Podcast

December 9 2024

Jethro and Moses (Exodus)

Jethro and Moses (Exodus): Whether you have an official leadership role or title, everyone can influence someone for good. When Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, visited the Israelites, he realized Moses would be crushed without some serious help. He advised Moses to invite others to share the leadership burden with him. God’s people needed good and godly leaders to help them live lives that bring glory and honor to him. Recorded on Dec 8, 2024, on Exodus 18 by Pastor David Parks.

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This message is part of our Exodus series called Journey to Freedom. Exodus is a story of liberation — of God working to rescue and redeem a people for himself, freeing them from slavery and leading them to the land he promised to the family of Abraham and Sarah. Exodus is also a picture of the gospel and the Christian life. In Christ, we, too, are freed from captivity to sin and death and led through the wilderness of life by God’s Word and Presence as we make our way to the Promised Land of the world to come. Join us as we make this journey to find true and lasting freedom.

Sermon Transcript

Exodus 18:1–7 (NIV), “1 Now Jethro, the priest of Midian and father-in-law of Moses, heard of everything God had done for Moses and for his people Israel, and how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. 2 After Moses had sent away his wife Zipporah, his father-in-law Jethro received her 3 and her two sons. One son was named Gershom, for Moses said, “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land”; 4 and the other was named Eliezer, for he said, “My father’s God was my helper; he saved me from the sword of Pharaoh.” 5 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, together with Moses’ sons and wife, came to him in the wilderness, where he was camped near the mountain of God. 6 Jethro had sent word to him, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons.” 7 So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. They greeted each other and then went into the tent.” Moses doesn’t record when, but at some point between leaving Midian with his family and his time in Egypt during the Ten Plagues, he sent his wife Zipporah and their sons back to live in Midian with her father, Jethro. He doesn’t say why, and some have speculated that they were having trouble in their marriage. But it doesn’t say that. And once the Israelites reached Mount Sinai, they were reunited with Moses and seemed to stay with the Israelites from then on. Again, it doesn’t say, but I think it’s more likely that Moses was trying to keep his family out of harm’s way by sending them back to Zipporah’s family. But now that they were free from Egypt and had returned to Mount Sinai, just as God had promised, they likely felt it was safe to join their now-famous father. From this passage, we see the respect that Moses had for his father-in-law. He went out to meet him, he bowed down and kissed him in a traditional greeting, and Moses welcomed him into his tent where they could catch up.

Exodus 18:8-12 (NIV), “8 Moses told his father-in-law about everything the Lord had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel’s sake and about all the hardships they had met along the way and how the Lord had saved them. 9 Jethro was delighted to hear about all the good things the Lord had done for Israel in rescuing them from the hand of the Egyptians. 10 He said, “Praise be to the Lord, who rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and of Pharaoh, and who rescued the people from the hand of the Egyptians. 11 Now I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods, for he did this to those who had treated Israel arrogantly.” 12 Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and other sacrifices to God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat a meal with Moses’ father-in-law in the presence of God.” Moses didn’t leave out the tough times when he told Jethro about their journey so far. He included “the hardships they had met along the way,” but also “how the Lord had saved them.” This is just a side note, but when you share your testimony with a non-Christian, make sure to be honest about the hardships in addition to the victories of the Christian life. Too many people think that if they become a Christian, their life will become easier. It gets better, but not necessarily easier! Anyway, Jethro was delighted to hear Moses’ testimony. But just imagine hearing that some no-name tribe of slaves — granted, it was a huge group of people, but still! — they were able to escape from the most powerful kingdom on earth without being immediately crushed. There’s no way the Israelites could have pulled this off without God’s direct intervention. No wonder Jethro was praising Yahweh. But Jethro wasn’t just Moses’ father-in-law. He was also a priest (or maybe the high priest) of Midian, a foreign people who didn’t worship Yahweh. But here, Jethro says, “Now I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods, for he did this to those who had treated Israel arrogantly.” In other words, Jethro had a conversion experience. He came to faith in the one true and living God. As a priest, he understood that conversion leads to two things: worship and fellowship. So he brought a burnt offering, usually used to atone for sins — perhaps the sins of his worship and leading others in the worship of idols — and other sacrifices to God. This was what worship looked like then. But also, Moses, Aaron, and all the elders of Israel came and ate a meal with Jethro in the presence of God. This was fellowship — fellowship with God and fellowship with God’s people. It’s no different today. When you hear the gospel and believe it, this conversion leads to worship and fellowship. Worship in spirit and truth. Worship not by offering sacrifices to atone for our sins; Christ already accomplished that with his death on the cross. But offerings of singing, praying, preaching, giving, serving, and loving in Jesus’ name. This worship celebrates a right relationship with God, fellowship with God, and with God’s people in the church. The setting was a little different some 3,300 years ago, but the principles were the same. But before returning to Midian, Jethro would make a lasting contribution to the success of the Exodus project.

Exodus 18:13-23 (NIV), “13 The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood around him from morning till evening. 14 When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, “What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?” 15 Moses answered him, “Because the people come to me to seek God’s will. 16 Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God’s decrees and instructions.” 17 Moses’ father-in-law replied, “What you are doing is not good. 18 You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. 19 Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him. 20 Teach them his decrees and instructions, and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave. 21 But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 22 Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. 23 If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.” I can’t imagine the pressure Moses was under. Every day, people went home disappointed because Moses wasn’t able to help them. He didn’t have time to help everyone! There weren’t enough hours in the day. Now, to give Moses some credit, he was more than just a judge. He was the prophet God personally called to lead Israel. Even though he tried to get out of it and have God send someone else, he still went. He still knew his calling. Maybe he was waiting for God to give him instructions on delegating leadership responsibilities (including judging legal matters, crime and punishment, and the like). But Jethro was wise and offered wise counsel. As the proverb says, “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.” (Pro 15:22). Moses understood this and was won over by Jethro’s advice. He’d spent forty years in Midian and likely saw Jethro’s wisdom and leadership in many situations. This would lend credibility to his advice. Plus, Moses felt the crushing weight every day from the pressure of being the only authority over a whole nation of people without any formal help. So the plan was to appoint men of good, godly character who could serve as officials over different-sized groups of people. Moses, then, would only need to hear the hardest cases — something like our Supreme Court. Character has always mattered to God, but this is especially true for anyone in a leadership position because leaders are accountable for the people God entrusts to their care. A corrupt person is not a good situation, but a corrupt leader spreads their corruption to others. Also, Jethro’s plan would free up Moses to continue to do what God had actually called him to do as his prophet. He would “be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him.” But also, Moses was to “Teach [the Israelites God’s] decrees and instructions, and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave.” The people needed judges, but more importantly, they needed to be taught God’s will for their lives. They needed the Ten Commandments, as we’ll see after Christmas. And they needed the Ten Commandments (and the hundreds of other laws of the covenant) to be enforced. But they needed to be taught positively how to live so as to bring honor and glory to God. God’s people needed godly leadership to help them lead godly lives. As Jethro said, “If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.” Jethro wasn’t putting himself in the place of God. He acknowledged that God could disagree. But if God so commands, then Moses wouldn’t be crushed by the burden, and the people would be satisfied. Not only did the Israelites need to learn to listen to God and obey his word, but they needed to learn how to be Israel, to be their own nation. Jethro’s contribution provided a better leadership and legal structure that would serve Israel until the time of the kings.

Exodus 18:24–27 (NIV), “24 Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said. 25 He chose capable men from all Israel and made them leaders of the people, officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 26 They served as judges for the people at all times. The difficult cases they brought to Moses, but the simple ones they decided themselves. 27 Then Moses sent his father-in-law on his way, and Jethro returned to his own country.” This is God’s word. So it was a success! Jethro came and heard what God had done, he offered his worship and enjoyed fellowship, made a big suggestion that made an outsized impact on Moses and the Israelites, and went home. Praise the Lord! Aren’t you thankful for people like Jethro? I am. But what do we do with this today? How might we apply this teaching to our lives? Well, as I said, whether you have an official leadership role or title or not, everyone can influence others for good. And this is what leadership is! But whatever Moses’ reasons were, failure to delegate is a common trap in leadership of any sort. It doesn’t matter if you’re a leader at home, in your workplace, in the military, in government, or in the church — I can tell you from experience that it’s always tempting to “just do it yourself” since it’s usually faster and easier if you already know how to do whatever “it” is. But this is not good for at least two reasons: First, when you take on too much and ignore your own God-given limitations (as Moses had) and continue to add more and more to your plate without taking anything off, you will burn out. I’ve been there — utter exhaustion going on for months. But if you burn out, how helpful/fruitful will you be then? It took something like two years for me to recover from burnout, and I wasn’t leading a nation! Far from it! Second, when you fail to delegate, or, to put it another way, when you fail to invite others to share the burden of leadership, you’ll miss out on all the different strengths/gifts of different leaders. Even the best, most gifted leaders aren’t good at everything. Empowering other leaders allows your family/business/church to be blessed by more than just your strengths. Now, people struggle with this for many reasons, but I want to tell you about three types of people I’ve met many times. The first is the highly competitive person. They tend to see influence, accomplishments, and accolades as a zero-sum game. As in, “Your win is my loss, and my win is your loss.” But the truth is, very few things in life are a zero-sum game. Very often, “Your win is also my win.” Especially if you’re part of the same family/organization! While this competitive mindset might be helpful if you’re a solo athlete, it’s not helpful for most everywhere else because, with this mindset, empowerment threatens your success or recognition. The second type of person who struggles with this is the perfectionist. They might be highly conscientious, talented, and hardworking but have a real hard time with mistakes. Empowering others requires that you help people learn/try loads of new things. And guess what? No one is more likely to make mistakes than someone learning something new! With the perfectionist mindset, empowerment threatens your perfect reputation or ability to control the task or outcome perfectly. The third type of person who struggles with this is the people-pleaser. Not only do they feel obligated to do more for others than is necessary or reasonable, but they don’t ask for help because they don’t believe they deserve it. But with the people-pleaser mindset, empowerment threatens your value, especially in relationships. But in the gospel, we learn that God loves and accepts us regardless of whether we win or lose. And that we will make mistakes. The whole reason we needed Jesus and the cross of Christ was precisely because we are not perfect. And we’re called to love people, not live to make them happy. So competition, perfection, and people-pleasing are not in line with the truth. My advice is to focus your attention on God. Listen to and obey his word. Do your best to influence others for good, but focus on Him, not them. Lead for an audience of one. Don’t try to carry the burden of your family or business or your ministry on your own. Even Jesus had the twelve. As a church, we have many different leadership roles. We have our staff members and elders, but we also have community group leaders and ministry team leaders. These roles all have a character requirement, just as Jethro suggested all those years ago. Character still matters. Our elders are to hold to the character requirements for elders and overseers in passages like 1 Timothy 3 or Titus 1. Our other staff and leaders are to hold to the character requirements for deacons. If you think the Lord might be calling you to a leadership role, let us know. We will help you discern if that’s true, and we will train you and give you opportunities to lead. As the saying goes, if you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, go together. This is God’s will for his people. May we be a church that empowers good and godly leaders to lead God’s people to live lives that bring glory and honor to him. Let us pray.

December 2 2024

The Amalekites (Exodus)

The Amalekites (Exodus): Battles, struggles, conflict, and strife are just part of the fabric of this broken world. As followers of Jesus, how do we fight our battles? When the Amalekites attacked the Israelites at Rephidim, the people, led by Joshua, had to fight. But the Lord brought the victory through the intercession of Moses, acting as a mediator. In our battles, we must trust our Mediator, lean on our friends, and find our victory in Yahweh Nissi (the Lord is my Banner). Recorded on Dec 1, 2024, on Exodus 17:8-16 by Pastor David Parks.

