Justice Is Served

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Justice is Served

Consider the following news items: A man strangles a woman in her city apartment. A young girl vanishes from her home during the night, apparently abducted by a stranger. A homeowner is startled by an intruder, who in the ensuing scuffle strikes a fatal blow. A woman loses control of her ferocious dogs, and they maul a neighbor to death. Stories like these are in the news every day. Each of them raises serious questions about justice: Does a murderer deserve the death penalty? What is the proper sentence for a kidnapper? How much responsibility does someone have for an accidental death or an unintended injury? When does negligence become criminal? It is hard to find agreement on these questions. Just listen to the talk shows, where everyone has a different opinion. Although we all want justice, we don’t always agree on what justice requires. Not even our legal system has all the answers. A jury reaches a verdict, but the judge throws it out on a technicality. A judge makes a decision, only to have it overturned on appeal. In the end, we are left wondering whether justice has really been served. The Bible can help. It does not give us a complete code with regulations for every situation that might arise in every culture. However, it does provide a set of cases to help us understand the basic principles of divine justice. These legal cases are contained in the Book of the Covenant that God gave to Moses. Each case consists of both a crime and a punishment. The punishments God gave to Israel as a nation under his direct divine rule do not always apply today. Yet they still help us understand how to seek justice in an unjust world looking to see that justice is served.

The Israelites are still camped out at Mt. Sinai and Moses is on the mountain with God receiving the laws of the Book of the Covenant. God gave these laws to his people so they would know how to act and treat each other in the covenant community especially after they arrived in the Promised Land. The Lord wanted to regulate human behavior by protecting the innocent and punishing the guilty. He also wanted the punishment to fit the crime. He defines and sets the standard for what is justice and demands that his people and his laws are just as well. Fairness, justice, reconciliation and peace were all important to the Lord as he was birthing the nation of Israel, wanting them to be different from the pagan nations surrounding them.

Last week, the Lord introduced the Book of the Covenant by regulating how His people were to treat their male and female servants. They were to be treated fairly and with dignity as human beings made in the image of God. This morning, we are going to be introduced to case law involving death, assault and livestock. These laws are specific but not comprehensive and were to guide the judges in making proper rulings and handing down punishments. In some cases, they could determine what the punishment was to be but in others the punishments were non-negotiable. These laws showed God’s desire for His people to be fair and just and to take responsibility for their actions so that in the end peace and harmony could be achieved within the covenant community. Instead of engineering political, social and economic changes in our society, God desires to engineer an inner heart change in each one of His people which will then result in the changes he wants to see in our society. Our society as a whole will never be fair, just and responsible unless each one of us is inwardly changed by God. God can change the world if we allow him to change our hearts, each one of us, according to His purposes. That brings us to our big idea this morning that God desires to change the world by changing His people’s hearts.

Let’s Pray: Heavenly Father, as we open your Word this morning, we ask for you to open our hearts and minds and fill us with your Holy Spirit. We pray that your word would come alive for us and that all the words spoken would be honoring and glorifying to You. Draw us closer to yourself by the power of your word. In Your holy name, we pray, Amen.

Our first Point is, Cases Involving Death, found in Exodus 21:12-17. This is what God’s Word says, “Anyone who strikes a person with a fatal blow is to be put to death. However, if it is not done intentionally, but God lets it happen, they are to flee to a place I will designate. But if anyone schemes and kills someone deliberately, that person is to be taken from my altar and put to death. “Anyone who attacks their father or mother is to be put to death.” “Anyone who kidnaps someone is to be put to death, whether the victim has been sold or is still in the kidnapper’s possession.” “Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.”

This section begins by fleshing out the sixth commandment, “You shall not murder,” by dealing with intentional and unintentional killing. These laws involving death show how important the sanctity of life was to the Lord. The general principle is if someone intentionally strikes and kills another person they are to be put to death. This is called premeditated murder, which is a deliberate scheming to take another’s life. It is pretty clear cut that in this case the punishment is the death penalty. Now we see our first mitigating circumstance. The person did not intentionally kill the other person, but God let it happen. This reminds us that God is sovereign and nothing in this world happens without him knowing it and being in control of it. If the killing was unintentional the offender was to flee to a place that God designated.

The place or places that the offender could flee was the altar or the “cities of refuge.” They were literally fleeing to where God’s presence dwelt and throwing themselves on His mercy. This could be the altars that were set up in the wilderness or the altar in the tabernacle once it was built. Later, once they were in the Promised Land, God would set up six “cities of refuge” where the offender could go. If the offender had not committed premeditated murder but instead it was an accidental death of some kind, they could go to the altar or a city of refuge where they would have asylum until the judges or courts could hear and try their case. The reason this was needed was because of the blood-feuds that were prevalent at that time. The members of a family or tribe had the responsibility to punish anybody who wronged a member of their family or tribe especially in cases of murder. If at trial the offender was found guilty of premeditated murder, they would be taken from God’s altar and be put to death. There was no place you could hide, even at God’s altar, where His punishment would not reach you.

Next, we see the fleshing out of the fifth commandment to “honor your father and your mother.” After the sanctity of life came the sanctity of the family in importance. The family was the backbone of the community and so anything that destroyed the fabric of the community was condemned by God. If anyone attacked their father and or mother, they were sentenced to the death penalty. This included murder and even attempted murder. This showed a contempt and disrespect for those whom God had put in authority over them. This was not honoring their parents and their punishment was death. It is important to see that fathers and mothers were considered equals. The next scenario is someone who kidnaps another person for the purpose of selling them into slavery. Slavery, as we know it, was outlawed by God with this law. If you were caught dealing in slavery at any level, as a middleman or slave owner, you were subject to the death penalty. In other cultures, it would only have been a capital crime if the nobility was kidnapped. To God all human beings were made in His image and as such were sacred, no matter their status. God desires that His people are to be different from the pagan cultures around them.

Next, we revisit the fifth commandment of honoring your father and mother. If anyone was even found guilty of “cursing” their father or mother, they received the death penalty. ​​ This would have been more than just lashing out in anger at their parents one time. This meant acting with total disrespect toward them, over a period of time. The word for “honor” means “heavy” or “weighty.” To honor one’s parents means to give due weight to their position and authority. To ‘curse’ them is to make “light” of them, disparaging them, insulting them, treating them with contempt and refusing to accept their authority. A child who is guilty of attacking or killing their parents physically or even attacking them with their words would be subject to the death penalty.

That brings us to our second point this morning, Cases Involving Assault, found in Exodus 21:18-27. This is what God’s Word says, “If people quarrel and one person hits another with a stone or with their fist and the victim does not die but is confined to bed, the one who struck the blow will not be held liable if the other can get up and walk around outside with a staff; however, the guilty party must pay the injured person for any loss of time and see that the victim is completely healed. “Anyone who beats their male or female slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies as a direct result, but they are not to be punished if the slave recovers after a day or two, since the slave is their property. “If people are fighting and hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise. “An owner who hits a male or female slave in the eye and destroys it must let the slave go free to compensate for the eye. And an owner who knocks out the tooth of a male or female slave must let the slave go free to compensate for the tooth.”

This section on assaults shows four different cases. The first case is a quarrel between two people that starts with words and deteriorates into a physical fight. The fact that a stone or fist was used shows that it was not premeditated because there was no deliberate scheming beforehand. If one of the persons had died the other would have had to go and plead his case at the altar or a city of refuge. But in this case, one of them is hurt only enough to be confined to bed, meaning he has lost time at work and incurred medical bills. Because both parties were in the wrong, the one who struck the blow is not held responsible as long as the other does not die or is permanently disabled. But the one who caused the injury must pay for the others' lost work time and medical bills until they are completely healed. ​​ This again was more than what other cultures would award. The offender would have only had to pay the loss of earnings, not medical expenses.

The second case is about a master who beats a male or female slave with a rod, and they die as a direct result. This would include Hebrew servants and non-Hebrew slaves. Last week, we discussed masters and servants. Hebrews would sell themselves as servants because of poverty, being in debt or having to pay restitution. And in return they would receive room, board and a wage from their master. Also, non-Hebrew slaves were acquired by purchase or captured in war. The master had the right to discipline the servants and slaves working for him and the use of a rod was considered a non-lethal punishment. But the master had to be careful how severe his discipline was because even the life of a servant or slave was sacred to God. The punishment would have had to fit the crime meaning if the servant or slave died and there was intent or malice on the part of the master, they could receive the death penalty.

But if the servant or slave didn’t die, the master would not be punished. He would be given the benefit of the doubt in that he was just disciplining his servant and there was no intent to harm. Since the master had paid for the servant’s services they were considered “his property” or a more accurate translation of the Hebrew is they are “his money.” Because he relies on the servant or slave to work for him, the master would be a fool to cause them to not be able to work. The loss of work time and the medical costs to get them healthy enough to work again would be the punishment levied against the master. For Hebrew and non-Hebrew servants and slaves this law was a major upgrade from other cultures.

The third case is about a fight that causes injury to a third party or an innocent bystander. Using the scenario of the first case, a fight breaks out amongst two parties and an innocent bystander is injured. This describes an extreme case giving precedent for the less serious cases. In this case, the innocent bystander is a pregnant woman and due to getting hit during the fight she gives birth prematurely, but it seems that both mother and child are not seriously injured. The punishment would be a fine based on the demands of the husband of the injured woman and what the court would allow. In Hittite and Assyrian culture, the fines would have been based on social standing but not so in the Israelite community where all peoples were seen as equal in the eyes of God and the law.

Now what if the third party or innocent bystander died or was seriously injured. In the event of accidental death, the offender would go to the altar or a city of refuge and wait for the judge’s decision. But in the event of serious injury the judge could allow restitution which is what is meant by you to take life for life, eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, etc. ​​ This is called the “lex talionis” or the “law of retribution.” But this doesn’t mean that if I caused your eye to be taken out that my eye would be taken out. It would be more accurate to call it the “law of equivalence” meaning that the punishment was to fit the crime. In pagan cultures, the punishment did not always fit the crime especially if you were a person of status or money. Non-Israelite laws allowed fines in cases involving a higher status person permanently injuring a lower status person. Stuart says, “Expressions like “eye for an eye” were understood to mean “a penalty that hurts the person who ruined someone else’s eye as much as he would be hurt if his own eye were actually ruined also.” The precise penalty was left up to the judges by talion law; it might involve anything from banishment to loss of property (and/or property rights) to punitive confinement to special financial penalties to corporal punishment to public humiliation, or to any combination of these.” Again, these laws and standards were fairer and more just than what the pagan nations around them were. By implementing these standards, God was first inwardly changing his people’s hearts to be fair and just in order to change the world (Big Idea).

The fourth case again revisits the humane treatment and provision for manservants and maid servants. Again, it carefully limits and regulates the master’s discipline of his servants. Two extremes, eye and tooth, are used to show that the master needed to have the best welfare of his servants in mind at all times. If the servant, because of the master’s discipline, lost anything as serious as an eye to anything least serious as a tooth, the slave must be freed. Think about this: a servant is freed to take their services elsewhere to a better master. And if this master gets to be known as too strict of a disciplinarian, causing injuries to his servants, he could also lose the services of others who might be looking for work. In both these ways the master is punished by losing whatever monetary benefits he would receive from having servants. The fact that in Israel, servants and slaves had legal and human rights, was unheard of in the cultures surrounding them.

This brings us to our third point, Cases Involving Livestock, found in Exodus 21:28-36. This is what God’s Word says, “If a bull gores a man or woman to death, the bull is to be stoned to death, and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the bull will not be held responsible. If, however, the bull has had the habit of goring and the owner has been warned but has not kept it penned up and it kills a man or woman, the bull is to be stoned and its owner also is to be put to death. However, if payment is demanded, the owner may redeem his life by the payment of whatever is demanded. This law also applies if the bull gores a son or daughter. If the bull gores a male or female slave, the owner must pay thirty shekels of silver to the master of the slave, and the bull is to be stoned to death. “If anyone uncovers a pit or digs one and fails to cover it and an ox or a donkey falls into it, the one who opened the pit must pay the owner for the loss and take the dead animal in exchange. “If anyone’s bull injures someone else’s bull and it dies, the two parties are to sell the live one and divide both the money and the dead animal equally. However, if it was known that the bull had the habit of goring, yet the owner did not keep it penned up, the owner must pay, animal for animal, and take the dead animal in exchange.

In that society most everyone was a farmer and used bulls, oxen and donkeys to plow their fields and carry goods, etc. These animals were expensive and dangerous, and each person had an obligation to not let these beasts get out of hand. The first case is about a bull who gores a man or a woman to death. The stipulation is that there has been no prior goring by the bull; this is the first time it has happened. Again, it doesn’t matter if it killed a male or a female, punishment for the bull and owner was the same no matter which sex was killed. The punishment for the bull was it was stoned to death. Death by stoning was a form of capital punishment for humans and so this showed that God was holding the bull responsible for its actions. In Genesis 9:5 we see these words, “And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being.” God demanded that people and animals be held responsible for their actions. In the surrounding nations, people were held responsible, not animals. God wanted His people and their animals to treat others better than the nations around them did. God’s creation is always held to a higher standard. The owner of the first-time offending bull would not be held legally responsible but there was still a built-in consequence. The meat of the bull could not be eaten because it was now defiled because of its actions. The owner of the bull not only lost the services of the bull, but couldn’t even benefit from its meat or skin, etc. As bulls were expensive this would have been a hardship on the owner.

The next case is about a bull who is in the habit of goring people and the owner knew it and had been warned about it. If this bull kills a man or a woman, it now becomes negligence on behalf of the owner. The owner did not take proper responsibility for his property, and someone was killed. The bull must be stoned, and the owner could incur the death penalty because he knew the bull was dangerous and didn’t do enough to protect others. This would fall under unintentional or negligent homicide and the victim’s family or the court could demand payment from the owner. The owner’s life could be redeemed by paying whatever is demanded. The next case says that the same law applies if a son or daughter was gored to death. Everyone is granted the same status under the law, father, mother, son or daughter. In the surrounding cultures, if someone’s son or daughter was gored to death, the victim’s family could take revenge and demand the life of the son or daughter of the offender. Deuteronomy 24:16 says, “Parents are not to be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their parents; each will die for their own sin.” Again, we see that God’s laws are fairer and more just and merciful than the nations around them.

The next case is about a bull who gores a male or female servant/slave. We know that the servant has been killed because the bull is stoned to death. Now it is not mentioned here, but the bull’s owner would still be held liable as in the previous cases but there is also a third party involved. The master of the servant who was killed must be compensated. The compensation here is an extra thirty shekels of silver and was mandated by God instead of the courts. This was considered the standard price for a slave (blood-price) and interestingly the price that Judas betrayed Jesus for. The fact that the bull was put to death emphasizes the value of the slave’s life. To the Lord there was no difference between a free person and a servant or slave. The next case is about negligence involving a person’s property that causes harm to an animal. If someone dug a pit or uncovered a pit and didn’t cover it back up, and an ox or donkey fell into it, the owner of the land the pit is on is liable. These animals were vital in that society and expensive for the owner to replace. The animal had probably died or had to be put down because of its injuries. The owner of the land the pit is on must pay the owner of the dead animal compensation. The owner of the pit was allowed to take possession of the dead animal but only for its skin. According to Deuteronomy 14:21, they were not to eat anything they found that was already dead but since it wasn’t the offending party the carcass could still be used. Now it’s not mentioned here, but if a person was killed by falling in the pit, the owner would be held liable for an accidental or negligent death and a ruling would be handed down like the deaths by a goring bull previously.

The last set of cases mentioned are about animals involved in killing another animal. If two bulls were fighting and one died the two owners share the losses equally. The live bull would be sold and the owners would divide the money and the carcass of the dead bull equally. There would be no special liability for the owner whose bull killed the other bull. But again, if there was negligence, if it was known the bull had a habit of goring and the owner didn’t keep it penned up, the offending bull’s owner would have to compensate the other owner for the dead bull. The offending owner could then keep the carcass of the dead bull.

Again, this week we may be wondering how we can apply this scripture to our lives today. I believe there are three ways. First, our Lord is a just God and because justice is part of His character, he can never be unjust. Psalms 89:14 says, “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you.” And Deuteronomy 32:4 says, “He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.” Because the Lord wants to change the world by first changing us, he desires us to be just as he is just. He wants us to cultivate His sense of fairness and justice in our lives, not our own. That brings us to our first next step which is to cultivate God’s fairness and justice in my life and not my own.

Next, in every case that we’ve studied, we see that God wants his people to take responsibility for their actions and accept the consequences for their actions. We see this whether we intentionally or unintentionally kill someone. We see this if an argument comes to blows or if an innocent bystander gets injured. We see this if our property causes death or injury. Again, because God wants to change the world by first changing us, he desires that His people accept responsibility and the consequences for their actions. That brings us to our second next step which is to accept the responsibility and the consequences for my actions.

Lastly, in order to cultivate the Lord’s fairness and justice in our lives and in order to accept responsibility and the consequences for our actions we must be changed. These attributes are not normally part of our sinful human nature. We must become more like Jesus, we must be connected to God, and we must allow Him to change our hearts from the inside out. The only way our church, community and the world can be changed is if each one of us individually allows God to change our hearts and we strive each and every day to live these attributes out. That brings us to our last next step which is to allow God to change my heart from the inside out using me to change the world.

Heavenly Father, thank you for this time that we have spent together learning more about you, your Word and worshiping your holy name. As we leave today, may we be committed to worshiping and serving you in our daily lives. Lord, show us ways that we can bless others each day and help us to share your Gospel with those we come in contact with. Fill us with your peace and joy and change our hearts from the inside out using each of us to change the world. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

 

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40 Acres and a Mule

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Forty Acres and a Mule

In the final months of the Civil War, Union Army General William Tecumseh Sherman had a problem. He had marched 60,000 Union soldiers 285 miles from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia, striking fear into the Confederacy and landing a decisive blow for the Union. But along the march thousands of newly freed people began following Sherman’s army. Finding housing, employment, food, clothes, and medicine for the refugees soon became impossible. Sherman and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton decided to hold a meeting with a delegation of Savannah’s Black leaders to get their advice on what to do with the 10,000 formerly enslaved people now marching with Sherman’s army. Garrison Frazier, a Baptist minister and the group’s spokesman, made clear the demands of the freedmen and women: “The way we can best take care of ourselves is to have land.” Four days later, Sherman issued Special Field Order No. 15. The order redistributed 400,000 abandoned acres of land, in 40-acre plots, to newly freed Black families. Later Sherman agreed to lend Black settlers army mules to work the land. This gave birth to the famous phrase “40 acres and a mule,” as a small reparation for years held in slavery.

