The Second Commandment (Exodus 20:4-6)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
The First Commandment (Exodus 20:1-3)
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're going to be in Exodus chapter 20 Verses 4 through 6 today we are walking through the Ten Commandments we're going to one by one we're in the second commandments uh today that'll be on page 35 in your blue Bibles uh you can follow along also on the screen so my family and I have owned owned two homes over the last seven years and both of those homes were complete remodels they required a lot of work and I've learned a couple things in completely redoing houses the.
First is is that I never want to move again and I never would do another remodel uh that was that's an important lesson we are staying until I die the second uh is I've I've actually learned quite a bit in the process of doing some of these these remodels I've learned on the fly a little bit how to do these different projects in the house uh which you know I didn't I learned a lot of things growing up but there's a lot of things that I just rejected like my stepdad tried to show me how to do quite a few things and I just said no I appreciate what you're offering.
But one day I'm going to be an attorney and I'll make lots of money I'll pay people to do this and that was a poor life choice based on the profession that I chose uh because I can barely pay anyone to do anything so I've had to learn on the Fly which has been helpful like I've had to learn these different things but there's been some there's been some successes and there's been some failures and the greatest failure was the back porch at my last house.
So we converted a screened porch into a sunroom which raised the flooring about a foot off the ground which meant when you stepped into the backyard you stepped about a foot down which is dangerous and I said we need to make this kind of a back patio area so I said uh you know what let's do a concrete pad that'll be the patio that we do and I never poured concrete before but uh but I said you know what I think I think this is doable I got on YouTube and I was like oh yeah I got this and I kind of just scanned through the process of looking at how to pour a concrete.
Pad and just said I got this so I went to Lowe's and collected concrete materials came back and then started and about halfway through I realized that this was a huge mistake that one is not simply just stumble upon the art of poor concrete there's a lot that goes into it I think it's one point my wife came out it was kind of looking and it's like oh no this is this is a disaster when it was done I looked at it and I was like this this is awful this is this is terrible like this looks horrible I don't know.
If you know this about concrete but once you do it like it's done you know you don't just fix that like it just it's over and uh so I just was like the only option how I'm not about to get a jackhammer and rip this thing up so I just decked right over the top of it and to this day whoever owns that house right now one day they're gonna change those deck boards and they're gonna pull them up and go what is that monstrosity who did this I did that I guess I had the right idea like I need that that back porch was necessary right it was dangerous to not have that it.
Was going to look good I had the right idea but I did it poorly I did it wrongly and I've heard pastors and theologians describe the first and second commandment like this at the first commandment is worshiping the right God and that truth gets pulled down to the second commandment and the second commandment is worshiping the right God rightly so worshiping the right God but not doing it wrongly and that's what we're going to see as we walk through this today we're going to be in the.
Second commandment we're going to see how the people are designed to worship God and God alone like we talked through last week in the first commandment but also to worship the one true God rightly I'm going to read it and then we'll pray and they'll want this together verse 4 You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the Earth you shall not bow down to them or serve them.
For I the Lord your God and may jealous God visiting the iniquity of the fathers and the children to the third and fourth the fourth generation of those who hate me but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my Commandments let's pray and we'll want this together heavenly father I pray that you would continue to expose the Scriptures and these Commandments to our hearts I pray that we would have hearts to receive your word so that we might.
See your truth and your Commandments as good and that we might walk this out in faith and obedience and a repentance and ultimately delighting in who you are as our one true God we ask this in Jesus name amen Okay so let me start at the beginning of this he says in verse 4 You shall not you shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the Earth You shall not bow down to them or serve them.
So let's pause this we're going to spend quite a bit of time this phrasing is a broad condemnation of idolatry okay it's a broad condemnation of idolatry but as we're going to see as we walk through this it's a little more complicated than initially appears there are two different main ways to violate this commandment there's two types of idolatry condemnation that is happening here the first is the one that we're most familiar with and that is worshiping other gods through idols as a violation of this commandment.
So it's building off the first commandment that you shall have no other gods before me in my presence amongst my people in this land you will have no other gods before me it's pulling down that truth and the second commandment to say you want worship foreign idols my people will not do this this condemns all idolatry in the ancient near East now it's important to understand the nature of idolatry and the these worship and practices in the ancient near East okay.
So one commentator he describes it this way he says since the ancient near Eastern gods were viewed as being present in Idols that represented them bowing down before such an image was considered an appropriate way of showing respect to the relevant God so what he is saying is ancient near Eastern worship viewed these Idols as containing somewhat of the essence of that foreign deity of that foreign God in the idol itself and in a lot of ways that Idol contains some of the essence of that.
God and it correct it created kind of a pathway a portal a telephone line it gave you access to that God while the idol itself contained some of its Essence in the idol so ancient near easterners they needed Idols that they could touch they could having their home that they could visibly physically bring wherever they wanted to go it was a tangible way to have access to that God now if you were here last week as we walked the first commandment.
God doesn't want anything before him he wants our wholehearted worship and devotion and we don't run to foreign idols and anything those things may promise you don't run to those don't do that and then we kind of wanted this last week I don't think that any of you are the type of people who are going to go home today and you're going to have a little wooden Idol in your office or in your kitchen that you bow down to that's not what we do.
But what we do is we worship other things in the place of God that we create Idols out of created things in this life like you can have a career which is a good thing that God has given us but you can make it God by giving that career all of your attention all of your devotion all of your time all of your energy that you ride the highs and lows of that career that your happiness is banked on what happens in that career and that's idolatry that's worshiping something in the place of.
God that is elevating something created to the stage of Creator and worshiping it so the second commandment includes this broad condemnation of worshiping anything and for us anything that we think gives us ultimately the good life but that's not the only idea that's being conveyed here that's not the only type of idol worship that's happening here it's not merely addressing the worship of foreign idols but it is taking that practice this ancient near Eastern practice of believing that the essence of your.
God is bound up in that Graven image bound up in that created Idol and applying that Worship in practice too the Lord believing that you can worship the one true God through Idols that is the second type of idolatry that's being condemned in this second commandment and it's where we're going to spend the most of our time today is believing that any creative thing can represent God and that we can bow down to it and worship it and the place of.
God so remember the surrounding Nations believed that that false God that its Essence was in the idol itself and the people of God have been surrounded by the Egyptians and surrounding Nations for centuries this is commonplace practice to believe that your God could be represented that you could make a grave in a created image but you could carve an idol and it could contain your God you could have access to your God and God is saying don't take that practice and apply it to me that you're to worship me and me alone and you were to worship me rightly not wrongly The Great I Am who we've seen throughout the Book of Exodus Yahweh this.
Wonderful glorious slow to anger abounding and stuff I love steadfast love and faithfulness this wonderful glorious God whose attributes are unsearchable his Beauty and his Holiness and his goodness and his mercy and his love and his grace and everything that we try to describe or Indescribable God do not reduce Our God down to a created substance do not believe that you can make anything in His image and bow down to it don't bring that practice into this land that I'm going to give to you don't do it that is blasphemous that is a Blasphemous form of worship irreverently corrupting the name and the character of.
God by reducing him down to something that is not holy as he is Holy it is Blasphemous now that type of idol worship makes a whole lot more sense when you get down to Exodus 32 which we will get to when you get to the story of how they worshiped a golden calf so we get to Exodus 32 Moses we're going to see over the coming chapters he's going to spend a lot of time receiving the law on Mount Sinai from.
God and he's away for quite some time so long that so long that the people are like where is he where's Moses who brought us out and they start panicking and I started this is the man who's been telling us what we need to do this is the man who's been representing God as the mediator this is the man who's been like what what are we going to do and they go to Aaron second command and they're like Aaron you got to do something we need to be able to worship.
God and they come to Aaron and Aaron fails and they they've already had the second commandment they already they already have the second commandment and Aaron says all right bring me gold so he takes and collects they're gold they're very y'all the very gold that God secured for them in the victory over Egypt the goal that they took and I mean this they took that goal that God gave them and they melt it down into a golden calf and into an idol and in Exodus 32 it says that he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf and they said these are the are your.
Gods of Israel who brought you up out of the land of Egypt you might read that and think okay but they just think it's foreign gods that brought them out but it gets more complicated because this is how Aaron responds verse five 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 this wasn't just worshiping foreign Idols no no this will be this golden calf will be what represents our.
God taking the four and ancient near Eastern practices and bringing it amongst and into the people of God and then this makes even more sense later when you get to Deuteronomy which is the second ring of the law this is when right before they're going to enter into the promised land they're looking back at this event and Moses says this and Deuteronomy 4 he says therefore watch yourselves very carefully since you saw no form on the day the Lord spoke to you out of of out of the midst of the fire you couldn't.
See our God and you panicked but where lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves they needed a God that they could see that they could touch that they could bow down to just like the surrounding Nations and they thought they were worshiping the one true God but they were worshiping him wrongly they worshiped them wrongly and that is a heinous evil corrupted practice you may think of it they were trying they're trying to worship God they're figuring this out.
But we don't understand how heinous and how evil and how Wicked it is to do what they did I mean a small version of of that that I it doesn't even come close would be like if you if you had a family where the parents were like Elite and Rich and had power and influence and they somehow got access to a private viewing of the Mona Lisa and they got a private viewing the Mona Lisa and their child was with them and their child loved the Mona Lisa and they said I I want to paint the Mona Lisa and they let their child their child take paint and finger paint all over the Mona Lisa.
Just completely defacing it the most priceless piece of Western Art in history can you imagine the backlash can you imagine the stories across the world when people found out that a child defaced the Mona Lisa I mean it would be swift it would be severe and no matter how Earnest that child was trying to honor that piece of Priceless artwork they've corrupted it and degraded it and that comes nowhere even close to the attempt to reduce the glory of our God down to a created substance to mimic or try to reduce him down to a created thing reveals that you have a degraded and diminished view of who.
God is that you don't truly understand who God is and if you have a diminished and degraded view a corrupted view of God then ultimately what follows that is all the other corrupt practices and that's the nation of Israel that they would bow down to idols some of which they believe represented the one true God and there were all types of rebellious practices that followed all the way up into sacrificing your own children by burning them alive which happened in the history of Israel.
Because they believe they could reduce God down to something created and bow down to it and what this shows is because of this diminished worship of God it reveals they have a diminished corrupted view of God and ultimately if you have a corrupted view of who God is then you'll have corrupted obedience another way of saying that is how we worship reveals whom we worship that how we worship ultimately reveals whom we worship you may believe that you were earnestly worshiping.
God by bowing down to this Graven image but don't confuse earnestness with having the right heart and understanding of who God is it has diminished view of God and it reveals that you don't understand who God is in the first place that you could reduce the glory of God down to a career thing means that you don't actually truly know them the people don't truly actually know who their God is and there's the second commandment that is meant to so strictly guard that that not only are you do not have no you're to have no other gods before the one true.
God and you to worship him alone you were to worship Him rightly because how we worship Alton reveals whom he worships now the people of God needed to receive this they needed to walk in this they need to be corrected by this this gets a little complicated for us as Christians how do Christians obey the second commandment when the invisible God took on flesh and dwelt Among Us so that created uniquely a unique problem for Christians what do we do with the.
Second commandment now that the the God Came In the Flesh and walked Among Us that we he was an embodied person and now sits at the right hand of God the Father and it's resurrected body that created a problem for Christians for the last two thousand years as we've sought to still obey the second commandment when it comes to specifically images of Jesus around the fourth and fifth century they began to incorporate pictures of Jesus as a part of worship which ended up in a very big debate around the 7th Century between the eastern western churches of like what do we do with this is it.
Okay to have pictures in worship and they kind of just came to a little bit of a stalemate was like you can have them but don't we don't need to worship them and then this practice started to continue and get corrupted in the western Church in the Catholic Church and they began to use images of Jesus for worship I mean even to this day like I went to the Holy Land years ago and there's certain relics and and pictures and all and and places like where.
Jesus was whereas uh where this cross was that you see some Catholics it's what they're doing is they're worshiping and when it just they're bowing down trying to grab it to gain access to it's it's worship and this corrupted worship continued all the way into the Reformation and the reformers saw this around the 15th and 16th century and were like no they didn't want to see no images of G we don't mean to come anywhere close to violating the second commandment.
And when you get to one of the more foundational teachings and protestantism the Heidelberg Catechism which catechisms are just a teaching style of question and answer ask a question here's the answer we actually have a it's called the new city catechism which is out there by the bookshelf and the spiritual formation bookshelf which you can take and it has all kinds of helpful questions and answers to be able to learn more about our faith but in the Heidelberg Catechism hundreds of years ago they said question what does.
God require in the second commandment answer that we in no way make any image of God nor worship Him in any other way that he has commanded Us in his word and Protestants have largely been very hesitant about having pictures of Jesus historically up until today and what do you do today right there's historic Bibles there's there's film The Jesus film came along in the 70s The Passion of the Christ came along in the 2000 depicted Jesus now we have the chosen which is a TV show which is really.
Well done like there's a lot of Christian film and stuff that's horrible it's just really path but it's actually well done it's well directed it's well written it's well acted what do you do with that and I know that some of y'all might hear that and just go oh my goodness this feels so like tedious and nitpicky and almost Fair cynical like we're just are we splitting hairs here and I would just say don't roll your eyes it's something that the Church has earnestly sought to obey the.
Second commandment for two thousand years and understanding this so what do you do with stuff like that now I think the issue is not with the images of Jesus the second member of the Trinity I don't think that the issue is necessarily with the image of Christ that pushed back a little bit sounds bad but I pushed back a little bit on the Heidelberg Catechism because Jesus was embodied he's still embodied as the resurrected savior so he he imaged the invisible.
God imaged himself so I mean I think there's major problems if you try to represent the father God the Father God the Holy Spirit but the second member of the Trinity Christ because he was embodied he was a person I don't think the pictures of the problem I think how you approach those pictures is ultimately the problem and using any picture of Jesus to worship is highly highly problematic in a violation of this second commandment so I think the chosen is fine as long as you view it as entertainment give a general picture of the Gospel story that's fine.
But the chosen doesn't bring God into your living room Jonathan Rooney who's the actor that plays Jesus he's not Jesus so the chosen doesn't bring God into your living room when you're doing a storybook Bible with your children it's good to be mindful of what you're doing we have soilic Bibles and I love them but I really try to focus especially when it comes to pictures of Jesus try to focus on the story and then help them see that this is this is not literally.
Jesus this is just someone who's drawing Jesus we're certainly not going to have the storybook Bible out look at it and say children let's pray like not doing that and I think it's helpful to think through this I think even when I I've watched The Chosen I think it's actually really well done there have been times where I'll read it's one of the stories from the gospels and then I'm picturing stuff from that show and I'm like no no I'm not not doing that in my worship of.
God am I my quiet time before him I don't want to be picturing things I want the word of God to be what's molding and shaping My Worship so again so I might say that's nitpicky but I think it matters and seeing how to apply the second commandment because how we worship reveals whom we worship that matters I think that's a that's a clearly taught principle it's established here in the second commandment and it's pulled through the rest of the Old Testament like the rest of the Old Testament law is going to be there will be moments where they're teaching this is how you're supposed to worship you don't worship this way and the.
Second commandment but here's how you were to rightfully worship God that gets pulled into the New Testament where we're going to see teachings of how you're a rightfully worship God through hymns and Psalms and spiritual songs and reading Scripture and and teaching that all of that matters and as a principle this is a Down the Line application okay that I'm that I'm taking us to so not the main point here but but how we worship matters because it reveals who we worship that's why.
When we worship on Sundays as the corporate Church together we think about these kind of things that Matt who oversees or or worship Gatherings is thinking through the setting and lighting and songs and what we what we're seeing on some of that that matters because I mean there are I mean just there are some churches that that are so stale and so cold and so lifeless they can sing How Great Thou Art and I can sing when Christ shall come with shout of acclimation take me home and joy shall fill my heart and it's just lifeless and it's like do you realize what you're singing and how wonderful that truth is about Christ coming to.
Take us home and that's highly problematic if your worship is going to show who we're actually worshiping and I know oh farther into the Spectrum you've got churches that is just about the emotional high of worship and it's just emotional manipulation it's just it's hype culture on steroids like I remember when the last Church I was a part of we were hiring a worship pastor and we were interviewing some guys this guy came in from Texas and this guy was currently at the time he was leading Worship in Texas being flown out to a mega Church in Colorado and he wanted to get out of that culture.
Because they were it was so produced and manipulative that they were in his in their monitor telling him when to raise his hand in worship and it's just that so like I said not the main point of the passage but that principle matters and it comes out of the second commandment and flows to the rest of the Scriptures how we worship reveals whom we worship we are to worship the one true God and we are to worship Him rightly as we seek to obey the.
Second commandment just as the Israelites were called to do now they received this second commandment don't call don't incorporate these ancient near Eastern Pagan practices and worship of me and then what's listed are consequences and rewards for doing so so verse 5 you shall not bow down to them or serve them for I the Lord your God am a jealous God visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my Commandments they're both consequences and rewards.
For obeying or disobeying this second commandment now the consequences have to do with your children and your grandchildren and their children and a bad reading of this a bad reading of the second commandment is that children are punished for their parents sins and that's not what the second commandment is teaching Ezekiel 18 chapter chapter 18 verse 20. helpfully frames this it says the soul who sends shall die the son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father nor the father suffer.
For the iniquity of the son the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself children are not punished for their parents sins that's not what the second commandment is teaching however the parents sins can certainly affect their children I love how John Piper explains this he says that just because you get the flu does not automatically mean that your child is going to get the flu and start showing symptoms but don't be mistaken that.
If you get the flu there's a greater chance that your child will also get the flu so if you have a father who is raising his kids and he shows up to worship every Sunday suit and tie presenting the best this is we're a Christian family but at home he's an alcoholic and he's abusive and he's cruel and he belittles his children just because the father's sins doesn't mean the kids will be punished for it but don't be mistaken but if that's their view of what it means to be a Christian and that's their view of.
God there is a chance they're absolutely going to hate God and they're going to reject him so absolutely parents have an impact on their their children and he's trying to help them see that if you bow down to idols if you do this your children and your grandchildren and their children will continue the same practice of bowing down to Idols don't do it we sometimes forget that the Commandments are not just written to us as individuals they're written to the nation of Israel as.
Well and that is the history of Israel that when they bowed down to idols what happens their children do and their grandchildren do you see that but the Kings of Israel they're kings that they start bowing down to idols and then their son and then their son and then you see Kings who are righteous David and Josiah and when they are worshiping the God of the universe rightly than the thousands and thousands are also worshiping the God universe so that's what's happened there's consequences and the rewards and one more quick this is another implication is teaching and this is.
For kids in the room so if you're a kid perk up for a second listen in the same way that you're not punished for your parents sins you also don't ride the coattails of your parents faith you don't inherit their faith you have to have your own personal faith you have to personally decide to follow Jesus and walk with him for all of your days for some of you've got some Godly faithful parents but you're just not going to pick up on their faith you've got to own this yourself.
So they need to understand this how this generational implications for obeying and disobeying the second commandment but they also needed to understand why why is the second commandment such a big deal why does this matter so much and it's right there embedded in the middle of it verse 5 you shall not bow down to them or serve them for I the Lord your God am a jealous God it's because our God is a jealous God who has jealous love for his people jealousy can sometimes be thought of in negative ways and it certainly can be used in negative ways.
But it also can be used in wonderful ways when I was in college my wife and I we were best friends best friends throughout College but I had a rule about not dating best friends because I dated my best friend in high school and ended poorly we were no longer friends so I had this rule as I don't date best friends so I friendzoned her and then junior year came around and I was like what am I doing she's great I like I it.
Finally like fall like winter winter break it clicked I just was like what am I doing I want to be with her about the time I decided I wanted to be with her I found out that she was going on dates with this other guy and what welled up in me was jealous love oh my God I was jealous for her attention for her affection and for her and she was going on dates with this guy they weren't official yet but she was going on dates with this guy who by the way was nothing like me he played left he's a starting left tackle.
For Coastal Carolina he was six foot four three bills I mean we could not be any different I was like what is happening but I was like The Unofficial yet this is going a few dates so I was making my intentions clear I was I was she saw very quickly that was no longer just friendship that I was interested in her now I don't want to spoil the rest of the story but she found out that I liked her and he's like bye that guy was gone and to this day.
If I saw her walking down the street holding another man's hand what would well up in me is jealous love because I have a jealous love for her I want her attention I want her affection I want her and the God of the universe even more so is jealous for us don't miss that he wants our attention he wants our affection he wants you God is jealous for you that is why the language of idolatry throughout the rest of the Old Testament is a spiritual adultery that's what a language is playing the Harlot after foreign Gods whoring after other gods that language is intentional.
For a reason because God has a Fierce and jealous love for his people and it's wonderful it's wonderful and people misunderstand that they criticize the jealousy of God Oprah said the reason she rejected the God of the Bible is because the Bible says that God is a jealous guy she thought that was petty and small as you missed it you completely misunderstand the jealousy of our God our God isn't jealous for us because he needs us Our God eternally has existed as self-sufficient he doesn't need anybody before creation even exempt.
For time existed which this is bright this breaks the brain but in what's called eternity past God the Father God the son and God the Holy Spirit eternally existed in Perfect Harmony had no need of creation had no need of people but God made the University made people he didn't need us but he desires us he wants us he is jealous for us and his jealousy is so wonderfully displayed that when his creation rejected him and chased after other idols and worshiped other things in the places of.
God that he would not let that stand and he came forth and that he obeyed the he took on flesh and dwelt Among Us and Jesus obeyed the Old Testament law perfectly and then he went to the cross for us to have his blood shed for our idolatrous pursuit of everything else and he died for us and he rose for us so that we could walk and the newness of life that experiences the Wonder and the joy of a God who is jealous.
For his people so that we could experience his jealousy for us now into eternity that is how jealous and how wonderful our God is so the first and second commandment you shall have no other gods before me and you will worship me rightly that is a good gift that is those are wonderful Commandments because it calls us to see the one true God who is completely in love with us completely jealous for us and allows us to see him for who he is.
So that we can love him with all our heart with all our soul and with all our might and we would enjoy him forever the band's going to come up and we get to worship we get to sing to our jealous wonderful God we get to Behold Him for who he is but there are probably some of us they don't see that and don't fully understand that and some of us all we can see is our sin and our Brokenness and we think how in the world could.
God possibly want me we were the first the second commandment we can see all the other things that we worship in the place of God and so how could this God still want me he loves us because of his great love and his great Mercy he loves us because he is jealous for us because of what Jesus did for us and it's based completely on the work of Christ in Christ alone so yeah we are unworthy I don't know we're unworthy to worship Our.
God and to Behold Him but through Christ and what he has done for us we get to worship our God and there may be some of you here that have never truly believed this who have never surrendered to this God who is jealous and I want you to see how wonderful the jealousy of God is I want you to see how wonderful it is to have no other gods before him but to be so deeply in love with him and my hope is that you would surrender this.
God because he's worthy worthy you pray heavenly father I pray that you would help us behold you now in worship we are we are idolaters we do chase after other things and those things leave us empty and unsatisfied and broken and weary and that you get to pick up our heads and help us see the cross in the empty tomb we get to behold you our jealous and wonderful God the Lord help us worship and if there's anyone here that is not understood that has not believed that does not know you.
God may you absolutely bend their hearts to believe and the beholding you as our one true God so that we can worship you and worship you rightly in Jesus name amen.
The Ten Commandments Intro (Exodus 20:1-17)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Grab a bomb and go to Exodus chapter 20. that'll be on page 35 if you grab one of the blue baubles that's in the chair on the seat in front of you in that little rack we have been working our way through the book of Exodus and we've made it to the giving of the law at Mount Sinai and the Ten Commandments and we're going to spend the next several weeks in the Ten Commandments um some years ago there was a an Indian food buffet over in West Columbia in the shopping center where Hobby Lobby is and I had never really had Indian food and I thought Buffet is a good place to start.
Because you can see it you can try different things you're not just locked into um and so we went this is the type of stuff this is like street food you get this you dip this and that she'd be like for for you know probably what this is she's like all right don't eat that and she'd be like the filled up plate went and sat down and she's excitedly like watching us about to eat and then I had one of the weirdest experiences of my life I took a bite of the food stuck it in my mouth and my brain knew that it was food.
But my body did not recognize flavor a texture a smell the weird I put it in my mouth and might have ever come to just sticking to my mouth immediately just spitting it back out on the table but she's excitedly like watching so I was like but it was weird because I did not recognize any of it it was so foreign to me that I just wanted to immediately reject it I ended up enjoying my meal we went back a couple of times I did grow my palate a little bit and trying to eat some Indian food um still not my favorite though.
But the reason I tell that illustration the reason I'm telling that story is that we're looking at the law that God gives the people of Israel and what happens to us when we receive the law so often there are parts of this that taste good to us that you read this and you go yes amen thank you Lord praise God you're so wise you're so wonderful and there's other parts of it that are foreign to us odd to us confusing to us as you work through Not Just the Ten Commandments you.
If you will consider them today and you're probably used to them so I'm going to have to press on a little bit of how we kind of Nod along but then disagree but as you read through the books of the Bible as you read the rest of the laws you read how God interacts with man there are times where you're reading stuff and you're just confused as to why he cares about that why does that matter and there are other times where you're probably reading the Bible and it's not just confusion it's disdain being.
For several weeks and we're going to zoom in each one and kind of walk through and take them in turn today we're doing a bigger picture overview and we're really proculture what are the ones that we kind of shy away from or dislike and then what do we do with that that's where we're going to start as we study the Ten Commandments because if we think if we don't do this there's a chance that we'll all nod along boldly important to.
God and and therefore to us through the Ten Commandments this morning God we ask for your help we ask for the work of the Holy Spirit to help us see ourselves one so helpful and so much for our good and Jesus and God spoke all these it calls them the words a lot and it'll even say at times that they're we're to follow his words and his statutes and these are the work and if you haven't sometimes they're called the decalogue God's ten commandments and in some ways.
If you want to try to think about it it's the 10 most important things if God is giving you these are the 10 most important foundational things for following him it's these and the rest of the law is extrapolation from this it's further explanation of these when he says you will have no other God before me the rest of the law is explaining what that looks like when it says you won't steal it's not just how you define stealing he explains it he explains what you're like all right.
Well I didn't really steal but I borrowed something and I broke it does that count it's like yeah he's going to explain some of those things and try to help us understand I didn't steal an item I stole a person yeah that's a problem he's going to explain those things further on but this is where we get kind of the 10 foundational items God's top ten these are wildly important and I think it's helpful for us to understand that because there are things in this list that would not make your top ten there are things in this list that we may be used to hearing.
But they wouldn't if you were setting a code of laws I'm guessing there's some things here that you would think well okay maybe but probably not in your top ten so that's where we need to grow in understanding what is God saying and why does this matter and why are we wrong not him verse 2. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt out of the house of slavery y'all verse 2 is so wonderful.
Because I think sometimes we think that our approach to God is okay what does he want from me all right God what are your rules what are the things I need to do to be one of the good ones what are the things I need to do to make you love me to make you uh you know to to be saved what are the things I need to do to be a good Christian some of you might even be here this morning and that's why you're here you're you you realize that you got your life sideways and you're like I just got to get back in Church I'm gonna get straightened back out I'm gonna.
Go get it together and no you're not but we're glad you're here that's not how it works the the hope for the Israelites is not he didn't come to them in their slavery and say hey I got 10 rules and if y'all can start following these I'm gonna Circle back around and rescue you what happens first is redemption then Commandments and it's the same way for us in in the cross we need forgiveness then we follow in obedience we follow in obedience.
Because he is gracious and good and he redeems and he rescues we read that together a moment ago that we're by Grace we are saved and then later it says it's nothing that we've done it's not by works but he's prepared good works for us so that we are redeemed and rescued by his good work on our behalf and then we follow in obedience but it's we've got to get that in the right order because if you think I'm going to get it together I'm going to work really hard.
Then God will save me that's not how it works Redemption comes first and that's really good news so that we get to come to Jesus and ask for forgiveness and Rescue and he does through his work not ours and then calls us to follow him in obedience and humility okay rescue before command salvation before obedience but now let's look at the Ten Commandments we're gonna like I said we're gonna move through these fairly quickly and then we're going to discuss some stuff we're going to come back through.
But we're taking all of them together today and we'll spend more time on in the coming weeks you shall have no other gods before me God says I'm it it's not a Pantheon it's not like I'm the top one and you can have some other ones it's me and you worship me and me alone you shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the Earth you shall not bow down to them or serve them.
For I the Lord your God am a jealous God visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me but showing steadfast love to the thousands of those who love me and keep my Commandments first ones you'll have no other gods before me the second one is you will not make a Graven image you won't make an idol you won't have other things that you worship and bow down to you won't approach me that way or worship other gods in that way.
Third one you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain for the Lord will not hold him Guiltless who takes his name in vain we will not speak blasphemously or flippantly about the name of God and we will not use his name to co-sign our lies that he will be treated with respect and honor 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 or 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 the sea and all that is in them and rested on the seventh day therefore the Lord blessed this sabbath day and made it holy so he sets us out a day and says this is a holy day and you will rest and worship and no one will work on this day.
Verse 12 honor your father and your mother that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God has given you and some of y'all didn't realize that your parents quoted that to you in shorthand periodically you better do what I say or I'm going to snatch you up I brought you in I can take you out you will not live long in the land that God gave you but we will honor and show respect to our parents and our elders 13 you shall not murder you shall not commit adultery you shall not steal you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor you're not lie to harm others you will not.
Lie at all and the last one 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 that we are not to sit and look at those around us and desire what they have to long for it to daydream about it to think must be nice not to do that that's God's Ten Commandments that's the ten words that he gives to the people of Israel and everything else like I said is going to fall out of that is going to be explaining that it's going to help us understand it's almost like these.
Are the laws and the rest of it is like case law it's saying in this situation this in this situation this two of those are positive commands things that you will do eight of them are prohibitions negative commands you will not the word shall is a mixture of Will and should not only will you but you should not only should you but you will shall that's kind of a way to understand we don't use that word that much anymore you're not like actually I'll go to the bank.
Today but that's what he's saying is this is what you will do and it's what you should do and this is what you will not do and what you should not do now some of those we read and they make sense to us we think they're good some of them it's like okay I don't know I I don't I know as Christians if you're in here and you're a Christian you're you're trying to bend your will to the will of God I understand that like I read these and I go I want to obey all of these I understand these I want to follow them as the Holy Spirit is at work in me I.
Want to be submissive to this but I'm just saying that culturally some of them track with us very clearly in other ones we have a little bit harder time with so I want to take a moment to try to help us understand that get a better vantage point on that as we walk through there are two books that I have found helpful one of them is the Righteous Mind by Jonathan height and I said I was going to look up how to pronounce his name and I didn't.
So height is how you pronounce it and uh the other one is for our good Always by Brandon Clements Jonathan height is a PhD and he does studies in moral psychology he is not a Christian but he was looking into how do people make decisions and how specifically do people make moral decisions and decisions where they're saying this is a moral issue meaning that it is right and wrong whether you think so or not that's morality this is right or wrong whether you think.
So or not but he's approaching it from a psychological standpoint he does a lot of research and it's interesting research that he does Brandon Clements is a Christian he's a pastor at Midtown Lexington I when I did my residency at Midtown um I worked with him a lot he's he's a very wise helpful guy and this is a very good book but he takes a lot of what Jonathan height says and says yeah the Bible talks about that and he pairs it up with the Ten Commandments and helps us.
See kind of how that applies but Jonathan height outlines as he's done studies around the world he realized that uh most of the studies done on how people make moral decisions are done with middle class Americans so he was like well let's go do some studies in other parts of the world and see how they think about things and he outlined what he calls five moral foundations places where you anchor morality he also calls them moral taste buds I was on a plane one time we were headed to New York and I heard someone loudly saying from across the plane and she was.
So excited to go back to New York because biscuits are awful and she missed Bagels and I thought well no wonder she's loud she's from New York and she's wildly wrong she complained that biscuits are crumbly that's wonderful that's part of what makes him good you have to gnaw on a bagel could you imagine eating a bacon egg and cheese bagel that sounds awful it's like if you gave me one of those I'd be like I'm just gonna fast and pray this morning.
For the people for the people in the northern U.S who have to eat this all the time that's a matter of taste there may be some of you in here who are like bagels are awesome and good for you you're wrong but that's okay it's a matter of taste and when Jonathan height talks about morality he's talking about it like it's a matter of taste but it's not a matter of taste it's a matter of divine decree but this is the way he's talking about it what he says is that culturally we have some that we like we have certain moral foundations that make sense to us culture that have been infused into our culture.
And so he lists out five and this is what he says care and harm as a moral Foundation fairness and cheating is a moral Foundation loyalty and betrayal is a moral Foundation Authority and subversion is a moral foundation and sanctity and degradation is a moral Foundation so I'm gonna try to explain these and I'm gonna try to help us understand why this is integral to our approach and understanding of the Ten Commandments Karen harm it's bad to hurt people it's good to care.
For people virtues or gentleness and kindness sins it's anything that hurts somebody this will make sense to us fairness and cheating the virtues are honesty Equity Justice that oppression is sinful and bad that lying and cheating are bad that we ought to be fair and equal and that this is a moral foundation for whether or not you can judge if something is right or wrong loyalty and betrayal it is good for people to be able to join groups and trust one another it's good.
For you to enter into relationships and be able to trust others that together we can make things better so from this we get things like the way you care for your family or your friends or patriotism this is where I can tell one of my brothers he's being an idiot but you better keep that to yourself I'll handle my own Idiot Brother you shut your mouth that's where that comes from this idea that it's wrong to be disloyal it's wrong to betray the trust of others or to commit treason whether you think.
So or not Authority and subversion that we need as humans to flourish to form beneficial relationships inside of hierarchies and that sentence hurts Americans feelings but it's true how much do y'all like the idea of authority and submission you're a big fan of it think about it a lot this insists that not all hierarchies are evil or exploitive we should have respect for legitimate Authority whether that's God the government a parent a teacher a boss if these things are actually integral to human flourishing and that it is good to exist with some respect deference and submission in these hierarchies.
Therefore disrespect disobedience is wrong the fifth one that he outlines is sanctity and degradation that some things are right and wrong simply because God says they are he says there's this understanding that there's a vertical axis and at the top there are things that are holy Sanctified and at the bottom there are things that are degraded defiling and profane so if you think about the idea that humans are made in the image of God and then how can we treat dead bodies.
And if you just base things off of harm it's like well you can't hurt them but no there's there's definitely a way to defile and degrade and to be profane and it's wrong just because it's wrong and because God says it's wrong versus things that are holy and set apart now culturally and Brandon Clements helps outline this we uh we have differing viewpoints depending on where you come from culturally so Asian cultures values loyalty and Authority followed by sanctity and then care harm fairness all that care and harm and fairness show up in every culture in some ways.
But loyalty and Authority matter more this is why Disney can't make good movies about Asian cultures this is why in Moana and Mulan they start off by singing a song about how you're supposed to fit into your role in society and you're supposed to be submissive to your elders and that it ends with the Disney character going but not really do what you want listen to your parents unless you hear a voice inside tell you something else and then do that mulan's like I should submit and figure out how to be a wife and fit into culture and that's a very Asian thought process.
And then she turns American is like but not really give me a sword I'm about to stick it to the Huns and that's the stuff we celebrate but culturally loyalty to your parents to your ancestors submission to Authority this is why when there was a giant I believe it was an earthquake in Japan I just remember seeing the picture of the lines for people to get water it was like a two mile long single foul line and I thought you're not getting Americans to line up like that.
For water but the order and authority and submission to Authority that's how they handled it Middle Eastern cultures sanctity is the highest God says some things are wrong so they're wrong then you have authority and loyalty and then care harm and fairness are lower down this is why a lot of Middle Eastern cultures hate Western cultures because they think that we're promoting a free sexuality a rejection of authority an inverted sense of autonomy and that the world would be better off.
If we weren't running around defiling it and they say that some things are wrong because God says they're wrong and we disagree with some of those things as Christians but they're not wrong about all of that all right let's talk about us Western cultures we have a very inflamed sense of care and harm and fairness this is how we think about it this is why we'll say things like do whatever you want as long as it doesn't hurt somebody that's care Harmony this is why.
When they were trying to convince people to quit illegally downloading music and movies you remember back in the day some of y'all when you would use Napster or LimeWire like you had like let's say you had an older brother and his name was hypothetically like Logan and he was like hey I was downloading this song but our dad took a phone call so now it's not going to download even though we were seven hours in so we're gonna get it downloading tonight before we go to bed.
And when we wake up we'll probably have this song by Incubus or Third Eye Blind or whatever y'all remember that but when they were trying to convince people not to do that they ran in ad campaigns and what did they say piracy is not a victimless crime because in order to talk to us they needed to convince us that you were hurting somebody what they didn't say is piracy is stealing and stealing is a sin piracy is disloyal to your fellow citizens who have copyrights on this music how much would we care.
But what they said is you have a secret victim and every time you piracy something you've stabbed them and robbed them of a meal and it's like oh wow that matters a little more that we have a victim here this is how we have to communicate to us because that's all we care about now this matters because when we approach The Ten Commandments or we approach the law of God when we're reading how God deals with humans what happens is so often we go why would.
God act like that or we approach in some sort of hubris some sort of Pride that we have a beautiful view on what morality ought to be when actually we have a stunted and disfigured view of morality that has things out of place Karen harm matter fairness matters but they're not the only things that matter and when we read The Ten Commandments there are things that are wildly massively important to God that don't register with our culture at all and there are times that you're reading your Bible and you might be thinking.
Well that's a bit of an overreaction wow God's being really harsh there why would that be such a big thing I don't understand why he would treat those people that way most often it's in a sense it's in a case where someone seems to be harmed by God for a thing that we deem not that important so let's look at our Ten Commandments you see for us to say that we have the best view on morality is like me asking you to paint a sunset or a rainbow.
And then giving you two green crayons you're going to immediately respond with I'm gonna need some more things here to fill this out and that's actually what we need when it comes to morality we need a little bit more of God's understanding of how to approach right and wrong because there's things that we are missing and therefore rather than disagreeing with God and thinking we're right we ought to see every disagreement with God a place that we need to grow be submissive walk in obedience and Trust his wisdom over ours I have a I know how to build some things I've built built some things I'm not the best at it.
But I'm not terrible but there have been times where I've gotten to do a construction project with Brad arneson and Chris Rocky um Brad arneson oversees a steel plant and Chris Rocky's finishing building his own house with his own bare hands and so when I'm in construction projects with them what I don't do is walk over and gosh yeah I got this I don't know if you know this I've built a porch before like I don't do that what I do is I come over like this and I go what do you want me to do boss.
And then I say things like and when they tell me to stop doing a thing I say okay and I stop and then I sometimes I'll ask why was what was I doing that was dumb and they'll explain it to me and if you hung out with us on a job site you would think that was the right way to behave how dare we approach our Bibles with with less respect and deference than we would give to a human who knows some more than us how how dare we approach our Bibles.
Look and go well I don't really like that or I don't know you're going to need to explain yourself a little more to me God foolishness so let's look at our Ten Commandments let's try to grow a little bit I want to show you the ones you like care and fairness ones these are the ones if I said hey pick your favorite Ten Commandments pick the ones that if you were going to choose for your neighbors to follow if I said hey you're going to live in a neighborhood and you get to pick four Commandments that everyone in that City or that neighborhood is going to follow I can guess with great accuracy which ones.
We'd be picking you shall not murder you should not commit adultery you shall not steal you should not bear false witness I want to live in a place like that those are the ones that were like yeah I mean it's a big deal like if you had a child and they started showing homicidal Tendencies you would care you'd be like I don't know he keeps just hurting things this is terrible he's going to grow up to be a murderer but some of us have wildly disrespectful children and we're like.
Well maybe he'll be a cowboy and it's like that's not good for him he shouldn't be acting like that some of us continually teach our children that treating the name the name of the Lord in vain doesn't matter as much these are the ones that we care about these are the ones that make sense to us there are some that are kind of in the middle we understand a little bit we're we're tracking somewhat with you shall have no other gods before me that's primarily loyalty and Authority you should have no other guys before me go to the the here we go that's primarily loyalty and Authority we at least understand this logically that.
If God's going to be the one who rescues then God can tell you he's the only God and you're going to submit to him the problem is culturally and for a lot of us it just is like well okay I mean it makes sense it's like a house rule for God but it's not that important but it's actually massively important for Humanity to know the one true God submit to the one true God and not follow any other God and this command carries the death penalty with it in the law.
So God takes it seriously the next one that we take halfway honor your father and mother that your days may be long in the land the Lord your God is giving you we yeah that makes sense to be respectful to your parents that's something in general is a good thing like I came in the other day and I asked my younger son he's five I said something about dinner and I was asking him basically what type of bean did he want do you want green beans you want something like that I said you want green beans and he stood up and went nowhere do what he said that's how I say no.
Now and I said not to me it didn't not to your mama not to your teachers you can say it to your brother which is very funny to watch him say that to his older brother you want to play this game but we understand in some sense that respecting your parents is this is important that this matters but again we can only go so far the beginning of the new one of the new Disney movies called turning red starts off like this it's like you know somebody doing narration over the top of some stuff and it says this the number one oh it's about an Asian family.
So you're going to get watch again how how we treat this the number one rule in my family honor your parents they're the Supreme Beings who gave you life who sweated and sacrificed so much to put a roof over your head food on your plate an epic amount of food the least you can do in return is every single thing they ask of course some people are like be careful honoring your parents sounds great but if you take it too far.
Well you might forget to honor yourself the opening of a Disney movie quotes The Ten Commandments and says follow me children and part of us as good Americans thinks she's not wrong can't have your parents telling you what to do all the time but this also carries a capital punishment in Exodus 21 and in Deuteronomy disregard for your parents striking your father or mother or living wildly licentious rebellious lives ends in execution but we have an inflamed sense of harm and we say.
Well that sounds ridiculous that God would act like that but maybe we're wrong and not him there are several that don't make much sense to us at all you shall not make yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is heaven above or Earth beneath okay so no idols I guess God can set that rule I guess God can make that but as far as like I mean shouldn't we just let cultures kind of do what they want should we let people do what they want does it really matter that much what we worship or how we worship I mean I don't really want to live in a society that dictates that.
But again as far as the people of Israel goes and how God relates to them this also in Deuteronomy 13 and 17 carries the death penalty to reject God as your one true God and to pursue and worship idols is something that he takes wildly aggressively seriously because it is against human flourishing that it harms us ultimately and eternally when we reject the authority and Leadership and worship of God you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
For the Lord will not hold him Guiltless who takes his name in vain there's a man who blasphemes and curses the Lord in Leviticus 24 and he is put to death now we might be understanding that if someone commits murder they received the death penalty but not that we would have to treat God's name this way but that's because we don't have any understanding of Holiness and sanctity the way that we ought to it's not because our vantage point on morality is better it's.
Because it is stunted and disfigured and that we ought to take the things that God says to take seriously seriously and some of us need to begin to pay attention to how we speak about God and his name remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy six days you shall labor and do all of your work but the seventh day is the Sabbath to the Lord your God that certain days will be set apart as holy for worship and rest and that that wasn't just something that was nice that.
God blessed us with rest but that it was something that was commanded as a thing that needed to be practiced in order to love and Worship the Lord is foreign to us we're likely to want to just spit it out of our mouth because it doesn't taste right now Jesus comes in and Spencer's going to talk us through some of this but Jesus comes in and he adjusts how they were viewing this sabbath and how we get to view this sabbath as a blessing.
But I want us to see that it's one of the ones that we read and just think optional this last one I think is a very good example 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 if I pressed you on this I think you might would be able to say that you could see how coveting a lot could make you unhappy like.
If I spend all my time on Instagram and Facebook I could see how that would like lead to depression if I was just looking at everything that everybody was happy about and always wishing that my life was better and all you'd really be able to articulate is that if you did this to the point of harming yourself then it might be bad but the idea that I'm not supposed to look at something someone else has and want it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to us you ever seen someone's shoes and thought those are nice shoes and asked them a question like where'd you get those ever seen someone's jacket and thought that's.
A nice jacket where'd you get that jacket ever seen someone's truck and thought wow what a nice truck where'd you get that bullet antenna you ever seen you ever seen some bodies things and just thought like I like to get that I'd like to figure out where you have that I'd like to be able to to be able to have something like that that's our whole system that's not covetousness that's marketing that's capitalism this is what we operate off of you ever been watching a show and thought oh wow I need to check into seeing about that you've been scrolling through Facebook and thought I'd like to vacation there where is that and you've desired.
Something that someone else had and then you needed it in order for you to be happy that's covetousness you ever had something you were enjoying seeing someone else enjoying something else more and now you weren't enjoying what you were enjoying anymore you ever had a house you liked until you visited someone else's house and now your house is stupid I only have two bathrooms I want to let three or four people go to the bathroom at once this is normal for us we have whole TV shows dedicated to this we don't care and we read this and we nod and we go you're right.
But we walk off and we don't care because he hasn't convinced us that it harms someone he hasn't convinced us that it fits into our approach to morality and we are wrong and we don't need God to convince us we need to repent and submit and see that we have fallen wildly short of God's ideal for what we ought to be and rather than in Pride judging him we need to in submission and humility fall on our face and ask for help this is why Americans have no ability to articulate why you cannot participate in all the sexual activity you want to as long as it doesn't hurt someone this is why we have no.
Words to articulate to someone that you can't do that even though it's your own personal autonomy and even though you aren't actively hurting someone you're not allowed to do that because we don't have any words for sanctity we don't have any words for being able to say to someone that's wrong just because God says it's wrong that's degrading to being a human but that doesn't mean that God's wrong it means that we are I want to read a quote from Brandon Clement's book he says many Americans tend to think God's Wrath isn't fair showing our heightened moral category.
For that concern but part of that reasoning is because we don't think sin is that big of a deal and certainly not sins that don't seem to harm someone we don't care as much that people violently rebel against God's Authority betray his loyalty or degrade and debase the holy so we don't think of those things as deserving of Wrath and God's Vision all those things are serious offenses and sometimes deserving of Swift wrath death and even Eternal separation from him all of which makes the sacrifice of.
