it's about your worth and so that all of your work ultimately just turns around and is about you you don't become a doctor.
Because you want to care for sick people and it's a blessing to the world you don't become a lawyer because we need Justice you become that because those are good things to be and ultimately your work is about you but if my work is worshipful and it rolls up and prays to God then that kills that approach it undermines it you think that work is just unnecessary evil so that you can enjoy the actual good stuff of life when you understand that God's blessed you to be worshipful in your work it can't be evil it's part of the good stuff of life it has purpose in it.
And so this approach this understanding undercuts our approaches to work but I want you to see something else it's not just that work can be worshipful but work the use of skills the exercise of these abilities that God has given us can be done in worship but it's also one of the primary ways that we love our neighbors look at verse six behold I have appointed with him a holy AB the son of a hissamak of the tribe of Dan and I have given to all able men ability that they may make all that I have commanded you Moses has been up on a mountain.
God has been repeatedly telling him he's been repeatedly telling him that he's going to have to do this he's going to have to make this you're going to make this you're going to make this you're going to make this you're going to make this you're going to make this you're going to make a table you're going to make a tent you're going to make a an effort you're going to make a breast piece you're going to have bells and pomegranates it's all going to be.
Finally done it's going to be done really well it's going to be engraved really well you're going to make filigree you're going to make all these things I don't think that Moses was thinking oh no I can't do that I'm a shepherd Moses was a Shepherd he's not about to walk down the mountain and weave a tent I think Moses was thinking what we would think which is we're going to make this because that's how it works and then God specifically says I've blessed all of them with ability to accomplish all these things and all that they're going to accomplish isn't just about worship it's not just about themselves.
But it also blesses everybody around them that it's a blessing to have this kind of ability that I want to I missed a quote that I want to read to y'all and we'll point out to y'all as we understand that work is an act of worship and then work as a way to love our neighbors this is a quote from Dorothy Sayers she's an author and she says this the Church's approach to an intelligent Carpenter is usually confined to exhorting him to not be drunk and disorderly in his leisure hours and to come to Church on Sundays.
For the record It's a Good Counsel but then she says this what the Church should be telling him is this the very first demand that his religion makes upon his time is that he should make good tables and in doing that who worship and he'll love God and he'll love his neighbor there's a in his book Tim Keller wrote a book called every good Endeavor and in that book he quotes another book work the meaning of Life by Lester decoster and I want to read this quote to you it's a longer quote.
But I think it's a helpful thing to Think Through he says this work is the form in which we make ourselves useful to others and which others make themselves useful to us we plant with our work and God gives the increase to unify the human race so he says that in work I make myself useful to others others make themselves useful to us and God blesses this this is the concept that Martin Luther has of The Masks of God that God works through work we're told in the Bible that.
God strengthens strengthens the bars of the city we're told that God watches over the city we're told that God feeds everybody we all he does but one of the ways he does that is that someone builds the walls in the bars of the city and someone watches there's night Watchmen that watch over the city and there's someone who milks the cow and someone who delivers the milk like God feeds me but one of the ways he does that is there's a Food Lion a mile from my house and every day someone goes over there and unlocks the doors.
For me and puts the lion back in the back where he's been doing night Watchman stuff at night so that he won't attack me like there's there's things that someone does so that I can enter in there and be able to get the food out and it's a blessing and so this is what Lester decoster says he says look at the chair you are lounging in could you have made it for yourself how would you get say the wood would you go and fell a tree I said sure.
But only after first making the tools for that and putting together some kind of vehicle to haul the wood and constructing a mill to do the lumber and making roads to drive on from place to place in short a lifetime or two to make one chair you're gonna go cut down a tree okay make the tools to cut the tree down all right you did it you got your tree down now what you're going to do and it's just a helpful thought process of being like.
Okay another take forever he says if we worked not 40 but 140 hours per week we couldn't make for ourselves from scratch even a fraction of all the goods and services that we call our own our paycheck turns out to buy us the use of far more than we could possibly make for ourselves in the time it takes for us to earn the check work yields far more in return upon our efforts than our particular jobs put in why because of everybody else that we could not in the amount of time have the things that we have live the lives that we live.
But we can together because of everybody else Tim Keller then says in response to this quote the guy ends this quote by saying the difference between a Wilderness and a culture is simply work without if everybody quit work we would just be in a wilderness and Tim Keller says there may be no better way to love your neighbor whether you are riding parking tickets software or books than to Simply do your work and he calls this the ministry of competency you get to work in the ministry of Competency which means being competent being good at the work that you've been given is a way to love your neighbor my granddad grew up in the Swansea.
Area and he said he he joined the Marines he went and signed up he said he walked out of the office got on the bus with a bunch of other guys and they rode to Paris Island he said they get off the bus when they get off this man comes out in a uniform and yells I'm your mama now boys my granddad said he thought I may have made a mistake one of the first things they did was they issued him a uniform and they issued him boots.
And so they went in and they all got measured for all of these things and they you know measure you can give you your stuff he said they measured somebody's foot gave him a boot gave him a pair of boots sent them out measure their gas foot and gave him a pair of boots send them out eventually they measured his foot and apparently he has more of like a Clydesdale hoof than a foot he said his foot is almost as wide as it is long it just is like.
And so they measured his foot and then when looked for boots and the guy who's in charge of this is just looking they're trying on boots looking trying on boots looking trying on boots it's like his first day in the Marines and he's just sitting there trying on chew after two after shoe he said his drill sergeant comes back in and starts yelling at him while the the guy was in the back looking for shoes and then he said one of the most magical things that's ever happened in the Marines happen.
For his his time in the Marines the guy who fits you for Boots outranked the guy who was yelling at him so he said he walked back in and said let me tell you something this Marine's gonna have shoes that fit his feet he's got to be on his feet all the time and he said he just chewed him out he said he just sat there after being chewed out watch this guy get chewed out and then got to sit there until he had boots and he looked at me and said that man found me boots that fit my feet and it was the.
First pair of comfortable shoes I've owned in my entire life that's the ministry of competence that man loved my granddad well do you know how easy it would have been to say I don't think we have the size put these on and how much more difficult life would have been for my granddad as a marine with shoes that didn't fit that's what had happened to him his entire life he had shoes that didn't fit but this man did his job well in this room we have people who work in construction we have people who work in the medical field we have teachers we have people who sell things people who prepare food people who prepare.
Taxes people who help with people's books and finances we have people who sell products fix products cut hair which of those are we willing to give up competency on I know you don't want an incompetent mechanic or an incompetent doctor you don't want them quickly Googling things while you're talking to them you'd like for them to kind of know what they're doing and if they're going to Google at least know where to go but I can WebMD at the house I want you to know what you're doing.
But y'all do we want an incompetent person to cut our hair no have you ever had a really good haircut I really good one and you just walk around like because you just know this person knew what they were doing and they figured out my my head shape and they were able to dodge all the bumps or whatever have you ever had a really bad haircut like a bad haircut that that messes your life up for a short period of time.
But everybody's got to get haircuts yeah you go into a place like when I go into the Verizon store I've gone in before and I felt like I know more about my phone than this person which is bad I've also gone in and after about five minutes of talking I've just relaxed I'm like this person's like my wizard they know what they're talking about the ministry of competence blesses your life and you work one of the primary ways that we love our neighbors is that we're good at our jobs there may be a way.
For you to get another certification there might be some YouTube videos that you can watch there might be some ways that you can grow in knowledge or craftsmanship there might be ways that you can get better at your job that you can learn how to use this type of equipment there's something that you can do that you can be competent that you can help and love and serve people well so that when you go to work you are worshiping the Lord and loving your neighbor and you get to do that day in and day out that completely changes that's counter-cultural to our cultural approaches to work that.
If work is worship and it's not about me and it's not about giving me the good life but it's about me honoring God with the abilities the skills the knowledge the intelligence the talents he's given me and if work is a way for me to love my neighbor then I get to go to work every day just knowing that if I competently prepare this food I've blessed people if I get their order right I've blessed them if I have a good attitude.
If I'm honest when they ask me questions I've blessed people the ministry of confidence is competence is a way to love your neighbor go to Lowe's when you have a problem your day will then be decided by how competent the help at Lowe's is and it makes a difference so what kind of work do you do and how can you get better at it so I believe that begins to answer our question the third question that we have which is is it.
Okay for me to just fix hvacs my whole life can I do pool repair is that okay I think one of the things we've done well as a Church if we told you that one of the ways you can have purpose in your work is by being a missionary that God has already placed you somewhere and that you have co-workers and you have an overseer and you have all these people that God intentionally puts you there that you might reach them with the Gospel and that nobody else is there you've already been commissioned and as a missionary and that's true and I don't want you to lose that.
But I think we've also failed to tell you that one of the ways that you can live a good life is to make really good tables one of the ways do you know how much of life is meant to be normal how much of your life is meant to be go to work eat some food go to sleep it's a continual thing and that one of the blessings we're told is for us to be able to find joy and enjoyment and purpose in our labor our toil that this is a blessing from.
God that's one of the things Ecclesiastes tells us and you actually get to go to work and worship and love your neighbors day in and day out doing whatever good work you find to do and so can you do HVAC repair your whole life yeah if you Worship in it and you love your neighbors well in it I'll tell you one thing when somebody when I need my HVAC repaired I want a competent honest person to show up at my house you ever just like I'm not a hugger.
But sometimes if somebody does something I think I want to hug you I'm not going to but like it's weird for me to hug the plumber but like I want to hug this plumber because they have just they've blessed me and there's a way for you to do that in whatever work you find yourself doing and for someone who says I just stare at a computer I don't have co-workers I don't have anybody that I get to to try to be a missionary with.
Okay well do you know that some people in our Church would die if they had to stay at a computer every day they would physically wither up and fall over dead they do not they have not been blessed with the ability or the skill or the craftsmanship to handle what you are handling and you get to bless people well by doing your job well and you get to love people and you get to Worship the Lord in the skill that he gave you that other people don't have.
So yes you can do that but one of the things that I think is very interesting In this passage that I don't want us to miss because it's a part of this whole thing for us it's part of this whole cultural thing for us is that good God glorifying Rest is an appropriate counterpart to good God glorifying work because go to verse 12. and the Lord said to Moses you are to speak to the people of Israel and say above all you shall keep my sabbaths.
For this is a sign between me and you throughout your Generations that you may know that I the Lord sanctify you why does he say this right here before he sends them down the mountain because he's about to put a tablet of a to-do list in his hands y'all Moses's to-do list is longer than yours do you know how many things he's got to go skillfully make do you know how many animals he's about to have to kill so that they can have priests like do you know this list is long and guess what not going to be done in six days.
And so there'd be a real Temptation for them to go we got work to do this is what we have to do to be the people of God but what's he say above all you're going to keep my Sabbath because I the Lord and the one who sanctifies you that's not what you have to do to be the people of God that's what you get to do because you're part of the people of God but it's not what you have to do to be the people of.
God because I'm the one who sets you apart good rest real rest do y'all realize that in either one of our cultural options you don't rest well this option you don't rest can't rest I'll rest when I'm dead okay because I my worth is here and if I stop working who am I I've got to achieve I've got to make a name for myself I got to get enough money I've got to do it I've got to prove I've got to show back up to my high school reunion and be like whatever and over here rest is the point of life Recreation and pleasure.
And so it gets over inflated here it Withers and dies and here it becomes some monstrosity that it was never meant to be and it's not enjoyable it doesn't work that way it's never enough but if we have worshipful work we get to have worshipful rest and they're a beautiful counterbalance to one another that the people who were worshiping in their work are also the people who can just stop because work isn't about them and it's not about providing the good life they just get to stop and say the Lord's good they get to rest genuinely rest be free I think I think we need to know that rest is a gift and it's a.
Necessary practice to remind us of the place of work rest isn't the goal and it isn't the achievement but it's also not a punishment or a hindrance to finding our significance but it's a blessing and I think that this information is good and helpful but I think it's insufficient I don't think this information will help you actually straighten out your problem not on its own I just don't think it can I think you can leave going I'm supposed to worship and work I'm supposed to.
But here's the problem all of this hinges on God being the one who sanctifies them and so for us all of this hinges on Jesus if Jesus isn't at work in this it doesn't work if Jesus doesn't come in and rescue you because I want you to see something if we say things like my job just isn't good enough usually what we mean if someone said why why why if you had if you were trying to you know if your counselor was like a four-year-old and you just said a statement.
And then they said why why why why you would eventually get to I think it doesn't make me into enough I don't feel like something with this job or it doesn't give me the good life do you have y'all know that wanting identity and value and worth and wanting pleasantness and rest and stability is a longing for Jesus that I want someone to show up and tell me I'm okay I want something that fixes me and lets me sleep at night I want delight and rest and satisfaction I want to be stable I want to know that I'm all right I want to know that I'm loved I want to know that I'm enough do.
You know that's a cry for Jesus so unless Jesus shows up we won't ever be free to approach these the way we're meant to approach them because it's Jesus who comes and rescues and forgives Sinners and gives them an identity it's Jesus who gives us a purpose who gives us a reality who sets us free it's Jesus who gives us freedom and stability and delight and if that's true for you if Jesus has shown up and you've surrendered to him trusted in him and he's at work in you through his Spirit.
Then guess what you can worship and work because you don't need it you don't need it to satisfy you don't need it to fix you you don't need it to make you into something you have that in Christ and therefore you get to just return it back to the Lord and you get to genuinely enjoy your work and if Jesus is the good life then you just you can rest if he's where your Delight comes from and your fulfillment comes from do y'all realize that it's never enough that.
If you're over here in this Camp you've had moments where you're like I did it how long did that last if you're lucky six months before you had to keep achieving you had to keep earning and you had to keep proving and you had to get more and it just you ever had that moment where you think finally and then a mosquito bites your neck I guess it's not enough there's never enough rest there's never enough relaxation there's never it never satisfies you always want more there was never a good enough party or a good enough celebration or a good enough stability It's never enough.
Because they were only meant to point us to our ultimate rest and our ultimate Worth to be found in Christ but if we have Jesus then we get to people who work who worship and work and love our neighbors well who work hard and rest well in the freedom that he's the one who sanctifies us that he's the one who's accomplished all of this for us so that we're free to operate in this way let's pray oh Lord so much of our life is going to be taken up with work and I think it's easy.
For us to to think it's meaningless I think it's easy for us to only care about what it provides for us I think it's easy for us to wrap our entire identity in it and so Lord we ask that by your spirit you would begin to untangle our hearts that you begin to see that we're Sanctified by you that our hope is in you our stability our freedom our rest our Delight is in you Lord for the person in the room who doesn't have you who hasn't trusted in your salvation.
Lord we pray that you would help them to see the emptiness the exhaustion found in placing their worth and value in their work we pray that you would help them to see The Emptiness found in thinking that life is just about what Pleasures they can hoard here we ask that by your spirit you withdraw them to yourself so that they might find what they're actually looking for and for all of us who have found you Lord may you continue to work in us to sanctify us to set us apart to draw Us near to you.
So that we might worship you in our work and we might love our neighbor as well in Jesus name amen Matt and Natalie are going to come back up and and then the minute the band will join them and we'll sing together and we're going to take communion and communion is a rather a regularly practiced reminder that we need Jesus that we needed his body broken for us and his blood shed for us that without him we have no hope and that with him he is the one who sanctifies us who sets us apart.
And so that when you come in to communion that you were proclaiming his death until he returns that we are blood-bought people of God rescued by his work and that our hope is that one day he sets everything right that in the midst of this labor and this desire this Pursuit what we're saying is we want salvation and we want heaven and we stand between those moments as Christians where we have been made right with God by Jesus and we look forward to the moment.
When he rescues and redeems us and that's what communion is if you are not a Christian do not partake in communion it is not for you if you have not yet placed your faith in Jesus we would invite you to do that and Christians in the room take a moment to consider yourselves to consider your approach to work to consider whatever the Holy Spirit's putting on your heart that you might need to repent of that you might need to change in your attitude before you come and celebrate that.
Jesus Christ died to save Sinners and that your hope is in him and that is he that sanctifies so take a moment when you're ready.
Priests (Exodus 28-29)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Good morning grab your Baubles and head to Exodus chapter 28. we're going to be looking at Exodus 28 and 29 together today so we're going to go through two chapters we're going to be looking at God as he's giving the instructions to Moses about the garments for the priests and the consecration ceremony for the priest so they're going to do this later but they're going to give the instructions now we're going to study this now as we look at this and I know that as we start going through Exodus and we say hey we're going to work through a book of the Bible that some of y'all were like I'm really looking forward to kind.
Of hearing the the ten plagues and some of you were like I I'm kind of interested to see how we talk through what happens with the golden calf and I know that some of y'all are like I want to talk about those Priestly garments well today is your day we're talking about Priestly garments today so I hope that you are ready as we go through this one of the things that we see in the Bible is that God is preparing since eternity passed.
For what he's going to accomplish in Christ and he's working this out in the story of human history and he's got all of these things that he's putting in place that ultimately get fulfilled in Jesus and there are some movies that have been very popular where there's this kind of twist ending this surprise ending so um Planet of the Apes the original Planet of the Apes was like this it had a surprise ending that was startling for people or maybe the The Usual Suspects to the to the best ones that I've seen that I really appreciated were the sixth sense and Shutter Island had this twist ending and the twist in those what made it.
Particularly good was that you were like oh it made a lot of things make sense some things you were like I should I should have seen that coming I should have kind of known that was and when they went back and showed it and so if you watch the movie the second time it's a completely different movie you're seeing all this stuff that you didn't see the first time and that is a lot of how the New Testament treats the Old Testament the Old Testament informs the New Testament.
But the New Testament looks back at the Old Testament and says see it's like you're watching a friend who's just super geeked out about the sixth sense and they pause it every 30 seconds and go see did you see the way his eyes went that's because that's what the the New Testament does with the Old Testament they're constantly going do you see how God was doing this you see how he's accomplishing this and one of the main things that they point out is that.
Jesus is the Fulfillment of the priesthood that he is the high priest that's what Hebrews goes out of its way to clearly articulate repeatedly Jesus is our high priest he fulfills this so as we read this this morning we're going to pause it and we're going to stop and we're going to say do you see Jesus here do you see how this is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus because there's some interesting things that go into the Garment the clothing that the priests are going to wear.
So as we start this morning I want to read from Hebrews 3 before we get into Exodus 28 here's Hebrews 3 verse 1. therefore holy brothers that's Church family you who share in a Heavenly calling consider Jesus the Apostle and high priest of our confession and so we're going to do that this morning we're going to consider Jesus the high priest of our confession that as Christians he's our high priest so as we learn about the inauguration of the priesthood we're going to consider.
Jesus so let's pray and then we'll do that together father we thank you for your fulfillment of your promises and that what we have in Christ is infinitely eternally better than what you gifted to your people of Israel that you have accomplished what we're going to read today you've accomplished in Christ for us so may we Delight in the Fulfillment of these things and may we worship you as we study them together in Jesus name amen Exodus chapter 28. God's talking to Moses and he says.
Then bring near to you air in your brother and his sons with him from among the people of Israel to serve me as priests Aaron and Aaron's sons naidab by who eliasar and ithamar a priest is someone who stands in God and the people so to be a priest in this role at times the priests would stand representing God to the people and then at times the priest would stand representing the people to God but as a mediator is an intermediary.
And so that's what this role of a priest is is someone who's in between God and the people and so he says this is going to be given to Aaron and his sons ultimately it's going to be given to the whole tribe of Levi to be levitical priesthood which is where they're the tribe they're from but Aaron and his sons are going to be the line of high priests and it's given to them so we're going to talk first about as we.
Look at these garments we're going to see the representation of the priest representing God to the people as he stands in the middle and faces the people on behalf of God we're going to look at some of the indications of that in the way that the garments are made so verse 2. and you shall make holy garments for you air in your brother for Glory and for beauty now this is interesting because that word glory is used throughout the Book of Exodus and it is used to describe.
God and His glory and the glory that he's going to get from what he does and the glory that he has in his person and himself the glory that's displayed on the mountain and then it's used in two places to describe the clothing that will be given to the priests and so in a way God is sharing some of his glory with the priesthood that there to have a bit of Glory as they represent God to the people that the priesthood is going to stand in in a way to represent him and he's going to make them garments specifically.
For their Glory now if they had done this on their own it would have been bad if they were like you know what I want some glorious garments I'm going to elevate myself I'm going to be the fanciest person that would be bad that would be frowned upon but when God says no I'm intentionally doing this they're going to have special garments for Glory and for beauty as they stand in to represent him and it says this you shall verse 3 you shall speak to all the skillful whom I have filled with a spirit of skill that they may make Aaron's garments to consecrate him.
For my priesthood consecrate means to set aside to place him in this role these are the garments that they shall make a breast piece an ephed a robe a coat of Checker work a turban and a sash they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons to serve me as priests now an effort is translating the word ephed much like our word taco means Taco ifad means if it it's this special garment given to the priesthood so if you were like I kind of understand some of these things I got an idea of what a turbine is what's an aphid an iFit is going to be explained to us.
Because it's a special garment that goes here with the high priest so it says verse five they shall receive gold blue and purple and Scarlet Yarns and fine-twined linens here are the Glorious garments they're going to make it's going to look something like that huh that thing in the middle there is the breast piece the iFit is the thing that is uh woven multi-colored around it um or that hangs underneath it but they're going to make this and it's intentionally designed with a bunch of imagery that I think.
Because because God knows what he's doing and ultimately Jesus is going to fulfill this there's a bunch of images that go into this that ultimately point to the finished work of Christ now he is dressed like a walking Tabernacle that phrase that we just read received gold blue and purple and Scarlet Yarns and find twindling and we're going to read that over and over again but we already read it over and over again when they were making the Tabernacle that this is how they made the covering of the Tabernacle and the inside veil in between the holy place and the most holy place.
And so he's dressed up to look like the Tabernacle and I don't think that's on accident that if the Tabernacle is the place where God meets Earth where he's going to put his footstool where he's going to be present in his particular specific way then the priesthood is also going to represent him so if the Tabernacle is the representation of him meeting with the Earth then the priesthood the high priest is a walking representation of that and those are some of the things that help us understand that he's intentionally set up to be leading and standing in between.
God and the people that's it's used in Exodus 21 verse 6 Exodus 26 verse 31 so he's dressed for Glory and for beauty in a way that looks like the Tabernacle but he's also giving a breast piece of judgment and so we're going to read about that look at verse 6. and they shall make the ephot of gold of blue and purple and Scarlet Yarns and find twine Linens skillfully worked and she'll have two shoulder pieces attached to its two edges.
So that it may be joined together and the skillfully woven band on it shall be made like it and be of one piece with it of gold and blue and purple and Scarlet Yarns and fine twined Linens you shall take two Onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel six of their names on the one stone and the names of the remaining six on the other Stone in order of their birth as a jeweler engraves Signet.
So you shall engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel you shall enclose them in settings of gold filigree and this is gold filigree well yeah there it is so they're going to have two stones with the names of the sons of Israel encased in that on his shoulders pretty verse 12 and you shall set the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel and Aaron shall bear their names before the.
Lord on his two shoulders for remembrance verse 13 and 14 will talk about how to attach it let's move to verse 15. you shall make a breast piece of judgment so he's going to have this breast piece of judgment that's that square thing you saw in skilled work in the style of the ephid you shall make it of gold and blue and purple and Scarlet Yarns and fine twine linen shall you make it it shall be square and doubled a span its length and a span its breath this is a span tip your thumb pinky a span cubits tip your fingy thingy finger that's a thingy twice that's awesome this is a finger elbow nailed.
It all right I didn't hear it till the second time I might have just moved on with my life and not knowing I did that all right all right shouldn't have told you what a span is okay verse 17 you shall set it in four rows of stones then it's going to talk about how the stones are what stones to use in verse 21 it says there shall be 12 Stones with their names according to the names of the sons of Israel they shall be like signets each engraved with its name.
For the Twelve Tribes so there's two stones six names on each shoulder and then there's a breast piece that has 12 Stones with engraved names of each tribe then it's going to take some time to tell you how to attach it so it doesn't fall off and then go down to verse 29. so Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breast piece of judgment on his heart when he goes into the holy place to bring them to regular remembrance before the.
Lord and we're going to talk about this bringing them to Remembrance in a minute and in the breast piece of judgment you shall put the urum and the thumbem and they shall be on Aaron's heart when he goes in before the Lord thus Aaron shall bear the Judgment of the people of Israel on his heart before the Lord regularly and we'll talk about that again in a second that he's bearing their judgment but the urum and the thumbum are specifically given to the high priest to discern the will of.