40 Acres and a Mule remains the nation’s most famous attempt to provide some form of reparations for American slavery. Today, it is largely remembered as a broken promise and an abandoned step toward multiracial democracy. Less known is that the federal government actually did issue hundreds, perhaps thousands, of titles to specific plots of land between 4 and 40 acres. Freedmen and women built homes, established local governments, and farmed the land. But their utopia didn’t last long. After President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, his successor, Andrew Johnson, stripped property from formerly enslaved Black residents across the South and returned it to their past enslavers.

There were some who realized that after the horrors of slavery and the Civil War, it was important to care for the needs of the disadvantaged, the oppressed and the most vulnerable. As Christians we are called to look after those who are less fortunate than we are; those who are the most vulnerable in our society. James 1:27 gives us an example of this: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” This means we are to make sacrifices for the sake of those who are more vulnerable, for those who need us the most. This is true today but has also been true since the beginning of the human race. God has always cared for the most vulnerable such as Adam & Eve after they sinned, Hagar, Rahab, and even Cain after he killed Abel. Jesus took care of the woman with the issue of blood and in Luke 14 said to invite the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind to a banquet. Psalm 82:3 says, “Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.” God has always been about taking care of the vulnerable people in every age and he desires his followers to do the same.

This morning, we are going to start to look at what is called the Book of the Covenant. These laws, spelled out in the next three chapters, were intended to help the Israelite judges flesh out the principles of the Ten Commandments and to help make rulings and mete out punishment when the law was broken. These laws were not inclusive but were to be the pattern of proper morals and behavior that God wanted his covenant people to live out daily in community together. The Lord begins these laws or ordinances with a topic that hits close to home: slavery or servitude. He wanted to ensure that His people didn’t treat other people the way they were treated in Egypt. When the people cried out in their oppression in Egypt, the Lord heard them and was concerned for them. The Lord took notice of the less fortunate, the disadvantaged, the vulnerable and the oppressed and He showed love, care and concern for them. These ordinances on servitude showed His desire that the Israelites would do the same when they got to the Promised Land. And he wants His people today, us, to follow His example which brings us to our big idea this morning: God desires His people to show love, care and concern for the disadvantaged and vulnerable.

Let’s pray: Almighty God, your Word says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. We want to cultivate a reverent “fear of the Lord” this morning, so God we humbly ask that as we receive Your word, you would illuminate our hearts and minds with Your wisdom. May Your Spirit be present in this moment, leading us in understanding and application. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Our first point this morning is Male Servants found in Exodus 21:1-6. This is what God’s Word says, “These are the laws you are to set before them: “If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything. If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him. If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free. “But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’ then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.”

The Lord has spoken the Ten Commandments directly to His people. They chose Moses as their mediator between themselves and God, and Moses is now with God on Mt. Sinai. God gave Moses instructions about idols and altars and now he is going to set forth laws, the Book of the Covenant, that are to govern the day-to-day behavior in their community. These laws or judgments would guide decisions in settling disputes and become precedents for future rulings. This was unique in that no other nation had ever entered into a covenant with Almighty God. All other nations had made up their own code of laws, but Israel received them directly from the Lord. The Book of the Covenant was revealed to Moses and the Israelites just as the Ten Commandments were. These laws would become legally binding now that they were set authoritatively before the people by their Covenant God.

The Lord begins with laws about the buying of Hebrew servants. Even though some versions say “slaves,” the word the NIV uses, “servants,” is a closer Hebrew translation. The Lord wanted to remind His people where they had just come from and not to subject their fellow Israelites to that kind of treatment. God took steps to make sure that the servant/master relationships didn’t deteriorate into the exploitation of His chosen people in the Israelite community. By mandating proper treatment of a servant by their master, God was basically abolishing slavery in Israel. Also, the Lord will outlaw what we understand as “slavery” later in this chapter in verse 16: “Anyone who kidnaps someone is to be put to death, whether the victim has been sold or is still in the kidnapper’s possession.” The Hebrew “servants” of that time were more like “indentured servants.” They were “workers” or “employees” who would enter into a contract with a “master, boss, or owner” to work under certain terms and conditions.

A “Hebrew” servant would have been considered a lower class than other Israelites because they were either poor, disadvantaged for some reason or vulnerable because of an infirmity or social standing. They would not have had the full rights of regular citizens but would have had more rights than a mere slave, who was foreign-born. In Israel, being in servitude was voluntary, no one could be forced into it. It was common for Israelite males to “sell” themselves into the service of another because of poverty, debt or having to pay restitution. The master would provide guaranteed pay, housing, food, and clothing. They realized the best way to get out of poverty, debt, etc. was to get on the job training and become a productive member of the community. In this way, servitude had a redemptive purpose. A parallel in our society today is more like our sports figures or the military. Stuart says, “Players are not actually the property of the team that “owns” them except as regards the exclusive right to their employment as players of that sport.” “When the law was properly followed, persons who were servants held their positions by reason of a formal contract that related primarily to the job that they had “signed up” to perform, for a period of time, much as one enlists in the military today.”

Also, in Israel, servitude was temporary. The servant’s tenure was six years and in the seventh year, the master had to let him go without payment. This was the Sabbath principle at work. The servant was able to go free to start life over in a better position than when he started serving his master. This kept any Israelite from being in perpetual servitude. Also, the master was not to send the servant away empty-handed but was to give them all they needed to start a new life. Deuteronomy 15:13-14 says, “And when you set him free, you shall not send him away empty-handed. You shall give generously to him from your flock, your threshing floor, and from your wine vat; you shall give to him as the Lord your God has blessed you.” This was the equivalent of the “forty acres and a mule.” God was gracious to His people when they were oppressed, vulnerable and disadvantaged and he wanted His people to be gracious toward their fellow Israelites who found themselves in the same position in the Promised Land.

We notice that these laws were not inclusive but described certain situations that might arise. God weaved the principles found in the Ten Commandments into these laws he was now setting before the people. The first situation showed how much the Lord loved his people and the sanctity of marriage. When the servant was freed in the seventh year, he left with the people he came with. If he came alone, he left alone. If he came with a wife, he left with his wife. Slavery in America broke up families. Husbands and wives and children could be sold to whomever and lots of slave families never saw their father, mother, sons, daughters, brothers or sisters ever again. God’s regulations for masters/servants were designed to keep families together.

The second situation is about a servant who came into servitude unmarried but while in the service of his master, he was given a wife, and she bore him children. According to the law, the man would go free, but his wife and children would have to stay with the master. We might think this is unfair but in reality, it was a safeguard for the woman and her children. First, they were the master’s property. The woman was an indentured servant like the man and would have to work for six years before being freed. Second, we need to remember why the man was indentured in the first place. He was poor or in debt or making restitution. Hopefully, he would be able to take what he learned and earned to make a better life but that didn’t always happen. Sometimes the man would find himself in the same position as before. So, this was a safeguard for the entire family in case his new start didn’t work out. His wife and children would still have their room, board and wage. But if it did work out, then he would be able to buy his family’s freedom, and they would be reunited under their own roof.

We might ask ourselves, how are we to apply these laws and judgments today. Like the Israelites, we are not to use or exploit other human beings. This could take on many forms. For example, we exploit others by enabling them. If those in poverty, in debt or in need to pay restitution want to better themselves, we should be all for it. I think we understand that giving handouts can be more expensive than teaching someone to work. This is why I appreciate New Hope Ministries. They give food out to those who need it, but they also have services, such as job training and financial planning, to help people get back on their feet. These laws encompass a wide range of situations, so any and every way you can think of to use someone or exploit them, is wrong and against God’s commands. We must always be thinking about how we are treating our fellow human beings and not do anything to use or exploit them in any way. That brings us to our first next step which is to Not use or exploit my fellow human beings in any way.

Now the man had another alternative. Maybe he liked working for his master and was treated well. Maybe he realized that he could never make it on his own, especially with a wife and children. The man could “emphatically” declare before God and man his love for his master, wife and children and decide to stay working for his master. This was a legal transaction where the man was stating that he wanted to remain with his master for life. The idea was that he and his wife and children would become permanent members of the master’s family and have the benefits of that relationship. In a culture with so much poverty it had to seem like a better option than most. This arrangement had to go before the “judges” and be made legal so there was no suspicion of coercion. The word for “judge” can be translated “God” meaning that the master and the servant went to the sanctuary to confirm this agreement before the Lord. This kept the servant from making a rash decision and kept the master from being accused of not honoring the six-year contract. This decision was seen in a very physical and visible way. The master would take the servant to the doorpost of his house and pierce his ear with an awl. This very visible mark kept the servant from leaving and entering into a contract with someone else and reminded the master that he had an obligation to employ the servant and his family for life.

But it was also symbolic as the ear is the most important part of a servant’s body. To “listen and hear” was to obey. Ryken says, “By having his ear pierced, therefore, the servant was making a public commitment to do what his master said. The doorpost was also symbolic. Not only did it serve as a place for driving the awl, but it also showed that the servant was now attached to his master’s household. The doorpost was marked with the blood of a covenant between master and slave.” This form of servitude was totally voluntary and raises a few questions: Why would the servant do this? The answer is serving this master was not “slavery” but had become an act of love. What kind of master would provoke this type of love? A good, generous, loving and kind master who took care of his servant’s needs, treated him like a true family member and had his best interest at heart.

This decision teaches us about our special relationship with our heavenly father. In Psalms 40:6-8, David says, “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have pierced; burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. Then I said, “Here I am, I have come— it is written about me in the scroll. I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.” According to David, pleasing God meant more than simply offering a sacrifice for sin. It also meant doing what God says, obeying him the way a servant obeys the master he loves. To illustrate this, David referred to the ancient custom and compared himself to a servant who had his ear pierced. He had learned to hear and obey, offering himself in loving service to God. I also think it’s important to remember that we serve a Master who made himself our servant. Philippians 2:7 says, “rather, he (Christ) made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” And we see these words in Mark 10:45, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” The words of David are the words of Jesus, and they should be our words too. Let us be people who learn to hear, obey and offer ourselves in loving service to God for life. Psalms 119:32 says, “I run in the path of your commands for you have set my heart free.” The only way we find true freedom is by becoming servants of the one true God. That brings us to our second next step which is to Hear, obey and offer my life in loving service to God for life.

That brings us our second point this morning, Female Servants, found in Exodus 21:7-11. This is what God’s Word says, “If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as male servants do. If she does not please the master who has selected her for himself, he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, because he has broken faith with her. If he selects her for his son, he must grant her the rights of a daughter. If he marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights. If he does not provide her with these three things, she is to go free, without any payment of money.

The first half of our scripture regulated what happened to male servants, and the second half regulated what happened to female servants. Culturally, we know that women had fewer rights than men. Women were disadvantaged and vulnerable in that society, so God made sure to protect his daughters from abuse and oppression. In this patriarchal society, the father had the right to determine what happened to those in his household. It was normal for the father to “sell” his daughter as a servant because of economic reasons or for marriage. If the family was poor this was one way to improve her situation with the hope of becoming a permanent member of another’s household. If a female was not a member of a household, she could be vulnerable to all kinds of danger (Big Idea). God was not trying to restrict them but protect them. These laws God set before the people were meant to protect His covenant people if they obeyed and punish His covenant people if they didn’t.

Remember these laws were not all inclusive of every situation that could arise. There are three situations being addressed here all with marriage in mind. The first situation is about a female who was sold by her father as a servant for the bride-price with the expectation of being married to her master. In view of being married, the relationship was a permanent one, and so the female servant would not be freed after six years. But God put safeguards in place as well. During the engagement period, if the female servant displeased her master, he could decide to terminate the marriage contract. He may have decided that she was not a good fit for marriage, but it could have been for some other reason as well. If this happened, the master could not simply put her out of his house. She still had rights, and he had to respect them. Interestingly, he was considered the one to have broken the contract, so his options were limited. God’s law provided the female servant specific protections in this situation. One, he must let her be redeemed, meaning the female servant’s family could buy her back with the bride-price. Two, in no way, could the master sell her to a foreigner, she must stay within the covenant community.

The next situation is about a female servant who the father selects to be married to his son. A female servant could gain her freedom by being married to the master’s son, giving her full rights as a daughter in the master’s family. The third situation is about a master who takes another wife. There were many reasons why this would take place, but the main idea was that large families were thought to be a blessing from God so this was a way to ensure that in the Jewish community. All of the master’s wives would be cared for, protected and treated as full members of the family. The master could not deprive any of his wives of three basic necessities: food, clothing and marital rights. In fact, he had to provide these in luxurious amounts, not just at a minimal level. Marital rights would have included sexual intimacy and the bearing of children. The covenant law tolerated second wives as long as they were treated equally in the family. One wife could not be treated as a second-class wife. If the master did not treat them all equally, the one treated unfairly could be freed from her master. She would be freed because the man had reneged on the terms of the marriage contract. She could leave and would not have to pay back the bride-price. One last thing, according to Deuteronomy 15:12, if the female servant was bought strictly to work for her master, she was afforded the same conditions as a male servant, allowed to be freed after six years. Again, God had the women’s best interest at heart. (Big Idea)

How can we apply this section to us today? It really speaks to us men, especially husbands and fathers. Fathers, we have an obligation to our families. To care for, provide for and protect them the best we can. Husbands, we have an obligation to take care of our wives on every level, physically, emotionally and spiritually. We have an obligation before God to provide for her. If we fail to provide, protect or give the proper physical expression of love to our wives, we violate the law of God. That brings us to our third next step this morning which is to Take care of my wife and family by providing, protecting and loving them in all the ways God directs.

The story is told of a visit Abraham Lincoln once made to a slave auction, where he was appalled to see the buying and selling of human beings: His heart was especially drawn to a young woman on the block whose story seemed to be told in her eyes. She looked with hatred and contempt on everyone around her. She had been used and abused all her life, and this time was but one more cruel humiliation. The bidding began, and Lincoln offered a bid. As other amounts were bid, he counter-bid with larger amounts until he won. When he paid the auctioneer the money and took title to the young woman, she stared at him with vicious contempt. She asked him what he was going to do next with her, and he said, “I’m going to set you free.” “Free?” she asked. “Free for what?” “Just free,” Lincoln answered. “Completely free.” “Free to do whatever I want to do?” “Yes,” he said. “Free to do whatever you want to do.” “Free to say whatever I want to say?” “Yes, free to say whatever you want to say.” “Free to go wherever I want to go?” she added with skepticism. Lincoln answered, “You are free to go anywhere you want to go.” “Then I’m going with you!” she said with a smile. Whether this story is fact or fiction, it shows us what it means to follow Jesus Christ. Anyone who trusts in Christ for salvation has been delivered from sin and death. Now we are free. Free for what? Free to say, “Jesus, I’m going with you!” Let us be people who follow Jesus and his teachings especially in how we love, care and are concerned for the disadvantaged and vulnerable around us.

As the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offerings and Gene & Roxey come to lead us in a final hymn, let’s pray: Lord God, give us your eyes to see and your heart of love, care and concern for the disadvantaged and vulnerable in the communities around us. We thank you for your Word which tells us what you desire and require of us. Lord, help us to not use or exploit others in any way, help us to hear, obey and offer our lives in loving service to you for life and help us men to take care of our wives and families by providing, protecting and loving them in all the ways you direct. Thank you for this time together in your house. Let everything, we say, do and think this week, bring your honor, glory and praise. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Opening: “40 Acres and a Mule” Adam Sanchez; rethinkingschools.org

“40 Acres and a Lie” motherjones.com

Conclusion: Ryken Commentary on Exodus

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Law & Order

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Law & Order

One time many years ago, the king of Hungary found himself depressed and unhappy. He sent for his brother, a good-natured but rather indifferent prince. The king said to him, "I am a great sinner; I fear to meet God." But the prince only laughed at him. This didn’t help the king’s disposition any. Though he was a believer, the king had gotten a glimpse of his guilt for the way he’d been living lately, and he seriously wanted help. In those days it was customary for the executioner to sound a trumpet before a man’s door at any hour, signaling that he was to be led to his death. The king sent the executioner in the dead of night to sound the fateful blast at his brother’s door. The prince realized with horror what was happening. Quickly dressing, he stepped to the door and was seized by the executioner and dragged pale and trembling into the king’s presence. In an agony of terror, he fell on his knees in front of his brother and begged to know how he had offended him. "My brother," answered the king, "if the sight of a human executioner is so terrible to you, shall not I, having grievously offended God, fear to be brought before the judgment seat of Christ?"

In our scripture this morning, this is right where the Israelite people are. In Exodus 19:5, the Lord says to the Israelites, “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all the nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” The Israelites all responded together: “We will do everything the Lord has said.” Then in chapter 20, the Lord came down to Mt. Sinai and gave them the Ten Commandments which were his law that the people needed to obey to keep the covenant and to be in a right relationship with Him. As they heard the Law, it caused them to be afraid, tremble and distance themselves from the Lord. The Israelites had made a promise to obey the Lord’s commands, but they now realized that they could never keep His law and would be subject to judgment. The King of Hungary and the Israelites realized they were sinners, they felt the weight of their sin and knew they were subject to judgment. As we will see this week, the people were not to be afraid but to “fear the Lord.” The proper response to God’s law is reverence and worship. And God is gracious with His people because he knows they will not be able to keep His law perfectly. And so, he will provide a way for them to be reconciled to him when they sin. He had redeemed them from slavery in Egypt, set them apart as his treasured possession and would now show them how they could draw close to Him in a faithful relationship with Himself.