Jesus that enables us to approach God's throne with confidence all the more astounding do you know why so often we'll say things like I just don't understand how God could judge people who are good I don't understand why God would send good people to hell it's because we've trimmed the Ten Commandments down to about three or four things and we say it's not because they're murdering people they don't really steal maybe once when they were little they're pretty honest they seem to you know they might have had some sexual sin.
But they're pretty faithful to their spouse seems like they've had a good relationship he's a nice man he's a gentle man she's a good woman and all we mean is by our stunted reduced view of what God would want from us in an Americanized sense and we have cut out all the ways that we have heinously offended God by rejecting his authority by rejecting worship of him by honoring and loving and serving other things by treating his name like dirt and by walking around wildly coveting.
And then even the ones that we agree with still failing at and then excusing because Rebellion against God just isn't that big a deal and it's not that God's wrong it's that we are and what we need is forgiveness and obedience what we need is repentance we need Jesus to save us it makes his sacrifice all the more astounding that he would rescue people who have utterly rejected the authority of God and then walked around strutting in their pride I read a quote the other day that says whenever you feel like you've sinned just.
Remember that God sins far outweigh yours and then a bunch of people saying what a great quote and it's just because we've redone what we think morality is and then we can sit and judge God based off of it rather than in humility submitting to him and saying thank you Lord for correcting me where I am so wildly wrong every place that you disagree with him is not a place where he is wrong it's a place where you are and it's an opportunity.
For trust and obedience Romans 3 23 24 and 24 says for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift through the Redemption that is in Christ Jesus we need to turn to Jesus and ask for forgiveness because we have failed and we are deserving of Wrath but he offers forgiveness and grace through taking the penalty of our sin on the cross and then after rescue and Redemption comes obedience this is why.
Jesus says things like uh whoever believes in the son has eternal life whoever does not obey the son shall not see life but the wrath of God remains on him this is why first John says by this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and obey his Commandments for this is love of God that we keep his Commandments and his Commandments are not burdensome that we are rescued first but then we walk in humility and obedience grow our understanding of what.
God will have from us as the band comes back up this morning foreign seriously I want you to look at your Bible at Exodus 20 and I want you to consider the places where you run afoul of God's law or the places where you just kind of think that one doesn't matter I want us to consider before the Lord where we need his grace and then we get to ask him for it we get to say Lord I'm sorry help me change me forgive me.
Because of the work of Christ he will and then we get to say through your Holy Spirit Empower me to walk forward in obedience that I would not walk forward in Pride judging your law but that I would sit under the authority of your law knowing that I am judged by you but that ultimately because of Christ I get to escape that judgment because he was judged in my place for my sin but help me to obey let's bow our heads.
Lord I ask that by your grace that you would help us to see goodness and the wisdom of your law but I pray that by your grace and by your spirit that you would help us to see our sin so that we would not stand condemned or that we would not judge you in our arrogance the Lord May there be repentance this morning in the days to come we thank you for the rescue provided by the work of Christ for without it we are lost.
God's Holiness (Exodus 19 & 20)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Treasured Possession, Kingdom of Priests, & a Holy Nation (Exodus 19:1-6)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Good morning my name is Spencer I'm one of the pastors here we're going to be in Exodus chapter 19 verses one through six as we continue to Journey Through The Book of Exodus so a few weeks ago I was on my phone I saw a video uh with a kind of a clickbaity type click baity type title pop across the screen and I was like I have got to watch this and the title of video was some form of uh this is why you need subtitles to watch movies and television nowadays and I went what I thought it was just me I thought my children just blowing on my eardrums and I can't hear anymore.
That it's not a unique problem to me that people needs subtitles so I was like yes I will give you 10 minutes of my time I'd love to know why I need subtitles and I'm not going to get into all the nerdy details because there's multiple reasons but I'll give you a couple one of them is because back in the day there used to be One mic above each scene so they have a mic above that scene and those actors were trained uh to very be to be articulate to project their voice at that mic.
So that all these words could be caught and then nowadays because there's mics everywhere they can put them on their person they can put them in all parts of the scene that actors have gotten lays here and they've started to slur and Mumble their words together which for someone like me who if you've ever been an informal conversation with me who slurred in my words it's like oh I'm not alone even the pros do it uh but then I kept watching and I thought that there was uh uh something that I found to be very helpful is that they shoot movies and television primarily.
For a surround sound experience okay so like that and they shoot it for in the theaters to have all the speakers from front to back and all around and at home if you have like an expensive Sonos system that's what it's made for and what they do is they shoot up for that type of quality and then they start to reduce it down to the lowest kind of common uh listening experience and one of the more popular listening experiences is what I do I have a flat screen TV that is thin and has one tiny speaker on the back and that shoots sound back at the wall.
Then comes back to me and by the time that I'm listening like there's moments where I'm watching this a show or a movie and I'm like I know that this is important I can tell by the setup that this is a very important scene but I can't hear in the word so I have to rewind put subtitles on and be ah there it is to catch some of the most important pivotal parts of the story you need the full surround sound experience and that is a little bit of where we're at in Exodus.
Today that is our passage we're going to look at what is one of the most pivotal an important and foundational passages in the Old Testament this passage clearly outlines who the people of God are supposed to be who God's people are supposed to be in order to hear it clearly there's these major descriptions that are given for the people of God and each of those is like a different speaker the front the back and the sides you need all of them to help hear who we are supposed to be.
Now as the Church so we're going to walk through this together and we pray for us and then we will see what God has to say to us Heaven heavenly father I pray that you would help us be present this morning I pray that you would help us listen that we receive your word with glad and generous hearts that we would be willing to be molded and shaped into your image whether that's through correction whether that causes to repentance whether that causes cause us to just simply delighting in you I pray that you would help that happen this morning and you'd work in our hearts we ask this in.
Jesus name amen okay we're gonna start from verse one says on the third New Moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt on that day they came into the Wilderness of Sinai so most of us aren't well versed in Jewish calendars when it says on the third new moon this is about seven weeks okay and a lot has happened in the last seven weeks when they left Egypt we've seen the the Great Red Sea Crossing and everything that went into that with.
God uh destroying the enemies of Israel and saving his people we've watched as they've been in the wilderness the highs and the lows we've seen them suffering with starving and thirsting we've seen God provide through Manna through Quail through water from the rock they have fought a war with the amalekites and then last week we saw Jethro Moses father-in-law visit there's a lot that's happened in seven weeks but now finally we're at a big shift in Exodus they are out there they have arrived they're arriving at Mount Sinai Mount Sinai is where Moses and the people are going to receive the Ten Commandments it's where they're going to receive the law.
So in verse 2 when it says they set out from rephidem and came to the Wilderness of Sinai then can't end the Wilderness there Israel and Camp before the mountain the mountain being Mount Sinai while Moses went up to God so they get to the mountain the people of God and Camp below it Moses goes up to meet with God and this is what happens the Lord called to him out of the mountain saying thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the people of Israel you yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore You On Eagle's Wings and brought you to myself.
So Moses the prophet is going to tell the people this y'all remember what I did to the Egyptians right the very people that enslaved you for centuries who brutalized you you remember what I did to them and what I did for you because you were helpless in your state you were slaves you had no hope of saving and redeeming and freeing yourselves but he used the language of I bore you on the Eagles wings just you were helpless and hopeless and I swooped in like an eagle and picked you up and carried you to myself this is a picturesque of uh Return of the King uh the final book final movie of.
Lord of the Rings when Sam and Frodo have completed their Journey the ring has been destroyed now Mordor is going up in flames and there's lava all around them and they are exhausted and they're they they're starving and they've got nothing left in them they're completely hopeless about to die and then all of a sudden Eagles come in and scoop them up and carry them to safety that's us that's the Israelites that's our story hopeless and helpless on our own.
God in his Rich mercy and his love for us redeeming us scooping us up and it says Like an Eagle he bore us on his wings to himself it is this save us away from destruction he brings us to himself that we might live with him and Delight in him that's what he's trying to help the people of God see that the God who saved you is now about to teach you what it means to be my people so what he's telling Moses and what the people of.
God need to hear out the gate is Grace I saved you because of my great love because of my power over the Egyptians I redeemed you and now you're going to learn as my people what it means to be the people of God in these next two verses are foundational for them so verse 5 it says now therefore if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my Covenant let me pause there for a moment he says since I'm the God that is.
For you that's redeemed you I want you to listen to what I have to say my words that's going to be the law that he's getting ready to deliver obey my voice but he says keep my Covenant now amongst Bible nerds which is a tribe that I've got a foot in they really love to debate this word covenant what does he mean because there's two possible options for what he means by Covenant so the first option is the Covenant that God made with Abraham in the Book of Genesis this will be the the abrahamic Covenant and this is the Covenant where.
God chooses Abraham there's nothing special about Abraham but God chooses Abraham and says I'm going to make a great nation out of you your descendants are going to be the means by which I bless the Nations so you'll see the different commentaries that go this is the abrahamic Covenant you look at the language and how it Compares some of the Covenant language that was earlier in Exodus it goes back to Abraham of Genesis and it's like oh this is a compelling arguments.
But on the other side they're like no no this is the Covenant with Moses What's called the Mosaic Covenant that's the Covenant that we're entering into right now that we're seeing in verse 19 20 and following this is the Covenant of Moses the law where the language that flows out of this is obeying the Lord and you listen to both of their arguments oh that's that's compelling oh that's compelling but as I've looked at the text this week what's become clear is that this passage is actually a bridge between those two Covenants that it's it's one plan the whole time and two promises two uh covenants that.
God has made with his people and this really brings them together you have the one of God's grace that Abraham chose and trusted God in faith and you have the outworking of that and the Mosaic Covenant which is obedience it's trusting God at his word that it is good and following him but this kind of holds both of those together with faith and following that's what's happening faith and following are bound up in when it says keep my Covenant so verse 5.
Now therefore if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my Covenant you shall be here it is here's the big descriptions okay the big surround sound descriptions of who we're called to be as the people of God you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples for all the Earth is mine verse six and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests second description and a holy nation and that's the third these are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel treasure possession Kingdom of priest holy nation this is what it means to be the people of.
God now we're going to spend most of our time in that before we get there I want to help tie this whole story together for us because What's Happening Here is profound it's beautiful so if you go back to the Covenant with Abraham and specifically when God is reinforcing it when he calls Abraham to sacrifice Isaac they're on the mountain and then he's about to sacrifice his son but then God intervenes and says no I've seen your faith Abraham and that what follows that is the reinforcing of this Covenant in Genesis 22 verses 17 and 18 it says I will surely this is.
God speaking I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply your Offspring as the stars of the heaven as the sand that is on the seashore and your Offspring shall possess the Gate of his enemies and in your Offspring shall hear this all the nations of the earth be blessed because you have obeyed my voice okay as the promise that he made with Abraham that I'm going to bless you with a great nation and through your people I will bless the Nations.
And then you get to our passage today which is hundreds of years later when one of Abraham's descendants Moses is on the mount and God tells them now therefore if you indeed obey my voice same language and keep my Covenant you shall be my treasure possession amongst all peoples for all the Earth is mine you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation now we're going to get more into that and that language of what's happening there.
But what the people of God are called to be is the kingdom of priest to the surrounding Nations and this gets reinforced by the book of Isaiah in chapter 49 when it says God's speaking he says is it too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel I will make you as a light for the Nations that my salvation May reach to the end of the Earth and what you.
See is you're pulling this thread from Genesis all the way through the Old Testament is that God chose a people that they might be a holy nation a kingdom of priests a light to the surrounding Nations and then he brings them into his Promised Land into his presence and if you just look at the geography of where he chose that Israel geographically is this land bridge between two continents between all these different surrounding Nations all these different surrounding Nations that did not know.
God that did not love God they did not follow him they did abominable practices like sacrificing their children to foreign idols they don't know God but this people you're going to know me you're going to be like me and you're going to be a light to these surrounding Nations but when you read the rest of the Old Testament you see a rejection of that calling they don't want to be a treasure possession they don't want to be a kingdom of priest they don't want to be a holy nation they don't want.
God and they reject them over and over and over again they love the gods of the other nations they fall in love with their practices all the way to sacrificing their own children to foreign gods they failed they were not the light to the Nations but that promise Still Remains the promise that Abraham Still Remains the promise to Moses through Moses to his people still remains and God makes good on his promises despite the failure of his people and in steps.
Jesus and Jesus steps in and he becomes the light to the Nations that he fulfills the Mosaic Covenant obeying the law perfectly and that when he goes to the cross and dies for the sins of the world and when he rises out of the Tomb he is making a way for the light Nations to expand and for all the nations to be brought in and then when you get to after his resurrection before he ascends you get to the Great Commission which happens on a mountain you.
See a mountain thing there too from Abraham to Moses to now Jesus commissioning his Church and what does he say go therefore and Make Disciples of what All Nations you see it of all Nations This Promise is being pulled through at its coming true guys that this is biblical theology this is it right here like this is the sweet reward of reading the Scriptures and seeing these it's not a bunch of disconnected stories that's not all linked together it's one grand story from Genesis to Revelation the whole way through.
And then when you keep pulling that thread you get towards the end of the Bible and you get to second Peter it's coming alive you guys second Peter chapter two it's going to bring us home this is God through inspiring Peter speaking to this new these new testament churches here it is but you are a chosen race a royal priesthood a holy nation a people for his own possession sound familiar see same language of Exodus the same calling that the people of.
God are about to receive in Exodus that continues for thousands of years it doesn't change if you belong to God this is it that you're a royal priest to the kingdom of priests that you are a people for his own possession God's treasured possession that you are a holy nation same language but then you get the purpose right for what God's people and why they're called to be this and it goes on that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of Darkness into Marvelous Light that you are these things as my people.
So that not only you would know God but that you would Proclaim God to the world who needs him that you be a light to the Nations as God's people bearing the Light of Christ that you proclaim the excellencies the glory the goodness the Gospel of him who called you out of Darkness into Marvelous Light you were once enslaved to sin but now you've been made free as my people to Proclaim the Gospel that's why he continues in First Peter he says in.
Verse 11 beloved I urge you as sojourners and as Exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh which waged war against your soul keep your conduct among the Gentiles that's Outsiders who don't believe that's the language there the Gentiles honorable so that when they speak evil must speak speak against you as evildoers they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation that how you assemble as the people of God and what you look like how you walk in this faith and the message that you have that they might.
See it and they might want to know Christ they might want to follow him so that when the day of visitation happens when judgment happens they might stand joyfully that's what the people of God have been for thousands of years that means that in this Exodus passage we really need to be very familiar with this language of what it means to be when he says now therefore if you want to obey my voice and keep my Covenant you shall be my treasured possession.
When he goes on to say my kingdom of priests he goes on to say a holy nation we need to be very familiar with those that language and we need each of those descriptions so we can have this surround sound experience of hearing who God is calling us to be as the Church so we're going to spend the rest of our time looking at those descriptions and why they matter so let's look at that first one my treasured possession or as.
First Peter says a people for his own possession okay so you shall be my treasure possession among the peoples and a people for his own possession in First Peter God looks at us and says you are my treasured possession out of everything and everyone that's ever been made God is the creator of the universe that means that from the farthest Galaxy and all of its stars to the very atoms beneath our feet that he looks at his people and says you are my most treasured possession how wonderful is that how beautiful is that.
God loves us that much that he calls us his treasured possession the Israelites they so needed to hear that they so needed to hear that for years for centuries they were pharaohs abused possession and God says listen you are my treasured possession and the same thing is true of the two of us with Christ that in Christ were God's treasured possession and we need to believe that because the enemy would love to would love to lie to us and like let us believe.
So many other things that God doesn't love us that God doesn't care that you don't matter I'm gonna walk as one of the things I do is I do pastoral Counseling in our Church not walk with people that had this internal Narrative of just I don't matter no one loves me God doesn't love me God doesn't care I'm worthless I'm terrible I should just end it I mean the the thought patterns that people have that just this reinforcing of the exact opposite of the language of.
God that you're a treasure possession we walk in this negative feedback loop of just it just continues and it continues and it continues and God in the middle of all of it is just trying to break through and says don't you see you're my treasured possession that you belong to me that I love you that I love you so much that I sent my son to die for you I I sent him to give you new life that what's while this moment in life might be filled with suffering it is light and momentary compared to the surpassing worth of the glory and the weight of Glory that awaits us at this moment in life it.
Feels long but it's like a vapor it's here and then it's gone when you compare that to the vast expanse of Eternity that God has secured for us in Christ and all the joy and endless peace and his presence that awaits us you don't realize how treasured you are Christian is what God is trying to help us see you're unbelievably treasured you're far more loved and cheers than you ever possibly imagine or dream I love the language that continues in Exodus of how.
God views his people because here he says treasured possession but when you flip to the next chapter in The Ten Commandments which we're going to spend more time in and the second commandment he says you shall not bow down to them or serve them talk about Idols for I the Lord You Are God and they jealous God our God is jealous for us his tragic possession how great is that the God of the universe cares that much about you like if I.
If my with one of my children came to me and said father well Daddy they don't use the language Daddy I've been playing with some kids down the street and that family is awesome dad they have all kinds of toys like their parents make a lot more money than you do they've got all the things they their dad drives a full-size truck that's like a tank it ain't like your Prius or your little pickup truck they drive the real deal they provide all the things and you know what we've decided I've decided that I'm I'm going to move in with them and I'm going to call them dad and I just think that family's better.
If I heard that you know what I feel jealous Wrath I'm jealous for my children they're my treasured possession I've looked at them and say you're not going to anywhere you were riding in the back of that Prius until it dies you are a part of this family you are mine I love you more than you could ever possibly imagine you ain't going nowhere because you're my treasure possession that's how God feels about us and then some feel that believe that Christian you're more valued than you could ever possibly understand your life was literally bought with the blood of.
God you are as treasured possession you need to hear that because what happens is is that we we when we endure suffering when we endure suffering we question them and we question the goodness of God if God's really good it really does value me as a treasured possession then why is life so hard why do I feel so sad or why do I feel so alone or what fill in the blank that's a longer discussion that sometimes you're not going to get the most satisfying answers answers to.
But you're not alone the Israelites felt that I mean they wandered in the wilderness through all types of Trials and they questioned the goodness of God and God's not trying to help them see and help us see you don't understand how treasured you are that our minds are so focused on this moment and the and the sufferings that feel great but pale in comparison to what await us we are absolutely treasured and loved by God and you need to believe that.
And if you believe them if you walk in them these next two descriptions are going to make a lot more sense when he says Kingdom of priests and holy nation okay now these are similar similar language here Kingdom of priests and holy nation all right but there's there's some differences here that is worth separating out to see the Nuance of the language that's being used we're going to look at the Kingdom of priests first so priests are a specific group of people.
Okay they're distinct from the rest of the people that we're going to see this later on in Exodus when God establishes this literal the priesthood of God and you're going to see these laws that show how they were different and distinct that they uh they had to follow all types of of different rituals and uh to to be holy to be Pious they had to even dress differently their dress was I mean later on in the New Testament that it gets used as a place of arrogance.
But the original design of of the dress and the difference was you all are distinct you distinct because you're called to a higher calling they were called to uh to maintain Holiness and to consecrate themselves make themselves holy for different rituals and the reason why is because the priesthood had special access to God the priesthood had unique access that the rest of the people did not that when the temple gets built there are different parts of the temple that the rest of the people cannot enter and and there's only the priest could enter into that.
Because they devoted themselves to God and to this pursuit of holiness and what we see coming out of that is not only for the end itself knowing God it was so that with their special access they might teach the people they might teach the law that they might be in charge of corporate worship helping people bring their sacrifices to God that they had special access to God to know him so that the people could know him that's what it means to be a kingdom of priest is that we as Christians have special access to.
God that we're called the priesthood of all believers now because we no longer need a preach between us and God that we have Jesus our great high priest who gives us access to God the father that we can approach him in prayer and in worship at any moment and with that special access it's not just for our good it's for the good of others that we might know God and the Overflow of knowing God and loving him might be poured out.
For the good of others that's why in First Peter he says keep your conduct amongst the Gentiles honorable so that when they speak evil against you they may see their good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us on the day of visitation so that the people can hear the excellencies of him who cauldron of Darkness into Marvelous Light a kingdom of priests Proclaim who God is that the invitation to God ultimately is flowing through them as teachers of the law and as those who facilitate worship and in Christ we have that message of who.
Jesus is and we get to as a kingdom of priests Proclaim who he is to the Nations who need him that the Church we say this every week I don't know if you've heard this the Church is plan a not plan B There It Is say that every week in our closing and I just missed it did the Church's plan a there is no plan B it's the means by which God proclaims his Gospel to the world because we are the kingdom of priests who give the invitation the Gospel to those who need him.
So second third is holy nation he says in verse 6 of chapter 19 you shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation first Peter he says a royal priesthood and a holy nation now the word holiness it's a bad rap in our culture okay I caught a glimpse of the Grammy's performance that was talking about unholiness and I was a good night this is crazy also you misunderstand Holiness completely I've misunderstood Holiness completely when I was a lost teenager and rebellious like I got around some people that were very self-righteous and judgmental and you know I used to not be Baptist and they were and I thought Baptists were the worst.
Because what I equated I equated Holiness with holier than thou Holiness with self-righteousness and I think largely when you use the term Holiness that's what people think they think of self-righteousness no you think you're better than me that's not what Holiness is at all Holiness quite simply as seeking to be like our maker it's seeking to be just like him when he says Holiness that you've been set apart to be like your God that's the pursuit of Holiness is this trying to be like.
God and in any other listen any other phase of Life any other example like you no one looks at a at a boy that you know who loves his dad and he looks up to his dad and he wants to dress like his dad and look like his dad and talk like his dad no one looks at that and says oh you're just trying to be better than me you're just gonna be like your dad no one looks at a little girl who wants to be just like her mom or or a student that wants to be just like their teacher or a player that wants to be like their coach and says anything negative.
About that we all look at that and say that's awesome that's great but when it comes to God I said oh you you think you're better than me you must be self-righteous and it's like no no I Holiness is not I'm better than you as Jesus is better and I just want to be like him because he is better and what he has to offer is better and I trust him at his word that the God who saved me who redeemed me and set me apart and gave me these Commandments that show me what it means to live in life with.
God that these things are actually truly better that I'm going to trust what the Scriptures teach on this over what my gut says my trust with the Scriptures teach on this of what the world says because what Jesus offers is better and I want to be like my God and the people of God had a unique opportunity to be a holy nation amongst all types of surrounding Nations that did not know God and we as Christians get to be a holy nation not.
Because we're great because he is and his light gets to shine through us to people that desperately need to know God that's what it means to be a holy nation so with these three different phrases the Israelites we're hearing a picture this surround sound every part of it this is what it means to be the people of God that you are a treasured possession no longer the abuse possession of Pharaoh but you are treasured possession that you're no longer a kingdom of slaves.
But you're a kingdom of priests that you're no longer subject to the Egyptian Rule and reign as that Nation you are a holy nation that belongs to The Great I Am and with each of those descriptions you have an essential pick they're an essential part of a grander picture of what it means to be the people of God and you need all three I think all three descriptions to see your to try to embody what it means to be the Church all three of those matter.
So chat now this week uh we're talking through this and and we put together this Venn diagram um one because Venn diagrams are awesome they just are uh but it's just a helpful tool to be able to actually see kind of what happens if you don't have all three of them now if you're the kind of per if you're cynical you can try to poke holes in this all right that's nice or you can just kind of every illustration can break down eventually.
But we're going to look at this now and you have time and in your groups this week and group content actually work through this so treasured possession royal priesthood Kingdom of priests and a holy nation okay that's the three descriptions now here's what happens if you just have one of these individually go to the next slide please so if you just believe that you're a treasured possession and you post up and that that that's what you believe the Church is supposed to be that ultimately you just believe that.
Well just God is good and he is that's one part of it God is good but what can happen is is if you just believe that God is good and you're not concerned with being a royal priesthood an invitation to those who don't believe you're not concerned with holiness then ultimately what happens is you just think God okay is all of whatever we want to believe whatever we want to live the God's just gracious and he's good and you get this nominal Christianity this this Christianity that's a name only.
But as it doesn't actually ever take sin seriously doesn't reckon with what the our sin cost us that doesn't see a need to go therefore Make Disciples of all Nations and that can go all in all kinds of directions and go towards even universalism they're just like God just gonna be good to us it's all going to work out in the end and that's a misunderstanding of the Gospel if you just have this okay not we're not there yet go back the big reveal is coming you guys all right.
So if we just have Kingdom a priest royal priesthood then we have is just do good okay it's just you're doing a bunch of good you're just concerned with being uh you know an invitation and and missional and if you're just concerned with doing good but you actually don't see the part of the Gospel where God has Grace towards us if you don't see the calling to really this personal Holiness to be like Christ then what can happen is you really just have a bunch of good works that you reduce our faith down to really just kind of like a social Gospel of just doing good and doing good and doing good and ultimately you.
Don't have the essential parts of the Gospel that tell us that God is graceful towards us and his Mercy towards us that he calls us to be different for a reason and if you just have holy nation you understand what it means to be a Christian is to be a holy people but you don't have these other two you don't see the grace of our God you don't see but he's called to make us missional people that bear the Gospel then what you have ultimately is a holy huddle that's where you get the self-righteousness.
For people that are just like oh we're so great we're so concerned with being good and being good and being good but that's not the Gospel now what if you have two of these next slide please all right so if you have two of these if you see yeah we're a treasure possession we believe that God is and his grace and his Mercy and we believe that yes we're called to go and do and and serve the poor and and do good.
But you're not concerned with Holiness in any form and pursuing God and being like him that what you ultimately have is compromise you won't see that oh like sin is real and we should put it to death goodness one of when I became a Christian one of the most popular phrases at the time he's like 15 years ago I think it still lingers a little bit is we got to be relevant we got to be relevant I heard that over and over and over again and the people that bang that drama like the problem with the reason the Church is dying in America is we're just we're not relevant enough like they they they hit.
That drum over and over again to the point of Ad nauseam and a lot of those people aren't even following Jesus Anymore because they may compromise after compromise after compromise and listen what I don't know if you know this I'm going to totally break your brain if you don't know this Christians aren't cool to the world we're not we're weird we are Guided by a book that's thousands of years old we're not relevant at all in the sense of what people might think.
Today and that's okay you get to be distinct and different for a reason you don't have to look like or be like the rest of the world that's not how you make disciples of all Nations you're missing it if you don't have no we're actually called to look differently and if you just have a royal priesthood the invitation and a holy nation and it's just about doing good and being good that what you have is moralism are due to gain God I do to to be seen as good before.
God that's not the Gospel gospels that we were dead in our sin and Brokenness in our mess and is by his grace he Scoops us up and redeems us and sets us apart to be the people of God you just have moralism that's not the Gospel if you just have that you're a treasured possession that God is good and that you're a holy nation that you're called to be like him but you don't ever see the need to be a royal priesthood who proclaims the excellencies of him who calls us out of Darkness into moral of his life.
Then you just have a retreat you I mean you you and I'll be honest if we're going to air anywhere as our Church it's going to be in that category right there that we we have we love theology we talk about God's grace and his mercy and the richness of his kindness and that we see a need in our groups if you've been with our groups long enough we love each other we don't want each other to live and sin so we hold each other accountable and correct one other and pulling us to Christ.
But the one thing we might be lacking is evangelism and being the people that take the invitation to the world you need all three and if you have all three of them that that sinner sweet spot if you have all three of them you're never going to see this coming we get to be a Gospel-centered community on Mission boom nailed it that's it but it's true it's true we talk about that all the time that we believe the Gospel that God's grace and his Mercy claims it's redeemed is.
Because of what he did on the cross in the empty tomb and it sets us apart to be a holy nation and a people that know him that love him so that we might proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of Darkness into Marvel's light so that the world might taste and see that the Lord is good and take refuge in him that's the calling of what it means to be a Christian and that's the calling what it means to be the Church of.
Jesus Christ as the people of God were called to be thousands of years ago in Israel and that's what we're called to be now and that calling is beautiful and it is good and it is wonderful and we get to press into that together as a Church the band's going to come up and we're just going to worship and sing one last song as the Church that's seeking to be these three descriptions so let me very clearly this morning need to hear that.
God loves you that he sees you as a treasured possession that he does want you that he does desire you that he does want you to live in relationship with him and some of you may not know our God and the invitation is there that you don't have to clean yourself up you don't have to be good to gain him that you get to trust in the finished work of Jesus that he died for our sins and that he rose to give us new life in him and you get to experience what it means to be a treasured possession some of you need to feel the correction that we are called to be a holy.
Nation we are called to be different for a reason that distinctness and that separateness does not make us better but it does help us enjoy God and be a newer and beautiful better ways and then if we do that we do get to be a kingdom of priest and you got friends and neighbors and co-workers that lead Christ they don't know him that's our surrounding Nations I don't know him and if you lean into and press into who God calls us to be that maybe just might they might get to know him by the way that you live and the Gospel that you Proclaim.
So let me pray heavenly father I pray that you would help us really own what it means to be the people of God that you would help us see what it means to be a treasure possession and a kingdom of priests and a holy nation you would see this as unbelievably beautiful and good and if there's anyone here that does not even begin to know where to start I don't know what it means to be your treasured possession I pray that right.
Now they would see that the work that you did for them 2 000 years ago and the offering that is there for them right now that they would take it and if the rest of us who are sinners in desperate need of a savior for daily growth and wisdom and strength and insight as he mold us and conform us into your image may you make us be the holy people that bear the Gospel to a world that needs in Jesus name amen.
Jethro's Advice (Exodus 18)
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're going to be an Exodus chapter 18 today so if you have a blue Bible around you that's on page 34 you can follow along with us the text will also be on the screen so you know when you've got family that's coming to town for a week or if you go you know if you're not from here you go back and visit family for a week that that one week can sometimes feel like three or four weeks this is a lot that gets packed in in one week and I'm not saying it's always bad it's it's not like.
But there's a lot of emotions that can get packed into one week there's a lot of conversations and not just like that conversation but it's linked to like a conversation from two years ago and ten years ago like there's all kinds of things that are happening when family comes to town that's Exodus 18. that's what we're going to see today is that Moses's father-in-law Jethro comes to visit and there's a lot that's packed into this chapter that we're going to walk through together and as we walk through it towards the end I want us to help help us.
See three helpful truths that comes from Jethro's visit and how those truths still apply to us as Christians today and then we're going to end in one overarching theme that ties this story to out so I want to pray for us then we're going to walk through this together heavenly father I pray that you would help us receive your word that you would help us be present that we would not just be hearers of the word but doers of the word and that is by your power and your power with them.
So we ask this in Jesus name amen all right we're going to jump straight into it verse one Jethro the priest of Midian Moses father-in-law heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel his people how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt so the last time we saw Jethro was when Moses was leaving there to go back to Egypt to respond to God's call to lead the people out of Egypt and Jethro gave his Blessing to Moses.
Now we're going to see him here again it goes on in verse 2. now Jethro Moses his father-in-law had taken zipporah Moses wife after he had sent her home along with her to Sons which pause for a moment if you've been following closely with us in Exodus you might be wondering when did that happen when did the poor and the boys just disappear we don't know Exodus was not concerned and telling us that part of the story it's possible that when things got heated between Moses and Pharaoh that he said you got to leave town.
For a bit it's possible that when they left initially out of Egypt that he sent her and the boys to Jethro to tell the good news it's possible that the whole throwing the foreskins incident that happened was just too much and he just said you got to leave for a bit we don't we really don't know when this happened or how this happened we just know that at some point he sends them away and now they're coming back so continue to get more information about his sons the name of one was gershom.
For he said I have been a so I've been a Sojourner and a foreign land the name of the other eliezar for he said the God of my father was my help and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh and that's very common in the Old Testament it's very common Bible times to name your child with meaning so that these names have meaning gershom sounds like the Hebrew word for Sojourner that's a Wanderer who has no home and then an Eleazar it's kind of a prophetic name this is.
God my help in the Hebrew and it's pointing forward to what is happening and what has happened so on to verse 5 Jethro Moses father-in-law came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was encamped at the Mountain of God and when he sent word to Moses I your father-in-law Jethro am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her which upon hearing that had to be some excitement that he's going to be able to I mean we don't know how long it's been.
But he's going to get to see his wife and his two sons this reunion is getting ready to happen and here's the reunion verse 7. Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him that's it that's the reunion you all know you've seen the soldiers coming back home videos where gets off the plane his wife and his kids are at the fence and he's excited and then he just runs right past them and then hugs his father-in-law kisses him on both cheeks bows down it's odd it's like why like why I'm sure that there was a reunion between him and his family that's just not mentioned here and that begs the.
Question why is Jethro the focus of this chapter and we're going to see how and why that happens so continues and they asked each other this is Moses and Jethro they asked each other of their welfare and went into the tent verse 8 that Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh to the Egyptians for Israel's sake all the hardship that had come upon them in the way and how the Lord had delivered them so he update some you.
See I believe what happened how we were how we left Egypt and how Pharaoh came back for us at the Red Sea but God divided the Red Sea and we safely went to the other side and then he brought the waters down upon our enemies and we've had some good times we've had some hard times so far in the wilderness we've had some water shortages but God provided and he's teaching us to trust him some food shortages but now he's raining down man of from Heaven we've got some grumblers and some complainers.
But we're working on that too here's all the good here's all the bad he's recounting all of this and then verse 9 it says in Jethro rejoiced for all the good that the Lord had done to Israel and that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians Jethro said blessed be the Lord who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of fear and has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians.
Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods than all gods because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with the people and here's the significance of Jethro here Jethro as we taught earlier in Exodus is a midianite he is not an Israelite and he's a priest of Midian and probably not at all a priest of God the gods of the midianites and he declares here now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods that an outsider sees the work of.
God and says now I know this is profound now that doesn't mean that the midianite people and the books of the Bible that you continue to read are going to follow suit with Jethro they don't uh but Jethro Taps into something that the others can't see he'd recognizes what Pharaoh and the Egyptians could not when God was displaying his power Pharaoh and the Egyptians could not see it that's the repeated phrasing that we saw earlier in Exodus was the Egyptians shall know that I am the.
Lord the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord and they didn't so much so that they came back to claim the people of God after they left that the amalekites which we saw last week have certainly heard about what God has done for his people and they don't know that Jethro does that you the Lord are greater than all the Gods cool picture of an outsider believing who this God is and then now he gets to participate in something that Moses declared earlier in Exodus 2 Pharaoh in Exodus 10 25 he said you telling pharah you must also.
Let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings that we may sacrifice the Lord our God and now that's happening and Jethro gets to be a part of that and verse 12 it says Jethro Moses father-in-law brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God and Aaron came with all the Elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses father-in-law before God that a media9 Outsider gets to participate in this joyous celebration and worshiping the lord it's just a very cool picture they're going to get into more next week.
Now that is part one of Jethro's visit there's a whole part two that we're about to see in a moment which is Jethro witnessing something that is happening and then giving advice to Moses and that's we're going to spend the bulk of our time today so pick up in verse 13. the next day Moses sat to judge the people and the people stood around Moses from Mourning till evening so it was common in that time for if you were the leader and Moses is the leader he is the prophet he's the man between in the middle between.
God and his people that if you're the leader people come to you wanting you to judge their cases you see that here we continue to see this throughout the Old Testament even Solomon was seen as a judge they would come and ask for him to weigh in on things this is common in their time but it says that he was giving judgment on issues from morning until evening now we don't know if that was every day but it certainly had to be some part of the regular schedule that from morning till evening he's bringing judgments upon judgments upon judgments.
For the people and that is exhausting I have three children seven five and three and every now and then I like to give my wife a break and just say just just just go go get your nails done I'll see you at dinner I'm gonna watch the kids today and as that happens when you have a seven five and three year old and they're at their house all day they're going to have arguments right they're going to have disputes a lot of times they're bringing them to me and I'm actually pushing them away not literally.
But I'm just saying you no I'm not going to settle every dispute that you have you're going to learn to figure this out yourselves because I don't want to be I don't want to raise kids that are the kind of adults that when they get to College they're having to call their parents to sell a dispute with the professor I'm not doing that you're going to learn how to have conversations and work through things but every now and then there's seven five and three and I've got to settle a dispute and I.
Listen to both sides and I'm the judge and I make the Judgment call on how this is going to go down who's going to get disciplined all all of that and by the time my wife gets home at dinner I'm tired that's tiring and that's three children that's not tens of thousands of people that Moses was leaving I mean that's I mean you can see some of the disputes they had in the Old Testament law but I let my neighbor borrow this mule.
Now he's brought it back and it's got a broken leg and that was that was the only meal we have what are we gonna do Moses I think my neighbor is having an affair with my wife Moses helped settle this dispute those are some of the things you can see from the Old Testament all the way down to some of the stuff that I'm sure he also had to deal with the rubinites are getting all the good water and all the petty stuff that would have been brought from great to small Moses heard every one of those from morning to leaving that's exhausting as a pastor who does conflict resolution that is probably the most.
Exhausting part of pastoral Ministry and if you're a group leader you know exactly what I'm talking about it is hard from mourning until evening he's doing this and Jethro Witnesses this and goes oh no no no listen good so verse 14 when Moses father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people he said what is this that you were doing for the people why do you sit alone and all the people stand around you from morning till evening now it's a classic father-in-law move to phrase your suggestion as a question.
Because you know where this is going what are you doing all day and all night what is this and Moses answers and Moses said to his father-in-law verse 15. because the people come to me to inquire of God when they have dispute they come to me and I decide between one person and the other and I make make them know the statutes of God and his laws so Moses gives the obvious answer because I'm the leader and they just keep coming to me and I'm I'm learning what God's will is.
For the people and they and I have to tell them what it is and I'm I'm the I'm the guy and Jethro is like this this is unsustainable so in verse 17 Moses's father-in-law said to him what you were doing is not good you and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out for the thing is too heavy for you you're going to wear yourself out you're going to burn yourself out Moses and and I in teaching team this week I use the word burnout and I watched Chet have a conniption he was just twitching I said what are you doing like it and he's like I can't stand that word burnout.
Because it gets very overused in Christian circles I was like that's a fair point I want to fight him on it because I think that we don't need to lose that word I will fight for words that think that matter because burnout still is a thing but there is a real thing with Christians that overuse burnout as an excuse to basically say I don't want to do a thing anymore as we're gonna see in a moment that he doesn't actually quit what he's called to do here he's actually going to do this in a more sustainable level the burnout is real and you really can crash and burn and Jethro sees this and he says.
You're going to wear yourself out you're going to burn yourself out this isn't good this isn't sustainable for you to listen this all day and all day and all that you don't wear yourself out you're going to wear the people out who are involved in this you're going to have to change this is too heavy for you which praise God that there are people like Jethro in our lives that are willing to say difficult things to keep us from crashing and burning should praise.
God for the people like that in your life I've had some of the other Elders mad or Chet step in and just look at my life and say I think you need to rethink this is this unsustainable you we need that we shouldn't reject that be so prideful to push that away blessed are the wounds of a friend but Jethro makes this observation he says you are not able to do it alone verse 19. Now obey my voice I will give you advice.
God be with you you shall represent the people before God and bring their cases to God and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do so he says you're still doing this you're not just opting out here but then he tacks on to this the more sustainable way to do this verse 21 moreover look for able men from all the people men who fear.
God who are trustworthy and hate a bribed and place such men over the people as Chiefs of thousands of hundreds of fifties and of tens he says what you need is men who fear God men who are trustworthy who hate bribes and you're going to place them over thousands over hundreds for 50 over tens and that is how this is going to be more sustainable verse 22 says and let them judge the people at all times every great matter they shall bring to you.
But any smaller small matter they shall decide themselves so it will be easier for you and they will bear the burden with you if you do this God will direct you you will be able to endure and all this people also will go to their place in peace he says you're still going to do this you're still going to do what you're called to do Moses but you're not going to do it alone you're going to handle some of the bigger disputes and the bigger things that need your wisdom and your judgment.
But you let a team of qualified men handle some of these smaller issues let them bear the burden with you it's too heavy for you to handle this alone so Jethro pitches his plan and then Moses responds verse 24 so Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said which as a father of two daughters is something that I will read at their weddings one day to say listen to the voice of his father-in-law did all that he said.
While winking at those Grooms verse 25 Moses chose Abel men out of Israel and made them heads over the people Chiefs of thousands of hundreds of fifties and of tens and they judged the people at all times any hard case they brought to Moses but any small matter they decided themselves then Moses let his father-in-law depart and he went away to his own country so he listens to the advice of Jethro and he implements this system that is more sustainable.
Then it has to be a rare one of the rarest of occurrences he releases his father-in-law all right it isn't beg him to go he's like he's had him stay and he's like okay now you were free to go and his father-in-law departs and goes back to his own country so that's jethroat's visit there's a lot going on there what I want to do is spend some time in the back part of this I want to look at three different truths that come out of this that still apply.
For us as Christians the days that are still wise and good and then we'll look at one overarching theme that ties our stories together so the first truth order matters order matters when I say order I mean order structure bringing order to chaos that type of order matters I heard a clinical psychologist named Jordan Peterson comment on this which just for the record if you like Jordan Peterson just know this he's not a Christian at all at all he's kind of a sage at this point a philosopher.
But he's not a Christian but he's been getting into Exodus lately and he's been commenting on it and I listened to some of it and I was like man this is a really terrible observations and some of it it's clear that you're not a Christian and you're just grasping at straws but he did make one observation and I thought oh actually that that was pretty on point he said this is like one of the earliest examples that we have of an of an ordered Society.
And then if you look a lot of Western governments they're they're based off of an ordered system like this that heads over people Chiefs of thousands of hundreds of 50s and of tens that's order an order matters that's a theme that you don't just see in government it's the theme you see from the old test from Old Testament all the way into the new then in Genesis 1 when God is creating and ordering the universe there's intentional structure and order you pull that threat all the way to this passage where he is using Jethro to order his people you.
See this through the Old Testament law that we're getting ready to walk through in the coming weeks the order and structure of the Old Testament law that they might be a people that reflect God's glory to the surrounding Nations that you don't know him we're going to see order as you pull this thread all the way into the New Testament when Jesus establishes his Church in order God is a God of order in order matters it matters immensely I'm coaching baseball again this year rookie ball which is Step Above t-ball coach t-ball last year with my son.
If you've ever coached t-ball it is chaos four-year-olds and chaos and if you don't have structure and order out the gate which we didn't last year out the gate it was wild to step in and bring order and once you've finally brought order to that chaos the kids started slowly pick up the game a little bit some of the basics and fall in love with the game order matters and adults aren't much different than children the people of God had problems at issues they needed order.
Because without order you have a lawlessness and God is not a God of lawlessness he's a God of order and they needed this ordered system that would help than be a people that ultimately results in how that passage from 23 ends peace order promotes peace that is a good thing that we should absolutely Embrace as Christians we talk about this that we need to order in our lives for those of us to have children like you need order in your children's lives and our families that that matters that it matters that our kids have structure and Order and and discipline it is good.
For them we want our children to to grow up and to be Jesus loving competent ordered structured adults that's a good thing that we should hold out for our families that there's order within the Church and that matters and how we assemble as the body of Christ matters we talk about in our Church that we are an elder-led Church there are four Elders pastors myself Chet Matt Ras it's elder-led that it's Decon served we have deacons who are servant leaders that it's congregational affirming as the Authority resides in the collective Body of Christ that order and how we assemble ourselves matters the order matters and how we worship on a Sunday.
Because disordered worship isn't good that's what Paul was addressing in First Corinthians 14 when he sees a Church that is disordered and how they worship and he says for God it's not a God of disorder but of peace and then it goes on to give advice on how they're to structure their worship order matters from our families from our lives from the Church I mean order matters on a government level that's one thing you see in the New Testament that the government is a social good that.
God has given that helps restrain evil now there's plenty of disagreements on how much government you can have that debate but unless you're an anarchist which is clearly outside the bounds in the will of God it is a good and it brings order God is a God of order and within order and how much order matters for God's people requires leadership but it also acquires submission within that order right that's one of the reasons that we talk about submission in the home submission in uh the Church submission uh uh and local governing authorities that matters.
Now we as free Americans don't like that idea that's something as Western individualists we don't like that idea remember when I was 18 I was being recruited for the military I was just like I ain't taking orders from anybody there's a lot of a lot of arrogance to say I I do that and then to learn as a new Christian now wait a second God causes to submit and that's part of his ordered world so if you do this verse 23.
God will direct you you'll be able to endure and all this people will also go to their place in peace order promotes peace and it is good second leaders matter leaders matter verse 25 Moses chose Abel men out of out of all Israel and made them heads over the people the chiefs of thousands of hundreds of 50s and of tens that God ordained that leaders step into the place of leadership that they were called to step into this system of leadership that we.
See here in Exodus 18 it precedes what's ultimately going to be the leadership in the priesthood and you follow that threat to the rest of the Old Testament into the new that when Jesus begins his Church he chooses 12 disciples 12 Apostles 11 of whom will go on to lead the Church and then out of that you continue to see this when Paul starts planting churches and he's writing to Titus and Titus 1 5 he says this is why I left you in crates that you might put what remained into order his design his desire and appoint Elders in every town as I directed you these churches needed leaders.
God chooses leaders to step into the leadership that he has created for them and in that period they had leaders whoever saw thousands who oversaw hundreds and 50s and tens this leadership was necessary you see multiple levels of it that God's order is dependent upon leaders that begin to the leadership that he has ordained for them to step into and it is good that leadership is a good gift that he's given us it's the reason why that we have Elders here and not just one we have four of us that we have leaders as a plurality that bear this load together and it confuses people sometimes.
Because we first of all that word Elder especially if you didn't grow up especially if you didn't grow up Presbyterian the word Elder can throw people off and say what are you talking about you Mormon um the Bible uses it interchangeably with pastors so that's what we do okay we have multiple Elders that lead the Church together and that leadership matters we have deacons in our Church that assist us in the work of ministry that have different servant service areas that they lead in and that's unbelievably helpful we have deacons who serve and Kid City we have deacons who serve and host team and Community groups and all that matters immensely.
Because of if if we wanted to do it all ourselves we implode it's too much we have community group leaders who bear the load on a regular basis leadership matters and it is good and it's also something that you should pray for you should pray for your leaders if you're in a group you should pray for your group leaders because leadership is hard but you pray for your pastors because we need your prayers we lead you should pray even beyond the Church.