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Sermon Transcript

Exodus 17:8–9 (NIV), “8 The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. 9 Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.” It turns out there were more dangers in the world than Pharaoh and his army. Now, we know four things about the Amalekites: First, they descended from Esau, Jacob’s brother, so they were distant cousins of the Israelites. They should’ve been allies, not enemies. They should’ve helped Israel, not come to steal, kill, and destroy. Second, they lived in the desert. The Israelites struggled to survive, but the Amalekites knew what they were doing. They were like the Fremen in Dune. These were desert people, which didn’t bode well for a battle with them in their home. Third, the Amalekites carried out this unprovoked attack on the Israelites here at Rephidim. Maybe they heard this huge mass of people, animals, and possessions had somehow escaped Egypt and thought they’d be an easy target. Or maybe this was just a normal day for violent people who survived in a tough environment by being tougher than anyone or anything else. (Maybe both?) Later, Moses reminded the Israelites about this attack, saying, “When you were weary and worn out, they [Amalekites] met you on your journey and attacked all who were lagging behind; they had no fear of God.” (Dt 25:18). Fourth, the Amalekites would be enemies of Israel for hundreds of years — all through the time of the Judges and until the time of King David. We don’t know how large their army was when they attacked the Israelites, but clearly, they would have the advantage. So, how would the Israelites handle this attack? Remember, they were not trained or organized for battle. They had been slaves who were most likely discouraged from learning the art of war. They were not well-armed. Plus, they’d only known Egypt, so they were barely familiar with desert survival, much less ready for desert warfare. Would Yahweh fight for them as he did at the Red Sea? We’ll see. Moses put Joshua in charge of their army, but Joshua only had one day to prepare for battle. Now, this is our first meeting with Joshua in the Bible. Joshua was Moses’ younger aide and the head of the Israelite military. Eventually, after Moses’ death, Joshua would become his successor in leading the people of Israel when they entered the Promised Land. We know Joshua’s father was Nun (N-u-n, not n-o-n-e), and they were from the tribe of Ephraim. Initially, his name was Hoshea, but Moses named him Joshua. However, this was more of a theological statement than just a nickname. Hoshea means “salvation” in Hebrew, but Joshua means “Yahweh is salvation.” So, Joshua’s name was a statement of faith in Yahweh, the God of Joshua’s ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the God who rescued Israel from captivity in Egypt; and the God who was leading and providing for them day by day in the wilderness. Yahweh had saved Israel in the past, and he would save his people in the future. Would he save them on this day and prove Joshua’s name to be true? And where would Moses be in all this? Moses said he’d oversee the battle from a hilltop “with the staff of God in my hands.” As we saw last week, Moses had used this staff to bring water from the rock. It was a symbol of God’s power and authority. Could it be used as a weapon somehow? After a sleepless night, it was time.

Exodus 17:10-13 (NIV), “10 So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. 11 As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. 12 When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. 13 So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.” So, the battle was fought, and against all the odds, the Israelites had won. But the way they won, only winning when Moses held up his hands, made it clear that, again, it was God who provided the victory. At the Red Sea, Moses told the people, “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” (Ex 14:14). And it was the Lord who fought. The people only had to cross the sea. Here at Rephidim, they needed to do more than be still; they needed to fight. So, Joshua had chosen his warriors; they cobbled together some swords and went out and fought. But even though they did more than at the Red Sea, their victory was completely dependent on the Lord, symbolized by the power and authority of God in the staff. Only when Moses raised the staff up was Israel able to win. But even though Joshua’s name proved true and Yahweh was indeed salvation, the battle lasted all day, which led to a problem: Moses couldn’t hold his hands up all day. He was an old man, but it wasn’t for lack of strength on his part. No one can hold their hands up all day. (Some of you can’t even hold your hands up for four songs!) Moses needed help. So Aaron, Moses’ brother, and Hur, Moses’ brother-in-law, according to Jewish tradition, stood with him on the hilltop. When his back started to hurt, they got him a stone to sit on. And when his arms grew weak, and his hands grew tired, they stood on each side of him and held up his hands. In this way, Moses could endure till sunset when Joshua and his warriors finally won. Imagine how they felt when they saw the enemy flee. Their journey between the Red Sea and Mount Sinai started and ended with a battle, with three desert tests in the middle. This exodus was going to be a hard journey. But at every point, the Lord God Almighty was with them, protecting and providing because of his great love for them. Would the people learn this lesson? How about future generations?

Exodus 17:14–16 (NIV), “14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven.” 15 Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner. 16 He said, “Because hands were lifted up against the throne of the Lord, the Lord will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation.” This is God’s word. So, because of this unprovoked attack, but also consistent with his promise to Abraham to bless those who bless you but to curse those who curse you, the Lord said that Amalek would remain an enemy of God and his people, but they would eventually be destroyed. Blotted out. This is why the Lord asked Moses to write down this account and that Joshua needed to hear about it. Joshua, the leader of Israel’s army, needed to prepare for future attacks. Besides writing down this account, Moses also built an altar to worship the Lord and offer sacrifices in praise and thanksgiving for the victory. He named the altar Yahweh Nissi, meaning The Lord is my Banner. On the day of battle, it was Yahweh, symbolized by the staff, who served as the banner or signal pole. Today, we might say flag. To understand the power of the Lord being a banner, think of the iconic picture of the Marines who raised the flag at Iwo Jima on February 23, 1945, at the end of WWII. On that day, the flag represented the power and authority of our nation. During a battle, the flag represents our history and identity; it gives strength to tired soldiers, and it can serve as a rallying point. This is what Yahweh Nissi means. It was God’s power and authority that won the victory. He gave the Israelites their identity. He gave tired soldiers the strength to fight. And he served as the rallying point for their victory. The Amalekites lifted their hands up against the throne of the Lord but were defeated when Moses lifted his hands up in prayer and faith on behalf of Israel, and the Lord provided the victory.

The most important lesson from all this is the exact same lesson the Lord has been trying to teach his people: that they can trust him and listen to him because he is with them and will provide what they need. When they needed bread and water, they could trust him to provide. When they needed victory over a more powerful enemy, they could trust him to provide. But a unique lesson from this particular story is the role of a mediator. Moses had functioned as a mediator between God and the Israelites as a prophet ever since God called him from the burning bush back in chapter 3. God didn’t usually speak to Israel directly; he spoke through a mediator. But here, even though the text doesn’t make it explicit, I believe we can understand that Moses was lifting up his hands as more than just lifting up the staff over the people. Moses was again serving as a mediator between God and God’s people by interceding for them in prayer as they fought their battle. His hands were lifted in prayer. This story points forward in Israel’s history to a time much later when Yahweh promised another who would come and serve as a banner for God’s people, one who would be a mediator between God and mankind. Just one example is when the prophet Isaiah wrote, Isaiah 11:10, 12 (NIV), “10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious…12 He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth.” Later, Isaiah wrote that this banner would suffer and die for sinners. He would bear the sin of many, and, like Moses, he would intercede for them (Is 53:12). But who would this banner be? Who would this mediator be? Well, years after the victory over the Amalekites at Rephidim, there would be another Joshua in Israel — one who would not only lead the people but would fight and win the victory on behalf of his people. Now, you might not know who this Joshua was by that name, but the Hebrew name “Joshua,” meaning Yahweh is salvation, when translated into Greek and then again into English, is none other than the name of Jesus. In the gospel, we discover that this promised banner, this mediator was none other than Jesus Christ. The author of Hebrews says that Jesus is “…able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.” (Heb 7:25). The Apostle Paul says that “… there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all people.” (1Ti 2:5-6). Moses points to the greater intercession and mediation of Jesus. Joshua points to the greater leadership of Jesus in facing and winning the victory over the greater enemies of God’s people — that of sin and death. And until his return, battles, struggles, conflict, and strife are just part of the fabric of this broken world. As God’s people, as followers of Jesus, how do we fight our battles? How can we see victory on that day? Learn the lesson of the Amalekites. You can trust the Lord to provide for your needs. He might provide victory the same way he has in the past, like at the Red Sea. Or he might provide victory through a new means, like at Rephidim. But never forget that you, too, have a mediator. Christ is seated on his throne and is interceding for his people, for you today. Turn to him. Look to him. Get your identity and strength from him. But, like Moses, you might need some help, too. You might need a couple of brothers or sisters to stand by your side and hold your hands up when you get tired. This is the church. It’s our responsibility to love and support and offer strength to one another every day, but especially on the day of battle. If you’re in a battle today, keep fighting. Christ will give you strength. Trust in him and lean on your friends. And rest secure in the victory your King has already won. Yahweh Nissi — the Lord is my banner. Let us pray.

November 26 2024

Water from the Rock (Exodus)

Water from the Rock (Exodus): In the third and final desert test, at Massah and Meribah, the Israelites desperately needed water (again), and things were going from bad to worse. They quarreled with God and were ready to kill Moses. In our time of need, will we harden our hearts and put God to the test? Or will we turn in faith to Jesus, our Rock and our Redeemer, who provides streams of living water? Recorded on Nov 24, 2024, on Exodus 17:1-7 by Pastor David Parks.

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Sermon Transcript

So, we’re working through the book of Exodus in a sermon series called Journey to Freedom. Exodus is a story of liberation, of God rescuing and redeeming a people for himself. After freeing the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, Yahweh God led them through the desert wilderness by his word given through Moses and by his holy Presence. For the last few weeks, we’ve seen that God tested his people on the way to Mount Sinai to teach them important lessons. He did this because the Israelites lived for generations as slaves in Egypt, and they needed to learn a lot. They needed to learn how to be their own people, how to listen to God, how to trust him, and so much more. So how was it going? Well, the first test at Marah was just a few days after the famous parting of the Red Sea. The people were dying of thirst, and they found only bitter water and started grumbling against God. But God healed the water and provided refreshment when they arrived at Elim. Then, last week, we considered the second test. About a month after crossing the Red Sea, the people had run out of food and started grumbling against God again. But again, God provided manna/bread from heaven. This sustained them for forty years in the wilderness before entering the Promised Land. If you missed any of the sermons from our Exodus series so far, you can always go back and watch or listen to the audio podcast online or on the Church Center app if you’d like. But after these first two tests, had the Israelites finally learned to listen to God’s word? Had they learned to trust his goodness and faithfulness to provide for them? I’ll just tell you upfront the answer is no. This would be a hard lesson for them. Instead of learning and getting better at trusting God and listening to him, they seemed to go from bad to worse. But, to be fair, they were out of water again. In the desert, this was a very serious problem. Have you ever been in a bad situation and couldn’t see a way out? I have. Maybe you got an unexpectedly big bill or had some other financial problem. Maybe you got a bad diagnosis at the doctor, or maybe you had something hidden come to light in your marriage, and now you’re not sure where to go or what to do. In tough times like those, all kinds of theological questions come up. Questions like, “God, where are you right now?” or “Is this really your will for my life?” or even “Are you even real?” We’re told that God disciplines us because he loves us as his children. But what might’ve been a test to help us learn and grow often gets turned around, and we start to test or quarrel with God. Maybe if we were among those ancient Israelites, we wouldn’t be that much different. Maybe we’d be there, grumbling in the wilderness. But what do we do when we have serious problems — when we’re in a bad situation and can’t see a way out? Is there a way to bring our questions and doubts to God in humble, sincere faith without becoming hard-hearted, bitter, and grumbling against God? Yes, and we must learn this lesson. If you have your Bible/app, please open it to Exodus 17:1.

Exodus 17:1-4 (NIV), “1 The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?” 3 But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?” 4 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.” It would be understandable if you’re feeling like you have deja vu. God had rescued his people from Egypt and led them as a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. They went where he went. But when God stopped at Rephidim and the people set up camp, there was no water for them to drink, just as in the first test at Marah. So they quarreled with Moses just as they did at Marah. Maybe they thought that’s how they could get what they wanted? (The squeaky wheel often does get the grease!) Instead of recognizing God’s mercy in providing water and refreshment at Marah and Elim, perhaps they wrongly thought their grumbling and bitter attitude was what made God act on their behalf? Was Yahweh lazy and needed to be nagged into action? Or was he ignorant of his people’s needs and needed to be petitioned to act for their benefit? They still had so much to learn. If they had actually learned the lesson of Marah and that of the manna from heaven, they would’ve known to bring their desperate situation to God in prayer and trust him to provide as he had time and time again. Instead, they didn’t just grumble; they quarreled with Moses and were about ready to kill him! “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?” The implication was, “What kind of prophet and deliverer are you?” Moses probably thought, “None of this was my plan! I asked God to send someone else, but here we are. What do you expect me to do?!?” Well, again, Moses pointed out that the people weren’t actually grumbling and quarreling with him but with Yahweh El Shaddai, the Lord God Almighty. Did Moses remind them of this to avoid getting stoned to death? Meaning, was he shifting the blame for the water problem to God? Perhaps. If so, it wouldn’t be right but it would certainly be understandable. It was one man versus an angry nation. How would God respond?