The same is true for us today. We can’t keep the law perfectly either and we are subject to judgment. But Jesus, our perfect mediator, paid the penalty for our sin, and if we have accepted God’s free gift of salvation, we don’t need to fear His judgment. But do we truly understand the weight of our sin as the Israelites and the King of Hungary did? Do we tremble with a “fear of the Lord” because we have sinned against an Almighty and Holy God? The realization of the weight of our sin should not cause us to shrink farther and farther away from the Lord, as it did the Israelites, it should cause us to draw closer to Him and his son, Jesus, because Jesus is the only way that we can be reconciled to God. That brings us to our big idea this morning that God desires His people to draw close to Him. We will look at four ways we can draw close to the Lord: obedience, worshiping God alone, confessing our sins before the Lord and accepting Jesus as our perfect mediator. ​​ 

Let’s pray: Heaven Father, give us eyes to see and ears to hear your Word and your Holy Spirit this morning. May we come humbly, seeking your wisdom and instruction for our daily lives. May we be open to your Spirit’s prompting and conviction this week as we strive to become more like your son, Jesus. In His precious and holy name, Amen.

Our first point is Test found in Exodus 20:18-21. This is what God’s Word says, “When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.” The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.

I want to set the scene again from several weeks ago. Moses has prepared the people to meet with their God by consecrating them and washing their clothes. Then as the Lord came down to meet with them there was thunder and lightning with a thick cloud covering the mountain. There was also a loud trumpet blast. It was a raging storm of the presence of the Lord in their midst. Moses led the people to the foot of the mountain to meet the Lord and the mountain smoked as He descended it in fire. The mountain trembled violently, and the trumpet grew louder and louder. And then they heard the voice of God. They were terrified and trembled just as the mountain trembled. I mentioned back then that all of their senses were assaulted with what was happening around them. As we start to study our scripture this morning, we notice that all of their senses are still being assaulted. They still see the thunder and lightning; they still hear the trumpet and see the mountain covered in smoke and they are still trembling. The Hebrew word used here for “lightning” is not the same as the one used in Exodus 19:16 describing the storm when they met God at the foot of the mountain. The only other time this word is used by Moses in the Bible is in Genesis 15:17 when God made his covenant with Abraham. In Genesis it referred to the “torch” which passed through the animal carcasses that Abraham had cut in half. The “torch” in Genesis and the “lightning” here represented God’s physical presence with his people as he made His covenant with them.

We notice that something has changed with the proximity of the people from God. They started out at the foot of the mountain and now they are at a distance from it. It is possible that as each commandment blasted forth with its accompanying display of awesome splendor, the people probably backed up a little further until they were standing a good distance from the base of the mountain. The haughty, arrogant attitude that they displayed before God gave them the law was quickly replaced with terror, fear, and dread as they began to understand the holiness and awesomeness of God and to realize the weight of their sin. Interestingly, God kept telling Moses to warn the people not to come up the mountain but once He started speaking, they quickly retreated back the way they came. Clarke says, “… probably at the end of each command, there was a peal of thunder, a blast of the trumpet, and a gleam of lightning, to impress their hearts the more deeply with a due sense of the Divine Majesty, of the holiness of the law, which was now delivered, and of the fearful consequences of disobedience.” The Israelites were frightened by the total demand of God’s law and by the threat of His judgment. God was impressing His law and order on His chosen people. Law and order are defined as the safe, civil, and orderly functioning of society, viewed especially as a result of the enactment and strict enforcement of laws. God had given the law to the people so they would know how he wanted them to be connected to Him and to each other. These connections would allow them to function properly in community together and to bless the nations around them. He expected them to obey His Law and He would bring “order” as He instructs them in altars and sacrifice later in our scripture. God is a God of order, and we will see this today and in the following weeks as he also instructs them in enforcing His law.

 

There were three purposes for God giving them His law. One, the law revealed their sin proving that they couldn’t live up to God’s perfect standard. Two, the law was to keep them from sinning by threatening them with punishment. And three, the law was given so they would know what the Lord expected of them so they could obey it. The Israelites realized that because of God’s holiness and the weight of their sin they needed a mediator between themselves and the Lord. They asked Moses to speak to them himself instead of having God speak to them. This one encounter was too much for them as they realized they couldn’t keep his law and as such couldn’t stand in His presence, or they would die. The other thing they said to Moses was that if he spoke to them, they would listen. The word “to listen” means to obey. They were now accepting Moses as God’s mediator, promising to obey Moses and the Lord. Moses encourages them to not be afraid. They did not need to tremble in fear; instead they needed a “fear of the Lord,” a healthy, reverent awe and respect for Yahweh, the one true and living God. It was not God’s intention to kill them but to test them so that the “fear of God” would be with them to keep them from sinning. The word for “test” can be translated as “experience.” The reason the Lord came with thunder, lightning, a loud trumpet and smoke was because he wanted this experience to literally put the “fear of God” in them in order for them to understand the weight of their sin which was to keep them from sinning. As God’s mediator to His people, one of Moses’ roles was to encourage the people to obey the Lord’s commands. By being obedient to the Lord’s commands, they would be able to draw close to God instead of standing off at a distance (Big Idea) The same is true for us today. An understanding of the holiness and awesomeness of God and the weight of our sin should cause us to obey the Lord’s commands and keep us from punishment. That brings us to our first next step on the back of your communication card which is to Draw close to the Lord by being obedient to His laws.

 

Another one of Moses’ roles, as mediator, was to also approach God for them and we see this is what Moses did next. As the people remained at a distance from God, Moses approached the thick darkness where God was. He did this on behalf of God’s people so they would know how God wanted them to live their lives in obedience to Him, which will be spelled out more specifically starting in the next chapter. Now Moses was not the perfect mediator because he was a sinful human being just as they were. But he was God’s chosen mediator who was the forerunner of the perfect mediator, Jesus Christ. We will come back to Jesus as our perfect mediator at the end of the message.

 

That brings us to our second point, True Worship, found in Exodus 20:22-26. This is what God’s Word says, “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites this: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven: Do not make any gods to be alongside me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold. “‘Make an altar of earth for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats and your cattle. Wherever I cause my name to be honored, I will come to you and bless you. If you make an altar of stones for me, do not build it with dressed stones, for you will defile it if you use a tool on it. And do not go up to my altar on steps, or your private parts may be exposed.’

 

Moses is now in the presence of the Lord and He tells Moses how the people were to draw close to Him in true worship. Even though they do not want to draw close to God “physically,” they could still draw close to the Lord “spiritually.” True worship involves a combination of things they must do and things that must not be done. They were not to make any gods of silver and gold to be worshiped alongside God. The Lord reiterated a combination of the first two commandments reminding them that they have seen for themselves that he has spoken to them from heaven. This “seeing” God “speak” reinforces that they are not to make any gods to represent Him because they don’t know what he looks like. He had veiled Himself in smoke, so that they could not see His form. In fact, they couldn’t have looked upon Him and lived anyway. Pagan worshipers would make gods or idols so that the worshiper had easy access to the god anytime they wanted. This was idolatry and not the way God was to be worshiped. Mentioning the first two commandments, in this way, probably means that He was reminding them of all ten, but these two were of first importance. By mentioning not to make gods of silver and gold, the Lord was ruling out the making of gods with any substance. True worship starts with worshiping God and God alone and not making gods to represent Him.

 

This instruction was a warning to the Israelites to remember what they have just seen and heard. They were to remember to have a reverent “fear of the Lord” in order to keep them from sinning, especially the sin of making an idol to represent God and worshiping other gods beside Him. Why did he have to remind them of these commands? Because God knew His people. He knew what was going to take place later when they made and worshiped the golden calf. If they would heed God’s warning, they would draw closer to the Lord in obedience and worship. Have you ever been warned by the Holy Spirit to not sin? Or felt guilty after you have sinned? This is called being “convicted.” When you are drawing close to the Lord in obedience and worship the Holy Spirit is able to function as He should in your life. When we are drawing close to the Lord, the Holy Spirit will convict us to keep us from sin or convict us of our sin which leads us to confession and being put back into a right relationship with our Heavenly Father. Let us be people who draw close to the Lord daily and heed the warnings of the Holy Spirit in our lives. That brings us to our second next step which is Heed the warnings of the Holy Spirit, first, to keep me from sin and, second, to convict me of my sin.

 

After warning the people to remember to keep His commandments, the Lord gave Moses instructions about altars which would lead them into true worship of Himself. The Lord graciously instructed them in how they could be reconciled to Him after sinning against Him. Just think about how loving, gracious and merciful our God is. He wasn’t going to leave them in their sin, knowing that their sin separated them from Himself. Instead, knowing they couldn’t live up to His perfect standard, he instructed them on how they could draw close to Him again. (Big Idea) The way they were to do this was to make sacrifices to Him on an altar. Their altars were to be made of earth or stone and the stones could only be in their natural state; meaning they were to be made out of what God had created, not man. They were not allowed to use dressed stones meaning stones that had been shaped by tools. Dressed stones were used by pagan worshipers that had divine symbols or incantations chiseled in them. Also, they made ornate altars with dressed stones that became the object of worship as well as their gods. If the Israelites made their altars with dressed stones the altar would be defiled. This meant that the altar would be polluted and unfit for sacrifice to the Lord. The Israelites were to be different. Only God was to be worshiped, not any other gods and not the altars that were built to make sacrifices to Him.

 

The most important thing about the altar was to be what happened on it – the sacrifices offered for their sins. God instructed them in two kinds of sacrifices they were to make to Him and the animals that were to be used to make those sacrifices. They were to sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the Lord. And they were to sacrifice their unblemished, perfect sheep, goats and cattle to the Lord. The burnt offering was given for the atonement of their sins. This offering was to be completely “burnt” to ash on the altar with its smoke rising to heaven. The fellowship offering was given to deal with their sin, but it also symbolized fellowship with God and being reconciled to Him. It is also called the peace offering because the Hebrew word comes from the word for “shalom” meaning peace. It was eaten in the presence of the Lord showing that the worshiper was put back into a right relationship with God, atonement having been made for their sin. By offering sacrifices on the altar, the worshiper confessed that they had sinned against God. In this way, the worshiper was able to draw close to the Lord in obedience and worship. Confession of sin is so important. When we sin and the Holy Spirit convicts us of that sin, we need to confess it. Today, we don’t sacrifice animals on an altar, but we are to come before the Lord confessing our sin and he forgives us based on what Jesus did for us on the cross. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” That is a promise that I have claimed in my own life and is a promise I hope you have claimed as well. That brings us to our third next step which is to Confess my sins allowing me to draw close to the Lord.

 

The Lord’s instructions for the altar and sacrifices were made in this moment because they were going to need to make atonement for their sins now that the law had been given. It was at these altars of earth and natural stone, that God would cause his name to be honored and where he would draw close to His chosen people and bless them. God's presence and blessings were not confined to a specific location or place of worship. Instead, God promises to be present and to bless his people wherever they seek to honor him and demonstrate their faith and devotion. Again, how gracious was this. The people, because of God’s holiness and the weight of their sin, had distanced themselves from the Lord, but the He would draw close to them, as they worshiped and sacrificed to Him in obedience.

 

The last verse may seem strange to us but again it speaks to the Israelites not worshiping in the same ways as the pagan peoples around them. First, the altar wasn’t to have steps. The pagan peoples would build altars with steps to show off or with the idea of getting closer to heaven and their gods. Think about the Tower of Babel. They tried to build a tower that would reach heaven so they could be with their god. We are not to reach up and put ourselves on the same plane as God. God is the one who comes down to us in his love, grace and mercy. Second, Canaanite worship was obscene and indecent. They would worship their gods in nakedness and with sexual immorality, but God demanded purity and decency in true worship of Himself. Later on, the Israelite priests were to wear linen undergarments to keep from being exposed in the presence of God.

 

“In his book “Written In Blood”, Robert Coleman tells the story of a little boy whose sister needed a blood transfusion. The doctor explained that she had the same disease the boy had recovered from two years earlier. Her only chance for recovery was a transfusion from someone who had previously conquered the disease. Since the two children had the same rare blood type, the boy was the ideal donor. "Would you give your blood to Mary?" the doctor asked. Johnny hesitated. His lower lip started to tremble. Then he smiled and said, "Sure, for my sister." Soon the two children were wheeled into the hospital room--Mary, pale and thin; Johnny, robust and healthy. Neither spoke, but when their eyes met,

Johnny grinned. As the nurse inserted the needle into his arm, Johnny's smile faded. He watched the blood flow through the tube. With the ordeal almost over, his voice, slightly shaky, broke the silence. "Doctor, when do I die?' Only then did the doctor realize why Johnny had hesitated, why his lip had trembled when he'd agreed to donate his blood. He thought giving his blood to his sister meant giving up his life. In that brief moment, he'd made his great decision. Johnny, fortunately, didn't have to die to save his sister. Each of us, however, has a condition more serious than Mary's, and it required Jesus to give not just His blood but His life.”

We are unable to enter into a relationship with God by ourselves because we have been cut off, alienated from God because of our sin, and in need of reconciliation. We are in need of a mediator. Moses was the mediator chosen by God to be the go-between for Him and His people. But Jesus is our perfect mediator because he was fully God and fully man and He did something that Moses couldn’t do which was live in perfect obedience to the law. The other thing Moses and the animal sacrifices couldn’t do was to make atonement for their sin once and for all. Jesus was the only perfect lamb of God who could make atonement for our sin. Jesus, as our perfect mediator, did three things for those who believe in Him. One, he received our death sentence. God’s standard is perfection, and His character is holy and according to His standard of justice, the soul that sins must die. Sin carries the sentence of spiritual death, eternal separation from God. Therefore, the only way that a sinful person can ever come to God is to have the penalty of his sin paid. The innocent one, Jesus, took the place of the guilty, each one of us, and the sentence of death was carried out.

 

Two, Jesus removed our sin by the shedding of His blood. Forgiveness demands blood. The great amount of blood that we see throughout Scripture is a reminder of the awful penalty of sin—which is death. The purpose of the blood was to bring cleansing from our sin. The only way we can enter into God’s presence is through the atoning death of Jesus Christ, made effective for us when we trust Him as Lord and Savior. Three, Jesus represents the sinner. As our faithful High Priest, He is in heaven now appearing in the presence of God on our behalf. When Jesus appears in the presence of God for us, He presents us in Himself, as He is. Now when we enter into the presence of God, the Father sees Jesus instead of us. He sees Christ’s righteousness, not our unrighteousness, He sees Christ’s sacrifice, not our sin and He sees Christ’s payment for our sin, not the penalty for our sin. That brings us to our last next step this morning which is to Accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, the perfect mediator between God and myself. Again, if you take that step this morning, please mark it on the back of your communication card so I can be in touch with you.

 

As the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offerings and Gene and Roxey come to lead us in a final hymn, let’s pray: God, thank you for Your Word and Your son, Jesus. I thank you for making a way for us to be able to draw close to you and to be reconciled to you when we sin. Help us to be obedient to your Word. Help us to heed the warnings of your Spirit to keep us from sin and to convict us of our sin and lead us to confession of our sins before you. And Lord if there are those here who don’t know you as their Lord and Savior may they take that step of faith in accepting Jesus Christ as their perfect mediator between themselves and You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

 

OPENING: Ajai Prakash (Sermon Central)

CLOSING: “The Mediator (www.brandonware.org)

 

 

/by

Connected (to Others)

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Connected (to Others)

Several years ago, on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post, there was a painting by Norman Rockwell showing a woman buying her Thanksgiving turkey. The turkey is lying on the scales and the butcher and the customer, a lovely lady of about sixty, are both looking up at the scale watching the weighing-in. Each of them has a pleasant look on their faces as if each knows a secret joke. There’s nothing unusual about a butcher and a customer watching as a turkey is being weighed, but the expression on their faces indicates that something unusual is going on. ​​ Norman Rockwell lets us in on the joke by showing us their hands. The butcher is pushing down on the scales with his finger while the woman is pushing up on them with a dainty forefinger. Neither is aware of what the other is doing.

Cecil Myers, who reminds us of that painting, says, “Both the butcher and the lovely lady would resent being called thieves. ​​ The lovely lady would never rob a bank or steal a car. ​​ The butcher would be indignant if anyone accused him of stealing; and if a customer gave him a bad check, he would call the police, but neither saw anything wrong with a little deception that would make a few cents for one or save a few cents for the other.” Rockwell gives us a picture of how we all at times seek to live, trying to manipulate life for our advantage. As sinful, human beings, each of us live life contrary to God’s laws wanting life to come out our way. And that’s what the Ten Commandments are all about – they are to remind us that there are eternal laws in the universe by which we must live if life is going to come out God’s way. And God’s way is the way of holiness and obedience.

Last week we began our look at the Ten Words that God spoke to the Israelites. We learned that the first five words focused on us being better connected to God. We are to have no other gods before Him, we are to not make any idols to worship that represent God, we are not to take God’s name in vain, we are to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy and we are to honor our father and mother. These commands had to come first because if we don’t love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, then there is no way we can love our neighbor as ourselves. We must first be connected to God before we can be connected to each other.

The next five Words from the Lord, that we will look at this morning, are shorter and more general than the first five. They prohibit the worst of the actions, speech and thoughts that God’s people would commit but in doing so they also prohibit everything in between as well. There is no motivation mentioned for keeping these commands and no punishment mentioned, in this text, for not keeping them. The punishment for violating these commands will come later in what is called the Book of the Covenant starting in chapter 21. The Ten Words were God’s instructions to His chosen people, that they were to follow to live properly connected to God and to each other. Words six through ten were intended for legal use, but they are addressed to the believer not the lawyer. These last five words will start out with the greatest sin that can be committed against another person and end with the sin that encapsulates the other nine. These “words” are foundational for human society to flourish in community together. And God spoke them directly to His chosen people to prick their consciences so that they would obey the Lord their God.

If God’s people were going to live in covenant with him, they needed to not only worship him and him alone, they needed to live moral lives in harmonious relationship with those in community with them. They needed to approach the Lord in reverence, awe and holiness, worshiping Him alone, if they were going to be properly connected to Him. And they needed to approach their neighbors with integrity, honesty and morality if they were going to be properly connected to them. By being connected to God and to each other in total obedience to His Ten Words they could truly be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. They would be distinguished from the nations around them and be able to bring honor and glory to God’s name. As we come this morning to meet the God who gave the Ten Commandments, the Lord will reveal His nature and character to us and the reality of life as he has created it. We must approach Him in reverence, awe and holiness, worshiping Him alone. And we must live lives of integrity, honesty and morality in our relationships with each other. We are to live holy and moral lives because our God is perfectly holy and perfectly moral. The One who created us and saved us from our sin and eternal separation from himself demands that from us. The way that we show that we love the Lord is by obeying His commandments. Our obedience to his holy character and to His moral law will help us to be better connected to God and to each other. Last week we talked about how God desires to form His holy character in His people and this week our big idea is that God desires to form His moral character in His people.