For your governing authorities as the Bible commands us to do should pray for leadership because leadership is difficult but it is good and God wants leaders so let me address one thing head on really quickly that I don't want us to miss coming out of this that Moses specifically raises up men to be leaders so something that we've taught we'll continue to teach that God's designed for humanities that men would step up into the roles of leaders that he calls us to and that.
When we do this when we step into the leadership that God calls us to that ultimately is that as it shows in this passage results in peace the world is better when men step in to that type of leadership the problem is is that culturally right now we're not in America there's so many problems that you can read study after study and and see stat after stat that shows how men in our culture are not stepping into the leadership that God has called us to has resulted in broken families has resulted in broken lives leadership matters especially.
For men as men for those of us that have families and have children that means that we need to step into the leadership that God calls us to in the family we have the unbelievably unique opportunity to be a force for good in our children's lives to promote a peace that surpasses all understanding and resounds into eternity we have that opportunity in front of us so the reasons that we talk about reading the Bible with our children and praying with our children.
Because God has designed you as a leader in their life to promote what is ultimately good Christ in their lives and that if we're not doing that to be very blunt we're failing and there's Grace for our our failures absolutely but that that doesn't mean that we don't actually step into this and repent of where we have failed so that we can be the leadership that our kids need but as designers be leaders and families for those of us families for those who are married that means they need to lead in marriage and the example of leading in marriage is loving your wife as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up.
For her that's it and we need to step into that and I look in the mirror on this one that God has called us to love our wives with this unbelievable sacrificial love that he has called us to and when you do this you have the opportunity of having a joyful home that has peace and where we missed up we lean into his grace and we walk it out in Repentance because leadership matters in our homes it matters I'll give you one more just it matters in the workplace workplaces in America need men who will lead goodness gracious I mean women are killing it in the workplace they're killing at every level they're killing it.
And K-12 for those who go to college they're killing it in college and the workplace they're killing it in the workplace and the stats right now on younger men that are between 18 and 24 are not doing anything is startling and we as Christians get the opportunity to be men that step into that void and be a city on a hill that you step into the work that God has caused you to do and that doesn't mean that you'll be a CEO whoever sees thousands you might be you might oversee hundreds or 50s or tens or whomever.
But that does mean that you step into the leadership that God has called you to and the workplace and reflect what it means to work unto the Lord it matters and it's lacking and we get the opportunity to promote peace in our culture and the way that we step into don't miss that he calls men to lead and we desperately need to own that lastly we don't just need leaders you need leaders who have character character matters it's the third thing I want us to.
See out of this Character Matters he says in verse 21 moreover look for able men from all the people men who fear God who are trustworthy and hate a bribe and place such men over the people's Chiefs of thousands of hundreds of fifties and of tens he says you need men who fear God and that's not just a phrase that gets thrown around as a as like this person's a God fear this is someone who fears God I'm not just talking about the reverent worship type of fear no that actually fear is the power of.
God so much so that we be a people that do what is right that are trustworthy that hate bribes Character Matters immensely and God wants leaders who have character and is the reason why when you look at the story of how Samuel chooses David in first Samuel then in first Samuel 16 7 after Saul has been rejected as a leader verse 7 it says but the Lord said to saying well do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature.
Because I have rejected him I've rejected Saul for the Lord sees not as man sees man looks on the outward appearance but hear this the Lord looks on the heart that God cares about character character trumps competency every day and twice on Sunday character unbelievably matters it is the reason why when you look at First Timothy 3 and the qualifications for elders and for deacons that overwhelmingly those qualifications are character driven because if God has people leading his Church they don't have the character it is a disaster and I know many of you.
Listen to the rise and fall of of Marcel podcast last year when it came out and you know I it was a difficult one for me because I actually grew up as a young Christian listening to Mark Driscoll and really appreciated some of the things that that I heard it was also difficult because one of my former pastors is the one who did that podcast and I didn't like some of the editorial angles that he shows and some of the gossipy stuff that came out of it.
But there's one thing that was very clear in listening to that is that man had no business being an elder and no business being a pastor because he lacked character and character Trump's competency it matters I mean you need to believe that we we should believe that we should be looking for that in our own lives we should so value character over over so many things I I have I have two main goals for my children I have other ones but like they're.
So far beneath these two it's not even funny I want my kids to love Jesus and then second I want them to be virtuous people I want to have character I want them to have love joy peace patience kindness goodness gentleness faithfulness self-control that everything else is so far beneath that it's not even funny and I'm serious they they could choose whatever they want to do they can work in sanitation they could be a surgeon I don't care it's so insignificant our culture inverts that and says that what you do and the career you take and who you turn out to be is.
So much of a Paramount importance that is so far beneath the concern of the Scriptures in comparison to Faith In Jesus and virtue it's not even funny because character it matters and we need to believe that and it was so important for the nation of Israel to have leaders who had it and when Moses finds these men of character and he establishes them as Leaders to judge the people so that they can have this ordered Nation promotes peace he says if you do this.
God will direct you 'll be able to endure and all this people also will go to their place in peace which means that Jethro fixes it he did it you guys if you I don't want to spoil the rest of Exodus for you but it goes rather well that the people joyfully receive the law with obedient hearts that they don't take the gold that God literally earned for them out of the Egyptians hands and melt that down into an island worship that they don't go into the Promised Land.
Now you you know how this story goes that if you read ahead that it's still not enough but the advice that they receive from Jethro is not enough and that is because good advice on its own it cannot save it cannot redeem can I call us to be the people that God has called us to be because Moses y'all Moses was the prophet of prophets in the Old Testament he was the Michael Jordan of prophets they look back and Moses was it and Moses and his proxies and his and his leaders could scarcely restrain the people from absolutely rebelling against the people of.
God let alone themselves joining in it and if Moses couldn't do it with this unbelievably good advice then boy oh boy good advice is not enough we need something more than advice we need a perfect judge we need the judge and the leader who unlike Moses can actually Bear the weight of judgment we need a man who has ultimate and perfect character who comes to bring about his kingdom of order and everlasting peace and his name is Jesus Jesus is ultimately our only hope the people in this story did not have Christ and that is the difference between us and Them that is the difference in what ties our stories together the advice of Jethro.
Is good it is Some solid advice but a good advice and all the strategies in the world it's not enough and it never will be listen I right now I love the season that our Church is in I do there's so much good that's going on I love our groups are growing I mean what's happening in Kid City right now is just awesome I'm seeing people that are hungry they're are loving Jesus and inviting people to come and experience Christ I.
See people that are reading their Bibles I see all kinds of people of character stepping up into leadership it's incredible if we think for a second that that is what's going to guide us alone we are mistaken and it's not enough the only hope we have is Christ if Moses could not do this by his strategy and his work and his effort then we don't have a shot but thank you Jesus that we have him and that ultimately through believing in the one who obeyed the law perfectly on our behalf who took on judgment on himself on the cross to set apart a people who reflect his glory as an ordered Church with Godly leaders.
I'm thankful that he's our chief Shepherd and I'm thankful that we have him so yes we will look at these principles we'll look at this advice and we'll absolutely seek to be a people that apply but we won't miss for a moment who our chief Shepherd is who our only hope is in the middle of all this the band's going to come up we're going to take the Lord's Supper and we're going to be reminded of who our God is and what he has done.
For us so that we can be the people that God has called us to be there on the night that Jesus was betrayed he took bread and he broke it and he said this is my body that was broken for you that he took the cup which is the cup the New Covenant 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 the we as Christians get to come to the table hearing the word seeing our shortcomings and saying thank you.
Jesus that you're enough and we get to come to the table joyfully worshiping Christ to come to the table when you are ready there's gluten-free back in that corner over there if you're not a Christian we don't want you to take part in the Lord's Supper we want Christ for you because you can apply all the good advice that you want to in your life you can do all the different adjustments you can do all the different moral changes but if your hope isn't completely and fully in Christ in Christ alone you'll never understand what it means to be his people and you'll never understand what it means to happen to this Everlasting peace that.
He wants for us so don't take part in this take part in Christ we pray for us heavenly father I pray that you would help us receive your word that would be a people that see you as our only hope and out of that hope we'd see some of the things that are so good about Jethro's advice in this chapter we'd see order in leadership and character as unbelievable good things that you've given us to step into and it would be an immediate an obedient people stepping into it.
And if there's anyone here that has not tasted and seen that you were good that has not placed their only hope and you and I pray that you would bring them to faith in you right now in Jesus name amen.
Battle with Amalek (Exodus 17:8-16)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Water from the Rock (Exodus 17:1-7)
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 a Bible and turn to Exodus chapter 17 with me we are working our way through the book of Exodus it's on page 34 if you grab one of the blue Bibles that stuck down in the seat in front of you if you don't own a Bible then this is our gift to you we'd love for you to take this home with you we'd love for you to read it and follow along with us as we continue to walk through Exodus um we are picking up a story where we left off last week we're about six weeks from not in our time.
But in their time from when the crossing of the Red Sea happens when God I mean definitively shows miraculous victory over the Egyptians and the rescue of the people of Israel after the the ten plagues there's the crossing of the Red Sea the Egyptians are defeated that was about six weeks ago so for us that would be like December 11th somewhere around in there so if you think back about that far if we were the Israelites that's about how far back the crossing of the Red Sea is and what we've seen is the Israelites have been uh traveling in the wilderness and grumbling being kind of hard to get along with complaining kind of wondering.
Where is God going to provide how was this last week they said I wish God had just killed us in Egypt because at least I'd have died sitting next to a meat pot so that's the way you want to go you know just a pot of meat and then boom full belly death that's what they said I wish that had happened because this wandering around in the wilderness with no food is the worst and that's kind of where we were.
God begins to miraculously provide Manna and so we're going to pick up they're following the pillar of cloud during the day the pillar of fire at night and moving around the Wilderness Exodus 17. let's pray and then we'll start reading this together Lord ask for your help we ask for your wisdom as we study your word we pray that you would bless us um with the ability to hear this morning we ask for your Holy Spirit to work in our hearts.
For us to be soft and willing to listen to you this morning in Jesus name amen Exodus chapter 17 it says all the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the Wilderness of sin and we said last week that that's not like a title that's just they've transliterated the word into English so some translations will put a z there Zen it's just a name Wilderness of sin by stages according to the Commandment of the Lord encamped at rephidim but there was no water.
For the people to drink so there's two things we need to see in this first verse that are important for us and important for us to understand this story the first one is this they moved at the Commandment of the Lord as I just said they're following the pillar of cloud so if the pillar of cloud moves they move when the pillar Cloud stops they get there they stop so it's at the Commandment of the Lord that they move from one place to the next.
And so they move at the Commandment of the Lord and they move to a place with no water now if you're leading people through the wilderness the way you choose where to stop is where is water you might rest on the way to water you might stop for a night if you have enough water but you don't go I think this is good let's set up camp here in a place with no water this is done by every human standard incorrectly this the cloud stops.
God stops by his commandity stops and it's like no no like keep going we can't stop here it it would be like if you found out about a a commander in the Army who sent everyone out and then was like it was like why did the battle go so poorly we forgot guns as we got out there and we kept thinking there was something missing and when they shot at us we were all like guns that was what we were supposed to have it's I mean it's gross incompetence you.
If they on one of those uh shows where they're fixing a house and they're like move that bus move that bus and the bus moves and the house doesn't have a roof it's like move the bus back finish it up so they stop in the wilderness in a place with no water and that's very important for us to understand in this story but it's also important for us to see as we try to learn about the nature and character of God.
Because some of us right now feel like in life we're in a place where there's no water but they moved here by the command of God now I don't know what you're missing in life but I know it's not water it may hurt it may be painful it may be wildly something that you think is essential to life but I just want you to be able to understand that that you can connect to this story because water is up there in the things we need.
And so to move there with no water it shows that God sometimes puts us in a place that doesn't seem right and by all of our standards we could say this is this is incorrect this should not be the way this is we all know this is wrong that's the way this would feel it's obvious and so God moves into a place where there's no water verse two therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said give us water to drink and Moses said to them why do you core with me why do you test the.
Lord okay so last week they were grumbling and we're going to hear they Grumble again here but they've ratcheted it up it's not just grumbling grumbling is like side sideways complaining um grumbling is is I'm complaining a little bit I'm complaining a little bit maybe to Moses but it's it's in general it's like a murmur when Moses walks by everybody gets quiet maybe they give him dirty looks but it's it's not as aggressive as coral and quarreling is now they've come to him they're arguing with him they're fighting with him the aggression level has gone from from some grumbling to.
Now we're getting close to like a mutiny we're going to say that's what Moses says in a second so they're bringing this complaint to Moses and they've ratcheted up the aggression and he says why do you quarrel with me why do you test the Lord and you got to feel Moses here for a second because Moses is a little bit of like hey y'all see the cloud too right you see the presence of God I didn't pick this place we've moved here by his command we've moved here in obedience.
So why are you arguing with me why are you testing the Lord he's the one who's put us here why are you putting him on trial and why are you with your attitude trying to see what he's going to do that's that's like when your parents said don't test me that's what he's saying why are we testing the Lord y'all were in Egypt right it doesn't go well he can do stuff so he says verse three but the people thirsted there.
For water and the people grumbled against Moses and said why did you bring us out of up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst now this question feels a little ridiculous but it's understandable so let's think about this for a second I I think you could ask in your right mind like I can ask we can ask why would God bring you out of Egypt to kill you with thirst as a rhetorical question which means he wouldn't that's a dumb.
But he's bringing us to the promised land he's rescued us out of Egypt why would why would he do that like I have to ask those questions of my my older son every once in a while will have this moment where he thinks that I'm not going to take care of him and I'm out to get him I've had times where I'm like hey let's let's get ready I need to get your shoes on we're going to leave the house and he'll he'll be like we hadn't eaten supper I gotta eat supper and it's like.
First of all when have I failed to feed you your mom might but I like eating she might forget about a meal I don't forget about meals buddy I like eating your mom will remember eventually she just is okay without eating I'm thinking about food right now it's like I'm gonna feed you we're gonna take care of you also we're going to supper so put your shoes on you've made us all hungrier like when have I ever failed like that could be the question is why would he do this and the answer being he wouldn't we can trust him.
But that's easy for me to say because I'm not thirsty in this moment my lips aren't chapped I'm not looking at my kids and saying I don't know how to to I don't I'm not looking at a one of our like cattle that's that's slobbering and drooling because it can't it's panting and I have nothing to give it I'm looking at a child and I have nothing like I'm not in that spot but they are and in that moment of thirst everything they know about.
God is gone everything they know about his power everything they know about his provision this very morning that they're asking this question God miraculously provided food that appears for them to harvest bread do miraculous bread that shows up you go get it it tastes like Wafers baked with honey like not even just like like good bread and that that why is he going to kill us why is he out to get us and I want you to feel that too because it's possible.
For us to be there I became a Christian I thought this was supposed to be better I'm following Jesus now and everything's gotten worse why would God why would I suddenly believe in Jesus start showing up to Church and then he punches me in the face I don't understand like why why would he do that I don't know if I'm going to believe this I don't know if I'm going to follow this I don't like I signed up for something different why is this working out this way and everything you would know about God's just gone.
Because of the way life is going that's where they are and on one hand it seems ridiculous and on the other hand there's part of me that goes I feel that so Moses cried to the Lord verse 4. what shall I do with this people they are almost ready to Stone me so this has gotten this is not it wasn't like a nice question that they asked this is aggressive they're coming at him it's a mob like it's it's getting dangerous down here Moses is like I think that like I think I'm grossly incompetent they're about to get rid of both of us they're going to get rid of me they're going to get rid.
Of you they're gonna do their own thing that we have failed so miserably in their eyes they're about to kill me it's like they got together and said hey we don't know who's the last person to die because of the thirst but we voted and we know who the first person to die is going to be that's what Moses is saying like they're they're about to Stone me this is about to be an execution because of their anger because of their frustration.
Because of their doubt and mistrust five and the Lord said to Moses pass on before the people so do this publicly taking with you some of the Elders of Israel so Elders are brought together for counsel for judgment for Witnesses they're the leaders of the people said get some of the leaders of the people I'm sure some of the elders are some of the people who were having these conversations with him bringing their complaints pass on before the people taking with you some of the Elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile.
Okay so this staff struck the Nile the Nile turned from water into blood just take that staff and go behold I will stand before you there on the rocket Horeb and you shall strike The Rock and water shall come out of it and the people will drink so God says take the staff get some of the elders go I'll Stand before you know when he stands before him I believe my best understanding is that he is standing in the cloud that the cloud stands before the rocket horror this is the way it's worded in other places Exodus 33 9 says.
When Moses entered the tent the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent and the Lord would speak with Moses or Exodus 34 5 the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the Lord so I think that God's presence goes and stands over the rock now it's possible he does this a different way but in the context of Exodus this makes the most sense it's the cloud that stands there.
And so Moses is going to go he's told to go and strike the Rock and water is going to come forth and the people are going to drink now just for us keep keeping up with this keeping score at home here do you think God brought them to this place had forgotten humans needed water had no real plan and because of their bad attitudes was like oh yeah if they're going to kill you Moses I'll provide some water here's a miraculous way I just made up to do this I would think.
God knew what he was doing the whole time even though they couldn't see it I would think that God had intended to again show his miraculous ability to provide to rule over all things even in the midst of them not seeing how that would work and I want I want that to encourage you because there are times where it's like there's no water here I'm going to die and in those moments we get to go but Lord you can snatch water out of a rock you can make food miraculous appear Out of Heaven like you you've got this I trust you it's not what happens.
So Moses is going to bring the elders the the Lord is going to stand before the Rock and he's going to strike the rock with with the staff now uh if if you just are you know if you're having to choose between what's harder than what rocks are harder than sticks just letting y'all know so in general when you strike a rock with a stick it's bad for the stick it's not bad for The Rock but the Rock's gonna break and water is going to pour forth and there's going to be life in a place where there was a death.
But something very interesting happens in the way this is written the last part of this verse is and Moses did so in the sight of the Elders of Israel that's it it doesn't tell us anything else God tells him to do this and then it just says and Moses did so now we've read enough of Exodus to know this just broke the formula because there's a bit of a formula that's been running through Exodus which is number one God tells them to do a thing tells Moses to do a thing and the.
Lord said go do this thing second Moses does the thing it'll say and Moses did the thing there's one verse that says and the Lord did the thing he said I'm going to do this thing tomorrow and the next day he did the thing like that's this is we're fine we're on step two but step three is telling us about the thing that was done now sometimes it's longer and sometimes it's shorter sometimes the explanation of what's going to happen is longer.
But then they'll say he does it and it'll give a little short thing sometimes it so like what we would expect next is for it to say so on the next day or that afternoon or Moses went straight away and he gathered elders and sometimes it could list the elders and we'd make some kind of joke about if you're naming babies here you go alipa has or whatever like we would pick you know but we would read through these names or maybe it would just say shortened version and it would say.
And so Moses did this and The Rock broke and the people drank yeah we don't get to hear anything about the people's reaction about how much water that's not what marks this moment look at the next verse and he called the name of the place Masa which means the testing and meribah which means quarreling because of the quarreling of the people of Israel and because they tested the Lord by saying is the Lord among us or not that's the conclusion we didn't even hear that they said that earlier.
But that's what we're going to end with that's the taste that's left in our mouth is the Lord among us or not that's what marks this place now you would think that this could have been called holy spring flowing Rock Fountain of delight like they could have named this place water in the desert the place of provision God is good like what's his name quarreling and testing because it wasn't marked by the miracle it wasn't marked by what God did it wasn't remembered.
For that it was remembered and marked by and the thing that we're supposed to see is there heart towards the Lord is the Lord among us or not now I used to when I was little I would watch uh little Bible cartoons if you grew up in Christian home you might you might have watched little Bible cartoons if you didn't you were able to allowed to watch you know the Simpsons and the Smurfs I was not they were going to turn me evil.
And so I didn't watch them and if you watch The Simpsons and the Smurfs and you're here well done overcoming all that evil that would have led you astray but I wasn't allowed to watch that and I watched little Bible cartoons and uh in the little Bible cartoons there was one where they would open the Bible and then like four kids would get sucked into it and they would have to go on adventures and so if they had done this one though it feels like the adventure would be short.
Because when they showed up and they're like what's going on and they're like we don't know if the Lord is among us or not you'd feel like the kids would be like oh do you see that big Pillar of Fire there he is all right let's head on back it wouldn't even be a 15-minute show it would just be over the credits would roll but they're not basing it off of his actual presence what are they basing it off of his provision.
When they say is the Lord here or not they mean has he provided for me in the way that I expect him to and if he hasn't I don't know if he's trustworthy if he hadn't done what I think he's supposed to do by now I don't know if I'm going to follow him I might just be out if he's going to act in a way that's outside of my controller if he's going to act in a way that some way that I don't understand or.
If he's going to tell me that this is where we're supposed to be when I don't want to be here then I might just be done so the New Testament talks about this I want you to to turn to First Corinthians 10. this is Paul he's writing to the Church in Corinth so he's writing to People Like Us Christians a Church people who have gathered saying they're Christians people who are gathered because they believe in the Lord they've heard about Jesus.
First Corinthians 10 if you have one of these Bibles on page 557. it's also on the screen Paul writing says for I do not want you to be unaware Brothers Church This Is Us I do not want you to be unaware of Brothers that our fathers were all under the cloud okay Cloud we've been talking about all passed through the sea that's the Red Sea that's the part of the Red Sea we talked about and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea that he used the word baptized there on purpose.
But what he's saying is that that was a thing that marked them all as belonging to this community those who had gone under the cloud and through the sea it's like a baptism says I'm a part I belong all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and the Sea and all ate the same spiritual food that's manna and I'll drink the same spiritual drink for they drink from the spiritual rock that followed them and The Rock was Christ so that's referring to the story we just read.
And so far what he's saying is all good stuff these people all belong they were all participating they were all there and he tells them I don't want you to be unaware I want you to know this he's looking at the Church and saying I need you to know this but then here's why nevertheless with with most of them God was not pleased for they were overthrown in the wilderness now these things took place as examples for us so he says Church read Exodus and learn that we might not desire evil as they did I don't want to ruin a whole bunch of the rest of the Exodus some of this is in numbers in.
Deuteronomy but we're going to run through quickly it doesn't get better from here he says do not be idolaters as some of them were as it is written the people sat down to eat and drink and Rose up to play we must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did and 23 000 fell in a single day we must not put Christ to the test as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents nor Grumble as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer.
Now these things happen to them as an example but they were written down for our instruction on whom the end of the ages has come what's the end of the ages Jesus Christ coming to rescue a people for himself so he says the end of the ages have come Jesus has come the Gospel is proclaimed will listen it's possible for you to be here and miss it it's possible for you to show up sing songs read the underlying portions pray listen to the Bible it's possible.
For you to be in a community group it's possible for you to lead a community group it's possible for you to be baptized it's possible for you to partake in communion and it's possible for none of that to have any effect on your heart and for you to not belong to Jesus you can grow up in the Church watching Bible cartoons as an eight-year-old and not know Jesus so Paul says this was written down so that we wouldn't think that just.
Because they were there just because they were around it that it changed to them this is the way this passage is treated this is Masa and mariba are reused like if someone says that this situation was someone's Waterloo they're referring to to the downfall of Napoleon they're saying that that's marked his whole story that's what when they talk about Masa and Mary but I want to show you this this will be on the screen because we're going to stay in First Corinthians as we finish up Psalm 95.
Today if you hear his voice do not Harden your hearts as at meribah as on the day at Masa in the wilderness when your father's put me to the test and put me to the proof though they had seen my work if anybody should have known how good he was and how he could provide Israelites should have walked into a place and said there's no water everybody buckle up take a seat watch what God can do watch what he can do.
Because I've seen him do so much this one's about to be good this story could have been the valley of provision but just seeing the stuff and just being around the stuff hadn't affected their heart it doesn't tell us how they drank it doesn't tell us how they responded it almost feels as if when this happens you can almost feel the people of Israel being like that's what I thought yeah you should provide for me there's no it doesn't seem like there's any amount of thankfulness it seems like this whole place is marked by the wickedness of their hearts Hebrews 3 picks up quotes psalm 95.
Therefore as the Holy Spirit says today if you hear his voice do not Harden your hearts as in the Rebellion on the day of testing in the wilderness and then it keeps going down It quotes more of that Psalm and then it goes to verse 12 it says take care Brothers lest there be in any of you an evil unbelieving heart leading you to fall away from the Living God but exhort one another every day as long as it is called.
Today that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin that is possible for you to be around the Church but not be in the Church for you to not belong to Jesus for you to have an unbelieving heart and for you to be deceived by the deceitfulness of sin let astray by it it's possible that right now there's something in your life that you're saying it's not that big a deal I'm not really doing anything bad I haven't really acted on I'm just thinking about it it's not it's not that bad I don't need to talk to my group about this I don't need to talk to my spouse about this I.
Don't need to uh if people knew my circumstances if God had really provided the way he was supposed to I wouldn't have to do this maybe you're saying all right that was the last time I'm not ever going to do it again I'm I'm going to change this time and that's the hundredth time you've said that there's no real confession and no real repentance maybe you're justifying your actions maybe you're saying it's not really hurting anybody maybe you're telling yourself I'm too I'm In Too Deep.
But it's possible for us to be slowly step by step being led astray by a deceitful sin and the deceitfulness of our own hearts and this can happen to Christians this can happen to anybody this can happen to anybody who belongs to Jesus that would be around it this is this happens to people who would say I'm in I believe it but they're slowly taking step and step this could be someone who leads a group this can be someone who leads a Church this can be anybody can sit and slowly make compromises and be led astray by the deceitfulness of sin and what he's saying is that there's a possibility that there's an unbelieving heart.
In you and it's hardened to the things of God and I want you to hear what he says today if you hear his voice don't Harden your heart don't be like the people at Masa and Maribel that the Holy Spirit speaking right now and he's bringing something to mind and he's saying you're going to need to talk about this you're going to need to turn from this whatever he's bringing to you and you're thinking in that moment and I've been there I've been in that moment where the Holy Spirit Whispers something to you and you have that moment where you just immediately react and you say I can't I can't I can't confess that I.
Can't tell anybody that I can't turn from that and you have the opportunity at this moment to harden your heart to press the Lord away and to look at the Holy Spirit and say I don't want to hear from you I don't want to be led to Jesus I don't want forgiveness I don't want Redemption you have the opportunity also to not Harden your heart to hear his voice and to turn to him y'all they were around it but they missed.
Jesus that's what First Corinthians 10 says Paul says something that's very odd in First Corinthians 10. all were baptized into Moses and the cloud and in the sea all ate the same spiritual food and all drank the same spiritual drink for they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them and The Rock was Christ this moment at Horeb was going to be a picture of this provision of God and Paul looks at this story and he says that's Jesus in the midst of their quarreling in the midst of their sin in the midst of their Rebellion what does.
God do does he strike them no he strikes The Rock and The Rock brings life he gathers the elders together and they stand in God In God's Presence they stand and they stand before the Rock and instead of them being punished for their Rebellion instead of that being the final part of the story they cry they strike the Rock and the life pours forth miraculously Paul says that's Jesus then in the midst of our rebellion in the midst of our failure that.
God brought him forward before the elders that he was presented and that he was struck and from him comes life and you can be covered by Jesus that can be the end of your story that there's a fountain filled with blood where there's forgiveness of sins and Redemption and life or the story can be quarreling hard heart Romans says do you presume upon the riches of God's kindness and patience and forbearance not knowing that his kindness is meant to lead you to repentance that.
God is kind he's patient he forbears so that we would repent so that you would see and turn to him with your sin not run away from him in your sin but turn to him with your sin and ask for forgiveness but then it says because of your hard and penitent Hearts you're storing up a wrath for yourself on the day of God's Wrath when God's righteous judgment is revealed and those are the options and if you hear his voice today don't Harden your heart in Rebellion.
If the Holy Spirit the spirit of the Lord God Almighty Whispers to you I want to take the sin from you don't Harden your heart don't run from that Praise Jesus that there's forgiveness Praise Jesus that he was struck so that we can be forgiven Praise Jesus that in the midst of our Rebellion there is life the band's going to come back up Paul says that this happened to them but it was written for our instruction that we might not be like them you have the ability to harden your heart against the.
Lord Harden your heart against his voice to press back on him as he calls you don't do that repent ask for grace and forgiveness there's something potentially right now that you're saying I can't tell anybody that it'll ruin everything can I explain to you that not confessing and not repenting is what ruins everything hardening your heart is what ruins everything but breaking before the Lord and saying I Surrender and I need help and I need forgiveness and I need life rewrites the story in Grace.
So I don't know what the Holy Spirit's telling you this morning I just know you should listen I know you should surrender so we're going to take a second let's bow our heads and let's pray and let's listen and Lord we pray that if in your grace you are speaking this morning we would not Harden our hearts as in the day of rebellion that there would not be a single person in this room that pushes you back today it's by your wounds it's by your stripes it's by your suffering that we are healed and forgiven foreign.
Lord for those who are struggling right now in a place it's like a desert rather than wrestling with you may they sit and say I know that you provide and I know that you're good and I know that you will not keep one good thing from me and that if I don't need this I don't need this I just need you thank you listen to the Lord right now he's calling you to confession if he's calling you to repentance if there's someone you need to talk to you need to talk to them the band's going to play.
For a minute and give us a moment to listen don't Harden your heart against the Lord surrender to him he's good his kindness his forbearance his patient our meant patients are meant to lead you to repentance bring you to him but there's a day when that opportunity is over when the story is pinned there's a day of Wrath and may we all meet it covered by the blood and the grace of Christ not standing in our sin Holy Spirit we ask you to speak.
Provisions & Grumbling (Exodus 15:22-16:36)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Sing to Remember (Exodus 15:1-21)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Foreign my name is Spencer I'm one of the pastors here we are continuing through Exodus chapter 15 verse 22 and we're going to go all the way through the end of chapter 16 today you can turn in your blue Bibles to page 34 the text will also be on the screen so uh one of the things I've realized over the last few years is that America has a new favorite pastime I'm not talking about how football clearly replaced baseball a couple decades ago as America's pastime uh America and Americans we love complaining like it it is real and it's getting worse I mean it is everywhere you go on social media.
See people rant on Facebook complain after complaint and if you're still on Twitter on Twitter and that gets like retweets and likes and you go girls and all kinds of stuff and it's not just there or in Google reviews or in Yelp reviews it's in work rooms uh break rooms and family dinner tables it's everywhere and here's what's Wild is that all of us realize that our culture is complaining and grumbling too much like we get that and no one thinks it's good right no one thinks it's a net positive.
For society when all of us are angry and complaining and grumbling all the time about things none of us like it but then we look in the mirror and then we realize how easy it is to complain like one of the things I've I've said in sermons in the past is I have chronic back pain and there's just times where it's just so easy to just complain so easy to just be frustrated and to grumble it's what we do and it's it's a it's a human problem it's a part of the Fall.
And while it may be very prevalent more now than it has been the past it is something that goes all the way back to our story in the book of Exodus today we are not alone in this we're going to see the people of God we're going to see how God provides for them and how they grumble in the midst of it so we'll see a few things happening as we walk through this story together we're going to see clearly that.
God is a provider and that he's good and his Provisions towards his people we're going to see that as he provides God is teaching his Covenant people of God what it means to be his people then we're going to see the people of God grumble and complain repeatedly and then we'll see how God responds to them so let me pray for us and we'll walk through this together Heavenly Father I pray that you would help the Scriptures come alive to us this morning that it would Pierce our hearts and that we would.
See what it means to have a God that loves us so much that provides for us that is worthy of our faith and out of that we would change and repent and be a people that grow into your likeness into your image and this would ultimately result in worship and delighting and you we ask this in Jesus name amen okay so this part of Exodus is a shift we're moving into the Wilderness part of the story the people of God are going to wander in the wilderness throughout the rest of Exodus in fact they're going to wander throughout the rest of the Old Testament law.
So the next few books in Leviticus numbers and Deuteronomy like this is what the people of God are going to be doing is wandering so we're going to pick up in verse 22 it says then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea and they went into the Wilderness of sure they went three days in the wilderness and found no water so they leave the Red Sea and they're wandering for three days in the wilderness and this Wilderness is the desert it's no small thing to not find water.
For three days that's not an inconvenience that's actually somewhat dangerous now the people would have surely had you know water packs you know lots of storage similar to I've seen some of you with your I don't think you can call this water bottles there's water gallon jugs you know with the motivational stickers to say you can do it drink a little more you go like they had some version of that but they would have been going through this water and it's a little concerning.
When you're in the desert with all these people and you don't see water it's no small thing and then in verse 23 it says when they came to Mara they could not drink the water of Mera because it was bitter therefore it was named maram so you can imagine you're traveling in the desert and then you see a water source and you're cracked lips smile and you run to that water source and you hit your knees and you scoop up some water and you bring it to your face and it's garbage it's awful it's bad water.
So bad that they named the place Mara when the Hebrew means bitter that's a disappointment and I would say it's okay it's fine to be disappointed in life it's fine to be disappointed when you're so desperate for something and you don't get it but how they respond in the midst of disappointment well that that's where things really start to go south verse 24 it says in the people grumbled against Moses saying what shall we drink they crumbled they murmured they complained what are we going to drink Moses this is not a question done from a respectful posture that's trusting Moses that's trusting.
God this is grumbling what are we going to do now Moses we've got no water we've got is This Bitter mess and it's wild because they've seen God work not too long ago in some incredible ways they saw as he brought plague after plague sign after Wonder upon Pharaoh their oppressor they walked out with gold and jewels from the Egyptians they were LED through the Wilderness by cloud and by fire they came to the Red Sea and watched God part the Red Sea and they safely went to the other side as the waters crashed down on the Egyptians who were trying to take them back they saw all of this in just a few days.
In they are grumbling baffles commentators when they look at this one commentator was like if you need evidence of Grace in the Old Testament look no further than this story he he should destroy them he should crush them after everything that he's done for them they are grumbling but we're going to see how God responds verse 25 and he cried to the Lord this is Moses and the Lord showed him a log and he threw it into the water and the water became sweet that.
God responds by providing how good is God Moses takes a log and throws into the water and now the water is sweet our God is so good in how he provides and then he uses this situation to teach the people so it says there the Lord made for them a statute and a rule and there he tested them saying if you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God and do which is do that which is right in his eyes and give ear to his Commandments and keep all his statutes I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians.
For I am the Lord your healer now I don't know if you caught that God just flexed both his unbelievable steadfast love and care and his power in the same breath like a good father whose hands provide the warmest and softness of embrace of his children but also the firmness of discipline he flexes his care and his power I am your healer but if you do not trust me and you don't walk in Covenant faithfulness with me you will see the power that I put on the Egyptians upon you and that's a lesson that the people of.
God need to learn one of the themes we're going to see Trace throughout the rest of Exodus is that the people of God are learning what it means to be the Covenant people of the Lord they've been slaves for 400 years and now they're learning what it means to be his people as they are wandering so they keep wondering verse 27 then they came to Elam where there were 12 Springs of water and 70 palm trees and they encamped there by the water they wander some more and again.
God provides leads them to water into palm trees so they get a chance as we move into chapter 16 to start fresh to trust God and then in verse 1 it says they set out from Elam and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the Wilderness of sin which is just the name of the region don't read too far into that which is between Elam and Sinai on the 15th day on the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt and the whole Congregation of the people of Israel grumble grumbled against Moses and Aaron and the Wilderness and the people of Israel said to them word that we had.
Died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt when we sat by the meat parts and ate the bread to the eight bread to the full for you have brought us out into the Wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger oh no uh you know the part of the movie where there's a there's a smaller guy and he's like talking a bunch of junk about a bigger guy he's talking smack and these guys are in front of them and he's just talking Sherman German chirp and also the big guy comes into view and kind of walks it behind him and he just keeps talking keeps talking that's how this feels it's.
Like oh no do you know who you're complaining against do you know what God has done for you now what you're saying is oh that we could just be back in Egypt as slaves again that we could belong to Pharaoh at least we had the meat pots and the bread to the fool this is the first time they've said something similar to uh you've brought us out here in the wilderness to kill us and Exodus 14 12 is the Red Sea there before it and they're waiting to.
See what's going to happen next they said for it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness what this shows is they don't trust God they don't trust God they don't trust him to provide they don't trust them that he's going to take care of them after everything that God has done for them they do not trust that he is good they would rather be back in Egypt as slaves at least they had meat pots and bread.
So how does God respond to this verse 4. then the Lord said to Moses behold I'm about to Reign bread from heaven for you and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day that I may test them whether they will walk in my law or not God and His steadfast love towards his people listens to that grumbling and says I will provide for you I'll provide for you I'm going to rain down from heaven in spite of your grumbling in spite of your thanklessness and your discontentment I'm going to provide.
For you I'm going to bring bread down from heaven not only that in this I'm going to teach you how good is our God that he provides and that he endures and that he teaches and his steadfast love towards his people he's going to use this as a teachable moment day by day all the way until we get to the sixth day verse 5 on the sixth day when they prepare what they bring in it will be twice as much as they gather daily.
So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel at evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt so he's going to teach his people to trust him and then when the sixth day comes which is the day before the Sabbath and it's a little unclear in the text either they're going to be commanded to gather twice as much as they need or God is going to providentially and Care caring.
For his people give them twice the amount and what's that what's foreshadowing what you're going to see more than a moment is that God is trying to teach his people what it means to be the people of God by remembering the Sabbath this goes back to Adam and Eve and Adam and Eve were created in Genesis 1 and 2 that Sabbath rest was created for the people to rest in God and they have been slaves for centuries not taking the Sabbath they belonged to Pharaoh and not to.
God and God is trying to help them see you don't belong to him anymore you belong to me and my people will pause and they will rest they needed to make the switch and realize that they belong to now when I was in Middle School all the way through Middle School I was a part of I was in public school and then in the eighth grade um well the first eighth grade I did Eighth Grade twice because middle school is awesome.
But in the first eighth grade up until then I got in a lot of trouble I spent a lot of time in in-school suspension a lot of time in after school suspension because in public school it's a slap on the wrist it's like okay fine I get to be out of class I'm listening talk this is awesome but I went to this private school out in like the sticks of Saluda and Batesburg and uh the first week I got in trouble got sent the office I was waiting.
For my slap on the wrist and my uh my principal was also my coach he said all right grab tennis shoes I'll see you after school and I went what sheena's gonna send me to a room to like read a book and then after school I ran until I almost was sick and I realized I belonged to a new people and I will not continue like this and for the rest of the eighth grade and the rest of high school I did not get in a lot of trouble the people need to unite the shift to the need to.
See what it means you don't belong to fear anymore you belong to me and you're going to remember Sabbath rest and then number seven it continues in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord because he has heard your grumbling against the Lord for what are we that you Grumble against us and Moses said when the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the fool which pause for a moment not just bread they're getting meat praise.
God can I get to eat meat too because the Lord has heard your grumbling that you Grumble against him what are we your grumbling is not against us but against the Lord that truth needs to sink so deeply into our souls as it needed to sit and sing deeply into theirs that when we Grumble and when we complain in this life that is ultimately against God God you've not provided and the ways that I want you've not done what I saw fit and the complaints and the grumbles that we have is ultimately against and Moses makes that clear your complaint is with the.
Lord verse 9 then Moses said to Aaron say to the whole Congregation of the people of Israel come near before the Lord for he has heard your grumbling and as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole Congregation of the people of Israel they looked toward the Wilderness and behold the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud and the Lord said to Moses I've heard the grumbling of the people of Israel say to them at Twilight you shall eat meat in the morning you shall be filled with bread.
Then ye shall know that I am the Lord your God he's like I'm going to provide and you're going to know that I'm the Lord your God I'm going to teach this people who I am verse 13 in the evening Quail came up and covered the camp which if you don't know what quail are because you live in the city or you didn't hunt you didn't not Outdoors person or do you don't like birds it's a bird Quill's a bird and it covers the camp not oh they went outside and they started picking up a few Quail here and there it covers the camp they get to feast.
Because God has provided Quail at night now wake up the next morning in the morning do lay around the camp and when the Dew had gone up there was on the face of the Wilderness A Fine flake-like Thing fine as frost on the ground so they wake up after a night of feasting and they rather sleep from their eyes and they look and they see the Dew and they keep looking and when the Dew dissipates this Frosted Flake like substance like the OG Frosted Flake you guys it starts appearing and their response is.
When the people of Israel verse 15 when the people of Israel saw it they said to one another what is it for they did not know what it was I said what is this and that's what they're going to call it is what is it bread it's called Manna we're going to see in a moment Manna means what is it in the Hebrew what is this and Moses said to them it is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat this is what the.
Lord has commanded gather of it each of you each one of you as much as he can eat you shall take an Omer which we don't measure in numbers anymore but the estimates is that's anywhere from between one and two pounds each of you take an armor according to the number of persons that each of you has and your tent so I have a family of five that means we'd have anywhere from 10 to 20 pounds of manna now I don't know.
If any of you cook or bake but 20 pounds of flour has a lot of biscuits it's a lot of scones a lot of Pancakes it's a lot of non-breakfast food item bread that's a lot you can eat on that for more than a day it is enough you're going to eat to the full verse 17 the people of Israel did so they gathered some more some less but when they measured it with an Omer where we gathered much had nothing left over whoever gathered little Had No Lack each of them gathered as much as he could eat and I I love this whether they're Gathering a ton as much as they can or little.
It's all going to come out it's all going to come out the same you get a number that's going to provide for you this is God teaching them I'm your provider I'm the one who gives Daily Bread you're going to learn this whatever you gather it's going to be what you need and then in verse 19 and Moses said to them let no one leave any of it over till morning now why would he say that why would he say don't don't leave any over left over to the morning.
Because it's possible they're not going to trust the Lord the reason you would try to keep some to the next day is because you don't think the next day man is coming like the reason why when I put my kids to bed and I tuck them in I don't find a bunch of z-bars and gummy gummy stuff and all the things we put in our snack drawer and applesauce packs you know I don't find that because they know that that food downstairs is stocked they know they can go a snack drawer they know it's there not from once or their thought I need to store some food.
Because I don't know if I'm going to eat the next day they know that it'll be provided for and the people of God need to believe this you need to trust God in this word here don't leave any over to the next day they're being tested they're being taught I don't know if you've seen the FEMA today but you can kind of guess how this is going to go verse 20 but they did not listen to Moses so I'm left part of it till morning and it bred worms and stank and Moses was angry with them morning by morning they gathered it each as much as he could eat.
But when the sun grew hot it melted so they didn't trust God again they disobeyed God again and the whole Camp stank and Moses is rightfully angry because this people isn't getting it they're not trusting God what does God have to do to help you see that he's worthy of your faith and your trust and your obedience these people will not listen and they have failed again but they're going to get a chance here because day after day all the way to the sixth day the Sabbath is coming and I have a chance to obey.
Verse 22. on the sixth day they gather twice as much bread two emers each when all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses he said to them this is what the Lord has commanded tomorrow is a day of solemn rest a holy Sabbath to the Lord bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil and all that is left over lay it aside to be kept to Mourning so gather you're gonna have enough for two days this time you can set it aside it's going good.
So far 24 so they laid it aside till morning as Moses commanded them and it did not stink and there were no worms in it verse 25 Moses said eat it today for today is a Sabbath to the Lord today you will not find it in the field six days You Shall Gather in it but on the seventh which is the Sabbath there will be none for things trending well they're doing so good and then verse 27 happens on the seventh day some of the people went out to gather.
But they found no and there it is they again do not trust the Lord we got to go out we got to gather because what if we don't have enough and they don't trust God that he's going to take care of them again and the Lord verse 28 said to Moses how long will you refuse to keep my Commandments and my laws see the Lord has given you the Sabbath therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days remain each of you in his place let no one go outside of his place on the seventh day.
So the people rested on the seventh day God teaches them he doesn't bring judgment upon them he's providing and he's teaching he's trying to get through to the people of God and then in verse 31 it says now the house of Israel called its name manna it was like coriander seed White and the taste of it was like Wafers made with hunting which pause for a minute it's nice that God is not against sweet bread you know even against some of our diets don't you say we shouldn't have it.
But it's not it's good it's a gift from the Lord verse 32 Moses said this is what the Lord has commanded let a number of it be kept throughout your Generations so that you may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness when I brought you out of the land of Egypt and Moses said to Aaron take a jar and put an ombre of manna in it and place it before the Lord to be kept throughout your Generations.
So God wants them to take take some put in a jar I want you to remember how I provided for you I want you to remember how I gave you daily manna 34 and as the Lord commanded Moses so Aaron placed it before the testimony to be kept the people of Israel ate the man of 40 years till they came to a habitable end they ate Manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan and Omer is the tenth of Heart of an even.
Okay and that's the end of chapter 16. this story is powerful because in spite of their lack of faith and in spite of the rebellion and in spite of Israel's sin in spite of their grumbling they're grumbling against the God who saved them who redeemed them who freed them to be in his presence in spite of all of that God provides for them again and again God takes care of his people and he teaches them in spite of their Rebellion he teaches them in spite of their sin and the good news of the Gospel is that.
God still does that with us that God still does that with us you see when he gets the New Testament and you get to John 6 and you see the feeding of the five thousand which is one of the more popular Miracles that we read about in the Scriptures when you read the feeding the five thousand you see that that entire miracle is an illusion it's alluding back to Exodus 16. there's so many things where Jesus in that moment is fulfilling Exodus 16 from the bread that is Multiplied into the people get enough to the 12 baskets that represent the 12 tribes there's.
So many things that are happening in that story that point back to Exodus 16 back to the story of manna and that's made even more explicitly clear in the teaching that follows the feeding of the five thousand so we're gonna pick it up in John 6 verse 30. it says so they said to him this is people asking him then what sign do you do that we may see and believe you what work do you perform our fathers ate the Manna in the wilderness as it is written he gave them bread from Heaven to eat that's Exodus 16.
So we get to see that miraculous sign from God what are you going to do Jesus then said to them truly truly I say to you it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven but my father gives you the true bread from heaven for the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world and then they hear this and their ears perk up and they said to him verse 34 sir give us this bread always we want that you got something better than the man that was given to our people I I want that bread what is that bread.