Exodus 17:5-6a (NIV), “5 The Lord answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” Instead of punishing them or even rebuking them, God comes up with a plan. But the plan dealt with not one but two problems: first, the problem of their desperate need for water, and second, the problem of the near mutiny against Moses’ leadership. Let’s think about the second problem first. God affirmed Moses’ leadership by telling him to get some of the elders, those men who, because of their age, wisdom, and character, had the most influence on the people of Israel. God wanted the elders to witness how he would provide for them through his servant Moses. This would affirm Moses’ leadership and should quell any attempts to take his life (at least for now). The miracle would testify to the truth of his calling. Also, using Moses’ staff to bring water out of the rock would remind the elders and the people of the other miracles God had done through the staff. Aaron threw down the staff before Pharaoh, and it became a snake. Moses struck the Nile River with the staff in the first plague, and it turned to blood. Moses held the staff over the Red Sea, and it was parted, and they walked across on dry ground. The staff was a powerful symbol of God’s power and authority. Think about it: God could’ve provided water any way he wanted. But in this way, with the elders as witnesses and using Moses’ staff, God made it clear that Moses was his chosen leader and that the people needed to listen to him and trust him. This was a very politically and psychologically astute plan, right? Back to the first problem of needing water, God would lead them to a rock at Horeb, which was another name for Mount Sinai — the place where God appeared to Moses in the burning bush and the place where God promised Moses would return leading his people out of captivity in Egypt. We’re not sure exactly where Rephidim is located today, but it must’ve been close to Mount Sinai. So, Moses was to strike the rock that God would show them with the staff, and water would come out of the rock as yet another miracle of God’s provision there in the desert wilderness. Would the plan work? Would this be enough to convince the people to trust in God and his servant, Moses?

Exodus 17:6b-7 (NIV), “So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?” This is God’s word. Just as the bitter spring was known as Marah, which meant bitter in Hebrew, so Rephidim became known as Massah, which is Hebrew for test or trial, and Meribah, which means quarrel or strife. In other words, this was where the people were tested, but instead of responding in faith, they hardened their hearts and tested God, they quarreled with God. They did not pass the test. In fact, three times they were tested between the Red Sea and Sinai, and three times they failed. Again and again, they looked at their circumstances and lost all hope. They were in a bad situation and just couldn’t see a way out. In their despair, they started asking theological questions. “Is the Lord among us or not?” On the one hand, this seems like a crazy question. Think of all God had done for them! And don’t forget he was now providing the daily miracle of manna from heaven. And don’t forget he was traveling ahead of them in a huge, visible, supernatural way. Of course, the Lord was among them! But on the other hand, their expectations were not being met, which is always a source of painful frustration. God wasn’t sustaining them how they expected him to, so they were ready to rebel. Now, God could’ve responded to their unfaithful rebellion by crushing them. But instead, he lovingly and mercifully provides for them yet again. Instead of replacing Moses with a better leader, he affirmed his leadership. One of the things we can learn in this desert wilderness is that God is so incredibly patient and kind to obviously undeserving people. Another lesson is that down through the generations, in a number of places in the OT, the names of Massah and Meribah became something like a warning against putting God to the test. One example is from Psalm 95:7–9 (NIV), “Today, if only you would hear his voice, 8 “Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness, 9 where your ancestors tested me; they tried me, though they had seen what I did.” This warning against hard-heartedness is repeated in the letter to the Hebrews in the NT, who quotes the passage we just read from Psalm 95. The author goes on to write, Hebrews 3:12–14 (NIV), “12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. 14 We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.” It’s this persevering faith, a faith that holds its conviction firmly to the end, that is the only faith we can trust. Persevering faith is the kind of faith that comes through a real relationship with Christ. This doesn’t mean that life will be easy or you’ll never have any questions or doubts. But it does mean that through all the ups and downs of life, you bring your needs, you bring your questions and doubts to God trusting that he can and will respond to you according to his goodness and faithfulness. We will likely never be in the same situation as the ancient Israelites, having to trust the Lord to provide water from a rock in the desert. But every one of us will face situations that will severely test our faith. Maybe some of you are in that situation today. Maybe you have some theological questions troubling your spirit. What are we to do? Well, as long as it is called “Today,” I’d like to close with two encouragements so you won’t be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness or fall into the trap of grumbling and quarreling with God. First, the Holy Spirit inspired Moses to record these three desert failures specifically for our encouragement. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans, “For everything that was written in the past [meaning, the whole OT] was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.” (Ro 15:4). The water from the rock story was written to teach us so that we might gain endurance, encouragement, and hope. The Israelites who were alive during the Exodus may not have learned the lessons of Massah and Meribah, but later generations could — and, of course, we can today. We can see how loving and merciful and gracious and patient and kind God was back then. This is the same God we worship and serve today by faith in Jesus Christ. He doesn’t crush people with questions or doubts who bring them to him. Throughout the Bible, God often moves closer to people with questions and doubts because he wants people to know and be known by him. I hope never to be someone else’s negative lesson, but we can learn what not to do from other people’s failures, but only if we are humble and teachable. Are your eyes open to see? Are your ears open to hear? I hope so. Second, and finally, what are we to do when we’re in a bad situation and we can’t see a way out? We can be encouraged by the gift of the Holy Spirit. After the death of Jesus Christ on the cross for the sins of the world, he was buried, but on the third day, he rose again from the dead. After appearing to his disciples for forty days, he ascended back into heaven. But before he left, Jesus promised to send another Counselor who would guide his disciples in the truth, fill them, empower them, and sustain them through the wilderness of this broken world as they make their way to the Promised Land of the new heaven and earth. We, too, would have the holy Presence of God with us. One of the places Jesus promised the gift of his Spirit was in John 7:37–39 (NIV), “37 On the last and greatest day of the festival [of Tabernacles], Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. [were the Israelites thirsty at Massah and Meribah?] 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” [John explained,] 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.” In the resurrection and the ascension of Jesus back into heaven, he was glorified. Are you in a bad situation and can’t see a way out? Are you in desperate need? Are you questioning if God is with you? Let anyone who is thirsty come to Jesus and drink. Just as Moses struck the rock in the wilderness and streams of water flowed out, so when Christ, who is our rock, was struck by the cross, streams of living water flowed out to God’s people in the gift of the Holy Spirit which took place on the Day of Pentecost. The Spirit helps us in our weakness. Even when we don’t know what to pray, the Spirit intercedes for us (Ro 8:26). But in our time of need, will we pridefully, stubbornly harden our hearts and put God to the test? Or will we turn in faith to Jesus, our Rock and our Redeemer, who saves us by faith but also provides streams of living water by his Spirit to sustain us? If so, then I’ve no doubt we will persevere and hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. Let us pray.

November 18 2024

Manna from Heaven (Exodus)

Manna from Heaven (Exodus): A month after being freed from slavery, the Israelites were starving in the barren wilderness — the second of three desert tests. However, the whole community grumbled against God. Yahweh rebuked them but mercifully provided bread (manna) from heaven. Does God actually know and care about our needs? Can we trust God to provide? Yes. Only he gives the bread of life. Recorded on Nov 17, 2024, on Exodus 16:1-36 by Pastor David Parks.

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Sermon Transcript

So, we’re working through the book of Exodus in a sermon series called Journey to Freedom. Exodus is a story of liberation, of God rescuing and redeeming a people for himself. After freeing the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, Yahweh himself went ahead of them as a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. He also spoke to his people through Moses, his prophet and servant, providing instructions and commands for them to obey. This would basically be the pattern for the rest of the journey: God’s chosen people learning to make their way through the wilderness by his word and Presence. Last week, we considered the first of three tests in the desert in the waters of Marah and Elim. Today, in the second test, the people were starving. They needed food to nourish and sustain them. Had they learned to listen to God’s word and trust his goodness and faithfulness to provide for their needs? We’ll see. Have you ever needed God to provide? Have you ever wondered, “Does God actually know/care about my needs? Can I trust God provide what I need?” If you have your Bible/app, please open it to Exodus 16:1. This is the famous story of manna from heaven.

Exodus 16:1–3 (NIV), “1 The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt. 2 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.” The first test at Marah came just three days after the parting of the Red Sea. Now, here, Moses says it’s been almost exactly a month since they were freed from Egypt (the Passover being on the 14th day of the first month). After the brief respite of Elim, the Israelites continued through the desert wilderness on their way to Mount Sinai when they started to have another serious problem: they were running out of food. If you remember, when they left Egypt, they brought bread dough with them so they could make unleavened cakes or crackers, but they were running out (or perhaps had run out). At this point, it wasn’t just a few people who started to grumble. “…the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron.” In their desperate hunger, they started to think about being slaves in Egypt as something like the good old days. “Remember when we were slaves who were killed and beaten and exploited in every way? There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted. Wasn’t that great??” It might seem crazy from our vantage point. In the past few weeks of our series, we’ve seen God miraculously provide for his people time and time again. Why would they start grumbling so quickly? But remember, they spent a month walking through the hot desert wilderness without much of a break. As their food dwindled, they felt the constant pain of hunger. They looked at the faces of their hungry children, friends, elderly relatives, and all their animals and started to imagine everyone they knew dying of starvation. What would happen? Would God provide once again? If so, then how? How could Yahweh feed a whole nation in the desert?

Exodus 16:4-20 (NIV), “4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. 5 On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.” 6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of Egypt, 7 and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?” 8 Moses also said, “You will know that it was the Lord when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord.” 9 Then Moses told Aaron, “Say to the entire Israelite community, ‘Come before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’ ” 10 While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud. 11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’ ” 13 That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14 When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. 16 This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.’ ” 17 The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. 18 And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed. 19 Then Moses said to them, “No one is to keep any of it until morning.” 20 However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.” God’s solution to feed his people in the desert was to provide quail and bread from heaven. This was a very merciful response as Moses made it clear that when the people grumbled, they really were grumbling against the Lord. It was the Lord who delivered them from Egypt. And it was the Lord who led them day by day in the wilderness. If they had a problem, it was with him. But God is not only merciful, he is very gracious. So he provided abundantly for what they needed, but he did so in a way that would make it clear it was his provision. It wasn’t because of the Israelites’ ability or ingenuity that they were able to survive in the desert; it was because of God’s Presence and his provision for them. But just as we saw last week, this was a test to see if the Israelites would listen and obey God’s instructions, his commands. And some did! But others didn’t. They didn’t listen to God or trust him to continue to provide day by day. They gathered more than they needed. They hoarded the bread from heaven against God’s explicit instructions, and the bread rotted and stank. Moses was angry. First, people grumbled against God’s leading/provision, and then some of them ignored God’s word. This was not looking good. Moses knew the price of pride. He spent 40 years learning humility in exile in Midian for putting himself in the place of God and taking justice into his own hands. Had Israel failed these first two desert tests? Would God punish them or continue to provide for them?

Exodus 16:21-30 (NIV), “21 Each morning everyone gathered as much as they needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away. 22 On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much—two omers for each person—and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. 23 He said to them, “This is what the Lord commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of sabbath rest, a holy sabbath to the Lord. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.’ ” 24 So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it. 25 “Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a sabbath to the Lord. You will not find any of it on the ground today. 26 Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any.” 27 Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none. 28 Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commands and my instructions? 29 Bear in mind that the Lord has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where they are on the seventh day; no one is to go out.” 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.” Here, we find the practice of the Sabbath, which means to cease. As God himself modeled in the work of creation, six days were for working and the seventh was to be a day to cease/stop and rest. The Sabbath was supposed to be a blessing for people who had formerly been slaves. But even the blessing of a day to rest and worship the Lord and enjoy the work of their hands tested their faith. If we don’t collect our bread from heaven, will we have enough for the future? Fear replaced faith in God’s loving provision, and again, some people went out and broke the Sabbath, trying to gather food when God said not to. At this point, we start to see God get angry. The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness. But just because God is slow to anger doesn’t mean he never gets angry. When the people broke the Sabbath, the Lord rebuked them, saying, “How long will you refuse to keep my commands and my instructions?” But still, he doesn’t punish the people for their disobedience, but he reminds them the Sabbath was supposed to be a gift of God’s grace, a blessing of refreshment like Elim. It was supposed to be a good thing! The Sabbath was supposed to be one of the ways the people of Israel were different than the rest of the world. So, finally, the people learned to Sabbath/cease, and they rested on the seventh day. The people were learning, slowly and seemingly painfully, but they were learning how to be God’s people, how to obey his word, how to live with his holy Presence in their midst, and how to trust him to provide for their needs, their daily bread. But how long would God keep this up? How long would this lesson last? Would he continue to provide for their needs?