Let’s pray: Lord God, pour out your Holy Spirit on us this morning and open our hearts and minds to what you want us to learn and share with others. May your Word be a light unto our paths, and it may lead us, guide us, correct us, rebuke us and train us in righteousness. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Our first point this morning is Connected by Actions found in Exodus 20:13-15. This is what God’s Word says, “You shall not murder. “You shall not commit adultery. “You shall not steal.

The Ten Words spoken by God to the Israelites were what they were to obey in order to be the kind of people he wanted them to be in the Promised Land. By keeping His commands amongst the godless and pagan people there, they would be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, and this would translate into those nations coming to know the one True and Living God. Words six through eight have to do with their actions toward one another living as members of the same covenant community.

Last week I mentioned that the word “commandments” is not found in Hebrew. In Hebrew they are called the “Ten Words.” So I will use “words” and “commands” this morning as we talk about these prohibitions that God gave to His people. The sixth word in the Hebrew is stated simply as “no killing.” There are eight Hebrew words for “kill” and the word used here means an “unlawful violent killing of a personal enemy.” The NIV translates it as “murder.” This word speaks to the “sanctity of life.” Life is a gift from God, and it is only God’s to give and God’s to take away. At creation we were made in the image of God and it is never right for someone, acting on their own, to decide to take the life of someone created by God. The Lord is sovereign over every life’s beginning and ending. The sixth word refers to any type of killing that God disallows which you can imagine would have taken wise discernment and interpretation on the part of the Israelite leaders.  ​​​​ 

This commandment included the prohibition against accidental deaths, voluntary and involuntary manslaughter, and premeditated acts of murder. It also included negligent homicide resulting from recklessness and carelessness. It also prohibited euthanasia, mercy killings, assisted and unassisted suicide and abortion. Psalms 139:13-16a says, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful; I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body.” As Christians we realize that God is the God of life, and we are instructed to not take the life of another made in the image of God. This command would also find guilty those who stood by and did nothing or were silent as someone was killed.

Now there were “killings” that were not prohibited by the sixth word. They included killing during wartime, killing in self-defense and killing by capital punishment or the death penalty. God addresses the death penalty in Genesis 9:6. “Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made mankind.” Paul speaks about this in Romans 13:3-4, “For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.” What makes some types of killing lawful? When the goal of “killing” is not the destruction of life but it’s preservation, then it is lawful. John Calvin says, “The purpose of this commandment is: the Lord has bound mankind together by a certain unity; hence each man ought to concern himself with the safety of all.” From the time of our conception until the time that we pass from this earth, we have a duty to preserve both our own lives and the lives of our neighbors, who have been made in God’s image.

Now before we move on, we must talk about how this command was changed when Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 5:21-22, Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.” Not only our actions, but our thoughts can make us guilty of violating the sixth word. When we envy, hate, are angry, have a desire for revenge, put people down, make racist or sexist remarks, and smear people’s reputations, it shows we have murder in our hearts. The Heidelberg Catechism puts it like this: “I am not to dishonor, hate, injure, or kill my neighbor by thoughts, words, or gestures, and much less by deeds” (Big Idea)

The seventh word is “You shall not commit adultery.” Just like the prohibition against murder, the prohibition against adultery comes from creation. Genesis 2:23-24 says, “The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.” The marriage covenant was between one man and one woman, and they were to be one flesh. Adultery breaks that relationship and causes problems within the family. Also, the prohibition against adultery, like murder, was known long before the law was given. We see in Genesis 39, in the story of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife, that adultery was wrong and against God’s law. In verse nine, Joseph says, “How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God.” After protecting the sanctity of life, it is of next importance to protect the sanctity of marriage. If we are willing to be unfaithful to our spouses, then we will inevitably be unfaithful in other human relationships and in our relationship with God.

The fifth word, to honor your father and mother, when obeyed, guarded the family from internal conflict. This seventh word, when obeyed, guarded the family from external conflict. The Lord required that the relationship between a husband and wife be marked by faithfulness and love. This relationship is compared to the relationship between God and his covenant people which was also to be marked by faithfulness and love. The marriage covenant between husband and wife was to be as sacred as the covenant between the Lord and his people. Wilson states, “Adultery is treason against the family, and God hates it.”

Sexual sin involving persons where at least one was married was considered heinous in the ancient world and was actually called “the great sin.” Sexual sin hurts all involved; even those on the periphery. The Lord wanted his people to be different from those they would be coming in contact with within the Promised Land and this meant maintaining sexual purity. In Israel’s patriarchal society, this “word” would have been speaking to the unmarried or married man, but it would have also included the unmarried or married woman. The sixth and seventh commands demand us to surrender our needs, wants and desires to the Lord. The desire for revenge and sex can cause us to give in to our human nature but God calls us to a different standard. We think we can supply our own needs, wants and desires but actually God is the only one who can do it for us perfectly and in the proper moral way. Again, this word expresses God's character and nature as he is a God of faithfulness, purity and joy. Just like life is a gift from God, so is sex. God gave this command to preserve and protect sex within the marriage covenant.

The Lord chose adultery to condemn any sexual activity outside an exclusive, committed heterosexual marriage. Ross says, “Sexual behavior that undermines and denies covenant faithfulness flies squarely in the face of what sexual behavior was designed to do.” This command, although not explicitly mentioned, would have prohibited all sex outside of marriage, whether before, during, after, or instead of a person’s actual legal marriage. This “word” was so serious that violation of it was considered a capital crime and the punishment was severe. Leviticus 20:10 says “If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.” Both parties were guilty, and both were punished by death.

The Ten Commandments explicitly prohibited the most extreme form of every kind of sin and implicitly ruled out the lesser sins that were the root cause. So, anything that led to adultery was considered sin as well. This would include a married person flirting with someone not their spouse or someone seeking emotional support from the opposite sex not their spouse. Any sexual sin that violated the marriage covenant was covered by this word. Again, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus turned it up a notch, showing that the problem is with our sinful hearts and thoughts. In Matthew 5:27-28, Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” The Westminster Shorter Catechism states, “The Seventh Commandment requires the preservation of our own and our neighbor’s chastity, in heart, speech, and behavior.” Lust is dangerous and deadly, which is why the medieval church called it one of the seven deadly sins.

The eighth word is “You shall not steal.” The Hebrew word for “to steal” literally means to carry away by stealth. The prohibition was also against taking something by force or any other unlawful way. Stealing is the taking of something that belongs to our neighbor without authorization or permission. After protecting the sanctity of life and marriage it is of next importance to protect the sanctity of possessions. God has given us the right to own property and possessions, and no other person has the right to take what is ours in secret or by force. We see some truths in this command. Everything belongs to God and he has entrusted some things to each of us and we need to respect his distribution of all that belongs to him. When we steal from our neighbor, we steal what God has personally provided for someone else and so are actually stealing from God. This command was to keep unity within the covenant community. This again speaks to reigning in our needs, wants and desires. We must trust that God is going to provide all that we need when we need it and so we don’t need to steal from others. Even those who don’t read the Bible or believe in God or Jesus know that stealing is wrong just as murder is wrong.

Again, this word is stated in general terms, implying that there are many ways to violate it. It would include injury to another’s property, fraud, embezzlement, and extortion. It would also include all kinds of theft: burglary, robbery, larceny, hijacking, shoplifting, and kidnapping. It would also speak of subtler ways of stealing such as taking office supplies from our work or other businesses. This command also requires us to use what God has given to us in ways that are pleasing to Him. God allows us to work and make a wage and we can steal such things as time from our employers, when we falsify time cards, or give less than our best work or call off sick when we just want a day off. It speaks to our time and talents as well because even our abilities and opportunities come from God and are to be used for his glory. Colossians 3:23 says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” When we waste our time, fail to use our talents for the Lord, or don’t develop the gifts he’s given to us to the best of our ability, we are stealing from God.

But it’s not just about stealing, it is about stewardship. Stewardship is the careful and responsible management of what God has entrusted to our care. Bridges has observed that there are three basic attitudes we can take toward possessions. The first says, “What’s yours is mine; I’ll take it.” This is the attitude of the thief. The second says, “What’s mine is mine; I’ll keep it.” Since we are selfish by nature, this is the attitude that most people have most of the time. The third attitude—the godly attitude—says, “What’s mine is God’s; I’ll share it.” As Christians we are called to live generously and stewardship means that we meet the needs of our family, our church, the work of the Gospel and of those in need. Malachi 3:8-10 speaks about not withholding our tithes and offering. Deuteronomy 15:10 speaks to helping others in need: “Give generously … and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.” Jesus even speaks about not stealing in Matthew 19:18 and Ephesians 4:28 gives us the antidote for stealing: “Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.”

There are actions that we can take against our neighbors that are harmful and don’t create the kind of connection with them that God wants us to have. When we commit them, we are hurting the unity and community that God wants us to have in order to bring the lost to Him. When we act in these ways, we show the Lord that we don’t care about the sanctity of the life he has given to us and others, that we don’t care about the sanctity of marriage that he instituted at creation, and that we don’t care about the sanctity of the things he has graciously and generously provided to each one of us. Let us be people, who by our actions, show that the Lord is forming His moral character in us. (Big Idea) That brings us to our first next step on the back of your communication card which is Show, by my actions, that God’s moral character is being formed in me.

Our second point is, Connected by Speech & Thought, found in Exodus 20:16-17. This is what God’s Word says, “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

The ninth word is “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.” This word was mainly talking about giving evidence in a court of law, but it also includes all kinds of truthfulness. A disregard for the truth leads to a breakdown in society just as murder, adultery and stealing do. This again tells us about the character and nature of God. He is absolute truth and dependability, and he demands the same from His covenant. 1 Samuel 15:29a says “He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie.” The Lord is true in all he is, says, and does.

It was important in those days to give true evidence in a court of law because all they had was the testimony of the witnesses to be able to decide a case. Due process would be violated if the evidence given was false or distorted. Giving testimony against a neighbor had to be completely truthful. The court system of the nation depended on the honesty of its covenant people. In a nomadic desert society where nearly all crimes were capital crimes, a “false witness” was the equivalent of murder. In the ancient world, those charged with a crime were considered guilty until proven innocent. But Israel was to be different. There had to be two witnesses to a capital crime and the witnesses were also to be the executioners. Deuteronomy 17:6-7 says, “On the testimony of two or three witnesses a person is to be put to death, but no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. The hands of the witnesses must be the first in putting that person to death, and then the hands of all the people. You must purge the evil from among you.” The reason for this was if the witnesses were later found to have given false testimony, they would incur the same punishment they had meted out. Think about this: if you gave testimony as a witness to a murder, you would be the one to execute the judgment on that person. If it was later found out that you lied, you would be judged in the same manner. Gives us a new outlook on “casting the first stone” doesn’t it?

With this command, God was forbidding every form of falsehood in their speech. A blatant violation of this command would be telling a lie that harms someone else in some way, slander, tale-bearing, gossip, spreading false rumors and even staying silent if they had vital evidence of what really happened. Leviticus 5:1 says, “‘If anyone sins because they do not speak up when they hear a public charge to testify regarding something they have seen or learned about, they will be held responsible.” The prohibition against lying includes big lies and little lies, half-truths, flatteries and fibs. When we mislead, misquote, misinterpret, twist people’s words or take things out of context we violate this command. With this command, God was not just forbidding falsehood in our speech; He was also demanding truthfulness in our speech. This meant thinking and saying the best about someone, defending others who are being unfairly attacked, and speaking the truth in love.

The seriousness of this command is seen in James 3:5-6: “Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.” Our tongue can cause us a lot of trouble especially if we don’t take this command seriously. We need to watch our speech and allow it to better connect us to each other instead of letting it tear our unity and community apart. This command means we need to have integrity of character because a lot of the lies and falsehoods we tell are not heard by those we are speaking against. We usually speak behind other people’s backs, not to their faces. But imagine if everything we said in a days’ time was broadcast for everyone to hear. If everything we said about someone was heard by that person. Now sometimes what we say does get back to the person we were talking about, but we know that everything we say is heard by God himself. He hears it all. So let’s be a people who don’t bear false witness against our neighbors and let’s “speak life” in every place we go and to every person we know.

My friend Greg is a coach and youth pastor who instills in his youth and players what he calls SpeakLIFE. This means to speak the life of God’s Word to each other. Because speaking life is the character of God and his son Jesus, we should do the same. The word LIFE is an acronym for Love, Inspire, Focus and Encourage. These are four-character traits that Jesus exemplified in his ministry. We can’t be fully connected to each other if we aren’t doing these things. Some questions to think about: How did Jesus show and speak love to others and are we showing and speaking the same love to our neighbors? Are we showing the character of Jesus, inspiring others in what we speak and how we act? Are we inspired by others who show the character of Jesus in what they speak and how they act? How are we helping each other stay focused on God and not on the world around us? What are we doing and saying to be an encouragement to those around us? That brings us to our second next step on the back of your communication card which is to Speak LIFE (Love, Inspire, Focus and Encouragement) to those around me.

The tenth word is “You shall not covet.” It goes on to explain the things we are not to covet that belong to our neighbors: his house, his wife, his male or female servant, his ox and donkey or anything that belongs to Him. The ninth word talked mainly about violations coming from our speech. The tenth word is talking about violations stemming from our hearts. Coveting starts in our hearts. Proverbs 4:23 says, “guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” Coveting is a consuming desire which is not always wrong, but becomes a violation when we desire to possess in the wrong way something that belongs to another. It’s not simply wanting something we don’t have; it’s wanting the something that someone else possesses, for ourselves. The desire is stimulated by the beauty and desirability of that person or thing. It starts with forbidden feelings but is dangerous because it usually leads to forbidden acts. It is the last command because it is the root of the violations of all other commands. Mark 7:20-23 says, “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” Covetousness can be the starting point for murder, adultery, stealing and even bearing false witness.

Like stealing, being covetous, speaks to being discontent with what God has provided for us. In Ephesians 5:5, Paul identifies covetousness with idolatry which brings us full circle back to the first commandment. Covetousness can also come when we are constantly comparing ourselves to others. Ryken says, “We are always comparing ourselves to others, and frankly we resent it when we don’t get what they have.” James 4:1-2 says, “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want.” We are given tangible examples of what we aren’t to covet, but we are also not to covet other people’s attributes: age, looks, brains, or talents. We are not to covet their situation in life: marriage, singleness, children. And we are not to covet their spiritual attainments, like a more prominent place of ministry in the church or wider recognition of our spiritual gifts. We are not allowed to covet anything at all. God’s law rules out every unlawful desire. Jesus condemned coveting, listing it right up there with theft, murder, and adultery in Mark 7:21-22.

The tenth commandment proves that God judges the heart and when that happens there is no human being on this earth who is righteous. We are all sinners and fall short of the glory of God. Martin Luther said, “This last commandment, then, is addressed not to those whom the world considers wicked rogues, but precisely to the most upright—to people who wish to be commended as honest and virtuous because they have not offended against the preceding commandments.” As Luther recognized, this commandment—more than any other—convinces us we are sinners and that we are in need of a Savior. If you are here this morning or listening online and the Holy Spirit is convicting you of sin and of being in need of a Savior I ask you to mark “Send me info about becoming a follower of Jesus” in the upper right on the back of your communication card. And I will be in contact with you about that. ​​ 

So what can we do to keep from coveting what others have? We need to be content. 1 Timothy 6:6-7 says, “But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.” And we need to have our heart in the right place. Matthew 6:19-21 says, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” And I want to read Proverbs 4:23 again: “guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”

Let us be a people who are content with what God has given us and store our treasures in heaven and not on this earth. Let us be a people who strive to be better connected to each other through our actions, our speech and our thoughts. That brings us to our third next step this morning which is to Strive to be better connected to others through my actions, speech and thoughts.

In December 2001 George O’Leary was on top of the world. He had just been named head football coach at the University of Notre Dame—the Fighting Irish. It was the dream of a lifetime. O’Leary was in charge of one of the most prestigious sports programs in the world. Then two days later, at the end of his first day on the job, the call came. A reporter had been trying to contact some of the guys who had played college football with O’Leary back at New Hampshire. The strange thing was, nobody could remember anyone named George O’Leary. So Notre Dame’s sports information director telephoned to find out what it was all about. O’Leary reluctantly admitted that he hadn’t actually played football at New Hampshire. But years before, when O’Leary applied for a job at Syracuse, he had been asked for information about his athletic background. Some of what he provided was true, like the high school football championships, but somehow it didn’t look impressive enough; so the applicant decided to improve his résumé. There it was twenty-one years later, in his own handwriting: “College—Univ. of New Hampshire—3 yr. lettered.”

It was just a small lie, really, but it was big enough to turn O’Leary’s dream into a nightmare, costing him not only his job, but also his reputation. Perhaps the most telling response came from the coach’s brother, who said, “Is anyone trying to tell me that résumés are truthful? In the America we live in, the willingness to lie on a résumé is an indication of how much you want the job.” We all know that lying is wrong. Yet we are so used to massaging the truth for personal advantage that we have trouble holding the line against falsehood. A columnist for Time magazine wrote: “The injunction against bearing false witness, branded in stone and brought down by Moses from the mountaintop, has always provoked ambivalent, conflicting emotions. On the one hand, nearly everybody condemns lying. On the other, nearly everyone does it every day.”