Jesus answers Jesus said to them I am the bread of life whoever comes to me shall not hunger never Believes In Me shall never thirst I am the Eternal manna I am the bread of life and if you eat of me and if you come to me for satisfaction if you come to me for fulfillment if you come to me you will never you will never be unfulfilled and you will always be satisfied so Jesus ultimately fulfills this story now I want to.
See two clear things coming out of this from Exodus 16 into John 6. and the first is this God cares for you God cares for you there are times where we don't believe that there are times where we have these these complaints that says if God really cared about me he would do fill in the blank he provided this he'd help me hear if God truly cared for me then I'd have this I'd have the meat pots back in Egypt I have the bread to the fool fill in the blank.
If God truly cared about me why doesn't he fix this and I want to say very clearly God absolutely cares for you and he cares for you more than you could ever care for yourself because what we see so clearly from the Scriptures is that our concern is mostly and sometimes exclusively about temporary things the things that we want the things that we so deeply desire oftentimes are only temporary things and God is saying I have something better for you I have something Eternal.
For you I have eternal Heavenly bread the bread of life in Christ that is for you have not forgotten you I care about you more than you could ever care for yourself so that's the first thing we need to clearly see that God loves us so much that he sent the Bread of Heaven down for us and he lived a life that we could not live and he died death in the cross that we deserve and he resurrected it to give us a new life in him.
So that we could eat of this eternal bread and take part in Christ into eternity God absolutely cares for you more than you could ever possibly know or imagine you just have to come to him in faith and here's the second thing that we need to see coming out of this story and this is especially true for Christians we need to stop grumbling we need to stop complaining we need to repent here because complaining is so native to who we are as humans and we need to stop it's not just a principle that's taught in Exodus 16.
As an explicit command when you get to the New Testament in Philippians 2 it says do all things without grumbling or disputing that you may be blameless and innocent children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation among whom you shine as lights and the world the rest of the world complains you know why because that's a Humanity problem it's what we do and what he's teaching is that you get to be uniquely different you get to shine as light in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation you get to be different you know why we get to be different.
Because we know better because as Christians we know better when John Piper is commenting on Philippians 2. he says do all things without grumbling why you have a sovereign God who is on your side who works everything together for your good that everything including the suffering including including the loss and the lacking is ultimately for your good and the Israelites could not see God's bigger plan they couldn't go a few days without water they couldn't go a few days with limited food they could not.
See God's bigger plan and they complained and they grumbled and so do we we don't see God's bigger plan and we Grumble we need to believe the Gospel we need to believe that Jesus is the bread of life and then when we do that we replace our grumbling with something better the solution to our grumbling is Godly gratitude the solution to our grumbling is Godly gratitude it is a deep founded belief that God works everything together for our good even the parts of life that are miserable even the life parts of life that are crummy even the parts of life that don't seem fair that in those moments we want to complain and we want.
To Grumble ultimately against our God for what he has not done I know I feel this y'all you might think but you don't understand my pain is chronic my hurt is unending how could God love me allow me to suffer like this we get to as Christians replace that with a posture of gratitude that says thank you Jesus that my hope is in a resurrection that is in the future a future bodily Resurrection where I will have no more pain and no more hurt and I will be and your presence forever and all this pain will be a distant memory.
But until then praise God that I have the teaching that comes from Paul that Jesus power will be made perfect in my weakness and I will praise you and thank you all the more you might think I just want to be married I just want to have a family I've wanted this I've wanted this I've wanted this if God really loved me why hasn't he given me this we need to believe the Gospel and we could replace that with gratitude that says thank you.
Jesus how I don't know why I don't have a family in this life but I thank you that I have an eternal family that I've been purchased into now and I can experience that in part now with this Church family and in my community group but that even pales in comparison to the Eternal family of God that awaits me when I will be in your presence with my brothers and sisters with you as my father thank you Jesus that I'm a part of a better family you might think I've got just others have it easier their lives are easier they have more means they have better physical health they have better mental health they have.
All of this God why can't I just have fill in the blank and we get to from a place of faith say thank you Jesus that you bless others man I don't know why you haven't blessed me I don't know why I'm suffering I don't know why I'm enduring loss but I'm going to learn what it means for you to be my daily bread because you are enough we need gratitude for the Glorious work of Christ that is the remedy to our grumbling I don't know why.
God has ordained that some of you suffer in the ways that you do I don't know why your life is not easier than others and I will pretend to be speaking on behalf of God directly to answer why you are suffering perhaps from the Scriptures you may have some reasons maybe he is teaching you daily Faith like he taught the Israelites maybe he's breaking you of Love of this world and believing the things in this world are going to satisfy when only.
Jesus can perhaps you are suffering in the wilderness in ways that are ultimately for your good that you may not have the answers for in this life I don't know but I do know the solution is the same Church family let's not be like the Israelites who God saved and redeemed and freed and brought into his presence and then went on to Grumble and Grumble and Grumble and Grumble we get to be the people of God who are saved and redeemed and freed and are brought into his presence and from that beautiful Gospel we say thank you.
Jesus that you're enough you will be my daily bread and that is enough Matt's going to come up and we're going to take the Lord's Supper which is a reminder that Jesus is enough that we get to come to the table as Jesus did 2000 years ago and we took bread and he broke and he said this is my body that was broken for you it's for it's the Bread of Heaven he's the Eternal manna he's whom we need it's my body that was broken.
For you he took the cup of the New Covenant he said this is my blood that was shed for you that is often as a as you eat and drink this you Proclaim my death until I return and as the people between his death and his return we sit in the middle and as Christians we get to believe the Gospel we get to believe that Jesus is enough and no doubt I've got repenting to do after complaining of my life.
Because you're human so do you and we get to come to the table and say thank you Jesus that you died for grumblers like me Lord help me have gratitude and thankfulness in faith faith to trust that you're enough and if you're not a Christian please don't take part in this I don't want you to take part in this we want you to take part in the Eternal manner who is Christ we want you to believe in him I want you to.
See that he's better there's nothing in this world that will satisfy you there's nothing in this world that is going to fill the God-shaped hole in your soul the only one who can is Christ and we plead with you believe right now place your faith and trust when you are ready come to the table and remember the Bread of Heaven that we get to take part in Christ and we pray heavenly father I pray that you would help us see you with.
So beautiful so much more compelling than anything else in this world God I pray that you would help us be a people that believe the Gospel that you are the bread of life that you are enough and out of that belief that we would be a people that show unbelievable gratitude knowing that we don't know how and why and all the things that are happening in our life the way they are happening but we know that you're enough and we will praise you and I pray.
If there's anyone here that has never eaten up your Eternal bread that is never trusted in you I pray right now that they would we ask this in Jesus name amen.
|giv| Week 3
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
I am one of the pastors here. We are going to be in the book of Ecclesiastes today, specifically Ecclesiastes 5, as we are closing out week three of our Give Series. We pause every year for our Give Series because this is a season in America that gets quite overwhelming with materialism and consumerism. And we want to pause every year and be reminded of what biblical generosity looks like, what a biblical approach to money looks like with the backdrop of a culture and a time that is very much the opposite. So we're in week three of this.
We'll be in the book of Ecclesiastes, which is a book that speaks about the vanity of life. So vanity meaning vain, which is empty, conceited, worthless, pointless. It is a book that talks about how vain putting hope in this life is, and specifically Ecclesiastes 5 is the vanity of riches. How vain it is to put a hope and to get your life towards wealth and riches. And as I was preparing for this, there's a vivid picture from a novel that I read years ago that I just wanted to read that paints a very vivid picture of what it looks like to live your life for the sake of riches. It comes from The Testament by John Grisham in the very kind of opening scene of that book.
And it's a man who is very wealthy, has lots of money, and is on his deathbed. He is narrating what a life spent pursuing riches looks like. So I just want to read from this. So he says, on his deathbed, I'm an old man, lonely and unloved, sick and hurting and tired of living. I'm ready for the hereafter. It has to be better than this.
I own the tall glass building in which I sit, and 97% of the company housed in it, below me and land around half a mile in three directions, and 2,000 people who work here, and the 20,000 who do not. I own the pipeline under the land that brings gas to my building from my fields in Texas. And I own the utility lines that deliver electricity. And I lease the satellite unseen miles above my head from which I once barked my commands to my empire flung around the world. My assets exceed $11 billion. I own silver in Nevada and copper in Montana, coffee in Kenya, coal in Angola, rubber in Malaysia, natural gas in Texas, crude oil in Indonesia, and steel in China.
My company owns companies that produce electricity and make computers and build dams and print paperbacks and broadcast signals to my satellite. I have subsidiaries with divisions in more countries than anyone can find. I once owned all the appropriate toys, the yachts and jets and blondes, homes in Europe, farms in Argentina, an island in the Pacific, thoroughbreds, even a hockey team. But I've grown too old for toys. The money is the root of my misery. I had three families, three ex-wives who bore seven children, six of whom are still alive, doing all they can to torment me.
To my knowledge, I fathered all seven and buried one. I should say his mother buried him. I was out of the country. I'm estranged from all the wives and all the children. They're gathering here today because I'm dying and it's time to divide the money. And you hear that and you see a man that had everything that you could want in this life.
He had all. He had the hockey team. He had the thoroughbreds. He had the farm in Argentina. It's worth $11 billion. And at the end of his life, he's looking at everything that he's worked for in this life.
And he's showing how vain it is, how meaningless it is. Now, most of us are not going to own farms in Argentina. We ain't rolling like that. We're not going to own stuff like that. But I would argue that many of us have some financial goals, right?
Those financial goals involve building an amount of wealth so that one day you can have the security and the comfort, maybe the adoration that comes with that. There are reasons why we're building this wealth for our lives. And I want us to reckon with a picture like this this morning of someone who put all their hope in the riches of this life and realized it wasn't worth it. That we're in danger of falling into the same type of regret at the end of our lives if we spend it pursuing riches for riches' sake. So, we're going to look at Ecclesiastes and really sit in that picture of what it looks like to pursue riches and how vain that picture is.
And then I want to look at a better picture for us that paints a better life that does not worship the things of this world. So, let me pray for us and then we'll walk through this together. Heavenly Father, I pray that you would help us buy into the biblical vision, the biblical approach to money, that we might see you as better for our sake. I pray you'd help us as we're in the midst of listening to this and thinking through our budgets and all the things we're doing in this Give Project, that we would listen and receive the word and respond how you would desire. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Alright, so, we're going to look at two experts today. Two expert opinions. The first is Solomon's. So, Solomon wrote the book of Ecclesiastes. And Solomon, in this section, is talking about the vanity of riches. And if anyone, if there's any expert on riches to listen to, it is Solomon.
Solomon was one of the richest men, one of the richest people that ever lived. They have done some calculations up from looking at the scriptures and seeing what his net worth would be in today's dollars. And it's anywhere from one to two trillion dollars. Trillion. One to two, that's, the state GDP in South Carolina is around 230 billion dollars. Okay, so Solomon was worth upwards of ten times the state GDP.
That's bonkers. That's a lot of money. And he had about anything you could possibly want in this life. So, we should heed the wisdom of his expert opinion. Because he had all the riches. And he's going to explain to us why it is so empty and worthless to bank your life on this.
He's going to give two overarching reasons for this. And the first is that wealth never satisfies. Wealth never satisfies. We're going to pick it up in verse 10. He says, He who loves money will not be satisfied with money. Nor he who loves wealth with his income.
This also is vanity. He comes out and says, Wealth is never going to satisfy. It's never going to satisfy. You'll come back to it over and over again. And it's never going to quench your thirst. It's like being on the open ocean.
Thirsting. And believing that the ocean water is below you. If you just drink of it, it will satisfy you. And it never will. It will leave you longing. And coming back for more and more as it dries you out.
Wealth never satisfies. But we believe that a little more might. If I just had a little bit more. I feel this, y'all. When my wife and I, we first got married. We moved to Louisville, Kentucky so I could start seminary.
And I think our first year's tax return was like $20,000. That's not a joke. It was like $20,000. I remember in that period thinking, man, if we could just, if we just made like $23,000. If we just brought in like $23,000 or $24,000, something like that. I just, you know, we're paying our way through seminary.
We might be able to do this. If we just made a little bit more, we'd be okay. And then the next year, we did make more. And the next year, we did make more. And the next year, we did make more. And what happens is every year you make more, you think, if I just had a little bit more.
Just, not a lot, but just a little bit more, I'd be okay. And that's never how it works. Because wealth never satisfies. You can want more and more and more. It's a bottomless pit. You will never get enough of it.
Some of the most miserable people that you'll ever meet are people that have lots of money. They've got it all. Everything that you think you could possibly want in this life, they've got it. And they are not happy. Wealth never satisfies. And he goes on further and unpack how it doesn't satisfy.
In verse 11, he says, When goods increase, they increase who eat them. And what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes? He says, you know how unsatisfying it is? The NLT says, the paraphrase says, the more you have, the more people come to help you spend it. There's one commentator that says that wealth attracts human leeches. Which I really appreciate the bluntness of that commentary.
And that's true. If you read biographies or watch biopics or documentaries of athletes or musicians who make it big, their stories are all the same. As soon as I got money, the people came out the woodworks. And they came to take because they had the object that everyone wants in this life. And they're coming for it. That's why in the NFL when they train rookies, they put rookies through these classes now.
Some of the classes they put NFL rookies through is you're going to have uncles and cousins and friends and that guy from high school that come out that want to start a business, that want to start a restaurant, that want to start a record label. You need to understand they're coming for what you've got. And we might think, well, I don't think I'm ever going to be on that level. That anyone's going to want what I have. But the principle still applies, right?
Because what happens is, is even the middle class life, is that you level up. You level up to a bigger house. And what happens when you level up to a bigger house? Things come in to leech the raise that you got to buy that house, right? You got a bigger power bill. You got to fill that house with more things.
You're now in a neighborhood where your neighbor is really, really particular about his yard. And your yard looks like a scrub, so you got to put money in that yard so you can compete with the neighbors. Like, that's life. You buy the car, and then you got to buy the things that come with it. The more expensive tires that come with that truck. They're things that continue to siphon off little by little to where you're finally saying again, oh, if I just had more, I'd be satisfied.
At the end of that verse, he just says, what's the advantage of when you finally get those things? You'll just look at them. Think about all the things that you accumulate every time that you so loved on Amazon, which is why you hit buy an hour. You're so saved up for it again. You end up just looking at it as it wastes space in your home. It doesn't satisfy.
He goes on to say in verse 12, sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep. That's a poetic way of saying that you can go to bed with a full stomach, with a comfortable life, and still be wanting sleep that you cannot get. It doesn't bring the peace and the rest that you so desire. And some of us who are having trouble, you know, making sure that we're trying to pay our bills and save up for the things that we want to, we're like, we're losing sleep over what? Over money, over paying bills, over this, over that. And I think if I just had, if I just had a little more, I would not be so worried at night.
I'd just be able to go to sleep. It's all I'm going to sing. Wrong. No. I was once at a lunch with two businessmen who were worth eight figures plus. So these guys had ten plus million dollars.
And I listened to them both for about five minutes talk about losing sleep. I mean, they were like, yeah, I know, I've tried this, and I've tried this product, and I've done this, and the other one's like, yeah, no, I think I've tried that too. I want to try. They went back and forth for five minutes talking about how they're losing sleep. Why? Because the more you have, the more you have to worry about.
The more that you're going to lose sleep over. It does not satisfy. It does not bring the rest and the peace that you so desire. And Solomon continues to share the vanity of it. He says, verse 13, there is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun. Riches were kept by their owner to his hurt.
Or as the paraphrase in the NLT says, hoarding riches harms the saver. But there's this, what happens in life is there are objects and there are things that we so want. The things that we say, what are the things you've been saving up for? The things you've been wanting. It's the first couple things that come to mind. And once you get them, you grab hold of them.
Those become the most glorious objects in your life. The most beautiful, wonderful things that you've desired. You lay hold to them with a death grip. Not releasing your hands before the Lord saying, do what you want with it. But you just so badly want those things.
And it's to our own demise. There are people that catch monkeys for a living, which has a job. And one of the ways they catch monkeys is they find tree holes and they put shiny objects in those tree holes because monkeys love shiny objects. They put a little apparatus outside the hole. So when the monkey sticks his hand into the tree and grabs the shiny object, tries to pull it out and it can't because his hand and the object are too big.
But monkeys won't let the shiny object go. They won't release it. They'll let their hand out. The same works on children. They see them drop a toy behind the couch. They sit there for like a minute.
Just like, I can't get it out. And it's like, well, you've got to let it go. But that's us. Like to our own demise. We'll grab hold and lay hold to the object. Because we work so hard for this.
Do you know how hard I work? How many hours I put in? How much I sacrifice to finally get this life? And we cling to it thinking that's what's going to satisfy. But it's actually to our own demise.
Wealth never satisfies. Solomon drills that home. It never satisfies. And then he shifts into another major reason that we should not put our hope in riches. Why it is so vain. And the second reason is you're going to lose it all anyways.
Not only does it not satisfy. You're going to lose it all. In verse 14 he gives the first way. And those riches were lost in a bad venture. And he is the father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand. A lot of people make money and then they lose it.
That's life. It happens over and over and over again. There are a lot of young men across the world who this year has been a very bad year. Because they lost everything in the crypto markets. I mean they went hard. They put all their savings, their story after story.
And those markets crashed and crumbled. And they lost everything. That's life. Real estate. Businesses. Bad investments.
It's fleeting. You're going to lose it. And if you don't lose it in a bad business deal, you're going to lose it when you die. And that's the second point on that. It says in verse 15, As he came from his mother's womb, he shall go again naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand. So if you don't lose it in bad business deals, you will lose it when you die.
Naked you came into this world with nothing. And naked you will leave this world with nothing. The old adage about a U-Haul. You don't see a U-Haul behind a hearse. Right? It's played out.
You hear it a lot. But it's true. We live our lives like that's not true. We live our lives for the things that we can accumulate on this earth. You cannot take it with you. And we're in danger of being just like that man in John Grisham's The Testament.
Working so hard for everything in this life and realizing what was it for. It's vanity. And Solomon closes out the section. And this, also verse 16, is a grievous evil. Just as he came, so shall he go. And what gain is there to him who toils for the wind?
Like a person outside is just trying to grasp the wind. And it's like, what are you doing? It's like, I'm trying to, I'm toiling for the wind. I'm going to harness it. And I get it. And it's like, you look like a fool.
Trying to grasp what will never actually satisfy him. And what you cannot take with you. That's Solomon, our first expert, giving us advice. And we need to heed his advice, y'all. We need to heed his wisdom. I mean, listen.
We will find expert opinions everywhere else, right? You will find mom blogs and Instagram pages, things. Where people, like my wife's Instagram, she's just going through it sometimes. It's just like the next one. Here's the next way to change your life and do this. And here's the next thing.
You want to build this. Next thing you want to, it's just like, or bro podcast or bro YouTube pages. Or it's just, I mean, there's advice and advice and advice and expert opinions and expert opinions. And we'll go everywhere else to find expert opinions. But the scriptures, when Solomon, who lived the life of having everything, and it's telling us it's not worth it.
It's vanity. It is striving after the wind. And it will not ever satisfy. And you won't take it with you when you die. So, that's the first expert opinion. Then we get to the New Testament.
We get the second expert opinion for today. And it's Jesus. And he builds on that vanity argument to give us some really good news. In the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 6, verses 19 to 21, he says this. Jesus says, Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. So, very reminiscent of Ecclesiastes.
Don't spend your life building treasures that will fade, that will rust, that can be stolen. But then he inserts the good news. But, verse 20, lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. That we would be a people that don't work and strive to build wealth and treasures in this life. But we would look into the next life, into eternity.
And we'd send all of our treasures there. That all of our life is spent aimed towards eternity. Saying, that's what we're living for. I'm going to store up treasures and riches there. I'm sending it all forward. That's what Jesus is trying to paint for us.
Don't live looking down in this life. Look forward to the next and live your entire life in light of that. Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. Those treasures do not fade. They do not rust. They are timeless.
They are kept for you, guarded. They will not be stolen. And then he ends with, For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. That if your treasure is there. If your heart is, if your treasure is there, your heart will live in light of eternity. Because that's where your heart is.
It's not in the things of this world. It is with Christ in eternity. So the way that you live your life in light of that looks different. Noticeably different. There are two different lives. There is a life that thinks that the here and now and the material that we have in front of us is it.
So you buy an American dream. You get stacks and stacks. You build it up. You maximize to live your best life out of this. And then there's a different life that lives with the light of eternity. It looks radically different.
It seeks to grow in generosity and obedience to God and what he calls us to. Those are two different lives. Now, if you've been here a few years, that doesn't sound unfamiliar. We say some version of that every year at Give. Some of you have been here one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight years. Which means you've sat through one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight different Give series.
Matthew 6 has shown up probably every other year. And some... None of this is new. We hear this over and over and over again. But there is a difference between hearing this and doing this.
James 1 will be hearers of the word, but doers of the word. And I feel this, y'all. I feel this as we prep every year to preach these sermons. That I just... I just... Okay, yep, we're doing Give.
Which means I've got to reorient my soul. Okay, I've got to look at my budget. Ugh. What can I do? Can I do just enough to get the Holy Spirit off my back? It's one of the things that Chet was hitting on last week.
Is that we... We hear this... But if it doesn't radically actually change our lives... If you've been through one, two, three, four, five, six different Give series. If you've heard sermon after sermon... That talks about the approach to money.
And your life has not grown in generosity. Your life has not changed. That's a problem. It's possible you're hearing this and you're not actually believing this. That it might live that out. But I feel this, y'all.
I feel this in the prep. Every year we do give... There's a part of me that's like, I don't want... I've got to do the tough soul work of looking in... And figuring out how I've got to repent. How I've got to grow in this.
And I also personally... I know the American church is known for talking a lot about money. So I don't want to fall. And it's like, no. Jesus cares immensely about this. It is so unbelievably important because our hearts are so tied to this.
And so captured by riches. That we need to actually release our hands before Him and say, what do you want to do with this? Because those are two different lives. Randy Alcorn in his book, The Treasure Principle, talks about how he visited two graves in Egypt. He went to King Tut's tomb. To that display.
And then pharaohs back then, they were buried with all of their riches. So they buried them underneath the ground and stored the riches with them. And there must be some part of Egyptian belief that you could take those with you into the afterlife. But King Tut's tomb has all his riches. And you can see the faded riches that over time that he had. But then he also visited a different grave.
He went to the grave of a man named William Borden. William Borden was the heir to a large family fortune and family business in the Midwest in the early 1900s. So he was set to be able to take over millions and millions of dollars. And he heard the gospel and he believed. And he said, no. Much to his family's dismay, he said, no.
I'm actually, I want to go on the mission field. Specifically, he wanted to go and reach Uyghur Muslims in China. Which if you've followed international news the last few years, you've heard a lot about the Uyghur Muslims because they're some of the most oppressed people in China at the moment. But 100 years ago, he said, I want to reach those people. I want to reach the Uyghur Muslims. And much to his family's dismay, he left that family fortune and business behind.
And he moved to Cairo, Egypt to learn Arabic so that he could take the gospel to China. And after a few months of learning Arabic, he contracted cerebral meningitis. And he died at the young age of 25. And he left. He didn't have his whole family's fortune, but he had $800,000, which is still a lot of money back then in today's dollars. And he left that all to Chinese missions.
And when you look at that life, it doesn't make a lot of sense. It doesn't make a lot of sense unless you know who he did it for. And that's why one of the things that's written on his tomb is this. Apart from faith in Christ, there is no explanation of such a life. What a powerful message to Mark your life. That apart from faith in Christ, there is no explanation for that type of life.
It doesn't make sense at all that you would leave the comforts of an American family fortune. All the comforts and things that went with that. To go to another country and die at 25. It doesn't make any sense. It's inexplicable. Unless you know who he did it for.
Unless you know his Savior. Unless you know Christ. Because with Christ, that absolutely makes sense. That's the most reasonable thing you could do. If you understand the gospel and what Jesus sets us apart for. And you understand this message that he teaches in Matthew 6.
And the message that Paul in Philippians 4 teaches. Paul in Philippians 4 is at the end of his letter in Philippians is raising support. He's raising support for the mission. And this is what he says in 417. He says, Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. Not that I seek the gift.
That's not the main point. I want to seek the fruit that is credited, as the NIV says, to your account. And when you put that up aside, Matthew 6. This idea of storing up treasures in heaven. And storing them to a future credit. When you understand those side by side.
It absolutely makes sense. With Christ, that's 100% understandable. We are called to live our lives with a future mindset. To believe that there are riches that we can store up for us in eternity. And I know when I say that, that some of us are like, oh man, I don't. Aren't we supposed to just want Christ?
Like, isn't it just enough that we want Christ in eternity? That we should live in light of that? And Jesus says no, actually. Which pushes back on something that for me is hard. No. There's a reason why he says, Store up for yourselves.
Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. There's a reason why Paul says, To store up these things to be credited to your account. There is this mysterious future reward. We don't really know what that is. We don't. We know what it's not.
That these extra riches in heaven, It's not the vain riches of this life. It's not gold. It's not jewels. It's not material things like that. The new heavens and the new earth, The picture that you get in the book of Revelation, The streets lined with gold. It's not that.
So I don't know what it is. I don't know if it's extra face time with Jesus or what. I don't know what that is. But that's held out in front of us. And it's certainly seen as unbelievably good. Jesus calls it treasure.
Whatever that is with Christ that we gain with Him, It is wonderful. And it comes to first believing the gospel through faith. Believing that Jesus died for our sins and our rebellion. And that He rose to new life. And gained us a new life in Him. And that it is every step of the way believing what Jesus says.
It is trusting Him at His word. When He says, Live your life in light of eternity. And store up riches there. It's believing that. And actually doing that. And it is the reason why, In this gift series, It's the reason why we're doing a gift project that we're doing.
It's the reason why we're getting behind Jamie Kerm. One of our church members who decided to leave the comforts of America. To go to Lebanon. A country that is falling apart right now. That has the highest inflation rate in the world. And is falling apart.
To go and take the gospel to the Kurdish people. To be a help. And to be a missionary. To learn the language. There's a, Y'all, She, One of the things, We talk about once a week. And it was just, About a month or so ago, She was talking about, How she, She left, When you're over there, You leave, Because you don't have long term permanent residency there.
So you gotta leave. She went to Cyprus, Which is an island nation right next to it. Went to Cyprus for a couple days. She'll have to do that in the future. To keep her visa renewed and what not. She went there.
And we talked about it. She's like, It just was wonderful. To go to Cyprus and to like, Take a hot shower. And to like, Have electricity that doesn't turn off in the middle of the night. And to not feel like I'm on edge all the time. Because Lebanon and Beirut right now, It's really intense.
And it's, It's not the safest. And, She was just good for a couple days, Just not experienced that. And she's saying, I want to go back to that. I want to be there. I want to help the church. I want to help make disciples.
I want to help disciple women. I want that. That's unexplainable without Christ. Now, She's believing in something that's more eternal, That's more valuable, That's more valuable than anything this world has to offer. And we're saying, Yes, Amen. And we're going to get behind that.
And as Chet opened up this morning, She got to raise about $2,500 a month to stay on the field. She's at $100 now. So we get to come behind that, And partner with her for something that is bigger than ourselves. Because this life, And the things in this life, And the things that you would give up in your budget, To get behind something like that, It's not worth it. It's two different pictures of what your deathbed could look like. You'd be on your deathbed, Thinking about all the things that you've worked so hard for.
The life that you put blood, sweat, and tears into, That you're getting ready to leave behind. Or, You could be on your deathbed, A few breaths away, Giddy, Excited. Because everything that you've worked for, Is just a few breaths away. Those are two different lives. And I so badly, As a Christian, I want to press into that second life. And I so badly for our church, Want us to press into that second life.
Because that life is truly better.
|giv| Week 2
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're in the second week of our Give series. And every year around Christmas, we have, since we first planted this church in 2013, we have taken the time, 2012, taken the time to intentionally try to give some money away around Christmas to push back some on the, just kind of the cultural tone of consumerism that we're handed in life. And so we want to intentionally try to rally ourselves to be generous.
And last week, I got to say from the stage, one of the most exciting things that we can say as a church, which is a young lady from our church has committed her life to the call, at least committing for the next year. But she's devoting herself to mission work among an unreached people group in Lebanon amongst the Kurdish people. And so we are excited to get to support her in that and get to rally around her. Earlier this year, we showed you all this map. And we said that we live right now where there are more unreached peoples on the globe than ever before. At any time in history, there are more people who do not know Jesus than ever before.
And that the red is a bunch of unreached people groups. There has been no gospel penetration into their culture. And that's a problem. But that we're distinctly set up as a church to be able to participate in the work the Lord is doing. Because there are three, not one, but three mission organizations that actually are on the third floor of our education building over here. That are in the 1040 window and working among unreached people groups.
And this summer, Jamie Kern, who you all might know in life or you might recognize from this slide that you've been seeing, if you show up early enough to sit in here and see it. So all four of you know about that slide. And she did an internship between us and 1040 Hope. And she. Sorry. Do I have like a boom thing going on constantly?
Is it just getting on my nerves? Can you have your hand held? She. Oh, thank you. No, this is Spencer Carey. Thank you, Spencer.
Everybody give Spencer a hand. Is this better? All right. So I'm going to have to keep this on my ear because it's going to dangle and get on my nerves. So I'll just keep it on my ear.
And I'll have two mics. It's going to look awesome. All right. She. She did a joint internship between our church and 1040 Hope over the summer. And then she went to Lebanon for the past three months where she's been trying to learn the Kurdish language, where she's been working among the Kurdish people.
And she's been investigating the call to be a full time missionary. And she has committed to that. And so we get to support. And so what we said we're going to try to do is raise fifteen thousand dollars for a vehicle. There's a picture of her doing some work. Yeah.
Oh, there we go. For a vehicle. There we go. No, it's I don't know. Things are happening now. All right.
So we're going to fifteen thousand dollars for a vehicle for her to use for the next year while she's there and a year's worth of support. So we're wanting to raise fifteen thousand dollars now to buy a vehicle and we're wanting to pledge twenty nine thousand two hundred and twenty five dollars for a full year of support for her. And so we're going to get to talk more about exactly how to do that. But we're excited to get to do that, to get to participate in what the Lord is doing amongst the unreached people. And for her to be able to be over there and help get more missionaries over there. So it's an encouraging thing for us.
And so at in our gift series. We want to push back some by intentionally giving our money away. We want to push back some on what our culture tells us about how to think about money, because there's a couple of things that our culture gives us that it's just assumed. One of them is one of the ways to tell how well you're doing in life is how much stuff do you have? How nice is your stuff? So that when we picture ourselves in the future, a lot of times there's no like personal growth.
I just picture me, but richer. And that's like, yeah, look, I'm doing well. Like if you let me look ahead into the future, is my house bigger? I'm doing great. Like that's kind of how we've just been taught to think through life that we ought to have more money, more stuff, and that if we have more money and more stuff, then we'll be happier. This is like a cultural agreed upon reality.
The other one is that we are that what we consume defines who we are. So that this type of person wears this type of clothes. Real men drive this. Real men eat red meat. That there's some sort of like consumption turns us into things. Like real moms like you buy GIF or whatever.
Like we just have this. If you partake in our product, you make yourself into a certain type of person. As if somehow eating and wearing things turns us into a thing, develops our character. But we just have this as a cultural thing. And so what we do in our gift series is we say let's open our Bibles and let's see what the Lord has to say about how we handle our money. So grab your Bible and go to Luke chapter 3.
We're going to read a passage that I think you're probably familiar with. If you've read the Gospel of Luke, you certainly are. It's John the Baptist preaching. And I think in general we read this and we just keep on moving. It's like John the Baptist is the forerunner to Jesus. So run through what John the Baptist says and let's get to Jesus.
And I think there's potential for us to have read this, for you to have read this, for you to have heard this before, and for us to have missed one of the things that he says that I think is very important for us to see. So we're going to read through this. We're going to walk through it today. And we're going to stop in this section that I think maybe we've read before but haven't considered. And hopefully it's corrective and challenging and encouraging to us as we consider our finances and joining together to be a part of God's mission and giving some money away. So let's pray.
Father, we thank you for how good you are. Lord, we thank you for the love and the grace and the kindness that you've shown us. We thank you for your word. We thank you for Jamie Kern and the work of your spirit in her and all those like her who surrender to your call to go to hard places to deliver wonderful news. And so, Lord, we pray that you would bless her work, that you would bless our endeavor to raise support, and that you would call more people to go wherever you send them and surrender to you so that more people might proclaim the name of Jesus. And love you and be loved by you for eternity.
In Jesus' name, amen. We're in Luke chapter 3. We're going to go through the first 18 verses. In the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee and his brother Philip, tetrarch of the region of Iteria and Trachonitis and Lysanias, tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas. Okay, all of that is just to time stamp exactly when this happens. It would be like if you were talking to a Carolina fan a couple weeks ago and you asked them, you weren't familiar with the Carolina-Clemson rivalry, and you asked them, is Carolina any good?
Like, do y'all usually win this? And they had to answer, the last time we won this game was at the beginning of the second Obama administration. Like, you just time stamp things. Like, I remember what gas was during the Reagan administration. It's that sort of thing. And so, I don't, but people do.
That sort of thing. And that's what he's doing. As he's saying, it was during the reign of all these people at this time. And then he gets to what he's wanting to say, which is, the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. Meaning that John becomes a prophet. He begins to speak God's word.
He begins to proclaim this. And he does this in the wilderness. He doesn't do this in a well-populated area. He just starts proclaiming it in the wilderness, which I always wondered how that started. Like, he's in the wilderness. Was he just going for it and then someone heard it and was like, I'm going to go get more people?
Or did he just find the first person he saw and start proclaiming the word? I don't know. It doesn't tell us. But he's in the wilderness. He begins to proclaim the word. But then people start to come to him.
And it says this. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. So they had baptism. They had the idea of baptism as like an initiation, right? The Pharisees would baptize people. You would actually baptize yourself.
So you would go in. You would wash yourself. It was a baptism where you basically washed yourself and you said, I'm committing to this. But he does a baptism where he's baptizing people. And it's a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And this is new.
And it's wonderful. Because the Pharisees, who were the primary religious teachers in this area, their message was, be good. And if you're good, here's how to be better. Here's how to be intentional with your being good. But if you've been bad.
If you've sinned. If you've run away from the Lord. Sorry. It's over with for you. There was no real. Here's how to come back.
Here's how to get out from being cursed. Here's how to repent. Here's how to turn from that. And so when John begins to proclaim, have you messed everything up? I've got good news for you. You can repent.
You can turn from that. And you can be forgiven. And this is good news. And this is new. Not new. The Old Testament had times like this.
But this is new for these people. For them to begin to understand that what God wants from them is that they can turn away from their sin. And they can turn to the Lord. And so he begins to proclaim this baptism of repentance. And repentance is saying, what I've been doing isn't working. What I've been doing is sinful.
And I need to be changed. I need the Lord to forgive me. I need to. Basically, what I have is a bunch of mess. And I need that taken away. And I'm going to turn from it and start doing what I'm supposed to.
But this is opportunity for forgiveness and repentance. And so people start coming to him. That they could be forgiven of sins. It says, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet. So this is the fulfillment of prophecy that John's doing.
It says, the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Prepare the way of the Lord. Make his path straight. Every valley shall be filled. And every mountain and hill shall be made low. And the crooked shall become straight.
And the rough places shall become level ways. And all flesh shall see the salvation of God. So John is proclaiming a baptism of repentance and forgiveness of sins. And he is the forerunner to Christ. And when Christ comes, he's going to proclaim repentance. And he's going to call people to faith in himself.
That he is the Christ. He is the one to come. And he's going to call people to believe and have faith in himself. And then Jesus is going to die to seal our forgiveness. And he's going to rise. So that he secures for us what John proclaims.
Which is that you can be forgiven of your sins. Jesus accomplishes that in his death. In his burial. In his resurrection. So that when the message of repentance and forgiveness makes it to us.
It's confirmed. And sealed. And made possible by the work of Jesus. Jesus. So that today.
If you have not repented. And been forgiven. You can be. The message still applies to us. That you can say. I've made a mess of things.
I am a sinner and deserving of wrath. And justice. If God brought justice down on me. It would not be good. It would be harmful to me. In my sin.
And I need forgiveness. And it's offered to you. The message of John is offered to you. And accomplished through Christ. So that's what John's doing.
Verse 7. He said therefore. To the crowds that came out to be baptized by him. You brood of vipers. Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Which is bold strategy when you're preaching.
Maybe we should start starting off. Instead of when we stand up and say. We're so glad you're here. We believe Jesus is better than everything else. We say. You snakes.
Why are you here? Who told you to come here? It's like. And I feel like if I was there. I almost wonder if someone was like. You did John.
You're the one telling us to flee from the wrath to come. Right? Like that's why we came to you. But it seems as if there are some people. Who are coming out to see the spectacle. That there are people who are just showing up.
To see what he's doing. We know from other gospels. That there are Pharisees showing up. Just to kind of question him. Like hey what are you up to? And they're not actually there.
To flee from the wrath to come. They're not actually there repentant. They're just there to see what's going on. And so it says. That he says this to the crowds that came. Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
And then he's going to give them. Two commands. One reason. He says this. Verse 8. Bear fruits in keeping with repentance.
And do not begin to say to yourselves. We have Abraham as our father. For I tell you. God is able from these stones. To raise up children. For Abraham.
So his command is bear fruit in keeping with repentance. So bear fruit would be. Have. Have. This show up. In your life.
So if you said. I've been working really hard. At learning a new language. And it's just now starting to bear some fruit. Or we've been really trying to crack into this new market. And it's just now starting to bear some fruit.
Or I've been working out and exercising for a year. And it's just now starting to bear some fruit. What you mean is. It's just now starting to show up. You can tell. It's beginning just like if I planted a tree.
And it's just now starting to bear some fruit. It's now doing what I wanted my apple tree to do this whole time. And so what he says is not bear fruit period. He says bear fruit in keeping with repentance. Meaning that. They genuinely turned from their sin.
Asked for forgiveness. That comes first. And if that is real. Then all he says is. Look like it. Look like you've actually surrendered to the Lord.
Look like you've actually asked for him to work in your heart. Look like you've actually turned away from your wickedness to him. Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And then he says. And do not say to yourself. We have Abraham as our father.
I tell you the truth. God is able to from these stones raise up children for Abraham. He says. No. You repent. You turn from your sin.
And then you grow in light of that. And don't try to recount your record. As to why you're okay. So if we're bearing fruit in keeping with repentance. What we're doing is we're looking to God. And we're saying.
Because of who he is. Because of the forgiveness. Because of the grace. Therefore I live this way. But. If they're looking and saying.
Well I'm a son of Abraham. So I'm fine. I'm already in. Then they're looking at somehow their track record. Their place in life. And they're saying.
This is what makes me okay. And he just says. No. So. I think one of the ways that this might translate. To southern culture.
Is. I'm a Christian. I grew up in the church. I'm a Christian. I was baptized when I was like 11. 10 or 11.
But there's no. Evidence of. The work of Christ in our heart. There's no fruit. In keeping with repentance. I've had people.
Say before. Oh yeah. I'm a Christian. My dad was a deacon. Okay. Show me that passage.
I was talking to a guy. I played football. I was in high school. I said. We were talking about something. I said.
Are you a Christian? He said. Yeah man. I'm black. It's like. I might be in trouble.
But are we basing it off of something other than. I've surrendered to the Lord. And then. Out of that. It shows up. That's what he's saying.
So don't bank off of something else. Don't lean into something else. Other than. Looking to the Lord. And his grace. And his forgiveness.
So he keeps going. He tells them why. Verse 9. Even now. The axe is laid. To the root.
Of the trees. Every tree. Therefore. That does not bear good fruit. Is cut down. And thrown.
Into the fire. All right. He says. You don't want to get this wrong. And here's what we need to understand. This morning.
As we consider this. We are saved. By grace. Through faith. Not our own works. So that no one may boast.
That's our memory verse. This. This month. As a church. We're saved by grace. Through faith.
It's not our own works. So that nobody would boast. So what we have to understand is. It's not bear fruit. So that you might be saved.
It's surrender. And then look like that's happened in your heart. And that matters. It matters that we don't get that out of order. But it does matter.
If you remember us walking through 1 John. It does matter that it shows up. It does matter that it's actually real. It's not just something we say happened. Because if it actually happened. It begins to show up in the way we live.
And so one of the ways that we can know. Whether or not we're really in the faith. We can't get in the faith by bearing fruit. But we can know whether or not we're in the faith. By seeing are we bearing fruit. Am I growing?
Is my love for the Lord growing? Is my love for other people growing? And that's what he's saying. Don't trick yourself. Don't say well I'm saved by grace. Therefore I can act however I want.
Do whatever I want. It never has to show up. He's saying that's not how this works. Alright. They ask what I think is a very reasonable question to ask. Verse 10.
The crowds asked him. What then shall we do? Fair question. He says bear fruit. And I'm telling you if you don't. It's going to go bad.
If this isn't showing up in your life. If you're not actually repentant. This is going to go bad. So they say well what do we do? And he answered them. This is verse 11.
Whoever has two tunics. Is to share with him who has none. And whoever has food is to do likewise. Tax collectors also came to be baptized. And said to him. Teacher.
What shall we do? Which by the way. Tax collectors coming. Gives you an indication of how wildly wonderful this news is. Tax collectors are hated. They've committed treason against the people of God.
And repentance is open to them. It doesn't just mean people didn't like to have to pay taxes. It's way worse than that. They were helping the Romans occupy the holy land. The promised land. They were enemies.
And they're coming and being able to be forgiven. So if you've told yourself I'm too far gone. That is incorrect. This is wonderfully good news. Tax collectors also came to be baptized. Said to him.
Teacher. What shall we do? And he said to them. Collect no more than you are authorized to do. Soldiers also asked him. And what shall we do?
These are Roman soldiers. Getting to partake in repenting. And he said to them. Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation. And be content with your wages. Now.
Did y'all catch that? They ask. What does repentance look like? And he says. Let's talk about your wallet.
And I know some of you are like. Just like a preacher. But see. John knows something. As he's empowered by the spirit. That Jesus is going to say later.
Jesus says this in the Sermon on the Mount. This is Matthew 6.21 and 6.24. For where your treasure is. There your heart will be also. And no one can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one.
And love the other. Or he will be devoted to the one. And despise the other. You cannot serve God. God. And money.
So they asked John. What does repentance look like? And he knows this. If you've actually surrendered your heart to the Lord. If you've actually turned from your sin. If he's actually going to work on you.
It's going to show up. In the way you handle. Your money. And your stuff. Because your heart has changed. Your treasure has changed.
Your allegiance has changed. John says. Faith. Shows up in your finances. Belief. Is in the budget.
Repentance. Has receipts. I had fun writing this. Just trying to help you remember it. That's what John says. That it's going to show up.
In how you spend your money. And what you do with your stuff. So all of these marks of repentance that he gives. Are possession based. So let's walk back through them.
And let's consider. What John is telling us. Crowd said. What should we do? Verse 11. He answered them.
Whoever has two tunics. Is to share with him who has none. And whoever has food is to do. Likewise. John says. Genuine repentance.
Genuine faith. Shows up in you being open handed with your possessions. That you would not. Accumulate a bunch of stuff. And that you would actually be intentional. About finding ways.
To get rid. Of a lot of your stuff. That's repentance showing up. That that's true belief showing up. Whoever has two tunics. He doesn't say.
You're not allowed to own a tunic. He doesn't say. You're not allowed to eat. He says. If you have enough food. Good.
Eat. And be generous to those who don't have enough food. If you have enough clothes. Good. Be generous to those who don't. Have enough clothes.
That. In some ways. You need to understand. That. You might be blessed. Beyond your ability.
Beyond your need. And that isn't so that you might have. More that just sits around. That's so that you might deliver it. To those who need it. That you've been entrusted to something.
That actually isn't yours. It's not for you to keep. It's for you to deliver. The. The grub hub guy. Is not supposed to eat your sandwich.
On the way to your house. The. The pizza guy. Can't be like. Here's your pizza. And thanks for the breadsticks.
That's not how it works. You're supposed to care for it. And deliver it. And there are things that you own. Part of your paycheck. Things that are in our closets.
That aren't ours. Aren't meant to be. That's what John's saying. That. As we believe. We'd set aside portions of our budget.
To just walk out the door for others. I think Jesus is going to talk about. That as our treasure moves. That we would care about the kingdom. And we care about the kingdom first. So I think this is generosity of the poor.
I also think it's. Intentionality in kingdom things. That Christians would find ways. To support missionaries. Christians would be supporting. Their local church.
But also. Christians would be. Helping things like. Goodwill. And his house thrive. Goodwill helps people get jobs.
They help sell things. At a lower cost. Because all of the. Stuff they get is free. Same with his house. His house helps.
Men in our area. Get over alcoholism. And have a place to stay. And so that. These are the sort of things. That we would be intentional.
About. That's his response. To everybody. He says that. Then he.
Verse 12. Says tax collectors. Also came to be baptized. By him. And said teacher. What shall we do?
And I love that. Because it's genuine. It's a genuine repentance. And a genuine. What should this look like? What do we do?
Not a. What do I have to do? But what. What does it look like for me? Have y'all ever been in a situation. With a new believer.
And you're just talking to him. And they're like. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.
What next? What else are we supposed to do? Hey. I was hearing this thing. I read this thing about. I'm not supposed to do that.
Is that true? Yeah. Okay. Cool. I'll stop. It's wonderful.
And that's what these tax collectors are doing. Okay. What does this look like for us? If I actually get to be forgiven. That's wonderful news. And what does that look like?
How does that show up? He said to them. Collect no more than you are authorized to do. Soldiers also asked him. And what should we do? Or by false accusations.
So I want to hold those together. Because I think they're kind of similar. He says. One of the ways that repentance shows up. One of the ways that faith shows up. And how we handle our money.
Is that we aren't doing things that are wrong. To get it. We should not be gaining money by sinful means. We shouldn't be greedy. We shouldn't be lying. We shouldn't be cheating.