Exodus 16:31–36 (NIV), “31 The people of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey. 32 Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Take an omer of manna and keep it for the generations to come, so they can see the bread I gave you to eat in the wilderness when I brought you out of Egypt.’ ” 33 So Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar and put an omer of manna in it. Then place it before the Lord to be kept for the generations to come.” 34 As the Lord commanded Moses, Aaron put the manna with the tablets of the covenant law, so that it might be preserved. 35 The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land that was settled; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan. 36 (An omer is one-tenth of an ephah.)” This is God’s word. Forty years. God would provide this daily miracle for forty years to sustain his people and to provide for their needs day by day. Does God actually know/care about the needs of his people? Can we trust God to provide for our needs? Absolutely, yes. But would Israel learn this lesson? Sadly, it seems they would not. For over a thousand years, generation after generation struggled/stumbled/grumbled their way through life, sometimes remembering/obeying God’s word but other times not, often to their own destruction. What would God do? Would he give up on his people? Would he be fickle and abandon them as they had treated him? According to the gospel, the answer is no. God would continue to be good and faithful to provide. After the famous miracles of feeding the five thousand and walking on the water, Jesus was met by a crowd of people looking for him. John 6:32–35, 41, 47-51 (NIV), “32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.” 35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” Now, interestingly, after a bit more teaching on this, John says, “41 At this the Jews there began to grumble about him [Does this remind you of anything? the Exodus, perhaps?] because [Jesus] said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” Jesus went on to say, “47 Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” In the Exodus, Yahweh miraculously provided bread from heaven to sustain his people in the wilderness. This was meant not only to feed his people but to teach them to listen to God’s word and learn to follow his way. They needed to learn to trust him to provide for their needs and sustain them as they made their journey. This was of utmost importance! There is no greater lesson for a creature than to learn how to relate to their Creator. We are dependent/needy/hungry, and God is our Provider. It was still hard for the Israelites to learn this and remember this, as we’ll see in the weeks ahead. But it was still easier to remember their dependence on God in the wilderness when times were hard, and their need for bread or water felt so much more immediate. But it would be even harder for them to remember this lesson when they arrived in the Promised Land, and times were relatively much better/easier. This is what Moses warned them about. But also, in the absolute brilliance of God’s redemptive plan, and from John chapter 6, we see that Jesus understood that the manna from heaven was a big sign pointing forward to him. This is true in many ways, but I’ll just mention three today. First, just as the manna came down from heaven, so Jesus came down from heaven at the incarnation, which we’ll celebrate next month during the Advent/Christmas season. Jesus was born, but unlike us, Jesus existed before he was born as the eternal Son of God. Jesus was fully God and fully man. Now, manna came down from heaven, but Jesus is greater, for he was/is the Lord of heaven who came down into the world he had made. The origin of manna points to the greater origin of Christ. Second, just as the manna nourished and sustained God’s people in the wilderness, so Christ is our spiritual bread who nourishes and sustains us in the wilderness of this broken world. He is the bread of life. We do need food to physically sustain us, but Jesus is better, for he sustains our spiritual lives, even through death and grave. And one day, at the resurrection of the dead, we will receive our new resurrection bodies, which will sustain us physically and spiritually forever and ever. The sustaining power of manna points to the better-sustaining power of Christ. Finally, just as the ancient Israelites passed the story down through the generations of when God provided manna from heaven, even preserving some of the manna along with the tablets of the Law as a reminder of God’s faithfulness and provision, so for the last two thousand years, the church has passed down the gospel through the generations. The gospel is the good news of the person and work of Jesus, the bread of life, who broke his own body and shed his own blood on the cross for all the times we have failed to trust the Lord or obey his word. He paid the price for our wanderings in the wilderness. To this day, we remember and celebrate the ultimate gift of God’s faithfulness and provision of Christ in many ways, but especially in communion. We celebrate communion (also called The Lord’s Supper or the Eucharist, which means thanksgiving) on the first Sunday of the month. Just as Moses warned the people not to forget how God provided for them in the past, so Jesus said that when we eat the bread and drink the cup, we should do so in remembrance of him. We cannot forget. We must remember and celebrate the person and work of Jesus, our redeemer, our healer, our teacher, the Lord of heaven and earth, fully God and fully man, and the one who satisfies our spiritual hunger and sustains our lives as we make our journey to freedom. Does God actually know/care about our needs? Can God provide what we need? Only Jesus, the bread of life, provides what we need. Only Jesus will ultimately satisfy and sustain us. For only he is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. Let us pray.

November 11 2024

The Waters of Marah (Exodus)

The Waters of Marah (Exodus): After three days in the desert without water and finding a bitter spring, the Israelites became bitter and started grumbling. Yahweh had saved them and was leading them — why was the journey still so difficult? The Lord was good and faithful; he was testing them to teach them to listen to him and trust him for their needs. They had so much to learn. Recorded on Nov 10, 2024, on Exodus 15:22-27 by Pastor David Parks.

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Sermon Transcript

So, we’re working through the book of Exodus in a sermon series called Journey to Freedom. And we’ve said that Exodus is a story of liberation, of God rescuing and redeeming a people for himself. About 3,300 years ago, the ancient Israelites were slaves in Egypt, the greatest, most powerful kingdom on earth. They cried out in their bitter suffering, and Yahweh — the Creator of the heavens and the earth and the God who appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — heard their cries and sent Moses to lead them. But it was the holy Presence of Yahweh himself who fought for them and delivered them with a mighty hand and mighty acts of judgment. We saw the Ten Plagues, which culminated with the Passover when Pharaoh finally relented and let the people go. Then, last week, we saw the final crushing blow against Egypt in the parting of the Red Sea, the crossing of the Israelites through on dry ground, and the destruction of Pharaoh’s army who was pursuing them. The Israelites were finally free, just as Yahweh promised. He freed them from the judgment of their sin in the Passover through the sacrifice of a substitute. He freed them from death by allowing them to cross the Red Sea; he made a way where there was no way. Pharaoh couldn’t hurt them anymore. They were truly free! Well, wasn’t the Exodus a great story? So…why is there so much story left? We’re only on chapter 15 out of 40 for the book of Exodus. And there are three more whole books of the Bible before the Israelites finally enter the Promised Land in Joshua. How could this be? Why does the rest of the journey take so long? And, as we’ll see again and again, the journey had many trials, many circumstances that seriously tested the faith of the Israelites. They were free, but they hadn’t yet arrived. Have you ever been frustrated as a Christian that you weren’t farther along in your journey? Have you ever thought you had kicked a certain temptation or were done dealing with a struggle, only to have it come roaring back into your life? I have. Those times can feel so defeating. Have you ever wondered why, after following Jesus, perhaps for many years, the circumstances of your life suddenly seem to be crushing the faith out of you? Lord, what are you doing? Haven’t you already rescued me? Haven’t you already saved me by your grace? Why are things getting more difficult? Why does it feel like this journey just keeps going on and on? Are you trying to break my faith? Lord, what are you doing? If you’ve ever felt that way, this sermon is for you. Well, if you have your Bible/app, please open it to Exodus 15:22.

Exodus 15:22–24 (NIV), “22 Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. 23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.) 24 So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?” After crossing the Red Sea, the Israelites were buzzing with joy and excitement. Yahweh had fought for them; he had done it. When Pharaoh’s army was bearing down on them, and their backs were up against the Red Sea, they couldn’t imagine anything other than slavery or death. But God made a way where there was no way. Moses and Miriam led the people in a song of praise for the victory earlier in chapter 5. Eventually, on they went, following Moses, God’s chosen prophet and deliverer, who was following the Lord God Almighty in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. But then a day goes by, and another, and another. And the water starts to run low and then, perhaps, runs out. You and your kids and all your flocks and herds are thirsty. This is a real problem, and the attitude of the people starts to change. Then (finally!), they found a spring, but they couldn’t drink the water because it was bitter. It wasn’t good water. From whatever joy and excitement they had when they started, their hearts turned marah, bitter. They named the spring Marah, which means bitter in Hebrew. This summer, we went through the story of Ruth, and you might remember that Naomi, Ruth’s mother-in-law, called herself Marah when she returned to Judah because of all the terrible losses she suffered in Moab. This whole place represented bitterness for the Israelites, and they started to grumble. On the one hand, their complaint is not unusual/inappropriate. They needed water to live. They were traveling through the hot desert wilderness, and you can’t survive more than a few days without water. However, on the other hand, these same people just saw God do incredible things. He came and rescued them. He fought for them. He was currently leading them, by the way. Again, did they really think God would do all that just to let them die of dehydration? That would make no sense. But then again, with each step forward with no end in sight, no rest/water in sight, maybe they started to wonder about this Yahweh God. How much do we even know about him? Will he be faithful to us? Can we really trust him? So far, the jury’s out. But don’t you think they had expected to find water sooner with the Maker of the heavens and the earth leading them? So they go to God’s chosen representative and ask Moses, “What are we to drink?” How would Moses respond?

Exodus 15:25–26 (NIV), “25 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became fit to drink. There the Lord issued a ruling and instruction for them and put them to the test. 26 He said, “If you listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you.” The people were thirsty, God was not meeting their expectations for this whole Exodus business, and as a result, they had become bitter and were grumbling. So “Moses cried out to the Lord.” He brought the issue to God in prayer. In response, the Lord provided a smaller but no less important miracle than the parting of the Red Sea. “Take this piece of wood, Moses, take this tree, and throw it in the water. That will heal the water, you will be able to drink, and you will live.” Amazing. Do you think the Lord somehow missed the needs of his people as he led them? No. Do you think the Creator God, who spoke the universe into existence, would have trouble providing water in the desert? No. So, what was he doing? Why didn’t he lead the Israelites directly to water and a place of rest and comfort after all they’d been through? We got a clue last week when Moses wrote that the Lord knew the Israelites weren’t ready for the Philistines and did not lead them on the shortest route to Canaan. Because God had a bigger plan. He didn’t want them to merely survive; he wanted the Israelites to flourish in a covenant relationship with him. He didn’t want them to merely be free people and not slaves; he wanted to form/transform them into the people he had intended them to be from before the creation of the world. He wanted to bless them and, through them, bless all the nations of the earth as he had promised Abraham. But according to this bigger plan, they needed to learn some things first. Just like you get tested in school to see how well you’ve learned a subject, so God would work as a teacher for Israel. So, God would test his people. Three days without water was a test, the first of three tests we’ll consider in the next few weeks. But the Israelites had to learn to listen to/trust Yahweh. Could they trust the one who brought such severe judgments against Egypt? Was his word always helpful? Despite the failure of their bitter grumbling (which was a faith problem or imagination problem, as we talked about last week), the Lord was still compassionate and gracious. He provided what they needed, showing himself to be faithful not only to save but to sustain them, even in the desert. But he went beyond this kind provision; he made a promise, too. “If you listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you.” So far, we’ve seen Yahweh act as a judge, savior, sustainer, teacher, and now a healer. He wants the Israelites to know him, and this is who he is. Now, someone might wonder, “Does this promise mean that if you obey God’s commands and decrees, you will always be healthy?” Or, “If I’m sick and the Lord isn’t healing me, is this some kind of punishment for sin?” The answer is probably not. There are some sins that may have physical consequences, but years later, Jesus was asked this question, and he taught that illness and affliction are not always related to individual sins. Indirectly, all pain and suffering are part of the fallen condition of this world, which is the result of sin in general. However, without jumping anywhere else in the Bible, I think we might better understand this particular promise of God for healing when we think about the order of the story so far. Let’s think about this: when did God save his people from Egypt? When they had perfectly paid attention to his commands and kept all his decrees? Did God make their obedience to the Law a precondition for their salvation? No. God saved them by his grace before they even received the Law at Mount Sinai. But, in the context of already being saved and already having a relationship with him, God says that if they were careful to listen to him, he would not bring his judgment down on them as he had on Egypt and would heal them. They didn’t have to be afraid of him. They could trust him. This wasn’t some sort of prosperity gospel. They already had a relationship, so God would provide for them. If they needed water, they needed to learn to look to him to provide water. If they needed healing, they needed to learn to look to him to be their healer. That doesn’t mean they never had to look for water again or go to the doctor again; they just needed to look to God as the ultimate provider for their needs. After so many years of living as slaves in Egypt, they had a lot to learn — but they would learn who God is, how to trust him, and how to follow him. Wouldn’t they? I guess we’ll see. In the meantime, let’s finish our story with v. 27.