The Ten Commandments display the character of God. They reveal his sovereignty, jealousy, justice, holiness, honor, faithfulness, providence, truthfulness, and love. When we see how God has poured himself into his law, it becomes obvious that he could not have given us any other commandments than the ones he gave. The Ten Commandments express God’s will for our lives because they are based on his character. This helps answer an ancient dilemma, one that Plato posed in one of his famous dialogues: Does God command the law because the law is good or is the law good because God commands it? The answer is, both! The law, with all its goodness, springs from the goodness of God’s character. The law is good because God is good, and his goodness penetrates every aspect of his law. Let us be people who long for God to form His holy and moral character in our lives, being obedient to His commands, which will help us to be better connected to God and to each other. (Big Idea)

As Gene & Roxey come to lead us in a final hymn and as the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offerings, let’s pray: Heavenly Father, thank you for your Word. Thank you for the truths found in it. Help us to take your Word into our hearts and be obedient to it. May we show by our actions, speech and thoughts that your holy and moral character is being formed in us. May we speak life to those around us and may we strive to be better connected to you and to each other by what we do, say and think. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

 

 

 

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Connected (to God)

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CONNECTED (To God)

In their book “The Day America Told the Truth”, James Patterson and Peter Kim lay down the law for postmodern times. They observe that today there is “absolutely no moral consensus at all.… Everyone is making up their own personal moral codes—their own Ten Commandments.” Patterson and Kim proceed to list what they call the “ten real commandments,” the rules that according to their surveys people actually live by. These rules include the following: —I don’t see the point in observing the Sabbath; —I will steal from those who won’t really miss it; —I will lie when it suits me, so long as it doesn’t cause any real damage; —I will cheat on my spouse—after all, given the chance, he or she will do the same; —I will procrastinate at work and do absolutely nothing about one full day in every five.

These new commandments are based on moral relativism, the belief that we are free to make up our own rules, based on our own personal preferences. The law is not something that comes from God, but something we come up with on our own. And our laws usually conflict with God’s laws. It is not surprising that what Patterson and Kim call the “ten real commandments” generally violate the laws that God gave to Moses. We have become a law unto ourselves. One would hope to find that the situation is somewhat better in the church. Surely God’s own people honor the permanent, objective standard of God’s law! Yet the church is full of worshipers who do not even know the Ten Commandments, let alone know how to keep them. This problem was documented in a recent report from The Princeton Religion Research Center. The headline read, “Religion Is Gaining Ground, but Morality Is Losing Ground,” and the report showed how recent increases in church attendance and Bible reading have been offset by a simultaneous decline in morality. How is this possible? How can people be more interested in God and at the same time less willing to do what he says? The only explanation is that people do not know the God of the Bible, because if they did, they would recognize the absolute authority of his law. Respect for God always demands respect for his law. And whenever people have a low regard for God’s law, as they do in our culture, it is ultimately because they have a low regard for God.

Last week, I challenged us to be ready this morning to meet the God who gave the Ten Commandments. From the above we realize that we don’t truly “know” God because if we did, we would know and obey His commands set forth in His Word. We wouldn’t want to make up our own laws, we would want to follow and obey His laws, because we love him with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. As we look at the Ten Commandments the next couple of weeks, we will be reminded of who our God is because they are all about Him. They are not just a list of rules, but they show his love, care and concern for us as his people. They help us to understand why the creator of the universe wanted a relationship with us. He chose to create human beings in his image with whom he wanted to be in a relationship with and whom he wanted to reflect his character. The Ten Commandments remind us that since the beginning of creation, God has wanted people to “know” him and worship him because he is the only one worthy of being known and worshiped. ​​ The Ten Commandments were about taking the people he had saved, forming his holy character in them, so they would reflect that holy character to the world around them, all for his honor and glory. That brings us to our big idea this morning which is that God desires to form His holy character in His people.

Let’s pray: Heaven Father, pour out your Holy Spirit on us as we open your Word this morning. Open up our hearts and minds to what you want us to learn and share with those we come in contact with this week, as we study your Ten Commandments. Let us remember that you are a holy God and you demand holiness from us. I pray that we will use these commands from your Word to form your Holy character in us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

We have two points this morning, the first is Connected by Covenant, found in Exodus 20:1-2. This is what God’s Word says, “And God spoke all these words: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”

Before we jump into the scripture, here’s some background for us. First, what is this covenant that connected the Israelites to the Lord? In Genesis 12:1-3 we read these words, “The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Abraham was faithful to the Lord and his commands. That faithfulness was passed down to Isaac, Jacob or Israel, to Joseph and to the Israelite people in Egypt. The Lord saved the Israelites from slavery and was bringing them to the land he had promised them because of his promises made to Abraham. They were connected to God by this covenant. ​​ 

Second, these laws were not given to the Israelites while they were still slaves in Egypt. The Lord didn’t want them to believe that by observing these laws they were able to save themselves from their oppression. God’s law was given to a people who had already been saved by his grace. They needed to know how to live as His people saved by Him, so they could fulfill their purpose of being a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. By obeying these laws, they would be closer connected to God and to each other, showing their commitment to him and their love for one another. ​​ Strom notes, “The Lord did not give the law to establish his relationship with the Israelites. He gave it because he already had a relationship with his people, and he wanted them now to learn how to express this relationship faithfully.”

That brings us to last week. If you remember, Moses and the Israelites have all gathered around the base of Mt. Sinai. Moses has just come down from meeting with the Lord and warns the people not to touch the mountain or they will die. The stage is now set for the people to hear from the Lord and He speaks directly to them for the first time. Verses 1 and 2 are an introduction to the laws that God is going to lay down before His people. This introduction was very similar to the “treaties” of the day that were set up between a King and the peoples subject to him. The king would introduce himself and then would state the historical facts of their relationship which would be the motivation for them to follow his commands. Here the Lord introduces Himself as “the Lord your God” which was his covenant name, Yahweh. He also reminded them that it was he who had brought them out of slavery in Egypt. The Lord had saved them, showing his love for them and his continuing commitment to them as his people, and now he wanted them to love him in return. Their love would be demonstrated by their obedience to his laws, which were not handed down to restrict them but to free them to worship and serve Him alone.

A couple of other notes: Nowhere are these laws called the Ten Commandments, that’s the English translation for the Decalogue or in Hebrew, simply “Ten Words.” Also, there is an order to the Ten Words. The first four focus on our relationship to God. If we obey these “words” from the Lord, we will be better connected to Him. Today we are also going to cover the fifth “word” as it is a transition between the first four and the last five. Next week we will look at “words” six through ten which focus on our relationship to each other. If we obey those “words” of the Lord, we will be better connected to one another. We must first be totally committed and surrender to the Lord with the proper behavior before we can even begin to behave properly with our fellow human beings. In Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus put it like this: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and love your neighbor as yourself.

After identifying himself to the people and reminding them of the historical reasons for being in covenant with him, the Lord will now give them the stipulations, or terms, of the covenant. That brings us to our second point called, Connected to God, found in Exodus 20:3-12. This is what God’s Word says, “You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

The first “word” or command that the Lord gives to his people starts where he began in verse 1, “I am the Lord your God” and logically it follows that if he is the Lord their God then they shall have no other gods before Him. Because of who he is (Yahweh) and what he has done (saved them), he will not share his worship with any other. He should be the only one that they worship. This doesn’t mean that as long as they worship Yahweh first, they can worship other gods second. This means that he is to be exclusively worshiped by His people. This was unique religiously in the ancient world at that time where all other peoples worshiped many gods. God was making a unique claim that he was the one and only true god, all other gods were false, and his people should worship Him and Him alone. Remember they had come from Egypt who had a god for every aspect of their life and land. The Lord had already proven them to be false gods, but the Israelites, in slavery, only really knew about these many gods. Now they would come to intimately “know” the one true God by accepting and obeying these commands from the Lord their God.

Another thing to note is that these “words” from Lord are all in the second person singular meaning even though they were spoken to the nation as a whole, they were to be obeyed individually by each member of the community. When we speak of becoming holy or becoming more like Jesus as we have in previous years here at Idaville Church, we must individually do those things before our church as a whole can be transformed into being holy or more like Jesus. Obedience has to start with us individually just as it had to start with each individual Israelite before they could become a “holy nation.” Like Israel, we are also called to worship the one true God and are not to have any other gods before us. Today we are tempted to worship the false gods or idols of our culture—sex, money, power, luxury, security, pride, social prestige, love of country, profession, self-worship and even other people. ​​ Matthew Henry states, “Pride makes a god of self, covetousness makes a god of money, sensuality makes a god of the belly; whatever is esteemed or loved, feared or served, delighted in or depended on, more than God, that (whatever it is) we do in effect make a god of.” So, how can we know if we are violating God’s first “word” or command? First, we must ask ourselves “What do I love?” What are my passions and obsessions? Are they taking the place of God in my heart? Second, we must ask ourselves “What do I trust?” Where do I turn to in times of trouble, trial or struggle in my life? What gives me security? Like Israel we are called to be totally and exclusively committed to God and trust only in his son, Jesus. How can we keep our focus on the one true God and not the gods of this world? We must strive to fall passionately and deeply in love with Jesus every day. That brings us to our first next step on the back of your communication card which is to Fall more passionately and deeply in love with Jesus daily, having no other gods before Him.

The second “word” or command is one of the longer words and has four parts to it. The first part is the rule. They were not to make any idols for themselves to serve as objects of worship. Idols were usually made out of wood or stone and were created to make the god accessible and to be controlled by the worshiper. The Lord is not talking about the pagan gods of the day because he prohibited them in the first “word.” He was talking about idols that were created to represent himself. He banned all created things in heaven, on the earth or under the waters, from being made into an idol. There were no exceptions. He didn’t want His people to try to control Him and put him on the same level as themselves. He is Yahweh, the one true God, higher than any other persons or things. He is sovereign and can’t be controlled by rites and words. This speaks to the transcendence of God – the theological concept that God is above and beyond human comprehension and his creation. The Lord, because of his holiness, kept his true form shielded from the people. It would have been wrong to have claimed to know the nature of God that he had deliberately hidden from them. Any images of God were both unnecessary and inappropriate.

God is defining what proper worship is. They were not to bow down to any idols or worship them. This ran counter to how God desired true worship to be. The first “word” instructed them on whom they were to worship, the second “word” instructed them about how they were to worship. Since God is spirit, he commanded them to worship him in spirit and not with images. John 4:24 says, “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” To worship any created object, even if it were to represent God, was equal to idolatry and was considered adultery by the Lord which brings us to the second part of this “word”, the reason. The reason they were not to bow down or worship these idols was because He is a jealous God. God loves his people too much to not be jealous when they take another lover. This jealousy might be better defined as zealousness, a passionate, intense caring love and loyalty that God has for his people that comes from the uniqueness of God and his unique relationship with them. The Lord doesn’t ignore, take lightly or is indifferent about his people going after other gods. God is jealous because he is supreme. God’s jealousy is love in action. Redpath says, “He knows that upon loyalty to Him depends our very moral life . . . God is not jealous of us: he is jealous for us.”

The third part of this “word” is a warning. There was a punishment for not keeping this “word” or command. The Lord would punish the children for the sin of their fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate him. The reason for this is because replacing God with idols has far-reaching consequences. God created the world with cause and effect, where the actions and choices of the parents precondition the choices of the children. If the parents are worshiping other gods, it becomes a learned behavior and one that is hard to erase. When a family is worshiping something other than God, the truth about God and the truths found in the Bible are not passed down to the next generation. The Jewish people had a strong family culture. It was not unreasonable for there to be children, parents, grandparents and possibly great-grandparents all living in the same house. If the hatred and disdain for God has been passed down in the same family, who have all been living together, you can see how it would be difficult to change that behavior. We all have free will to do what is right so the children will be punished for modeling the sin of their fathers.

The fourth part of this “word” is a promise. The Lord will show love/blessing to a thousand generations of those who love Him and kept his commandments. God’s love will be given to those children who model the good choices of their parents because they have loved the Lord by being obedient to his commands. Even if the parents’ choices have preconditioned the children to make the wrong choices, the children must still make the choice to do what is right. If they do so they will be blessed and if they don’t, they will be punished. ​​ Here we see the greatest contrast in the Bible – three/four generations to thousands. God’s desire is for his people to remain loyal to Him so that he can bless them. A thousand generations defines the limitless extent of the mercy shown by God. Two things we can learn from this: One, God holds families responsible for their conduct within their families. Two, the promise is more powerful than the warning because its blessing lasts not just for three or four generations but for a thousand; in other words, it will last forever.

This warning and promise should make us search our lives. Even if we don’t have children of our own, we all probably have younger relatives that we are in contact with. And no matter what, we are all influencing the next generation in some way. So some questions for you this morning? What kind of life are you leading? What kind of worship are you giving? What kind of legacy are you leaving? This goes for our families and in our church. That brings us to the second next step which is to Leave a legacy of proper worship for the next generation.

The third “word” or command is “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.” This word is structured like the second: it contains a prohibition followed by a threat of punishment for those who do not obey. Literally, “You shall not bear up (or lift up) the name of the Lord your God to falsehood (or emptiness).” The “name of the Lord” refers to all that the Lord has revealed of himself: his identity, his reputation and his character. When we ‘lift up his name to falsehood’ we are acting as if we are loyal to the Lord, on the one hand, but are trying to manipulate Him or misappropriate his name, on the other. God is not at our disposal. We must approach him in reverence, awe and holiness not in a false way. This “word” defends the honor of God’s great name. The Lord speaks in the third person which again brings attention to his covenant name, Yahweh, who defeated the Egyptians, saving them from slavery, so that his name would be proclaimed to the entire world, all for his glory. ​​ 

We demean God’s reputation and character by speaking His name in an empty or vain way. This is done when we use God’s name to guarantee an oath, we know we won’t keep. Or when we refer to God in a frivolous, mocking, or disrespectful manner or when we say things in God’s name that aren’t true such as false prophecy. In the OT, the mark of a true prophet was that everything he prophesied came true. If even one prophecy didn’t come true, he was put to death. That was how serious this “word” was. Also, we shouldn’t say anything to make God appear insignificant, faithless or unholy. This prohibition would also include profanity especially with God’s name attached. Think about what the use of God’s name attached to profanity tells others about God and what we think of Him, especially those who don’t know Him. It tells them that we don’t respect our God, so why should they? God demands respect and reverence for His holy name.

When we profane the Lord’s name, we treat the holy and sacred as common and secular. We do this when we speak about Him carelessly, thoughtlessly, or flippantly, as if he didn’t matter or really didn’t exist at all. We should avoid any use of God’s name that detracts from how He is perceived. Yahweh’s name must be honored, blessed, praised, celebrated, pronounced, and so shared. When the name of Jesus Christ is lifted up and exalted, people come to him for their salvation. So the way we lift up his name is doubly important as there is a connection between honoring God’s name and spreading the gospel. The threat attached to this “word” shows that God expects to be obeyed. Those who break his law will be charged with guilt and will not go unpunished. Leviticus 24:15–16a, says this, “Say to the Israelites: ‘If anyone curses his God, he will be held responsible; anyone who blasphemes the name of the Lord must be put to death.’”

The fourth “word” or commandment is the longest one and is one of two that are expressed positively instead of negatively: “Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.” This word comes in three parts. The first part tells us what to do. We are to “remember” the Sabbath by keeping it holy. To “remember” can mean to recall from the past or to keep in mind for the future. The Sabbath was first instituted back in Exodus 16:22-26 when God gave manna to the people. They were to gather enough on the sixth day for that day and the next, because they were to cease from working on the seventh day. As they remembered the Sabbath every single week, they would be celebrating God’s work of creation and redemption. The second part of this “word” specifies how they were to keep it holy. God began by telling them what he wanted them to do the other six days. They were to work. And on the seventh day they were to rest. But the seventh day was not just a day to do whatever they wanted to do. It was to be dedicated to the Lord for his worship and service. The seventh day was to be sanctified and set apart for sacred use, it was a Sabbath to the Lord. God was governing their work and their rest as he commanded them to cease working on the seventh day.

We must use the Sabbath to rest and recharge our physical and spiritual well-being. This is what means to keep the Sabbath holy. Also, we can’t work seven days a week like it’s our efforts that are supplying our needs. We must rely on God to provide what we need when we need it. Everyone was to keep the Sabbath. It was to provide a regular weekly reminder for all, even their servants, animals and aliens within their gates. Even those who did not profess faith in God but were living among the Israelites had to respect the God-given structures in their community. This command also prohibited the Israelites from making their children, servants or the aliens do their work. Everyone was to benefit from a Sabbath rest and be free and ready to worship and serve the Lord. The Sabbath was a sign of the covenant in that, as they stopped their work for one day every week, they openly demonstrated that they were keeping the covenant. This word was to remind the Israelites that their relationship with the Lord was special. Nowhere else in the ancient world was there this idea of taking one complete day of rest out of every seven.

The third part of this command tells us why we are to take a Sabbath day. The fundamental reason for obeying this command is because God is our model for a Sabbath rest. After creating the world in six days, the Lord who didn’t need to “rest”, rested on the seventh day. The Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. We are to obey this command because God made it holy, and he desires to form His holy character in His people (Big Idea). There must be a rhythm of life, of work and rest and worship. The Sabbath was designed to help us become spiritually stronger and closer connected to God. He knew the effects constant work would have on our bodies and spirits, so he graciously and lovingly gave us one day a week to recharge both our bodies and souls. Also, the writer of Hebrews, in chapter 4, links the Sabbath to the final rest that all of God’s people will enjoy. In this “word” God declared his sovereignty over the entire life of Israel. All time belongs to God and serves to remind us of the sacredness of all our days. Observing the Sabbath is a mark of our devotion to God and should be a witness to our neighbors who don’t know Jesus.

The fifth “word” or commandment is also a positive worded command. “Honor your father and mother” is a transitional command forming a bridge between those “words” that connect us in relationship to God and those that connect us in relationship to each other. The reason that this “word” is connected to the first four “words” is because God is our ultimate father. The honor and respect we are to show God the Father is the same we are to show our earthly fathers and mothers because they are the ones who are to represent God to their children. By placing this command here, it shows the importance of the family. God addresses the earthly human relationship that is central to the continuation of the covenant through the generations – the parent/child relationship. This relationship serves as a reflection of God’s relationship with us. The word for “honor” means “heavy” or “weighty.” To honor our parents means to give due weight to their position and authority. They should be treated publicly and privately with due respect as long as they live. Honoring parents is more demanding than just obedience. To honor means to respect, esteem, value and prize our fathers and mothers as a gift from God. This command is so important, Ryken says, “The way to destroy a nation is to destroy the family, and the way children can destroy the family is by disobeying their parents.” “God intended the family to be the first hospital, the first school, the first government, and the first church. If we do not respect authority at home, we will not respect it anywhere.” This fifth “word” is God’s plan for preserving the family.