Don't extort people. And I think in general we're like. Right. Yeah. Okay. Makes sense.
But I think one of the ways that we need to consider this. Is what are the things. In your industry. That are common practice. Because I think tax collectors would be able to say. Well that's just how collecting taxes work.
I collect the taxes I'm supposed to. But I also collect my own revenue. And I think the soldiers might go. Yeah but that's just how all soldiers. Make sure they can pay their bills. It's just normal.
And I know that every Job I've had. There were things. That to me seemed iffy. And everybody said. Oh no. That's just how it's done.
And I think that you ought to consider. Prayerfully. What are those things. I used to work in sales. I don't know if y'all know this about sales people. They lie to you.
If you meet a salesman. Who knows every answer to every question you've asked. It's likely that they are a liar. But you sell more stuff if you do that. He used to work in sales. And people ask you questions that you do not know the answer to.
Because the people whose product you're selling don't tell you that. Where is this steel manufactured? What's the horsepower on this Kenmore dryer? Was this Kenmore dryer made in Pennsylvania? I don't know. I work part time here.
But if you just say yes. Do you have family in Pennsylvania? Yeah. Well it's probably made right near where they live. Boom. Sold.
How are they going to look it up? If you don't know how to look it up. And you work here. What are the things? Does it have to do with how people clock in and clock out? Does it have to do with some sort of honesty thing?
Some sort of integrity thing? Is there something that everybody goes. Well that's just how real estate works. Oh that's just. Everybody knows that's how retail works. That's all the waiters and waitresses do that.
Everybody in finance does this. Because I think all soldiers did that. And all tax collectors did that. And John says if you're repentant you don't do that. And I think it's worth considering. Because I think a lot of it has snuck up on us.
You were trained to do it by the people who taught you how to do what you're doing. And you actually have to consider what are the things that are common practice that are normal that I actually can't participate in. But he says this to the. He adds a thing when he's talking to the. Soldiers. Verse 14.
Soldiers also asked them what shall we do? And he said to them do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusations. And be content with your wages. How much money do you make? Good. Be happy with that.
Are we all ready to go home and do that? Just how much money do you make? That's a good amount of money to make. Live off of that. Be content with it. Be thankful to the Lord for providing that amount of money to you.
Find a way to be generous inside of it. But. I think. We are trained in and all accept some level of perennial discontentment. I need. I need a little more.
Honestly. Most of us. And this was going to work better when I wasn't holding a microphone. I have to do it like this. Most of us make this amount of money. And if we're doing what we're supposed to.
As we're taught by. Everybody around us. We spend this amount of money. If you are currently spending this amount of money. We have a financial team that we'd like to let you talk with. They will help you with that.
But most of us. Make this much. Spend this much. We figure it out. You live here. Sometimes it's tight.
Sometimes it's harder. Sometimes there are things you go without. But you. In general. We live. Every once in a while.
You're in a spot where you can't. And inflation has been hurting us. And if that's for you right now. We also have. People in our care system. That will help you walk through that.
And we can actually help provide. And we ought to. As a church. It's not a bad thing to come and say. Hey I need some help right now. But in general.
Under normal circumstances. This amount. This amount. And what usually happens is. Over time. We start making this amount.
So we start spending this amount. Then we start making this amount. So we start spending this amount. And that's normal. And we're like. That's good.
That's how you're supposed to do it. He says. Be content with what you make. Not to say. I don't think this means. Christians shouldn't take promotions.
Or Christians should never swap jobs. But if that's all you're ever wanting to do. And if you're only content with a new promotion. For three months. Or five months. And then you got to get to the next one.
You got to get to the next one. And there's this general idea. That I'm supposed to just keep going. He says. Be content with your wages. Live inside your means.
And be fine with it. Now. What if. Because we're Christians. And we were making this amount. And we were spending this amount.
And we were living. What if. When we started making this amount. We just stayed here. Maybe moved up. But let me say.
I think it's okay to buy stuff. The Bible says you can't. It's not like you can't enjoy things. But what if. There was this gap. Where we were just freed up to be generous.
I think one of the questions. For us as we look at this. Is does all my income. Terminate on me. Does it all just come back here. Or did I set an amount of generosity.
A while back. And I just like. This is how much I'm going to give away. And that's just kept going. But my income has gone.
Way up. And my generosity level. Just kind of stayed the same. I hadn't. Taken advantage of the Lord. Giving me more.
So that I can give away more. It's just kind of. Been set. Does most everything just come back to me. Is it mostly just lifestyle upgrades. Every time the Lord blesses.
So I think we look at this. And we say. Okay. If my repentance is supposed to have receipts. If it. If belief is supposed to show up in my budget.
Then I think as Christians. We should sit down. And there's a couple of things. That should come out of this. I think we should review our budgets. I don't know when the last time you did that was.
I think you should look down. And try to actually figure out. How much money do I spend? What does that mean I really value? What does that mean I really love? I think we ought to.
Excitedly start making some decisions. And going. You know. Instead of getting in a $600 car payment. I'm going to get in a $300 car payment. Instead of getting in a $300 car payment.
I'm going to get in a. $200 car payment. Or I'm just going to keep the car I got. I'm going to pay to fix it. And then I'm going to use that gap. And I'm going to be a part of. Reaching people on the other side of the globe.
I'm going to get in. I'm going to take advantage of that gap. That I've created intentionally. And I'm going to help people sleep. Inside in downtown Columbia. Who this winter wouldn't have been able to.
I think we need to review our budgets. I think we need to revisit our closets. I think we need to just go in there and say. How many tunics. Is a reasonable amount of tunics. For me to own.
How much stuff should I really have in here. And resist the American urge. To when we've cleaned it out. Go. Ooh. Now I can put some more stuff in here.
But intentionally try to think through. What. What can I get rid of? What can I live on? How can I simplify some things? I think we need to consider.
How much money do I spend on entertainment? How much money do I spend. On extra things that I don't need. How much money was given away this past year. Versus how much money. Was just.
For me. To enjoy. So I think we should review our budgets. I think we should revisit our closets. I think you should ask. What are the common practices in my industry.
That I'm not allowed to participate in. That I ought not to. And I think we all need to check our contentment level. I think we need to take seriously. To be content with your wages. Take our heart before the Lord.
And go Lord. I make enough money to survive. Help me. With the fact that I don't feel like that's enough. Help me with the fact that I. I actually.
Inside of this should survive. And should give some things away. But I'm. I'm frustrated. All right.
Verse 15. As the people were in expectation. And were all questioning in their hearts. Concerning John. Whether he might be. The Christ.
John answered them all. Saying. I baptize you with water. But he who is mightier than I. Is coming. The strap of whose sandals.
I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. And fire. His winnowing fork. Is in his hand. To clear his threshing floor.
And to gather the wheat. Into his barn. But the chaff. He will burn. With unquenchable. Fire.
When he says. He'll baptize you with the Holy Spirit. And with fire. I think. As he describes that further. That he'll gather the wheat.
Into the barn. And he'll throw the chaff. Into unquenchable fire. I think we're meant to understand. That we will be baptized. Either with.
The Holy Spirit. Or. With fire. That the eternal reality. Is one of those. For everybody.
And so. For Christians. Who know Christ. Who have repented. Of our sins. Who have been forgiven.
And who are filled. With the Holy Spirit. How much more. Generous. Should we be. Than just the tax collector.
Who walked away that day. How much more generous. Do we get to be. Than just the soldier. How much more content. Do we get to be.
Than the person. Who at that moment. Did not yet have the spirit. Who was getting. Only the beginnings. Of this.
How much more. Do we get to say. Lord. Work in me. I think there's a danger. For us as a church.
Because we do this. Every year. For us to start. Developing a pattern. Of paying the Holy Spirit. Hush money.
Around Christmas. Well. How much do I have to give. To get the conviction. Off my back. So that I can go.
Right back. To forgetting about this. And operating. Like all my neighbors. And the truth is. We're missing out.
On bearing fruit. That lasts. And enjoying. The gracious. Generosity. Of our God.
And getting to participate. In what he's like. As he gives to others. Through us. And how much joy. Do we miss out on.
And he says. His winnowing fork. Is in his hand. To clear his threshing floor. And to gather the wheat. Into his barn.
But the chaff. He will burn. With unclenchable fire. I think you need to hear this. If you believe. You are a Christian.
And that has not. Touched your wallet. You might not be a Christian. If you believe. You are a Christian. And that does not show up.
In how you handle. Your finances. You have to believe. That the Holy Spirit. Is at work in you. Because you're a Christian.
But he has no desire. To work in that part. Of your life. But I don't think. You can back that up. From the scriptures.
And if you have. 15 reasons. Right now. Why you don't have to give. To anybody. Well I give of my time.
I give of my energy. You know. I did this thing last year. Or I do this. Or things are tight right now. The reality is.
That if you talk to anybody. In America. Most everybody says. Things are tight. Because of how we do our budgets. We keep it tight.
And if we've gotten in the habit. Of just figuring out. Right around now. How much do I have to give. So that I don't have to feel bad.
And so I can participate. In whatever the thing is. And it's cool. And I'm excited about it. But really.
I don't really. I wouldn't do this. If it weren't for this. And if we weren't really. And I think we need to consider. The work of the spirit.
In our lives. And consider whether or not. Our hearts have actually been. Surrendered to the Lord. Because I think that's what John's telling us. Verse 18.
I love this verse. Verse 18. Verse 18. So with many other exhortations. He preached the good news to the people. I love that.
Because as an American. I kind of am going. What was the good news? Because that all sounded really intense and rough. And then the Bible says. Isn't that good?
And it actually is. It's wonderful news. That there's a savior coming. Who forgives sinners. It's wonderful news. That there's a savior coming.
Who will bring justice on the wicked. And it's wonderful news. That rather than him. Just bringing justice on you. He offers you repentance. And forgiveness.
And it's wonderful news. That he is then willing to use us. To be his agents in the world. To see wonderful things. Continue to take place. That's good news.
That we have a savior. Who will redeem sinners. Rather than crush them. And we have a savior. Who will crush. Sinners.
So that ultimately. We either receive grace. Or we receive what we deserve. And that there's an offer. Of grace to us. And then we get to participate.
In something that is eternal. And glorious. And beautiful. And last. And we actually get to bear fruit. That lasts.
That's good news. Let's review our budgets. Let's revisit our closets. Let's consider the things. That take place in our industry. That we probably should not participate in.
And let's see if we can get our hearts. To rest in the Lord. So that we might be content. With what we have. And look like absolute freaks. In the United States.
To the glory of Christ. And his eternal kingdom. Let's pray. Lord. Lord. Lord.
We pray that your Holy Spirit. Would go to work in our hearts. That we would bear fruit. In keeping. With repentance. To the glory of your name.
And your son. May you be at work in us. In Jesus name. Amen. Band's going to come back up. And we're going to sing.
And by the band. I mean. Raz and Isaac. Thank you. I mean. карт x dev. Greaks, that's true.achi, of zach.
Hand neg, the church. And I love you. Before this, I love you. I love you. And I love you. Yes.
So I love you. I love you. Well, you've got to like, this is a little bit of an anchor. I love you. Great to share you. Real laughter What a new thing or up. generator.
I love you. Ruby. I love you. Good. It's a little bit of passion. It's a little bit of emotion.
It's a little bit. It's a little bit easier.
|giv| Week 1
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. Excited to be here with y'all this morning. We are in the first week of our Give Series. And every year, right after Thanksgiving, we pause in whatever we're normally doing and we begin our Give Series.
And we live in a place that is overwhelmed by consumerism. It's just that it's the air we breathe. So that as Christians and American Christians, it's possible for us to push back on some of the tides of our culture that are coming at us and things that we look and we say, no, scripturally, this is wrong. We can't participate in that. We can't live like that. And for us to completely miss consumerism.
For us to just walk along perfectly normal. Everything's fine with consumerism, but push back in other areas. And so we want to intentionally take this time every year to just say, hey, let's remember that we're eternal people and that our hope is not here. That the the American concept of I'll be more happy if I have more stuff is incorrect. Correct. And so let's pause and intentionally seek to be generous at this time.
Last year in our Give Series, we were able to give away twenty five thousand dollars. Yeah. And able to give away some man hours and some work to try to help at Bethel Christian Camp as they renovate as we help renovate space for a new family to move in as the director over there. And I'm excited to get to announce what our gift project is this morning. Later, turn to Matthew chapter 13. We're going to be looking at a very short parable in Matthew chapter 13 this morning.
On Christmas morning at my house, we have our bedrooms are on one side of the house and there's a hallway that leads to the main part of our house. And I build a barricade in the hallway and tell my sons on threat of death and the cancellation of Christmas that they are not allowed down the hall past the barricade. And this is done because I think it makes good sense. And also because my wife and her older brother every Christmas got up at three a.m., went and looked at everything they were getting. And then on Christmas morning, we're tired and unenthused. There's actually home videos of their parents looking at each other like the kids got a bicycle and they're looking at each other like, I don't know, I guess they don't care.
And it's because they they did care at three a.m. when you weren't there. And so we set this up and what I'll do is I'll get on the other side of it and I can see them and I can see into our living room area and I can and I'll stand and I'll go. Oh, oh, oh, oh, there's some stuff out here. Oh, it's going to be pretty good. I think, oh, I think we're going to have a good morning. I just try to play it up a little bit and make them wait a little bit and get them a little amped up.
And the passage we're going to read this morning, in some ways, I feel like Jesus is doing that, that he's standing in a position where he can see something we can't see. And he's trying to help us understand if you could see if you're in my vantage point and you can see what I can see. This is how you would live. This is how you would behave. This is how you would feel. And so Jesus, because he can see what we can't see, is trying to help us wrap our heads around something this morning.
So we're going to read just a very short parable to one verse. Matthew chapter 13, verse 44. The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Let's pray.
Lord, this parable is simple, but it's profound. And Lord, I ask that by the work of your spirit, you would help us to believe this this morning. That this would go beyond a truism that is in our mind, but it would become rock solid truth that is in our hearts and that guides the way we live. And work and labor and spend our time and our money. And we ask for your help and your grace in the name of Jesus this morning. Amen.
Let's read that again. The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. All right. So the first thing I think we need to answer.
Is what is the kingdom of heaven? Because he says the kingdom of heaven is like and he's going to tell us some aspect of the kingdom of heaven, but it would help us to have some understanding of the kingdom of heaven. And Jesus in Matthew has been talking about the kingdom of heaven nonstop. So I'm going to give you a quick definition and then we'll expand on it briefly. The kingdom of heaven is the effective rule and reign of Jesus. Or the kingdom of heaven is the applied rule and reign of Jesus.
So if you just think about heaven and your kind of concept from that, and hopefully it's got some biblical groundings, but if you think about heaven that you've got a good start. There's no sin. There's no pain. There's no death. There's no sorrow. There's joy and delight.
Love, pleasure, forgiveness, hope, love, relationship, grace. That it's the application of the work of the cross. It's all the good things that Jesus came to purchase on our behalf. So that when Jesus, we celebrate Christmas and we set up nativities and we see mangers. There's this picture of Jesus coming. He's God in the flesh coming to rescue us.
And what he did was he came to bring the kingdom. The first thing he preaches is repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. That God's kingdom is in breaking on the world. And so the kingdom of heaven is certainly our eternity. But it is also breaking in on us now.
And so what Jesus is saying is if you understand the kingdom, what I've come to accomplish, what my rule and reign is like, this is how you'll behave. Okay. So that's the kingdom. He says the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. I love the word treasure. Because it just, do you want treasure?
Yes. Like it just encapsulates. Like one of your goals forever has been to find some buried treasure. Or a map to buried treasure. Like ever since you watched the Goonies, you were like, this would be great. I want in on this.
I want some buried treasure. And you may be, as a child, were convinced that it was more likely to happen and that treasure was more likely to be found. But this is a thing, this idea that we want treasure. And that's what he's tapping into. He goes, you want treasure, right? And the answer is, yes, I'd love some treasure.
That sounds great. He says, well, that's what the kingdom of heaven is like. It's a treasure. So here's what he says. It's like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy, he goes and sells all that he has and he buys that field.
So there's this picture of this man. He's traveling through a field. It's not his field, but they didn't have the same kind of like trespass laws. He's allowed to walk through the field. He just can't be tearing things up or stealing things. He's walking through the field.
Maybe he's got a staff and he's walking and it's like sand noise, gravel noise, sand noise. He says, dunk, dunk. And he thinks, maybe this is treasure because that's what you think, right? If you find something buried, there's this moment. I don't care if it's in your backyard or whatever. There's this moment where you're like, treasure.
That's what he does. His little heart flutters. He lays the stick down. He starts digging. Wood. Wood.
It's a good sign. You know what you hide in wood? Treasure. He starts working his way around. He finds the edge of like a chest. What kind of chest?
Probably a treasure chest. He works his way around. He keeps digging. Now, at some point, he was like early, he was a little bit like he's, you know, trying to act a little nonchalant about it. As soon as he starts getting to the corner and this, I mean, this man's, he looks like a cartoon dog. Like he's digging.
He gets this, he finds it. It's the top of this thing. And now he's going to try to get to open. And it is a chest. And you know, his heart is beating because this is either the beginning of the rest of his life where he finds treasure or it's the beginning of law and order special victims unit. There's something, something's happening though.
You don't bury a box for no reason. Y'all, he opens it up. It's treasure. Gold. Gems. A lamp.
He rubs it. Nothing. Still expensive though. Treasure. And it apparently can kind of tell like this is some old treasure. They don't probably know this is here.
So what's he do? He stares at it. Is captivated by it. And then he slams it down, closes it up and buries it again. And like tries to Mark where it was, but also tries to, you know, he's like sprinkling like leaves and stuff on it or little bits of grass. Like nobody's been here.
Nobody dug. He goes over here and like scuffs up the ground. So it looks like this is just a thing people do around here. There's just spots like this, but he marks his spot and he hides it again. He leaves and we don't know. I don't know if he walked out and saw a for sale sign in front of it and was like, or if he just was like, I'm going to find out who owns it and I'm going to put an offer on this.
Just going to see if they'll take it. He has to try to maybe play it cool. Hey, I saw your trashy garbage field you had over there. And I'm assuming you're not doing anything with it or any crops over there. It doesn't seem like anything could grow. And I was thinking maybe I'd buy it from you to be nice to you.
And the person's like, I'll sell it. He sells all that he has. And how does he sell all that he has? In his joy. Now, if you knew him, he starts looking kind of crazy. He sells his house.
He sells everything in his house. He sells his little piece of property. He sells his new donkey he just got. He sells everything. Everything. Everything.
Like I almost picture this man barefoot walking over there with the stuff that he's going to buy this with. He sells everything. And if you knew him, you'd be going, what are you doing? He's like, I'm buying that field. That field? In this market?
You know why that's been sitting there, right? That field? But he knows something that they don't know. He knows that that field is worth everything. Because there's something there that they don't know about. And so in his joy, whistling, skipping, he goes down and he buys that field.
And Jesus says, if you knew what the kingdom was like, that's what you look like. If you could imagine what the kingdom is like, well, that's what you'd look like. Because the kingdom is worth everything. certainly this is salvation. Certainly it means that anything that would stand in the way of you surrendering your life to Jesus, get rid of it. This is not a call to earn your salvation. It's not at all.
And we understand that because Jesus came to earn our salvation through his death. But it is a call to value what Jesus has accomplished as the ultimate treasure. and to live our lives in such a way that the kingdom is advanced. That more people come to know Jesus. From the moment that man dug that treasure up and buried that treasure again, do you know what he thought about? That treasure. That was it.
He didn't go to work. He did not show back up and do his normal duties. Why would he? He has a treasure. What he did was he leveraged everything he possibly had towards that end goal. It captured his heart.
It captured his imagination. And the truth is everybody in this room has something that's captured captured our imagination. It's captured our heart. You have something this year that you daydreamed about that you look forward to. You have something that drove you forward to work, to labor. I don't know what it was.
I don't know if you dreamed about romance this year and you just kept thinking if I could just get this to work out, if I could just get in this type of relationship, if I could just have this happen for me, then I'd be okay. I'd feel good. I don't know what you treasured this year. I don't know if it was a promotion or just the idea of progressing in life. Just so y'all know, that's something that America has sold us and we have bought it wholesale. If you've ever said the phrase, I should be farther along by now and you are not talking about following Jesus, that's something America has sold you on.
I should have a little bit more money. I've been in this house for a while. I'd probably be in a bigger house by now. I've had this car for a while. I should probably have a new car by now. I should probably have learned how to make my clothes match by now.
Like, I should have just done some things by now. Should have just moved forward a little bit in life. I don't know. I don't know what you dreamed about, what you longed for. Some of you work really, really hard, but it's just because you love resting. I'm going to work so hard, I'll never have to work again.
I'm going to take so many naps. I don't know. But what Jesus says is, as he stands with a vantage point we don't have, he says, oh, if you knew what the kingdom was like, it'd be hard to think about anything else. If you knew what the kingdom was like, you'd give everything for it. And it's such a simple picture. If you thought, what would I do this week if I found out there was treasure buried in my backyard, but it was 20 feet deep?
Tell you, I'd figure out how to dig a 20-foot hole. Coming to work? I'm at work. There's treasure here. And no, not the job you're talking about. Like, that's how we would be.
Like, that's the concept he's getting after and he's saying, no, no, no. And I know I'm not supposed to say that because I'm a preacher and I'm supposed to treasure this more, but I'm just telling you, like, that's how it works with our hearts that we would want to find that. And that's what he's saying. That if you really knew what this was, you would give everything for it. You ever seen the show Storage Wars? Yeah, no battle in it whatsoever, just for the record.
It's people who bid on storage units, which is, again, a nice little American hallmark of consumerism. We don't have enough room in our homes to hold all our stuff. So we buy, we rent closets from people so that we can put our stuff in there and visit it from time to time. And it's a good industry. It's booming. But people periodically don't go back for whatever reason to get their stuff.
And after a while, they haven't paid for their units. It's forfeited over to the storage unit people and they have a TV show where they auction off storage units. Now, in the show, you're not allowed to walk into the storage unit. They just roll it up. It's an invisible barrier that you're not allowed to pass, but you can peek in there. And they can try to guess what's in there.
Is that the kind of stuff I'd like to sell? Is there going to be any? And these people are modern day little treasure hunters hoping that there's something in that box that's worth something. And the reason the show is fun is because we like treasure hunting and we're hoping that they bought either something amazing or nothing at all. That's the point of the show. I want you to open a box full of shredded paper or a Fabergé egg.
That's why I'm watching. But they're peeking in and they're trying to decide is this worth buying? And they put a valuation in their head and then they put where I'm willing to bid and then they auction it off. Now, the show would be ruined if they all got to show up with appraisers, walk into the storage unit and appraise everything. I think the whole process would be ruined, not just the TV show. This wouldn't work anymore.
But let's say you and I go on the show and we decide to cheat because we're like that. And we smuggle an appraiser in the night before, you know, like Ocean's 11 style, but it's like Ocean's 3 because we didn't have that many people. And we sneak them in, our appraiser appraises it and then hides in their forest and then we just peek in and they're just going to give us a little signal to let us know how much to bid. And let's say, no matter what the auctioneer's doing, our appraiser just keeps going. It's worth it. Can I get 200?
Yep. That's why you got to make noises. You can't just, you got to say, oh yeah, like that. I'll do that part because it's the funnest part. But they keep doing it and every time we look, he's saying up.
And y'all, that's what Jesus does with the kingdom. If you looked at him and said, is it worth this? He goes, more than that. If you looked at him and said, let me ask you a question, Lord. Is the kingdom worth instead of me treating my home like a retreat from the world, figuring out how to get to know my neighbors, even though I hate that? More than that.
Absolutely. Is the kingdom worth me showing up to work earlier or staying later so that I can get to know my coworkers? Is it worth me actually eating lunch in the break room instead of in my car listening to true crime broadcast? More than that. Is it worth me setting aside money every month and trying to work to increase that every year so that more and more of my money goes away to bless the poor and to work towards kingdom causes and to support missionaries and churches and wherever I see you at work? Is it worth that?
Yeah. More than that. Lord, if you call me to serve you and I've got to go overseas and I might not ever be able to get married, I might not ever get to live out what I thought my life was going to be, is it actually worth that? More than that. Lord, what if I have to give up on my career? What if I end up not really looking like a success?
What if I give away so much money or so much of my time that we live in a smaller house in a smaller place if I don't get to keep up with my peers? Is it worth that? More than that. Jesus is saying if you could see the kingdom it's worth everything and you'd give up everything for it. And so the two questions that I think are helpful for us to consider after we've thought through what has captured my imagination? What's captured my heart?
What am I actually pursuing? The two questions I think we need to ask is what stands in the way of me pursuing the kingdom? What stands in the way? I've had people before tell me I'll follow Jesus but I'm not going to give blank up and they'll pick a sin. I'm not going to give that up. I've just said well you're not going to follow Jesus.
This is not how it works. He's the king. You are not. The kingdom is his kingdom. You don't walk in and dictate the rules. What stands in your way?
Because if there's something that stands in the way of you following Jesus it's not worth it. Second question is what do I have that I can leverage for the kingdom? Because maybe you have relationships. Maybe you have some social capital. Maybe you live in a neighborhood and nobody knows Jesus. Instead of moving out of that neighborhood you just need to use your home as a beacon for the gospel.
There are some people who are medical doctors that need to not make a bunch of money in the U.S. and go overseas to be missionaries as Jesus commands. And there are some people who are medical doctors who need to be godly, Christian, humble, generous medical doctors here. Who love and serve and know their coworkers. Who share the gospel with them. Who share the gospel with those who are hurting and dying here. And who give away their money generously for the sake of the other people who need to go.
So what's in the way and what do I have that I can leverage for the sake of the kingdom? And y'all there's no blanket answer to that. That's submitted to Jesus. But you go to him and you say I value you above everything else. I value the kingdom above everything else. What do you want?
I had a pastor one time said that it's like you took a piece of paper that was a contract and you signed your name at the bottom of a blank sheet of paper and you slide it across the table. To Jesus and you say fill in the terms. My name's on it. I trust you. Fill in the terms. I want to read a quote.
It's one of my favorite quotes. If you've been around a while you've probably heard me read this before. If you stay around for the next five years you'll hear it again. This is a there was a missionary named John G. Patton who accepted the call to do mission work in the New Hebrides Islands. This was right around 1900s right before and there were some missionaries that had been sent to the New Hebrides that had gotten out of the boat were immediately murdered and eaten by cannibals within minutes of showing up.
And this was well known that the first missionary expedition to this set of islands had gone very poorly. There were some other islands around where things had been working and John G. Patton felt called and said I'm going to this island. And when he was talking it through some of the leadership in his church there was a man named Mr. Dixon who was an older gentleman in the church and one of the leaders in the church and he just at some point as they were talking it through he got overwhelmed and he just said the cannibals you're going to be eaten by cannibals. It was like he couldn't get through to John G.
Patton like this is what's going to happen to you. You're going to be eaten by cannibals. Like this is not safe. You cannot devote your life to this. This will just go poorly. You are going to be eaten by cannibals.
And we have John's response in a letter that he eventually wrote to Mr. Dixon. And I'll read this quote from his letter. He said Mr. Dixon you are advanced in years now and your own prospect is soon to be laid in the grave there to be eaten by worms. I confess to you that if I can but live and die serving and honoring the Lord Jesus it will make no difference to me whether I'm eaten by cannibals or by worms.
And in the great day my resurrection body will rise as fair as yours in the likeness of our risen Redeemer. I love that because I think John Patton understood what Jesus was saying in Matthew chapter 13 verse 44. it's worth everything. There's the kingdom is a treasure to be valued above everything and if I can but live and die honoring and serving Jesus what else is there? If you don't know Jesus then whatever stands in the way of that you need to get rid of it because his kingdom is wonderful and glorious and his forgiveness and salvation are graciously freely offered to you and if you know Jesus you will spend eternity loved welcomed cared for in a place where there is no sin and there is no pain and there is no discomfort and there is no relational strife we have a treasure and it's the kingdom and we're to live now leveraging everything for it earlier this year we stood up and we said that we thought we had rightly as a church we had rightly identified and understood the idea that we're missionaries wherever we are that if the Lord has placed you somewhere he's placed you there with intent and that you should not think that missionaries are only people who go overseas but they're there that you are to be a missionary in your neighborhood in your job and we're we're fine with that we believe that's true and we've said that over and over and over and over again but what we said earlier this year was that we had not done a good enough Job of helping our church understand that some of us are meant to be missionaries somewhere else that some of us are meant to surrender as John G.
And over and over again but what we said earlier this year was that we had not done a good enough Job of helping our church understand that some of us are meant to be missionaries somewhere else that some of us are meant to surrender as John G. Patton surrendered and go and that right now we live in a world where there are more unreached people groups more lost people than ever before and we showed you this map and we said that that red
Is bad that the green areas are reached areas the yellow areas are kind of in the middle and that the red is unreached areas and the reason the red is red is because it's hard to get there it's hostile to the gospel but that we're supposed to go because we have an eternal treasure that cannot be taken from us there was a young lady in our church Jamie Kern who began doing an internship with us this summer trying to discern
The call to mission work what we had said was that we were uniquely positioned as a church to try to get to that red area to that 1040 window to that section of the world that is hard to get to because there are three mission organizations that office in our building and so we said God by his grace has given us an on ramp to that area and that we need to take it
And there was a young lady who did a joint internship with our church in 1040 Hope during the summer and then she left and went to Lebanon for three months to prayerfully discern the call to missions she's been in Lebanon for three months and Lebanon is a more advanced country over there but is in turmoil right now their financial system has fallen apart American money
US dollars still do okay over there but everything else is millions of dollars to buy bread like it's there's rolling blackouts it's in a very bad state she went and spent three months there crimes on the rise it's a difficult place to be right now she went and spent three months over there prayerfully discerning am I supposed to be here learning Kurdish because she's been serving with a Kurdish church Kurdish speaking church in Lebanon
And the Kurdish people are an unreached people group that means there's almost none no no gospel witness among those people at all and so she's trying to learn Kurdish so that she can help this church that's trying to plant among the Kurdish people that church is a few years old it has like 150 people 100 of them have been baptized in the Kurdish that are Kurdish
People's placing faith in Jesus and Jamie Kern has committed felt called by the Lord and committed to stay in Lebanon at least for a year holding open handed to the Lord as what he has next and she's sorted through some of this we've had conversations through some
Of this I think I'm having to give this up I think I'm having to give this up and she keeps circling back around to I think it's worth it and so what she'll be doing for the next year in Lebanon is she'll be working with and for 1040 Hope continuing to learn Kurdish which by the
Way her Kurdish teacher is a Muslim and she's been able to build a great relationship with this lady and her family and be praying for that that she would have an opportunity as she learns Kurdish to share the gospel with this lady but she's going to continue to serve this Kurdish
Church and she's going to be a liaison for 1040 Hope to do in the field coordinator for internships and for missions teams so that when internships go and missions go and
Mission teams go that she's going to help them get on the ground figure out where they are get to the right place and
Help them overseas so she's going to serve the Kurdish church while she's there and internships because she said that she was praying through Lord what do
You want she just got stuck on the passage where it says the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few she said okay
Lord if I can be here and help get more laborers here that's what I want to do so our gift project this year
Is two fold the first thing we want to do is raise $15,000 right now for a vehicle we've been renting vehicles for her right
Now while she's been there originally we weren't but the state of Lebanon has gotten worse and worse and there have been more abductions
For people who are using Ubers and ride shares there have been more crime and stuff for people who are walking on the street
There's been some hairy situations when she's on the street for 1040 hope that she will be able to drive and that car will
Look something like this that's a car for sale in Lebanon right now I've been told to not guarantee you that we will buy
That car because we gotta get the money first and get it to Lebanon and buy a car and that might not still be
In that parking lot ready to sell but if you google it is about $15,000 to buy a vehicle in American dollars and so
We are trying to raise that amount of money to buy that car right now and this is for a couple of purposes it's
One so that she has safe transportation all the time it's also so that when interns go and missions teams go they have automatic
Transportation that's why we're buying something bigger than what she needs so that she can help get people around and use her car for
Some ministry while she's there and then it also helps the 1040 hope team because if after a year the Lord leads for her
To come back or to go somewhere else they still have a vehicle there that they can continue to use for the same purpose
And so that's our first thing that we want to do missionary in the Kurdish church and so among this unreached people group there's
A southern baptist pastor with them and she's able to serve them as well through 1040 hope so we're excited to be able to help
Her do this the second thing we want to do is fund her mission work for a year which is $29,225 that is for housing
All the necessities that she will need that's her salary she will have some basically like get out of the country money that's sitting there ready for
Her to go if she needs to be able to leave quickly so that's already built into how they fund and that's her insurance
That will be given in pledges so that we will commit to build it into your budget to raise support for one year for
Her to do the work that she's going to be doing that's our hope is that we will give $15,000 right now and $29,000
For one year of missionary support and that's a lot but we're trying as we follow Jesus to submit our lives to him whatever he
Asks and we're trying to intentionally in this moment take our wallets press on our heart a little bit and remind ourselves that our
Treasure is not here but that we have an eternal hope and an eternal home and it's worth everything and we're just trying to
Collectively as a church say we believe you we believe Jesus when he says that so let's follow him and we're excited to get the
Opportunity to do it and we'll celebrate however the Lord leads for us to be generous in this season let's pray Lord thank you
Thank you for the hope of salvation that we have we thank you Lord that your kingdom is truly valuable and that you came
To rescue and to redeem and to purchase us out of our sin and Lord we ask that we would live with eternity set
In our hearts so that our normal life would look crazy to the people who don't know the treasure but that it would make
Perfect sense to everybody who knows what your kingdom is like may we be a church that values you above everything else and in
Our joy gives up everything we can for your kingdom in Jesus name amen band is going to come back up we're going to
Sing and in a moment Spencer will give a few more specific instructions on how we get to participate in our gift project this year
But I'm excited for us to get to step out in faith in this way
The Red Sea (Exodus 13-14)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Good morning. My name is Spencer. I'm one of the pastors here. We're going to be in Exodus 13, 17, all the way to the end of chapter 14. I've had multiple people this morning ask me, are you going to work in the Gamecocks into your sermon? I will not pigeonhole it into the sermon.
I will say His mercy is more because I really thought that it was going to be really bad the rest of the season, but they gave us just enough hope to be crushed on Saturday. So, we're going to be closing up Exodus for the fall. We're kind of at the first, the conclusion of the first major part of Exodus. If you're going to film Exodus, you probably do it in two different movies. This is the end of the first movie right here. So, over the last month, we have watched as God has broken the Egyptians.
He has broken them. And we watched this. It's nine signs and wonders, nine plagues fell upon the Egyptians and the enslavers who oppressed the people of God for centuries. And then finally, the last couple of weeks, we spent two weeks in the Passover, looking at the story of Passover and the significance of Passover and how God finally brought Egypt to a total military defeat. And now, the Israelites are free. They're free.
They walk out of Egypt, not just with freedom, but they walk out with riches. God loots the enemy of the Egyptians. They walk out with gold and with jewels and they freely leave the land. So, we're at the end of this. And at the end of this part of Exodus, it kind of finishes like some movies do with the good guys and the bad guys. Every now and then, you'll see a movie where the good guys, they win.
Like, the bad guy loses. And all of a sudden, you think it's about to wrap up. But then, in a last-ditch effort, the bad guy changes his mind. And he says, I want him back. And then he comes, and then the good guy takes him and drowns him and kills him. Now, I haven't seen that movie, but that's what happens here.
Is that Pharaoh, his heart is hardened. He changes his mind. And he says, I want him back. And spoiler alert, it ends poorly for the Egyptians and for Pharaoh. So, we're going to witness this today. This is one of the most miraculous events of the Old Testament.
We're going to look at the Red Sea crossing. We're going to look at this. And I just want one overarching truth to sink into our souls as we finish out Exodus for the fall. And that is this. That our God is a God who completely destroys evil. And that is wonderful.
Our God is a God who completely and utterly decimates and destroys the power of evil. And that is wonderful news for the people of God. So, we're going to see that. And then we're just going to respond. So, let me pray for us. And then we'll jump in together.
Heavenly Father, I pray that you would open our hearts to receive your word this morning. That as we close up this part of Exodus, that we would just be able to worship. We're able to see how good you are. How powerful you are. How mighty you are. And we respond in faith and repentance and in worship and delight.
Because you are worthy. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright, we're going to pick up a verse 17. So, some people will go when they encounter Exodus. Why didn't the people of God just leave Egypt and go straight to Israel?
So, this is modern day Egypt and Israel. Why didn't they just go straight there? So, if you go to the next slide. They were in Goshen. Just over here to the left. There should be a little dot that shows up.
There we go. My beautiful graphics. They were in Goshen enslaved for centuries. And they're going to the promised land. Which is up there. Okay?
So, a straight line should just go on up there. But that's not where they go. They actually wander south. And they spend a lot of time here. And some folks will go, why didn't they just go from point A to point B? And it's right here in the text.
It says, if they came by way of the Philistines, they have to go up through the land of the Philistines to get to Israel. If they went there, they would have to encounter war. And it says, lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt. That part of what's happening here is that they're not ready to settle in the promised land. God has fought on behalf of His people. Over and over again, we saw that.
God was the one who was working. He's fought on behalf of His people. He has not fought through His people. He's not worked through His people yet. And God loves to work through His people. And the Israelites aren't ready for that yet.
They don't have the faith for that yet. So, they're not ready to settle the promised land. So, they go a little further south. Verse 18. But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea.
All right. So, let me orient ourselves a little bit again. Throw that map back out there. They, so the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba make up the Red Sea right below it. They are down in this area. We don't know where in this area they were.
Okay? We don't know, as we're going to see a crossing here in the moment of the Red Sea, we don't know where that is. There are a lot of Bible nerds that get really, really excited about this and will debate where the crossing was, debate where they want. We really just don't know. This is an ancient map with places that we don't know where they are anymore. We don't know.
But it's somewhere in this general area that they are being led to. So, but the people of God, verse 18, but the people of, but God led the people, verse 18, around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle. Verse 19. So that phrase right there is directly out of Genesis.
Out of Genesis 50. Joseph made the people of God promise. Centuries before this. He said, you're going to be here for a while, but when do you leave, you are taking my bones with you. I will be buried in the promised land. And this is being fulfilled.
The bones of Joseph being brought back to the promised land. Verse 20. And they moved on from Succoth and encamped at Etham on the edge of the wilderness. And the Lord went before them by day and a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way. And by night and a pillar of fire to give them light that they might travel by day and by night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.
So they're wandering in a place they have never been to before. They've been slaves in Egypt for centuries. They've never been in this area before. And God is leading them. The picture we get is a cloud by day and a fire by night so they can travel both day and both night. And the cloud, we don't know what that looked like.
A good guess would be that it was probably more of a smoke cloud because God is revealing himself by fire here. So a cloud by day, a fire by night. God reveals himself multiple times in Exodus in fire. We have the calling at Mount Horeb is through the burning bush. We have being led by the cloud and the fire here. Later on we're going to see the fire at Mount Sinai.
We're going to see the fire at the tabernacle. But he's leading them with this cloud and the day and this fire by night. And I just appreciate the picture of this. The fact that the people here are wandering in a place that they're not used to. And that right there in and of itself is disorienting. Like I've been in a foreign country where you're wandering through a place and you don't know the lay of the land at all.
You don't know the language and you get lost. It's disorienting. It's scary. I've also had someone who knew the language, who knew all the street corners that I did not know, and took us and led us to where we needed to be. And we looked at that person as our guide, as our hope to get us out of being lost, out of being disoriented and scared into where we need to be. That's what's happening here.
God is their shepherd. He is leading them through places they have never been to before. The picture here of God's shepherding, His care for the people, and leading them by day and by night through uncertain places is beautiful. It's a wonderful picture of our God leading us. And some of you may go, I mean, it's great that the Israelites had that. It's great the Israelites had a clear cloud that would lead them by day and a fire that would lead them by night.
But I'm just wandering right now in the wilderness. I just feel like I'm in the desert, that life is very hard. I don't have a lot of direction right now. I wish that God would give me something like that, that clearly would show me where I need to go. And I just want to say very clearly to you this morning, He gives us something so much better. That if you're in Christ, if you believe in Him, if you're a follower of Jesus, you have the Holy Spirit that lives inside of you.
You don't have God leading you in a cloud by day and a fire by night. You have God within you. You don't just have the living God within you. You have the gift of His Word. The Word of God that leads us, that guides us, that reminds us of who He is. We don't just have the Word of God.
We have prayer. We have access to God where we can call out to Him in the midst of uncertainty, call out to Him in the midst of wandering. We have His Word and He has spoken. We have prayer. We have access to call out to Him. And then we also have the people of God.
We have the church whom God dwells in and the seasons of life that are difficult and the wandering that you may be in. You're not alone. You have other brothers and sisters who can point you to what is true, who can pray with you, who can open up the Word with you. We are not alone. We spent a whole sermon on that subject right there, talking about the cloud and the pillar of fire and how God leads us and guides us. But if we stopped at every place in Exodus that we wanted to preach a sermon, we'd be here for like two years.
And I've heard that that's frowned upon. We're in Matthew for like a year and a half, like Genesis for like a year and a half, and people are like, can we just finish? So we've got to keep moving. Then we're on to chapter 14, verse 1. Then the Lord said to Moses, Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pahiroth, between Migdal and the sea, in front of Belsiphon.
You shall encamp facing it by the sea. Okay, let me pause there for a moment. So, again, we don't know where Pahiroth and Belsiphon, we don't know where any of that is. Okay? We know it's next to the Red Sea, one of these bodies of water. And then he tells them to encamp there and wait.
And we're going to see why he does that. Pick up in verse 3. For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, this is God talking to Moses, They are wandering in the land. The wilderness has shut them in. And I will harden Pharaoh's heart. And he will pursue them.
And I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his hosts. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord. And they did so. So, God tells them to encamp in this area by the sea for a reason. He's not done with Pharaoh. He's not done with Pharaoh and this evil regime that has ruled over the people of God for centuries.
He's not finished with them yet. And he's going to use the people of God as bait. And he's going to lure Pharaoh in to destruction. So, he says, you stay right there. So, then we get verse 5 over to Pharaoh. When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people.
And they said, What is this that we have done? That we have let Israel go from serving us? So, he made ready his chariot and took his army with him and took 600 chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. So, Pharaoh goes, No, I'm going to get them back. And you see a word that is repeated there multiple times. Chariots.
Chariots. Chariots. It's repeated actually seven times in this chapter. And that's supposed to stick out for two main reasons. First, having chariots makes you superior militarily. If you have chariots in this era of warfare, you have the unbelievable tactical advantage.
A couple of weeks ago, I had the flu, which, if you're thinking of holiday plans, I don't recommend it. It was terrible. But I had the flu and I was in bed. So, I'm going to watch something. So, I wanted something that was kind of encouraging. It picked me up.
So, I saw on Netflix, All is Quiet on the Western Front. And I hadn't read the book. I didn't know. I knew it was a war movie. I knew it was going to be super exciting. But I didn't know it was going to be two and a half hours of having just the horrors of war just pounded into your face.
I didn't know that. But it's World War I. And it's the horrors of World War I. And there's this scene where they're in trench warfare. And these guys are getting ready to hop the trench and storm the enemy. And then they do it.
And they storm into the fog, into the mist. And all of a sudden, they hear the machinery. And then what appears in the mist are armored tanks. And this is World War I. This is when tanks were introduced. And these guys had never seen tanks before.
And they have bayonets and a rifle. And there's a tank that is armored with machine guns and missile fire. How do you think that went? They were destroyed. That's what's happening here. Chariots, tanks, the people of God, a bunch of refugees, men, women, children.
This is supposed to convey, by human odds alone, they don't have a shot. They're about to get destroyed. But the second thing that's being emphasized here is that you have man's power and the mighty chariots versus the power of God. And that's what's being pitted against one another. It's the power of chariots versus the power of God. And this theme is going to be pulled throughout the rest of the Old Testament.
When you get to the book of Deuteronomy in chapter 20, when Moses is handing down the law, he says, when you go out to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army larger than your own, you shall not be afraid of them. For the Lord your God is with you who brought you out of the land of Egypt. He's referencing what is about to happen. You may see chariots. You may see all kinds of mighty military men, but they're just men. And I am the living God.
Do not be afraid. I am with you. This is why one of my favorite Psalms, Psalm 20, verse 7, says some trust in chariots and some in horses but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. It is a picture of trusting in your own strength. Trusting in everything that you bring to the table. Don't do it.
Trust in the name and the power of God. God is mightier than any enemy that you might face. You trust in His name because He is good and He is powerful. So when you hear chariots over and over again, that's what's being shown here. The power and the prestige of Pharaoh and his mighty army pales in comparison to the power of God. So, verse 8, And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while the people of Israel were going out defiantly.
Just pause there for a moment. They left Egypt and it says they left defiantly. I picture that as they left confidently. Confidently defying the enemy that God just defeated with a little bit of a swagger, a little bit of a step. And as we're looking at it this week, Chet, he had a different picture. He pictures actually that they, this is an emphasis on they walked out not just with confidence but with all of the gold and the jewels on them.
Like he pictures this more like a hip-hop video. Like they, they roll out, decked out, iced out, like they, and almost even still, like they're in the wilderness and they didn't put those jewels away. They are still defiantly, confidently, rocking with those jewels, rocking with that gold. Like even now, like a precedent, it's even now, like they're descending upon you. And they're little kids just with all kinds of gold and stuff. Yep.
It's like, alright, listen, you can choose your own adventure here. It's not going to violate the word of God. How do you ever want to picture this? You just got to understand, they left confidently or still confidently with jewels. But, that's important as we're going to see in a moment. It says, the Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh's horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army and overtook them in camp at the sea by Pihihirith in front of Bel-Siphon.
So again, they are pitted, they're pinned between the Red Sea and the army that's getting ready to descend upon them. verse 10, when Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them and they feared greatly. They feared greatly and the people of Israel cried out to the Lord. They walked out of Egypt defiantly, confidently, with a swagger and the moment they see Pharaoh again, the moment they see his chariots and his army, they feared greatly. They have been conditioned to fear this enemy for centuries. They've been conditioned to fear the people that enslaved them for centuries that the very moment that they show up, they melt. and they melt so much so that it says in verse 11, they said to Moses, is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness?