Exodus 15:27 (NIV), “27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water.” This is God’s word. So after three days of thirst, anxiety, wondering about God, and then grumbling against God, God not only miraculously provided water for them at Marah but then led them to Elim, a place of real rest and restoration. God’s promise foreshadows the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai. But I agree with commentator Peter Enns, who sees Elim as “…a reversal of the desert environment and a foretaste of things to come” in the Promised Land. (Exodus, The NIV Application Commentary, p. 324). The people were saved; they were freed, but they had not yet arrived in the Promised Land. But Elim gave God’s people rest and provision to continue their journey. God is a teacher, but he is a loving teacher. Just as the Lord tests his people to help them learn, so he provides rest and resources for them to make it to where he is leading them. But even when his people lose faith, even when they are slow to learn (as we’ll see in the weeks ahead), even when they grumble, stumble, and fall — God is still faithful. This is really the whole message of the Bible. This world is a mess, and we contribute to the mess in big ways and small ways. We need forgiveness. We need life. We need to be led according to a wisdom greater than our own. Even when we are saved, we can be so easily shaken. We, too, can be slow to learn. But because of the person and work of Jesus Christ, because of his righteousness and the power of his Spirit, even when we grumble, stumble, and fall, we do not have to be lost, we do not have to become bitter because God is still faithful. If you’ve put your faith in Christ, you are saved. You no longer have to worry about whether or not God loves you or accepts you because he does, and he will in Christ. This summer, I listened to The Lord of the Rings books on Audible. It was something like 54 hours to get through all three books. And they are just the best fantasy books of all time. But when at the end of The Return of the King, when the ring of power is destroyed, and the evil king Sauron is defeated, you’re expecting the story to be about done. But on Audible, I realized I still had hours and hours left of the story. I thought, “What more could the author need to say? Isn’t the story done?” The answer was no. The victory had been won, but the story was not yet done. If you’re a Christian today, then the same is true for you. The victory in Christ has been won, but your story is not yet done. Are you on chapter 15 out of 40? God only knows. But like the ancient Israelites, in Christ, you’ve been saved from slavery and delivered from death, but you have not yet arrived in the Promised Land of the new heaven and earth. There’s more story to tell. There’s still more of the journey to make. But God will preserve you, and he will be your teacher and healer as well. And you will need to learn to listen to/trust in him. Hebrews 12:7–11 (NIV), “Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children…God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” You will be tested like Marah because God loves you, and he disciplines those he loves. He has a bigger plan going on. He wants you to flourish, not merely survive. But the Lord will also lead you to times of refreshment like Elim. He will give you what you need to make the journey. But if you do learn who God is, how to trust him, and how to follow him, it will produce a great harvest — a harvest of righteousness and peace. And in his time, he will lead you home as a new creation, saved and sanctified. And your story will be just another testimony to the goodness and the faithfulness of our God. Let us pray.

November 4 2024

Crossing the Red Sea (Exodus)

Crossing the Red Sea (Exodus): The first real test of faith for the Israelites came when Pharaoh changed his mind and sent his army after them. Caught at the Red Sea with nowhere to escape, their options seemed to be slavery or death. They couldn’t imagine how God might save them — until God made a way. He fought their battle and led them to freedom. All they had to do was trust him. Recorded on Nov 3, 2024, on Exodus 13:17-14:31 by Pastor David Parks.

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Sermon Transcript

We’re working through the book of Exodus in a sermon series called Journey to Freedom. And we’ve said that Exodus is a story of liberation, of God rescuing and redeeming a people for himself. About 3,300 years ago, the ancient Israelites were slaves in Egypt, the greatest, most powerful kingdom on earth. They cried out in their bitter suffering, and Yahweh, the Creator of the heavens and the earth and the God who appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, heard their cries and sent Moses to lead them to freedom. Despite repeated opportunities to let the Israelites go, Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, hard-heartedly refused. But after ten escalating plagues, where Yahweh brought divine judgment down on all the false gods and goddesses of Egypt, Pharaoh finally relented, and the Israelites were set free. Today, we’ll see the first real test of faith for the Israelites in their Exodus out of Egypt when Pharaoh changed his mind and sent his army after the Israelites. Would this be the end of this whole unlikely plan? Would Moses and Aaron (and probably many other Israelites) be killed? Would the remaining people die as slaves? Or would God do something? Would Yahweh fight on behalf of his people and deliver them as he promised? Could they even imagine God doing something like that? Could they trust him? Have you ever had that thought? Can I really trust God to rescue/deliver me? Well, if you have your Bible/app, please open it to Exodus 13:17. This is the famous story of the parting of the Red Sea. And we’ll unpack this text as we go.

Exodus 13:17–22 (NIV), “17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” 18 So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt ready for battle. 19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the Israelites swear an oath. He had said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up with you from this place.” 20 After leaving Sukkoth they camped at Etham on the edge of the desert. 21 By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. 22 Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.” So, the Exodus had begun. And, surprisingly, God himself was there, leading his people out of Egypt in a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. He didn’t just send Moses as his prophet to lead his people; he went too. No one can see God and live, but God’s holy Presence was with them. Commentator Douglas Stuart writes, “…the Israelites knew all day every day that God was present with them. Here was a supernatural, huge, and visible reminder that Yahweh was at the head of his people as they marched or encamped, whether by day or by night.” (Exodus, TNAC, p. 328) That would’ve been wild to see, right? Now, even though Moses wrote that the “Israelites went up out of Egypt ready for battle,” we have to remember that this wasn’t an army. These were former slaves who had never been trained/organize to fight anyone. They weren’t well-armed. They didn’t have chariots or horses or anything like that. They had women and children; they had flocks and herds. They were a slow-moving mass of people. They were easy targets. But God knew all this. And he knew that if he led them on the shortest road to Canaan, the land he promised Abraham, they would run directly into the Philistines, another powerful kingdom and one that wouldn’t welcome them with open arms. God knew they weren’t ready for that kind of warfare, even though the way was shorter. So what would God do? Where would he lead them if not to Canaan?

Exodus 14:1-14 (NIV), “1 Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon. 3 Pharaoh will think, ‘The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.’ 4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” So the Israelites did this. 5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, “What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!” 6 So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him. 7 He took six hundred of the best chariots, along with all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them. 8 The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out boldly. 9 The Egyptians—all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, horsemen and troops—pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea near Pi Hahiroth, opposite Baal Zephon. 10 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. 11 They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” 13 Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” We can look at a map and see that God’s solution to avoid the Philistines to the northeast in Canaan appeared to be to turn around and head to the southeast. This would entice Pharaoh to attack them, thinking they were lost or confused, and deliver the Israelites right into his hands with their backs up against the Red Sea. What was God doing? Now, sometimes pain and suffering can drive people away from God, but sometimes it can drive people closer to God. Fear can have the same effect and the Israelites were terrified. I can’t imagine a more threatening/fear-producing situation than having the most elite fighting force on the planet, the hundreds or perhaps thousands of chariots of the Egyptian army with all their troops and officers racing after you. These were professional and experienced warriors. They were organized by seasoned officers. And they were well-armed. They had the best military technology of their day. At the same time, you’re trying to escape on foot (unarmed and barely organized) with everything you hold dear — your wife and kids, friends and neighbors, and all your earthly possessions. How many would die before the rest were slaves once again? It made the Israelites forget all the signs and wonders, all the plagues, and everything Yahweh had just done. They immediately lost faith. “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?” This situation reminds me of Moses having to run to Midian. Could this possibly be God’s plan? What kind of plan was this?!? But I love how Moses answers these frightened people in v. 13. “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Could that be true? Let’s see…

Exodus 14:15-31 (NIV), “15 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. 16 Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. 17 I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. 18 The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen.” 19 Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, 20 coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long. 21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, 22 and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. 23 The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. 24 During the last watch of the night the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. 25 He jammed the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.” 26 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.” 27 Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and the Lord swept them into the sea. 28 The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived. 29 But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. 30 That day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. 31 And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.” This is God’s word. I love how God responds. He’s not worried. He’s not intimidated by the Egyptian army. “Why are you crying out to me?” He says, “Tell the Israelites to move on.” God’s on the move. This is like the Passover story from last week. They were to eat the Passover meal with their cloaks tucked into their belts, sandals on their feet, staff in hand — ready to run. Judgment was coming, but salvation was coming, too. Again, God says, get ready to move! Then, as Moses held his staff up in obedience to God’s word, and as the Angel of the Lord moved from the front of Israel to behind them to stand between them and their enemy, God sent a mighty wind to part the sea and make a way to cross from slavery to freedom, from death to life. When the Egyptian army tried to pursue them through the sea, they recognized that Yahweh was fighting them on behalf of his people. But it was too late. They couldn’t escape. It was utter destruction for Egypt and total victory for Yahweh. The mightiest king of the most powerful kingdom of the world, with all his money, power, and fame, and with the best of the best of his military might, was no match for the One who created the heavens and the earth, who sustains all things by a word of his power, and who is limitless in power and wisdom and glory. It wasn’t even close. The Lord chose to make a people for himself; he made promises for their future, and then, in the fullness of time, he saved them by fighting for them and providing a way of salvation that no one saw coming. Does that sound familiar to anyone? It should. This is a pattern we see throughout the Bible — God saving people by his grace and according to his wisdom and power, and people having to respond by believing in him and trusting him to do what he promised he would do. In other words, the parting of the Red Sea is a big sign pointing forward to Jesus, where this pattern finds its ultimate fulfillment.