The fifth command requires respect for our parents, but it also forbids showing them disrespect. We see this later in Leviticus 20:9: “If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother, and his blood will be on his own head.” ​​ In the NT, in 2 Timothy 3:1-2, we see that disobedience to parents is listed as one of the signs that we are living in the “terrible times” of “the last days.” So, why should children obey their parents? Colossians 3:20 says, “Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.” ​​ Ephesians 6:1 says, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” But probably the best reason is because God added a promise to this command, “so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” God had just brought the Israelites out of slavery and promised to take them to a land all their own. One way to ensure that they could continue to live in this Promised Land was to honor their fathers and mothers in faith. This was not a promise of individual long life, but it was a promise of the fullness of God’s blessing, a promise of an abundant life. This is echoed in the NT, in Ephesians 6:2: “Honor your father and mother’… that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” Keeping the fifth word is essential to God’s plan for passing down faith. Parents have the God-given responsibility to teach their children to know, serve and worship the Lord. But children won’t learn those lessons if they don’t have respect for their parents. And their respect for their parents should last for a lifetime. No matter how young or old we are and no matter how old our parents are, we must show them the respect that they deserve for the role that God has placed them in our lives.

We notice some important things here. Even in the patriarchal structure of Israel both the father and the mother were to be honored. Their status had to be jointly acknowledged to preserve the integrity of the family and promote the well-being of society. This command also speaks of honoring and respecting all of those in authority over us. The fifth word rules our relationship to the government. 1 Peter 2:13, 17 says, “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men.… Show proper respect to everyone … fear God, honor the king.” It also regulates our work. We are to respect our bosses and show honor to our employers. It also requires respect for the leaders of our churches. Respecting our church leaders means to pray for them, encourage them, and assist them in their efforts for our spiritual progress. But if we don’t first respect and honor God, the Father, we won’t respect and honor those that God has put in authority over us.

During the days of the gold rush, a young man and his bride set out across the country to make their fortunes. ​​ Somewhere along the way, they drank some contaminated water, and the young bride became ill and died before they could reach Fort Kearney in Nebraska. ​​ Heartbroken, the young man took her body to the highest hill and buried it using the wagon bed to make a coffin. ​​ He drove down some wooden stakes to mark the grave, thinking that he would go on West and later come back. ​​ But the more he thought about it, the more he was certain that he couldn’t go on. ​​ He said to himself, “I’ll forget where this is; I will never remember it.” So, he retraced his steps all the way to St. Louis, Missouri. ​​ He found a stonecutter and had him prepare a tombstone engraved with the name “Susan Hale” along with the date of her birth and death. He tried vainly to get someone to haul it back for him, but all the wagons going west were already overloaded, and no one would help him. ​​ Finally, he bought a wheelbarrow, put the stone in it, and walked those weary miles back toward Fort Kearney, and set the stone up on her grave. It’s a tender story. ​​ The man knew that there was something he must never forget. ​​ Here was a sacred spot on earth, and he must always remember where it was. Thus, it is with Mount Sinai and the Ten Commandments. ​​ The Ten commandments have been set up for us so that we will never forget the importance of some things. ​​ We keep coming back to them, for they speak to us of eternal truths and values. These Ten Words were given to us and to remind us that God desires to form His Holy character in us. Let us be a people who, because the Lord is God and has saved us for His honor and glory, remember and write His words in our heart and strive to obey them daily. In doing so he is forming His holy character in us. (Big Idea) That brings us to our last next step, which is to Remember God’s words, obey them and pass them on.

Next week we will look at how we can be better connected to each other as we study words six through ten. As the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offerings and as Gene and Roxey come to lead us in a final hymn, let’s pray: Lord, thank you for the privilege of being together in your house. I pray that we would take these words of yours to heart. That we would have no other gods before you, striving to fall more passionately and deeply in love with you. That we would leave a legacy of proper worship for the next generation and that we would remember these words, obey them and pass them on. May we allow you to continually form your holy character is us, every day. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Not Safe, But Good

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NOT SAFE, BUT GOOD

In C.S. Lewis’ book, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Aslan is the rightful king and ruler of Narnia. He is both intolerably severe and irresistibly tender and not to be trifled with. All throughout the Narnia Chronicles we encounter a being who is wild and on the loose. He is not to be tied down, he cannot be controlled, manipulated, or bullied. He commands reverence and obedience. When the Pevensie children first hear about Aslan, they are unsure what to think. Should they be afraid? Susan asks, “Is he—quite safe?” I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.” Mrs. Beaver responds, “If there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.” Then Lucy asks, “Then he isn’t safe?” To which Mrs. Beaver responds, “Safe? . . . Who said anything about safe? Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King I tell you.”

In our scripture today, found in Exodus 19:16-25, the Israelites are going to meet Yahweh close up for the first time. He had proven his love, care and concern for them as he heard their groanings in Egypt, bringing them out of slavery and bringing them salvation at the Red Sea. ​​ He has proven his provision, protection and his presence with them by guiding them in the wilderness by a pillar of fire and cloud, providing water, manna and quail and defeating the Amalekites in battle. Last week, Pastor Doug taught us about how the Lord brought the Israelites to Mt. Sinai. He called them a treasured possession, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. The Lord then commanded Moses to prepare the Israelites to meet Him at the mountain. Moses consecrated the people for two consecutive days, having them wash their clothes and abstain from sexual relations. They were to be ready to meet the Lord on the third day. Moses also put limits around the mountain and commanded the people to not go up the mountain or to even touch it or they would be put to death.

This is because Yahweh was not safe. He was not to be trifled with. He commanded reverence and obedience and awe and holiness from those in covenant with him. The Israelites could not meet him and worship him the way they were. They needed to be consecrated and made clean in order to meet with their holy God. But he commanded the Israelites to do this because he was good. He is Holy and Just and the Israelites were sinful, human beings. The two could not come together without dire consequences. So, the Lord, because he is good, commanded Moses to prepare the people to meet him in this way, because he is a Holy God.

As Pastor Doug also mentioned last week, we were made to worship God and it is a daily worship, not just a Sunday and or Wednesday thing. But unlike the Israelites we don’t not need to fear coming before him, because Jesus has paid the price for our sins and is now our perfect mediator. But we must have a “fear of the Lord” when we approach Him. We must come before him in reverence. We must come before Him in awe of who he is and what he has done for us. We must come before him in holiness, consecrated, with a clean heart. The question for each one of us this morning is “Do we come before the Lord, in daily worship, with reverence, awe and holiness?” I must admit that I don’t always do that, but I am striving for that each and every day and I hope you are too. I implore you this morning to think on that question and to search your hearts, minds and souls to see if your daily worship measures up to God’s standards. That brings us to our big idea this morning that God demands that His people approach Him in reverence, awe and holiness.

Let’s pray:

 

Our first point is “Storm” found in Exodus 19:16-19. This is what God’s Word says, “On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently. As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.”

The people have been consecrated for the past two days. They have washed their clothes which was an outward preparation symbolizing an inward consecration that was required to meet with God at the mountain. They are now ready, and God shows up at the exact time he said he would. His terrifying presence coming down from heaven is announced in a number of ways. First, there was a storm of thunder and lightning. Second, there was a thick cloud that enveloped the mountain. Third, there was a very loud trumpet blast. Thunder, lightning and clouds are signs of the power and presence of God, signaling that a theophany was about to take place. Dunnam states that this “theophany was an emphatic appearance of God to Israel.” The presence of God was coming down from heaven to earth to meet with his people. The Lord had been guiding his people in the wilderness by a pillar of cloud and fire. Now a thick cloud covered the mountain shielding his “glory” from the people so they could not accidentally gaze upon Him. There was also a very loud trumpet blast. But it didn’t come from the camp, it came from heaven. This supernatural trumpet blast signaled that God was approaching them and that they could approach God at the foot of the mountain.

The effects of the thunder, lightning and the cloud, caused the people to tremble with fear. They trembled with fear but also with reverence and awe for what they saw before them. There were terrifying sights and loud sounds going on around them. Even though it’s probably sometime after dawn, the thunder, lightning and thick cloud amplified the effects of the storm and the intermittent darkness. We notice how scary the storm is because everyone trembled, even Moses. We see this in Hebrews 12:21 which says, “The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, ‘I am trembling with fear.’” Moses was even afraid, and he had been in God’s presence before at the burning bush. When the trumpet sounded, signaling the people could approach, Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with Him and they stood at the foot of the mountain. They had already been warned not to even touch the mountain because it was holy. It was made holy because of God’s presence on it. They had been consecrated and had washed their clothes in preparation for this meeting with God. Their reverence, awe and holiness were the only way they could even hope to approach the Lord, but they still had to be careful to be obedient and not go onto the mountain.

The Lord descended on the mountain with smoke and fire. Smoke and fire are further signs of God’s presence. Fire represents God’s purity and magnifies that the presence of God is threatening and dangerous. The smoke billowed up from the mountain like smoke from a kiln furnace. The Hebrew “from a furnace” is used only one other time in the OT in Genesis 19:28, referring to the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah. DeYoung says, “They must have thought, “Who is this God of great judgment, power, might, and unrivaled strength? Is it safe to be here at the foot of this mountain?” It would not have been safe because Yahweh was not safe. Then the whole mountain itself trembled violently from the presence of the Lord upon it. The added effect of an earthquake meant that all the forces of nature had come to bear upon the mountain: lightning, thunder, darkness, smoke, fire, and earthquake. And then the sound of the supernatural trumpet grew louder and louder. All of the people’s senses: sight, sound, smell, taste and touch were being assaulted as they came into the presence of the of the Lord. This scene shows how important what was about to happen, the giving of the Ten Commandments, would be for Israel and all humanity.

Then the people were witnesses to something spectacular. Moses spoke with God and God spoke back to Moses. The Hebrew has the meaning of an ongoing conversation. The people seemed to have heard the words that were spoken but we the audience were not told what was said. This conversation served a couple purposes. First, this verified and vindicated Moses as God’s chosen leader of the Israelite people. In the wilderness the people had grumbled and complained against God’s chosen leader and now God is setting them straight. The journey is not over by a long shot, and they need to know that Moses is God’s chosen prophet. The second reason is related to the first. Back in Exodus 3:12, God told Moses that the sign to the people that he was sent by God was that they would worship God on this very mountain. God was gracious to Moses in that he not only fulfilled his promise to him from chapter three, but he verified and vindicated Moses’ position with God and the people.

Because they approached God in the correct way, in reverence, awe and holiness they were able to stand before him and witness his glory. (Big Idea). We must approach the Lord in the same way. We must approach the Lord in reverence, awe and holiness. But we can’t even begin to approach him in these ways if we don’t have a relationship with Him. If we haven’t accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we won’t revere Him or stand in awe of Him and we can’t be holy before him. We must first accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior which allows us to come into His presence. We must admit that we are sinners. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” We must believe that Jesus died on a cross to take the punishment for our sin, was buried and rose again. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Lastly, we must confess Jesus as the Lord of our life. Romans 10:9-10 says, “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” This brings us to our first next step on the back of your communication card and it is for those who have not accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior. My next step is to Admit I am a sinner, believe that Jesus was crucified, buried and rose again and confess Jesus as Lord of my life.

Now even though we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we still can’t just rush into God’s presence willy-nilly and with reckless abandon. We must, like the Israelites, also prepare ourselves daily to be in His presence. We must approach the Lord in reverence, awe and holiness. We must have a healthy respect and fear of the Lord God Almighty. We must search our hearts for unconfessed sin and confess it before the Lord and then with a cleansed heart we can approach Him. We can do this because Jesus paid the penalty for our sin and is our perfect mediator. That brings us to our second next step which is to Approach the Lord, daily, in reverence, awe and holiness. This is not just a Sunday and/or Wednesday thing. We are not to limit our reverence, awe and holiness to the Lord only when we come into the church building. We are called into a lifestyle of reverence, awe and holiness. The holiness of God demands that of us.

That brings us to our second point this morning, Sanctity, found in Exodus 19:20-25. This is what God’s Word says, “The Lord descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up and the Lord said to him, “Go down and warn the people so they do not force their way through to see the Lord and many of them perish. Even the priests, who approach the Lord, must consecrate themselves, or the Lord will break out against them.” Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, because you yourself warned us, ‘Put limits around the mountain and set it apart as holy.’” The Lord replied, “Go down and bring Aaron up with you. But the priests and the people must not force their way through to come up to the Lord, or he will break out against them.” So Moses went down to the people and told them.”

After the people hear Moses and the Lord speaking, the Lord comes down to the top of Mt. Sinai and calls Moses to the top of the mountain to meet with him. We then get this seemingly weird interaction between Moses and the Lord. As soon as Moses gets up to the Lord, the Lord tells him to go back down and warn the people to not force their way up the mountain to see Him. And if they do they will perish. Even the priests who would be allowed to approach the Lord in normal circumstances had to consecrate themselves or the Lord would “break out” against them. Even they couldn’t take their sanctity for granted and that they were ready to be in the Lord’s presence. This again underlines the uniqueness of Moses’ role as God’s mediator with the Israelites. It gets stranger as Moses seems to disagree with the Lord about going back down to warn the people again. He reminds the Lord that he followed His earlier instructions. That safeguards and limits had already been set up around the mountain to keep the people from forcing their way through to see Him. Moses had put “sentries” around the base of the mountain who pretty much had “shoot to kill” orders if anyone tried to cross the boundary and touch the mountain. We see this earlier in 19:12-13. ​​ 

Notice God doesn’t rebuke Moses or even acknowledge that he said anything. He just told Moses to go down and bring Aaron back up with him but to warn the people and the priest to not force their way through to come up to the Lord. If they did, he would break out against them. This would be a different punishment than stoning or being shot by an arrow. The Lord himself would be the punisher of the person or priest who tried to force their way up the mountain to see him. There are a few things we can glean from this exchange. First, Moses is the only one who can approach God all the way up the mountain. Not even the priests can go up, again showing the privilege that Moses had as God’s mediator and leader. Second, Moses will not bring Aaron up right away. He will bring Aaron up with him the next time he meets with the Lord. Third, Moses and Aaron will receive the Ten Commandments with the people at the bottom of the mountain. Fourth, the Lord knew the Israelites better than Moses did. He knew what kind of people they were. He knew they were willful, stubborn, overconfident and arrogant. He knew that human nature might cause some of them to try and come up to see God if they thought they could. Maybe they felt that if Moses could go up the mountain then they could too. The Lord was all about teaching His people about Himself. This was just the beginning of teaching them about his holiness and their sinfulness and depravity. ​​ 

As we close out the chapter, we notice that Moses obeyed the Lord and went down and warned the people again. We should truly take this to heart because we are no different than the Israelites. We are willful, stubborn, overconfident and arrogant, as well. We complain and grumble against each other and against God too. God in his goodness sent Moses down to the people again because he didn’t want them to perish. God in his goodness, gave us his Word and his Son, Jesus, so we can know Him more and be obedient to his commands. We still need to be continually reminded which is part of why we come to church, go to Sunday school and listen to his Word preached. It is why we strive to be more like Jesus every day. In doing these things we are reminded of God’s holiness and what He requires and demands of us as his children, made in His image, and saved for his glory.

So, how should we respond to this narrative this morning? Hebrews 12:28-29 says, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.” Our God is a consuming fire, so we must still be careful how we approach the Lord in worship. Acceptable worship must be in reverence and awe. But we do not need to be afraid to approach the Lord, as the Israelites were, because Jesus took the punishment for our sins. Hebrews 10:19-22 says, “Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.” Acceptable worship must be with obedience and holiness. We are commanded to stand in awe of the Lord, but we are also given access to Him. So, we come in awe, trembling in His presence because we are treading on holy ground. And we come with access, because we have been made righteous through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and his shed bled. God loves us and cares for us and is concerned for us, so he calls us to himself as he called Moses into his presence. But again, we never want to take our access to God the Father lightly or flippantly.

Next Sunday, we will begin our study of the Ten Commandments and the Law given by God to the Israelites. He gave his law to them so they would know how to be holy and then be able to approach him in daily worship. He gave His law to them so that they would “know” who he was and what he expected of them as his chosen people. I challenge all of us to prepare ourselves this week to meet with the Holy God who gave the Ten Commandments. This week let us daily approach the Lord with reverence, awe and in holiness and prepare our hearts and minds to meet our Awesome God as we start to study the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments are not about a bunch of rules, they are about God himself. He gave them to the people and to us so that they and we would come to “know” him more. That brings us to our third next step which is to Prepare my heart and mind to meet with the God who gave the Ten Commandments, so I can “know” Him more.  ​​​​ 

I am going to finish this morning with this description of God from the Westminster Confession of Faith, and I want you to dwell on the awesomeness of our God as I read it. “There is only one living and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection. He is the purest spirit, invisible, with neither body, parts, nor passions. He is unchangeable, boundless, eternal, and incomprehensible. He is almighty, most wise, most holy, most free, and most absolute. He works all things according to the counsel of His own unchangeable and most righteous will, for His own glory. He is most loving, gracious, merciful, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin, and He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. He is also most just and terrifying in His judgments, hating all sin, and will by no means acquit the guilty. God has all life, glory, goodness, and blessedness in and of Himself.”

Our Holy God demands reverence, awe and holiness from us (Big Idea). He is not to be trifled with. He is not safe, but he is good.

As Gene and Roxey, come to lead us in a final song and as the ushers come to collect the tithes and offering. Let’s pray:

Introduction: www.summit.org; “Not Safe, But Good”, Ben Keiser, November 6, 2020

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Sharing Is Caring

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SHARING IS CARING

The following are some humorous entries that have been found on hospital charts. The patient refused autopsy. The patient is recovering from a forehead cut and became very angry when given an enema by mistake. The patient has chest pain if she lies on her left side for over a year. On the second day, the patient’s knee was better, and on the third day it disappeared. The patient has been depressed since she began seeing me in 1993. The patient is numb from her toes down. The patient was alert and unresponsive. I saw your patient today, who is still under our car for physical therapy. The patient’s lab test indicated abnormal lover function. The patient’s skin is somewhat pale but present. The patient has two teenage children, but no other abnormalities. No doubt, these were probably written by some sleepy intern or frazzled nurse. But that describes most people in our society today – they are overworked and weary. Perhaps, it even describes you these days. It certainly described Moses in the days after God used him to free the Israelites from Egypt.