God they consult urum and thumbem to understand God's will so this breast piece of judgment is not just bearing judgment but it's also making judgment that you would bring someone to the high priest so in Exodus 22 it says that if someone borrows some property and then it ends up gone that you then would bring them before God bring them near to God and whatever God decided would tell you whether or not they had stolen and there's just some questions there as to like how did they do that.
Well most likely they did that with yerman where the high priest would use yerman to understand God's will now we don't know worked we can outline we can trace out a few things and we'll walk through that but anything that tells you this is exactly how they worked is some speculation because we really don't know but what we do know is enough to know how they worked and we have enough to know what we need to know so they would use this to make judgments Ezra 2 we.
See this says the governor told them that they were not to partake of the most holy food until they should be a priest to consult urem and thumbem that they would go before God and ask questions and the yerman thumb and would help them know a judgment from God as Moses is handing over the Reigns of leadership to Joshua in numbers 27 it says and he that's Joshua shall stand before Elias are the priest who shall inquire for him by the Judgment of urum before the.
Lord so even though Joshua is going to lead the nation he would still go to the priest to understand what they were supposed to do to answer questions about God's Will and God's desire for them this is still going when Saul's King in first Samuel 14. says therefore Saul said there's a dispute between him and his army and he says oh Lord God of Israel why have you not answered your servant this day if this guilt is in me that was answered in they lost the battle as.
If this guilt is in me or in Jonathan my son O Lord God of Israel give urum but if this guilt is in your People Israel give thumbem and Jonathan and Saul were taken but the people escaped so it's some way of casting lots of discerning truth of finding reality empowered by God it's not as simple as like flipping a coin because in first Samuel 26 it says when Saul inquired of the Lord the Lord did not answer him either by dreams or by urum or by prophets which means there's a way.
For you to use urum and thumbem and get no answer for God to not respond so it can't be flipping a coin just right or left yes or no because that always would give an answer so that's about all we have we know they used it we know that God specified it and that God empowered this for judgment now some of you as we were talking through that might have thought that's crazy they made decisions by like rolling some dice and some of you might have thought that sounds wonderful can we do that can I just get some dice and be like all right.
If it's a seven I take the job and the answer to the first person is that's not crazy because it was God's specific given way to discern his will that he empowered so he gave this as a gift to his people of Israel and specifically to the priesthood to make judgments on behalf of the People by God that God would make these judgments for them so it was an empowered gift given to them for them to be able to discern God's will and to the.
Second person no we can't make decisions like that first of all because this was only given to the high priest not as just the way that everybody got too many decisions and secondly that's not the means by which we are given to make decisions we are we have something so much better we have been empowered by the Holy Spirit and been given the Church that the Church collectively for Jesus says where two or more of you are gathered in my name there I am in the midst of you and whatever you bind on Earth is bound and whatever you lose is loose this this gift given to the Church that we might collectively make decisions.
So that you're empowered by the spirit and that you can walk under the guidance of the spirit but you also get your Church family to help make decisions to help discern the will of God and so that is how we are designed to make these decisions but we see in him having this judgment that God was empowering the high priest to stand in his stead and to render judgments based off of God's will and so the high priest stood representing God to the people.
Now pause Jesus fulfills this beautifully infinitely more because it's not a walking representation of the Tabernacle he's not just a representation of God he is God himself this is what Hebrews 1 says he is the radiance of the glory of God he's not just shared a little bit in the clothing he wears he's the display of God's glory is seen in Christ he's the radiance of the glory of God the exact imprint of his nature so that where he the uh the high priest would wear clothes made of the same stuff as the Tabernacle that.
Jesus is made of the same stuff he's the same exact imprint he is God not just a representation of God he is God who has come to redeem and to work on our behalf and so that our high priest is not a person who's a stand-in and we hope he does his best but he is God who has come to redeem and to work on our behalf it says he upholds the universe by the word of his power and so our high priest Christ is.
God he's not some sort of representation but he is fully and completely accomplished this but the high priest didn't just represent God to the people but he also represented the people to God and you'll see this we already read some of this but look back at verse 12. it says you shall set the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the epha the stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel and Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord on his two shoulders.
For remembrance and then in verse 29 it says so Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breast piece of judgment on his heart when he goes into the holy place to bring them to regular remembrance before the Lord so the high priest wears the names of the tribes of Israel before God to bring them to remembrance and to Bear their judgment so that if you were in the tribe of Reuben or if you were in the tribe of Simeon or.
If you were in The Tribe of Benjamin that you knew that knew the high priest when he went in before God took you with him that he represented you before God in his sacrifices and in his offerings that you were covered too and it doesn't tell us why the names are on him twice says he's going to have their names on their shoulders for remembrance and he's going to have the names on his heart for remembrance and for judgment but when I consider.
Jesus I think it's beautiful that he carries Us in the same way he carries Us in his heart that he loves us that he cares for us that he carries judgment for us but he also carries our weight he Bears our guilt that he carries the cross on his shoulders to Calvary that he takes with us takes our sin with him and takes us with him when he represents us before God so that we have a high priest who carries you.
If you belong to Jesus your name is written and it is carried before the Lord and you are atoned for and cared for as John says in first John that he wrote these things that we might not sin but if anyone does sin we have an advocate with a father we have someone who's standing before the father right now that bears our names before him to forgive us to be our propitiation for our sins so that our high priest does this as.
Well verse 31 you shall make the robe of the ephid olive blue it shall have an opening for the head in the middle of it with a woven binding around the opening like the opening in a garment so that it may not tear on its hymn you shall make pomegranates of blue and purple and Scarlet Yarns around a Tim with bells of gold between them a golden Bell and a pomegranate a golden Bell and a pomegranate around the Hem of the robe and it shall be on Aaron.
When he ministers and its sound shall be heard when he goes into the holy place before the Lord and when he comes out so that he does not die now I think if I was Aaron and Moses was walking me through this and he was like Oh and around to him was going to be a pomegranate and then a bell and then a pomegranate and then a bell I'd be like all right cool and then he'd say and the bells are going to make noise.
When you walk right yeah yeah so that you don't die and now let me tell you about the turban I think I'd have been like wait go back to the bells part but you see Aaron and Moses understood that Aaron and all the high priests are doing dangerous holy work because they're sinners and sinners don't just get to be in the presence of God this would be a very real thing to consider that that you don't get to just uh presume to be in the presence of.
God but I think it's really interesting that woven into him of this garment is pomegranates and bells I want to show you all this is a pomegranate I had to look it up I didn't know what pomegranates look like that's the pomegranate it's red I think it's about the size of like an orange it's uh that's not to scale that's way bigger than they are in real life it is full of seeds just full of them and so a pomegranate is a promise of life and blessing and fruitfulness that it holds This Promise of.
God fulfilling his promises that he's going to bless them he's going to multiply them he's going to provide for them that there's something good to come it's got seeds it's all these promises that are held inside of it and so in His Garment he has promise of blessing and life and fruitfulness right next to a bell that clings reminding him of his sinfulness and the danger that he has when he approaches God and I think that's beautiful he walks around with the Garden of Eden a place of promise and beauty and God's desire to love humans and to bless them and also the place of our greatest failure where sin enters the world and we're.
Up for Destruction and y'all Jesus has that woven into his person blessing and life and fruitfulness and the Fulfillment of promises and he carries our sin and our guilt and our death in him when we get into eternity we will be unmarked by sin but Jesus won't Jesus carries in his resurrected body the scars on his hands and on his side that when John sees him in the Book of Revelation and they declare look it's the line of the tribe of Judah and John says I looked.
But what I saw was a lamb that looked like he'd been slain that our high priest carries life and death in himself as well blessing and fruitfulness and promise and Hope but also a reminder of the sinfulness that would separate us from God verse 36 you shall make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it like the engraving of a Signet holy to the Lord and you shall fasten it on the turban by a cord of blue it shall be on the front of the turban it should be on Aaron's forehead and Aaron shall bear any guilt from the holy things that the people of Israel consecrate as their holy gifts it shall regularly.
Be on his forehead that he may be accepted before the Lord so the high priest is going to carry the people on his shoulders and on his heart he's going to carry the Judgment of God on his heart he's going to carry their guilt on his forehead and he's going to have pomegranates and bells around the Hem of His clothing and so when the author of Hebrews says he's our high priest we get to look and go yeah he's done that he Bears our guilt before the.
Lord that he carries Us in remembrance before the Lord that he carries in himself life and our death as he has conquered death so that we might be able to conquer death in him that he carries promise and hope and fulfillment and resurrection and that he brings us before the Lord in Hope just as the people of Israel would be able to look to their high priest and see the work that he was doing and trust that God was allowing it to work we get to.
Look to our heart our high priest and know that God has blessed and worked as well in verses 39 through 43 is going to talk about the clothes that will be made for Aaron's sons and the undergarments that they will have to wear all taking into consideration the unholiness of the priests which leads us to okay but how does this priest get to go be in the presence of God and that's where chapter 29 comes in he's going to be consecrated he's going to be set apart.
For it there's going to be sacrifices made on behalf of the priests and so God's going to tell Moses how to go about that so we're going to read the first part of Exodus 29 we're going to read the first part in the last part and I'll explain the middle chapter chapter 29 verse 1. now this is what you shall do to them to consecrate them that they may serve me as priests take one Bull of the herd and two Rams without blemish.
If you're reading the Old Testament and animals are introduced do not get emotionally attached to them this is a pro tip and unleavened bread unleavened cakes mixed with oil and unleavened Wafers smeared with oil and you shall make them a fine wheat flour you shall put them in one basket and bring them in the basket and bring the bull and the two Rams you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and wash them with water.
So the first thing they're going to do is be washed with water then you shall take the garments and put on air in the coat and the robe of the effort and the e-fit and the breast paste breast peace and gird him with the holy crown on the turban you shall take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him and then they're going to bring the sons and do the same thing and it says the priesthood shall be theirs by a statute forever sorry they're going to dress them in their clothes they're not going to point anointing poor anointing oil on the on the sons.
So they don't do exactly the same thing but it says there the priesthood should be there is by a statute forever thus you shall ordain Aaron and his sons they're going to set them apart and then they're going to lay their hands on the head of the bull and sacrifice the bull and they're going to place the blood of the bull on the corners of the altar the horns of the Altar and then they're going to put the blood against the altar to atone.
For the altar then they're going to burn up parts of the bull and burn up the rest of the bull outside the camp as a sin offering they're going to take the sin out and they're going to burn it up to help a tone for them and to Mark the altar is Holy then they're going to take the first Ram lay their hands on its head which is signifying that they're passing their sin over to it that this land is lamb this Ram is representing them.
And then that Ram will be sacrificed and burned as a burnt offering to the Lord and they'll see the smoke Ascend up to the Lord just as Jesus ascends up to the Lord the smoker sends up to the Lord in a pleasing fashion to him and then they're going to take the third Ram Place their hands on its head and it will atone for their sin as well some parts of it they will burn some parts of it they will cook and they will partake in a meal and it says they will eat of the ram that atoned from them and I'm reminded of something that we do quite often as we read through that.
That Jesus Christ dies for our sins and then he says if you don't partake in me then you have no part with me and he says that you will this is my body broken for you this is my bloodshed for you and one of the things that we do is we partake in Jesus our sacrificial lamb who atoned for us and we remind ourselves that we are welcome in by what he has done and that's what they do they kill this Ram.
Then they partake they eat a meal before the Lord then they go through a ceremony the last seven days with evening and morning sacrifices and then God says that these evening and morning sacrifices are going to continue forever that that's what they're going to do they're going to have an evening and morning sacrifice the evening and morning sacrifice go to verse 42. oh sorry the ram that they eat they put blood on their ears blood on their thumbs and blood on their uh big toe on their right side and they sprinkle blood all over them.
So they are covered in the blood of this Ram that has atoned for their sin and this is a picture of the fact that their sin deserves death they are covered in the blood this is why we sing songs about blood that were washed in the blood we're covered in the blood because this is what Jesus has done for us that he has washed us clean set us apart and paid for and atone for our sins by his blood and they did this with a ramp.
So they're covered in blood and then they eat a meal um together verse 42. it shall be a regular burnt offering throughout your Generations at the entrance of the tent of meeting before the Lord where I will meet with you to speak to you there there I will meet with the people of Israel and it shall be Sanctified by my glory I will consecrate the tent of meeting in the altar Arrow Aaron also and his sons I will consecrate to serve me as priests I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their.
God and they shall know that I am the Lord their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them I am the Lord their God if you were an Israelite at this time you could look to the Tabernacle you could look to the Smoke rising in the morning and the smoke rising in the evening and you could trust that there was a high priest there representing you before God and that your sins were being atoned.
For that you could see this and Trust but the sacrifice had to happen again the next day it had to continue to happen that he had to continue to to go before the Lord and receive this sacrifice and this hope that had to happen over and over and over again through all their Generations this had to happen but you could trust that the high priest was placed there by God that God was accepting the sacrifice that he was representing you before.
God bearing your guilt carrying your judgment bringing your name in remembrance and you could watch as this happened over and over and over and over again and Christians we get to look to Christ the Fulfillment of all these things who has perfectly accomplished our forgiveness I want you to see this this is Hebrews 10 and this is where we're going to end we're going to end in Hebrews 10 and we're going to take some of the conclusions that the author of the Hebrews draws from us having.
Jesus as our high priest and we're going to consider them as we finish up this morning Hebrews 10. 11 verse 11. and every priest stands daily at his service offering repeatedly the same sacrifices which can never take away sins so they can help pay for sin short term but they have to happen against tomorrow again tomorrow and they can never take it away they can't fix the problem so while this was a blessing to the people of Israel and a reminder of God's love and presence that he was doing all this.
So that he might dwell with them they never fix the problem when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins he sat down at the right hand of God waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet for buy a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified this is we talked about this earlier this year when we talked about the Ascension but that Jesus Christ dies on the cross he's buried on the.
Third day he rises and then he ascends into heaven and he takes a seat because he has perfected once for all time those who are being Sanctified he has fixed the problem of sin he has does not have a need to do this repeatedly and this is wonderful this is why Protestants when you look at a cross Jesus isn't on it because he's not there he's seated at the right hand of God the work is finished when you see an empty cross you get to be reminded that this isn't a work that has to be renewed.
For you but that it has been accomplished there is no smoke rising up daily it's been accomplished that we get to trust in the finished work of Jesus who has seated at the right hand of God who has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified we have a wonderful glorious high priest move down to verse 18. it says where there is forgiveness of these there is no longer any offering for sin verse 19 therefore brothers so because of this since we have a since we have.
First thing confidence to enter into the holy places by the blood of Jesus now the only person in the Old Testament who had confidence to enter into the holy places was the high priest the priest could go with him into the holy place but never could go into the most holy Place only the priest could do that but he says in the book of Hebrews the author of Hebrews says that we now because of the work of Jesus are welcomed in it's the.
First thing it says since we have confidence to enter into the holy places by the blood of Jesus by the New and Living Way that he opened for us through the curtain that is through his flesh and since we have a great high priest over the house of God then he's going to tell us because of those two things because we get to walk in like a high priest and since we have a great high priest then he's going to give us some conclusions.
So I want to to try to help us what do we do with this other than see how glorious Jesus is and how much better he is as a high priest what do we do with this how do we respond and since the author of Hebrews says since we have a great high priest let's do these things I thought hey let's do those things so you're welcome we're going to read those three things quickly to see what we're supposed to do with the fact that.
Jesus is our high priest and that he's made a way for us to enter verse 22 let us draw near with a True Heart in full Assurance of faith with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water the consecration ceremony of the priests was that they would be washed and then they would be sprinkled with blood in our faith in Christ we've been covered by his blood and we walk that out in baptism and what he says is you've been consecrated to enter into the presence of.
God you've been set apart so that you might enter into the presence of God and so he says with confidence and full Assurance do that pray with confidence and full assurance not Pride because it's not based in you it's confidence because it's based in Christ so with confidence and full Assurance go walk in speak to the Lord relate to him love him that's the first thing that we should do we should have full Assurance because it's worked out in Christ and that we've been consecrated and set apart by the Gospel the.
Second thing he says is let us hold fast the confession of Our Hope without wavering for he who promised is faithful let us hold fast the confession of Our Hope what's the confession of Our Hope it's that Jesus has accomplished this Jesus has worked this out on our behalf our hope is in him and it says the reason we can hold fast to this is that he who promised is faithful I grew up in the Aitkin North Augusta Edgefield area of South Carolina and there's a drag strip in Jackson where buddies of mine would go drag race.
And if you went to the drag race and sat in the car and let's say I don't know if they let you have passengers but this is imaginary so imagine that you could be a passenger let's say I'm the passenger in one of my buddies cars and we're about to race somebody and the guy next to us is Rev in his car because he's cool and you're supposed to do that so he's doing that and I look at my friend he's about to drive and I say I just don't know I just don't know.
If I can do this he says we got this and I said I just don't know if I'm fast enough my friend would look at me like I was stupid because that has nothing to do with what we're doing I don't have to run I'm pretty sure we're disqualified if I get out of the car I don't even know if I'm allowed to be in the passenger seat we've already established that this isn't a foot race and I'm not driving it's based off the car and this person driving.
And when we as Christians at times say things like I just don't know as I'm in sin I just don't know because I'm struggling I just don't know I have these doubts what does that have to do with it he who promised is faithful we just get to sit in the passenger seat it's based off of our confession of Hope which is Christ and what he has accomplished if we were in the tribe of Reuben and I looked at you and just said I just don't know.
If I'm going to be a good high priest you'd say bro I don't think you have to worry about that you're you're not you're not gonna so we're good and so when we at times go I just don't know I just yo we have a great high priest who has opened the way we get to hold fast to our confession and we get to do this with full Assurance because it's not based off of us and when we walk with confidence.
And when we hold fast Our Hope and when we do it with full Assurance we give great glory to Christ because we magnify his work not ours and our trust and our hope is in him not us so because we have a great high priest sleep well at night repent of sin with delight that he forgives and walk in confidence that you're okay not because you're great that's not the point you don't walk in confidence because you're well behaved you're welcome confidence.
Because Jesus forgives Sinners and you have a great high priest who has perfected once for all those who are being sanctified the third thing he says and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works I find it so interesting he says because we have a great high priest and because we get to enter in let us consider how to stir one another out to love and good works it's not about our love and good works it's not accomplished by us.
But let us consider this and y'all do we do that do you give intentional thought and effort to how to stir up your brothers and sisters in Christ towards love and good works with your community group before you're going over there to spend time with them before your group meeting time before y'all going to go get dinner together do you think how can I stir them up to love Jesus more to to go about accomplishing good works If we're honest I think more often we give consideration not about what they're getting from us.
But what we're getting from them that we might more often think I just don't I mean I just don't know what I'm getting out of that I know we're to consider what they're getting from us we're to consider how we might encourage and build up and drive them on it says this not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day Drawing Near not neglecting to be together.
If we're going to consider and be give effort towards stirring one another up to love and good works you know what you have to do to stir one another up be around one another and so if you've gotten in the habit of being around on Sundays once a month or hanging out with your group every third time or every other time or when it's you've had a long day and it's tiring and you're frustrated you're just thinking I just don't know.
If I want to do that right now I don't think you're considering how to stir them up I think you're considering how it applies to you and I think we're forgetting and neglecting to make this a regular habit that we're around God's people because we have a great high priest who works on our behalf so that we might walk in love and good works behind him and he says all the more as you see the day Drawing Near we ought to outpace the New Testament Believers in stirring one another up and an encouragement.
Because the day is nearer to us than it was to them and there is a day there is a day when we stand before the king washed of our sins covered by his blood and welcomed eternally because we have a great high priest who's entered in before us and may we praise His name let's pray Lord Jesus thank you thank you for surprisingly shockingly fulfilling what you had intended to do since eternity passed to wreck to Res to rescue and to redeem sinners.
Lord may we walk with confidence because of your sacrifice and your glory and may we draw near in hope to the praise of your name amen
The Tabernacle (Exodus 25-27)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
The Mosaic Covenant (Exodus 24)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Good morning my name is Spencer I am one of the pastors here we are continuing to walk through the book of Exodus and we are in Exodus chapter 24 uh today which in your blue Bibles is page 37 if you want to follow along there the text will also be on the screen one of the things that I get to do as a pastor that's very fun is about once or twice a year I get to perform wedding ceremonies and they're a lot of fun it's a it's a big powerful moment to be a part of and one of the things that I do in weddings is I use traditional wedding vows I try to.
Find more traditional language for the vows that uh that the husband and wife can are going to commit to do in with one another so here's a few of the lines from what I use I promise to love and support you in times of Plenty and in want in sickness and in health till death do us part and what's powerful about that moment is that as the husband and the wife are saying those words there's no way they have absorbed how weighty and how hard and how wonderful and how difficult it is going to be to live out those vows there's nothing that can prepare you.
For being able to live that out like I promise to love and support you through all kinds of things what if he gets really into like weird Niche Hobbies like puppetry Sports which is a thing what what if she decides to be a mom fluencer and goes hard after that like what through all of that like how do you love and support someone through things that you may not care about at all in times of Plenty and a want we all think about the plentiful times where things are going to be great where he gets a raise.
When she gets a raise and he gets six figures and all of a sudden we can buy a boat like that you have in mind is everyone as they're projecting out their marriage and say over time we're going to keep growing in income but what about the times when you were in want what about the times where he loses his job he can't find work for four or five months what happens when the bills are mounting up and a kid sticks a bean in his ear and has to be taken to the ER in the middle of the night.
And then all of a sudden you've got a thousand dollar medical bill that just gets put on the stack what about times of sickness and in health one of the moments at the end of life where five six seven years she's fading away from dementia she's not even remembering who you are what about till death do his part when you're holding his hand as he breathed his last breath no you're not ready for all of that when you take those vows you're taking a leap of faith to.
When the time comes you're going to be ready those are powerful in weighty words that you commit to as you enter into the Covenant of marriage today where in Exodus 24 and we're going to watch the nation of Israel enter into the Covenant relationship with their God and it's going to be like a bit of a like like a wedding where they're going to commit to following God and there's a lot that's built into that that they can't even begin to.
See yet so we're going to look at the details of this Covenant ceremony that we're going to see in Exodus 24 and then we're going to look at it as Christians looking back at that and what that means for us in our Christian faith now so let me pray and then we'll walk through this together Heavenly Father we thank you for the good news of the Gospel that we just got to sing for the truth of the Scriptures that opens our hearts.
God I pray that you help us be present I pray that you'd help us here and receive so that we can walk out your word and faith and in Repentance and in worship and delighting in you we answer this in Jesus name amen all right so the back end of Exodus we've said we're taking a little bit differently we've moved around a little bit we've taken mostly topically so let me just kind of reorient where we are in the Book of Exodus uh as we step into 24.
So in Exodus 19 God calls the people to Mount Sinai the Israelites are out Mount Sinai and then they receive the Ten Commandments which is really the header of the law we walk through those Ten Commandments one by one now what follows that for that is some laws pertaining to a few different things we looked at the laws pertaining to servitude we look at some of the laws last week that pertained to the feasts and then at the end of chapter 23.
God previews what's going to happen when they enter the promised land when God pronounces his judgment on the people of the land and creates a a promised land and a space for his people to be in his presence he's previewing that this is what's coming and then we get to chapter 24. we pick up in verse 1. then he said to Moses come up to the Lord you and Aaron nadab and abihu which neighbor and by who are the sons two of the sons of Aaron in 70 Elder seventy of the elders and worship from afar Moses alone shall come near to the.
Lord but the others shall not come near and the people shall not come up with him all right so again it's hard to remember where we are but Exodus 19 all the way up until really verse 4 of chapter 24 is actually all one day we've been in this for months but this is all one day and there's a lot that's happening in this one day and he's calling them as they're going to ratify this Covenant that he makes with his people a covenant is an agreement the treaty that he's making with his people.
But this Covenant that he's about to ratify the people are about to finalize that started in Exodus 19 earlier in the day which for us was months ago but if you can remember back when Exodus 19 this is when it all begins in verse 5 and 6. now therefore if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my Covenant you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples for all the Earth is mine and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
So this is when the Covenant began earlier in the day saying you are going to be my treasured possession my kingdom of priests my holy nation that's what they're going to be to the lord they're going to be a kingdom of priests so that means that the surrounding Nations that will be around the promised land they do not know God they do not honor God you get to be a kingdom of priests that declares the glory of God to the surrounding Nations he did not know him as my holy people in keeping this Covenant keeping the Ten Commandments and the law.
And then when we get here to chapter 24 this Covenant is being ratified it's being finalized and what we're about to witness and the ceremonial events that are included in this are a little bit foreign to us it's it may seem even weird if you've never encountered this in the Scriptures before but we have to remember we're very far removed from the context of the people three thousand years plus removed from an ancient nearest in context where this would have been more familiar ceremonial aspects.