Now, how might we apply this text to our lives today? Well, there are so many helpful lessons from this story. Lessons about the danger of pride in worldly power, God’s miraculous power to intervene and save, and so much more. But one thing this passage illustrates is the limited imagination that sometimes plagues God’s people. Yahweh had just miraculously delivered the Israelites from the hand of Pharaoh. If God could do that, was there anything he couldn’t do? And if God was in the process of rescuing them and was leading them himself, wasn’t it likely that he had better plans for them than to let them die in the desert? Did they really think God was so incompetent? But in their minds/imagination, the only options were slavery or death. The Israelites had an imagination problem. Now, this is understandable. They’d been slaves for over 400 years. Slavery was all they knew. They couldn’t imagine how God might redeem them or that God had something better planned for their future. Instead of trusting the Lord and venturing out into the unknown with courage/optimism/faith, in a twisted way, Egypt felt safe. Slavery was the monster they knew. Can’t we just go back to Egypt? Now, maybe this resonates with some of you today? Have you ever resisted obedience to God because you knew it would result in changes that seemed scary? I remember having that thought at one point. Something like, “I’m pretty sure that God is real and his word is true, but if I really believed that, a lot would have to change in my life.” That’s a daunting thought. Maybe you had the thought that staying in the mess would be easier than facing your fears? That’s an imagination problem. It’s also a fear problem and a lack of faith problem (of course!), but I think they’re usually first imagination problems. Despite God’s track record of 100% faithfulness to us in the past, we just can’t imagine all the good God might do in calling us out into the unknown. But what can we do? Well, this is why the Bible is so important. It’s stories like this, and so many others in God’s word, that expand our imaginations about who God is, what he is capable of, and how sure we are when we trust in him — even when our circumstances are bleak — even when all hope seems lost. We’re strengthened by the truth as much as we’re sanctified by the truth. “Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist…” (Eph 6:14a). In addition to the Bible, we need people like Moses — whether it be a husband to his wife or a parent to her child or a friend to a friend or a pastor to their flock — we all need people who can speak the truth in love to us when our fears are big, and our imaginations are small. Moses said, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Here, we see Moses growing into the courageous leader God knew he could be when he called him. And this was exactly what the Israelites needed — a bold leader who encouraged them to obey God and not give in to fear. After the Lord delivered them in this incredible way, Moses said, “…when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.” (v. 31). We aren’t much different than the ancient Israelites. We all need the truth of God’s word and other believers to speak the truth in love into our lives. But the best way to expand your imagination about who God is, what he is capable of, and how sure we are when we trust in him is to look to the cross of Christ. What seemed to be the bleakest of circumstances, and when all hope seemed lost, came true in the brutal death of Jesus Christ on the cross. Had the devil won? Had God’s plan for salvation failed? Not at all. But at the time, the disciples couldn’t imagine how God might redeem the death of Jesus or the good God had planned for their future. They, too, had an imagination problem. But just as God miraculously delivered Israel through the sea (a symbol of death), so God used the cross (another symbol of death) as another miraculous means of divine deliverance. The cross wasn’t a defeat; it was actually God’s plan to deal with the penalty of sin through the sacrifice of Jesus, the true Passover Lamb. Jesus died the death that we deserved. But the disciples didn’t realize how far off they had been until they found the stone had been rolled away, and the tomb was empty. No one expected Israel to defeat the Egyptian army. But no one expected a resurrection, either. In both cases (and so many others throughout salvation history), God did it all. He fought the battle and won the victory. The only thing God’s people have to do is put our faith in who God is, believe in what he is capable of, and rest in how sure we are when we trust in him. So today, if obedience to God’s word will bring major changes into your life and the fears start creeping in because you can’t imagine how God might use it for good, just remember that you can trust him. And as we’ve seen time and time again, the only place he will lead you will be for his glory and your good. Let us pray.

October 27 2024

The Passover (Exodus)

The Passover (Exodus): Very few things formed the identity of ancient Israel more than the story of the Lord’s Passover. God brought divine judgment against Egypt and its gods in an unmistakable tenth plague. However, God also graciously made a way for salvation through the blood of a sacrificial lamb. Yahweh had done it. The Israelites were finally free. Recorded on Oct 27, 2024, on Exodus 12:1-13, 29-42 by Pastor David Parks.

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Sermon Transcript

We’re working through the book of Exodus in a sermon series called Journey to Freedom. And we’ve said that Exodus is a story of liberation, of God rescuing and redeeming a people for himself. The people God rescued were the ancient Israelites who suffered greatly as slaves in Egypt about 3,200-3,300 years ago. Egypt was the most powerful kingdom in the world. Despite the brutality of their situation, Yahweh, the God of their ancestors (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), had allowed them to grow in slavery from seventy people as an extended family to be large enough to be a nation within a nation. But the more they grew, the more the Pharaohs were threatened by them and oppressed them all the more. The Israelites cried out to the Lord, and Yahweh sent Moses to lead his people out of Egypt, just as he had promised Abraham 430 years earlier. Moses was a Hebrew but was adopted by the royal household of Egypt before spending 40 years in exile in Midian. So Moses and his brother Aaron went back to Pharaoh with miraculous signs and wonders, but Pharaoh didn’t believe in Yahweh and stubbornly refused to listen to his message. Last week, in chapters 7-11 in Exodus, we saw that Yahweh gave Pharaoh chance after chance to repent by sending a series of escalating plagues. But after the first five plagues, when Pharaoh only hardened his heart in response to each plague, the Lord, to quote Paul, “…gave [him] over in the sinful desires of [his] heart…” (Ro 1:24). So, as Yahweh sent five more plagues, he hardened Pharaoh’s heart to execute divine judgment in a way the world hadn’t seen since the flood. Moses warned Pharaoh that the tenth and final plague would bring the destruction of every firstborn of both people and animals in Egypt — from the greatest to the least, including Pharaoh’s own son. Would the Lord do such a thing? Would Pharaoh finally repent? Would this be the start of the Exodus and the liberation of the Israelites from captivity in Egypt? We’ll see. But this chapter and the story of the Lord’s Passover is one of the most important chapters in the whole of the Old Testament scriptures. Very few things served to form the identity of Israel more than the Passover. But for us today, few things serve to explain and point forward to the work of Jesus Christ more than the Passover. If you have your Bible/app, please open it to Exodus 12:1.

Exodus 12:1–13 (NIV), “1 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, 2 “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. 3 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. 4 If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. 5 The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. 6 Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. 7 Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. 8 That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. 9 Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire—with the head, legs and internal organs. 10 Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. 11 This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover. 12 “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. 13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.” In this text, we have Yahweh’s instructions through Moses and Aaron to the Hebrew people for the first Passover. Or, to put it another way, this was how they could survive the tenth and final plague. This was going to be such a defining moment for Israel that it would change even how they measured time. The month they were freed from Egypt — the month of Aviv — would mark the start of their year (between March and April for us today). But the people were to arrange themselves according to their households and maybe include some neighbors so they had enough people to share one Passover lamb or goat. The sacrificial lamb or goat was to be a one-year-old and without defects, meaning they were to represent a pure/holy offering. No one was to gorge themselves alone; they needed to share it and burn any leftovers. They had several days to arrange all this, but the whole idea was to “Eat it in haste.” Roasting the meat was the fastest way to cook it. Bitter herbs and unleavened bread were the fastest ways to prepare bread and vegetables. Eating with your cloak, sandals, and staff meant eating like you were ready to run. All this was a sign of how soon the Lord would deliver his people. He said he would free them from being slaves in Egypt, and if they believed Yahweh, they needed to be ready to leave everything they’d ever known. This was a huge act of faith. Egypt was where their parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents had all lived. The Israelites had spent 430 years in Egypt. The United States has been a country for only 248 years. Imagine if, in another almost 200 years, God told our ancestors to get ready to leave for another country that none of us had ever seen. If this happened today, God might tell us to pack the car and leave it running while we ate the Passover meal. The whole point was to be immediately ready to go. Judgment was coming, but salvation was coming, too, and God would do it soon. v. 12 makes it clear that the primary focus of Yahweh in the Ten Plagues was to demonstrate the utter lifeless, useless power of the gods of Egypt to save. Every Egyptian household, from the greatest to the least, was going to experience a temporary act of divine judgment, revealing to them the absolute authority of Yahweh God, the one true and living God who is sovereign over life/death, nations, kings, and idols. How would they respond? Would the Israelites finally be set free? Let’s jump down to v. 29 to continue with the first Passover story.

Exodus 12:29–42 (NIV), “29 At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. 30 Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead. 31 During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord as you have requested. 32 Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me.” 33 The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. “For otherwise,” they said, “we will all die!” 34 So the people took their dough before the yeast was added, and carried it on their shoulders in kneading troughs wrapped in clothing. 35 The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. 36 The Lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians. 37 The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Sukkoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. 38 Many other people went up with them, and also large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds. 39 With the dough the Israelites had brought from Egypt, they baked loaves of unleavened bread. The dough was without yeast because they had been driven out of Egypt and did not have time to prepare food for themselves. 40 Now the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt was 430 years. 41 At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the Lord’s divisions left Egypt. 42 Because the Lord kept vigil that night to bring them out of Egypt, on this night all the Israelites are to keep vigil to honor the Lord for the generations to come.” This is God’s word. Some passages of Scripture are like a wedding; they’re a celebration bringing love/hope/joy. Others are more like a funeral; they might cause us grief/remorse/conviction. But some, like this one, might leave us thinking, “Woah. Is this who God is?” Now, the start of the Exodus of Israel out of Egypt should be a celebration! After hundreds of years of suffering and brutal abuse as slaves, they were finally free! And not only were they freed, but the Egyptians gave them so many valuables and clothing that it would provide for their needs during the whole time in the wilderness. They defeated and plundered the greatest kingdom on earth without a single sword or spear. The Israelites obeyed God and took shelter from divine judgment under the blood of the Passover lamb. So God saved/delivered/freed them and provided for their needs in one night. Yahweh had done it; he kept his word. God’s people sang psalms of praise for what God did here for generations after this. Now, when we think about the Passover from the perspective of the Israelites, it’s clearly a victory worthy of celebrating. But if you’re like me, you might also be wondering about the tenth and final plague of death. How are we supposed to celebrate in the presence of all this death and destruction? The first thing to see in the text is that the Egyptians weren’t confused about what happened. They knew this was an act of divine judgment. They didn’t think this was unfair. Yahweh had given Pharaoh and the people of Egypt repeated chances to repent and believe. But they refused. Yahweh said his judgment was primarily aimed at the pantheon of gods and goddesses that were worshipped in Egypt. But they understood completely that the death of every firstborn was a judgment against every single household. They were in the wrong. They had failed to worship and serve the one true God. The Egyptians saw that if they continued on this path, they would all die. As horrible as this final plague was, it was a merciful warning. This is why the Pharaoh asked for a blessing when he finally relented and let the Hebrews leave. They understood the message. But I suspect the problem many modern people have with this story is not whether or not God effectively communicated his message of judgment to the Egyptians or that he freed the people of Israel in this incredible way — but that God exercised his right to divine judgment. I’m not sure if it was different in different times and places, but we people hate the idea of judgment today. Even when we’re wrong, we don’t like to be told we’re wrong. We love the idea of justice, but we hate judgment. As a result, many people reject the idea of a God who is a judge and who can condemn us. Can a God who judges us be a loving God?

Well, there are far too many things to say about this for any one sermon. But I’d like to close today by reminding you of what the Bible says is the real problem with the world (sin) and what God has done about it that is the basis for the good news of the gospel. Now, everyone has moral standards — things they believe to be right and wrong. And I think most people believe they’re basically decent people, at least most of the time. But I bet if you saw a transcript of your thoughts for a week (maybe even a day!), you’d see that you don’t even meet your own standards, much less God’s standards! Well, according to the Bible, this is a sin problem, and the problem goes all the way down to our core. We have a heart problem. Jesus taught this in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5. The seed of murder is found in the dismissive anger of the heart (Mt 5:22). The seed of adultery is found in the lust of the heart (Mt 5:28). Or later, in Mt 12 when he said that the mouth speaks what the heart is full of (Mt 12:34). All our other problems, emotional/relational/economic/education/political problems are, first, heart problems. Ever since the fall of Genesis 3, even when we know what is right, we fail to do what is right and often long to do what we know is wrong! Even our secular people know this is true; there’s a problem within us. My social media feed is full of supposed cures, ranging from meditation to psychedelics to diet/exercise. No one really believes that nothing’s wrong with us. However, the problem is worse than most people think because sin is enslaving. Our sins master/control us. As John Stott wrote in Basic Christianity, “Sin not only alienates; it enslaves. It separates us from God and it also brings us into captivity…It is more than the wrong things we do; it is a deep-seated inner sickness. In fact, the sins we commit are merely the external and visible indications of this internal and invisible illness, the symptoms of a moral disease.” (Stott, John R. W. . Basic Christianity (p. 74). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition.). Like the Israelites were slaves in Egypt, so we are slaves in our sins. Now, try as we might, we can’t break the chains or free ourselves from this bondage just as Israel couldn’t free themselves. A good God couldn’t overlook sin and be just. But what could he do? If God were to simply snap his fingers and eliminate all the sin from the world, he’d have to eliminate every human being, including you and me. Because, as we’ve seen, the problem is both out there and in here. This was the significance of the blood of the lamb. Without it, the Israelites would’ve been no different than the Egyptians. But because of his great love, God made a way for people to be forgiven and freed from the power of sin and no longer under the penalty of sin, which is death. This is the basic message of the gospel. As sinners by nature and by choice, we need the saving grace of God. We need a savior! Sin enslaves, but Jesus saves. In the gospel, we see who God is, what he saved us from, and how he did it through his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything about the Passover is a big sign pointing forward to Jesus. The Last Supper of Jesus was a Passover meal because Jesus was the true Lamb of God. He would die on the cross as a sacrifice in our place to make atonement for the sins of the world. During the first Passover, the people took refuge under the blood of the lamb and were saved by grace through faith in God and obedience to his word. In Jesus, there is an invitation for all people to find the same refuge today. It doesn’t matter how good you’ve been. It doesn’t matter who or what you’ve worshipped in the past. There is still safety, life, love, joy, and peace for all who take shelter from divine judgment under the blood of the Passover lamb. God is patient and kind; he doesn’t want anyone to perish. So, there is a way of salvation for all who call on the name of Jesus. Today, would you put your faith and trust in him? Would you give your life to Jesus? Would you trust him for the forgiveness of your sins? “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” (Gal 5:1a). Would you find your freedom in Jesus? A text like this may make us think that the main message of the Bible is one of judgment and condemnation. But, friends, when you step back and you see the good news of the gospel, you’ll see the main plotline of the Bible is one of rescue, not judgment. Let us pray.