This morning as we study Exodus 18:13-27, we get an inside look at Moses’ daily routine. When Moses is not traveling with the Israelites through the wilderness, fighting the Amalekites or dealing with the people’s grumbling, complaining and quarreling, it seems he is judging and hearing disputes, seeking God’s will for the people and teaching them God’s decrees and instructions, all from morning until evening. This seems to be happening every day after day and he is overworked and weary, trying to do the work of ministry by himself. His father-in-law, Jethro, who was visiting the camp, notices this is wrong and not good for the welfare of Moses and the Israelite people. With his newly confessed faith in Yahweh, Jethro was specially positioned by the Lord to give advice to Moses that he would desperately need as the law was soon to be given at Mt. Sinai. The advice was really simple: “You need help.” Jethro was saying that Moses needed to share the work of the​​ ministry with others so he would not get burnt out or worse. This morning, we will study the weight of Moses’ leadership, Jethro’s godly wisdom to Moses and how more effective Moses can be in the work of the ministry that God had uniquely called him to do. That brings us to the big idea that God wants us to understand this morning that​​ God is pleased when His people share the work of the ministry.

Let’s pray: Heavenly Father, we pause and thank you for another opportunity to be in your house to worship and praise you for who you are and what you have done for your people. Pour out your Holy Spirit on us as we hear your word. Open our hearts and minds to what you are saying to us. Let us take it deep into our hearts and souls and allow it to transform us. And then help us to pass it onto others that need to know about you this week. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Our first point this morning is Weight found in Exodus 18:13-18. This is what God’s Word says, “The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood around him from morning till evening. 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?” Moses answered him, “Because the people come to me to seek God’s will. 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.” Moses’ father-in-law replied, “What you are doing is not good. 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.”

Exodus chapter 18 is a transitional chapter. Most scholars believe this chapter is out of place in the chronology of the book and is placed here thematically based on what came before and what will follow. Last week I mentioned that the account of Jethro making his confession of faith in Yahweh was an epilogue to the first twelve chapters of Exodus. God was fulfilling his promise to Abraham that his descendants would be blessed​​ by God in order to be a blessing to the world. And we saw that last week. Moses gave his testimony to Jethro about the salvation that the Lord had brought to him and his chosen people, and Jethro heard it and made a confession of faith.

Now the second half of chapter 18 is a prologue to the rest of the book. This account of Jethro giving advice to Moses about how to better handle his ministry to the people will prove invaluable especially after the Lord gives the Law in the next couple of chapters. At this point, God has not formally given the Law to His people, but they have a knowledge of right and wrong and how they were supposed to live. Genesis 26:5 says that God made the covenant with Abraham because “Abraham obeyed me and did everything I required of him, keeping my commands, my decrees and my instructions.” God has inherently been handing down informal laws and statutes since the beginning of time. That was fine before but now that the Israelites are becoming a growing nation, and a formal giving of the Law was appropriate. And once God formally makes his law known to the people, it would exponentially create more work for Moses. So, God especially positions Jethro to notice the weight of Moses’ leadership, in order to put an organizational structure together, to assist him in doing the work of the ministry to the Israelites.

We notice that it’s the very next day after the events we studied last week. Jethro makes his confession of faith, brings a burnt offering and other offerings to God and breaks bread with Moses, Aaron and the elders. The very next day, Moses goes about his daily work. Even the presence of his father-in-law in the camp couldn’t keep him from doing the work of the ministry. He takes his seat to serve as judge and the people stand around him which would have been normal in that day. We also noticed that this went on from morning till evening. This would have been the daily scene as the Israelites camped in the wilderness. We see Jethro’s reaction to this scene. Probably after observing what is​​ happening that first day, he goes to Moses and inquires about what is going on. It seems in Midian that was not the way things were done. But interestingly, this was the way that Pharaoh did things in Egypt. As we studied the plagues, you may have noticed that Moses and Aaron seem to have no problem getting an audience with Pharaoh. This was because Pharaoh was readily available to meet with those who wanted an audience with him. And Moses would have been intimately aware of how this procedure worked living in the palace as a young man.

Jethro inquires why Moses is the only one doing the judging while everyone else just stands around. Moses says it was because they were waiting for him to impart God’s will to them, to decide disputes between parties and to inform them of God’s decrees and laws. The Lord had chosen Moses as His prophet to the people of Israel and as he was intimately connected to Yahweh, the people accepted him as the one to intercede for them, try the cases brought before him and make rulings based on God’s decrees and instructions. Moses had seemingly taken on doing this work of ministry all by himself. God has been silent on whether that has been a good thing or not, but because Moses has recorded Jethro pointing out the dangers and Moses’ blind spots in doing ministry, we can believe that the Lord is orchestrating these events. ​​ 

Jethro points out a number of blind spots that Moses has as he is doing the work of ministry. First, Moses, even though he was doing good work for the Lord, can’t see that the way he was conducting ministry was not good. As God’s prophet, he may have thought he was the only one able to give answers to the people as they sought God’s will and the only one who could decide the disputes brought before him. He may have thought he was the only one who knew God’s decrees and instructions well enough to be able to correctly inform the people. Second, this is what God called him to do, but he couldn’t see that the work was too heavy for one person. Moses couldn’t see that he was wearing himself out, wearing out the people, as well as trying their patience. Scholars believe​​ there were something like 600,000 men not counting women and children in the Israelite camp and there could have been up to two million people total. The workload would have been enormous. Think about this: one half of one percent of the men is three thousand people. How long would it take to adjudicate, intercede for and impart God’s decrees and instructions to three thousand people. Moses is not getting through every single case every day which means they are having to come back the next day. And by the time he gets through the first three thousand another three thousand have taken their place. We know that the Israelites have grumbled, complained and quarreled with Moses and the Lord. Imagine the quarreling they are doing with each other in a group of people that size. Third, Moses can’t see that he needed to delegate some of the lesser responsibilities to others. God may have been calling others waiting for Moses to equip and use them in ministering to the people but he hasn’t done that yet.​​ God is pleased when His people share the work of the ministry​​ (Big Idea).

We all have blind spots. We have them at home with our family, we have them at work with our co-workers, we have them with our friends, and we even have them here with our church family. It was important that Moses had a trusted and godly person who could bring the blind spots in his life into the light. By allowing Jethro to point out his blind spots, Moses’ ministry could flourish and be all that it could be. And it is important that we also have those trusted and godly people in our lives who can lovingly point out our blind spots. In the context of the church, if we surround ourselves with at least one trusted and godly person whom we allow to point out our blind spots, then our ministry can flourish and be all that it can be. That brings us to our first next step on the back of your communication card this morning which is to​​ Allow​​ at least one trusted and​​ godly​​ person to​​ point​​ out my blind spots.

Jethro has seen the weight of Moses' leadership and ministry to the Israelites, now we’ll see the wisdom of Jethro as he gives godly advice​​ to Moses, which brings us to our second point,​​ Wisdom, found in Exodus 18:19-23. This is what God’s Word says, “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. Teach them his decrees and instructions and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave. 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. 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. If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.”

We see Jethro’s wisdom as he gives Moses advice. “And may God be with you” means that Moses should first discern from God if Jethro’s advice is in accordance with God’s will. There are three areas that Jethro points out to Moses that he should concentrate on. First, he was to continue to be the shepherd of God’s people. As part of that shepherding, he was to intercede between God and the people. This was the most important ministry that Moses had as God’s prophet. It is important to note that Jethro wasn’t trying to usurp Moses' role given to him by God, instead he wanted to help Moses be more productive in that role. Second, Moses would also shepherd the people by instructing and teaching them God’s decrees and instructions. It seems that Moses was the only one who had a firm grasp on that and so was the only one able to impart God’s teaching to the people. But it was more than just teaching, Moses was to help the people apply the truth of God’s Word to their everyday lives, showing them how to live and behave. Once they knew God’s teaching for themselves and were living it out, they could settle some lesser disputes on their own. The petty complaints would grind to a halt because everyone would know and understand God’s teaching and could police themselves in the minor matters.

Third, Moses was to shepherd the people by involving others in the work of the ministry. Jethro advised him to appoint other officials or judges who would oversee a certain number of people. Some would be appointed over thousands, some hundreds, some fifties and some tens. This would create a hierarchical organization that would help Moses to better minister to the people. Jethro even gave Moses advice on the qualifications for these men. First, they were to be capable men from all the people. This meant he was to select or discern men who could also be discerning of the truth. These men could not be limited to family or friends but must come from a cross-section of the entire nation so there would be no suspicion of favoritism. Second, they were to be men who feared God. This meant they reverenced God and rejected evil. Psalms 111:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding.” It was important that these men ``feared the Lord” and were wise and had good understanding. Third, they were to be trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain. This meant they had to be men who first knew the truth and would be reliable and consistent in making judgements. They also had to hate dishonest gain. Psalms 119:36 says, “Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain.” It was important that the hearts of these men were led by the standards of God’s law so that they wouldn’t fall prey to taking bribes to persuade their rulings. They were to be fair, just, absolutely reliable knowing that God would hold them accountable for their behavior as judges. We see these same type of qualities in 1 Timothy 3:1-3 that Sue read earlier. “Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.”

These men would serve as judges, set up kind of like our court system today. We have family courts, city courts, county courts, state courts, federal courts, and the Supreme Court. It would start in the family units of ten where lower-level judges would decide the simple cases and if a case was too difficult it could go to the next level’s judge and so on until it ended up in Moses’ lap, who was effectively the Supreme Court of the land. This would also be an effective way to pass down God’s words to the people starting with the smallest group of ten people. This passage is paralleled in Deuteronomy chapter 1 where we learn that Moses asks the people to choose these men and then he appointed them having veto power over any he thought inappropriate. This advice would lighten Moses’ load significantly, giving him more time to do the ministry of being a prophet, interceding before God and the people, and teaching and instructing the people on God’s decrees, which would show them how God wanted them to live and behave not only with him but with each other.

The load would be lighter because he would be sharing the ministry with other capable and godly men (Big Idea). By implementing Jethro’s advice, Houtman says, Moses would be “able to focus on the main thing, communicating the covenant to the people. He would also be able to stand the strain and the people would go home satisfied. Isn’t that what we want either as leaders or in the leadership where we work and go to church? Those in leadership positions want to be able to stand the strain at work or in ministry and those who are under leadership at work or church want to be confident in their leaders and go home satisfied that their leaders have their best interest at heart. Notice again that Jethro qualifies his advice, “If God so commands.” Jethro didn’t want Moses to take his word for all of this and just do it. He wanted Moses to take his advice before God himself to know what his will was in these matters.

Jethro has given his godly wisdom to Moses, now we will see the new work of Moses as he implements his advice, which brings us to our third point,​​ Work, found in Exodus 18:24-27. This is what God’s Word says, “Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said. He chose capable men from all Israel and made them leaders of the people, officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. They served as judges for the people at all times. The difficult cases they brought to Moses, but the simple ones they decided themselves. Then Moses sent his father-in-law on his way, and Jethro returned to his own country.”

We see Moses reacting three ways in this passage which shows us the type of leader he is. One, he listened. He listened to Jethro and did everything he said. He followed his father-in-law’s advice to the letter. Two, Moses was teachable. He realized he didn’t know how to organize a massive people such as the nation of Israel had become. Third, he was humble as we have seen before. It takes great humility to be shown your blind spots and to respond by listening and being teachable instead of getting upset and lashing out. I don’t know about you, but I want to have that same humility and teachable spirit. Now, one thing we may notice is that God never speaks, so how do we know that Moses was doing God’s will? Every commentator says that the fact that Moses implemented Jethro’s advice proves that at some point God had given his unrecorded ok. If Moses was not to have followed Jethro’s advice, then it would not have happened. Another proof we can see is that in the narrative, Jethro wanted Moses to seek God in the matter. This should be a lesson to us as well when taking advice from others. First, seek God’s will.

He chose capable men who had the qualifications Jethro put forth and made them leaders and judges over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. We are told that Moses implemented the plan just as Jethro gave it to him. Moses would handle the difficult cases and the under judges would decide the simpler ones themselves. It seems like Moses and the underjudges served well together so Moses probably wasn’t a control freak and allowed them to truly share in the work of the ministry (Big Idea). Then we are given a short and abrupt note that Moses sent his father-in-law on his way, and he returned to his own country. “Sent” is the same neutral word used in 18:2 speaking of Moses sending his wife back to her father in Midian. It suggests a warm, happy, congenial parting not Moses trying to “get rid of Jethro.”

Here at Idaville Church we have an organizational structure as well. Our highest governing body is the board but they also play an important role in sharing the load of ministry within the church. I am going to have them stand up as I mention their name. Linda Asper is in charge of the Christian Education Commission. If you are part of her commission or are a teacher, please stand. Bev Fleming is in charge of the Finance Commission. If you are part of her commission, please stand. Laurin Fleming is the Board Chairperson and in charge of the Outreach Commission. If you are part of his commission, please stand. Sherl Shaffer is in charge of the Property Commission. If you are part of his commission, please stand. Doug Asper is in charge of the Worship Commission. If you are part of his commission, please stand. If you are part of the Spiritual Care Commission, please stand. At the moment, we do not have a chairperson for the Spiritual Care Commission. We also have three members-at-large voted on by the membership. They are Becca Asper, Sue Thompson and Carole Zeaser. You can stand as well. I am also on the board as the Assistant Pastor, overseeing the Youth Ministry and preaching and teaching in various capacities. I want to let you know that since the Pandemic, we have split up the congregation between the nine board members and we regularly pray for each one of you, for the church and for our ministries of the church.

There are also a lot of you in the congregation that take on leadership roles in certain areas at certain times. This church always rallies together to do the work of ministry here at Idaville Church. You will see that this week at VBS. I want the board to know and everyone here to know that the ministry of Idaville Church doesn’t get done without you. Ministry can’t be done by one or two people. It takes us all to do ministry correctly and to do it in a way that is honoring and glorifying to God. So, I thank you and the board and the board thanks the congregation,as well. Sharing the work of the ministry shows how much we care for each other. Sharing is Caring especially when it comes to sharing the ministry.

In the next month or so, each of our chairpersons are going to take a few minutes on a Sunday morning to share what their commission does and to ask you to consider joining a commission. Our goal is to match people’s gifts, skills and abilities with each specific commission. You can go to our 2024 Yearbook (with the yellow cover) and look at pages 7-8 to get an idea of what each commission is responsible for. I encourage each of you to be praying about where God is leading you to serve here at Idaville Church. That brings us to our second next step this morning which is to​​ Prayerfully​​ consider joining a commission and​​ share​​ in the work of the​​ ministry​​ at Idaville Church.

Now maybe God has already been working in your heart and mind to serve in some capacity at Idaville, if that’s the case, this last next step may be for you,​​ Join​​ the​​ commission where I can best use my​​ gifts​​ and​​ abilities.​​ It takes all of us to the work of the ministry.

As the ushers come to collect the tithes and offerings and Gene and Roxey come to lead us in a final hymn, let’s pray, God, as we leave your house, let us be aware of what you have been saying to us this morning. May we pay attention to your Holy Spirit as it guides us, teaches us, rebukes us and corrects us this week. Help us to find one trusted and godly person who we will allow to point out our blind spots. Let us prayerfully consider joining a commission or to join a commission where we can best use our gifts and abilities so we can all share in the work of the ministry at Idaville Church. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

 

OPENING:

HUMOROUS HOSPITAL CHARTS​​ (Marshall Shelley, www.PreachingToday.com) (From a sermon by C. Philip Green, Cure for Weariness, 8/17/2012)

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Dare to Share

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Dare to Share

There was a man who had an unobstructed view to a construction site from his house. As he watched a building go up, he was really intrigued when one day a large crane came in and placed, right in the center of the concrete slab, a large silver box. He wondered, “What in the world is this silver box?” It was obviously important, since the construction that was taking place was being built around it. The box was about the size of a large living room, but he couldn’t figure out what it was. Finally, he walked over and talked to the guys who were doing the construction, and he discovered that it was a bank that was being built, and the silver box in the center was the vault. It was, of course, the most important part of the bank, large in size, but also central to everything this bank would stand for. It lay at the heart of the bank, defining its purpose, giving it value, and making it distinct from every other building in the area.

This story serves as a helpful metaphor for the defining and organizing principle in one’s life. The one thing in a person’s life that is most central, most important, and that everything else is constructed around. The question for each one of us is, “What is the organizing center of our lives? It may be achievement or success as we pursue what we think is the American dream. It may be maintaining a sense of comfort or security as we try to minimize our pain and maximize our pleasure. It may simply be survival as we are going through a season of deep trials as the Israelites have been, and just want to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Whatever the organizing principle of our life is, we all know that it probably should be consistent with both our highest purpose as human beings and the deepest longings of our hearts. Obviously, if we are Christians, and image-bearers of God created by him, accountable to him, and redeemed by him, for both his glory and for our good, then that reality should profoundly affect the way we organize and structure our lives, so that knowing God and making him known, becomes the center. But just because we believe that knowing God and making him known is the most important thing, doesn’t necessarily mean that we structure our lives accordingly.

This morning, we are going to be in Exodus 18:1-12. This passage is really an epilogue to the first seventeen chapters of Exodus. As we have studied this book so far, we have seen the story of God’s redemption of his chosen people, the Israelites. We’ve seen what it means to be redeemed by the blood of the Lamb and set free from slavery to sin and death. We’ve seen the “Good News” of Jesus Christ played out over these first seventeen chapters. We’ve also seen practical instruction for living the Christian life. We’ve talked about worship and the importance of worship in chapter 15. We’ve talked about trials and how to face those trials, as we have studied the children of Israel in their wilderness experience, as God tested them, and they tested God and put him on trial. And last week, we talked about what it means to fight our spiritual battles, the battles of faith. We learned that the battle belongs to the Lord as he has already won the war with Satan. We’ve seen how we are to live a life of sanctification on this earth as we wait to go to our Promised Land.