For them it's foreign to us in the same way that if you took the Israelites and put them in a time machine and brought them to today and if they're out in front of a building and then there were people in front of this building and then all of a sudden they stretched out this long red ribbon and then somebody came in with giant swords that had handles and then cut that ribbon and then all the people clapped and they walked inside that would be pretty foreign to them.
Because they're not they don't know what that is but we know what that is it's a ribbon cutting ceremony it's a business opening up that's so we're removed from the context here and some of these details are going to be difficult to wrap our minds around what's happening but I just want to give you the highlights of what we're about to see we're about to see God come together with his people his kingdom of priests they're going to come together both parties will be represented there will be sacrifices that are made the terms of their agreement are going to be read The Ten Commandments.
And then they're going to come together and celebrate and a big Feast that follows and that's the gist of what we're going to see the details we're a little bit removed from so let's walk through this together verse 3. Moses came and Moses came and I told the people all the words of the Lord in all the rules and all the people answered with one voice and said all the words of the Lord has spoken we will do and Moses wrote down all the words of the.
Lord so this is what we're seeing right here is the rehearsal before the ceremony which is going to be the next day so he he reads the words and says all right are y'all in are we doing this and the people like at a rehearsal or saying yes all the words the Lord has spoken we will do it's all right come back tomorrow next morning and we're going to finalize this he rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and 12 pillars according to the 12 tribes of Israel.
So he builds an altar and this altar represents the presence of God this represents God's presence as a part of this Covenant agreement that he's making with the people then he builds in Rex 12 Stones 12 pillars and these 12 pillars represent the 12 tribes of Israel now both parties are present for this agreement verse 5. and he sent young men of the people of Israel who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen II the Lord so then he sends out young men and they gather sacrifices animals to be slaughtered.
Now and if you keep reading you're going to learn more about what these sacrifices are later in the Book of Leviticus but they offer burn offerings and peace offerings burnt offerings which you we can learn about later if you keep reading these are are for atonement the idea of this animal's death and its its death is covering your sin and Rebellion so this is atonement and also peace offerings which is meant to celebrate the fellowship that they have with God so they have burnt offerings and peace offerings which is foreign to us.
But that's what it represents that you all have sinned and you need covering for that sin and also fellowship with God those are offered together and then Moses does something very specific with the blood of the sacrifices for six and Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins and half of the blood he threw against the altar so he takes some of the blood of the sacrifices puts in the basins represents the people and then on the altar which represents.
God in this transaction and this Covenant ceremony blood goes on both bringing them and tying them together now super smart nerdy commentators theologians debate what's the significance of the blood and what's happening here and bringing them together and you can read some commentaries they're going to make compelling arguments about what's actually happening here is the inauguration the beginning of the kingdom of priests that some of the language here similar similar to later in Exodus 29 when the levitical priesthood the actual Priests of the people are consecrated.
When they are really inaugurated as the priests will represent the people and carry out the sacrificial system and all the responsibilities but actually What's Happening Here is that the whole nation is the kingdom of priests they're going to be a kingdom of priests to the surrounding Nations so a lot of the rituals here that this this Blood that's being spilled here it's meant to signify that and that's fairly compelling and then you see other commentators that go no what's actually happening here is that this is very very ancient near Eastern Covenant uh marital type ceremony stuff this is the coming together of two parties together as one.
And then the feast that follows after this which we'll read about in a moment this is actually this is more of a wedding and they'll make compelling arguments on both sides but guess what both are true because it is a little bit shades of the kingdom of priests who are going to represent God people and it is also to come together of two parties God and His People Israel together in holy Union that's what's happening in this ceremony and the ceremony continues in.
Verse 7. then he took the book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people and they said all the Lord has spoken we will do and we will be obedient so no longer rehearsal we're in it now they are giving their vows all that the Lord has spoken we will do and we will be obedient we're talking about The Ten Commandments and What flows out of the Ten Commandments the rest of the law they're saying we're in I do we're doing this we're going to be obedient.
God we're going to follow your laws and your words and your statutes I do so it's red they commence their vows and Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said behold the blood of the Covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words and that becomes a very tangible reminder of what is at stake in this Covenant part of what's Happening Here is is that in this Covenant you need covering so some of this is atonement type being poured out on the people.
But also this is a sign of what's going to happen if you break this Covenant it's a sign of judgment that you've committed to follow the law you've committed to be obedient but if you aren't obedient this is what's going to happen judgment is going to come so shades of atonement and shades of judgment are found in the pouring of the blood on the people and then we pick it up and verse 9. that Moses and Aaron nadab and abihu in the 70 and 70 of the Elders of Israel went up.
So we're going to see them actually go up and they're going to now leave this part of the way of the ceremony and they're going to have a reception they're going to have a feast to commemorate this ratification this I do this commitment in this Covenant relationship with God and his people verse 10. and they saw the God of Israel there was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone like the very heaven for clearness and he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel they beheld.
God and ate and drank and boy oh boy when you read verse 10 11 there's a lot of what what's happening at this this reception this and there's a lot going on here and there's a lot of debate over what's happening here because the Hebrew kind of gives some flexibility on interpreting how this is I don't want to get caught in the weeds of this section I just want to give you a general idea of what's Happening Here the people of.
God represented by the seventy Elders the priesthood which is Aaron and his two sons the beginning of the priesthood and Moses they go further to have reception before God and they behold the glory of God they behold his wondrous Glory we sang that Revelation Song earlier holy holy holy and all the imagery that went with that from The Book of Revelation they're catching a glimpse of that they're they're getting to eat a meal before the glory of God it says before his feet not his face which we.
See later on in Exodus 32 that if you see the face of God sinner is in the presence of a holy and perfect God in the face of God cannot stand and live but they are before the feet of God in ways that kind of break our brains and they have this meal before the glory of God and I can't the the imagery here and how spectacular and wondering how all filled this is that after this holy ceremony and commitment they have this wonderful glorious all-inspiring reception it's powerful.
And then once that's done it continues in verse 12. the Lord said to Moses come up to me on the mountain and wait there that I may give you the tablets of stone with the law and the Commandment which I have written for their instruction this will be the tablets The Ten Commandments are written upon so Moses rose with his assistant Joshua and Moses went up into the Mountain of God and he said to the elders wait here for us until we return to you.
Behold Aaron and her are with you whoever has a dispute let him go to them so the Elders of the people Moses Aaron Aaron's two sons they moved up the mountain to have this feast this reception and then they Moses and Joshua continue to ascend up the mountain further and we're going to see in a moment that Moses is going to be the one that keeps going and this is symbolic here because Moses is the one who's leading them in the wilderness and later on Joshua is the one who is leading them and to the conquest into the promised land.
So both of them enter up the mountain further verse 15 then Moses went up on the mountain and the cloud covered the mountain and this is where I think Moses keeps going Joshua doesn't go the full distance verse 16 the glory of the Lord dwelt on Mount Sinai and the cloud covered it six days and on the seventh day he called out to Moses out of the midst of the cloud now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain and the sight of the people of Israel which just imagine being an Israelite deep at the base of the mount looking up and seeing the.
Glory of God like a like a devouring fire encircling the mountain maybe you can see in the distance there's a tiny little person that's Moses and he he's going to enter into the presence of the glory of God and that's how this chapter ends in verse 18 Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain and Moses was on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights and this is the finalizing of the Covenant that began in Exodus 19. the Covenant that.
God is making with his people that's called the mosaic Covenant the Covenant through his servant Moses to the people and the two parties coming together and it's an awesome event it's a Monumental event the people of Israel would remember for years would tell of for Generations that they committed to following God they committed to being obedient to God to display the Holiness of God unlike any other people and it began back in Exodus 19 but there's something very significant there's something very significant back in Exodus 19 that gets brought into what we read in.
Verse 24 and we can't miss it he says now if you will obey my voice and keep my Covenant you will be my treasure possession now if now therefore if you obey my voice if if is a conditional statement which shows this Covenant is what is called a bilateral Covenant the Covenant that they're making here is a by lateral Covenant it is a two-sided Covenant it means that disagreement to be held in place it's responsible upon both parties which is familiar to us almost every contract you can think of that we would sign and this world both parties have to fulfill the obligations in that contract that's what's happening here this is a bilateral Covenant.
If you obey my voice if you keep my Commandments if you do this then God will find favor upon them will protect them will provide for them that's the exchange here obedience favor if this is very different than the Covenant of Abraham which is back in Genesis 15. that if you are reading through the Bible and you get the first really or the second Covenant that you see in the Bible in the Book of Genesis chapter 15. God makes a covenant with Abraham and that one is not a bilateral Covenant that is what's called a unilateral Covenant one that.
God chooses Abraham in order that he might bring he might bless the Nations through Abraham by building a great nation through him and in that Covenant that God makes only God is responsible it is not incumbent upon Abraham to keep that Covenant God is going to keep that Covenant promise I am going to bless the Nations through you that is only the work of God but in this Covenant it is different in the Mosaic Covenant that we just read that we just saw celebrated and ratified that is a two-party Covenant the Covenant of Moses clarifies the people must live in right relationship with.
God and if if they break their marital vows if they don't abide by the law if they don't obey the voice of God the marriage is over if they become an adulterous people and chase after foreign Gods this Covenant will be shattered one of my favorite I always actually say my favorite rom-com is the breakup the breakup throwback to the 2000s just show a fans raise your hand if you've seen the breakup so I know what I'm working with all right generally half.
Okay I love that movie my family we love that movie if you haven't seen it just go to YouTube and type in the breakup dinner scene that's all you need the rest of it's good but I could literally look at my parents and go tap tap tappy tap tap tappy and they're gonna go Gary on the kick drum it's wonderful it's hilarious we love that movie but when I saw that movie in theaters and then other people saw other people did not like it and it's not.
Because they were dumb it's because it's because they were disappointed they're like they they break up why do you want to watch a rom-com or about a breakup they break up and it's like did you not see the title yeah did you not it's literally in the title it's called the breakup I mean goodness if if Old Yeller was called he shot the dog you would not be disappointed at the end when he shoots the dog you see it coming it's in the title The Breakup.
But it makes the rest of the movie difficult to watch at times because you're watching a couple just break up and that's what it feels like if you know the rest of the Old Testament and when you read Exodus 24 in light of the rest of the Old Testament man it can be a painful read because you're seeing them take this vow I'm gonna we're gonna be obedient God we're going to do it and you know they're going to do everything they're going to do exactly what.
God told them not to do but they're going to forsake God they're going to chase after foreign gods and you also know that ultimately God's going to bring judgment upon them the Assyrians the Babylonians and judgment is going to be poured out on the people all the Lord has spoken we will do and we will be obedient this Earnest desire we will be obedient and then the looming word that's attached to that in Exodus 19 is if if and when you.
See that for what it is it's like how could the people commit to this all the how how did they know what they were getting into and there's a little bit of when you read it it's like what is God doing calling this people into this Covenant knowing good and well that they are such a wayward people knowing that they're so driven to chase after other idols they're going to so deeply struggle to fulfill this what is God doing and even calling these people into this Covenant there are a few reasons I'm going to give you three quick ones.
First God is Creator he is the God The Sovereign God over all things he gets to dictate the terms of the relationship so when the people say we'll be obedient they should God is Holy and we should be holy as God as holy so when he says that he absolutely is with they should want that they should agree to do that but there are unable due to their sin they're unable this Covenant will be shattered and that's the second thing is they just the Mosaic Covenant reveals that the people of.
God couldn't do this in the first place they could not obey the law which means that which doesn't mean that this Covenant has no purpose if they cannot obey the law But ultimately what that does reveal is is that there is someone who is going to have to obey the law there is someone who's going to have to say all the Lord has spoken I will do and be obedient and it's going to have to come through Abraham because that Covenant is a promise that will come true and ultimately it's going to come from the tribe of Judah ultimately he's going to come from the household of David in the Covenant that is made there.
Later on and of course the descendant who comes to fulfill this Mosaic Covenant in a way that the people could not fulfill it is Christ that ultimately this Covenant was made so that Christ could come and fulfill it for the people so that Christ could obey the law perfectly and at the right time Jesus is born and for the next 33 years he lives under the Mosaic Covenant and obeys it perfectly every single law every single marking he spotlessly righteously.
Then instead of having another oxen slaughtered and blood spilled to cover the sins of the people Jesus Takes that perfect record and he goes to the cross goes to the Cross where his blood is poured out to cover the sins of the people there's a reason we as Christians sing songs like there's a fountain-filled blood there's a reason that we're seeing as Sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains for those who do not know the Gospel that sounds weird.
But the hope that we have in Christ is is that that's our only hope we could not obey the law we could not fulfill the Mosaic Covenant we are sinners in need of mercy and the blood of Jesus is poured out on us on the cross and that's our hope and then when Jesus is buried and Rises on the third day and conquers the power of death and its grip that is held upon us he ultimately is fulfilling Exodus 24 he's fulfilling this Covenant which means we as Christians get to.
Look back at Exodus 19-24 we get to look back at this Mosaic Covenant differently and the key to understanding it and our relationship with the law is in a few places but one of them is Romans 7. so go to Romans 7. start again verse one this is how we as Christians get to approach the law or do you not know Brothers for I am speaking to those who know the law and specifically context here in Romans this is he's really talking to Jewish Christians right.
Now Jewish Christians who had spent their lives trying to fulfill the Mosaic Covenant on their own he says I'm speaking to those who know the law that the law is binding on a person as long as he lives four verse 2. a married woman is bound by the law Bound by law to her husband while he lives but if her husband dies she's released from the law of marriage highlighting that the Covenant that you make in marriage is binding until death do you part.
But when he or she dies it's no longer binding verse 3 accordingly she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive but if her husband dies she is free from that law and if she marries another man she's not an adulteress meaning that if her husband dies and then she remarries she's not adulterous because that Covenant of marriage is over and a new covenant begins in its place and this Paul takes that understanding.
And then explains the law likewise verse 4 my brothers you also have died to the law through the body of Christ so that you may belong to another to him Jesus who has been raised from the dead in order that we might bear fruit for God he's saying your relationship with the law is over it's over that marriage is done you have died when you place your faith in Jesus death to life happens and you were born again into something and someone knew a new creation in Christ.
Therefore because of the death of Jesus is because this new established Covenant of Faith you aren't married to the law anymore you're wedded to Christ you belong to Jesus and not the law of verse 5 4. while we were living in the flesh our sinful passions aroused by the law we're at work and our members to to bear fruit for death verse six but now we are released from the law having died to that which held us captive so that we serve in the new way of the spirit not in the old way of the written code.
So Christians we have a new covenant in Christ we have a new relationship in Christ the Israelites served under a bi-lateral covenant that required both sides there is no if in Jesus there is no if in Christ there is no two-sided agreement in Christ Jesus unilaterally unconditionally saves us he redeems us and then sets us apart to be a people for his own possession and then he puts his Holy Spirit in US and then God carries us and Carries us and Carries us and Carries us all the way and to our future Promised Land which is eternity with.
God that is a unilateral Act of God that is not a two-sided Affair God unilaterally saves us the bilateral Mosaic Covenant ultimately was meant for Christ to come and fulfill it so that we would not be a people that worked for our salvation but trust only in the finished work of Christ which means brothers and sisters some of you need to stop treating your faith like it's a bilateral Covenant some of you need to stop treating your faith like it's a two-party transaction some of you need to stop treating your faith like it's a conditional faith it's not and some of you some of you have this misunderstanding that being a Christian means being a.
Good person that you bring your good works and you maybe even see yourself as a good person that I'm a Christian because I go to worship on Sunday or I'm a part of a community group I read my Bible or I pray or I serve others or I give or I do all these things which are good things to do and you say I'm a Christian because of all these things that I do and your misunderstanding that's that's not the Gospel you're a Christian.
Because God and His Rich kind Mercy saved you in spite of your sin he redeemed you and some of you may not see yourself I'm okay now I'm not I'm not like that I don't I don't see myself as I actually see my sin but like I just I I feel this need like I've got to do I gotta prove I gotta I gotta grind I gotta I gotta I gotta keep earn like I'm gonna lose the favor of God because of the sin of my life I just got I gotta and it's this endless toil and this endless striving where your soul is never at peace and it's never in rest and you keep.
Thinking that your side of the agreement you've got to fill and the works that you do I've got I've got to keep filling it up as if it's some type of scale that's going to balance out and there's not enough good works in the world that could ever outdo this in our lives and then there's some of you that have you know I have some of you like I have this I understand this by Grace have been saved through faith it's not of works I'm not saved by works I'm not saved by works.
But all you can see in this relationship with Jesus is your sin that all you can see is is the sin beneath you this indwelling sin that's in all and it leads you to a place of no longer actually seeing Christ in in overshadowing your sin you you all you can see is your sin and therefore it leads to this pattern of self-loathing of self-hatred that in this relationship with Jesus all you see is your sin and you don't like yourself at all and that's all you can.
See and you might protest but you don't you don't know me if you knew the thoughts there in my head if you knew what I did in the quiet of the night if you saw my sin if you knew there's no reason that God should want me and all you see is your sin and I want you to hear the words written by a pastor named Dane ortlin that describes the unilateral love and mercy of Christ that you so desperately need to hear.
So I just want you if that's you this morning I want you to hear this so very clearly he says that God is rich in Mercy means that your regions of deepest shame and regret are not hotels through which Divine Mercy passes but homes in which Divine Mercy abides that the parts of you where you feel the most shame and regret that your life is not a hotel where God's mercy comes from a moment that Fades away it is a home where it abides it means that it means the things about you which make you cringe the most make him hug hardest it means his Mercy is not calculating and cautious like ours it is.
Unrestrained flood-like sweeping magnanimous it means our haunting shame is not a problem for him but the very thing he loves most to work with hear that again The Haunting Parts the parts that make you cringe the most are the parts of you that Jesus Delights in working with the most it means our sins do not cause his love to take a hit our sins cause his love to search forward all the more it means on that day when we stand before him quietly unheardly we will weep with relief shot at how impoverished a view of his Mercy Rich heart we had that is the unconditional unilateral Mercy of.
God this is not a two-party agreement it's a one-sided affair with a deep Abiding Love of God that we sang about earlier where his Mercy is so much more than we could ever possibly imagine that's the God who loves you that's the God that loves you so much that He sent Jesus to die for you and to rise for you so that you might not stare at your sin so that you might not put your works in your hope and works.
So that we might be a people that when we see our sin we see our glorious savior that's the Savior that fulfills Exodus 24 that's the Savior who died for us and that's the Savior we get to sing about let me pray for us Heavenly Father I pray that you would help us see how wonderful it is that we don't live under the law that we don't have to fulfill the obligation the requirements of the law that we get to when we.
See our sin look to you as our only hope and I pray that for the Christian in here that is so deeply troubled by their sin in a way that they cannot seek you clearly that today you would absolutely open their eyes to the mercies of God that they so desperately need to see and I pray that you would go to work in the hearts of anyone that have not that has not experienced this yet who asks in Jesus name amen we're going to sing one more song and the reality is that some of you have never actually tasted and seen that the.
Lord is good some of you have never actually seen the good news of the Gospel and made that your only hope that maybe you've thought all along that being a Christian means I got to clean myself up or being a Christian means I've got to bring I gotta get back into Church I got to do good things I gotta be a good Christian and I want you to hear so clearly this morning that's not the Gospel the Gospel is you seeing your sin and seeing Christ as your only hope we're about to sing a song called all I have is Christ in it and it says you looked upon my helpless State that's our confession.
God you looked upon my helpless state because I could not fulfill the law because I could not be obedient enough you looked upon my helpless state it led me to the Cross some of you have never made that decision some of you have never actually made that commitment to say I need Christ I'm a helpless State I am a sinner and this morning the invitation is there our God is before you sang Come experience my mercy and my goodness and my love and my grace it is offered.
But you have to take it you have to take a step of faith and place your hope and the life and the death and the resurrection of Jesus and my hope is this morning so as we sing this song some of you need to sing this as a confession of what you believe but something you need to confess it for the first time foreign.
Feasts! (Exodus 23:14-17)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Good morning my name is Chet I'm one of the pastors here grab your Bibles go to Exodus chapter 23. we're working our way through the book of Exodus and we're studying Exodus and we're trying to as we go through ask what does this mean for Christians how do we learn from this how does this point us to Jesus what how can we grow as God's people as we study this and we're going to look at a section in Exodus today that I think would be pretty easy to read.
If you were reading through the book of Exodus on your own I think it'd be pretty easy to read and not give it much thought and just keep right on moving but I think that it's very interesting that while God is giving the law and training this nation is what it looks like to follow him that he gives them what we're going to look at today this past week I was assaulted there's a person in my community group named Parker Bramlett and after our group met he was talking to us a handful of people had left and there's only a few of us left and he was talking to us about he's got a fight.
Coming up he's been practicing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and so I said you want to show me what you got which he he agreed to so quickly uh it seemed as if he had been wanting to beat me up for some time and so he went into my backyard and uh you know scoped out the spot and then he told me a few things about how we were supposed to start and then we rolled which is what it's called it's not called wrestling it's Brazilian Jiu Jitsu you roll.
And so we rolled and there were a couple of times where it was very evident if you were watching us that one of us had been practicing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and one of us had been watching TV on his couch at one point I did something I kind of shot in to grab him and he he leapt on to me and I had two thoughts pretty quickly one was oh no he was very prepared for me to do that the second thought was I cannot breathe.
And so uh it was it was over pretty quickly that evening I was sitting on the couch holding my neck going back and forth like this after he had left I was like I hope I'm gonna be able to move my head tomorrow and my sweet wife I was sitting you know over there and she's looking at me and she said something and this is a paraphrase I don't remember exact words but it was something along the lines of you're dumb and this was your fault um the things that we practice the things that we rehearse the things that we repeat become the things that are ingrained in us that become the things that are.
A part of us become the things that stick with us the things in your life that you're best at are the things that you've rehearsed they're the things that you've practiced they're the things that you've repeated the things that you've done over and over again and some things are mundane tasks that you've repeated over and over again some of these are bigger things but I mean I I'm willing to bet there are some of you that still remember a poem that you learned in middle school.
But it was because you had to say it in front of everybody some of you still know lines from plays that you were in in high school some of you still know plays from sports that you were in that you practice you repeated them over and over and over again and we're going to see that God on a very zoomed out level for the nation of Israel gives them things that they're going to repeat he gives them things that they're going to rehearse.
So that they'll remember and so that they'll become a part of who they are he builds in practices for them commands practices of them to build into them who they are as a people and that's we're going to look at this morning so let's pray and then we'll we'll jump into the text together God we're thankful that you rescued a people out of slavery or that you taught them what it meant to belong to you and we're thankful that as we study that we get to.
See that you've done that all over again gloriously through Christ that you've rescued a people for yourself out of slavery and that you're at work and teaching us what it means to belong to you so may we grow in that together this morning in humility and worship to your glory amen Exodus chapter 23 we're going to start in verse 14. now we're going to look at verse 14 it's starting at about verse 10 as he's finishing up some of the regulations of the law where he's telling them this is how you'll act this is how you'll handle things this is what you do.
If someone steals this is what you do someone murders he reiterates the Sabbath which is a weekly practice of rest and in it he talks about you're going to rest so you might be refreshed and so he builds in this pattern of rest for them every week which is significant when you consider that these were slaves that God is adopting them and teaching them what life is going to look like as they belong to him and as slaves they used to belong to Pharaoh they used to belong to the Egyptians and their value came from their productivity.
But God says no you belong to me now and you're going to rest you're going to have normal patterns of healthiness it's almost as if you considered someone who was adopted out of a very difficult situation into a home where there was peace where there was Joy where there was going to be food today and food tomorrow and the parents are teaching them no that's you don't have to stick that in your pocket you don't have to hide these things from us you don't have to act this way anymore this situation is different and that's some of what God's doing with the people of Israel he's saying no no this is how we're going to.
Act because you're in a better situation because you belong to me now and so as he's doing that he says this verse 14. three times in the year you shall keep a feast to me now in the Old Testament there's two Hebrew words that are translated feast and the best way I could think to think of it is is there's like a lowercase f feast and a capital letter F Feast so there's Feast which means eat a lot have a feast.
So this is the Book of Esther uh aha Suarez has a feast then Esther holds a feast it just means we're going to eat a lot then there's the capital F Feast which is these the man did holidays and so these include the idea lowercase f feasting but they're bigger in this word here when it's used as always referring to these specific ones that God has commanded so three times in the year you shall keep a feast to me you shall keep the Feast of unleavened bread as I commanded you you shall eat unleavened bread.
For seven days at the appointed time in the month of a bib for in it in that month you came out of Egypt None Shall appear before me empty-handed you shall keep the Feast of harvest of the first fruits of your labor of what you sow in the field you shall keep the Feast of in gathering at the end of the year when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor three times in the year shall all your males appear before the.