What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is not this where we said to you and is this, is this not what we said to you in Egypt? Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness. What an about face. I mean, they left confidently.
They left defiantly. And the moment they see Pharaoh, the moment they see the Egyptians. Why did you bring us out here to die, Moses? We could have just been slaves in Egypt. At least we'd still be alive. But now we're going to die.
Thanks a lot, Moses. And I love how Moses responds. Verse 13, And Moses said to the people, Fear not. Stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord which He will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you and you have only to be silent.
Listen, I love the development of Moses. I mean, think back to how we were introduced to Him. Think back to He kills the Egyptians and He fears the Egyptians and He flees for His life. Think of Him being called at Mount Horeb and how self-doubting He was. I've got a speech problem. I don't know if I can do this, Lord.
Lord, Lord, fear not. Now the nation turns on Him in a moment and says, why did you bring us out here to die? And He just says, fear not. It just goes to show that God chooses the lowly and the weak to bring about His purposes. And I just, I so appreciate that about the Scriptures. Moses is not powerful in himself, but through the Lord He says, fear not.
That's a command. Don't be scared. Don't be scared of this enemy. Fear not. Stand firm. Straighten up.
Don't melt in fear before this enemy. No, stand firm. And you're going to see the salvation of the Lord. You're going to see what God's going to do because He's going to destroy the Egyptians and you're never going to see them again. You just need to sit there, watch, and shut up. That's what He says.
Because the Lord's about to work. Verse 15, the Lord speaks to Moses. He says, the Lord said to Moses, why do you cry out to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. Lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. The people of Israel may go through the sea on dry land and I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians that they shall go in after them and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his hosts, his chariots, and his horsemen.
And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen. So backed up against the sea, He says, turn around. You're going through. You're going to stretch out your staff. You're going to divide the waters. Y'all are going to go through on dry ground to the other side and then I'm going to kill every last one of the Egyptians. that's what the Lord just declared to Moses.
And the Egyptians will know the glory of God and His power and how much greater it is than anything they bring to the table. And it says in verse 19, the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness and it lit up the night without one coming near the other at all. So God Acts in buying the Israelites time. The pillar of cloud and fire creates a barrier, creates a firewall, which I don't think that's where that term comes from, but it's computer nerds.
It's a good picture of it. Then it creates a barrier and it buys them time to be able to walk through this Red Sea divine. In verse 21 it says, And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land and the waters were divided. You just got to sit in that miraculous event and picture it. Like imagine if you're standing on the dam at Lake Murray and then all of a sudden Lake Murray completely divides into two walls of water from the dam all the way to Saluda, which is long. And these two walls of water divide and it's not just that they divide, that the ground is dry.
Like I was, we were working on this this week and Isaac, who was leading worship here, he grew up on a camp at Bethel and they would drain the pond every once in a while and one time they tried to cross that pond after they drained it and they didn't get very far. This is because it's mud. It got waist deep and it was done. That's how miraculous this is that God with an east wind drives out every bit of moisture from the ground and moves it to the side so that they can walk through and dry ground to the other side. That's the power of God being displayed before the so-called power of the Egyptians.
So he divides it. Verse 22. And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. I mean, just picture that. Like, it's nighttime. You are, it's a step of faith here, taking steps, with your wife, with your children, with your donkeys.
You're looking up and you see maybe the night sky just barely coming through and every step you just see these walls of water to your right and to your left. And the nation of Israel begins to cross to the other side. Verse 23. The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea. all fear his horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. So this pillar of fire, God moves it and lures them in.
They move in with their strength, with their power, and then all of a sudden, verse 24, and in the morning, watch the Lord and the pillar of fire and of God looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic, clogging their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. So they're in this Red Sea divine and all of a sudden, God stirs them into chaos. And they start getting their wheels and their chariots clogged. We don't know if the water is starting to come back underneath or what, but they are getting stuck. And then all of a sudden, they know they messed up. And the Egyptians said, let us flee from before Israel for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians.
They understand what has happened. They have followed Pharaoh, their king, their false God into the Red Sea divine. And they know who they are fighting against. They are fighting against the Almighty God. And this is not going to work out for them. They are panicked.
They are fearful. And they're about to be destroyed. Verse 26, it says, Then the Lord said to Moses, Stretch out your hand over the sea, for the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen. So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal, course, when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the Lord threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen of all the hosts of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea.
Not one of them remained. So morning dawns, and the people of God are safely on the other side, and Moses puts his hand down, and the waters come crashing down on their enemies. And we know from Psalm 136, this is every single one, including Pharaoh. All of them have been killed. God completely destroys evil. And it says, But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right, and their left.
Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord. And they believed in the Lord and His servant Moses. So when the waters settle, they are completely, finally, utterly free. The very people that they've been scared of for centuries are done. Bottom of the ocean, bottom of the sea, floating on the seashore.
Their completely, the evidence is there. They can look back and see that evil has completely and utterly been defeated. Can you imagine how joyous that would have felt? How freeing that would have felt to finally look at the people who have caused so much pain and so much hurt for so long, and they're done. And you are completely free. our God completely destroys the work of evil. And that is wonderful.
Our God completely and utterly destroys the work of evil. He breaks the teeth of the wicked. He destroys its power over the grip of His people. And that is wonderful. And the picture of how this finishes is is they fear the Lord. Just a moment ago they were fearing the Egyptians.
And no, they fear God. And they trust God. And they worship. It is a powerful picture. This Exodus is a powerful story. And like so many parts of Exodus, it's not just about the redemption of the Israelites.
Exodus. Exodus is a story that points forward to the Exodus that we receive. It points forward to the redemption that we receive. That if you are a Christian, you walk the same Red Sea road. That's the truth of the Gospel. That if you are in Christ, the Red Sea event is your story.
That everyone in this world comes into this world a slave to sin. Slave to our desires. Under the power of the prince of this world, the enemy of this world. That's how we come into this. That's how we are outside of Christ. And then we approach the shoreline.
We approach the shoreline and God calls us into faith with Him. He does the work and He calls us into faith with Him. And don't miss this. The Israelites, they had to take, this was faith. Hebrews 11.29, looking back in this, says, By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry ground, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. He calls us to the shoreline and He does the work and He calls us to take a step of faith.
And then when you take the Red Sea road and you begin to finally trust God with your life, what you experience is the work of Christ. That when you step up the shoreline, what is offered to you is Christ crucified on the cross. Christ crucified for our sins, our sins placed on Him. And when you get to the other side of the shoreline, what you look back is you see the evidence of what the work of Christ does for us. Micah 7.19 says, He will again have compassion on us. He will tread our iniquities underfoot.
You will cast our seas into the depths of the sea. He takes all of our sin and casts it into the sea. That all of our sin was placed on Jesus. that He completely does the work for us on the cross. And by faith we trust His work with our lives. And when you come through the other side, if you're in Christ, you get to look back at it. And you get to see what happened to sin.
That the power of sin, the power of evil is completely destroyed. destroyed. If you're in Christ, if you believe in Jesus, if you trusted your life to Him, you can look back at all of it and see that it doesn't have the same power that it did anymore. That all of my sin was cast into the sea. All of my sin was put on Jesus at the cross. And I get to worship Him. I get to delight in Him because of what He has done for me.
That death doesn't have that grip on us anymore. That sin doesn't have that grip on us anymore. That's the point of Romans 6. In Romans 6, it says in verse 3, Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Don't you see that it was a baptism of death when you come through the waters? Your old self is put to death.
It is crucified with Christ. It is no longer you that lives but Christ who lives in you. Don't you see how good that is? It goes on to say in verse 4, we were buried therefore with Him by baptism and death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father we too might walk in the newness of life. That when you come through the waters of salvation you see that the waters of judgment fell upon Christ. And when you come to the other side of the shore you walk in the newness of life that He provides.
And then in verse 7 and 9 He says, for one who has died has been set free from sin. Verse 9, we know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again. Hear this last part. Death no longer has dominion over Him. And He doesn't have dominion over us either. But if you believe in Jesus and you belong to Him death doesn't have power over you anymore.
This fall we walk through recovery. We've had part of our church that's been going through the recovery process and tomorrow is the final night of recovery. And what I love about going through recovery is that you get to slowly begin to remember that the power of sin doesn't rule you anymore. It doesn't own you anymore. The enemy doesn't own you anymore. But you get to look back at the shoreline and see the you get to see the body of sin that was put to death.
And that sin doesn't have power in you anymore. And I get to watch brothers and sisters begin to realize how good our Savior is. Begin to realize what He secured for you. The freedom that He secures for us through His death. If you're in Christ that's offered to you. And you get to look back at the Red Sea Road that you traveled through and see all of the sin that used to haunt you.
All of the brokenness that used to hurt you. you get to remember it's not me anymore. That doesn't rule me anymore. That doesn't have power over me anymore. Christ does. And I will worship Him instead. That is the good news of the gospel.
We as Christians completely trust in the work of Christ that He's done for us. We're not like the Egyptians. We don't trust in chariots. We don't trust in our own work and our own effort and our own talents. We trust completely in the power of Christ. So brothers and sisters as we close out this part of Exodus this is our story.
You did take the Red Sea Road. God completely destroys the power of evil. And that is wonderful.
The Passover: Part 2 (Exodus 12:1-20, 43-51; 13:1-16)
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 12. We are looking at the story of the Passover.
We're working our way through the book of Exodus, and we're taking two weeks to look at the Passover because in Exodus, when the Passover happens, it is an event. It is a historical moment. It takes place, but at the same time in the book of Exodus, God institutes a memorial feast and a practice that's going to take place throughout the life of the people of Israel, and so we've decided to take this in two parts. Last week, we looked at the event, and this week, we're going to look at this memorial feast that's instituted by God, this tradition that is given to them, this practice that's given to them to help them as they continue to follow Him that God puts in place in Exodus chapter 12 and chapter 13, and then we're going to hopefully see how it helps us as Christians and how we get to engage with the Passover.
I love musicals, and Spencer this week said, yeah, a lot of people looked at you and thought, yeah, this guy loves musicals, and they were right. I do. I love musicals, and there are some people who say musicals are stupid. You're stupid. Musicals are great. I mean, I wouldn't say that, but someone should tell you.
But my favorite musical is Fiddler on the Roof, and in Fiddler on the Roof, and I've seen it, I've seen the play, but I've specifically thoroughly enjoyed the 1971 movie, but in Fiddler on the Roof, the main guy's Topal, is the guy who plays it, but his name's Tevye in the play, and it starts with a fiddler on a roof. It's a bit on the nose. It shows a guy standing on a roof playing the fiddle, and then the main character, Tevye, who's also the narrator, looks at the camera, and he says, A fiddler on the roof. Sounds crazy, no? I won't do the voice for the rest of the quote, but this is his start-off quote.
He says, but here, in our little village of Anatevka, you might say every one of us is a fiddler on the roof. This story is about a Jewish family in a Jewish village in 1905 in Russia. He says, you might say every one of us is a fiddler on the roof, trying to scratch out a pleasant, simple tune without breaking his neck. It isn't easy. You may ask, why do we stay up there if it's so dangerous? Well, we stay because Anatevka is our home.
And then he says, and how do we keep our balance? That I can tell you in one word, tradition. And then he bursts into song because it's a musical. They sing a song about tradition, and the whole point is that these Jewish people have tradition that helps them know who they are and what they're supposed to do, and that they use tradition to guide their lives. And that we're actually looking at, the Jewish people added a bunch of traditions, but they also were given traditions, given practices by God. And we're going to look at the first feast that God gives them in Exodus chapter 12, that he says, you're going to practice this.
You're going to institute this. And that happens throughout the whole book of Exodus. And so we're going to look at the first one today and try to help see how God gives this to help guide them, that they're going to have practices that help them know who they are and where they're going and help them find their way over time. And hopefully we'll see how we get to engage with this practice of the Passover for the same purpose, that it helps us to use the words of Tevye, be able to follow the Lord without breaking our neck, without losing our way. And so let's pray. And we're going to read starting in chapter 12, verse 1 together.
Lord, we thank you for your word. We thank you that you institute practices for our good, that you help guide us in what we are to remember and what we are to hold on to. We pray that you'd help us to understand from the institution of Passover, how we as Christians get to engage in that in a blessed way this morning. In Jesus name. Amen. So what we're going to read in chapter 12, and we were in chapter 12 some last week, is we're going to read this institution of the first Passover.
So the first bit we're going to read is just for this first one, for the event. So it says, the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, this month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. So he says, I'm changing your calendar. This is the first month of the year now, because this is when I'm rescuing you from slavery. Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the 10th day of this month, every man shall take a lamb according to their father's houses, a lamb for a household.
And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons, according to what each can eat. You shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male, a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats and you shall keep it until the 14th day of this month when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight. So on the 10th day, they pick a lamb from the sheep or the goats with it's without blemish, a male, a year old, and they keep it for four days.
And then on twilight, when the sun is setting on the 14th day of the month, they slaughter it. Verse seven, then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lentil of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the flesh that night roasted on the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They shall eat it. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted its head with its legs and its inner parts. You're going to cook the whole thing.
And any part that's left, it says they're going to burn up. That's what it says in verse 10. And you shall let none of it remain until the morning. Anything that remains until the morning, you shall burn in this manner. You shall eat it. Now, this is for the Passover, the original one with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand, and you shall eat it in haste.
It is the Lord's Passover for I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast and all the gods of Egypt. I will execute judgments. I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. So he's going to come through and he's going to see the blood on the houses and he's going to pass over them and they're to eat ready to leave there to eat quickly.
They're to not put leaven in their breads because it won't have time for it to leaven there to make quick bread, eat quickly and leave. He's going to pass over the houses and then they're going to leave. That's for this original one. And then it says this in verse 14, this day shall be for you a Memorial day and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations as a statute forever. You shall keep it as a feast. So now he's turned, he's given him the instructions for the particular one.
And now he says, and this is going to be a holiday. You're going to have a feast every year. I'm going to do this this time and rescue out of Egypt. And then every year you're going to celebrate that I did this. There's going to be a feast. And are we just thankful that our Lord commands feasting?
I mean, we understand there are times to mourn and there are times to fast, but isn't it a joyous thing that God says, I want you to celebrate in recognition of what I have done. And you're going to do this every year. Seven days, you shall eat unleavened bread on the first day. You shall remove leaven out of your houses for if anyone eats, what is leavened from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. On the first day, you shall hold a holy assemble and on the assembly, sorry. And on the seventh day, a holy assembly, no work shall be done on those days, but what everyone needs to eat, that alone may be prepared for you.
And you shall observe the feast of unleavened bread for on this very day, I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore, you shall observe this day throughout your generations as a statute forever. In the first month from the 14th day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the 21st day of the month at evening for seven days. No leaven is to be found in your houses. If anyone eats what is leavened, that person will be cut off from the congregation of Israel. Whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land, you shall eat nothing leavened in all your dwelling places.
You shall eat unleavened bread. So it's the feast of the unleavened bread. They're going to have a Sabbath day. Then they're going to practice the feast of the whole week as a feast of unleavened bread. They're only going to eat unleavened bread. And then they're going to have another Sabbath day, another holy day where they don't do any work.
They're not going to continue to paint their doorposts. That was for the event of the Passover, but they're going to have the feast of the unleavened bread. And they do continue to have a Passover sacrifice in memorial to this. And they do often eat lamb and bitter herbs. But what is instituted is a feast of unleavened bread to remind them that we left quickly, that God's salvation was quick when he brought us out of the land of Egypt.
And to Mark that he did this with a strong hand is the way it's going to word it several times. Let's jump down to verse 43. So we read last week, the 21 onward, we read where they actually, this happens. And now we're going to look again as he's giving instructions about the perpetual practice of this. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, this is the statute of the Passover. No foreigner shall eat of it, but every slave that is bought for money may eat of it after you have circumcised him.
No foreigner or hired worker may eat of it. It shall be eaten in one house. You should not take any of the flesh outside the house. So this is for the Passover feast that the night at twilight on the 14th day when they sacrifice and you shall not break any of its bones. All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised.
Then he may come near and keep it. He shall be as a native of the land, but no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. There should be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you. All the people of Israel did just as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron. And on that very day, the Lord brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts. So he draws this line and he says, those who want to participate in this have to belong to the people of Israel.
And the sign of belonging to the people of Israel is circumcision. That's the covenantal sign given to Abraham in the Genesis. And so he says, this is fenced off that the Passover feast is for those who belong to the covenantal people of God. That's really all that was getting at. And it says that they followed his command. Now in chapter 13, we're going to see him reiterate some of this and we're going to see that he institutes another practice.
And then we're going to get to talk through why is he doing this? Because we're going to see a little more of why God is giving this feast and this practice to the people of Israel. Chapter 13, verse one, the Lord said to Moses, consecrate to me all the firstborn, whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and beast is mine. Then Moses said to the people, remember this day in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of slavery for by a strong hand, the Lord brought you out from this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten today in the month of a bib, you are going out.
And when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he swore to your fathers to give you a land flowing with milk and honey, you shall keep this service in this month. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. And on the seventh day, there should be a feast to the Lord. Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days. No leavened bread shall be seen with you and no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory. You shall tell your son on that day.
It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt and it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand, the Lord has brought you out of Egypt. You shall therefore keep this statute as at its appointed time from year to year. So there's a couple of things he says in there. He says, we're going to practice this and you're going to tell your son what it means. Part of the reason we're practicing this is so that we'll remember and so that you'll explain it as you go.
That there's going to be times where you need to stop and say, Hey, here's why we're doing this. And I parents in the room. Do y'all do that? Do you take time when we do some of the practices we have like showing up here to sing and to gather? Y'all know that this is weird, right? The only other people who gather to sing together are at concerts.
We let y'all in for free. No, but we gather to make much of the Lord, to spend time singing together, to study the word together. We celebrate Easter and Christmas and communion and baptism. There's these different things that we have. And do you take time to explain? Here's why we do that because we're meant to, they were meant to with this.
And we're meant to with the practices we have to be able to articulate. Here's why we're doing this. And it says that it's going to be, he says this twice. So we'll talk about it again in a second, but it's going to be as a Mark on your hand or front lip between your eyes. And then he says, it's going to be that the word of the Lord, the law of the Lord might be in your mouth that we speak and eat out of our mouths. And that's part, kind of a play on words in this practice is that they're to partake in what God has done to help them remember.
That it's to be a physical thing that they partake in so that they might remember as they practice this and that they might tell it to the next generation. Verse 11, when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and your fathers and shall give it to you, you shall set apart to the Lord. All that first opens the womb, all the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be the Lord's. Every firstborn of a donkey, you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it, you shall break its neck. Every firstborn of man among your sons, you shall redeem. And when in time to come, your son asked you, what does this mean?
You shall say to him by strong hands, the Lord brought us out of Egypt from the house of slavery. For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore, I sacrifice to the Lord, all the males that first opened the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons, I redeem. Now the first one he said, practice the Passover and you'll tell your son. And this one he says, when your son asks you, why are we doing this? Because if your son watched a donkey be born and then you snapped its neck, your son might say, why did you do that?
That this is meant to be a perpetual practice for them. And y'all, it's kind of heavy. And it's not like the Jewish people would have loved to do this. If you have flocks and they begin, they get old enough to be able to, to give birth to young, the firstborn all belong to the Lord of every animal that is a sacrifice animal. So that would have been their sheep, their goats, their bulls.
But then it says of donkeys, you don't sacrifice that the Lord. He doesn't belong to the Lord. You redeem it or it just has to die. An unredeemed donkey dies. A redeemed donkey gets to live. And it's a practice that teaches them over and over again as they redeem every son that they have.
That's the firstborn son. It's a practice over and over and over again that reminds them that God redeemed us out of slavery at the cost of a redemption sacrifice. And without a sacrifice, there is no redemption. Without a sacrifice, there is a death. All firstborn sons that were not hiding behind the blood of the lamb died. And so we remember perpetually, continually that if we don't have the covering of the blood and the sacrifice that God puts between us and his wrath, there is death.
And they practice this over and over and over again. And that's what he says in verse 16. It should be as a Mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes. For by a strong hand, the Lord brought us out of Egypt. They're going to practice this so they would remember him. It's to be a Mark on their hand or a frontlet between their eyes.
My oldest son, and he was two, he was learning how to talk and he would say some words, you know, he'd say ball, probably said stuff like milk and no, you know, the important things that you need to know when you're two. And, but he really wasn't talking, talking. And you get kind of used to your kids not talking. And it's, you know, when they say the first words, you're really excited. And, but he just, he wasn't talking. And my, uh, my wife, uh, was watching him one morning and she had put, uh, like a green skin mask on her face.
And she came walking in the room with this and our two-year-old son was watching TV and he looked at it and he went, what's on your face? He was like, I'm going to need a full sentence for this. We got to no more, just one word stuff. I'm what is happening here. And that's what he says is that this practice, these practices are meant to Mark you in a startling reminder way that you can't get away from. It's meant to be a part of your life.
Like something attached to your hand or your face. That's what he's calling them to. And so they do this. The people of Israel practice this for 1500 years. They practice this. Now they, at times don't, there are times where they rebel, there are times where they're in captivity, but in general, the people of Israel, when they're being faithful, they're practicing the Passover.
They're practicing the redemption of the firstborn. And it's just part of who they are. And they remember, they remember the Exodus out of Egypt as the moment in their history when God worked in a mighty way to make them into a people and to redeem them out of slavery and to call them to himself. And they practice this over and over and over again. Go to Luke chapter 22. We're going to see Jesus and his disciples in first century Jerusalem in the Roman empire practicing the Passover.
This is Luke 22. We're going to read verse one. We're going to read verse seven, and then we're going to read starting in 14. Now the feast of unleavened bread drew near, which is called the Passover. Now, maybe you've read the new Testament and now we've gone through Exodus and you go, Oh, I know what that's talking about. Yeah.
We just read about the feast of unleavened bread called the Passover. We now know what that's talking about. Verse seven, then came the day of unleavened bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So the Passover lamb is sacrificed at twilight because they won't their calendar sundown to sundown. So it's sundown.
It begins the next day. They sacrifice the Passover. They're going to have their Passover meal. Verse 14. And when the hour came, this is them celebrating the Passover meal together, Jesus and his disciples celebrating something they would have celebrated every year of their entire life. The whole nation would stop and celebrate the feast of unleavened bread.
If you didn't, you were cut off from the people. Like we don't have anything like that. I jokingly told one guy one time, I said, Hey, look, you've moved to the South and you don't understand this. You need to come to church with me on Easter because it's the South and everybody has to go to church on Easter. If you don't, the cops come by your house and check. And he went, really?
No, not really, but you should still come. But that's how this works. Somebody saw you eating leavened bread and it was like, Oh, you, you're not, you don't belong anymore. You're not welcome anymore. They practice this every year and it mattered. They're used to this, this Passover meal.
And it said, when the hour came, he reclined at table and the apostles with him. I just want to point out he reclined at the table because this has gone from the first event, which was belt on shoes on staff in your hand to a feast to remember the glorious work that God has done. It's now like, it's like Thanksgiving belt off. We've got to make some room here. People they're reclining at the table, celebrating what God has done. And it says a reclining at table.
And he said to them, I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover meal with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. Okay. So Jesus is about to do and say some odd things. If you had been practicing Passover your entire life, he's about to do and say some odd things. The first thing that he says that is odd is I've earnestly desired to eat this.
I'm not going to eat it. I've earnestly desired to eat this Passover meal with you. I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. Now, if you heard that and you're the Jewish person who's practiced the Passover, the past, the Passover is fulfilled. What are you talking about? I've longed to eat this with you.
I'm not going to eat it until it's fulfilled. Go ahead. That happened hundreds of years ago. Passover fulfilled. God's already done this. But he says, I'm not going to eat it until it's fulfilled in the kingdom of God.
Verse 17, and he took a cup and when he had given thanks, he said, take this and divide it amongst yourselves among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes. This is for you, but I'm not, I'm not partaking. And he took bread and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them saying, this is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. They're practicing the Passover.
They're taking the feast of unleavened bread and he breaks it and he says, this is my body that's given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. Break bread in remembrance of me. Practice the Passover in remembrance of me. You're not, unless you're Jesus, you're not supposed to do that. You don't get to.
I mean, you can try. I'd encourage you to try. The holiday season's coming up. Give it a shot. You got a few coming at Thanksgiving. Say, I'd like us to go around the table and everyone say a thing that they're thankful to me about.
Maybe a thing you're thankful for me or to me. Grandma, you want to kick us off? Thanksgiving's about me. I'm sorry. I don't know why y'all are looking at me like that. Do this.
Remember me. Just give it a shot. You can't, like at Christmas, go over to someone's house. Like if you get into DIY and you like make a little tree topper of yourself and you put it on their tree. You're like, Christmas is about me. When y'all open presents.
Think about how I'm a great gift to the world. The ball is dropping. They start counting down. You run over to people and you're like, we're counting down for me. And they're like, is it your birthday? And you're like, no.
Also, if y'all kiss, that's about me. What? Don't mind me. I'm just going to watch. You can't do this. You can't just co-op things that have been happening forever.
This one's been instituted by God. And Jesus just says, I'm not going to do this until it's fulfilled in the kingdom, which we would have thought it already had been that God had already fulfilled the Passover. This is an event that took place. But he says, no, the ultimate fulfillment of Passover is yet to come. And he says, this is about me. Verse 20.
And likewise, the cup after they had eaten saying this cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. These are a covenantal people. There's a covenant with Abraham that's renewed with Isaac and Jacob, but it's the covenant to Abraham. There's a covenant with Moses. There's a covenant with David. They're covenantal people.
And he says, Passover is about me. It's going to get fulfilled. And here's a new covenant in my blood. And to institute a new covenant for them is like. Jesus says something's happening here. The fulfillment of the Passover is here.
And Passover is about me. That the blood of the lamb that stands between us and judgment is about to be fulfilled. The blood that isn't just for one household for one night, but a lamb that you know and then is slaughtered and you partake in it. That the blood covers you, but you also consume it. That's about me. And when you practice Passover, remember me.
That's what he says. So let's go to first Corinthians 11, because now we're in the church and we're seeing how Christians have taken this so that as we as Christians study the Passover, we see that Jesus says it's about me. In first Corinthians in chapter five, prior to this, Paul says, for Christ, our Passover lamb has been sacrificed. That Jesus is our Passover lamb. And then he talks about the Lord's supper and how we are to practice it. Chapter 11, verse 23.
For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night he was betrayed took bread. And when he had given thanks, we just read about this, he broke it and said, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way, also, he took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and you drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
So this Passover meal that was practiced every year, Jesus says, this is about me. And then the New Testament church starts practicing this on a regular basis. That everything that was built into the Passover, this salvation out of slavery, this protection from wrath, this divine judgment, but the death of an unblemished firstborn to redeem. All of that built in and rolling up. And Jesus says it's about to be fulfilled. And he fulfills it fully and finally and eternally through his death on the cross.
And the church gathers to remember and proclaim. That when we partake in communion, the Lord's table, we remember and we proclaim. Anyway, my wife and I went, we were in the mountains one time and we went to go see a waterfall. And there was this way to get down to the waterfall. You could stand up or you could try to, on this little perch, or you could try to get down to it. And on the way down, there was a rope.
It was tied off on one end and it ran down this really kind of awkward way. But it helps you know where to go. And if you followed the rope, you'd get where you were supposed to be. And it was something to hold on to. So that you wouldn't fall.
Because falling was a real possibility. And I think without the rope, we probably wouldn't have made it. We'd have gone a little ways. And then I'd have been like, Anna, go ahead and see how it works. And then I'll see if I can come later. I wouldn't have.
But anyway, it helped us get there. It helped us hold on. And that's some of what he's saying is these regular practices for us as a church. This regular practice of communion is tied to the death of Christ. That we're proclaiming his death. And it takes us until he comes.
We do this until. He's already died. And we proclaim it until he comes. And we hold fast. And so when we gather. And this morning we're going to take communion together as a church.
We're going to celebrate the fulfilled Passover. That there is blood of a spotless lamb that covers us and stands between us and judgment. And we're going to proclaim his death until he returns. And so there are a few things that happen when we take communion. We have bread that's been broken. We have the cup that we share.
And so there's a few things that happen. One is it reminds us that our redemption is costly. There's something that's proclaimed. Physically proclaimed to us. Every time we gather and we've got communion set up on these tables. You're a sinner.
Without a sacrifice. You're in trouble. You need to be redeemed. And if you've come in here this morning and your plan. Is to be moral and righteous and holy. In your own strength.
In your own name. By your own merit. May you look at that table and know you're a sinner who needs to be redeemed. But that table proclaims. That we have redemption. That there is forgiveness.
You need forgiveness. But there is forgiveness. If you came in this morning dragging. Feeling like you're going to be swallowed up by your sin. Wondering how on earth am I going to make it to the end. How on earth will I stand before a holy and righteous God.
And not just be crushed. The answer is. We hide behind the blood of the lamb. That there is forgiveness offered. And that we celebrate and remind ourselves. That I need forgiveness.
But I can receive forgiveness. Through the work of Christ. When we partake in communion together. We remember that our redemption is real. There's something about physically having to touch it. That when we take this in a moment.
And you dip it in the cup. And you. Every time I'm walking back. And it's kind of dripping on my fingers. Or on my hand. And I'm walking like this.
It reminds me that he really died. That his blood really spilled. That he poured it out. And it's a new covenant. That guards. And protects.
Just as the people in the Passover. When they slaughtered their lamb. And they were painting the blood on their doorpost. And they could see it. They could see the cost of their protection. They could see the cost of their redemption.
That we get to see it. And we get to remember that it really happened. That it stands as an event in history. That we proclaim. And look back to. And remember.
So that we know. That we have forgiveness. And we partake in it. That every time. I take communion. And you take communion.
You get this moment to say. Lord I need this. Without your forgiveness. Without your sacrifice. I am hopeless. And helpless.
And it helps us hold on. And then. It reminds us. That our redeemer lives. Because we proclaim his death. Until he comes.
And we have a certain future. Purchased. Not by our works. Our intelligence. Our effort. Praise Jesus.
Not by our works. Our intelligence. And our effort. But by his. And that we long. For the day.
That he returns. And claims us. And it helps us. Stay tied to him. That's why we practice it regularly. We practice this more often.
Than we used to. Because we need. More often. A reminder. That we need Jesus. That we're going to gather together.
That we belong together. That he's accomplished this for us. And that we need forgiveness. And we receive forgiveness. And we have hope in him. It's tied off.
To the death. Buried on resurrection. And it leads us. To his ultimate return. And we. Remember his death.
And we proclaim it. Until he comes. If we're not careful. We'll have a guiding line. But it won't be Jesus.
Some of us. If we're honest. If we really think about it. It's tied off. To I used to be poor. And it's tied up.
To I'll be rich one day. It's tied off. To loneliness. And it's. It's anchored up here. To romance.
If I can just work my way. I can make it. That's my hope. That's my future. And the problem is. We make all these decisions.
In our lives. That don't make any sense. Because we're supposed to be tied off. To a forgiveness. And a hope. Set secure in Christ.
And anchored to an eternal hope. Set secure in Christ. For the day that he returns. And claims us. We're supposed to live. Between those two points.
And we gather together. As a church. To proclaim that to ourselves. And to each other. I love. When I get to sit back here.
And watch our church family line up. And all of us remember together. And I need forgiveness. But I get forgiveness. And I'm proclaiming the death of Christ. Until he comes.
Because I have hope. And only in Christ. Oh it's a glorious thing. To get to participate. With a family of sinners. Redeemed by the blood of Christ.
With our hope anchored in Christ. Longing for the day that he returns. And claims his people for himself. It's a glorious thing. To get to partake in. To get to remember.
That we have a Passover lamb. We have blood that stands between us. And utter destruction. We have a redeemer. Who's died. Who's risen.
Who lives. And one day returns. To claim his people. And may we cling to that. Hold to that. Practice that.
Remember. May it be on our hand. And on our forehead. So that we can walk. This life. Between those two points.
The band's going to come back up. And we're going to practice the Lord's Supper. So that we might remember. There's going to be a moment for them. To play. And for you to pray.
For you. To remember. I'm a sinner. And I need forgiveness. Some of you need to ask for forgiveness this morning. But you need to know that you're given forgiveness in Christ.
That the purchase. The cost of your redemption has already been paid. That we have hope. Some of you need to talk to the Lord about longing for his return. Proclaiming his death until he comes. And recentering yourself on living between those two points.
With our hope fully in him. If you are not a Christian. Communion is not for you. Because it's a celebration. Of Jesus' blood on our behalf. And that we belong to him through his sacrifice.
Christ is for you if you're not a Christian. That you can come to him and ask for forgiveness. That you can ask him to redeem your soul. And he will. That you can say I need your blood to cover me. And he will.
And then you can take communion. For the first time as a celebration of what he's done. But if you're not a Christian. And you haven't taken that step. And we ask that you remain seated. Out of respect for Jesus.
And for our church family. But if you're a Christian. After a moment. Of praying. Of praising. Let's celebrate.
That we have a hope. And let's remember his death. And proclaim it. Until he comes. So you pray.
And when you're ready. To take communion.
The Passover: Part 1 (Exodus 11:1-10, 12:21-42)
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're going to be in Exodus 11 and 12 today, which is on page 31 in your Blue Bibles. We're actually going to be in this story twice when we're here this week and next week as well. So you can go ahead and flip there and follow along.
The text will also be on the screen this week. So I was told that when you get to your 30s that you get into one of two things. You get into smoked meats or World War II. That's what they say. And four years in, I've gotten into both of those. Not that World War II is something I was disinterested in.
I've always been interested in World War II. It was my family's war. So my grandfather, both my grandfathers fought in World War II. One was a Boilermaker in the Pacific Wars. The other one was actually an original member of Navy SEAL Team 6 in the Pacific Wars. He was pretty bad at the bone.
So both of them fought in it, and therefore I've always had interest in it. It's always been significant. And that's not just significant to me. It's significant to many Americans. I mean, we beat evil. We won.
It was a big deal. It was a big part of our nation's history. And there's a lot of significance for it us as a country. But what happens is I think oftentimes you get caught up in the significance of the story and how big and how weighty it is that you actually miss the details of the story. And for me, that was me. Like, growing up, I sat in history classes.
I watched Pearl Harbor and Saving Private Ryan. Like, I knew things. I knew the big events. I knew the significance. But I never actually sat in some of the story.
And over the last few years, like, I watched movies and look at documentary things and read about it. Just how the politics of how we got into the war in the first place. The fact that they're actually, I don't know, when I finally realized that there was a war before we got into it. Like, the war just kind of started for me when Pearl Harbor happened. There was a whole war that was going on before. Looking at the details of that.
Looking at that story. How we got into it. The different battles that were fought. The story itself is actually pretty incredible. And what can happen, what can happen is, is that you can be so caught up in the significance of it that you miss the story itself. And that is what happens with Passover.
Passover, I mean, it's one of the biggest events in the scriptures. I mean, outside of the creation and the fall, in Genesis 1 and 2 and 3, I mean, there's no other bigger moment in the Old Testament. I mean, Passover is huge. A lot leads up to this. And a lot flows out of this. And you can get so swept up in the significance and the weightiness of the Passover event that you actually miss the story.
So what we're going to do is we're going to take this in two parts. Part one is this week. And we're just going to look at the story and spend some time in the story. And then next week we're going to come back to it and look at the significance of how that flows into the rest of the scriptures. So we're going to look at the story today.
And then we're going to see why it's really good news. Let me pray. Heavenly Father, I pray that you would help us be immersed in this story and see you so clearly and so wonderfully. That it would compel us to worship, to believe, to delight in you who brings redemption and freedom. We ask that you go to work in our hearts and help us respond in Jesus' name. Amen.
All right. So in chapter 11, verse 1, The Lord said to Moses, Yet one plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterward, he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will drive you away completely. So this is it.
This is the final sign and wonder. This is the final plague upon the Egyptians. It's all going to end here. This is what God predicted when he called Moses at Mount Horeb in Exodus 3. When he told Moses, I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it. After that, he will let you go.
This is the end of the wonders. He does this. And then you are going to leave. And all of you are going to leave. Every man, every woman, every child, every livestock, everyone. One of our students was listening to Chet preach last week.
And she said, this is no hoof left behind. Like, this is everyone. And I thought, that is a fire dad joke. I'm saving that for when I teach this to my kids. But it is.
It's every single person is leaving once God finishes this. The time has come. Verse 2. Speak now in the hearing of the people. That they ask every man of his neighbor and every woman of her neighbor for silver and gold jewelry. This was also foretold in Moses' calling.
That you're not just going to leave completely. You're not just going to leave completely. You're going to leave with riches. You're going to plunder the Egyptian enemy once I'm through with them. When the total war of victory is complete, you will leave with gold and silver and clothing. The Egyptians are going to freely give this to you.
Verse 3. And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt. In the sight of Pharaoh's servants. In the sight of the people. Let's just pause for a moment.
Sometimes it's good to look at the Bible and look at the different figures in it. And just follow their story. If you look at Moses. At 40 years old, he kills a man and he's scared. So scared that he leaves Egypt.
And he goes away. And then at 80 years old, he's older. He's weaker. He has a speech impediment. He has self-doubt. He has all kinds of excuses why he can't be used by God.
He is not an imposing figure in himself at all. And that is exactly who God uses over and over again. He's so feared. So respected. This is the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt. In the sight of Pharaoh's servants.
In the sight of the people. I mean, Pharaoh's servants feared him. He was the king. One of the most powerful men in the world. He was a God to them. Moses.
Moses. And his weakness. He was great to them. Verse 4. So Moses said.
Thus says the Lord. About midnight. I will go out in the midst. Of Egypt. And every firstborn. In the land.
Of Egypt. Shall die. From the firstborn of Pharaoh. Who sits. On his throne. Even to the firstborn of the slave girl.
Who is behind the hand mill. And all the firstborn of the cattle. There shall be a great cry. Throughout all the land of Egypt. Such as there has never been. Nor ever will be again.
But not a dog. Shall growl against any of the people of Israel. Either man or beast. You may know. The Lord makes the distinction. Between Egypt.
And Israel. So the final. Plague. The final sign. And wonder. Moses announces it.
To Pharaoh. This will be the devastating blow. That ends. Centuries. Of slavery. Centuries.
Of abuses. This is going to end it. God is going to kill. Every firstborn. Male. In Egypt.
And that's what's bound up in that word. Firstborn. This is the firstborn males. Every firstborn son. From Pharaoh. All the way down.
To the cattle. Everyone is going to die. There's going to be a weeping. And a wailing. That has never been heard. In the land.
And that never will be heard again. The grief. Is going to be. Deafening. And this final part of the plan. Was also foretold.
To Moses. In Exodus 4. When Moses was coming to Egypt. God made this clear. He said. Then you shall say to Pharaoh.
Thus says the Lord. Israel is my firstborn son. And I say to you. Let my son go. That he may serve me. If you refuse to let him go.
Behold. I will kill your firstborn son. The Egyptians. Enslaved. The firstborn of God. That's what's being.
That's what's being shown here. The Egyptians enslaved. The firstborn of God. Israel. For years. Abusing them.
Forcing them to labor. Taking their very children. Ripping them out of their hands. And killing them. This is what the Egyptians did. To the firstborn of God.
And then. An ironic twist. God is going to bring that judgment. On their head. He's going to bring Pharaoh. And this nation.
To its knees. And he's going to bring judgment. To this false God. And this people. That has oppressed them. For so long.
And some may look at that. And go. Isn't that. Excessive. Isn't that a bit much. That God is going to end this like this.
By killing the firstborn male. In every household. Let me speak to that for a moment. And examine why. Actually God is just. In doing this.
First. God is God. He is a righteous judge. And if he deems this. As judgment. Then.
It is a righteous one. Now. I know that's not satisfying. I don't know how circular that sounds. To some of you. But it doesn't mean it's not true.
Second. There is a western. Kind of grimacing. To this story. That I would argue. Is a unique reaction.
When compared to other cultures. In this world. And certainly other time periods. That we just. As western Americans. Are largely insulated.
From injustice. We don't. Experience. The kind of injustices. That other parts of the world do. We don't know what.
Genocide is like. We don't know what mass. Murder. And rape. And all the. Horrible things that happen.
Under dictators. We don't know what that's like. We're largely insulated. From them. So we don't know what a real cry.
For justice is. There are moments. Where we see glimpses of it. In our culture. Saw it a couple of weeks ago. There's a man.
That was sentenced. For. For taking his vehicle. And running it through a Christmas parade. A couple of years ago. Killed.
Six. Seven people. Killed a child. Injured. Dozens. It was a terrorist.
An terrorist attack. Wanted to kill as many people. As he could. And that is sentencing. Someone. Yelled out.
Burn. In hell. You piece of. Fill in the blank. No one looks at what happened. With that event.
And looks at that response. And thinks. That's not merited. So we. We see a glimpse of it. There is.
There's a. There's a call. For justice. That we feel. That we tap into. A little bit.
We're just largely insulated. From it. Because other cultures. Have experienced. Horrible injustices. And you have to understand.
The Israelites. Have endured. Centuries. Y'all. Longer than America. Has been a country.
Centuries. Of abuses. Of oppression. Of enslavement. And had their children. Ripped out of their arms.
And murdered. They've endured. Horrible. They've endured. The worst. And they desire.
Justice. Justice. Other cultures. And other peoples. Who experience it. They desire.
Justice. They don't see that as a bad thing. They say. God is a good. Just. God is a.
Good thing. And they are longing. For this justice. To happen. There will be a painful. Grievous.
Wailing. In the land of the Egyptians. But not a sound. Not a sound. Will be uttered. Against the Israelites.
And Goshen. They're going to be. Okay. So Moses. Announces this judgment. And then he continues.
He says. And all these. Your servants. Shall come down to me. And bow down to me. Saying.
Get out. You. And all the people. Who follow you. And after that. I will go out.
And he went out. From Pharaoh. In hot anger. Moses. Moses says. All of this.
And again. The irony. Is unbelievable. Moses. Or Pharaoh. Was a false God.
To the Egyptians. They bowed down. To him. Fearing him. And Moses says. When this is done.
You're going to bow down. And you're going to beg. Us to leave. Then. We'll be free to go. It just demonstrates.
The power of God. Here. And then it says. He left in hot anger. Now. We don't know.
Why he left in hot anger. We don't know. If he is a prophet. Who is taking. The tone. Of God.
We don't know. If. At this point. Pharaoh has already. Said. You're not leaving.
And he's. Angry at this. We don't know. But he leaves. At hot anger. And then God gives.
Tells Moses. This in verse nine. Then the Lord. Said to Moses. Pharaoh will not. Listen to you.
That my wonders. May be multiplied. In the land. Of Egypt. Which was the plan. All along.
Moses and Aaron. Did all these wonders. Before Pharaoh. And the Lord. Hardened Pharaoh's heart. And he did not.
Let the people of Israel. Go out. Of his land. So. Pharaoh says. No.
Which is how. This is always going to be. Therefore. Judgment. Is coming. Now.
We're going to skip. Chapter 12. Verse 21. And we're going to see. How Moses prepares. The people.
For the coming. Judgment of God. And we're going to see. The redemption. That he offers. To his people.
So pick up. In verse 21. Chapter 12. And Moses. Called all. The elders of Israel.
And said to them. Go. And select. Lambs. For yourselves. According to your clans.
And kill. The Passover lamb. So. We're going to see. What Passover means. In a moment.
But he tells them. Go. According to your clans. According to your families. And kill. The Passover lamb.
Slaughter. This Passover lamb. Then he says. Take. A bunch of hyssop. Which is a bush.
They use for cleansing. Cleansing. Some cleansing ceremonies. It's going to be used. As a paintbrush here. Take a bunch of hyssop.
And dip it in the blood. That is in the basin. And touch the lentil. And the two door posts. With the blood. That is in.
The basin. So. This is what. This is what it looks like. You have a lentil at the top. Posts on the sides.
And he says. Slaughter the lamb. Put his blood into a bowl. To a basin. And you take that. With some hyssop.
And you go. And you Mark the top. And you Mark the sides. You Mark your door. With the blood. And every.
Israelite family goes. And they find. A lamb. And they start marking. The doors. He says.
None of you. Shall go out of the door. Of his house. Until morning. Because judgment is coming. You're not going to be out there.
For this. None of you. Shall go out. Of the door of your house. Until morning. For.
Verse 23. The Lord will pass through. To strike the Egyptians. And when he sees. The blood of the lentil. And on the two door posts.
The Lord will pass over. The door. And will not allow. The destroyer. To enter. Your houses.
To strike you. So when. Night. Falls. And the sun. Sets.
Get into your houses. Hide yourself. Behind the blood. Because judgment is coming. He says. The destroyer.
Is coming. So the destroyer. Some look at this. And say. It's the angel of God. Angel of death.
Some look at this. At Psalm 78. And say. This is a company of angels. That are doing this. But.
It seems to be angelic forces. On behalf of the power of God. They're going to come. To every single door. And if they see. The blood.
That is on the door. They're going to pass. Over. This is where we get the term. Pass over from. They're going to pass over.
Your. Door. And you will be saved. And judgment will go. To somewhere else. Verse 24.
You shall observe. This right. As a statute. For you. And for your sons. Forever.
When you come. To the land. The Lord. Will give you. As he has promised. You shall keep.
This service. And when your children. Say to you. What do you mean. By this service. You shall say.
It is the sacrifice. Of the Lord's Passover. For he passed. Over the houses. Of the people. Of Israel.
In Egypt. When he struck. The Egyptians. But spared. Our houses. And the people.
Bowed their heads. And worshipped. Verse 28. Then the people. Of Israel. Went and did so.
As the Lord. Had commanded. Moses and Aaron. So. They. Did.
So the people. Hear this. Response. Hear what they're called to do. And they're going to remember this. We'll look at this more next week.
This is going to be something. That they continue to remember. For years to come. And then it says. They worshipped. They worshipped.
When they heard this. You know why they worshipped? Because they've been slaves. For centuries. And they won't judgment. They won't redemption.
So they worshipped. God. And then they did it. They went. Just as they were told. They trusted.