October 20 2024

The Plagues (Exodus)

The Plagues (Exodus): The ten plagues in ancient Egypt represent a systematic victory over and judgment of the Pharaoh and gods of Egypt by the one true God, Yahweh. We are given many opportunities to humbly repent in life. But can anyone actually stand under the judgment of God? Yes, but only because of the person and work of Jesus Christ. Recorded on Oct 20, 2024, on Exodus 7:8-24 by Justun Hart.

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October 14 2024

Bricks Without Straw (Exodus)

Bricks Without Straw (Exodus): When God told Moses to tell Pharaoh, “Let my people go,” Moses did exactly what God told him to do. But the suffering of the Israelites got worse, not better! The truth is, in a broken world, obedience to God’s word is no guarantee of short-term prosperity. But this doesn’t mean that God has abandoned you or that no good will ever come from times of suffering. Our God is faithful to redeem. You’ll see. Recorded on Oct 13, 2024, on Exodus 5:1-6:12 by Pastor David Parks.

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Sermon Transcript

We’re working through a sermon series on the book of Exodus called Journey to Freedom. And we’ve said that Exodus is a story of liberation, of God rescuing and redeeming a people for himself. The first few chapters of Exodus describe the bitter suffering of the family of Abraham and Sarah (ancient Israelites) when they were slaves in Egypt, the most powerful kingdom in the world at the time. We’re introduced to Moses, who would go on to be the mighty prophet and deliverer of Israel for Yahweh God. But his story was not this smooth rise into power. It didn’t seem to go according to any sort of plan. But God was faithful, and he didn’t abandon Moses even after his forty-year exile in Midian. But when the set time had fully come, God sent Moses, born in Egypt and adopted into the royal household of Egypt, back to Egypt to redeem his people who were still enslaved in Egypt. But this was a mission Moses didn’t want. Maybe he thought he was too old. Or maybe after his first disastrous attempt at leadership, he doubted his leadership abilities. But Moses gave one excuse after another before asking Yahweh just to send someone else. But God was merciful (and patient) and provided miraculous signs to verify his message and calling. He also allowed Moses’ brother, Aaron, to help him speak and lead. But the most important thing God promised was his own Presence. Yahweh would go with Moses. So Moses packed up his wife, Zipporah, and his two sons and went to Egypt to do this crazy thing God called him to do. In Egypt, Moses and Aaron spoke to the elders of the Israelites and shared the message God gave them: that Yahweh God, the God of their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, was going to deliver them from Egypt and would bring them out into the land he had promised them. They performed the signs, as well, and the Israelites believed and worshipped the God who had seen their suffering, heard their prayers, and had concern for them. Chapter 5 picks up the story in the courts of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. How would he respond to Moses and the message and miracles of Yahweh God? If you have your Bible/app, please open it to Exodus 5:1.

Exodus 5:1–9 (NIV), “1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.’ ” 2 Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.” 3 Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, or he may strike us with plagues or with the sword.” 4 But the king of Egypt said, “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!” 5 Then Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them from working.” 6 That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and overseers in charge of the people: 7 “You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. 8 But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don’t reduce the quota. They are lazy; that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Make the work harder for the people so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies.” So that didn’t go well. But this was only the first of many meetings between Moses and Aaron and Pharaoh, King of Egypt. It’s interesting to think that Moses, adopted/raised by an Egyptian princess, and the current Pharaoh probably grew up together. We’re never told if they had been close before Moses fled to Midian. Historians are not settled on which Pharaoh this would’ve been, but many believe it could’ve been Ramses II, known as Ramses the Great. Well, whoever he was, in response to the famous “Let my people go” line, Pharaoh arrogantly asks, “Who is Yahweh, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know Yahweh and I will not let Israel go.” Moses tried to tactfully make it clear that there might be serious consequences if this request was ignored. But not only did Pharaoh disdainfully ignore Yahweh, but he also decided to punish the Hebrews out of spite. He thought the Hebrews were lazy and didn’t believe Moses and Aaron had a message from God. He told the slave drivers and overseers not to listen to what he considered to be lies. (“Did God really say, ‘You must let the Israelites go?’”) But would Yahweh have some secret up his sleeve? Would he miraculously provide straw to make bricks? How would he do what he said he would do? Let’s see.

Exodus 5:10-23 (NIV), “10 Then the slave drivers and the overseers went out and said to the people, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I will not give you any more straw. 11 Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced at all.’ ” 12 So the people scattered all over Egypt to gather stubble to use for straw. 13 The slave drivers kept pressing them, saying, “Complete the work required of you for each day, just as when you had straw.” 14 And Pharaoh’s slave drivers beat the Israelite overseers they had appointed, demanding, “Why haven’t you met your quota of bricks yesterday or today, as before?” 15 Then the Israelite overseers went and appealed to Pharaoh: “Why have you treated your servants this way? 16 Your servants are given no straw, yet we are told, ‘Make bricks!’ Your servants are being beaten, but the fault is with your own people.” 17 Pharaoh said, “Lazy, that’s what you are—lazy! That is why you keep saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ 18 Now get to work. You will not be given any straw, yet you must produce your full quota of bricks.” 19 The Israelite overseers realized they were in trouble when they were told, “You are not to reduce the number of bricks required of you for each day.” 20 When they left Pharaoh, they found Moses and Aaron waiting to meet them, 21 and they said, “May the Lord look on you and judge you! You have made us obnoxious to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.” 22 Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me? 23 Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.” We know from Chapter 1 that the Israelites were doing the back-breaking work of building store cities for Pharaoh. And they were already suffering bitterly as slaves. But now, they had to do the same work and meet the same quota without the supplies they needed. This was a serious problem, and they knew they were in trouble. They were being beaten every day for not meeting this impossible quota. The Israelite overseers didn’t have any luck appealing to Pharaoh, and afterward, they let Moses and Aaron know how they felt about their great rescue plan. “May the Lord look on you and judge you! You have made us obnoxious to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.” Moses, in turn, let God know in prayer how he felt about this great rescue plan. Moses could’ve prayed, “What are you doing, Lord? Wasn’t Pharaoh supposed to let us go? We did exactly what you asked, but it only made things worse!” I wonder if Moses thought about running back to the safe obscurity of Midian. This was the second rejection of his leadership from his fellow Hebrew people, and they made it clear how they felt about all his help. The text implies that some time had passed, but eventually, maybe after Moses had waited to see if some miracle was coming…Moses started praying. And this is so helpful. When you’re upset, when things aren’t going your way, in the middle of the storm, when the miracle hasn’t happened yet, you better start praying. The Lord cares about you. And he knows what’s happening. Bring your praise and your problems to him. Well, how would God respond?

Exodus 6:1-8 (NIV), “1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.” 2 God also said to Moses, “I am the Lord [Yahweh]. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself fully known to them. 4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they resided as foreigners. 5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant. 6 “Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. 8 And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord [Yahweh].’” In response to what seemed like a huge setback to their rescue plan and a second rejection of Moses, Yahweh El Shaddai, the Lord God Almighty, says, “Now you will see what I will do…” Do you want to see some crazy stuff? Do you want to see some fireworks? Just watch. Just you wait and see what I’ll do. “I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.” Pharaoh won’t get away with his arrogance or his abuse. He had asked, “Who is Yahweh, that I should obey him and let Israel go?” God tells Moses he’s about to show Pharaoh just what he’s capable of. But Yahweh isn’t just out to make Egypt pay for their idolatry or their enslavement and genocide of the Hebrew people. We also see God’s heart for his people when he promises, “I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God…I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession.” This isn’t a setback. This is a setup for a cosmic showdown. But how can Moses know that God is able to accomplish all these things? What is the basis for these promises? It is God himself. vv. 2 and 8 bracket all these promises with a repeated statement of God’s identity and his covenant relationship with Israel. I am the Lord/Yahweh. I will do all these things because this is who I am. I AM WHO I AM. The I AM will do all this for you. I’ll stake my name/reputation on it. What an incredible answer to prayer! Can you imagine if you were at a low point in your life and God gave all these promises to you? I will rescue you. I will defeat your enemies. Out of all the peoples of the world, you will be my people, and I will be your God, and I will provide all that you need. You just have to trust me, and I will do it. If I was in trouble and prayed for help and God answered my prayers with half of what he promised here, I’d be undone. This would be the ultimate source of security and hope, right? “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Ro 8:31b) Let’s see what Moses and the Israelites thought about all this.

Exodus 6:9-12 (NIV), “9 Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and harsh labor. 10 Then the Lord said to Moses, 11 “Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his country.” 12 But Moses said to the Lord, “If the Israelites will not listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering lips?” This is God’s word. Well, our text ends at a low point. Pharaoh hadn’t listened to Yahweh because he didn’t believe in him or his word. The people hadn’t listened to Yahweh’s amazing promises because they were so discouraged. Their suffering had broken their spirit and killed their hope. And Moses was ready to quit again. This is the second time Moses mentions something about his ability to speak. He literally says he is of uncircumcised lips (faltering in the NIV). Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean he had a speech impediment, but it’s possible. However, I suspect the problem had more to do with his self-confidence in doing what God called him to do. After he gets going with this whole prophet/deliverer role, Moses delivers all kinds of speeches. At any rate, next week, we’ll see the “outstretched arm” and the “mighty acts of judgment” of Yahweh El Shaddai. But today, we’re still in the struggle. We’re still in the dark valley, and we’re not out yet. God promised a rescue but hasn’t done it yet. Maybe some of you can resonate with that today? Maybe some of you are in the desperately uncomfortable time between the prayer and the answer to prayer, between the problem and the solution? Now, obviously, none of us are in the exact same situation as ancient Israel. But I know that some of us are in the middle of something difficult, while all of us will be there at some point in life. What do we do? How do we wait for relief/deliverance and not lose our faith? How can we keep from becoming so discouraged we stop believing the promises of God? Well, we’ve said that Exodus is a great picture of the gospel and the Christian life. This chapter of the story is a helpful reminder that even those who are known by God and have been saved from the power of sin and death by faith in Jesus Christ still live (for now) in a broken world. So, unfortunately, things can sometimes get more difficult even when (as Moses found out) you are being obedient to God’s word. Doing the right thing can sometimes make things worse in the short run. This can be very disorienting if your expectations are wrong. Maybe it’s your expectations about timing. Commentator Douglas Stuart writes, “God’s timing only sometimes coincides with our expectations, and his idea of the hardships we need to go through only sometimes coincides with our idea of how much we can take.” (Exodus, vol. 2, TNAC, p. 169) Or maybe it’s your expectations about pain and suffering. That if you’re a good person, then good things will happen to you. This is the underlying belief of karma. Basically, everyone gets what they deserve. But this is not what the Bible teaches. In fact, the foundation of the gospel is that God doesn’t treat us as we deserve, he treats us as Christ deserved and treated Christ how we deserved on the cross. So if hardship in your life may or may not be what you deserve, what else might God be doing with those painful seasons? In The Problem of Pain, C.S. Lewis wrote, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” (The Complete C.S. Lewis Signature Classics, p. 604) Very few things drive needed change like pain and suffering. Now, on this side of eternity, we rarely see the full picture of all the good that God is able to bring out of any certain painful situation. But, As Tim Keller writes, “Just because you can’t see or imagine a good reason why God might allow something to happen doesn’t mean there can’t be one.” (The Reason for God, p. 23). God reminds us of his nature in Isaiah 55:8–9 (NIV), “8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. 9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” So, obedience to God’s word is no guarantee of short-term prosperity. In fact, it might lead to more struggle/suffering/pain/persecution. But, as we see in the Exodus story, this doesn’t mean God has abandoned you or that no good will ever come from the times when you’re walking in the valley of the shadow of death. Our God is faithful to his promise, and he is a redeemer. You’ll see. He brings life out of death and beauty from the ashes. He turns mourning into dancing and groaning into shouts of praise. But nowhere is this seen more clearly than at the foot of the cross. Jesus suffered and died on the cross in humiliation. He was subject to injustice and abuse. And he wasn’t just a good man; he was perfectly obedient to the word of God. He was “tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.” (Heb 4:15b). Jesus did everything right. So why did God allow him to suffer? Was he abandoned by God the Father in heaven? No. There was a plan. And it would be the greatest act of redemption in the history of the world. Out of the brutal and unjust suffering of the Son of God, the Father would bring the greatest possible good. So, while we wait, let’s resist discouragement and doubt, let’s pray and trust the God who sees/hears/cares for us, his people, in Christ. Let us pray.