Lord God okay a couple of things on this as a whole and then we're going to walk back through what each one of these was about three times the entire nation of Israel stops and holds feasts but these were feasts where they had to gather these are the pilgrim feasts they had to go from wherever they were to where the Tabernacle was or eventually where the temple was so all productivity stopped and all the males had to show up now there's a couple reasons why it's all the males one is the males LED In Worship in their civil society and in the household.
So he's saying y'all are going to lead in this as well which is a part of all of those things you're going to lead your family well you're going to lead the nation well you're going to lead in worship well you're going to lead well in all of you are going to present yourselves before me this did not exclude females they were invited but there was an invitation for females and an obligation for males just some practical things men don't get pregnant or nurse children.
And so there would have been times where it would have been very difficult for women to be able to travel and do this but we do see that all families at times would Worship in this way we see that throughout the Old Testament we see it with Jesus's family his family was there so it's an invitation to females but an obligation for males the other thing that goes along with this all males will appear is that they will have no defense of their Nation.
If you read through the Old Testament they were consistently losing land losing cities reclaiming land reclaiming cities and there's a promise in Exodus 34 where he says you're going to appear before me and no Nation will covet your land during this time because it would make a lot of sense if you were someone who hated the Israelites and you knew three times out of the Year all the men are going to be gone for about three weeks they've all got to travel into Jerusalem they've got to hold a feast.
For a week they're going to be there then they're going to have to come on back that would be the time to attack them and God says I want you to trust me that I'll protect you that ultimately you're going to live out you're going to embody that your protection comes from me anyway I need you to trust me that your protection comes from me not from you you're all going to appear and so three times they had week-long Feasts now most of us have jobs where we might get two weeks of vacation three weeks of vacation maybe over time you build it up this was built into the nation of Israel that they were.
Not just going to have vacation they were going to have Feasts worshipful celebrations for weeks at a time and this is just the three Pilgrim ones they had other ones that they would have to celebrate throughout the year these are the ones that had to all show up together that God built into them this pattern of worship and celebration so let's look at what each one of these was doing as they were rehearsing and remembering what God had done for them and who he was.
So go back to verse 15. you shall keep the Feast of unleavened bread as I commanded you you shall eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the months of abib for in it you came out of Egypt None Shall appear before me empty-handed okay so this is the Feast of unleavened bread or it's also called Passover and this is a remembrance Feast the reason that's their first month of the year is because it's the month that he rescued them out of Egypt.
So they're going to hold a feast that's going to celebrate what God has done for them at the Passover judgment was coming on Egypt and the people of Israel were told you're going to take a lamb had to meet certain specifications had to be without blemish had to be a certain age and you're going to sacrifice this lamb and you're going to paint your door with the blood of the Lamb and you're going to stay in your house and when judgment comes by it's going to pass over you.
Because the blood will stand between you and judgment and it'll keep you safe but if you don't do this if there's no blood between you and judgment you will receive judgment and it was at this time that very night that when this happened that God rescued them out of slavery and he says you're going to gather as a nation forever and celebrate you've been rescued out of slavery and that judgment passed over you and they had certain parts that went along with that they ate unleavened bread.
Because they didn't have time for it to rise they made the bread but they didn't have time for it to rise so they had to go ahead and cook it they had to eat it quickly so when they would eat this some of the practices they had meant that if anyone asked why are we doing this which if you have children they ask why are we doing this why are we sacrificing a lamb why are we eating unleavened bread why are we having to go how long are we going to be there are we there yet all of these kind of questions and they had answers the reason we eat unleavened bread the reason we.
Sacrifice a lamb which might be different from some of our holidays why are we bringing a tree inside of our house because it's Christmas okay but why are we putting lights on it I already told you it's Christmas yeah but why hey eat some candy and shut up like we might need to grow a little bit and some of the practices we have but they had reasons behind all of the things they were reenacting and that was that feast and we're told that they celebrated it in.
Second chronicles and a couple of the things that they said was that they celebrated it with great gladness and that the priests and the Levites were daily singing with all their might which I don't know if you've ever done that sung with all your might but it's actually one of the most wonderful things about being a human and if you're ever singing with all your might in the light of the Lord it's excellent and that's what they were doing verse 16 the.
Second one they had you shall keep the Feast of harvest of the first fruits of your labor of what you sow in the field all right so this Feast of harvest is kind of a two-part Feast they had the Feast of first fruits that would actually take place during the Passover feast and what they did was with their barley and grain Harvest you were not allowed to to eat any of the barley or grain Harvest any of the new barley or grain until you had.
First brought together as a nation the first bit of barley and grain and presented it to the Lord they actually would take the first Sheaf of grain and wave it to the Lord and then they would sacrifice his food offerings to the Lord before they were able to eat any of it now if you've been waiting a long time for your barley and your grain to show up and the first bit of it shows up you're going to be tempted to eat that or to save that you're probably not going to be super tempted to devote all of that to the.
Lord but the reason they did was because they were saying this is a down payment this is a promise that God's the one who provides for us that he's the one who's in charge of the Harvest that the rest of this stuff will grow won't get blighted won't get eaten won't get locusts won't get stormed won't get knocked down that the rest of this will actually will have a harvest and so they would bring this and it was a down payment in faith that.
God was going to provide for them and so they did that and then seven weeks or 50 days later they had what was called the Feast of Weeks because it was seven weeks or Pentecost because it was 50 days same thing so the Feast of Weeks the Feast of the first fruit and the Feast of Pentecost is all the same thing then they would get together and celebrate and eat and worship together for a week and they would have all these sacrifices that were going on that were sin sacrifices and sin offerings and food offerings and they would celebrate that the wheat and the barley that they.
First waived that God had fulfilled his promise and they would celebrate together at Pentecost it's actually also Pentecost is the same time when the law is given that was actually seven weeks after the first Passover God gives the law and then every year they're going to celebrate that God provides for them both at the Feast of the Harvest which would be Feast of first fruits to Feast of Weeks or Pentecost in Deuteronomy for the Feast of Weeks and for the Feast of the end Gathering they're commanded to Rejoice which I think is very helpful.
Because if you're reading some of these you might would ask what's the tone how are we supposed to approach God and he says Hey in this house that you've been adopted into we're going to celebrate and the things that you would celebrate anyway like our Harvest has come in I'm going to celebrate with you we're going to celebrate together and Delight together in provision and protection and guidance back half of verse 16 you shall keep the Feast of in gathering at the end of the year you shall keep the Feast of in-gathering at the end of the year.
When you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor so this was olives and grapes and it was the end of the harvest season so it's not the end of their calendar year but it's the end of the Harvest year and so at the very end of the Harvest year they're going to have another week-long feast and this became it's the Feast of end Gathering but also because they rebel against God I don't want to ruin the rest of Exodus.
For you but they rebel against God and then they have to wander in the wilderness for 40 years it also becomes the Feast of booths or Tabernacles which would be like the Feast of tents they they go stay in tents they camp out for a week together to remember that in the in gathering and in their wandering in the wilderness that God provides for them so they rehearse and reenact as a nation for a week that God is the one who provides.
God is the one who protects and so they as a whole people yearly weeks at a time had to rehearse over and over again had to remember over and over again our God rescued Us From Slavery Our God pays for our sin our God is the one who provides for us so we can trust him that he'll take care of us our God is the one who protects us and gives us all good things we celebrate and rejoice with our God and they did this over and over and over and over again.
God specifically commands to them this is what it's going to look like as you all belong to me now we're Christians so what do we do with that first we don't have to practice the Feast of Passover or in gathering or first fruits or booths we don't practice those things we don't have to do that as a people who belong to Jesus there's specifically that kind of question what do Christians do with the law is asked repeatedly in the New Testament.
Because it was a bunch of Jewish people who the Christ came out of the Jewish people and it was a bunch of Jewish people who were then seeing that Gentiles to non-jewish peoples were becoming Christians and so they were asking hey what do we do with the law because the Holy Spirit's rescuing people they're believing in Jesus what do we do with the law in Acts 15 they get together and they have a whole big meeting that says what do we do with the law do these people have to submit to circumcision do they have to submit to the law of Moses Peter at one point stands up and says why would we put on.
Them first of all the Holy Spirit has already redeemed them and already given them Faith why would we put on them something that we and our fathers could not stand under the weight of we believe that they'll be saved by the grace of Christ just as we are and so the law is fulfilled by Christ but does not come to us in full force and we talked about that two weeks ago we talked about it some in part last week we'll probably keep saying it as we go through the book of Exodus.
So it's fulfilled for us so what do we do with this Paul actually says this in Colossians is he's talking to people he's talking to a Church that had Gentile Believers and Jewish Believers and they're dealing with some of how do we work this out what does it mean to follow Christ who is the Messiah he's the Jewish Messiah but are we supposed to still follow the law Paul says this in verse 16. therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.
Now that therefore is coming after it's coming in conclusion you can go read Colossians 2 it's coming in conclusion to a big argument he's making which is the mystery has been revealed the mystery is Christ that all of it is in Christ and so as we try to follow him he's what it's about and so he says with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath basically with regard to the Jewish calendar no one passes judgment on you with regard to this these these practices that.
God put in place are a shadow of the things to come but the substance belongs to Christ they were ultimately meant to be markers that prepared and pointed to Jesus that's what they are so let's talk for a second about the substance of these belonging to Christ and then we'll just talk about how do we get to as Christians respond to what it looks like for us to remember and to rehearse what it looks like for us to belong to Jesus.
So Jesus is crucified on the Passover Corinthians tells us he is our Passover Lamb he's the blood that covers Us covers our household stands in between us and death stands in between us in judgment he is the sacrifice for the people of God there is no other one to come it is Christ he's the high priest he's the sacrifice he's the one who has rescued us he is our Passover we're also told that he is the first fruits that this idea of.
First fruits is used three times in the New Testament where they're just taking you know that concept of first fruits here's how this applies to us we're told that Jesus is the first fruits of the Resurrection meaning that we can look at him and know because he rose will rise we're also told that the Holy Spirit at work in you now as a Christian is the first fruits of what's going to ultimately happen that he's going to rescue and redeem and make you whole completely we're also told that the new Believers in the Church at the.
First century were the first fruits of us that they were a promise of what was to come that more people were going to be rescued by Jesus so they just take this idea of first fruits and keep saying that's fulfilled that's applied that's at work and Spirit comes at Pentecost 50 days after Passover so where the law came and was written on tablets of stone and ultimately I don't want to give too much away three thousand people are going to die in Rebellion the spirit Falls written on hearts and three thousand people are Made Alive.
God is fulfilling his work through the cross through the calendar through Pentecost and he is fulfilling and being the substance of these in Christ and then in the Feast of booths we get to trust God where we are right now that he's going to get us home that he's going to provide for us that he's going to make it we're going to make it to the promised land and then the in gathering we we believe that he's the one who ultimately provides all good things.
For us that the substance belongs to Jesus that our story is a bigger story a better story and that we belong under that so what are you rehearsing Christians aren't given a calendar we're not even given in the Old Testament a full Jewish calendar so we're not meant to follow this we're not told we have to follow these festivals we aren't given any holidays whenever anybody's like people have before said to me you know Jesus probably wasn't even born on the 25th it's like good you have just proven nothing according to the Bible.
Because it doesn't tell us so the odds are if you I mean probably good there's 364 other days you know so good you did it like we don't we're not told that we have to practice any of these we're not told that we we can we're not commanded to we're commanded to practice what we practice in faith we're commanded to practice what we practice and joy and Delight we're commanded to be people who are under this story and rehearse this story.
So let's just take a second and consider what are you practicing what are you rehearsing let's think about your day I want to tell y'all something about my day every single day I'm a full-grown man yes sometimes I get beat up in my backyard but I'm a full-grown man and every day I get all tuckered out and I need to eat and I need to sleep or I'm going to be pretty grumpy every day I stayed up one time for 24 hours straight and I hated it is the worst we had a son at the end of the day and that was fine.
But it was a long day every time in college people are like we're going to pull an all-nighter I'm like I'm not if I'm dumb at 10 o'clock at night I'm just going to be dumb at nine in the morning I'm not staying up for this you have to sleep you have to eat and you rehearse this over and over again and in those moments do you remember your strength isn't found in you your hope isn't found in you your provision is brought to you by.
God your protection is brought to you by God and that you get to live under a bigger story and a better family every day you think things every day and all of us are mentally rehearsing things and some of you are mentally rehearsing things that are contrary to the Gospel you are over and over again in your head you would tell me if I asked you do you belong to Jesus you would say yes and I would say are you sure and you would say yes.
And then you would leave and in your head you would say things to yourself like I'm a failure I'm the worst no one loves me I'm going to ruin everything I mess everything up I'm unloved I shouldn't show up they don't want me there that's not the Gospel what are you rehearsing are you speaking and acting as if you belong to Jesus as if you have a better story as if you've been brought into a better family let's think about week to week what's your life.
Look like what are the things that you're practicing over a given month do you have rhythms of rest or you remind yourself I'm not a slave and my value doesn't come from my production and in that some of you really need to be challenged in that you need to realize I'm supposed to stop I'm supposed to sit and be refreshed before the Lord in worship also he says six days shall you labor and on the seventh you will rest so in a given week do you work are you productive do you spend most of your time just trying to rest trying to be lazy or do you use the talents and the abilities that.
God has given you to bless and to care for those around you in honor to God and then worshiped him are you consistently daily or weekly praying reading your Bible rehearsing those things in how you follow the Lord You've gathered here for worship is this a part of you delighting in Jesus and him rescuing you so that we stand up and say Jesus is better than everything else you actually are participating in that do you sing with all your might do you get swept up in Delight of the.
Lord do you come here to rejoice in him to be refreshed among your Church family are you a part of a community group is that a weekly thing for you do you participate walk in life with them this is one of the reasons why we talk about we believe that we want to give good news before we give good advice it's easy for Christians to hang out with each other for you to say you have something going on and then we all become like blog posts or Tick Tock videos about five steps to being a better whatever here's here's 10 steps to dealing with a with a dumb boss and we just give each other.
A bunch of information but what can happen while that may be helpful and while your Tick Tock video might have been excellent we can inadvertently communicate to someone that their hope is them but that's not the story that's not the hope that's not what we've gotten swept up in because of the glory of Christ so we want to give good news not we give good news not good advice we give good news before good advice so that we can Frame Up why we would walk in wisdom why we would do these things and how we actually get to live in in relationship to Christ.
But do you contribute do you participate do you love your community group is your community group just there for you or are you actually walking in life with them what's your weekly stuff look like what's your look we don't have most of us don't have a harvest maybe of tomatoes but most of us don't live Harvest to harvest we live paycheck to paycheck do you practice first fruits do you remind yourself that God is the one who provides ultimately for you do you take the time to surrender things to him in delight and in worship and in promise that he's going to keep this coming that he's going to ultimately provide everything you need that's.
One of the things that he means when he says let nobody appear before me empty-handed we're told later that people are supposed to do it based off of their means but everybody's supposed to show up with something so do you walk in generosity and submission to the Lord rehearsing for yourself that he's ultimately who provides for you not the job you have not the health you have but your king who's good what is your week to week month to month look like one of the week to week month to month things that we practice as a Church family and these are two of the practices given to the Church.
For us to rehearse baptism and communion where we remind ourselves of our real story that Jesus Christ rescues us we got to celebrate baptism a couple of times over the past few weeks and one of my favorite things is to get to talk to them and say there's a reason why you don't baptize yourself there's a reason why you go backwards you're being buried in death and then you get to rise again with Christ and we're standing for that as a Church to help represent that you didn't do this.
But that Jesus does this we practice this together and celebrate this together and delight and rejoice in this together when we take communion it's a tangible reminder that Jesus was real and he really died for you and you really needed him to there are times when you're taking communion and we we dip it quite often it's running on your fingers I want you to remember his blood really ran his body was really broken and it was really what was needed for you and it really happened and you are covered by the work of Christ one of the reasons we practice that regularly is.
Because you will not outgrow your need for the Gospel you will not level up so that you can Delight in not needing Jesus but we will walk as people humbly consistently reminding ourselves Christ paid for me I needed him to and he did I'm covered by him just as they practice at Passover that we remember our Passover Lamb what are the things you do yearly what are the rhythms built into your calendar and what are they celebrating I think we need to think about what holidays do we celebrate how do I approach vacation how do we celebrate them how do we reenact.
For ourselves and for our co-workers and our neighbors and our children what this is really about what does this look like I I got a couple ideas for you when you look forward to vacation is there a way for you to remember that this is a worshipful Delight that you have that your value doesn't come from your production and your provision doesn't come from your job but that you get to stop and rest and Delight in the Lord when we celebrate Good Friday and Easter do you actually worship in that do you actually consider in that what that is do you pause during that to think and to Rejoice.
Well and to celebrate well and to be solemn well as we Delight in the Lord we celebrate things like Thanksgiving which Christians ought to be the best at if we're going to celebrate it because we have way more to be thankful for we have a way better story than the edited one that we've learned in elementary school we got a way better one we have a better country I love this country but I've got a better one the most excited our Church should be shouldn't be Fourth of July yes we should all buy fireworks yeah.
But that shouldn't be all the things about we should get to worship and Delight in the Lord in ways that we get to celebrate if you're going to celebrate a thing celebrate as a Christian and remind yourself and remind your family this is what this gets to look like and this is why this matters so I've tried to think through that some for Christmas um one of the things I do with my boys is which I tried to Think Through how can I help them.
Remember this how can we reenact some things and so one of the things we do on Christmas Eve is I'll tell them that God made the world and they made it wonderful and he made Adam and Eve and we sinned and when we send death and destruction entered the world and I cut off all the lights and I say it was terrible it was dark it was scary and for a moment everything was lost but God made a promise and all light a match or a grill lighter or whatever and I'll light a candle and I'll say.
For the longest time there was just a promise a promise the death won't win that sin won't win that one day there's going to be a son who crushes the enemy's head but that's all they have it's a promise and there were prophets who reminded them of the promise and then Jesus was born and light into the world and I'll tell a little bit of the story I have a really bright light that I'll shine and I'll say the glory of the angels are there and everybody freaked out and they said hosanna in the highest we'll talk through some of that.
Jesus was born and then I'll say and because of Jesus he have that bright flashlight I say he brought light into the world and then ultimately everything gets undone and we turn all the lights on and then I say because he did this life is sweet so we're about to eat some candy he his coming was a down payment on the better things to come the ultimate fulfillment of all God's promises so we're going to open one gift and we're going to celebrate.
So we dance usually to The Strife is over by citizens I'm sure it'll change at some point but that's a really good worshipful song it's got some good dancing Vibes to it but that's to help my sons remember what this is about we try to rehearse this and so all I would say is what are you celebrating and how are you celebrating what are you rehearsing how are you practicing we don't have an in gathering we do have tax season are you just annoyed do you ever take the time to.
Look and see how much God's provided for you that year what if Christians started taking some of their tax return to have a big meal and celebrate and Delight in the Lord and provided for them all year long and to worship that he's going to do it again what if we took some of our tax return and walked it out in generosity to those around us so that we could remember what this ultimately mattered why we're here what God's doing what.
If we were the best at celebrating because we have the most to celebrate what if we consistently rehearsed for ourselves the Gospel so that it was what was in our mind and how we acted and how we lived so that we would be people who delighted in the Lord there aren't a bunch of rules on how we're supposed to practice baptism we're supposed to practice communion you can celebrate Christmas or not with or without a tree or not I think you should we should Delight in the fact that.
Jesus came you should celebrate the Incarnation but I you can have gifts no gifts you can be Holly Jolly or not there's no rules on that but this is the command that I think should govern for all of us how this works first Corinthians 10 31. so Paul's talking about this practices what do we do and how do we live out this together whether you eat or drink or whatever you do do all to the glory of God so may we be people who sing loud who celebrate and rejoice.
Well who rehearse and remember the glory of God in Christ all the days of our lives let's pray oh God we thank you that we have something to celebrate that you redeem Sinners that you are our Passover Lamb that you are the first fruit of the Resurrection that we have a hope that lasts Beyond this life and as we follow you in our daily normal simple grind may we remember that you're the one who provides you're the one who protects you're the one who redeems you're the one who's given us a Promised Land you're the one who gives us hope.
For a future you're the one who's washed us clean that we are not covered by our sin or our shame or what has been done to us but we are marked by what has been done for us in Jesus and may we worship and may we celebrate and may we sing and may we delight and may we when we mourn may we mourn as those who have hope to the glory of God in Christ for your blessed name and your glory amen the band's going to come back up we're going to sing we have a few more songs than normal.
So that we might sing and celebrate we're going to take communion together and in that we're going to rehearse and remember that I am a sinner in need of a sacrifice but praise be to God that Christ came and covered me and this isn't about my work or my labor or my Worth or my value or my morals but it's about what Jesus has done so I want you to take a moment I want you to consider what are you rehearsing some of us maybe need to repent.
Because we've been living and practicing in so many ways like Jesus isn't King and our story isn't good I want you to take a moment and then when you're ready I want you to take communion and rehearse and reenact what has happened for you in Christ if you are not a Christian communion is not for you we're delighted that you're here and we want you to know Jesus we don't want you to rehearse and practice something that isn't true for you yet.
But you are welcome to come to him and say I need salvation I need hope I need forgiveness and he freely gives it because he came to rescue a broken people to himself so we would invite you to come to Christ and to trust him with your life so in a moment when you're ready we'll take communion there's a gluten-free communion back there and then we're going to sing together as a people who have something to celebrate.
Slavery (Exodus 21-23)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Foreign good morning so my name is Spencer I'm one of the pastors here so we made a shift last week in the book of Exodus where we left the Ten Commandments and entered into what most people think of as the law this is the teachings and the Commandments of God of how we're called to live and love and honor and worship Our God and live in harmony with one another so for the rest of Exodus into Leviticus numbers and Deuteronomy you're going to.
See these these commands that are helping the people understand how to worship God how to live in harmony with one another last week Chet kind of introduced the law as a whole that he kind of gave us Calvin's framework for how to view it that some law is civil that deals with kind of the societal structuring of Israel as a nation that some of it is ceremonial that deals with uh some of the the priesthood and the sacrificial system and then some of it is moral these are morals that.
God has always wanted his people to follow and then with that frame where we get to approach the rest of the law coming out of the Ten Commandments in the into Exodus 21 and then we get to the first two verses of Exodus 21 which says now these are the rules that you shall set before them when you buy a Hebrew slave He Shall Serve six years and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing so that is our.
First entrance into the law when you hear that you might go wait what that I haven't encountered that in the Scriptures before God sets them free from slavery in Egypt gives them the Ten Commandments and the very first thing that shows up is slavery isn't slavery bad isn't God good when you read this is it 2023 or 18 23 there's this feeling in this as we approach the text here and Exodus 21 has a lot to say about slavery and in his passages like these that Skeptics have taken and latched on to attempt to delegitimize Christian faith there's one uh atheist thinker as a podcast his name is Sam Harris and Sam Harris once said.
The entire civilized world now agrees that slavery is an Abomination what moral instruction do we get from the God of Abraham on this subject consult the Bible and you will discover that the creator of the universe clearly expects us to keep slaves and that's kind of an argument that you will hear is that no your Bible justifies slavery and a lot of Christians will just kind of respond saying uh-uh no like I disagree that's not true but if you believe that.
Then what do you do with Exodus 21 what do you do with the parts of the Bible that speak about slavery from the Old Testament into the New Testament that is what we're going to be doing today we said that we'd be approaching the back end of Exodus differently than we did the front we went verse by verse all the way up to this point now we're approaching the last part of Exodus topically and we're going to look at the topic of slavery starting in Exodus 21 and through the rest of the Bible.
God willing when we are done I'm going to show you how the Bible dismantles any attempt to uphold slavery and that ultimately how God brings about individual Christian change in our hearts on issues like this that ultimately snowballs into societal change away from a system of servitude that has dominated Humanity for thousands of years so that's a big task let me pray and we'll walk this together Heavenly Father I pray that you would help us be present this morning that we would.
Listen that we would not be quick to make judgments on the text but we would sit in this and think through it and we would see what your ultimate desire is concerning slavery in Jesus name amen all right so back to verse one and two it says now these are the rules that you shall set before then when you buy a Hebrew slave He Shall Serve six years into the seventh he shall Go free for nothing now we run to a problem immediately.
When we read this text and it has to do with the word slave there are words in the Bible that we're not familiar with that we may not be familiar with like cistern or threshing floor and if you don't know those terms you go and you look them up you learn what that is and then we come back to the text and we try to understand it but no one in the room is unfamiliar with the word slave in fact I would argue that everyone in the room has a pre-loaded understanding of what slave means and what slavery is that.