Moses and Aaron. They trusted the word of God. And they went. And each clan. Slaughtered a lamb. Can you imagine.
The frantic energy. That would have been felt. On that day. After receiving this. Each family. Going.
And making sure. They find the lamb. Making sure they slaughter it. Making sure they get enough blood. To put on the doors. Each family.
Marking the doors. The sounds of. Goats. Being slaughtered. This would have been a frantic. Day.
As night began to fall. And as the sun set. The people of God. Hid themselves. In their homes. And they waited.
And as night. Got. Darker. Verse 29. At midnight. The Lord.
Struck. Down. All. The firstborn. In the land. Of Egypt.
From the firstborn. Of Pharaoh. Who sat. On the throne. To the firstborn. Of the captive.
Who was in the dungeon. And all. The firstborn. Of the livestock. Can you imagine. How intense.
That night. Would have been. The Israelites. Huddled in their homes. Waiting. For this force.
To come through. I can imagine. That they probably. Were huddled. As far away. From the door.
As possible. I can imagine. That they were huddled. Together. As families. Surrounding their kids.
I can imagine. That the firstborn. Was hugged. A little bit tighter. And they're looking. At the door.
And they're. Trusting. That the blood. Is going. To cover them. That the blood.
Is going to hide them. From judgment. That as long as. They're behind the blood. They're going to be okay. And they wait.
Until finally. Judgment comes. Over each. House. And the land. And then it finally.
Shows up to their door. And they wait. And then finally. Passes over. And then. And the darkness.
And the silence. Of the night. When it's all done. There's a cry. And there's another cry. And then there's a chorus.
Of grief. That goes over. All the land. Verse 30. And Pharaoh rose up. In the night.
He. And all his servants. And all the Egyptians. And there was a great cry. In Egypt. For there was not.
A house. Where someone was not dead. Every. Egyptian house. Has a dead boy. Verse 31.
Then he summoned Moses and Aaron. By night. And said. Up. Go. Out.
From among my people. Both you. And the people of Israel. And go. Serve the Lord. As you have said.
Take your flocks. And your herds. As you have said. And be gone. And bless me also. Pharaoh.
The most powerful man. In the land. A king. That is feared. Is begging them. Get out.
Leave. And he's so humbled. In this complete. Military. Defeat. That he is begging Moses.
For a blessing on his way out. Pharaoh said. Seven chapters before. Who is this God. And now he's saying. Please leave.
And bless me. By the power of your God. Bless me before you leave. This is complete devastation. Verse 33. The Egyptians were urgent.
With the people. To send them out. Of the land. In haste. For they said. We shall be.
All be dead. Amen. So again. The Egyptians. Were oppressors. The Israelites.
Feared them. And now. They're saying. Get out. Or we're all going to be gone. Leave.
So. Verse 34. The people took. Their dough. Before it was leavened. Their kneading bowls.
Being bound up. And their cloaks. On their shoulders. The people of Israel. Had also done. As Moses told them.
For they had asked. The Egyptians. For silver. And gold. Jewelry. And for clothing.
And the Lord. Had given. The people. Favor. And the sight. Of the Egyptians.
So that they let them. Have what they asked. Thus. They plundered. The Egyptians. So they.
Gather. Their unleavened bread. Their families. And they plunder. The Egyptians. Just as God said.
The Egyptians. Freely giving their riches. Gold. Silver. Clothing. Take it.
Just take it. And leave. This is a complete. Surrender. This is what happened. In military.
Victories. Once you surrender. You surrendered. All the loot. All your values. Get out.
Verse 37. And the people of Israel. Journeyed from Rances to Succoth. About 600,000 men on foot. Besides. Women and children.
They leave. Can you imagine. What that was like. To finally. Walk. Freely.
All they've ever known. Is slavery. All they've ever known. Is slavery. They've. They've been beaten.
They've been mistreated. They've been treated as property. They've had. Their babies. Ripped from their arms. All they've ever known.
Is. Suffering. Under this people. And not just them. Their parents. And their.
Grandparents. And their great grandparents. For centuries. This is all they've ever known. Is. To be slaves.
To a people. Who brutalized them. And they walk. Freely. Away. And as the sun rises.
They're free. They're finally. Free. Their redemption. Is there. They can taste it.
They can. Realize it. They're finally. Free. And they're leaving the land of sorrow. And pain.
This moment is huge. This moment is unbelievable. People are joyous. Verse 38. A mixed multitude. Also went up with them.
And very much livestock. Both flocks. And herds. And they baked. Unleavened cakes of dough. That they had brought.
Out of Egypt. For it was not leaven. Because they were thrust. Out of Egypt. And could not wait. Nor had they prepared.
Any provisions for themselves. Look at more of that. Next week. Verse 40. The time. That the people of Israel.
Lived in Egypt. Was 430 years. So centuries. Y'all. Of suffering. At the end.
Of 430 years. On that very day. All the hosts. Of the Lord. Went out. From the land.
Of Egypt. And hosts. There's intentional language. That's military language. They're military victors. Because of God's work.
Verse 42. It was a night. Of watching. By the Lord. To bring them out. Of the land of Egypt.
So this same night. Is a night. Of watching. Kept to the Lord. By all. The people of Israel.
Throughout. Their generations. And they're free. You got to sit. And look at the story. And you got to sit in it.
And imagine. What that's like. You got to put yourself. In their shoes. And imagine. How long.
And how desperate. They would have been. How hopeless. They would have felt. They heard about. That they were the people of God.
They heard all this. They had their. They knew. That they were. They were a part of. Of a people.
And they weren't always here. That. It's not the way. It's supposed to be. And they longed. And they waited.
For years. And for years. And for years. Hoping. And then finally. Someone came.
And they came. And they told them. You're going to be free. God is coming. He's going to free you. He's going to bring signs.
He's going to bring wonders. And they waited. And they watched. As the first sign and wonder. And then the next plague. And the next plague.
And the next plague. And the next plague. Each one. Showing the power of God. Each one. Showing.
Maybe this is it. All the way. To this final one. Can you imagine. What it was like. To be the people.
Who received this news. The judgment was coming. That very night. And to receive the instructions. For Passover. Can you imagine.
What it was like. To finally say. All right. We're going to be saved. We're going to be free. But we need to take a step of faith here.
We're going to trust. Moses and Aaron. And to find the lamb. And to slaughter the lamb. And to go to your door. And to paint the door.
And to sit there. In the darkness of the night. Hoping. Waiting for your redemption to come. Waiting. And then judgment comes.
And how terrifying that must have been. And to hide yourself behind the blood. Hoping that that blood is enough. To keep judgment at the door. And then finally judgment. Hits the lamb with a force.
That has never been felt before. And then finally. They're free. The hesitant step out of the house. The hesitant step. Towards the Egyptians.
Who used to be so scared of. You've been longing for change. You've been longing for a new life. You've been longing for this. And finally. It's there.
You take the riches. And you walk. Freely. To be with your God. Can you imagine what that. Felt like.
If you're a Christian. You don't have to imagine that. That is your life. If you're a Christian. That is your life. Because you.
Because you. Through faith. Received. A spiritual. Exodus. This story.
Is your. Story. Everyone. Comes into this world. A slave to sin. A slave to your desires.
Obeying the enemy of this world. The evil one. That's what the Bible. That's what the Bible clearly. Teaches. You don't come in this world.
Free. You come in this world. Slave. If you're in Christ. Especially. If you came to Christ.
Later in life. You can remember. What it was like. To be a slave to your sin. You can remember. What it was like.
To be. Longing for change. Longing for something. Different in life. Be longing. For something.
To be different. This can't be. All. That there is. Know what that's like. And then.
Someone came. And someone told you. The good news. Of the gospel. Someone told you. About the blood.
Of Jesus. Passover. Points forward. To. The cross. Jesus.
Became. Our Passover lamb. Someone told you. About the blood. Of Jesus. Someone told you.
That he died for you. Someone told you. That if you trust. In the finished work. Of Jesus. On the cross.
That you can hide. Behind the blood. That his blood. Will cover you. That judgment. Will pass over you.
And more importantly. It passes on to him. Because Jesus. Is the Passover lamb. That was slaughtered. On our behalf.
Judgment. Ultimately. Was not poured out. On any Pharaoh. It was poured out. On Christ.
And you heard. The gospel. And you believed. And trusted in Jesus. As your only. Hope.
And you pointed to the blood. As your only. Hope. And then you walked out. Free. For the first time.
You tasted. Freedom. The freedom. That is found. In the gospel. The freedom.
That is found. Is that I don't have to obey. My sinful desires. Anymore. That I actually can have. Freedom.
That I can taste. And see. That God is good. And choose. To follow him. And be with him.
Forever. And you. Got to experience. The riches. That come with that. That this military victory.
That Christ. Secures for us. Comes with. Plundering. Of riches. And it's not gold.
Or jewels. Or clothing. It is his grace. And his goodness. And his kindness. And his faithfulness.
And his gentleness. All of that. That resounds. Into eternity. You get to experience. All of that.
And what you get to experience. In part now. You get to experience. In full. Later. If you're a Christian.
This is your story. You know this story. You live this story. You know Passover. But some of you.
May not be a Christian. And some of you. Have not experienced this. But maybe you. Have always said. That you were a Christian.
Maybe you've. It was an intellectual belief. Maybe it's something. You just agreed with. But this.
Right here. This. This is not. Your life. If you trusted. In other things.
As your only hope. Maybe it's the things. Of this world. Maybe it's the riches. Of this world. Maybe it's yourself.
That you put. Hope. In other things. That you've never. So clearly heard.
The word of God. You've never clearly. Heard the gospel. And hidden yourself. Behind the blood. And said.
That's my. Only hope. That blood. Is my. Only. Hope.
Hope. And you've never. Experienced. What it's like. To walk in the freedom. That Christ provides.
You've never. Experienced. What it's like. To not obey. Sinful desires. You've never tasted.
And seen. That God. Is truly. Better. Than anything. This world.
Has to offer. That you've never. Walked. In the freedom. That he offers. And with him.
That if you're honest. You've never. Had this. And what I so. Desperately. Want for you.
This morning. Is to finally. Believe. Is to finally. Trust. In the Passover lamb.
As your. Only. Hope. To hide yourself. Behind the blood. That covers your sins.
To finally. Surrender. To this. God. We're going to do something. Differently.
That we. We don't normally do.
The Plagues (Exodus 7:14-10:29)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
This morning and we are not going to have it on the screen because I think it would break our computer. So there is a Bible in the little rack down in front of you. If you're on the front row and you need the Bible, just hold your hand behind your head like this and see if someone will hand you one from behind you. But grab a Bible, go to page 29 or Exodus chapter 7. Second book of the Bible, chapter 7, it's a big seven and then we're going to start in verse 14. And we are going to look at, we've been walking through the book of Exodus and we have made it to the plagues, what we often refer to as the ten plagues.
And it's what God has called his signs and wonders. And so to Egypt they're plagues, but to the world they're signs and wonders, a sign meant to point to something. So as we walk through this morning, we're going to talk about what is happening, but we're going to pay careful attention to why. Why is it playing out the way that it is? Because God is going out of his way to display something, to point to something. That's what the sign does, to display wondrously who he is.
And that's what he's doing. He is going to execute judgment on the false gods of Egypt. Pharaoh who was considered a God and there are 42 gods in their pantheon. He's going to execute judgment on the false gods of Egypt to display his glory so that the world might know him. He's going to execute judgment on the false gods of Israel to display his glory to the end that the world might know him. And so we're going to walk through, and we're going to walk through from chapter 7, back half of 7, all of 8, all of 9, all of chapter 10.
And you may be saying, it sounds like it's going to take a while. And it will only, I've timed it out, it'll only take about two hours and then we'll have a brief intermission. And if it's your first Sunday and you're laughing like, ha, this is really a joke, right? All right, let's pray. God, we pray that you would bless our time this morning as we study your word, that you would help us to see your glory reflected in your work. And we pray that you would help us to see the glory of Christ reflected in your work to redeem your people out of Egypt.
Lord, we ask for your help and your blessing this morning. In Jesus' name, amen. We're in Exodus 7, verse 14. In Exodus 5, Pharaoh said, who is the Lord that I should obey him? Well, he's about to find out. Chapter 7, verse 14.
Then the Lord said to Moses, Pharaoh's heart is hardened. He refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he is going out to the water. Stand on the bank of the Nile. The Nile was this massive river that is basically why Egypt exists is because of the Nile. It is their life.
As he's going out, stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him and take in your hand the staff that turned into a serpent. And you shall say to him, the Lord, the God of Hebrews sent me to you saying, let my people go that they may serve me in the wilderness. And we're going to hear this repeated over and over again. That word serve, that they may serve me. That word serve is the same word that is used when Pharaoh says, you've taken the people away from their burdens, tell them to get back to their work. It's that same word, that word for work or serve.
And so what God is doing is he's saying, they're not going to belong to you anymore. They're going to belong to me. They're not going to serve you anymore. They're going to serve me. And we talked about that a couple of weeks ago, how that's a wonderful thing that God is not just setting them free to be free, but he's setting them free to himself. And so we're going to hear that repeated as we go through this.
May serve me in the wilderness, but so far you have not obeyed. Thus says the Lord, by this, you shall know that I am the Lord. So this is why he's doing it, that you shall know that I am the Lord behold with the staff that is in my hand, I will strike the water that is in the Nile and it shall turn into blood. The fish in the Nile shall die and the Nile will stink and the Egyptians will grow weary of drinking water from the Nile. And the Lord said to Moses, say to Aaron, take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, their ponds and all the pools of water so that they may become blood.
And there should be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone. And Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile and all the water in the Nile turned into blood and the fish in the Nile died and the Nile stink so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. The Nile represents life to the Egyptians. It floods every year and it makes it possible for them to grow crops. It is where life comes from.
It's where their economy comes from. And they understood it to be a God. They understood it to be the blood flow, life flow of their gods. And they had gods that were gods of the Nile. Their system for how their gods worked, like I said, there's 42 of them. It's all over the place.
So the Nile is a God, but there's a God over the Nile and the Nile is the blood of the gods. And they were fine with that. But they didn't have it real orderly. But there's gods all over the place that are, there's like five gods of the air and a bunch of gods of the earth. It's, it's just, it's a bit all over the place, but they understood it to be deity. And it was a place of life for them.
But it's a place of death for the Israelites. For who knows how many years they were having to throw their sons into the Nile. And God strikes the Nile and it turns to blood. And all the canals and all the ponds and all the pools and all the basins that people had used filled with blood. So at this moment, there are people bathing in the Nile, using water from the Nile to clean clothes, to clean their hands, and it turns to blood.
This is the stuff of nightmares. They are marked by death. And God shows his imminent authority. Do you want me to tell you how they did that? Can't, it's a secret. We said, uh, about, uh, last week Spencer was talking through this and we said that we don't understand exactly how they are able to copy some of these signs that it could possibly be that they are illusionists.
It could also possibly be that there is some demonic authority in their pantheon, some evil spiritual power that allows them to do some of this. And the Bible doesn't go into it, but we do see that they're able to mimic this. So it says the magicians were able to mimic this. So Pharaoh's heart remained hardened and he would not listen to them. As the Lord had said, Pharaoh turned and went into his house and he did not take even this to heart. And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the Nile.
Seven full days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile. So they have to start scrambling to try to just find water. Some people would have scrambled to try to get themselves cleaned off, trying to find some water, but they spend the rest of this time. And for a week, the Nile is blood and it stinks. I don't know if you've ever been in an area of a city where it stinks, but it is oppressive and it wears on you and it stinks. Chapter eight, the second plague.
The Lord said to Moses, go into Pharaoh and say to him, thus says the Lord, let my people go that they may serve me. But if you refuse to let them go, go behold, I will plague you. That word plague can also be used. It can be translated strike or smite you, or it's like a blow that's given. I will plague all your country with frogs. Frogs.
What? That's the immediate first response you have. At least I have. It's like frogs. Like if you were little kids and you're like, we're all going to be superheroes. It's like, all right, well, I have super strength and I'm super fast.
And one kid was like, I'm frog boy. Be like, good for you. Seems a little odd, but there's an Egyptian God known as Heket that had a frog's head or was represented by a frog. And it was the God of reproduction of fertility because frogs would mate and have all these eggs all in the, the Egyptian, in the Nile. And so it was this understanding that, that this God blesses and multiplies and God's saying, no, I'm the God that's in charge of that. I bless and I multiply.
And you're about to watch me multiply frogs. And y'all, this gets bad. Verse three, the Nile shall swarm with frogs that shall come up into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed and into the houses of your servants and your people and into your ovens and your kneading bowls. My wife couldn't cook a meal if we brought one frog into the kitchen. They're everywhere. Do you know how loud frogs are?
They're on your bed, in your bedroom. This is torment. And it is a display of the greatness of God. The frog shall come upon you and on your people and on all your servants. So it's verse four.
It's a verse five. And the Lord said to Moses, say to Aaron, stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the canals and over the pools and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt. So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. But the magicians did the same by their secret arts and made frogs come up on the land of Egypt. So they're able to mimic this one as well.
But you'll notice something about the magicians. They're not able to stop God. They don't have the ability or the authority to send the frogs back. They just make more frogs. They took some good water that apparently hadn't come from the Nile and turned that into blood. Great.
Very helpful. Thank you. That'd be like if you and I were walking along and a bully came along. I mean like a bully and slapped me in the face. And then you said, don't be afraid of him. That's nothing.
Anyone can slap you in the face. And then you slapped me in the face. It would be not helpful. So they're like, look, we made more frogs. Thanks. So proud of you guys.
Verse eight. Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, this is how you know this one is terrible. Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, plead with the Lord to take away the frogs for me and my people. And I will let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord. It was a full week of the Nile being blood and he doesn't crack. He says, get these frogs out of here.
Plead. I'll let you go. This is what we want. He's going to get, he's going to let them go. So Moses said to Pharaoh, be pleased to command me when I am to plead for you, for your servants, for your people, that the frogs be cut off from you and your houses and be left only in the Nile.
And he said, tomorrow, Moses said, be it as you say, so that you may know that there is no one like the Lord, our God. If you said to someone who's playing baseball, you said, hit a home run for me. And they said, pick the inning, pick the pitcher and point which part of the wall you want me to hit it over. And then they did it. You'd be pretty well confident. They knew how to play some baseball.
He says, pray that these frogs will be taken away. And he says, pick a time so that you'll know he's in charge. He says, tomorrow, he says, tomorrow. Verse 11. Moses, uh, verse 10. He said, tomorrow, Moses said, be it as you say, so that you may know that there is no one like the Lord, our God, the frog shall go away from you and your houses and your servants and your people.
They should be left only in the Nile. So Moses and Aaron, went out from Pharaoh and Moses cried to the Lord about the frogs as he had agreed with Pharaoh. And the Lord did according to the word of Moses, the frogs died out in the houses, the courtyards and the fields, and they gathered them together in heaps and the land stank. But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them as the Lord had said. Verse 16, the third plague. Then the Lord said to Moses, say to Aaron, stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth so that it may become gnats in all the land of Egypt.
And they did so. Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth. And there were gnats on man and beast. All the dust of the earth became gnats in all the land of Egypt. That's a lot of gnats. You ever get a gnat in your eye or your ear or your nose?
It's torment. And you look like a crazy person. You're talking to people and suddenly you're like, well, they're everywhere. And he strikes the dust to do this. He's showing that I'm the God of the earth. Y'all have gods that are supposed to be the land.
Boom. Gnats. It's a massive display of God's power and greatness. The magicians tried by their secret arts to produce gnats. They were like, we can make it worse. Watch.
But they could not. So there were gnats on man and beast. Then the magician said to Pharaoh, this is the finger of God. But Pharaoh's heart was hardened and he would not listen to them as the Lord had said earlier. They mimicked it. And then it said, so his heart was hardened.
This time they were, they come to him and say, we, this, this is God's doing. And it says, but his heart was hardened and he did not listen to them as the Lord had said. The fourth plague, verse 20. Then the Lord said to Moses, rise up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh as he goes out to the water and say to him, thus says the Lord, let my people go that they may serve me or else. If you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants and your people and into your houses and the houses of the Egyptians shall be filled with swarms of flies and also the ground on which they stand.
But on that day, I will set apart the land of Goshen where my people dwell so that no swarms of flies shall be there that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth. Again, this is, he has a missionary purpose. I'm doing this to display who I am that you might know that I'm the Lord. So he says, I'm going to send flies, but there's a new wrinkle. They're going to stop around the land of Goshen flies, swarms of them on the ground in your houses, everywhere. You go to Goshen, no flies so that you'll know that I'm the Lord in the midst of the earth.
Thus, I will put a division between my people and your people. Tomorrow, this shine, this sign shall happen. And the Lord did so. There came great swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh and into his servants houses throughout all the land of Egypt. The land was ruined by the swarms of flies. And I'm impressed over, as I read through this, how hungry my wife would have been because she can't eat of flies or all around her either.
She'd have really been struggling through this. You guys are 25. Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, go sacrifice to your God within the land. So he says, okay, you can go, but do it within the land. Don't go anywhere. You can go, but don't go.
But Moses said it would not be right to do so for the offerings. We shall sacrifice the Lord. Our God are an abomination to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice offerings abominable to the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not stone us? We must go three days journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord, our God, as he tells us. So Pharaoh said, I will let you go to sacrifice to the Lord, your God in the wilderness.
Only you must not go very far away. Plead for me. Then Moses said, behold, I am going out from you and I will plead with the Lord that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants and from his people tomorrow. only let not Pharaoh cheat again, but not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord. We've done this before. And Pharaoh did not hold up his end. Verse 30.
So Moses went out from the Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord and the Lord did as Moses asked and removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants and from his people, not one remained. But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also and did not let the people go. So this is dragging out. They keep having these moments where Pharaoh says, okay, and then they wait and he doesn't. And God strikes them again. Chapter nine, the fifth plague.
Then the Lord said to Moses, go into Pharaoh and say to him, thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, let my people go that they may serve me. For if you refuse to let them go and still hold them, behold, the hand of the Lord will fall with a very severe plague upon your livestock that are in the field, the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the herds and the flocks. But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt so that nothing of all that belongs to the people of Israel shall die. And the Lord set a time saying tomorrow, the Lord will do this thing in the land.
And the next day, the Lord did this thing. All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one of the livestock of the people of Israel died. And Pharaoh sent, you're thinking, sent the people out of the land? No, sent and behold, not one of the livestock of Israel is dead. He just went and said, see if that actually happened. But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened and he did not let the people go.
Okay. So God is drawing these distinctions. He already had it to where swarms of flies, which, you know, swarms of flies wouldn't work like this, but they ran to an arbitrary border and saw a sign that said, welcome to the land of Goshen. And they said, oh, not for us. We're not allowed to go. And now he's got a pestilence that knows the ownership of animals.
This is not how this works, but it is if God's in charge and a wasting disease comes along and takes out the livestock of the Egyptians. And God displays his greatness. And he says, I'm going to do this so that you might know. The sixth plague boils. The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, take hands of soot from the kiln and let Moses throw them in the air in the sight of Pharaoh. Pharaoh, it shall become fine dust over all the land of Egypt and become boils breaking out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt.
So they took soot from the kiln and stood before Pharaoh and Moses threw it in the air and it became boils breaking out in sores on man and beast. And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils for the boils came upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians, the magicians who would have been able to supposed to be able to heal and protect. They can't even, they're not even, we can't even be there. They're so covered in boils, but the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh and he did not listen to them as the Lord had spoken to Moses. This one, Moses doesn't even say anything.
At least we're not told that he says anything. God says, go get soot from the kiln. Now these kilns were most likely the kilns they were using to make bricks as slaves. He goes and gets handfuls of soot, walks into where Pharaoh is, which is never a fun time for Pharaoh. Throws it in the air. Now you would think it would make kind of a cloud, be a little bit dramatic, I guess, and fall.
And then he might say something like thus is assigned to whatever, but he does it. He throws it in the air and it becomes a fine dust that just takes off. And then Moses doesn't say anything. He throws it in the air. And he just leaves and it becomes a fine dust that goes everywhere and covers them all with boils that turn into sores. So much so that the magicians can't even show up.
It's not like some boils and sores. It's like incapacitating. And God is showing his greatness and his sovereignty that he rules over the land of Egypt because they had gods that were over the air. They had gods that were over pestilence and disease. They had gods that could heal. No.
False gods. None are like the Lord God. Verse 13, the seventh plague. Then the Lord said to Moses, rise up early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh and say to him, thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, let my people go that they may serve me for this time. I will send all my plagues on yourself and on your servants and on your people so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth. So what he's saying is Pharaoh, your gods aren't gods.
There's none like me. In some ways, this is an invitation to the people of Egypt to recognize, humble themselves and worship. He keeps going. Verse 15 for by now, I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence and you would have been cut off from the earth. In some ways, he's saying, have I proved my point yet? You're well aware I could have killed you if I wanted to kill you.
Killing you is simple for me. I could have just smudged Egypt off the map. If I can cover you in boils, if I can kill all your livestock, if I'm in charge of frogs, if I can make blood come up in the Nile, like, you know, I could just kill you if I wanted to kill you. But he's going to describe his purpose. There's a reason here. Verse 16, but for this purpose, I have raised you up to show you my power so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.
God said, I'm going out of my way to declare my glory so that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. I want the world to recognize there is no God like me. I want humility and worship to run rampant so that I might be acknowledged as the one true God. He says, but you are still exalting yourself against my people and will not let them go. I said that in some ways, this is an invitation and it is. And I want you to see this in your own life.
Pause for just one second. There are times where God in his goodness to you does not let your idols, does not let you have your idols, doesn't let them work out. You've got something that you say you worship, you serve it like they serve Pharaoh, that your time and your energy goes into that. If I could just have this thing, then I'd be happy. If I could just make this work, if I just get this amount of money, if I could just have this promotion, if I could just dress like this, if I could just look like this, if I could just date this person, then I'd be fine. Some of you are very frustrated with God because he will not let your other small G God work.
And it's graciousness that you might know there's no God like him, that you might know where true satisfaction and joy is, and that you might stop exalting yourself in your own wisdom, but humble yourself and come to him. It's good. It's a goodness to you that some of the Egyptians might actually surrender and believe rather than to follow false gods that seem to work for them unto the ultimate destruction. Verse 18. Behold, about this time tomorrow, I will cause very heavy hail to fall such as has never been in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. Now, therefore, send, get your livestock and all that you have in the field into safe shelter for every man and beast that is in the field and is not brought home will die when the hail falls on them.
This is meant to be for crops. Get your livestock and your people and get them back in. The reason the fact that they have livestock is one of the things that makes me think this takes time. I used to think the 10 plagues were like 10 days, like the worst 10 days ever. But I don't think that's what that is at all.
I think it slowly is a crippling, debilitating thing over a nation that takes place over time so that they've actually replaced some of their livestock. They've traded, maybe confiscated some of the Israelite livestock, but they have some livestock now. And a little while we'll see again that there's a difference between when something happens in like a harvest time. And so that this took place over time. I just go get it in because it's going to die. Verse 20.
Then I love this part. Then whoever feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh hurried his slaves and his livestock into the houses. But whoever did not pay attention to the word of the Lord left his slaves and his livestock in the field. Some of the people around Pharaoh are starting to get this. Moses is leaving. Servant goes to another servant says, Hey, well, what did he just say?
Same thing. He always says, let my people go. Okay. We're going to do that. No. Okay.
Then what did he say is going to happen? Oh, a hell storm is going to come tomorrow. He said, get your stuff inside. Help. Get, get it inside right now. All of you, everybody inside, put them in the house.
I don't care. We don't have that many cows left. Just wherever. Just put them up. Some of them believed. And it says, but whoever did not pay attention, left it all out.
Then the Lord said to Moses, stretch out your hand toward heaven so that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt. All right. I want to point out something to us. The magicians seem to have some power on their own something that they're doing. So in some ways they're more powerful than Moses and Aaron, because Moses and Aaron don't really have anything that they're actually doing.
Moses and Aaron are serving the Lord and the Lord does everything. The reason I find this really helpful is that God keeps telling Moses and Aaron to do things. He says, stretch out your hand toward heaven so that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt. So that now I know us and I know how many of us would respond. God, I don't know how to make hail. I told you to stretch your hand out towards heaven.
I'm not in charge of the weather, God. Something I can't do. We'd have been doing this the whole time. Strike the Nile and turn the dust into gnats. I'm not in charge of gnats. I don't know how to do this.
I struck the earth. Did I say Nile? Yeah, just be fine. But we'd have been arguing the whole time. And what they have is faith and obedience and a very powerful God who does what he says he's going to do. And some of us need to walk into our offices and our neighborhoods with some faith and obedience.
Trusting that God is the one who redeems. God is the one who saves. And we actually get to step out saying, I don't have the authority or the power to see people repent and follow Jesus. I don't have the authority and power to make this conversation work. But that's not what I've been asked to do.
I just get to do the thing he told me to do, which is take this step in faith and obedience and watch him do what he's going to do. And understanding that, yes, Moses is not in charge of hailstorms. This isn't something God didn't look around and go, who's really good at hailstorms? Let me go find Moses. That's not how this worked at all. God said, obey with faith.
And he does. And then God moves. And we need to notice that. All right. We were in verse 22. So that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man and beast and every plant in the field in the land of Egypt.
Then Moses stretched out his staff towards heaven and the Lord sent thunder and hail and fire ran down to the earth. And that's most likely lightning because they refer to it as thunders later. The Lord rained hell upon the land of Egypt. There was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of Egypt. Oh, so in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. So basketball sized hail, I mean, like destructive murder hail, which by the way, later he's going to say that he's going to send something that never before and never after this one just says never before.
It's bad news for Egypt potentially in the future. All the land of Egypt since it became a nation, the hail struck down everything that was in the field and all the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And the hail struck down every plant of the field and broke every tree of the field only in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel were, was there no hail. So they just got to stand and watch this massive destructive storm that follows arbitrary map lines. Then Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron and said to them, this time I have sinned.
The Lord is in the right and I and my people are in the wrong. Plead with the Lord, for there has been enough of God's thunder and hail. I will let you go and shall stay no longer. Wonderful. He says, I've sinned. Plead with him.
Y'all can go. Moses said to him, as soon as I have gone out of the city, I will stretch out my hand to the Lord. The thunder will cease and there will be no more hail so that there that you may know that the earth is the Lord's. But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the Lord God. Moses is summoned to Pharaoh. He says, I'm going to walk out of the city.
When I get out of the city, then I'm going to pray. It'll stop. And you'll know that he's the Lord, which makes me think, and the Bible doesn't say this. Y'all can ponder it on your own, but it makes me think that the hail swerved around Moses while he walked. I think Moses potentially walked in and stood before Pharaoh dry, walked out as the storm just curves around him, goes on the opposite end of the storm, walks out of the city, raises his staff. The storm stops.
He makes eye contact with Pharaoh in his castle or whatever he has, Pharaoh's house. Go past a palace. How about that? No, he didn't sound medieval. Turns around and walks off so that Pharaoh might know that there is no God like the Lord God. It says, when I get out of the city, I'll raise up my hand.
Verse 31, we get a little aside. It says, the flax and the barley were struck down for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud, but the wheat and the emmer were not struck down for they are late in coming. About half their crops are gone. Half are yet to come. So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, stretched out his hands to the Lord and the thunder and hail ceased and the rain no longer poured upon the earth.
But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet again and hardened his heart, he and his servants, so that the heart of Pharaoh was hardened and he did not let the people go, people of Israel go, just as the Lord had spoken through Moses. That's a whole sermon. I've sinned when things are bad. I've sinned. Help me, Lord, please take this away. It goes away and we sin yet again.
Eighth plague, chapter 10. Then the Lord said to Moses, go into Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants that I may show these signs of mine among them and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, that y'all, that you is plural, that you may know that I am the Lord. So he's been telling Pharaoh, this is so that you'll know. He says it's so that the ends of the earth will know. And then he tells Moses, it's so that the Israelites will know. So that you and your son and your grandson will know that you will repeat this and you'll know that I am the Lord.
It's meant to bring about humility and worship. So Moses and Aaron went into Pharaoh and said to him, thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, how long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go that they may serve me. For if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country and they shall cover the face of the land so that no one can see the land and they shall eat what is left to you after the hail. And they shall eat every tree, a tree of yours that grows in the field. So I'm assuming this is the emmer and the wheat that have now come up.
So there's been some time here. He said, they're going to eat all of that. They shall fill your houses and the houses of your servants and all the Egyptians as neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen from the day they came on earth to this day. Then he turned and he went out from Pharaoh. Then Pharaoh's servant said to him, how long shall this man be a snare to to us?
Let the men go that they may serve the Lord, their God. Do you not yet understand that Egypt is ruined? His servants are saying, please, please let them go. So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh and he said to them, go serve the Lord, your God, but which ones are to go? And Moses said, we will go with our young and our old. We would go with our sons and our daughters and with our fox and our herds for we must hold a feast to the Lord.
But he said to them, the Lord be with you. If ever I let you and your little ones go, look, you have some evil purpose in mind. No, go the men amongst you and serve the Lord for that is what you were asking. And they were driven out from the, from Pharaoh's presence. Then the Lord said to Moses, stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts so that they may come upon the land of Egypt and eat every plant in the land, all that the hail has left.
So Moses stretched out his hand over the land of Egypt and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day and all that night. When it was morning, the east wind had brought the locust. The locust came up over all the land of Egypt and settled on the whole country of Egypt. Such a dense swarm of locusts as had never been before nor ever will be again. They covered the face of the whole land so that the land was darkened and they ate all the plants in the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Not a green thing remained, neither tree nor plant of the field through all the land of Egypt.
Then Pharaoh hastily called Moses and Aaron and said, I have sinned against the Lord, your God and against you. Now, therefore, forgive my sin, please only this once and plead with the Lord, your God only to remove this death from me. So he went out from Pharaoh and pleaded with the Lord and the Lord turned the wind into a very strong west wind, which lifted the locusts and drove them into the Red Sea. Not a single locust was left in all the country of Egypt, but the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart and he did not let the people go. Then the Lord said to Moses, this is the ninth plague, last one we're going to look at today, stretch out your hand towards heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt.
So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven and there was pitch darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the people of Israel had light where they lived. The chief God amongst the people of Egypt was raw and they believed wrongly that he would put the sun in a chariot, ride it into the sky every day, take it back home and do it again the next day. And God says, no, I'm in charge of the sun. And he makes a darkness that you can feel. And they did not see each other for three days, which makes me think it was a darkness that actually conquered light, that if they tried to light something, the darkness swallowed it.
And so they just sit for three days. Now, I don't know about your mental state, but sitting in pitch darkness for three days is tough. Pitch overwhelming darkness, the thought process of what has happened to the sun and what does that mean? Three days. But all the people of Israel had light where they lived.
Verse 24. So then it ends and says, then Pharaoh called Moses and said, go serve the Lord. So it's not even going on anymore. It's over. It's already been relented of, but Pharaoh at this point says, we got to, y'all got to go, go serve the Lord. Your little ones also may go with you.
Only let your flocks and your herds remain behind. So Pharaoh still hasn't fully surrendered. He wants to have some reason they have to come back. You got to leave your flocks and your herds behind. But Moses said, you must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings that we may sacrifice to the Lord.
Our God, our livestock also must go with us. Not a hoof shall be left behind for we must take of them to serve the Lord, our God. And we do not know what we must serve the Lord, how we must serve with what we must serve the Lord until we arrive there. Verse 27. But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart and he would not let them go.
Then Pharaoh said to him, get away from me, take care, take care, never to see my face again. For on the day you see my face, you shall die. And Moses said, as you say, I will not see your face again. Moses says, have it how you like it. If Pharaoh is going to have any hope, any chance, he needs Moses. He needs Moses because Moses is the only one through whom that he can get to God.
And he's going to have any hope, any chance. If this is going to get turned around, he needs Moses and he utterly rejects Moses. He utterly rejects God. He says, I better not see your face again because if I see your face again, I'm going to kill you. And God has purposed to put on display his glory. So that the Egyptians, the ends of the earth, the Israelites and all who hear of this might humble themselves and worship.
So if you said, what do we do with the 10 plagues of Egypt? What am I supposed to do with this? You're supposed to humble yourself and worship. You're supposed to be thankful for a God who does not allow idols to stand before him. And we're supposed to see in this, the reflected glory of Christ who also performs signs so that we may know that he is the Lord God. He doesn't strike the water.
He blesses it and turns it into wine where, where God is undoing Egypt, judging Egypt. Jesus comes, he says, not to condemn the world, but that through me, the world might be saved. He's coming to show a rebirth or re life. Life. He's bringing hope, not death. He's bringing life to the earth.
So Jesus comes. He doesn't curse the water. He blesses the water. He turns it into wine. He doesn't curse the crops, the food. He blesses it and he multiplies it.
There's more loaves and more fish with Jesus. He doesn't bring the storm. He calms the storm. He doesn't bring sickness and disease. He heals sickness and disease and he does not cause death and darkness upon us, but he takes death and darkness upon himself. So that we may know that he is the Lord in the earth, that he has come in the purpose, person of Jesus for the purpose of rescuing a people so that when he dies, we might understand that when he says that it's to pay for sin, that it is when he rises, we might understand that he has risen, conquering sin and death and hell so that we might humble ourselves and worship.
And Moses stood before Pharaoh that he might humble himself and worship and through the person of Moses come to know this Lord. And Jesus stands before you that you might humble yourself and worship and through the person of Jesus come to know the Lord God of all creation. And you have the option to utterly reject Jesus, to continue to exalt yourself or to look into the scriptures, see his signs and wonders and repent and humble yourselves and worship to the glory of God. Let's pray. Lord, there is no Lord like you, Lord. There is no God who rules over every aspect of creation.
There is no God who bends all of creation to your will that raises and lowers kingdom. And there is no God like you that humbles yourself to redeem sinners through your own blood. Lord, there is no God. And God, may you receive glory and worship and honor from us all of our days. Amen. The band is going to come back up and we're going to sing.
And I would invite you to accept the invitation that Pharaoh rejected. To know that he is the Lord God. To repent, humble yourselves and trust in this God who rules over all things.
Pharaoh's Hard Heart (Exodus 6:10-7:13)
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're going to be in Exodus chapter 6 verse 10 through 713 as we continue to travel through Exodus together. So in college, my wife and I started dating our junior year.
So we were best friends before and we started dating February of my junior year. And it was taking a chance. Dating your best friend was serious enough. By the time the summer came along, it was even more serious. But that summer before senior year, we both spent the summer apart.
I was down in Myrtle Beach doing a summer beach project with a campus ministry and she was working for a camp. And we only got to see each other once in that period about halfway through the summer she came down and visited. That summer was big for me. I was thinking through a lot, processing a lot of bigger questions. And then about a week before she came down, I reached out to her and said, hey, listen, we need to talk. I've been thinking and processing some things and just we'll talk when you get down here.
And then the whole week, she was like, oh, no, this isn't good. Because back then, I don't know if it's still popular now, but like younger Christians would do the whole like breakup thing where it's like, I feel like God's just calling me to like a season of singleness. Or like, like over spiritualize that kind of stuff. And she's like, oh, has he gone down there for four weeks and God's worked in his heart and all of a sudden. So the whole week she's sitting on that.
And then she comes down and visits and I didn't waste any time. I said, let's go for a walk. So I went for a walk and I just said, listen, I've been I've been thinking a lot this summer and I finally have some clarity on something. For years, I've been wrestling with the sovereignty of God and man's free will. And I just I finally I don't know. I have a piece about it now.
And I just started to talk about how I got just been searching the scriptures and I finally had some peace. And she's like, what? Are you serious? She's like, I thought you were going to break up with me. I said, break up with you. Where did you get that crazy idea from?
No, I was falling in love with her. I was I was. No, that was not how that was going down at all. But I let her on and she was very upset. And it's been a joke ever since. We're a high loader with that.
But a couple of weeks ago, we were in Exodus four. And we came across this bigger theological question that showed up in 421 when it says, And the Lord said to Moses, when you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let you go. Let the let the people go. So that question I've been wrestling with is a question that many Christians have wrestled with.
When you come across passages like this, where it says he hardened the heart of Pharaoh. So what do you do with that? A couple of weeks ago, I said we didn't have the space to cover it that week. But we would in a couple of weeks. And now we are here. So we're going to take a look at this subject matter, what it means with this language of the hardening of Pharaoh's heart.
Because many Christians have wrestled with this. That if God hardens the heart of Pharaoh, if he makes Pharaoh do a thing, does that make Pharaoh responsible for his own sinful actions? Like how does that work? People ask, how is that fair? Or how is that just? These are some difficult questions to approach in the scriptures.
And this phrasing of God's heart and Pharaoh's heart shows up over and over and over again in the first half of Exodus. So it's front and center of our passage today. We're going to take a look at it. We're going to look at this passage. And then I want us to, as we work through it, take a step back. And then approach this bigger theological question in light of the rest of the story.
Now, I don't promise to resolve all the tension that's been held for 2,000 years as the church has tried to understand this. But I do believe if we take a far enough step back, we'll actually see this as really good. And we'll be able to find some peace about all of this. So, let me pray. And then we'll jump in. Heavenly Father, I pray that you would bless our time.
And your word is sharper than any two-edged sword. It pierces the division of soul and spirit, of bone and marrow. It reveals the thoughts and the tensions of the heart. God, I pray that you would use the word of God to do that in us this morning. And that we would respond in faith and worship and delighting in you. We ask this in Jesus' name.
Amen. All right, so let's jump in in verse 10. So the Lord said to Moses, Go in. Tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to let the people of Israel go out of his land. But Moses said to the Lord, Behold, the people of Israel have not listened to me.
How then shall Pharaoh listen to me? For I am of uncircumcised lips. But the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge about the people of Israel and about king of Egypt to bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt. So as we saw a couple of weeks ago in Moses' calling, he has doubt. And this doubt seems to continue. He has a doubt.
He's like, how am I going to convince Pharaoh? I can't even convince the people. See, we left off in verse 9 of last week. And it said they had a crushed, a broken spirit. Because they first approached Pharaoh and then it didn't go as well. And Pharaoh afflicted heavy burdens on the people.
And now they're crushed in spirit. He's like, I can't even convince the people. He says, I'm a man of uncircumcised lips. Which is just a way of saying I have unclean lips. I'm not good enough. If I can't convince the people, how in the world am I going to convince Pharaoh?
Pharaoh. Now we know, as we're going to see next week, how God is going to convince Pharaoh through his wondrous, mighty Acts. He says, no, go to Pharaoh. And they're about to. And 10 through 30 is all one big chunk that's together. All of a sudden, it seems to come out of nowhere as a genealogy.
Which I know is everyone's favorite. It's a genealogy that just kind of shows up out of nowhere. I think a couple of reasons. I think it's there. I think it's to break up the story of Exodus. I think act 1 is the calling of Moses and him coming to Egypt.
And then act 2 is going to start with God performing his mighty, wondrous Acts. Also, this genealogy is Moses and Aaron centered. It doesn't go through all the tribes of Israel. It goes all the way up to Levi, which is the tribe of Moses and Aaron. And in a lot of Old Testament passages, it's told in the form of chiasm. That's a nerdy biblical word.
But what it is is basically this. This 10 through 30 section is Moses, then Moses and Aaron, leading up to the genealogy. Then it flows backwards, Moses and Aaron, and back to Moses, some of the exact same phrasing. So that's what's happening here in this genealogy. It's really legitimizing and verifying this is the Moses and Aaron who God used to do this. So, pick up in verse 14.
These are the heads of their fathers' houses. So, we've done genealogies before. We did it in Matthew. Genealogies are not like Ancestry.com. It's not catching every single person in the line. They're told thematically and theologically.
They're hitting major figures. And that's what happens in this because they're skipping lots of different people in the line. These are the heads of their fathers' houses. The sons of Reuben. Here's the first tribe. The firstborn of Israel.
Hanak, Paulu, Hezron, and Carmi. These are the clans of Reuben. The sons of Simeon. Jemuel. Jamin. Ohad.
Jachin. Zohar. And Shaul, the son of the Canaanite woman. Which, that's some commentary. That Shaul's dad married the wrong woman. He didn't marry Canaanite women.
Canaanites were pagans. They did things like sacrifice their children to foreign gods. That's just some commentary there. The son of the Canaanite women are the clans of Simeon. Verse 16. These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations.
Okay, so this is where we get to Moses and Aaron, their tribe. Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. The years of the life of Levi being 137 years. The sons of Gershon, Libni, and Shimei by their clans. The sons of Kohath, Amram, Mali, and Mushi. Sorry.
The sons of Kohath, Amram, Izahar, Hebron, and Uziel. The years of the life of Kohath being 133 years. Then verse 19. The sons of Merari, Mali, and Mushi. Which, those of you that want children's names and you want to alliterate your children's names. Those three are winners.
Okay. Keep going. These are the clans of the Levites according to their generations. Verse 20. Amram took as his wife Jochebed his father's sister. And she bore him Aaron and Moses.
Okay. Let me read that again one more time. Amram took as his wife Jochebed his father's sister. And she bore him Aaron and Moses. Okay. A little gross.
Okay. The Bible is not. Just being honest. The Bible sometimes is descriptive and not always prescriptive. Okay. This is before the Old Testament law that prohibits ancestral relationships.
And that is what happened here. So for those of you that were like, oh, genealogy is so boring. I bet you didn't know that Moses' mom was his great aunt. That's a thing. Which also I feel like had to be a little bit awkward in Leviticus when Moses is receiving the law from God. And we get to Leviticus 18 and it forbids ancestral relationships.
And it specifically in there lists a bunch of them. And it says, don't sleep with your aunt. I mean, that's just probably just thinking, man, I'm glad mama's gone. But daddy's a little younger. So he's going to take it real hard when he hears this.
Anyways. The years of the life of Amram being 137 years. Keep going. The sons of Izahar. Korah. This is the Korah who leads the rebellion against Moses.
Spoiler alert. It doesn't end well for him. Then we've got Nephag and Zichri. The sons of Uziel. Mishael. Elzaphon.
And Sithri. Verse 23. Aaron took as his wife Elishabah, the daughter of Amminadab and the sister of Nashon. She bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. The sons of Korah. Asir.