October 6 2024

The Burning Bush (Exodus)

The Burning Bush (Exodus): When Yahweh God sent Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, Moses clearly had fears and doubts about his ability to do what God called him to do. Yahweh graciously (and patiently) provided his name, miraculous signs, and other help. But what would guarantee success? God promised, “I will be with you.” Recorded on Oct 6, 2024, on Exodus 3:1-4:17 by Pastor David Parks.

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Sermon Transcript

Well, today, and for about the next six months, we’ll be working through a sermon series on the book of Exodus called Journey to Freedom. For the last two weeks, we’ve said that Exodus is a wild story, but it’s a story of liberation, of God rescuing and redeeming a people for himself. We’ve also said Exodus is a picture of the gospel and the Christian life. Chapter 1 started something like 3,200 or 3,300 years ago when the ancient people of Israel were suffering bitterly as slaves in Egypt. Would God keep his promises to the family of Abraham and Sarah? Would he be faithful to save? Last week, in Chapter 2, with the birth of Moses, we saw God’s rescue plan start to unfold. However, Moses’ disastrous first attempt at helping his people led to his exile in the foreign land of Midian. Was this God’s plan?? Well, today, in Chapter 3, forty years have passed. Moses married Zipporah, the daughter of a pagan priest named Jethro, started a family, and worked as a shepherd for his father-in-law. And for many years, that was it. It probably seemed like God was done with him. Have you ever wondered about this for your life? Maybe things haven’t turned out how you thought they would, and you wonder, “Is this it, or does God have something more for me?” Maybe a bigger question for Moses would be, given his first failure, would he be able to handle it if God called him more? Well, God’s not done with Moses. If you have your Bible/app, please open it to Exodus 3:1. This is a fairly long text, but it’s all one story, and we’ll unpack it as we go.

Exodus 3:1–4:17 (NIV), “1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.” 4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” 5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. 7 The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” Forty years have passed there in Midian. Moses was now eighty years old. After all these years, if he ever considered his ability to lead, Moses must’ve felt like a failure. His attempts to lead in Egypt resulted in precisely zero people following him and Moses having to flee for his life. Now here, forty years later, not only is no one following him, still, but he wasn’t even leading his own flock of sheep! He was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro. At any rate, Moses had led the flock far from home, to the far side of the wilderness, to a mountain known as Horeb and later as Sinai. Probably because of this encounter, and later, when the Israelites came back to meet with God there after they had escaped from Egypt, Horeb (Mount Sinai) became known as the mountain of God. But here, Moses writes that he noticed a bush on the mountainside that was on fire but not burning up. This would’ve been very strange since no one else was nearby. Moses went closer to investigate when the angel of the Lord appeared and spoke to him. He told Moses he was the God of his ancestors, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” In the Bible, this kind of encounter with God is known as a theophany. A theophany is when God appears in some form to human beings. If you’d like more teaching on this, two years ago, we did a sermon series called Encounters with God on some of the most well-known theophanies in the Bible. These divine encounters always reveal something of God’s character or nature, but they also often reveal something of God’s plan for humanity. God shows up for a purpose. In this theophany with Moses, God says three incredible things: he’s seen their misery, he’s heard their prayers, and he’s concerned about their suffering. Does God care when we go through times of pain and suffering? Absolutely, yes. He says, “…the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them.” So what? “So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey…” Four hundred years earlier, God promised Abraham that he would do this. And God keeps his promises. God is faithful to save. This is just one more example of the 10,000 in the Bible. But now (unexpectedly, if you’ve been paying attention), God’s plan is to send Moses back to Egypt, back to his adopted family in the royal household, back to lead his birth family, the Hebrews/Israelites, out to freedom. God saw/heard and now had come down himself to rescue his people. But what if it worked? If this plan worked, it’d be world-changing stuff, the kind of thing people might study/talk about for thousands of years. Moses, you want to be a leader? Here’s your second chance. But this was probably way bigger than anything Moses ever dreamed of. How do you think Moses felt about this? After so many years? Now, Lord? Me, Lord?!? How would you feel?

Exodus 3:1–4:17 (NIV), “11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” 12 And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” 13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ “This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation. 16 “Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. 17 And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’ 18 “The elders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God.’ 19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. 20 So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go. 21 “And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed. 22 Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians.” Moses responded to this incredible theophany with two questions: “Who am I?” and “Who are you?” Let’s take each of those in turn. Who am I? “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” What qualifications do I have? I can’t even lead my own flock of sheep, and you want me to go to an enslaved people (who rejected my leadership once already, by the way) and try and lead them out of the most powerful kingdom on the planet? It’s not a bad question. Moses had serious reservations about his ability to do what God called him to do. But look how God responded in v. 12, “I will be with you.” God wasn’t just sending Moses; he would go with him. God was calling Moses to join him in the work that he would do. His calling wasn’t based on the strength of Moses’ faith, abilities, wisdom, beauty, wealth, or anything else. The plan of God, the calling of God, was entirely based on God’s strength, his wisdom, his resources, and his loving commitment to the family of Abraham and Sarah. Who am I? “It doesn’t matter,” says the Lord, “I will be with you. My presence is all you need. My presence will guide and sustain you. The elders of Israel will listen to you, you will plunder Egypt as you leave, and you will come out of Egypt and worship me here at Mount Sinai. I will be with you.” Well, if that’s the case, then who are you, Lord? What is your name? Whose presence will be with us? Now, in Genesis chapter 4, Moses says that people had started to call on the name of Yahweh all the way back during the time of Seth and Enoch. But Yahweh had other names that people used from time to time, like the more generic title God (El) or God Almighty (El Shaddai). Moses likely had some knowledge of God from his birth family, the Hebrew people in Egypt. But here, understandably, being called into this official role representing this God to Pharaoh (and to his own people as well), he wanted to know what official name he should use. Yahweh replies with an incredibly profound statement: “I AM WHO I AM.” It’s as if God says, “My name is life, I am being/existence itself. I am the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end. I am the one who was and is and ever will be. Who am I? I am.” This is what the divine name in Hebrew means: Yahweh, I am. But why, you might wonder, is the divine name of Yahweh translated as LORD in all caps in our Bibles today? Well, this substitution of Yahweh with LORD follows an ancient Jewish tradition out of respect for the divine name. However, the problem with that is that most Christians today do not understand that “Lord” in all caps in the OT is meant to be the personal name God gave to Moses here at Mount Sinai. Reverence for God is good and right, but we cannot lose the personal knowledge of God that he wants us to have about him. The Creator, the Maker of the heavens and the earth, the God who entered into a covenant relationship with the family of Abraham and Sarah, saw the suffering, heard the prayers of his people, and came down to rescue them. And his name was Yahweh. Would the Presence of Yahweh be enough to overcome Moses’ fears and doubts?

Exodus 3:1–4:17 (NIV), “1 Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?” 2 Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied. 3 The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.” Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. 4 Then the Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. 5 “This,” said the Lord, “is so 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.” 6 Then the Lord said, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, the skin was leprous—it had become as white as snow. 7 “Now put it back into your cloak,” he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh. 8 Then the Lord said, “If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first sign, they may believe the second. 9 But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground.” So, in addition to the promise of his Presence, Yahweh graciously (and patiently!) gives Moses miraculous signs to validate/verify Moses’ divine calling/message both to the Hebrew people and the Pharaoh. Just like Jesus’ ministry, the miracles would testify to the truth of his message. The snake represents Yahweh’s power over death, and the leprous hand represents Yahweh’s power over disease. Those signs aren’t hard for us to understand, but the meaning of turning water from the Nile into blood is a little obscure. However, Egyptians believed in a whole pantheon of gods and goddesses, including Hapi (Hah-pee), who was believed to be the god of the Nile River flood. Hapi was associated with the abundance and life only possible because of the water of the Nile in an otherwise dry/desert climate. Hapi was broadly worshiped because the Nile was the main symbol of the abundance, life, and security of Egypt. I believe the third sign, of water to blood, represents Yahweh’s authority over both the abundance/life/security of both Israel and Egypt, but also Yahweh’s supremacy over Hapi and, as we’ll see throughout the Exodus, over every god and goddess of the Egyptians. Yahweh was the one, the only one, who was sovereign over life/death, healing/disease, abundance, security, and over any/every other ruler, authority, or power in heaven or on earth. Now, surely, these signs would help calm Moses’ fears and doubts, right? Yahweh’s own presence would go with him. And his miraculous power would testify to the truth of his message. What more could he want?

Exodus 3:1–4:17 (NIV), “10 Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” 11 The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” 13 But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.” 14 Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you. 15 You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. 16 He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. 17 But take this staff in your hand so you can perform the signs with it.” This is God’s word. So, Moses would learn again and again that Yahweh is slow to anger, but he does get angry. After repeatedly questioning God, not so much about God’s faithfulness, but about his own ability to do what God was calling him to do, and after God repeatedly, graciously answered his questions and promised his own presence and miraculous signs, Moses still asks God to send someone else. Yahweh’s anger burned against him. No kidding, right? But just as he would do later with Jonah, Yahweh doesn’t give up on Moses. He allows his big brother, Aaron, to help him fulfill his calling. But with that, Moses, the Hebrew slave by birth, the Egyptian royalty by adoption, the murderer, the immigrant to Midian, the family man and elderly shepherd, became the unlikely prophet and deliverer of Yahweh God at one of the greatest turning points in all of human history. Did God pick the right guy? We’ll see. Would Yahweh’s presence be enough? Would the miraculous signs be convincing? Would Aaron be helpful? We’ll see. Well, there are so many big lessons from this text, but for now, I’d like to leave you with just one thought. If Moses had believed/trusted the very first thing Yahweh had said, he wouldn’t have needed anything else. Remember what God told him? Moses asked, “Who am I that I should go…?” And how did God respond? Who are you? It doesn’t matter. “I will be with you.” One of the great themes of the Exodus story (and the whole of the Bible) is the power of God’s holy and loving Presence among his people. Moses wouldn’t go back to Egypt alone. He had the Presence of Yahweh with him. Israel wouldn’t go into the wilderness alone. They would have the Presence of Yahweh with them. They would have to learn how to live with God’s holy Presence in their midst. But if all this was true and if Yahweh was who he claimed to be — sovereign over life, death, disease, idols, and empires — then they would have nothing to fear. But, don’t you see? If this was who God was, then this is who God is today. He saw the suffering of his people and he sees the suffering of his people today. He heard the cries/prayers of his people, and he hears the cries/prayers of his people today. He was moved to action to bring freedom and justice into a broken world and he will be moved to action today. But today, because of the person and work of Jesus, we have the Presence of God here among us and within us today. After the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, on the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit, the very personal power and presence of God, was given not just to a mighty prophet or to a pastor or priest, but to every man, woman, and child who believes in Jesus and trusts him to be their lord and savior. Do you have fears and doubts about what God might call you to do or about God’s plan for your life? Would you rather God send someone else in your place? Just like Moses, you, too, have the Presence of God. So, in Christ, you, too, have everything you need. If you need a miracle to testify to the message of the gospel, I have no doubt our God will give it. If you need a coworker or your older brother to help you, I’ve no doubt our God will send them. But the one who is here among us even now, He is everything we need. Let us pray.