When we hear the word slave we think of the horrible practices of American slavery we think of African men and women who were stolen and put in Chains and put on ships were 1.8 million black men and women died on the way to Europe on the way to America we think of the horrors of them Beyond the seller's block and going into a brutal system that's what we think of I would argue whether consciously or unconsciously that's how we approach the text.
Because we're so familiar with this word and this concept is a part of our nation's history so when we read when you buy a Hebrew slave He Shall Serve six years and seventh he shall Go free for nothing what we need to do is to strip the context that we know for that word and put it aside and try to understand this word in its context and that's we're going to look at first it's context in the Old Testament so slavery was a widespread practice at the time that Exodus was written it was all over the ancient near East and we there are all types of cultures that was very much a part of the.
Fabric of their economy the slavery and servitude class built many empires we saw this early on in the book of Exodus we saw in the book of Exodus how the Hebrews were enslaved how they were forced into labor we saw the brutality of that that Pharaoh at the at a whim could just decide I'm going to kill all the firstborn males amongst my slaves we saw a Taskmaster beating a Hebrew we saw that they could not leave we saw the brutality that as a picture of slavery in the ancient near East that one that of one of conquering enemies making them subject to you and building your Empire with their labor.
Now we saw how God violently rescued them out of Egypt now they're in the wilderness they're receiving the law before they enter into the Promised Land and when they enter into the Promised Land they're going to run into situations where people fall on Hard Times where they lose everything and there was no social safety net in the ancient near East if you lost everything if you'd had no money you could not buy food and you starved and if you could bag it to get enough you might make it.
But you most likely would die there was no social safety net so a lot of people would sell themselves into slavery because that's better than death at least you're not starving to death that was a widespread practice at the time as well now God takes that practice modifies it for the people of God and to A system that we would most likely understand as indentured servitude which if you can remember American history classes and entered servitude was there are a lot of Europeans that that could not afford the ship ride over to America to start a new life.
So they would sell themselves into indentured servitude they get to the states they'd work as an injured servant to pay off the debt for a few years and they would be free and that's more of what we see with the system that God has modified for the people of God in the book of Exodus 21 and onward we see this again in Leviticus 25 verses 39 41 it's as if your brother becomes poor beside you and sells himself to you you shall not make him serve as a slave he shall be with you as a hired worker and as a Sojourner He Shall Serve with you until the Year of Jubilee that's the seventh year.
That we saw in Exodus 21 you'd work six years then you're set free on the seventh then he shall go out for you from you he and his children with you and go back to his own Clan and return to the possession of his fathers now notice the qualifications that is put on that he's not going to be like a slave treat him like a hired worker take care of him or her and when he gets back on his feet and he has worked.
For six years release him and not just empty-handed he will retain The Inheritance that God has given to the people he will go back to the land of his forefathers he will retain that inheritance and not go out empty so God takes the system that was common in economies across the ancient near East and he modifies it basically to a system of indentured servitude that is more worker employee style relationships but they're working with that word slave and that is the word that they get that they're using to show someone who is working and not getting paid.
For their work that when you go back to Exodus 21 you see some other qualifications that are put on this system Exodus 21 verse 16 says whoever steals a man and sells him and anyone found in possession of him he shall be put to death so this has to be something that someone volunteers into you cannot force someone to do this you cannot steal them into slavery and if you're caught selling or you're caught with someone who's a stolen person forced into slavery you will die you will get the death penalty.
So that if the American South lived under the Mosaic law there would not be a lot of people left that's just the reality of how God treats people who are forced into slavery you sell or you buy you die that's the law then these other qualifications We're not gonna go through them all because we're not the time they cannot be killed verse 20 when a man strikes his slave male or female with Iran and the slave dies under his hand he shall be Avenged not going to mistreat you're not going to kill.
So the qualifications once they had worked six years that they didn't like the prospects of being free that they could permanently enter into servitude we see that in Exodus 21 verse 6. and then there are other laws in Exodus 21 related to slavery that were so far removed from the context that are hard to understand but the gist of the majority of them is to help them see that this is different than the ancient near East it's different than the surrounding Nations they're meant to protect the people within the system itself and that's how God's people are to treat one another.
Now it's a little bit different Leviticus 25 there's there's if there's a Sojourner or a foreigner who is in your land who decides to sell them itself into slavery they need to understand upfront that it's permanent they don't get that seventh year Redemption at the Year of Jubilee so if there are foreigners in the land they sell themselves into slavery it will be permanent so that's a bit of a system that was very different than the surrounding Nations and very different than how we understand American slavery that was built off of stolen people and brutality.
God was doing something different and it stood out among nations as different but if we're honest as Christians living in the New Covenant of Christ as Christians we look at all of this still and go yeah but why take something that was common and reduce that down why modify that why not just end it all together why why what's this what what's this about someone being going in a permanent servitude like I don't there's part of us that looks at this and says yeah they're treated like hard hands yeah they're different.
But what's why didn't God just end it all together this is certainly better than we have in our heads when we hear the word slave but this still feels like it's not enough we what we as Christians need to understand when we read about slavery and the law is that God was doing something that was uniquely different that was counter-cultural to the cultures of that time and that thread of doing something different than the Nations different that was counter-cultural that threat is going to be pulled into the New Testament.
Because when Jesus comes along he's going to flip the law on its head that's what chap was getting out last week that Christ come and fulfills the law and that means that there's certain civil aspects to servitude that are fulfilled in Christ that no longer remain so Christ fulfills the law so we don't we're not under the Mosaic law anymore but there's even something more unique that's happening in Jesus approach to the Mosaic law the law of Moses that if you.
Look closer you'll begin to see that God goes a step further with the law to show that the law did not capture God's ultimate desires for his people the law was not the finished product it did not capture the heart of God and how he expects his people to live in community with one another and that happens in a few different teachings multiple times Jesus quotes the law by saying you've heard that it was said but I say to you you've heard that it was said which is ironic.
Because that's Jesus who is God who gave them the law you've heard that it was said but I say to you and he's doing something different he's flipping the law on its head I'll give you one clear example of how he does this he does it with a divorce in Matthew 19. in Matthew 19 he's teaching on divorce he says as they're asking him questions about divorce he says they said to him why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away they're quoting Deuteronomy 24 as they're asking.
Jesus about marriage and it says he said to them because of your Hardness of Heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives but from the beginning it was not so and I say to you whoever divorces his wife except for sexual immorality and marries another commits adultery he says this because of the hardness of the people of God's hearts they weren't ready for this because of the hardness of their heart they weren't ready for the ultimate desire of marriage and because of that they were not able to live under the law as relates to marriage and let out the desires of what.
God had always wanted for marriage so he says but I tell you now here's the real desire you stay married that's the desire for marriage this happens also in Matthew 5 verse 38-39 since you have heard that it was said an eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth that's out of our main chapter today which is Exodus 21. he says you've heard that it said eye for an eye tooth for tooth but I say to you do not resist the one who is evil.
But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek turn to him the other also he says but I say to you and then gives them what God ultimately wants for his people Jesus is helping them see that the Israelites were too hard-hearted they were too Wicked to receive God's ultimate desires for his people and how they should live and treat one another so Jesus is doing that in his teachings pressing on this then he fulfills the law perfectly with his life.
And then he goes to the Cross where he has his his blood is poured out to make atonement for the people of God for all of our sins and then he rises from the grave defeating death and making a way for his new covenant people to be born again to have a new life in Christ Jesus ascends into heaven and the Holy Spirit descends upon the Church and empowers the Church to finally start to live out the ultimate desires for what.
God has for his people in this new covenant faith so what I'm going to argue is that God has a more subtle but I say to you throughout the New Testament a more subtle but I say to you that is going to change the way his people approach slavery in servitude but in order for me to do that from the New Testament we've got to go back to redefining slavery again because when you get to the New Testament there's a Roman system that is different than Israel's there's a Roman system that we need to understand that we we can't just read that and think of what we commonly know as slavery we've got to understand.
The Roman system itself so in the New Testament which was written in Greek there's one word for slave it's doulas now do loss and if you have an ESV Bible around you there's this blue Bibles around you that's the English Standard Version the way they translate doulas and it tells you this in a lot of the prefaces of the ESV the way they translate do loss is one of three different ways one of them is Bond servant if you've read that in the New Testament that's the Greek word dulos bond servant we're going to get to that in a moment.
But that was a branch of the servitude system of Rome that was more like indentured servitude you'd work for six years then you'd be free work for seven years then you'd be free it's also translated as slave which is a different part of the Roman system that's permanent slavery and then every now and then it's translated servant and what the ESB is doing with uh the word when it translates its servant is it's it's telling us that it doesn't give us it the the text has enough context where it can be translated either Bond servant or slave.
So that's the ESV just punting and saying you need to figure out from the context whether the spawn servant or whether this is slave so that means we also need to understand the difference between a bond servant and a permanent slave enroman Society so up to a third of the Roman Empire was in the servitude class think about that up to a third of the entire Roman Empire was in the servitude class and many of them were what were called Bond servants let's deal with that word.
First Bond servitude was very much like indentured servant servitude that if you fell on Hard Times just like an engineer East there was no social safety net there was no one coming to bail you out if you didn't have the money you couldn't buy food if you couldn't buy food you died so a lot of people that would get into debt and not be able to pay it off would enter voluntarily into Bond servitude you'll become a bond servant and your debt would be paid and you'll be able to work that off over a seven year period and there's a lot of people that were free that would do this that would sell themselves into.
This I mean a lot of bond servants were doctors a lot of bond servants were teachers they just fell on Hard Times and they had uh to sell themselves into Bond servitude in order to survive because there was no social safety net so it's similar to how Israel did it but very different because there weren't a protections built in if you sold yourself in a bond servitude to a free Roman you were property there there's you are you were property they can do with you what they want.
So if you're going to intervoluntarily into Bond servitude you better choose someone who is nice because they absolutely could do whatever they wanted to you so that's one aspect of servitude in the Roman Empire's Bond servitude the second as a class of permanent slaves and that's when the New Testament is going to translate that slave slaves in Roman society were permanent unless they could a buy their freedom so make enough money on the side to be able to purchase their freedom or be unless their Master freed them.
But you did not volunteer for permanent servitude in the Roman Empire much of the Roman slaves were people that were stolen and sold into it so that's that was a big I mean this the stolen uh man's ceiling and and enforcing people into slavery uh to make money was very much a part of the Roman Empire this was also uh enemies who roam conquered and said we're not going to kill you but we're going to make you slaves and permanent servitude was harsh there are a lot of people that ended up with really brutal jobs working in the mines until they died it was a brutal system some criminals were forced into this as.
Well and they were treated horribly permanent slaves were treated horribly it was very common to sexually exploit slaves in Rome very common practice now this happened also a little bit in American slavery we see that even with Thomas Jefferson but sexual exploitation in American slavery was still stigmatized because of racism with white slave owners it was not stigmatized at all in the Roman Empire you could rape your slave no one it was commonplace you did whatever you want with them they're your property they belong to you and that was a brutal part of Roman slavery was the sexual exploitation that was widespread and not stigmatized at all you could physically beat even kill your slave.
In the Roman Empire was not uncommon so you did not want to be a slave in the Roman Empire at all I've seen some Christians attempt to try to clean up a little bit historically you just can't the Roman system was brutal so that's the context for the Greek word doulas says it shows up in the New Testament that Jesus steps into so what does God expect of as New Covenant people they're Skeptics that will still go but your new testament still justifies it your New Testament says things like Ephesians 6 5 Bond servants obey your Earthly masters with fear and trembling and the other passage is just like that one Colossians 3.
First Peter 2. and they'll say see your Bible justifies slavery it justifies servitude but I argue if you're willing to do the work you're going to see that God is doing something counter-cultural and different with his new covenant people for the rest of our time the New Testament I want to show you what God is doing so be very upfront about this the New Testament does not make its aim to overthrow governments or overthrow oppressive systems that is not the aim of the New Testament on a whole bunch of different subjects whether it's slavery or poverty whatever the the New Testament does not have the approach of overthrowing governments in oppressive systems that's not what.
The New Testament is doing so the Gospel is doing the Gospel brings about radical individual change that calls people into a new covenant of Faith where they look differently with the Holy Spirit changes them and molds them into the image of Christ in a way that looks different from the world and that individual change ultimately snowballs into societal change and we see that historically because when Christianity started to spread across the Roman Empire when it became the dominant religion in the Roman Empire you saw servitude start a decrease.
So why why is that the case where's the New Testament argument for that where's the but I say to you that ultimately dismantles the idea that you can own people as property so much so that it changed the Roman Empire let's start with how the Scripture firsts uh dismantles the purchase of New Slaves then we'll move to uh those who already have slaves we're going to look at the seed Bedford abolition for the freedom of people from the system that shows up in the New Testament we're going to start with how the New Testament dismantles the purchase of New Slaves.
First Timothy 1 10. in first Timothy 1 10 Paul is like he does in a lot of his letters he's giving a list of sins that he's ultimately going to address with the Gospel but in first Timothy 1 10 he says the sexual immoral men who practice homosexuality enslavers and then he goes on to say Liars perjurers and whatever else this contrary to sound Doctrine so that word enslavers that is the term used for man stealing that's forcing people into slavery that follows the Old Testament law and Exodus 21 16 that would give people the death penalty.
For being caught with stolen people so we see that that part of the law isn't civil it's actually moral and that from the Old Testament end to the new forcing people into slavery is not the heart of God so enslavers no that's sin forcing people into slave trading throughout the Scriptures is either out either explicitly condemned or it's very much looked down upon and I'll have time to get to the Book of Joshua because if you may be familiar with the Old Testament.
But even the Book of Joshua when they don't obey the Lord and bringing his judgment upon the Canaanites and they make slaves instead there's judgment for that God never not once commands his people not once does he command his people to ever Force anyone into slavery the Bible roundly condemns this the Old Testament roundly condemns forcing anyone into oppression I mean over and over again the prophets are are attacking oppression in the land then you get to the New Testament.
Jesus starts to teach something even different he starts to teach things like love your enemies which when you follow the threat on that realizing that no we're not going to force people into slave we're not going to conquer enemies and force them into this system love your enemies so when you look at how the Bible approaches how people are made permanent slaves through Force you start to realize there's no biblical justification for that at all and without New Slaves you don't have a system of servitude at all that you're not able to make New Slaves.
So without forcing anyone into permanent slavery you don't have a system and that's what first Timothy flow of the Old Testament in the New Testament is planting the seed for Don't force people into this which begs the question but what if they volunteer what if an individual Christian decides what if a person's decides they want to they want to sell themselves in to this you can't take first Timothy 1 10 you can't take some of the arguments against forcing people into slavery and apply that to someone who would sell themselves into Bond servitude that you can't do that the Bible does not go there.
So that begs the question is some form of indentured servitude okay is some form of bond servitude still okay is it okay for a Christian to look at his brother who is in need and say yes I'm going to help you I'm going to pay your debt off come and work for me for six years and then I will release you what does the Bible have to say about them well then you've got to look at some other passages to see the right Christian ethical approach to helping those who are in need.
When the early Church began and began to explode in the book of Acts in Acts 2 verses 4 44-45 it says and all who believe were together and had all things in common that some of the first Acts of Christians had all things in common and they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need that you see very early on they had all things in common that they helped each other that they obeyed the teachings of.
Jesus that showed up over and over and over again when Jesus in Luke 12 33 amongst other places says sell your possessions and give to the Navy these aren't conditional statements you get read into this that there's some type of back-end service that's going to be required First John 3 17 says but if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need yet closes his heart against him how does God's love abide in him how do you see from the New Testament this radical change that you're called to love and help and serve others that somewhere in that embedded is some type of exchange to where they become property.
For a period of time and more to the point the New Testament explicitly forbids a Christian from selling themselves into servitude First Corinthians 7 23 you were bought with a price do not become Bond Servants of men do not become Bond Servants of men that if they were to sell themselves into Bond servitude they would be sinning against God which means that if a brother came to you to do that and you allowed them to enter into Bond servitude you are facilitating sin and rebelling against the will of.
God so the New Testament gives us the prescription to those who are in need over and over again you help them you don't make them do you value themselves as image bears to become property as a condition of help so If There Are No New Slaves can't force people into this and it's a sin to actually have them sell themselves into this then eventually you don't have a system of servitude then eventually as we see in the Roman Empire servitude starts to decrease.
But let's dive a little deeper here let's live in a hypothetical if you're a new Christian and 55 A.D and you're convinced of the arguments that I just made from the Scriptures you're convinced that I can't make New Slaves of anyone what do you do with your current slaves or more practically what could happen in this day and age you take the Gospel to a culture that still has servitude built into their economic fabric what do you do when you take the Gospel there and they say you've convinced me I'm not going to join in slavers I'm not I'm not I'm not going to cause anyone else to sin what do you say to that.
Brother who's a Christian master especially when they go but yeah the New Testament Ephesians 6 5 Bon servants obey your Earthly masters of fear and trembling I'm not going to make new ones but what can he not just can where's the justification that I need to release the ones I currently have and that's the second thing I want to look at not just the purchase of New Slaves what do you do with current slaves so if they were forced into slavery in the.
First place that's an easier thing to address it's easier to point to First Timothy 1 and Exodus 21 that shows you're participating in a system that's morally repugnant and Evil that you need to repent and release someone who was forced into slavery that's an easier argument to make so it's all right you've convinced me the permanent slaves that I have I'm releasing them they're now free but what about the current Bond servants that I have I paid off their debts I got three years left to serve out their sentence just let them serve it out I I paid a lot of money.
For this so what do you say to the current master that has Bond servants I'd start by going to Ephesians 6 9. so after Paul makes the argument about Bond servants obeying he gets to verse 9. and he says this Masters do the same to them and stop your threatening knowing that he who is both their master and yours is in heaven that there is no partiality with him so I would say to them and say okay they want to continue to serve out their sentence fine you cannot threaten them anymore zero force zero threat to which they might reply.
Well if I can't threaten them if I can't use Force what if they decide to leave what if they decide they don't want to be Bond servant anymore threat and force is what keeps the system in place in the first place and I'd say you can't threaten them anymore but if I can't threaten them you understand they're going to walk free and I would say exactly exactly that is the ultimate desire of God anyways is that he wants them to be free.
But I have fields that need to be worked I have things that need to be done the only way I'm going to keep them here is if I pay them exactly now you're tracking yes you're going to pay them what they're worth you are no longer going to force them into this and in fact not only am I going to tell you that you can't use the threat of force to keep them in place I'm going to tell them they should seek their freedom from you which is what Paul does in.
First Corinthians 7 First Corinthians 7 starting in verse 20. it says each one should remain the condition in which he was called were you a bond servant when called do not be concerned about it but if you can gain your freedom Avail yourself of the opportunity which is a convoluted way of saying do it if you can Free Yourself do it four verse 22 he who was called in the Lord as a bond servant is a free man of the Lord likewise he who was free.
When he when called is a bond servant of Christ you were bought with a price do not become Bond Servants of men so I would show that Christian master the ultimate desire is that we would only have one master and his name is Jesus that we only have one master that we serve so yeah you cannot use force and I am going to tell them to go free and if they want to go free you let them go otherwise start paying them.
And then finally I would take them to what I think is the death nail that begins The Snowball Effect that ultimately unravels the system and that is the book of Philemon the book of Philemon is the shortest letter that Paul wrote Paul is writing to a Christian slave owner a Christian Bond servitude or Bond servant owner a master named Philemon and the whole subject of the letter of Philemon is that he is telling him and convincing him you need to free your runaway slave anissimus.
So anisimus is with Paul and he's writing back to Philemon and this is what he argues with Philemon in verse 8 he says accordingly though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required I'm bold live in Christ to tell you what you should do verse 9 yet for Love's sake I prefer to appeal to you I Paul an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus have Love's sake the sake of love I'm appealing to you I appeal to you.
For my child onesimus whose father I became an imprisonment and then he goes on to argue in verses 15 16 4 this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while that you might have him back forever no longer as a bond servant but more than a bond servant as a beloved brother I'm writing to you and appealing to you out of love that you should take onisimus back no longer as a bond servant no longer as property taken back as a brother he is arguing free him.
And then it goes on to say and if you have more verses he basically just says and you owe me anyways because I led you to Christ which is like the ultimate Flex so you're going to do this can you imagine the New Testament churches that were getting these letters that were circulating around and someone brings the letter of Philemon it brings it to this Church and they read the Scripture aloud can you imagine the Holy Spirit softening the heart of Christian Masters realizing that's it that's what I'm supposed to do can you imagine.
God working in their hearts to bring about radical individual change that ultimately helped them see what the heart of God was all along that we are not supposed to make people property if you don't make image Bears property brothers and sisters there are certain subject matters in the Scriptures that take a lot of legwork to understand and slavery is one of them it is one of the most complicated subjects in the Bible and with a few passages ripped from the overall text of the Scripture Skeptics may make you believe that your faith condones making people property don't let them there were certainly a lot of Christians in this very City in the 1800s that made.
Bad biblical arguments to continue the evils of American slavery but they were wrong they were wrong but also don't miss for a moment that the argument against slavery it did not originate from Skeptics it didn't originate from atheists in fact that argue if there is no God and we're all fighting this out together that's kind of the way you'd want to do it to gain power no the argument against slavery never came from anywhere else other than the Scriptures the fight.
For abolition came directly from Christians who were looking at the Scriptures and realizing what it truly said are the seeds for abolition were planted in a I love what the historian Thomas Kidd says he says Christian thought was never uniformly anti-slavery of course until long after legalized slavery vanished in the 1800s and he's dead on because there were Christians in this very City that were not uniformly anti-slavery in the slightest but the sources of anti-slavery thought were always powerfully Chris Christian and you can't study the history of the abolition movement from the UK into America and not.
See that the threat of the Scriptures was always heading towards abolition for there's only one person that is supposed to be our master and his name is Jesus First Corinthians 4 1 this is how we should regard us as Servants of Christ stewards of the mystery of God let's pray Heavenly Father we thank you that we get the whole counsel of your word that we get to see your heart that teaches us and molds us into a people that sees one another as image bearers that sees one another with love I'm thankful.
For the work that took place to bring about the societal change that was planted in individual Hearts 2000 years ago in Jesus name amen the man's going to come up and as we worship I want you to see how good it is that we have a master in Christ and that we get to be his servants he is very good and he is worthy of our worship the one we serve says come to me all who labor and are heavy later and I will give you rest that is the master we get to serve and that is the.
God we get to worship so y'all stand and sing.
The Law (Exodus 21-23)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
The Tenth Commandment (Exodus 20:17)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Good morning my name is Chet I'm one of the pastors excited to get to study the word with y'all this morning go to grab a Bible and go to Exodus chapter 20. if you don't have a Bible with you there should be one stuck under the chair in front of you if you don't own a Bible take one of these blue ones home with you that's our gift to you we want you to own a Bible but we are working our way as a Church through the book of Exodus and we have slowed down over the past 10 weeks to walk through the Ten Commandments and we are on the 10th commandment.
And so we are studying the Ten Commandments together and learning one of the things that we've discussed throughout is that we are predisposed As Americans to have a certain type of morality that makes sense to us primarily we think of things as being wrong or right based off of does it hurt someone so even say things like do whatever you want as long as it doesn't hurt someone we also consider things right or wrong based off of fairness but there are other categories that we disregard.
But we need to God's approach to morality is broader than ours it's greater than ours and that we need to adjust and learn and one of the things we've seen is we've studied the Ten Commandments is that God uh promotes human flourishing through these Ten Commandments that if we learned to practice these and follow these life would be better our culture would be better society would be better and that in the Ten Commandments we see God's General design and we'll see the rest of the law kind of grows out of these.
First ten but we're on the tenth one and it's Exodus chapters 20 verse 17. and so it says this you shall not covet your neighbor's house you shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that is your neighbors now in order for this to be understandable at all we need to know what the word covet means because if you have no definition for that it's like what what did I do to my neighbor's donkey what is coveting coveting is desire wanting.
But it's a specific type of desire a specific type of want craving that is by its very nature sinful there are some desires that are not sinful and so we're going to take our time this morning to try to understand where does desire where does this want become sinful so we're going to pray for our time and then we'll pick right back up there Louie asks that as we study your word together that your Holy Spirit would be at work as we study covetousness which is primarily something that happens inside of us that your Holy Spirit would help us to.
See it so that we might turn from it and turn to you and we ask for your grace and your presence and we ask that all this will be done for your glory in Jesus name amen so there are some desires that are not by their very nature sinful Jesus got hungry Jesus in the garden prays that this cup would pass from him that he wouldn't have to go through with what was about to go through but he submits himself to the Lord's will.