Elkanah. And Abiaseth. These are the clans of the Korahites. Verse 25. Eleazar, Aaron's son, took as his wife, one of the daughters of Pudiel. And she bore him Phineas.
We'll later see that Phineas, he ends a rebellion against God with zeal and a spear. These are the heads of the fathers, houses of the Levites by their clans. All right. Now we're going backwards in the Chiasm. Verse 26. These are the Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, bring out the people of Israel from the land of Egypt by their hosts.
It was they who spoke to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, about bringing out the people of Israel from Egypt. This Moses and Aaron. And then we end with Moses. Verse 28. On the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, the Lord said to Moses, I am the Lord. Tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt, all that I say to you.
Here's that phrasing again. But Moses said to the Lord, but behold, I'm of uncircumcised lips. How will Pharaoh listen to me? Okay. So that completes that section.
Then we move into chapter 7. Now, what I want to do first is I want to walk through the story. Walk through the story. Then we're going to come back and work through this bigger theological question of God's sovereignty and man's free will. So, verse 1. And the Lord said to Moses, see, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet.
So Moses is the mediator, the prophet of God. And then he goes on to say, you shall speak all that I command you. And your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land. But I will harden Pharaoh's heart. So there it is.
That's the phrasing. We're going to come back to that. And though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. So let me pause there for a second. He says signs and wonders. When you think about the ten things that happen that Moses performs to the power of God, what is the word that usually comes up in your brain?
Plagues. Plagues is only used once. That's more of how the Egyptians would have received them as plagues. It's more called five times wonders and then signs and wonders. It's just a very curious way we've learned that. Pharaoh will not listen to you.
And I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my host, my people, the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by great Acts of judgment. So he calls them my hosts, which is military language, my people, my children. And he's going to bring them out by bringing judgment on the Egyptians. Verse five. Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them. So God is going to have the showdown with Pharaoh.
With the king of Egypt. And as we saw last week, which was walking us through chapter five and chapter five, Pharaoh says this. Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? He arrogantly says that. And as we're going to see, we know exactly who this God is. And fair, you are about to find out who he is as he brings judgment.
On you and your people. Verse six. Moses and Aaron did so. They did just as the Lord commanded them. And Moses was 80 years old and Aaron 83 years old when they spoke to Pharaoh. So I mentioned this a few weeks ago and I'll mention it again.
God doesn't raise up a young, valiant, strong warrior. No, he calls Moses, who's 80 at this point, Aaron, 83. He uses men who are in the latter years of their life to accomplish his purposes. Just a really beautiful thing. So, verse eight. Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, when Pharaoh says to you, prove yourselves by working a miracle, then you shall say to Aaron, take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh that it may become a serpent.
So this is what happened at Mount Horeb. When God was showing his power to Moses. Through down the staff, it became a serpent. The serpent, which is going to be key, as it shows up here in a moment. The serpent is actually, the snake is actually a sign, a royal sign for Pharaoh. That's why sometimes we see Pharaoh tombs.
They have a snake here. This is part of the royal sign. And God is about to flex his power over this false God, Pharaoh. Verse 10. So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded.
Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants and it became a serpent. So he cast it down before the royal court, before Pharaoh. And then verse 11 says, then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers. And they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts. For each man cast down a staff and they became serpents. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs.
So in every ancient Near Eastern royal court, a king would have different, different people in his court that had different arts. Magi, magicians, sorcerers. They had all kinds of people. And we were in teaching team this week. And Isaac, who's on our teaching team. He said, were these like, like sleight of hand?
Like almost illusionist type tricks? Or was this like dark, kind of satanic power they were tapping into to mimic, to answer what Aaron did with the staff? To which Chet said in true Chet form, it's a secret. Read the text. We don't know. We don't know if this was just sleight of hand or if this was deeper, darker satanic forces.
But they answer and counter with staffs that turned into serpents. And then as we're going to see in all of these wondrous works, God's power is greater. The snake swallows up their staffs. And then we get Pharaoh's response. Still, verse 13, Pharaoh's heart was hardened. And he would not listen to them as the Lord had said.
So, Pharaoh's heart was hardened. We are going to spend the rest of our time looking at that phrasing that shows up over and over again. So, let me state what I believe is the most biblical position on this. God, because he is the sovereign God and ruler over all things. God hardens Pharaoh's heart for his purposes. And Pharaoh is responsible for his own sinful choices.
That God, because he is the sovereign ruler over all things, God hardens Pharaoh's heart for his purposes. And Pharaoh is also responsible for his own sinful actions. Which in saying that, I know can raise some immediate questions. How do you reconcile those two statements? How does this work together? How do you understand this?
Another question that people ask is, how is this fair? How is this just? We can get to some of those questions. But in order to approach those, we have to do what we do with any question from the Bible. We have to look at the Bible and start there. What does the Bible say about this?
So, I first want to look at Exodus. And see what Exodus says. And then we're going to hopefully see what it means. So, let me put some back-to-back passages. 7.3 says, But I will harden Pharaoh's heart. That's God actively saying, I will harden Pharaoh's heart.
Then you get to verse 13 of chapter 7. And it says, Still, Pharaoh's heart was hardened. That's describing the passive state of his heart. And then in 15, it says, But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart. Now, that is Pharaoh actively hardening his own heart. So, that begs the question, which one is it?
Did God harden Pharaoh's heart? Or did Pharaoh harden his own heart? Now, folks that are uncomfortable with the idea that God hardens anyone's hearts, lean more into, no, Pharaoh hardened his own heart. That is something that I used to do for years. I was very uncomfortable with this idea that God would harden anyone's heart. That he would violate their will.
And for years, I leaned into 8.15. This passage, 8.15. It seemed to be the trump card here. But I came to realize this answer is incomplete. But there are Christians that hold to this.
The late, brilliant theologian, John Stott, once commenting on all of this, said that Pharaoh hardened his heart against God and refused to humble himself is made plain in the story. So God's hardening of him was a judicial act, abandoning him to his own stubbornness. What he just said was, is that, look, the text makes it plain. That Pharaoh hardens his own heart. So what's happening here is that Pharaoh, independent from God, is hardening his own heart.
And basically what God is doing in his justice is just letting him do it. It's pushing him into his own, let him go into his own stubbornness. And that is something that I would have defended years ago because that certainly fit the philosophical understanding of how God works with our will. But the problem is, that's not what Exodus says. That's not what Exodus says. And that argument ignores the rest of the scriptures because that's not how the scriptures treat Pharaoh.
Pharaoh certainly hardens his own heart. He does. Absolutely. But he does so because God ordained it to be that way. So to answer the question, did God harden Pharaoh's heart?
Or did Pharaoh harden his own heart? Yes. Both are true. But Pharaoh's hardening of his own heart doesn't negate the fact that God's plan was to harden his heart all along. But this is the plan from the start.
It was God's plan to bring judgment upon Egypt. He was not waiting for Pharaoh to make the first step. This was the plan all along. And we caught this as early as chapter 3 in Exodus in Moses' calling in verse 19 when it says, But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand. So I, God, will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it.
After that, he will let you go. God says, I know that Pharaoh will not let you go unless compelled by my mighty hand. And when I've performed all of the wondrous Acts that I'm going to perform, I will make him let you leave. Then you will be free to go. And that picks up and continued in chapter 4. Verse 21.
And the Lord said to Moses, When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power, but I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. God is going to harden his heart. Now, some folks will try to play word games with that word harden. Some will say, Oh, that's just poetic language. It's not meant to be interpreted literally. Others will say, Well, actually, the Hebrew word for harden here, when it's used in other places, means to strengthen or to encourage.
So, for that first argument, this is not poetic language at all. That's the weakest argument there is. This isn't poetry. This is historical recounting. It is not poetic. And the second, it says, Well, the Hebrew word, when it's used elsewhere, means strengthen or encourage.
There are actually two Hebrew words for harden in Exodus. The way it's used in 7-3, but I will harden Pharaoh's heart. That word for harden only, always, means to harden, to stiffen. That's only how it's used. Now, the second word for harden, look at 7-13, it says, Still, Pharaoh's heart was hardened. That's the one that folks will play word games with because it is true.
When that is used outside the book of Exodus, it can mean to strengthen or to encourage. However, even if you take that meaning of strengthen or encourage and bring it into this passage and the other passages that's used in Exodus, what is Pharaoh being strengthened or encouraged to do? He's being strengthened or encouraged to disobey God's command to let the people go. That's what's happening here. That is why every single English translation I could find for 500 years of English translations, all of them translated the same. Harden.
Harden. Harden. Every single one. So, in 4-21, God tells Moses that he's hardening the heart of Pharaoh. That ultimately, Pharaoh's going to resist the command of God and he's going to bring wrath on and judgment on the Egyptians. And then you can go through the rest of Exodus and how this is used.
In 7-3, it says, I will harden Pharaoh's heart. That's God talking. In 7-13, it says, Pharaoh's heart was hardened. 7-14, Pharaoh's heart is hardened. Then in 8-15, it says, Pharaoh hardened, he hardened his heart.
That's Pharaoh actively hardening his own heart. Then in 8-19, but Pharaoh's heart was hardened. Then we get two more uses. We're in 8-32, it says, but Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also. And then it says in verse 34 of chapter 9, he, talking about Pharaoh, hardened, he sinned yet again and hardened his heart. So showing, Pharaoh hardening his heart, sinning against God.
Then, the rest of the story, 9-12, but the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh. 10-20, but the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart. 10-27, but the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart. 11-10, and the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart. 14-4, I will harden Pharaoh's heart. 14-8, the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh.
14-17, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so they will go in after them. So not just Pharaoh, but the Egyptians too. Only three times does it mention that Pharaoh actively hardened his own heart. The rest is a mountain of evidence that God hardened the heart of Pharaoh for his own redemptive purposes. God is in control of the situation and it is going to come out in the way that he ordains it to be. Over and over and over again, Exodus tells us that God hardened Pharaoh's heart.
And then when you get to Exodus 9, as God is pouring out his judgment through signs and wonders on the Egyptians, this is what 9-16 says, but for this purpose, this is God talking, I have raised you up, to show you my power, show Pharaoh my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. God raised up Pharaoh so that God might display his power through judgment on a regime that has enslaved his people for 400 plus years. That all the earth would know the power of God. That's the rest of the Old Testament right there. Looks back to the event of Exodus. The surrounding nations of Israel and then the promised land, they know who this God is because of what he did to Pharaoh and to Egypt.
And that theme flows throughout the rest of the Old Testament. And it shows up over and over and over again. God, because he is the sovereign king, the ruler over everyone and everything, God hardens Pharaoh's heart for his purposes. And Pharaoh is responsible for his own sinful actions. And the Bible teaches that over and over again. Which can still leave us staggering, lingering with questions.
How do you reconcile those two statements? How do you reconcile those two truths? How does that work? Some will say, how is that fair? How is that just? And for many, that's not an academic question.
It's not. For many, that's not a question that gets debated in coffee shops and ivory tower conversations. There are real faces and real stories and real people attached to that question. You have sons and daughters and brothers and sisters. You have friends and neighbors and family and co-workers, people that you love. That's not an academic question for many at all.
It's a personal one. And when you have that greater theological question and you fast forward and say, what does that mean for our own salvation? What does that mean for us? Then you get to the New Testament. Then you get to the book of Romans chapter 9.
And in chapter 9 of Romans, God, through Paul, uses Exodus and Pharaoh to explain how this works as it relates to our own salvation. So what does all this hardening language in Exodus mean? And the New Testament gives the answer. Verse 14, chapter 9, Romans. What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part?
By no means. The forceful by no means. God is not unjust. And then he gives an example. 4, verse 15. 4, he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.
So then, verse 16, it depends not on human will or exertion but on God who has mercy. Does it depend on the will of man? It depends on the mercy of God. Verse 17, 4, the scripture says to Pharaoh, for this purpose I have raised you up that I might show my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. That's quoting what we just read in Exodus 9. Verse 18, so then, he has mercy on whomever he wills and he hardens he hardens whomever he wills.
So what do you do with that unbelievably difficult teaching? I have four biblical truths to end with. I have four biblical truths that would be helpful for us to humbly submit to and believe in light of all of this in Exodus and all of this teaching in the scriptures. Here's the first. We are responsible for our own sin. The Bible makes that abundantly clear.
We are responsible for our own sin. Just because God is sovereign over everyone and everything and God chooses us to harden whom he hardens and give mercy to whom he gives mercy to that does not absolve us of human responsibility. We are responsible for his own sin. You saw that in Exodus 9. In Exodus 9, 34 it says, but when Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and the thunder had ceased he sinned yet again and hardened his heart he and his servants. It's taught in Exodus.
He's responsible for his own sinful actions. And then you get to the New Testament. James 1. James 1 says, let no one say when he's being tempted, I am being tempted by God for God cannot be tempted and he himself can't be tempted with evil and he himself tempts no one. And then he goes on to make it clear that each person is tempted when he's lured and enticed by his own desire. His own desire.
We are responsible for our own sin. Our own sin tempts us. God does not. 1 John 1.5 says, this is the message that we have heard from him and proclaimed to you that God is light. In him there is no darkness at all. There is no sin in God.
And he does not tempt and lure anyone into sin. The Bible makes that clear and abundantly clear. We are still responsible for our own sin. God does not make us sin. We sin and incur condemnation all on our own. That's the first biblical truth that we should humbly submit to.
The second is this. It is God's divine right to be sovereign over us. It is God's divine right to be sovereign over us. God is God and we are creatures. He made us. He rules over us.
Now, as Western Americans who celebrate freedom, independence, autonomy, as a birthright, that's what we celebrate as Americans. It is a birthright that we are free, autonomous, independent, human beings. We don't like that teaching at all. It's not something we're naturally accepting of. But God is God and he rules over us.
We are not autonomous. We are not independent. We are not free. The Bible makes this argument very clearly. You are either a slave to your own sinful desires. That you either obey your own sinful flesh and follow it to where it goes or you are a slave of God.
That God is your master. And in servitude to God there is joy and gladness and unbelievable blessings. But there is no middle ground. You are either a servant of one or the other. You are not free. And part of us wants to object and say, how is that fair?
Some will even use the language, I can't believe in a God who would work like this. I can't believe in a God who would do this. How? How can these two truths coexist? And God's answer to that is also in Romans 9. Pick up where I left off in Romans 9.
This is how God answers that. You will say to me then, why does he still find fault? Why does he still find faultness? For who can resist his will? That's the question that we have. Verse 20.
Here's the answer. But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Well, what does molded say to its molder? Why have you made me like this? Has the potter no right over the clay to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? So God answers us.
He says, who are you, a mere pot, to question the infinite potter? Who are you, limited by design, human, to answer the infinite God? the response here is humility, humble yourself, you are a pot. That's fairly blunt. And the reality is, and the Bible also teaches this, that if you want fairness, and I think fairness in the way that people mean nowadays, which there really means justice, you want fair. Fair is that everyone gets condemnation, and everyone gets the wages of sin, which is death. Everyone gets hell. because everyone is responsible for their own sinful actions.
And I know how that sounds to some of you. I know. Like, I know the part of you that's like, I just know. Like, I used to rage against arguments like this. I could not for the life of me reconcile how God could be completely sovereign and we're responsible for our own, how does that work? And for me, it was not an academic exercise.
In the slightest, I had family that did not believe, I had friends that did not believe. Like, I understand that the inner turmoil of the soul and trying to wrap our minds around this, and then something just clicked in a way that's not unique to me at all. It has clicked for millions and millions of followers of Christ when they finally have discovered this third truth that I would encourage you to humbly submit to, and that is this, God's sovereignty and man's free will is a mystery to behold. God's sovereignty and man's free will is a mystery to behold. So the question is, how do you reconcile those two ideas?
We don't have to. We don't have to. You know why? Because we're not God. We don't have to know how all this works. We don't have to know.
It is a mysterious paradox that we're never meant to understand. A paradox is two seemingly contradictory ideas, two seemingly opposed truths that happen to both be equally true. Both of those are biblically true. They may seem contradictory, they are not. We don't know how it all comes together, and we don't have to. It is not a puzzle for mere human minds to solve.
It is a mystery that we're meant to behold. And wrestling with it and trying to understand it is like looking at the sun and trying to behold the sun for all of its power. That's what J.K. Chesterton says about mysteries. Sometimes it's like you're trying to understand the sun and all of its power and you look at it and it's blinding you. It's too much.
You can't take it in, but if you just would look at everything else, the sun lights up. Just behold the sun for what it is and its power and just look at everything else, then everything else will be seen more clearly. If you try to understand this mysterious truth and behold it and try to quantify it, it blinds you. But if you just would look at the Christian life with that lens and just accept the mystery, everything else is more clear. It is a mystery to behold and if you can arrive at that conclusion, then I submit to you a fourth truth that I think is beautiful. The sovereignty of God is meant to lead us to worship.
Four, the sovereignty of God is meant to lead us to worship. We don't have to try to reconcile everything, we don't have to counter debates. And even for those of you that may accept this, there's an arrogance that comes with it that tries to dogmatically go after other people. That is not what this is meant for. It is meant to humble us in worship. It is meant to humble us in worship.
The opposite of a hardened heart is not free will or volition, it is God's mercy. It is the mercy of God. That's what Romans 9 taught for. He says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. So then it depends not on human will or exertion but on God who has mercy.
The opposite is mercy. And those that want to reject this, I just would humbly submit to you, we don't need free will, we need the mercy of God. And when you realize that beautiful truth, in light of our own salvation, that is when you see how merciful our God is. The path of redemption and spiritual Exodus was not found by God taking judgment on Pharaoh, ultimately it's found in taking judgment on himself at the cross. And then when he takes judgment on himself on the cross and he conquers death at the empty tomb, he redeems and he shows mercy over and over and over again. And he pours out mercy on those who don't deserve it by his own sovereign choice.
I understand how that's hard to hold in your head. I do. Let me ask you this. A lot of times you'll see Christian families. They're a wonderful, Jesus-loving husband and a Jesus-loving wife. And they have two kids.
And they raised those kids in the exact same Christian household. Those kids heard the same teachings. They sat under the same Bible stories at night. They sang the same hymns. They were part of the same kids' ministries, the same student ministries. Their mamas prayed.
Their mama prayed every day for both of them that they both might taste and see that the Lord is good and abide in him forever. They are raised in almost the exact same ways. And you will watch one who furiously follows Christ and serves the kingdom of God. Another one rejects him outright. What do you do with that? What's the difference?
Was the other one more, were they wiser? Were they smarter? Were they morally better? No. It is the mercy of God. And when you realize how beautiful that truth is and how merciful our God is, you just get to worship.
You stop trying to figure all this out and you just say, thank you, Jesus. I don't know why you saved me. I don't know why you showed me mercy, but I'm going to praise you and worship you. And that's what we get to do now.
Exodus 4:27-6:9
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 4. Exodus is the second book of the Bible.
If you grab one of these blue Bibles that's in the little rack under the chair in front of you, it'll be on page 28. The big number is the chapter. The little Numbers are the verse. We're going to start in Exodus chapter 4, 27. So where we're picking up today, God came to Moses in the burning bush and said, Go.
You're going to go to Pharaoh. You're going to proclaim that he's to let my people go. And I'm going to drive you out. I'm going to bring the people out. And he's going to send Aaron with him and he's going to go. And where we get to start today, we get to see the first steps in Moses' obedience to this call.
Spencer said a couple weeks ago that it'd be like if God came to you and said, Pack up. Go to Russia. We have a message for Putin. You're going to go stand before Putin and you're going to declare that this is over. And it'd be like that amount of intensity. But Moses is going and we're going to see that as Moses steps out in faith, that immediately everything gets worse.
Just way worse. And it's a little bit surprising. Like that's not how we thought this was going to go. It's surprising to them. It's surprising to Moses that this is like, Oh, they were doing what you said to do. Why has it gotten worse?
And if we're honest, a lot of us feel like that in our walk with the Lord. Why is this so hard? Why, when it feels like what I'm trying to follow you, I'm trying to read, I'm trying to do the things that I'm supposed to do. Why is this so difficult? Some of you are like, I became a Christian because my life was a mess. And I had in my head that after I became a Christian, it would be less like that.
But it's still extremely hard. In some ways, objectively worse. And so we're going to see as Moses goes to the Lord and says, Why? Why is this working this way? Why have you done this? We're going to see that God answers him.
And God does not tell him why. He's not going to answer that question. Why it's worked out this way. But what God is going to tell him is why it's worth it to keep going. And so for us this morning, I hope that's what we get out of this. Is that we understand, maybe we want to get all the answers to why has it played out this way.
Why has it been this specific thing. But why it's worth it to keep going. So let's pray and let's study this together. Lord, we thank you for your word. We thank you for your work of redemption among the Israelites. It gives us a tangible picture of your ultimate work of redemption from sin.
And we thank you, Lord, that you do work to redeem in the lives of your people. That you see them, that you hear them, that you know them, and that you come to save. We pray, Lord, that as we study this this morning, And that you would help our hearts be grasped by why it's worth everything to follow you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Chapter 4, verse 27.
The Lord said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. So he went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him. Okay, so that and kissed him part, I'm going to cover that first because that's weird for us. It just means it was a very warm reception. It's an Eastern thing, a Middle Eastern thing to kiss in a greeting. They're excited to see each other.
They're brothers. Aaron is a couple years older than Moses. It seems like Aaron was born in the Shifra and Pua era of Pharaoh saying, kill all the babies, and then Shifra and Pua, the midwives, being like, Hebrew women have babies too fast. That zone. And then Moses was born in the, okay, throw all the boys in the river zone because that was what happened with him, and he was adopted by Pharaoh's daughter. And so Moses grew up pretty much separate from Aaron, but he knew he had a brother.
Aaron knows of Moses. And God tells Aaron, go see Moses. And Aaron hadn't seen Moses since he killed a guy and ran away. And that's been years, 40 years or so. And so my first question when I read this, though, was how does Aaron just get to leave? Aren't they slaves in Egypt?
The text does not tell us, so I came up with two theories that I'm going to share with you now. Theory one, sneakiness. It's possible that God told him to leave, and so he just sneaked on out of there. I actually don't like theory one as much as I like theory two. Theory two, Aaron, this isn't a theory, we know this, is like 84 years old. So my second theory is that the Egyptians didn't care.
They were using slaves for manual labor. I think Aaron was past his manual labor days, and he was like, I'm out of here. And they were like, bye. Nobody minded. That's my second theory. All right.
Verse 28. And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which he had sent him to speak and all the signs he had commanded him to do. Throw the staff down, turns into a serpent, stick your hand in your cloak, pull it out. You have leprosy. Put it back. No leprosy.
He also has a sign where he can take water from the Nile and pour it out, but I don't think he's able to do that one here because I don't think they're at the Nile yet. But it's possible they traveled some. Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the people of Israel. Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people. And if you'll remember, that's what God worked out with Moses, which is Aaron's going to speak on your behalf. And the people believed.
Can you all feel this? Moses gathers them, shows them this sign, all the elders, and they believe. And they worship. And I can imagine that this news spread through the Israelites. Israelites, I mean, I bet there were people that couldn't sleep that night. I bet there were those that went to bed and just thanked the Lord that he was answering their prayers, that they had been begging him.
I bet there were those that went to sleep and they were saying, Lord, I'm sorry, I had lost heart. I had lost faith. But thank you that you hear and that you redeem and that you work. And I bet among the Israelites, it felt like it's just something in the air, the way it feels before a storm, that there's something going to happen. I bet there was giddiness. And it was the first time they ever woke up to go be a slave where there was a little bit of movement in their step that like, ah, not much longer.
You know, when you put in your two weeks notice and that's the best two weeks you've ever had at work. That kind of a thing. That feeling. God's working. They worship. And I know that some of you, as you have placed your faith in Jesus, you've had that.
That I see it. I know who he is. And I believe. And something happens in you that you can't explain. And sometimes your friends try to ask you to explain it. You can't explain it.
That something is happening to the Holy Spirit that's working you. And there's this moment of belief for them and excitement for them. And then we move forward. Chapter 5. Afterward, so we don't know exactly how long, Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, Let my people go that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness. Not be free forever.
That's not what they say. Let my people go that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness. And they're going to say later to offer sacrifices. But it says, But Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord. And moreover, I will not let Israel go.
I appreciate this response for two reasons. One, he says, Who? I don't know him. And also, No. I just like that he says, And moreover, No. And also, on top of me not knowing him, No.
You cannot go. But his questions, Who is the Lord and why should I obey him? Those questions are going to be answered for him. He's not going to like the answers, but Pharaoh will get those questions answered. Who is the Lord and why he should obey him? But he says, No.
No. Not obeying him. Don't know him. Get out of here. Then they said, The God of the Hebrews has met with us.
Please let us go a three days journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword. They're saying, He's our God and if we don't obey, it might go poorly for us. But the king of Egypt said to them, Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your burdens. And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land are now many and you make them rest from their burdens. This is how slavery works.
They are valuable to the Pharaoh for production. He says there's a lot of them and slowing down production is a bigger deal. Get back to work. And Pharaoh said, verse 6, The same day, that same day, so immediately, they go talk to Pharaoh and immediately, Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen, You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks as in the past. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. But the number of bricks that they made in the past, you shall impose on them.
You shall by no means reduce it for they are idle. Therefore they cry, Let us go and offer sacrifices to our God. So I want to show y'all, yeah, let us go and offer sacrifices to our God. I'm going to make sure I hadn't jumped ahead of myself here. Let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words. But I want to show y'all a picture.
This is a picture that was in a, these were on the walls of a tomb in Thebes. And it is pictures of people making clay bricks. So what they would do is they'd take, they didn't have stone to quarry, so they would take water, they had mud, they would make clay bricks. Straw was used, it's kind of like rebar, it helped it dry out and it helped it make more, made it more solid. So without straw, the bricks would break apart.
And you'll notice in a couple of the pictures, there's just a guy sitting holding a stick. Those are taskmasters. He's not working, he's just there to make sure you work. And so they would give the Israelites straw, they would bring it to where they were, give them straw to make bricks. And so now he says, well quit bringing them straw. They have too much time on their hands.
If they can have little get togethers where they talk about, hey, let's leave, they got too much time on their hands. So now, just quit giving them straw. And they still, but keep the same number of bricks. So if they had to make 500 bricks a day, they still have to make 500 bricks a day. But now, go get some straw and maybe you won't have times to get together and have little discussions.
Verse 10. So the taskmasters and the foreman of the people went out and said to the people, thus says Pharaoh, I will not give you straw. Go and get your straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced in the least. Okay. Moses and Aaron said, thus says the Lord. And they come out and said, you know, thus says Pharaoh.
It's a decree of a God. And if you're the people of Israel, one of those is having more of an effect on you right now. One of those feels more real. I don't know if you've ever felt that. You're like, I know what the Lord says, but man, does this feel more real. I know what he says, but this is the one that seems to work.
I know what he says, but this is the one that seems to apply to my life. That's the situation they find themselves in. Verse 11, go and get your straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced in the least. So the people were scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. So they have to make bricks that hold together.
They have to have straw to do that. They don't seem to own a lot of land and people have already harvested the straw, so they're just running around wherever they can to find stubble just to try to piece this together. The taskmasters were urgent saying, complete your work, your daily task each day as when there was straw. And the foremen of the people of Israel, so they had taskmasters and then they had foremen. Foremen were Israelites over other Israelites to make sure the work gets done. The foremen of the people of Israel whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them were beaten and were asked, why have you not done all your task of making bricks today and yesterday as in the past?
Moses and Aaron come and say, hey, God's visiting us. He's going to rescue us. Moses and Aaron go in front of Pharaoh. That same day, the rules come down that they're not going to get straw anymore and then it says, today and yesterday, they didn't meet quotas, so on that end of the second day, they're beaten. This happened quick. That the foremen are brought in and beaten by the taskmasters because they're no longer fulfilling what they're supposed to fulfill.
Now could you imagine being the foreman? For just a moment, God's visiting us. This is changing. We're going to be set free. Then they come and announce, y'all are wasting time.
You have too much time on your hands and now you've got to get the same amount of work done with less and that's hard and impossible. And then, as they fail, while people stand over them yelling, then two days in, they're beaten for it. Verse 15, then the foreman of the people of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, why do you treat your servants like this? No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, make bricks. And behold, your servants are beaten, but the fault is in your people. Your own people is in your own people.
Verse 17, but he said, you are idle. He said, lazy. You got too much time on your hands. You are idle. That is why you say, let us go and sacrifice to the Lord. Go now and work.
No straw will be given you, but you must still deliver the same number of bricks. And the foreman of the people of Israel saw that they were in trouble when they said, you shall by no means reduce your number of bricks in your daily task each day. They leave and they said, well, we're in trouble. This is not going to work out for us. Verse 20, they met Moses and Aaron who were waiting for them as they came out from Pharaoh and they said to them, the Lord look on you and judge because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants and have put a sword in their hand to kill us. Now from, Moses says, okay, Lord, I'll go.
I'll step out. If you remember at the burning bush, he said, please no. And he gave a bunch of excuses and then when God went through all of his excuses, he said, okay, you got through all my excuses, but also one more thing, please no. I have no more excuses, but please don't send me. And he sends him and Moses goes. Moses steps out in faith.
He goes before Pharaoh and it gets worse and then the people who he's coming to try to help look at him and say, may God judge you. They're going to kill us because of you. Verse 22, then Moses turned to the Lord and said, oh Lord, why have you done evil to this people? why did you ever send me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people and you have not delivered your people at all. Why? Why have you done evil?
Why has this gotten worse? You haven't delivered the people at all. Like you said you were going to deliver them, you hadn't done that at all. Like it's the opposite. It's worse. Ever since I came it's just gotten worse.
Have y'all ever thought this? Have you ever prayed this? Lord, why has this gotten harder? Why has this gotten worse? I thought this was going to be good. I thought you were going to bless.
I thought, I mean, I don't believe in the prosperity gospel. I didn't think I was going to be a millionaire and have a jet. I wouldn't be mad at you if that happened but I didn't think that was going to happen. But I didn't think it was going to be like this. I mean, it feels like I'm trying to fight uphill through briars and now there's a guy hitting me with sticks. Like I don't, it's gotten worse.
Why is this so much harder? Why isn't this easier? I've been following you for years now and it still feels like I'm in the same stuff. Why? And for Moses, Lord, I'm obeying. Why?
I did what you asked me to do. You haven't delivered at all. So chapter 6, God answers. And he doesn't answer that why. Why has this happened? He doesn't answer that.
But in his answer, I think he gives us why it's worth it. Why we should trust him. Why we should keep moving forward. In chapter 6, he says this, But the Lord said to Moses, Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. For with a strong hand he will send them out and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land. So it's interesting because right now Pharaoh's using his strength to keep them.
And God said, Watch. Pretty soon he's going to throw everything he has at getting rid of them. God spoke to Moses and said to him, I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name, the Lord, I did not make myself known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves and I have remembered my covenant.
So this first part is an answer to Moses and then he's going to tell him what to say to the people of Israel but he says, I am the Lord and he talks about what he's done, who he is and what he's done and he talks about that he's remembered this covenant and he's going to fulfill his promises. In the next bit he's going to talk about the fulfillment of those promises. But I think that's part of the first answer we get, part of where we should start is who is he? What do we know of his character? What do we know of his nature? And we have a much more beautiful answer than Moses has when we sit and consider that.
Moses has that he fulfilled his promises to the fathers in some measure that he's working this out and that he's going to fulfill these promises now in Egypt but we actually know that he does fulfill these promises in Egypt and more than that he fulfills them eternally in Christ for us. That he loves us so much that he died for us. That's what we read earlier in Ephesians 2 that while we were still sinners Christ died for us that he loved us so that he would rescue us by grace. We start there but then here's what he's going to say to say to the people of Israel this is verse 6. Say therefore to the people of Israel I am the Lord and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians and I will deliver you from slavery to them and I will redeem you with outstretched arm and with great Acts of judgment.
I will take you to be my people and I will be your God and you shall know that I am the Lord your God who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham to Isaac and to Jacob I will give it to you for a possession I am the Lord. And Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel but they did not listen to Moses because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery. They just couldn't hear it. They had a broken spirit and harsh slavery and there is really nothing worse than a broken spirit. And so my hope today is that even in the midst of wherever you are that you would be able to hear this answer.
That you would be able to hear what he says. When I was in seminary we they referred to a study I learned about a study where they had people tell a Bible story and then have to retell a Bible story. So you would listen to a Bible story and then you would retell it. And what were they studying? I don't know. Who's they?
Also don't know. But it's not important for this illustration so try to stay focused. What they did though was they did this with people in the United States and then they did this with people not in the United States that were more in it was either in Africa or kind of the Middle East India area but it was a very different culture. And so what I'm going to call is we'll just call it the West United States and we'll call it the East the not the United States. I remember like I said all the pertinent details. But they told them the story of the prodigal son and they had them repeat it.
And you don't need to know the whole story of the prodigal son. I mean for this illustration you don't. You should know it. It's good but you don't for this illustration. It comes from Luke 15. The main thing you need to know is that the prodigal son goes off and he does two things.
He has two problems. One is he wastes all his money and two there's a famine in the land. That's the problem he has. He wastes all his money there's a famine in the land. When the Westerners retold the story almost all of them remembered that he wasted his money. But only some remembered there was a famine.
Most of them did not. When the Easterners retold the story almost all of them remembered there was a famine and very few of them remembered that he had wasted his money. Now I don't know what they were studying but one of the things they found was that sometimes we only latch on to the things that seem to connect with us that make sense to us that we're excited about that we think about. Westerners understand wasting money. Maybe they've never really gone hungry never had to live through a famine never understood what that was like but they know about wasting money and the Easterners in this study didn't have a whole lot of connection to wasting money but they'd lived through some famines.
Now this is one of the only times I'll ever say this don't look at your Bibles just for a second don't look at your Bibles what does God promise that he's going to do? He says say this to the Israelites and he promises that he's going to do something what does he promise he's going to do? Get your answer in your head don't shout it out you'll ruin it for the rest of the class. I think that the majority of us remember he's going to set them free from slavery. He's going to get them out of the burdens of Egypt. If I had to guess what was the second most remembered thing is that he's going to take them to the promised land.
But there's a third thing that he says that I think we're likely to overlook. One of the reasons I think we're likely to overlook it is that as I was preparing this I kept overlooking it. And it's this you will be my people and I will be your God. And you see I think there's times where we read this and as Americans land of the free oh we got that freedom land land of the free home of the brave and it's like well it's land of the free home of the milk and honey but you were close. But you see the purpose of the freedom that he gives is not to get them to the borders of Egypt and say go live your dreams.
He sets them free that they might be his. He gets them away from Pharaoh that they might belong to him. I want to read this. I want us to see it. Verse 6 say therefore to the people of Israel I am the Lord and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians and I will deliver you from slavery to them and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great Acts of judgment. Amen.
He sets them free from slavery. There's a wonderful glorious thing that he's going to do and that he promises to do. Verse 7 I will take you to be my people and I will be your God and you shall know that I am the Lord your God who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians and I will bring you into the land that I swore to gifts he's going to give them land to Abraham to Isaac and to Jacob and I will give it to you for a possession I am the Lord but see what makes the freedom wonderful and what makes the land wonderful is that they belong to God. And how dare we fail to see how glorious and wonderful he is that he's actually what the point of the promise is.
The promised land is the promised land because he's there because he's making a people for himself. If you were in an orphanage and it wasn't a good one it was a rough place and someone came by to see you and they said one day I'm going to get you out of here. One day I'm going to get it lined up and I'm going to get you out of here. And you're not going to stay here anymore and you're not going to have to put up with this anymore and you're going to be free. And there's not going to be a day where you're laying and staring at this ceiling anymore and you're surrounded by these people anymore you're going to be free.
And one day they do it and they come to get you and they sign everything and they get it all worked out and they walk out holding your hand and then they look at you and say okay you're free best of luck to you and walk off. No the point of the freedom was so that you might belong to them. The point of the adoption was so that you might come live with them that you might belong to them and they might belong to you that they might share themselves with you and that's the glorious point of this promise here is that God says I'm going to make you mine. And if all we see is some of the stuff around it then it's possible in the midst of the difficulty we'll think is it worth it?
Because I'm pretty sure this other thing will give me some of the stuff. I mean I signed up so that my kids would behave. I started following you so that things would work out for me. I started following you because I thought it was going to make life easier. I started following you because I figured if I'd obey then I'd be married by now. I started following you because I figured this would happen or that would happen or I'd make work work out.
I don't know I didn't want you to I wasn't trying to think of you as like a lucky penny or something but I kind of I don't know. It just feels like you're not fulfilling the things. It feels like you haven't delivered at all. And if all we understand is that he's going to do some wonderful things for us but we don't understand that he's wonderful and that ultimately he's the prize and that heaven is only heaven because he's there. But if we understand that well it doesn't matter where he takes us because if he's at the end of that road it's worth it.
It doesn't matter how long it doesn't matter how much suffering it doesn't matter how much hardship the truth is Paul tells us that the suffering of this time are not worth compared to the glories that will be revealed to us that he's actually preparing for us an eternal weight of glory that only suffering works out in us and so that the more suffering to have the more we're going to carry a weight of glory that we cannot fathom because we're going to belong to him and he's going to belong to us and that's the point that he's redeeming a people for himself and praise God that he is. Praise God that heaven isn't just that weird rodeo place from Pinocchio where it's just like go do whatever the heck you want and that somehow it's just all the fun things that we could dream of because the truth is all of that is empty if it's not for him. If heaven isn't heaven without him and so we long for him we long for this day that he looks on us we long for this day that he sees us we long for this day that we're welcomed home and that is what we hold on to. Why does it play out like this?
Why do you have the struggle you have? Why do you have the pain that you have? Why do you have the hurt that you have? Why do you have some of the emptiness you feel? I don't know and I don't know if he's going to answer that but I know that if you get him at the end of it oh it's worth it that the suffering of this time pales in comparison to that day that Jesus Christ is reconciling the world to himself that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself and that no one comes to the Father but by Christ and that it's through Christ that we're forgiven and that we get the Father and that's the point.
Now this is how the Bible ends.
Exodus 4:1-26
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
My name is Spencer and I am one of the pastors here. We're jumping right in to where we left off last week. Last week we began the calling of Moses and this is part two of that. So we're going to be in Exodus 4, which is on page 27 in your blue Bibles. We're going to be in the first 26 verses. So, we started off last week in chapter 3.
Moses is tending sheep in the wilderness. He comes upon Mount Horeb and then God calls out to Moses from a burning bush. And in this calling of Moses, God does a few things. He announces His plan. That He has seen the affliction of His people. He has seen that they've been in slavery for centuries.
And that He's going to bring them out of Egypt into the promised land. And He's going to use Moses to do it. He reveals who He is. Moses asks, what is your name? And He gives His personal name. I am who I am.
And we looked at that and the power and the mystery that is packed into that name. And He tells Moses that He's going to use them to lead them out of the promised land. They won't just leave the promised land empty handed. That He will loot the enemies. He will take from the Egyptians as they will give gold and jewels and clothing. In the midst of all this calling, we see a question that arises that starts to show that Moses has some doubts.
In verse 11 of chapter 3, Moses says, Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt? That Moses is focused on his weaknesses, on his inadequacies. And God is trying to help him see Moses. It's by my power. I'm the one who's going to be with you. It's going to be by my power that I bring the people out.
And we're going to see this continue into chapter 4. That Moses is going to continue to doubt. And God is going to continue to point to Himself. Moses is too focused on his weaknesses, on his inadequacies. He's too focused on himself. And he's not focused on what God is telling him.
That I will be with you. That I'm the one that is going to bring them out. That's going to be by my power. And we're going to see how God's response to Moses is incredibly helpful to us. We're going to see that God's redemption of His people and the obedience that He calls us to is only possible. It is only possible if we stop looking at ourselves and start looking to God.
Because we, like Moses, we make God far too small and ourselves far too big. So that's what we're going to see. Let me pray for us and then we'll walk through this together. Lord, we ask that You would help us be present this morning. You'd help us receive the Word of God. And that we respond.
We respond in how You call us to. In faith and repentance and to worship and delighting in who You are. So God, I pray that You would do this in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright, so again. We're in the middle of this calling story.
We're picking right up where He left off. He just said, repeated His plan. I'm bringing them out of Egypt. I'm using you. They are leaving with jewels and gold and clothing. And then Moses answered, verse 1.
Moses answered, But behold, they will not listen. They will not believe Me or listen to My voice. For they will say, The Lord did not appear to you. So Moses, again, doubts. He says, What if they don't listen to Me? Which, absent from God, is a very reasonable question for Moses.
You've got to remember, Moses spent 40 years with one foot in the Egyptian royal family and another foot as a Hebrew. Okay? Not really belonging fully to the Egyptian royal family. Not a slave like the rest of his Hebrew brethren. Okay? So that's reasonable that they might have some doubts.
Also, he's been gone for 40 years. He's 80 at this point. I mean, he's presumed gone. Dead. Dead. And he's supposed to rock back up and say, The God of your forefathers appeared to Me.
And we're getting out of here. It's a very reasonable question. Absent from the Lord. But the Lord is with him. He's not absent. So it's not a reasonable question.
Moses is focusing on himself. He's made himself too big. He's made God too small. And God answers by displaying his power. So, pick it up in verse 2. It says, The Lord said to him, What is that in your hand?
He said, A staff. And he said, Throw it on the ground. So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent. And Moses ran from it. So, again, context here. Moses is 80.
Okay? He's 80 years old. He probably uses that staff for more than just shepherding. It's probably some support. Okay? God says, Take that.
Throw it on the ground. He throws it on the ground. And it turns into a snake. And he does what has been instinctual for thousands of years. He runs. All right?
80 Years old. Geared up his loins. Haltail it out of there. He gone. Like, just not dealing with a snake. And, listen.
We're going to see this happen later in Exodus. The staff is going to turn to a snake again. The presence of Pharaoh. And that snake eats two other snakes. So, this is not a small snake. Think 10, 12 foot king cobra.
Big, scary looking snake. So, if you're afraid of snakes, you are in good company with Moses. And then it says, verse 4, But the Lord said to Moses, Put out your hand and catch it by the tail. So, he tells them, catch it by the tail. So, listen. If we were a crazy snake handling church, which, if you're new, disclaimer, we're not.
Okay? And I went and grabbed some snakes, took one, and threw it in the front row and said, Pick it up by the tail. What is implied in my request? A little bit of trust. I'm telling you to pick it up. It's not going to bite you.
Which, I learned a thing this week. That actually picking it up by the tail requires even more trust. Because that's not the way you're supposed to pick up snakes. Apparently, it's by the head. Okay? We have a teaching team, Isaac and Shep, on our teaching team.
And I learned, because I grew up watching Steve Irwin. And Steve Irwin picked up lots of snakes by the tails. So, that was how I understood. That's how you pick, you just pick it up. But apparently, you don't do that because it gives them enough reach to be able to bite you.
But I grew up in the lake. We just shot snakes. I didn't grow up at, like, Isaac, at Bethel Christian Camp, out in the wilderness on his own. Like, I didn't grow up like Chet, 30 miles from the middle of nowhere. Like, this is not an activity that we did. But, you're not supposed to pick them up by the tail.
This requires a little bit of faith here. And Moses takes a step of faith. He says, So, he put out his hand and he caught it and it became a staff in his hand. And the Lord says this, That they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob has appeared to you. He's like, Moses, do you see what I just did? I took a staff, I turned it into a snake.
I took the snake back into a staff. Do you see my power here? They will believe you. They will believe that the covenant God of their forefathers has called you. But, here's some more evidence of my power. He gives a second sign.
Verse 6, Again, the Lord said to him, Put your hand inside your cloak. So, Moses puts his hand inside his cloak. And he says, And put, he put his hand inside his cloak and when he took it out, behold, the hand was leprous like snow. Which, is terrifying. Right? It's terrifying.
Leprosy in their culture was awful. It was awful. It wasn't just the fact that you had a disease that you would slowly decay and die from for years. It was a great social stigma. You couldn't live amongst your own people. You'd announce that you were unclean.
People were scared of you. I mean, there's no cultural equivalent to what we have today. None. The closest thing you could probably make an argument for is maybe getting HIV in the 80s. But that doesn't even remotely come close to this.
Seeing your hand as leprous is terrifying. And he sees the power of God on display. Then God said, Put your hand back inside your cloak. So he put his hand back inside his cloak and when he took it out, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. God is showing the kind of power that he has. Moses, do you see this?
Do you see the power that I have? And then he offers one more sign. This is verse 8. If they will not believe you, God said, or listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter sign. If they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. And the water that you shall take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.
So they don't believe those two signs. Do this. Take some water from the Nile, pour it out, it will turn into blood. Which if you know the story of Exodus, that's going to end up being the first plague is turning the Nile into blood. So he says, listen, do this next.
Which is a little bit of future looking. You've seen these two signs. You're going to have to wait to see this one. Have a little faith here. But once you pour that out, I'm telling you, Moses, they're going to see that I am the God of your forefathers.
I am calling you. They will believe you. Moses says, well, what if they don't believe me? And God says, do you not see it as my power at work here? Moses, do you not see it's not about you? You have made yourself far too big.
And Moses has made God far too small. And yet, Moses doubts. Continue. Verse 10. But Moses said to the Lord, oh my Lord, I am not eloquent either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.
He says, I'm not eloquent. The Hebrew literally reads here, I am not a man of words. I am heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue. And commentators look at this, the phrasing and how he answered this, and they say that it's very possible that Moses actually had some type of speech impediment. Some type of speech problem that he would use this type of language. So whether that is true or he's just not eloquent in speech, he's fearful.
He's looking at himself and he's like, oh, but I'm not a man of words. Which, this hits home for me. If you've, I've mentioned this in some sermons in the past, but since I was a kid, I've had a small, a minor speech impediment that I've had to work on for years.
[QA NOTE — 2026-05-10] The remainder of this sermon is missing from the cleaned transcript because Whisper produced a single unpunctuated mega-sentence at the tail of the audio. The raw text in transcription_work/ contains the rest. Recommend re-running the cleanup with timestamp-based punctuation restoration, or capturing the missing portion manually from the audio.