So just wanting a thing isn't necessarily bad there are certain things that we're told in the Bible that are good to want like it's good to want to be a pastor it's good to want a spouse it's fine to want children like there's things that are good things that we should work towards but coveting is a desire that is in its own on its own sinful and and we're going to give a definition to it but let's read this you shall not desire your neighbor's house you shall not want your neighbor's wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that is your neighbors it's this desire.
Of this wanting that is sinful and I think there's two ways that we'll see that it's sinful one is is a desire for something or someone that is not yours to desire your neighbor's spouse is not yours to desire so by having any desire for your neighbor's spouse you are Desiring something that is not yours to desire and therefore it's out of bounds but I think also as we study this together see that it is Desiring something that is good or.
Okay to desire but Desiring it inordinately Desiring it too much and that is where we suddenly have a lot of questions because this commandment is distinct from the other ten the other or the other nine this is the tenth one there's not another ten you can watch someone commit the other ones you can testify to it you can see it happen you can if you practice one of the other ones no yes I stole that you might have some questions about whether or not this was slander or gossip or whatever.
But you you there's something that's physically taking place you're speaking you're there's words being exchanged when you lie about somebody when you steal something when there's a murder the tenth commandment happens inside of you and it changes our understanding of the Ten Commandments drastically God is giving the law to the people of Israel and he's telling them things like You're Going To Worship me you're not going to have Idols there's going to be a day of worship set aside you're going to be you're going to honor your mother.
Father just helping you all out since the kids are in here this morning they're going to honor your mother and father you don't murder don't steal don't commit adultery he's given all these commands we're going right right right and then he says and don't covet and suddenly it's like wait that hmm that happens just in here that's something I do here and here like if we were talking about laws for South Carolina and we were like and this is a law about property and this is all about driving oh and you're not allowed to sink this you'd immediately be like not allowed to think a thing.
First thought might be how they going to catch me I think whatever I want problem when God gives a law like this is that he knows what's going on inside of you this is some ways terrifying he's talking about what's happening in your heart what's happening in your mind and he cares about it and he's prohibiting things that can't take place inside of us not just things that happen outside of us and so this one's different and suddenly I think rightfully we should have a lot of questions how do I know.
If I've done this how do I see this in myself one of the things I said when we were introducing the Ten Commandments was that much of American consumerism is based off of covetousness we see something we want it we go get it and immediately we had a lot of questions and I think good questions I'm going to give you some examples of the type of questions that I was Fielding after that week and I know some of you all have been looking forward to this week to try to.
See how do I discern this someone said Okay I want shoes I need shoes and I just want them I need them mine have worn out I have a certain type of shoe that I want so I do a little research I then see a person I know wearing the kind of shoe I'm looking for I asked them where they got that shoe I go buy that shoe was that covetousness I think that's a good question I'm at my friend's house and he has an air fryer and I learned new information to me that air fryers can reheat fried chicken which is a problem I've had my entire life on the off chance that Fried.
Chicken escapes the first plate I'd like for it to show up on a second but for anyone who's ever microwaved Fried Chicken you know how utterly disappointing that is so I go buy an air fryer I don't wait till my friend's not looking hit him over the head with a vase and take his air fryer I just go get my own have I coveted I think we have questions like nobody asked me this one I've added this one just to try to help us continue to think.
But I think we have questions like okay leaving consumerism leaving how we approach that and how we know about things if I see an advertisement or whatever we're going to talk more about that but I don't want my neighbor's wife I don't want my neighbor's husband I just want my husband to be more like that is that covetousness so what we're going to do is I have eight tests eight questions for us to ask ourselves to try to identify covetousness in our hearts some of them are similar to other ones some of them are different it's just trying to come at this from different angles to try to say hey.
If this matters to God and if it's something that happens internally and I won't always have external evidence of it how do I know if I'm coveting first test are you Desiring something that is not yours to desire this one's pretty straightforward but wherever there is scarcity meaning some limited resources you could actually say no I don't just want my husband to be like that I want Carl I want Tina that's coveting it's clear straightforward I actually don't just want a house like that I want that house and I'm longing.
For that house and I'm trying to work my situation such that I could eventually have that house I want that job so I want to get this person out of the job so I can have that job that's coveting that's specifically what he is talking about very clearly here this happens when on a small scale when one of my children is holding a popsicle and the other kid immediately wants a popsicle as you do and then the one with the popsicle says oh this is the last popsicle.
And so now I I went from new watch a child go from wanting a popsicle to wanting that popsicle and so when that is happening that's covetousness and so it's one of the first questions to ask do I want that specific one that I would take it that I would get it from that person that I'm going to Crave it desire it second test are you willing to sin to obtain your desire I think if you would consider this for a moment you'll.
See that covetousness is actually behind much of the Ten Commandments then it happens first when you commit adultery you have first desired your neighbor's spouse we see in Joshua 7 21 and Micah 2 2 and in the story of Adam and Eve that they first desired a thing and then took it so they coveted something that was not theirs to covet they belonged to someone else and then they took it so that covetousness is behind theft and other types of Disobedience to.
God James 4 2 says you desire and do not have so you murder you covet and cannot obtain so you fight and quarrel so that covetousness shows up in our actions so let's say if we spent this past week realizing that there are things that you lie about you slander people and you need to work on this one of the things you need to do is not just go I shouldn't lie I shouldn't lie about people but actually go why am I doing that in the.
First place and go a level deeper and begin to repent of your covetousness that you wanted this thing so bad you were willing to sin to have it one of the things they look for in a lot of crimes is motive and I honestly think if you're watching those kind of shows one of the things you could replace that with is just what type of covetousness was present prior to this crime being committed was it Financial was it relational was there adultery.
And then murder that sort of thing so are you willing to sin to obtain it and I think it's worth understanding that even in the small ways that we sin maybe you haven't committed murder but in the ways that you walk around angry at your neighbor that you might understand there's something underneath that third do you believe stuff equals The Good Life if you don't welcome to the United States we'll catch you up Luke 12 15. Jesus teaching and someone in Middle from the crowd says.
Jesus tell my brother to share the inheritance with me Jesus responds to the whole crowd he responds to that guy but then he responds to the whole crowd and he said to them take care and be on your guard against all covetousness four which when you're studying your Bible pay attention to words like four and therefore or because it helps you understand four lot one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions I think this one is very helpful.
For our air fryer question is it wrong to own an air fryer I hope not I own one is it wrong for me to buy into the LIE that life is made better by stuff and that life is made up of stuff yes and I should be on guard against that but if we're honest that's what we're trained in if you could just have this new Gadget if you could just have this type of clothes if you could just have this thing life would be better life would be more full.
If you consider how we think about things when we hear that someone wins the lottery we're like ah take it to the good life you hear that someone got a a big promotion they're going to make a lot more money that's the life when you dream about your future is it just you with more stuff what are you what are you working towards it's like well in 10 years I'm on a boat well there's a good chance that you've believed a lie that stuff equals The Good Life that life consists in the abundance of possessions this is what advertising does what it tries to convince you of a lot of products.
If you'll pay attention to the advertising it's not just saying some some of it does some of them says here's the problem and here's how our product fixes that problem but a lot of times the product just sells you on being a type of person or living a type of life this type of man wears this watch if you like skateboards you'll like Mountain Dew or whatever or if you like Mountain Dew you'll be cool enough to like skateboards their professionals are kind of confusing.
But they're selling you on some sort of like car commercials where it's just cool people riding around in the car I don't tell you anything about the car you just know cool people drive that car one of my favorite examples of this that has stuck with me forever I used to work at Sears selling appliances and so I'd be in the mall a good bed and I would take my lunch breaks he had like 20 minutes to walk down get some food go back and I would.
See people carrying Abercrombie and Fitch shopping bags like they went there and they bought stuff now I don't know if Abercrombie and Fitch is still cool but it was when I worked at Sears it's a clothing company that sold expensive cool clothing on their bag was a guy with no clothes on the top half of a naked guy and this is a clothing company if you buy their clothes you will be cool enough to not wear clothes I don't but it proves the point that what we're being sold on is this is a piece of the good life this is a piece of identity this is a piece of who you want to be this.
Is a piece of fulfillment and Jesus says be on guard against that and for us that means 24 7 being on guard against that because we are bombarded with that message so Maybe when you buy an air fryer it was absolutely covetousness maybe when you buy those shoes it was absolutely Covetous maybe when you hear the words come out of your mouth hey where'd you get that shirt it's a hundred percent covetousness and it's worth investigating and trying to figure out what's going on in your heart and what's happening in your belief system as far as where is life found four the next three come from Kevin Dion's book on the Ten Commandments I thought.
He worded them well I thought they were helpful tests and so the next three are from from Kevin to Young and the way he approached us in his book on the Ten Commandments number four are you preoccupied with accumulating more how do you spend your time how do you spend your downtime how do you spend the majority of your time what do you daydream about I think we'll find that there are times when we say I'd love to help I'd love to be able to hang out with our community group I'd love to be there on Sundays.
But too busy I think it's always worth asking too busy with what what does your life look like what are you preoccupied with in the parable of the sower Jesus says there's a sower that goes out and sows the word and there's one where it believes the word and it begins to grow and then it says the cares of this life and the deceitfulness of richers choke the word out so that it is unfruitful and some of you maybe are Christians and you've believed in.
Jesus but you've bought into the lie you're preoccupied with accumulating more and that's what your time goes to it's what your energy goes to what do you what do you spend your time doing what gets the bulk of your energy I understand Bible says that work is good and that we're to pay our own way and that we're to be busy all those things are fine but is that all you care about is that all you work on I think asking the question what do you daydream about is a good question is it just you and the future with more stuff sometimes it gets real specific you just daydream about how cool it would be.
To own a motorcycle and yeah we daydream about some stupid stuff sometimes I have sat around thinking about how great it would be to own a shed and you're like that's a sad little wife yeah that sounds pretty sad just to be like pumped about owning a shed but there are certain things that we'll sit and think man it wouldn't be great if I had this one if I did this if I could and so are we preoccupied with um accumulating more can you not rest can't Sabbath can't take a day off you got.
So much to do because your whole life is built around getting more fifth test do you lack generosity are you unwilling to give up what you already have this is an indication that you may be struggling with covetousness that you believe that life is made up in the abundance of possessions and so therefore anything that takes anything away from you robs you of the point of life robs you of life and therefore any amount of generosity is hard hurtful frustrating you guard your money.
Because your money equates to fullness life Delight Joy I think sometimes we say things like I would I would I'd love to give to that I'd love to get in a place where I could be generous but my budget's just too tight and so I think if that's you take a look at your budget because it'll tell you what you care about we make room for stuff I in general we're taught to make this much money and make your budget here often we make our budget here.
Therefore we actually spend up here but as Christians we should make this much money and make our budget here and if we start making more money our budget can go up some maybe but maybe what we give also grows exponentially that we get to be generous and so if you can't be generous there's a good chance that you believe and I'm not saying if you make very little money and you're fine but I everybody can find ways to be generous in some form or fashion.
And so if that doesn't ever happen for you and you've said this for years if I could just get to there but you've actually gotten a promotion you've actually begun to make a little more money you've actually both of y'all are working now or whatever and it still hasn't happened there's a good chance you struggle with covetousness number six do you Grumble and complain about life do you say must be nice a lot I must be nice this is where I think I don't actually want to marry that guy I just want my guy to be more like that guy I think that shows up here I just wish that my wife cooked like that.
Or would go get a job like that I wish that my husband would treat the kids like that or would fix things instead of breaking things or whatever what we often do when we're doing that is we compare somebody else's best qualities with somebody else's worst qualities but do you find that you complain a lot you Grumble a lot I wish I had that car everybody else gets to have this kind of thing everybody else gets to do one of these like you spend time on Facebook.
And then you're just frustrated everybody else gets to go on vacation everybody else gets to smile in pictures everybody else smile looks good in pictures I wish I had those parents I wish I had that hair as if life not lamenting sin not lamenting the Brokenness in the world but lamenting your lot in life as if you're owed more and that everybody else is succeeding around you and you're the only one as if if you had those things that would fix what what's going on in your heart.
So do you Grumble and complain I think this is where the TV show HGTV comes in or the channel I think you can watch that you can learn things it can be just whatever so I'm but I also think that you can watch HGTV and then hate your own house go to someone else's house ever been to someone else's house and it's nice and you walk around and go this is nice wow and then you go back to your house and you go what a dump have you ever been mad at the amount of bathrooms your house had like more people need to go to the bathroom in my house at one time or your.
Functional perfectly functional bathroom now doesn't have the things that it should have to make it feel like a special fancy like this that's this is this I I now have created a desire a want a frustration and I'm grumbling and complaining and no longer content this next one goes with it number seven does the joy of others make you discontent you ever been just having like a normal day and then someone else comes and has a happy day next to you.
So your day is now worse you ever been enjoying a meal eating with some people but there's that table that won't stop laughing and having more fun than you and so now your meal is worse I my sons showed me this stuff periodically and I can see it clearly in them but it helps me see it more in myself but I know there have been times where one of my sons has to go to school wakes up normal day rocking along going to school.
Then suddenly discovers that his brother does not have to go to school whoa whoa his day is now worse he's going to do the exact same stuff but somewhere out there his brother is not suffering also and now things are worse but we do that something that actually has no effect on our life whatsoever but they have a new car they got to go on a vacation they got a promotion you're hanging out with your community group someone announces something you're like oh that's.
So good you but then you get in your car and you're like why God why is it always them never me and so someone else's Joy rather than you getting to be included in the joy makes life worse that's covetousness that someone else is getting married someone else is having kids someone else got a job someone else gets a vacation and therefore your life is worse but that's not actually how it works and the truth is if we can learn to do what Paul says which is to Rejoice with those who Rejoice you can actually increase your joy by getting to share in the joy of others.
So to tell my sons if you'll learn how to have all your own victories and then share in your brothers you'll get double the victories if you learn how to rejoice when he rejoices in your community group if you learn how to genuinely rejoice when other people rejoice but so often it happens the other way because of covetousness number eight test does what you desire make God-sized promises to you okay there are certain claims promises that only God can deliver on hope true Delight satisfaction salvation fixing what's wrong with you.
But then there are things that promise to do that for us this is idolatry this is this is Paul talking about this he does it in Ephesians 5 and Colossians 3 Ephesians 5 for you may be sure of this that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure or who is Covetous that is an idolater has no inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God for Colossians 3 5 put to death therefore what is Earthly in you sexual immorality impurity passion evil desire and covetousness which is idolatry.
So in the Ten Commandments the first one was you will have no other gods before me and the second was you will make no Idols you have no graven images you'll have nothing that you look to and worship and long for and then Paul is saying that's exactly what covetousness is and that makes a lot of sense that's why we'd sin to get it if I if you're willing to sin to get something it's actually because you believe that it will satisfy you in a way that Christ can't.
So it's worth disobeying him it's worth running from him it's worth doing something that you know he says is out of bounds because you really want this thing that's idolatry it'll bring me more joy it'll bring me more hope it will fill me up I'll be satisfied so what in your life do you say if I could just have blank everything would be fixed if I could just get this job I could just make this much money one of the scariest ones.
If I could just get married oh Lord help your future spouse because you need them to be Jesus and they are not if I could just have kids oh Lord help your kids you need them to fix what's wrong with you you need them to satisfy bring you hope and this isn't just struggling in life and saying Lord help provide I'd love to get another job and trusting in Him in the midst of it that's what Jesus prays in the garden he says.
If if this can happen but I trust you but idolatry is I just need this I don't need you and if you won't let me have this then I'll get rid of you so I can have it I'll sin to get it I'll chase after it no matter what you're you're the one who's disposable if you'll serve my real God I'll follow you but if you won't serve my real God I'm out this is why you'll sleep with your boyfriend it's where your real.
God is this is why you'll embezzle or steal or lie or whatever is because this is the real thing I want and as long as God's lined up and helping me have the kids I want to have then great but if God won't give them to me then I'm over here this is why often when we get the thing we don't need God anymore we've got the thing we wanted it's idolatry and it can be seen easily at times sometimes we have little ones actually I love this tweet.
Because it just resonates with me so well this is a tweet in 1998 I begged my mom to buy Me jinko jeans she agreed but only on the condition we do a photo shoot to prove to My Future Self how stupid I looked Look Who's laughing now Mom I love this I'm gonna move out of y'all's way so y'all can appreciate jinkos now some of you are like what on Earth is a jinko gene it could be bell bottoms it could be a perm it could be a type of car it could be a type of jacket we've all done this.
If I could have this thing y'all when I was in Middle School I died just the top of my head White why not your whole head you ask I don't know I was in Middle School and it was awesome for like a week I was like nailed it and then I had to keep looking at myself and I was like this is stupid but your hair doesn't grow that fast you just have to deal with it you know eventually I had those little frosted tips you know this is a clear example of.
If I could have this thing be all we hadn't stopped since middle school some of us have just picked a bigger one if you'd actually think back through your life there's 10 things you've already gotten and they just didn't do it so you quit daydreaming about them you quit putting your hope in them and you just picked a new thing to put your hope in and that's covetousness and that's idolatry those are our eight tests and I think if you take the time to consider them they will help you figure out what is going on what it is that you truly are chasing after and whether or not you were walking in covetousness.
But here's the wonderful thing this commandment I said at the beginning it's kind of terrifying because God's looking inside of you and saying this is a problem too but y'all that's wonderful if the Ten Commandments were all only things that we did rules about things that you're not supposed to do that mess up society that would be good and helpful but when he puts this one in here he does something in the tenth and in the first that tie together and the.
First he says you'll have no other gods before me and when he talks about idolatry in the second one he says he's a jealous God meaning that he desires our affection and when he gets to this one he says I care about your heart you should look at the Ten Commandments tenth commandment and no that Jesus loves you that God loves you you that he cares about what is happening inside of you you know I care about my children's Behavior that they don't make my house a terrible place to live.
But yeah I care about what's going on inside of them I care about their heart I care about their relating to me to their mom to each other and when God puts this in here the Ten Commandments go from don't mess up the nation I'm building to oh no no no no no it's so much more than that because we would look at this as Americans and go okay I understand why covetousness is bad down the line I understand how it can tear things up later.
If I steal or I murder or whatever but just what's going on inside of me is my own business this is a victimless crime and God says no you're the victim of your own sin and your own Brokenness and you're robbing yourself of joy and delight and you're robbing yourself of me and I won't have it and we know he won't have it we know he cares this much about our hearts not just because he gives us the tenth commandment.
Because Jesus comes to Earth to die to claim us pay for our sins certainly but because he loves us and wants us to belong to him forever he doesn't just come and say I'm going to pay for your sin so that you won't be sinful and you'll quit annoying me and you'll quit messing things up he comes and says I'm going to pay for your sins so that you can belong to me forever so you can be adopted in so you can be my cherished possession.
So that as Paul says who loved me and gave himself up for me this is wonderful and in Christ we have hope that he redeems sinful broken Wicked Ten Commandment breaking Rebels and he does it because he loves us and cherishes us and is unwilling that we would love something else but that we would know fully who he is and how wonderful he is so the hope of finding out are we Covetous is not so that we'll quit being bad.
So that we might Delight in Jesus who is the only one in whom we will ever find satisfaction salvation and Delight that we might clear out the Clutter so we can have more of Christ it's worth it because he's worth it and because he loves us enough to take our hearts and claim them let's pray Lord we pray that we would not covet they would help us to see it in ourselves that we would repent of it that we would cherish you above all else that you would be our highest affection.
Because only in you what we find satisfaction and Delight we ask that your Holy Spirit would be at work in us right now to help us to begin to see this that you'd help us to grow and fight against be on guard against all covetousness so that we might know that life is found in you in Jesus name amen the band's going to come back up in a moment we're going to sing and we're going to take communion communion is a celebration a practice of the Church to.
Remember physically remind ourselves and physically Proclaim that Jesus died to save Sinners to Proclaim his death until he comes and so if you are a Christian communion is for you to partake in in Repentance and faith so that you would take a moment to consider what Christ has done for you the cost of your faith and that you might repent that you might come to him once again saying I need you I need you to work in my heart I need you to claim my heart I need you to keep me you.
But I have you but I get to par take in your salvation so we partake and it's a physical thing that reminds you that you feel the reality of what he's accomplished for us if you are not a Christian communion is not for you but Christ is Christians to celebrate what Christ has done just as baptism is and we would invite you to come to him and say I need you to save me I need you to change my heart because I'm on I want you could follow all the Ten Commandments to the best of your ability you would still fall short and you would still not fix what is going on in you.
You would still miss the point which is that Christ is good and he redeems sinners so may you come to him and ask for forgiveness and ask for Grace and trust in him today so take a moment where you are to consider ask the Lord to help you see where you are Covetous repent and then Delight in the sacrifice made on your behalf.
The Ninth Commandment (Exodus 20:16)
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The Eighth Commandment (Exodus 20:15)
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The Seventh Commandment (Exodus 20:14)
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Unfortunately, we had technical difficulties with this week’s sermon and none of the audio was recorded. If you questions about the content of the seventh commandment as you prepare for group meeting time this week, email spencer@millcitycayce.com.
The Sixth Commandment (Exodus 20:13)
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The Fifth Commandment (Exodus 20:12)
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Transcript
My name is Chet I'm one of the pastors here grab a bobble and go to Exodus chapter 20. if you have one of these blue baubles in the seat in front of you it'll be page 35 we are back in the book of Exodus we took a few weeks off around Easter but we are working our way through Exodus and we've slowed down some as we've hit the lawn we've been working our way through the Ten Commandments and we have covered the.
First four and the first four Commandments to deal with our relationship to God who he is who we are how we're to relate to him how we're to worship him and that the last six Commandments deal with our relationship with each other so it's there's a vertical aspect of the Ten Commandments and there's this horizontal relational aspect of the Ten Commandments and we are in the fifth commandment today when Jesus is asked what is the greatest commandment he says love the.
Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul with all your mind with all your strength and he says in the second is like it that you would love your neighbor as yourself on these two hang all the law and the law grows out of the Ten Commandments and the Ten Commandments is structured in that way the first four to love the Lord our God and the last six are to love our neighbor and how to do that so let's read it's the Exodus chapter 20.
Verse 12. honor your father and your mother that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you I'm gonna read that one more time honor your father and your mother that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you uh Lord uh let's pray together um Lord we we're thankful for the way you designed the world to work we're thankful for the way you designed families to work I know as we read this that there's much difficulty um in how did we apply this how do we live this out there's much pain in these relationships there's a lot of joy in.
These relationships and so Lord we just pray that you would help us to listen well to your word this morning grow together as we seek to submit to you and to have the blessing that comes with honoring our fathers and mothers in Jesus name amen um so we said when we first started off looking at the Ten Commandments that there are different moral foundations for uh how are we to understand what is right and what is wrong and we said that there was a book called The Righteous Mind whereas a guy who's doing clinical psychologist who was just studying this he was studying the psychology of morality and he came up with categories and we.
Said that those categories were helpful and that you see them in the Bible although they're not listed out that way in the Bible and that in general God has all the categories and then cultures focus on highlight different ones and so we showed you this chart this is Western cultures the cultures that we're in right now the categories are at the bottom care and harm fairness loyalty Authority and sanctity but we're primarily versed in trained in we know all the lyrics to care and harm and fairness we we are concerned with Justice with Equity we're concerned with does everybody get a fair shake these are things that we discuss does everybody have an equal opportunity.
These are things that we are worried about and we are worried about harming someone we know that that's immoral to harm someone we say do whatever you want as long as it doesn't hurt someone like we we're practiced in this but this commandment rests in authority which in general we're pretty low in if I was actually to to ask you or ask the average American to list off what are the dangers that come along with authority what are the things that are immoral and wrong that go along with authority most of us would turn this direction and talk about the abuse of authority that those who are in authority lorded over others those who are.
In Authority abuse their Authority that people are oppressed because of authority you would not have many people who would turn this direction and go the rejection of good authority is harmful we need more Authority and we need more submission to Authority imagine for a moment that you are at a child's birthday party for some of you this is not difficult to imagine you've been to four this month you raise your children and then you hang out with their friends on the weekend.
But imagine you're at a child's birthday party and you see a mother and she's wearing a shirt that says raise them kind yeah that's good that's a good way to raise your children uh uh no problem with that that's a general good concept like raise some kind you might think that's a little bold to think you need to wear that like you got to coach up all the other parents let's see how kind your kid's being but then that's just because you're a little aggressive and have some problems that's fine.
But in general it's a good statement nothing wrong with that t-shirt it's a good idea we should raise your children kind but imagine you're at the party and and that's not what her shirt says her shirt says raise them obedient now immediately we're like hmm I know that's not a mass-produced shirt so you went out of your way to make it um obedient how obedient to whom obedient why obedient all the time like we have honestly the shirt could say overthrow the government and we would give that less thought than raise them obedient and that tells you something about our culture and about our approach to understanding respecting and valuing good authority.
Because the Bible is not anti-authority it's anti-bat Authority but it's pro-good Authority it just bad things are bad and good things are good which isn't super insightful so we need to understand what what is good authority and why has God designed it this way so as we study this I think the first thing we need to see it says honor your father and your mother I think the first thing we have to ask is what does the word honor mean what is that word.
Well the word is coved and it means heavy or weighty there are a few times where it's used that way like in Genesis somebody's eyes are conveyed with age which means heavy with age they can't see well there's in Sodom gomor their sin is described as conveyed and it's translated Grievous but mostly this word is used to mean Glory honor it's mostly used the way we're supposed to treat God that we're supposed to honor God we're supposed to respect God we're supposed to approach him that he holds the weight I don't know.
If you've ever been in situations where you could tell that the room tilted to one person they were the weighty person at the table they were the weighty person in decision making people would discuss things but then they would all look to one person to like you're the person who's actually going to decide this and that's what's meant to happen with parents that they're to have weight that they're to have Glory and if that's the word that's primarily used for how we're to treat.
God you have to understand that this is learned in your relationship with your parents that they're the they set the framework they're the first people you know they're your primary relationship they set the framework for how is this ultimately going to translate into the rest of life and how's this ultimately going to translate into worshiping the Lord the second part of this that's what honor means that weightiness would shift to them I think we do need to acknowledge that in much of our culture and much of our relationships we flip this and that our children hold a lot of weight a lot of families are built around what did the kids want what do they.
Want to watch what do they want to eat what do they want to do with their time what are the kids doing our whole culture has shifted towards youth culture we are not a culture that reveres elderly people when we ought to and the Bible calls us to that but we're not a culture that does that we argue that they you know got to move out of the way make room for the next big thing we in our consumeristic culture we aim everything at like 15 to 25 year olds.
And so we have some work to do to try to learn how to apply this but the second part of this is that there's a promise it says honor your father and your mother that the days that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you and that's not just the I brought you into this world I'll snatch you out of it God's saying something more here Ephesians 6 when Paul was writing about this he says children obey your parents in the.
Lord meaning this is a Godly thing to do even as Christians we anchor it in Christ for this is right honor your father and your mother this is the first commandment with a promise that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land there's a promise attached to this commandment and it's not simply a one-to-one promise it is generally true for each child if they learn how to do this it blesses them it helps them live long in the land it helps life go.
Well with them but it's not a specific one-to-one promise it's not like if you meet someone who's a hundred that means definitively they were excellent at obeying or if someone's life Is tragically cut short that we can be like well I guess you didn't eat all your peas at home when you're it's not how that works it's not a direct one-to-one thing it's a promise to the nation that's why he says in the land that the Lord your God is giving you that this is a blessing to the people and that makes a lot of sense your initial primary relationship is to your parents it is where you learn what relationships are like.
And so it's a Proving Ground a practice ground for what this should look like and it's bad for society when children do not learn how to respect the authority of their parents Augustine is an African Church father says if anyone fails to honor his parents is there anyone he will spare this is why it has a capital offense execution is applied in cases of rejection of authority of parents in Exodus in Leviticus and in Deuteronomy for cursing your parents striking your parents and long lifetime rejection and Rebellion against your parents all of those are capital offenses one of them actually says bring them together Stone them and let the community.
See and fear but it's not a far jump to understand that if we raise Sons who don't learn to respect authority if we raise sons who don't learn how to understand where boundaries are specifically mothers if you raise sons that don't have to listen to you and they never learn to follow a boundary set by another lady it's not a far jump to understand how that translates into society and so this is the place where we are to learn to live in relationships and there's a promise of blessing.
When we do this well that the the nation is blessed Kevin De Young Who out quite a few times because he wrote he's a pastor and wrote a book on the Ten Commandments and I thought some of his Insight was helpful he said is it not too much to say that loving your neighbor begins with Mom and Dad I think that's helpful to understand why this matters so we're going to ask three questions today we're gonna try to answer three questions.
Today how do we honor our parents how do we raise children to honor us and what do we do when our parents are dishonorable how do we honor our parents how do we raise our children to honor us and what do we do when our parents are dishonorable okay first question how do we honor our parents John Calvin says that this word honor includes three things and I think they're helpful for trying to break it out a little bit reverence obedience and gratitude.
So good handles on what should honor look like reverence obedience and gratitude reverence you show them respect you show them deference he treats them the way you would treat think of someone that like if you met the president how would you act that's the weight that's supposed to shift towards your parents some some sincere genuine honor glory weightiness reverence it means that we should watch how you speak to your parents there should be yes sirs and yes ma'ams there should be uh you shouldn't cut them off.
When they're talking you shouldn't disregard what they say you shouldn't roll your eyes you should stop and let them speak you should hear them out it should be genuine respect in how we speak to and interact with our parents you should watch how you speak not only to your parents but about your parents some of us are in a habit of dissecting our parents belittling our parents speaking ill of our parents and it's dishonoring and we need to be careful that we honor our parents there to be treated with reverence my granddad was a missionary in Nigeria and he I was at his house.
For Christmas and somebody came by and he said when did they get here I was like I think they've been here as one of my cousins and he said I miss Nigeria and I was like why he said you didn't go to a house without first presenting yourself to the Baba and you didn't leave a house without presenting yourself to the Baba and he's like I don't like people just being in my house they need to come present themselves to me and culturally we don't have a lot of that.
But we need to figure out as Christians how to how to build in respect and deference to our parents so reverence obedience do what they tell you to do this is specifically most clear for the children that live at home with your parents right now when they ask you questions like will you sweep it's not really a question you just say yes not no thank you when they say go do this you go do it it shouldn't be a labored discussion you should obey and you should obey.
When you're asked to do something yes ma'am yes sir you should um no huffing no stomping no eye rolling no groaning it shouldn't be hey I need you to go do this and you go foreign that's irreverent dishonoring you are to obey now immediate American question is what are the limits on obedience what if I'm getting older what are the like how much do I obey that's great for I'm glad you said that to my kids but me obey I'm older how do I do that in relation to my parents I will say I think Kevin young has a helpful Point here.
So I'm going to read his quote he said parents should not expect the same obedience from grown children as they did when their children were young so for those of you who have grown children you can't call them up and say hey my pastor said obey your parents clean your room quit that job I hate break up with that person I dislike and come back here like you can't it's not going to be exactly that he says we see a Divine Design in Genesis that.
Jesus later reiterates in Matthew 19. a man will leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife and the two will become one flesh there is a making of your own household that loosens the obedience but you still have to operate in the honor category and I will submit to you that because that is often our first question it is not something we are in drastic danger of what I mean is I don't think there's many people in this room who have become adults and think I just got to learn how to not immediately directly obey everything my parents tell me to do that's the thing I have a problem with I would submit.
To you that you actually need to begin heading in the other direction and start showing more honor and obedience to your adult parents in a gracious way because we don't celebrate that culturally but there is a need for some of that even as you are older in a way to show deference and honor to your parents it's difficult should be carried out with wisdom but it is a way to honor our parents even as we grow older and as they grow older.
Third one gratitude be thankful y'all I have two sons and I'm not exaggerating that I have literally not figuratively saved their lives thousands of times sometimes multiple times in the same day should I wear a cape probably but this is parenting you are here because your parents literally not figuratively saved your lives thousands of times mostly what your parents did we're going to talk about some mistakes and some sins we'll talk about that in a little while but for most of us mostly what your parents did just try their best feed you clothe you help you go to school sought to help you succeed in life gave you counsel that you disliked.
Because they like you told you things you did not want to hear because they love you mostly what your parents did was lose their hair give up their waistline give up their money give up their time so that you could exist as a real person in the world and they need to be told thank you they need to be treated with some appreciation and gratitude and for those of you who live at home with your parents everybody can make a phone call.
Today everybody can set up a meal everybody can just say how I want to talk a little bit I want to check in and see how things are going everybody can do that potentially but for those of you who live at home with your parents you will have multiple opportunities this very day to say thank you because I'm willing to bet that your parents go out of their way quite often to help your life be better it's quite possible when you get home there will be food there will be some clothes there will be parents they're genuinely trying to help you enjoy life and succeed in life and there will be many opportunities.
For you to just say thank you they fix a meal that you don't like well guess what they still fed you so you don't have to say I don't like this meal you can say thank you for cooking yeah you can show gratitude for the care that has offered you and we ought to so how do we honor our parents reverence obedience and gratitude next question how do we raise our children to honor us if your children are going to obey their parents.
If they're going to honor their parents they're going to be taught to do this by their parents because you teach them everything you do this all the time and so you have to understand that this is a thing that you ought to be teaching them for their good the reason you do this is not because they will annoy you if you don't that's just a perk it's not the reason the reason you do this is because you want them to to live.
Well and long in the land you want them to have joy you want them to have life that's the whole thing that you're doing all the time with your children is you're working for their good and so this has to be added as a category of a thing that you're going to help them do and we're not set up well as Americans to do this because the wielding of authority makes you feel uncomfortable potentially there's a potential for you to feel like I just feel.
So bossy I feel so demanding I feel like I'm just in my child's way we've been trained by our culture that what your job as a parent to do is to help your child blossom into the person they're going to be help them find themselves almost in some ways they're perfect on their own you just kind of get out of their way we're taught that your parents mess you up they don't help you y'all we're Christians we know that's nonsense if your child figures out who they are on their own we know what that is a sinner.
Look at little Timmy he's blossomed into a real jerk well I'm glad God gave him some parents somebody needs to help him out because on their own they're not just going to find every good and perfect way that God has designed for them to be some good authority in their life and so you need to understand that this is one of the roles that you occupy and you do this naturally with other things you're you're doing this all the time with your children you're helping them know what is right and what is wrong what is good and what is not and you need to understand that part of that is that they would honor.
Respect you and that's not prideful it's good for them so this is how we oh I want there's four C's we're gonna talk about I'm going to say them to you quickly and then we'll get into running through them fairly quickly as well you need consistency this is four keys to helpfully trying to train your children to honor and to respect to obey consistency correction consequences and celebration the last one could be reward but then it wouldn't be four C's so you're welcome four C's all right here's what we often do in parenting this is what parenting should.
Look like sorry Freedom should increase with age when your children are little when they're first born they have no choices whatsoever the older they get they should have more choices but two and three and four-year-olds should have very limited choices do you want to go to bed now or do you want to read a book first and then go to bed do you want to eat green beans or corn these are do you want this haircut or this haircut you want me to tighten it up or shave it all off those are the choices I give my sons like what you got some limited choices sometimes they have no choices at all eat this I.
Don't like this no that's incorrect you're supposed to say thank you sometimes they have no choices I give this choice to my children quite a lot when we went out to restaurants I would say you can calm down and eat your food with a good attitude or we can go outside I will spank you and then we will come back inside and you will calm down and eat your food with a good attitude which would you like to do and I had someone tell me one time we left and they said that was really manipulative and I said no it was not those were his actual choices he had no.
Third option and I'm trying to help him learn how to choose well but over time we increase the freedom The Hope being that when it's time to leave our house they're ready they know how to make choices we've helped get them there we've helped them think through that but here's what happens quite often is this chart we start off no rules let them just figure it out because a defiant three-year-old is cute they're a rascal a defiant little mischievous four-year-old in some way.
So many ways is precious because they can't they can't really harm you they can't really harm the people around them they can be aggravating and frustrating but you love them and so often as a parent you're just like oh well you know but the problem is at 10 11 12 13 14 those cute behaviors of rebellion and Defiance and disrespect are not cute they are dangerous and you freak out and you clamp down well then no phone no no you bring the hammer down and it doesn't go.
Well and your problem is not a new problem you say what is going on with them it's like this has been going on for 12 years so we don't want this chart if you're there by God's grace you can labor well but the Hope being that we would have the other chart so let's go through really quickly consistency all that means is do the same thing all the time all the time all the time isn't that tiring yes it is exhausting that you have to have the same rules all the time whether you are tired or they are tired whether you have eaten and whether they have eaten like these are these have to be.
The same all the time otherwise they don't know where the boundaries are it's a good way to make somebody psychotic you've got to have some good structure on this is what this looks like all the all the all the time I uh my when my oldest son was three and four I'd wake up in the morning stretch lace my shoes up because I was about to fight a three-year-old for 12 hours he was not easy there's a there's a quote from Jurassic Park.
When they're talking to the game warden and they ask are the Velociraptors smart and he goes oh they're smart and he looks at him and he says they were testing the fences for weaknesses systematically and they remember that was my four-year-old so the fence had to be there every day all the time and I would just look at him and go it hadn't moved like we're gonna you want to keep running into it it's the same thing but it has to stay.
So you need consistent correction you correct your children all the time you say things like no that's not green that's blue no that no that's not a cat that's a dog you you already all the time correcting your children one of the things you have to put in there is that you correct them on disrespect you say to them I have my oldest son at times will just come in hot with a question he'll start off with okay but why did I say stop I'll say try again I'm your daddy you want to talk to Ellis like that go.
For it or I'll say oh boy who are you talking to he'll say mama and I'll go okay no you ain't not like that sometimes I say who are you talking to and he'll go Ellis I'm gonna carry on but you're just correct you just said that's not no no that's not how you respond like I'm telling you I give my boys food and they'll say I don't like this and I'll say no that's incorrect that's not how you respond when someone gives you food.
Because you want people to feed you and you're dependent on other people to feed you what do you say when people give you food thank you there you go you nailed it and it's just correction because you expect that they're going to have to operate in a way because you're working towards their joy that you're going to train them up to understand how to live a life where there's Authority because I y'all your world is a fake little world where you have to mimic some of the real world things.
Because you're going to send them out into the real world if you don't train your children how to interact with people all the people in their life who do not love them will teach them and they will teach them by not being their friend they will teach them by being really mean to them every teacher they have will stare at them with this angry look every face they meet people won't want to watch I've explained to my boys before if you don't learn how to.
Listen to me your granddad won't take you fishing and he won't tell you he's not taking you fishing but he'll think Hmm should I take them fishing and then he'll think no because they're the most aggravating children in the world and he won't call you up and say this to you you just won't get invited and he loves you and I love you and I want you to get to go fishing so do what I'm telling you to you coach them up that's the whole point.
Okay consequences should be consistent consequences and celebration this is very simple good behavior should get good results and bad behavior should get bad results that's it and you just need to think through was this a good behavior how does it get a good result was this a bad behavior has a bad result and you have to do that all the time so the thing that I said about the restaurants that's true I've done that with both of my sons because I want us to be able to go eat at restaurants it's one of my wife and I favorite things.
If we get more disposable income we just eat more y'all but that's it and so I want to be able to eat at the restaurant and they'll terrorize me so if they throw a fit at a restaurant and I pick him up and take him outside and let him play in the grass guess who's going to throw a fit at the restaurant again because he got a reward if you've ever watched me taking a child out of a restaurant who was screaming they're already screaming I'm pinching their leg.
So that you can't see you just think he's throwing a fit on his own he is not enjoying the walk outside because I don't want him to think that this is a good thing to have happen I'll pinch his leg real hard but just enough to like us uncomfortable I'm not trying to harm him it's just got to be a negative consequence we get outside we talk often they get popped we bring them back I've done this I've ruined whole meals like this.
Because I don't want every meal ruined and I want them to learn this isn't a good behavior there's a there's a better one so there should be consequences and you should have them and know what they are you should have set ones your children should know what they are I was hanging out uh was one of the first times I ever met this guy who ends up he ended up joining our community group and his daughters were there and they were doing something he told them to stop and they said they kept on he looked at him and said do you want a consequence and they both went like this one no sir I didn't.
Know what the consequence was but they knew what the consequence was I asked him later he said sometimes he just uses the word consequence so it gives him time to make up what it's going to be which I thought was brilliant he doesn't like signing himself up for something he's going to have to stick to in the moment so he just says consequence and he'll figure it out later but they knew there was going to be one and that's all I'm saying is you've got to figure out real consequences that actually translate help them understand that's the whole point.
Because there are real life consequences to all the things they're going to do for example if I tell you to sit down and you don't sit down or if I tell you to come to me and you don't come to me there's going to be a consequence and I try to explain to my sons one day we're going to be in a parking lot and I'm going to say stop and if we haven't practiced this a thousand times in our house you're going to get hit by a truck and I don't want you to get hit by a truck.
So you're going to get hit a little bit at my house with my hand popped just a little so that there's a deterrent so that we don't ever get there and that's that's what I'm talking about and for you it may be time out for you it's just got to be real to them that's all right greater consequences for defiance and Rebellion if you saw your son I came in the other day I saw my younger son holding some of the sharpest tweezers I've ever seen in my entire life and he was near his brother's face I have no clue what they were doing.
But on the off chance it was eye surgery I walked in I saw that I went hey no you know sometimes you just make noises at your children because you don't have words or the words you have aren't good ones to shout foreign hands up put the tweezers down and to do that because the risk levels through the roof well I at one point had to explain to my wife I said hey I've realized something I'm going to have to crank up the intensity on some of the things with our children it's not.
Because I've lost my cool or I'm enraged it's because what they're doing needs to be met in their mind with the same amount of intensity because it's got the same amount of problems coming down the line one of my sons turns and yells at his mother no I am up out of my chair boy if you lost your mind because I want him to understand this same level of this is not okay I need them to do like this for just a.
Second and then we get to the next part which is celebration your house if it's going to have consistent correction and consequences it needs consistent celebration it needs to be a place of Joy that's what you want so good things need good results you need to celebrate I often after disciplining my children well then I'll hold them I say look I love you I want good things for you I'm not out to get you I want our home to be a happy place I'll tell them all the time after they get disciplined I say.
Look we're going back out there and we're reset this isn't going to hang over our head all day this is a fun place this is Joy here y'all if I I learned I used to look at my little babies and I'd be like you're gonna eat that food because they fight you over every little thing and then they would eat it and I would just stare at them like you turn right you're gonna eat the food and I realized that was.
So messed up it just did what I asked so they eat it and then I go good yeah yeah multiple occasions with my son I've said do you want to leave the restaurant go get spanked you want to calm down and eat your own food and they go calm down and eat my own food and I go that's how would it be I'm proud of you that's brilliant do that because it's the truth there ought to be times where you brag on your children make it a rule don't speak negatively about your children in front of your children speak positively about your children in front of your children brag on them to your spouse do.
You know what he did do you know how good he is you can watch them swell up when you're going to rehearse something with them rehearse what they're going to do that's good I'll put them in bed at night instead of just saying if you get out of bed again and run down the hall you're going to get popped what I'll say is hey you're going to do a really good job tonight you're going to lay in bed you're gonna calm down you're going to go to sleep we're gonna have an enjoyable night this is the moment that's going to end our night this hug you're not going to have to get bopped we're going.
To build in that direction but there should be celebration sometimes it's a high five sometimes it's a smile sometimes it's ice cream you pick sometimes it's an extra book at night or whatever sometimes it's uh they get to go on a trip if they're older kids you get to do I know most of my illustrations are I got all illustrations up to eight I'll get them more as I go over time but you think about it what's a real celebration what's a real way to honor this what's a real way.
Because y'all it's not bribery it's how the world works bad behavior gets bad results good behavior gets good results and you want to train that one last one I know we got a lot of parents with smaller children one of the rules at my house is if you pout or cry or throw a fit you don't get whatever you were pouting crying or throwing a fit for that's just simply that I don't want to train you that in order to be happy you have to be miserable it's a weird psychological thing.
So we just learned you can be okay without getting the thing you want and if you throw a fit for it you won't get it but those sort of rules you design your own they're your children they just should have consistent things because we love them and God has designed for them to have a family we have Isaac and Spencer worked really hard to get a road map for parenting that is designed off of the age of your children things you should be talking to them about things they should know about.
Jesus it's on our website you should use that you need all the help you can get we all do and you should help train your children to love you to respect and honor you both mother and father specifically to dads don't get in a situation where you may get a point of Pride that your children listen to you and they don't listen to their mother don't do that you help design a household where they listen to their mother as well because they're supposed to honor both their.
Father and mother and their needs training in them okay yeah what do we do when our parents are dishonorable God by Design on purpose made it to where your parents have great weight in your life and parents that's a that's a heavy weight you need to understand for your children he by design made it to where what you do and say matters and that's good when it's good and that's bad when it's bad it's like when you go to take a test and this one's 50 of your grade.
For the whole semester that's kind of how parenting works it's parents have a lot of impact on their children and so for some of us that means that there were things that our parents did for most of us there are things that our parents did that were hurtful stuck with us changed how we thought about ourselves changed how we understood our place in the world some in this room had truly genuinely horrific parents then when I was saying earlier that mostly what they did was care.
For you that that wasn't even true and I'm sorry because that was not God's good design but we live in a fallen world if that's on this end even as you come back this way all of us have things that our parents did that they said that they did and they responded our parents are sinners who made mistakes who had lapses of judgment for for many of you your parents might have had you when they were quite young and just figuring it out some of you might have had parents that weren't Christians or became Christians later in life some of us had parents who had addiction issues anxiety issues problems with how they treated.
Spoke to people like did we grew up in difficult situations so what do we do for those who are currently at home with parents like this or for when you're thinking through how you to understand obedience in those sort of situations I want to read as we first start looking at this I want to read a quote from Kevin De Young he says are there limits to honoring parents in a word yes Authority can be abused in Acts chapter 5 we.
See a principle that has to do with governments but also parents Church leadership and any other authority over us if the choice is between obeying God or obeying Men We obey God if you're com if your parents command you to do what God forbids or forbid what God commands you cannot and must not obey your parents I'm going to read that again if your parents command you to do what God forbids or forbid what God commands you cannot and must not obey your parents.
But even in those hopefully rare cases there's still a way to be respectful and honor your parents even if they are asking something of you that they don't have the authority to ask yes there is a limit to obedience but as we follow this command we are all called to honor to show respect which is extremely painful to consider in some cases and what I would like to submit to you is that you cannot do this outside of Christ but in Christ we can do something that is radically counter-cultural we can honor parents who do not deserve it which does not translate it is not a conclusion you will come to in our culture.
But it is a conclusion that we can come to and something that we can operate in as Christians in a way that is counter-culturally brings great glory to Christ displays the love of the father and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit you see often we are trained culturally to dissect our parents to play up their weaknesses and the things they did to harm us and to understand that those have changed us in an immutable way that we are forever marked by what they did.
But as Christians we understand that Christ changes us that he renews us that he covers not only the things that we've done but the things that have been done to us and that we get to be made new in light of his goodness and we do not have to be forever marked forever stained forever held captive to what has happened to us and that is a glorious reality in Christ and from that position of being renewed from the position of being adopted with a good.
Father who loves us the way a father ought to we get to do something that only can be done in Christ we get to prayerfully by the empowerment of the spirit extend forgiveness and Grace and honor and the reason that can only be done in Christ is because it can't be done in you can say all the time I just don't have the ability to do this and that's right I can't forgive them that's right not on your own not in your power and it can't be done in them.
Because they don't deserve it so if it's about you or if it's about them it won't work there's no way to do it but if it gets to be anchored in Christ the love of the Father the empowerment of the spirit then there gets to be Grace and forgiveness and by God's grace Lord willing some of us will get to lead our parents who deserve great condemnation we'll get to lead them to Christ Who Bore great condemnation so that Sinners could be justified and the only way to do that is in his goodness and in his grace.
And so by God's will and by his empowerment we can be people who honor our parents and raise children to honor us through the Gospel let's pray God we thank you for our parents we thank you for the role that you designed for them to play we thank you for all the moms and the dads in this room who have so often failed and so often succeeded we thank you for the role that you've given them we pray that they would take it seriously that they would walk in the grace that you provide we pray specifically.
Lord for those this morning who do not have a good relationship with their parents that you would help them to First have a good relationship with you that they would know the grace provided them in Christ that they would know the love of the father that they would know the comfort of the spirit and that they then then by the empowerment of the spirit might begin to work to learn how to walk this out in a difficult situation we love you and we praise you in.
Jesus name amen the band's going to come back up and we are going to sing together I know that some of you are in a difficult spot with your parents I know that some of you are in a difficult spot with your children and we would be happy as your pastors to help you think and help you pray and help you process so I would invite you to go on to our website to the care forum and fill it out and we can get something set up with you love y'all.
The Fourth Commandment (Exodus 20:8-11)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Due to a technical error the last minute of the sermon was not recorded. What was recorded is posted below.
Transcript
My name is Spencer I'm one of the pastors here so we are in Exodus chapter 20 verses 8 through 11. uh we are in the fourth Commandment as we continue to walk through Exodus and we're walking week by week through the Ten Commandments so you can go ahead and follow along the text we'll also be on the screen uh have you ever approached something that should have been fairly simple but the more you got into it it was incredibly complicated like you got the mechanics and the details of it it was just super super complex and complicated I read this story from back in the fall that the city of San Francisco as a homeless.
Crisis and they one of the problems with the homeless crisis in downtown San Francisco is that there are a lot of homeless people that are using the bathroom and the streets this kind of created an unsanitary situation so someone had a very good idea they said let's build a bathroom specifically let's build one toilet all right this this can it's not going to solve the problem but let's it'll it'll help we're gonna build one toilet so the reason this became national news is.
Because the cost came back on building the one toilet 1.7 million dollars for one toilet and people went what what why how does it cost 1.7 million dollars to build one toilet and it's because there's a crazy amount of red tape and regulations that made something that was so good and so simple so complex there's like a 300 000 architectural uh and Engineering fee there was a hundred and fifty thousand dollar construction management fee for someone to oversee the building of one toilet and you add up all these fees and it's 1.7 million dollars and more to the point that was in 2022 the fall the construction completion date would be 2025.
Because of all of the Committees it would have to go through to build one toilet because of all of the red tape something such a good thing and yet became so complicated and that is how it feels when I approached the fourth Commandment that's how it feels when you get into the fourth Commandment and the call to Sabbath rest out of all of The Commandments this is by far the most difficult to understand as a Christian I just want to read it and say do it the band's going to come up that's just that's just.
But you can't it's not it's not that simple and we're going to see some of the complexities that is built into this and it gets added on to this that makes this not as simple and straightforward as just reading the fourth command and doing it and it's not going to be as practical today we we're not going to give a lot of practical application on how to rest we did that in a series called the hammer and the hammock I would encourage you to go back.
Listen to that but we're also Sabbath is going to come back up and Exodus 31. so we're going to spend some more time on the Practical uh parts of rest but today we need to get into the why so I want to walk through this and some of the complicated parts of this and then at the end as much as possible I want to simplify why and help us see why the Sabbath was made why it is good and why we should engage in Sabbath rest.
So why this sabbath was made why it's good and why we should engage in Sabbath rest so let me read it we'll pray and we'll want this together verse 8 remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy six days you shall labor and do all your work but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God on it you shall not do any work you or your son or your daughter your male servant or your female servant or your livestock or the Sojourner who is within your Gates.
For in six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth and the Sea and all that is in them and rested on the seventh day therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy let me pray heavenly father I pray that you would help us understand your word that we would be able to listen that we'll be able to work through this and see something that is so good that you have given us and then live out your word in faith and live it out in Repentance and live it out and delighting in you through the rest that you provide we ask this in.
Jesus name amen all right so if I tasked you to take the Bible let's just say you've never read the Bible before start in Genesis read all the way through okay and I gave you the task of I want you to take note of when the word Sabbath is mentioned this idea of Sabbath rest I want you to take note of it I'm going to give you the quick kind of run through the Bible of what you would see you would.
See in Genesis 1 and 2 out right out the gate that God made the world in six days and he rested on the seventh the seventh and he gave us the Sabbath now that's not because God needed to rest God was not tired he didn't work make the universe in six days and went oh man I need this like our God is inexhaustible he is all powerful he did not need rest but he gave us the gift of Sabbath he modeled it and he invites us into it as you can.
See throughout the rest of the Scriptures so that's when Sabbath was made that you get two the fourth Commandment that's the next time that you see it and you see remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy Sabbath day is literally just day of rest a day of rest and keep it holy means don't work on the Sabbath not just you but the whole nation not you not your son not your daughter not your male servant not your female servant now your livestock not the Sojourner who is within your Gates the whole nation is going to cease from work and rest.
And then you keep reading and you get to Exodus 31 when this shows back up again in the book of Exodus and then you'd hear this you shall keep the Sabbath because it is Holy for you everyone who profanes it shall be put to death whoever does any work on it that Soul shall be cut off from among his people and then you see how serious the Sabbath is that that if you don't do this the command is you put to death that shows up again in Exodus 35.
This capital punishment linked to the Sabbath and then you read The Book of Leviticus and Leviticus is going to have more things to say about the Sabbath and some of the nuances of different Sabbath days and that you get to the book of numbers and the Book of Numbers you hear a story about a man who went out on the Sabbath to gather sticks he's working by gathering sticks he is caught they take counsel together and then they obey Exodus 31 and 35 and they put him to death.
Then you read and the Book of Deuteronomy where this is taught and reinforced yet again and then you watch the nation of Israel as they throughout the rest of their history in Seasons where they are uh not loving the Lord their God with all their heart with other Souls other might when they're chasing after other Idols they one of the key markers of disobedience is they give up the Sabbath and they work and you'd see in the book of Nehemiah a call to repentance to Sabbath you'd.
See a celebration of Sabbath keeping in the book of Isaiah you'd see a call to repentance in the book of Jeremiah for Sabbath profaning you'd see a call of condemnation for Sabbath profaning and Sabbath breaking in the Book of Ezekiel and you see throughout the Old Testament a consistent call to honor the Sabbath and keep it holy do not profane this this is bad it's clear when you read the Old Testament the people of God were not practicing the Sabbath they didn't know how once they learned they strayed and they did not practice the Sabbath it's very clear.
When you're in the Old Testament that is what happens and then you'd read through the Old Testament and you'd get to the New Testament and the first time you'd see the Sabbath is in the Gospel of Matthew and you would start to notice a tone change in the Gospel of Matthew and everything that follows in Matthew 12 Jesus and his disciples are walking through a grain field and the disciples begin to pluck the heads of grain and the Pharisees who are watching these are the religious leaders they say you're breaking the Sabbath you're profaning the Sabbath I mean in The Book of Numbers the man was stoned.
For collecting sticks you're breaking the Sabbath by collecting grain and Jesus says wrong and then he starts to combat them from the Scriptures and then he says this in verse six I tell you something greater than the temple is here and if you had known what this means I desire mercy and not sacrifice you would not have condemned the Guiltless for the son of man is Lord of the Sabbath and if you just read that the Old Testament and you read that story you might think uh was that.
Okay I mean the Sunday School answer is Jesus did it yes but is that okay like it I I don't know I just read a lot of things in the Old Testament like this is a really big deal but all of a sudden it's and then he doubles down on this and he starts healing people on the Sabbath intentionally in Luke 4 Luke 13 Luke 14 John 5 John 9 he starts intentionally healing people on the Sabbath to make a point about the Sabbath.
And then he fulfills the law perfectly and he dies on the cross for our sins and then he rises on Resurrection Sunday and ascends into heaven and the Church is left with okay what do we do with the fourth Commandment we just saw Jesus we we saw these teachings that he's done what do we do and if you read the rest of the New Testament there's only three really places that deal with this and the Book of Romans The Book of Romans is a letter that was written to a Church in Rome where there is clear Gentile and Jewish division and it shows up in a lot of different ways.
But one of them when you get to chapter 14 is you can see it's the Sabbath because Gentile Christians this would be Romans and Greeks and whomevers in the city who's not Jewish but they have no background in practicing the Sabbath that's the one thing that made Israel unique amongst all the nations everyone else worked every day that was that was normative the Sabbath was way different wait they take a whole day off and they don't work and then there's Jewish Christians in the Church of Rome who have Sabbath background and this is what Paul writes in Romans 14.
Verse 5 he says one person esteems one day and day there is Sabbath as better than another or another esteems all days alike each one should be fully convinced in his own mind the one who observes the day observes it in honor of the Lord and he says it's you should be convinced in your own mind is that a matter of conscience and then verse 10 you see some of the context here why do you pass judgment on your brother or you why do you despise your brother and it's clear from there that he's pushing on don't make this a matter of judgment or division amongst you don't do that.
And then in Colossians 2 he's writing to the Church Paul is writing a letter to the Church at colossae and he says therefore let no one pass judgment on you and questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon those are all Old Testament practices or a Sabbath huh and then he says these are a shadow of the things to come but the substance belongs to Christ and everything in the front end of that list makes a lot of sense we don't practice festivals anymore like these things that we don't those are part of the Old Testament law that was fulfilled.
But Sabbath too it's part of the Ten Commandments but is that that's a shadow of Christ who is to come and a shadow of the future rest that he offers and then you get what we read uh in our liturgy earlier you get Hebrews 3 and 4. and in Hebrews three and four the author of Hebrews is commenting and Expo and expositing psalm 95. and then as he's doing that he's pointing back to the nation of Israel of how they wandered in the wilderness.
For those 40 years after Exodus and that they are ultimately seeking to have rest in the promised land and that is a picture of the people of God that that are sojourners in this land waiting for the future rest that Jesus provides and that's it and if you look at the holy New Testament it's like if you're honest it feels a bit like whiplash that real seriously the Old Testament about this in the New Testament is a bit of a curve both and the question is why why does it feel like that that is the million dollar question in approaching the fourth Commandment as a new testament Christian why and are we still supposed to.
Do this as Christians I know we're not supposed to murder that's clear but are we still supposed to do this now there is a missing puzzle piece that we need and that missing puzzle piece is the period of time between when the Old Testament was written and when the New Testament is written and that is an essential puzzle piece that will help help us see why it feels a bit like Whiplash and it's during that period there are a lot of abuses that happened to the fourth Commandment.
So if you're going to understand why a single toilet took 1.7 million dollars to build like if you're going to understand and figure that out you got to go back through all everything that led to that all the red tape and regulations and everything that went into that that made such a good thing a headache and in the same way if you understand the fourth Commandment you got to see during this period of time between the old and the New Testament all of the red tape and regulations that got added on to the fourth Commandment that abused the fourth Commandment.
So that's what we need to see all right so where did all this red tape come from in this period this period is often called the inter-testamental period between the Old and New Testament it's also called second temple Judaism okay so the last of the Old Testament was written in the 6th Century BC and then you've got centuries that lead up to the coming of Christ and then uh when they receive when they in the sixth century as the temple is being rebuilt the people of.
God are realizing we we have made so many mistakes that led to the Judgment that God brought on the nation of Israel where the temple was destroyed and their centuries removed from when the law was given which when this when when Exodus is being written somewhere around 14th 13th BC Century BC so there's centuries that have passed and now they're looking at the law and they're they're seeing the the Old Testament now it says remember the Sabbath day and to keep it holy six days you shall work.
But in the seventh you shall rest they look at Exodus 31 and it says you shall keep the Sabbath everyone who profanes it shall be put to death and they react and listen I little bit understand their reaction I want to be a little bit cheered about the reaction like what we we uh my wife and I we've LED groups for years we've been in uh groups for years and the past seven years our groups have had lots of children like upwards of 22 children at one point.
If everyone came that's a lot of children and you try to lead discussion with a lot of children like we in our in our uh downstairs is where we'd have discussion right above us was the playroom where all the kids were and you'd hear I mean just think this uh every now and then I just have to go up there guys open the door just about y'all are being too loud you need to quiet down and shut the door now imagine.
If I opened the door back up and said you are being too loud and that this continues you're gonna die and then close the door I went back downstairs I just if I was a seven-year-old I'd have some questions I'm sorry what Define loud what activities are considered too loud like what is quiet can you can we have a hall monitor outside that can determine like what the the level of loudness were being too loud also they'll serve as the sacrifice.
When you come up to kill someone like I just I'd have some questions and I understand a little bit when they open up the law again and they see how serious it is to where they want to go Define rest Define work what activities are considered work can we have a whole monitor to determine what is work and what is rest I understand that reaction of what the religious leaders were doing but man oh man they took that and ran with it and the most legalistic and burdensome Direction they developed an entire set of extra laws called the melacon laws 39 different categories of work that would profane the Sabbath and those categories had subcategories.
Like you'd have the category of planting and then within that category you'd have planting and harvesting and all the things that went into that and those subcategories you'd have all these different rules so much so that like during that time period climbing a tree was considered profaning the Sabbath why because if you accidentally broke a branch off and that Branch had fruit on that Branch you just harvested and you profane the Sabbath and they had hundreds of those extra laws I mean someone said that this the the melkat laws that were established during this period of time between the sixth century and the coming of.
Jesus like that it's still God's Orthodox Jews today I mean you cannot in Orthodox Judaism you cannot open an umbrella you cannot tear off a piece of toilet paper apply lotion blow up a balloon on the Sabbath when I went to Jerusalem years ago we were staying at a hotel we were up on one of the higher floors you could not push a button on the elevator because that was considered preventing the Sabbath which meant that you got on the elevator and every floor opened and it closed opened and closed open and closed which was super annoying.
If you had to be somewhere and any like that still exists that right there is the context of the coming of Christ all these different rules and red tape that you had to follow you had to make sure that you had to do everything perfectly and the Pharisees and the Sadducees these religious leaders were the hall monitors and they're looking and they're saying are you are you preventing the Sabbath are you preventing the Sabbath and made everyone paranoid about the fourth Commandment to where it was not restful it was a burden.
Now here's where they went wrong when they opened up the law and they started taking the Sabbath seriously again they misunderstood the context of how the Sabbath was given they misunderstood it misunderstood the fact that God created the Sabbath as a gift Genesis 1 2 makes that so clear this sabbath is good it is a gift for the people of God so that we might not just continue to work and work and work and then the people of God for centuries were slaves and they did not Sabbath.
For hundreds of years they worked and they worked and they worked and they worked and they worked for Pharaoh and they did not rest all they did was work and then God redeems them as we saw earlier in Exodus and he is aggressively trying to get their attention you are not a Slave you are not the sum of your production you matter more than that you will not work anymore you will not endlessly work anymore this will not be the pattern you will work six days and on the seventh you will rest.
Because you are not a slave and you belong to me and you will rest in me they miss them they missed the the aggressiveness and the severity was help it was it was meant to call them back into not being slaves but being the people of God but unfortunately the religious leaders took that out of context and ran with it and added all types of red tape and burdensome regulations and centuries leading out to the coming of Christ the people were burdened by the Sabbath they were burdened by it.
So it's clear when you look at the Old Testament the Old Testament is written to a people that do not practice the Sabbath the New Testament is written to a people they were forced to practice the Sabbath and do it in very Unholy ways and for centuries leading up to Jesus the people were feeling the weight of this burden and then Jesus does the most punk rock thing ever I mean he just Kicks Down the door and says I am the.
Lord of the Sabbath I'm the captain now I am the Lord of this you know why because I wrote the Sabbath loss that's Jesus wrote the Sabbath laws he gave them to Moses because he is God he knows what they what the intended meaning was is some people call authorial intent the intent of the author because he wrote it like right now we in the Southern Baptist convention we're Southern Baptist uh and then the Southern Baptist convention there's a bit of a controversy right.
Now which I know will shock you um based on our history but there is and I'm not going to get the details of it but what's happening a little bit right now is we have something called the Baptist faith and message Baptist Faith Message in the 2000 version it's kind of a guiding bit of a confession for us a binding set of beliefs that we have as Baptist and there are some Churches and some pastors who are looking at one part of that bad mistake the message they're saying ah just I don't I don't know about that I don't think that's what that I don't think that was what was intended.
When it was written and they're starting to stray from the Baptist Faith the message you know what's great the man who wrote the Baptist Faith Message is still alive that's my former president my Seminary Al Mohler he wrote it on behalf of Baptist and he's saying y'all I wrote this for y'all like I I I'm the author I know what was intended when I wrote it because I wrote it for you like at the last year's annual meeting he walked up the mic and went hey guys I'm here and he started to say I know what I meant like he started to explain you're taking this in the wrong direction.
Jesus walks up to the mic and the New Testament and goes I'm the lord of the Sabbath I wrote all of this I know the heart of the Sabbath and what you are practicing is not the heart of the Sabbath at all and that is the missing puzzle piece that we need to understand why the Old Testament feels very different than the New Testament Jesus was reclaiming the Sabbath from the religious Hall monitors and also he's taking a spear and just like right at the heart of the Pharisees and their self-righteous religiosity like they just the Sabbath was their way of being holy and holier than thou and he's just destroying it with every teaching.
And when you understand that you understand what the Old Testament New Testament feel different but still The Logical question that follows is okay but are we still supposed to obey the fourth Commandment that's helpful I can understand now while the old New Testament feel a little bit different but are we still called to obey the fourth Commandment and boy oh boy is that not is that not the question I mean I I have wrestled with this for years and then Monday I got reacquainted with all the arguments again and I just I Monday was not fun I just was like oh my goodness I forgot how unbelievably difficult this is to understand.
Because y'all and listen there are different approaches to the fourth Commandment now and we're shaped by different traditions and those approaches like some of y'all some of you all love the fact that Chick-fil-A is closed on Sunday God's chicken they honor the Lord they do not work on Sunday because Sunday is the Sabbath it's the Lord's Day and it is the new Sabbath whereas the Jews had Friday to Saturday night we now have Sunday and that is the Sabbath where we don't work some of y'all have that background that understanding of the Sabbath and you understand that's shaped by a tradition called sabbatarianism lots of different donations to practice that bad this Presbyterians Methodist.
But the idea is is that Sunday is the new Sabbath and one day a week the people of God worship and we rest and we obey the fourth Commandment still because the fourth Commandment still has moral Force just as the other non have moral Force so does this one and then there are others that go well I'm actually a little annoyed that Chick-fil-A is closed on Sunday because I really love Chick-fil-A and I miss some Chick-fil-A sauce I I like for it to be open on Sunday and the reason why is.
Because I think sabbatarians are wrong I think that God calls us to rest one day of week but that I mean the New Testament kind of pushes on the legalism of this like we don't have to have it on Sunday you just need to rest obey the Sabbath principle still there's some moral Force there but we don't have to be so dogmatic or legalistic about which day it is you just need to make sure that you're resting sure Sunday is a good day to do it.
But any day will work and therefore Chick-fil-A could be open and then there are others to go no no Jesus fulfilled the law and and Romans and Colossians 2 in Hebrews and Jesus is teaching on the Sabbath show that the Sabbath has been fulfilled in Christ it was a shadow of Christ that is to come in the future rest that he offers and I mean we need to rest still that's still something we need to do but it is not bound by a calendar at all and you do not have to do it one day a week and how you practice a Sabbath is a matter of conscience all three of those views all three.
Of them have scriptural support all three of them you can make arguments from the Bible it is incredibly complicated to understand the fourth Commandment so I'm not going to resolve a theological dispute where thousands millions of brothers and sisters who deeply love Jesus and know their Bibles well have disagreed on this for centuries I'm not going to resolve that for us and to be honest with you even within our eldership there's differing opinion on this but I do believe that we can arrive at the same set of functional beliefs I do believe we need sun guard rails I do believe that on one side you need guardrails to keep you from the pitfall of legalism.
Pharisaisms of being a Pharisee and all the problems that they were bringing into the Sabbath I think you need guard rails to keep you from that Pitfall and I think you also need guard rails to keep you from the pitfall of never resting at all so I have a statement that I think will be a helpful kind of guardrails that keep us on the center line together and that is this the Sabbath is a good gift that God has given us it is not meant to be a measuring stick.
For righteousness nor a wedge for division amongst his people a lifestyle that dismisses this gift is a faithless and sinful rejection of God's good design for human flourishing let me read that again the Sabbath is a good gift that God has given us it is not meant to be a measuring stick for righteousness nor a wedge for division amongst his people a lifestyle that dismisses this gift is a faithless and sinful rejection of God's good design for human flourishing so let me work through that in some in a few different chunks the Sabbath is a good gift that.
God has given us I think we can all can agree on that it is so clear from Genesis 1 and 2 that the Sabbath is a gift it is good to rest with the Lord and to rest in him it is a good gift that God has given us I mean Jesus in his rebuke of the Pharisees in mark 2. as he said to them the Sabbath was made for man not man for the Sabbath and that not man for the Sabbath is what we focus a lot on.
Because he's taken a shot at the Pharisees and the religious leadership and he said Don't You Realize by all of your regulations by all of your red tape by all of everything that you've added on to this that we're serving the Sabbath you misunderstand this but don't miss the part where he says the Sabbath was made for men the Sabbath was made for man it is a good gift that God has given us and that is why Jesus rests over and over and over again.
Jesus is fully God and fully man and in his Humanity he needs rest you see this all over we have a few examples but you see it all over the gospels in Mark 1 verse 35 isn't Rising very early in the morning while it was still dark he Jesus departed and went out to a desolate place and there he prayed that Jesus regularly rests and gets away from the crowds in the midst of his ministry and praise you see in Mark 6 it says the apostles.
Verse 30 the apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught this is after their missionary journey their side I want to tell Jesus everything that we've done then Jesus pause and says hey verse 31 and he said to them come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while I want to hear all about it but y'all are tired and you need to rest he's teaching them to rest in Mark 6 46 he says and after uh it says and after he had taken leave of them he went on the mountain to pray this happens over and over and over and over and over again.
Jesus gets away to rest the God man gets away to rest so whether you believe that the Sabbath still has moral force and it should be on Sunday every Sunday or you believe that it has some moral Force but you kind of there's some some freedom in choosing wind to rest or whether you think it's a more matter of conscience it has been fulfilled it lacks moral Force but we still should rest in general we can all get in the same page it is a good gift that.
God has given us and we should take it we forget that sometimes like last Saturday we we had a baseball son had a baseball game and it got canceled because of the rain and my wife and I like we just had the whole morning and afternoon off we just we're just we're so happy we needed it it's like oh man we need this rest is a good gift that God has given us next part of the statement says it's not meant to be a measuring stick.
For righteousness it is abundantly clear when you look at the New Testament that it is not a measuring stick for righteousness and that the Pharisees the religious leaders they were doing that they were using it as a measuring stick and they were dogmatic that it had to be down like this you had to perfectly make sure you check all the boxes and make sure that it's done exactly right and some of you may be the kind of person that is dogmatic about your Sabbath rest and wants to make sure that you check all the boxes got to make sure that everything got to make sure that that obey this fourth Commandment.
Well and that I rest well and if that's you you're in danger of being just like the Pharisees you're like a like you're like a bride who was planned every single part of her wedding every single detail has to be just like this and then the wedding day comes and she doesn't enjoy it at all because everything had to be so perfect that she misses the most important part of the wedding the person the man that she is marrying and the moment that she has with him.
And if you get dogmatic and legalistic about your Sabbath you'll miss the moment that you have with Christ don't do that don't do that the Sabbath was made for man do not make it a measuring stick for your own righteousness nor the next part of the statement a wedge for division amongst his people it is not meant to be a wedge of division at all but it's so clear from the New Testament go back to Romans 14 it says one person that seems one day as better than the other.
While another esteems all days alike each one should be convinced in his own mind that it goes on to say why do you pass judgment on your brother it was clearly not meant to be a wedge a division and the people of God they were clearly of different approaches and they don't don't do that do not make this a wedge of division amongst the people of God so all of us should look at that on whatever wherever you land on your understanding of the fourth Commandment and you should come to that conclusion I will not make this a wedge of division I will not be a hall monitor to make sure that people are doing.
This right there will be differences of opinions in our own Church and we will not make that an issue of disunity lastly a lifestyle that dismisses this gift is a faithless and sinful rejection of God's good design for human flourishing you may be a sabbatarian and didn't know it and then you think no every every Sunday is the Lord's day and that is the day in which we will rest and you may see the moral Force the fourth Commandment still so I don't need to convince you of that statement right there the group I need to convince of that statement right there are those that view it more as a matter of conscience that the.
Sabbath has been fulfilled by Christ you're the one that's more in danger of never resting so let me talk directly to you if that is where you land if that's you I've got some questions do you believe that the design of God was for you to endlessly work it never rests so much so that in a calendar month you could work every single day of the month do you believe that was the design of God for you does your body show that how's your body holding up over working and working and working and working and working are you getting sick are you getting muscle pains and spasms stomach aches headaches how's your body holding up.
If you're rarely resting and always always always working like you've got a career that you are working so hard for that you work every single day what makes you any different than the the Israelite slaves who served Pharaoh and never rested that you are serving and living for a career and working and working and never resting and if Jesus needed rest if Jesus the God-man needed rest why don't you at a minimum the idea that you can work and work and work and work and work and never rest is a prideful view of self and a rejection of.
God to think that you can endlessly strive without resting it is a it is a prideful view of self and a rejection of God I've seen people physically burn out because they they work and they work and they work and they work and their body is breaking down and they're getting sick and then I've seen spiritual sickness arise to where they just get numb to God they don't spend time with him they don't rest in him and a lifestyle that works too much and does not rest is a sinful rejection of God's good design.
Listen I don't need the fourth Commandment to prove that I'll I need the first two I can point out the different Idols that you are serving and working the shows you need to rest in God you have elevated yourself too highly if that is you and you believe to yourself to be adequate and I want to say very clearly you are not you are not unexhaustible but I also want to tell you who is and that is the Lord the God is inexhaustible.
God is all-powerful God never sleeps and he never slumbers God is the only one who can do all things uphold all things God is the only one who is strong enough to Bear it all and that same.