But the main point of this book is found in Exodus 7:5, which says “And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt, and bring the Israelites out of it.” Exodus is about Yahweh making himself “known” to the world. He made himself known to Pharaoh and the Egyptians and he made himself known to the Israelites. And he wanted his chosen people to then make him known to the world. Which brings us to our big idea this morning that “God desires to make himself “known” to all peoples.” So today as we look at Exodus 18:1-12, we will see three “testimonies” that will bring this big idea to life.

Let’s pray:

 

The first testimony is God’s Testimony found in Exodus 18:1-6. This is what God’s Word says, “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. After Moses had sent away his wife Zipporah, his father-in-law Jethro received her and her two sons. One son was named Gershom, for Moses said, “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land”; and the other was named Eliezer, for he said, “My father’s God was my helper; he saved me from the sword of Pharaoh.” 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. Jethro had sent word to him, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons.”

The first testimony is God’s testimony to Jethro. We haven’t seen Jethro since Exodus 4 when Moses left his employ as a shepherd and went back to Egypt to ask Pharaoh to let God’s people go. So, Jethro is doubly introduced here, first, as the priest of Midian and second, as Moses’ father-in-law. Jethro knew from Moses that his people, the Israelites, were in slavery in Egypt and had been for generations. He knew that the Lord had revealed himself to Moses at the burning bush and that Moses was being sent to confront Pharaoh, to free the Lord’s people from slavery. Somewhere along the way, Jethro has heard about everything God had done for Moses and the Israelite people. He has heard the testimony about how the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt. He has probably heard about the ten plagues that the Lord brought upon Pharaoh and Egypt and about the Lord’s destruction of the Egyptians at the Red Sea. He heard all about how the Lord saved his people by bringing them out of slavery.

In verses 2-4, we see a “flashback” to an earlier story that was not recorded. It seems that at some point, Moses sent his wife Zipporah, and his two sons back to Jethro in Midian. We don’t know when this happened. It may have happened right after the incident in Exodus 4 where the Lord was going to strike Moses dead because he hadn’t circumcised his one son. After Zipporah circumcised their son, the Lord spared Moses’ life. It may have happened right before things got dicey with Pharaoh sometime before or during the ten plagues. But most commentators don’t think Moses would have sent them away at that time, so that they could have observed the Lord’s salvation of his people. This would have been a convincing testimony for his non-Israelite wife to experience. It also could have happened sometime after the exodus from Egypt and the Passover night. It may have been Zipporah who related all that God had done for Moses and the Israelites to her father. One reason this wasn’t recorded is probably because it wasn’t important to the story. The story of Exodus is about the Lord and making him known to the world not about Moses and his family relations.

We are then reintroduced to Moses’ son, Gershom, whose name means “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land.” Moses had to flee Egypt and Pharaoh’s palace because he killed an Egyptian. He fled to the wilderness and came to Midian, where the priest, Jethro and his daughters lived. He married Zipporah and because of the alienation he felt, named his first son, Gershom. We are also introduced to the second son of Moses. He was mentioned but not named in the episode in Exodus 4 and may have been the son whom Moses neglected to circumcise. Moses named his second son, Eliezer, saying, “My father’s God was my helper, he saved me from the sword of Pharaoh.” The mention of “my father’s God”, shows Moses’ awareness of being part of God’s covenant people. Probably because of his encounter with Yahweh at the burning bush, Moses realized that God didn’t exile him to Midian but instead saved him from the sword of Pharaoh. The naming of Eliezer is related to the Lord revealing himself to Moses in the Midian wilderness, but it would have also taken on added significance in the present in light of the Lord’s salvation from Pharaoh and at the Red Sea. The Lord had proved himself faithful and showed himself to be a helper to Moses, in every sense of the word. The names of his two sons told the story of Moses’ life and the lives of the Israelite people. The Israelites probably felt that they had been exiled to Egypt for the past four hundred years waiting for God’s plan of salvation to take place, that had been promised to their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And now they’ve been saved from the sword of Pharaoh by God’s mighty right hand and brought out of slavery, through the Red Sea and the wilderness.

Eight times in this passage, Jethro is described as Moses’ father-in-law and only once is he described as the priest of Midian. The focus is on his relationship to Moses and that relationship, and the testimony of what God did in saving his people, prompts a family reunion. Jethro sent word to Moses letting him know that he was coming to him and bringing his family to him. Jethro, along with Moses’ sons and wife make the trip from Midian to the desert where Moses was camped near the mountain of God. The mention of the mountain of God was a foreshadowing of what is to take place on Mt. Sinai in chapter 19.

Now that God’s testimony about what he has done for Moses and his people has brought Jethro to Moses, now we are going to see Moses’ testimony to Jethro about what the Lord has done. That brings us to Moses’ Testimony, found in Exodus 18:7-8. This is what God’s Word says, “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 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.”

The first thing we notice is the love Moses has for his father-in-law. We see this love in two ways. One, we see it in the respect that Moses shows Jethro. Moses is the human face of the nation that conquered Egypt and the Amalekites and coming on the heels of the victory against the Amalekites, Moses could have deigned to have Jethro brought to him, but he doesn’t do that. Moses goes out and meets his father-in-law showing his humility and the respect he has for him. He actually bows down before Jethro, subordinating himself before him. “Bowing down” probably meant he fell to his knees and put his face to the ground. Mackay says, “This was a standard eastern greeting extended to one who is in a position of honor or respect.” Two, we see his love for Jethro in his affection for him. After Jethro would have raised Moses up from the ground, they kissed each other on the cheek and then greeted each other. This greeting is translated as “shalom” literally meaning “peace.” It means wholeness, completeness and health indicating that they would have asked about each other’s welfare and how they had been since they last talked. After the formalities and public greetings were finished, they went into Moses’ tent. This is a genuine picture of Moses humbling himself before his father-in-law, showing him love and respect, and treating him with great hospitality as his guest.

The second thing we notice is that Moses confirms God’s testimony and all the things that Jethro has heard. He recounts what the Lord did to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel’s sake. Moses told Jethro about all the good things the Lord did for them such as bringing the plagues against Egypt, the Passover feast and the Angel killing the firstborn of Egypt, both people and animals. And about their exodus from Egypt and the deliverance by the Lord at the Red Sea. But notice he doesn’t just hit the high points. Moses also recounted all the hardships along the way. How there were times of bitter water, no food and then again no water and about the battle with the Amalekites. He would have told him how the Lord provided for them, protected them and his special presence with them. He also would have told him about the grumbling, complaining and quarreling of the Israelites against himself, Aaron and the Lord. He probably recounted how the people put both he and the Lord on trial and how they tested the Lord. But through it all Moses never forgot what the Lord had done for him and his chosen people. He recounted how the Lord had saved them from Pharaoh, slavery and so much more. Notice that Moses’ testimony is completely God-centered. It was all about the Lord and nothing about Moses going back to the kind of humble man Moses was. We see it in his greeting of Jethro and in his testimony to him about what the Lord had done.

This story, coming on the heels of the battle with the Amalekites, shows the contrast between the foreign nations that are hostile to the Lord and his people and the ones that are friendly toward Him and his people. God’s salvation will include all peoples, Israelites and non-Israelites. And so, Moses’ testimony about what the Lord had done is a lesson for us all. The Lord desires to make himself known to all peoples, Christian and non-Christian, in two ways, by saving His people and by His saved people. God made himself known to the Israelites by saving them from Pharaoh and bringing them out of slavery in Egypt. And then Moses gave his testimony about what the Lord had done for him to Jethro. We have also been saved; saved from an eternal separation from the Lord and we must be willing to give our testimony to his saving grace. 1 Peter 3:15 says, “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord, always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” We must be ready and willing to give our testimony to those we come in contact with so that the Lord will be made known to all peoples.” (Big Idea). That brings us to the first next step on the back of your communication card which is to “Be prepared to make the Lord known by giving testimony to what He has done for me.”

That brings us to our third testimony this morning, Jethro’s Testimony, found in Exodus 18:9-12. This is what God’s Word says, “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. 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. Now I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods, for he did this to those who had treated Israel arrogantly.” 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.”

In this section we see Jethro’s testimony in two ways. First, we see him rejoicing. He was delighted to hear what the Lord had done for Israel in rescuing them from the hand of the Egyptians and he genuinely praised the Lord because of his salvation of them. Jethro rejoices in three things. He rejoices in the goodness of God, the deliverance of God and in the greatness of God. And in rejoicing in the greatness of God, he seems to make a confession of faith in the Lord. This confession could have been a deeper understanding of the Lord or could have been a first-time commitment to the Lord as we see in 2 Kings 5:15 in the confession of Naaman, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel.” Jethro confessed, “Now I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods.” He was stating that Yahweh had conquered not only Pharaoh but the gods of Egypt as well. Fretheim states, “Jethro publicly confesses that Yahweh is God of gods and Lord of lords. He now knows that Yahweh is incomparable.” It is interesting that Jethro had been told about Moses’ encounter with Yahweh at the burning bush but that didn’t cause him to come to make a confession of faith. It wasn’t until Moses gave his personal testimony of the saving power of Yahweh in his life and the lives of his people that a change took place inside of him and he wanted to know and be known by the Lord.

Second, we see Jethro’s testimony as he commemorated his confession of faith. He brought a burnt offering and other sacrifices to God. Merida says, “He demonstrated his faith in Yahweh by offering a burnt offering to atone for past sins and to appeal for forgiveness and acceptance before God. He also offered sacrifices to account for any inadequacies in approaching Yahweh. He wanted to ensure he was accepted in genuine fellowship with Yahweh in his presence.” Next, we see Jethro commemorating his confession by worshiping the Lord in partaking in a fellowship meal with Moses, Aaron and all the elders of Israel in the presence of God. They broke bread, possibly having communion together, as people of God in His presence. This was a holy and sacred event taking place between God’s people, the Israelites, and those outside the Israelites community. It would have been important that the leadership of Israel affirm Jethro’s newly professed faith. We notice that God’s plan for the redemption of the world is seen in Jethro’s confession after Moses giving his testimony of the Lord’s salvation. The Israelites were blessed to be a blessing, and this is seen in a palpable way here.

In 2017, Comedian Jeff Foxworthy, was running a weekly Bible study for homeless men in Atlanta, and he recalled how one man revealed to him a very personal story. Jeff asked the group, “What is the Bible?” and someone said it was just a book of rules. So Jeff picked up his Bible and dropped it in a trash can that was in the room. He said, “If it’s a book of rules, would that bother you?” Foxworthy said one of the biggest guys in the class, named Wayne, got up, took the Bible out of the trash can, wiped it off and gave it back to him and said, “Don’t ever do that again.” He said, “Wayne, if that’s just a book of rules, why does that bother you so much?” Wayne then told his story. He said, “When my mother died, I inherited $70,000 from an insurance policy. I never had money in my life and I lost my mind. I started buying crack, got two girlfriends and started partying all day long.” ​​ He said, “When you are partying like that you don’t go to work and about a week later I got fired. But we didn’t care, we had money and we were partying all the time. Two months later I got evicted from my apartment, so I had all my stuff in some suitcases and backpacks.” He continued, “We just moved around to cheap hotels and we were partying day and night. But as we were moving along, I’m losing my stuff piece by piece. And the only thing I had from my mother was a Bible that she gave me when I was a little kid. On the front page, on the inside, she had written this love letter to me telling me about how Jesus was the answer. As we continued to bounce around, I realized I had lost the backpack that had that Bible in it.” He said “This went on for a few more months and the money ran out. The next day the two girlfriends left and now I don’t have an apartment or a job. He said, “I was on the street for a year and a half begging people for money and still have a crack habit. One day a guy came by and picked two of us and said he needed help with a project.” Jeff continues the story, “And Wayne, being a big strong guy, was picked along with another person and taken to a place about a hundred miles away where this guy had bought an old two-story apartment building. He was cleaning it out and was going to refurbish it and rent the apartments. Dwayne started on the bottom and the other guy started at the top. He got all his stuff cleaned up, bagged it up and threw it in the dumpster. Then he went up to help the other guy who was in the last room. But out in the hallway there was a pile of stuff in the corner. He asked the guy if he wanted him to bag it up and throw it in the dumpster. The other guy said that those were some things that he found that might be worth something. He told Wayne to look through it before they packed it up and threw it away. Wayne went over to the pile and started looking through stuff and he reached down in the dust and the dirt, and he pulled out a book and opened it up and there’s the love letter from his mom. It’s his Bible a year and a half later and a hundred miles away. Wayne said he collapsed to the floor and started sobbing. Wayne said I figured if God was gonna chase me that hard I would finally quit running. ​​ Foxworthy concludes, “It was that amazing find that led the man to change his ways entirely. Now, he’s been clean for eight years and he’s helped scores of people get off the streets.”

What a testimony of what the Lord did for Wayne! The Lord pursued Wayne and made himself known to him. And like Jethro, Wayne who had heard about Jesus from his mother, had to be brought to the point of making a confession of faith, being saved by God, so he could make God known to others who were living on the streets. Maybe that’s right where you’re at this morning. God has been pursuing you and making himself known to you or he’s been using someone in your life to make himself known to you. Maybe the Holy Spirit is telling you that today is to make your confession of faith.

First, we need to admit that we are sinners and that our sin separates us from God. Romans 3:23 says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” ​​ And Romans 6:23a says, “For the wages of sin is death” but it’s not a physical death but a spiritual death, a separation from God for all eternity. Then we need to believe that God sent his son, Jesus, to take our punishment for our sin. Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” And lastly, we need to repent of our sins and confess Jesus as Lord of our lives. Romans 10:9-10 says, “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”

So if you’re ready to make your own confession of faith this morning and begin to tell others your testimony about what the Lord has done for you, the last next step may be for you. My next step is to “Admit I am a sinner, believe that Jesus was crucified, buried and rose again and confess Jesus as Lord of my life.” If you made that decision this morning, please mark the back of your communication card, so I can be in contact with you.

As the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offering and as Gene & Roxey come to lead us in a final hymn, let’s pray:

INTRODUCTION:

Knowing God and Making Him Known | Exodus 18 | Brian Hedges | November 19, 2022

CONCLUSION:

Feff Foxworthy | Tik Tok | What is the Bible to You?

 

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Holy War

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Holy War

In Deuteronomy 20, we see the concept of Holy War and the phrase is used to describe Israel’s conquest of the land of Canaan. It is called Yahweh’s Holy War because he is the​​ one who directed and empowered his people to military action. In Exodus 15:3, God is described as a “warrior.” In Deuteronomy 20:4, he is described as the “one who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.” In Psalms 24:8, he is “mighty in battle” and in 1 Samuel 17:45, he is without question “the God of the armies of Israel.” God promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to give them a land for their inheritance by His divine right. But they wouldn’t possess it right away. In Genesis 15:13, God told Abraham that his descendants would be strangers in a land that was not theirs, where they would be enslaved for four hundred years. Then they would return to the Promised Land to conquer it. The Canaanites, who possessed the land, were a wicked​​ and depraved people who were filling their cup with sin. God showed the Canaanites grace and mercy by giving them another four hundred years to repent and when the cup reached its full, judgment would come.

This idea of Holy War might be difficult for us to understand but there are several things to consider. First, the command was from the Lord. He is all-knowing and perfectly righteous, so his command was just and fair. Second, the Canaanites were hostile to God and his people and the most depraved culture of the time. They engaged in sexual immorality, the occult, idolatry and child sacrifices. Third, when Moses encountered the Amorites for the first time, he offered grace to them if they would allow them to pass by. They refused and brought judgment upon​​ themselves. The Amorites could have left the land and avoided conflict with the God of Israel who they knew was powerful. Four, God could have removed them himself, but it was his will that the Israelites conquer them as a test of their obedience to Him.​​ Fifth, there were some, like Rahab, who repented and were spared by God’s mercy and grace. Sixth, the killing of Canaanite children spared them from growing up in​​ that depraved culture. Seventh, the destruction of the Canaanites was to be a one-time event​​ not to be repeated by future generations. Israel was specifically called to destroy only the Canaanites that illegitimately occupied the Promised Land and to offer peace to other nations if they would have it. This shows that the judgment of God was precise and planned, not careless and haphazard. Lastly, destroying the Canaanites would prevent them from becoming a corrupting influence upon God’s people who were called to holiness. We know that the Israelites historically failed to obey the Lord and they began to practice the evil things that the Lord hated. Because they became corrupt, God destroyed and expelled them from the Promised Land by the same military means that they used to conquer it in the first place.

God is holy and just and gracious and merciful and so is Yahweh’s Holy War against those that oppose him and his people. This includes Satan and his demons today. The awesome thing is that the Lord has already fought and won the war with Satan and the forces of darkness on the cross. The battle belongs to the Lord. This morning, we are going to see the first battle of Yahweh’s Holy War. As the Lord is leading his people in the wilderness to the Promised Land they are attacked by the Amalekites. They weren’t Canaanites but their attack on God’s chosen people brought out his holy justice and he commanded the Israelites to fight. He was still testing and teaching them about who he was and what he expected from them as His people. He wanted them to trust in Him, rely on Him and be obedient to Him. He has​​ been testing and teaching them to rely on him for provision, protection and presence. Today, we are going to see that he will test them to see if they will rely on him for the victory. That brings us to our big idea which is​​ God desires His people to rely​​ on Him for the victory.

Let’s pray: Lord, as we open your word today pour out your Holy Spirit on us. Teach us, guide us, rebuke us and correct us through your Spirit so that we may learn more about who you are and how you want us to live. In Jesus’ name,​​ Amen.

Our first point is​​ Battle Stations​​ found in Exodus 17:8-9. This is what God’s Word says, “The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. 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.”

We have seen the Lord’s continued provision for his people in the desert. He has provided for their basic necessities of water and food and has proven to them time and time again that they can trust in him and rely on him for provision, for protection, and for his presence with them. He has been testing them to see if they would be obedient to him and this morning the testing and teaching continues as the Israelites are attacked by the Amalekites.​​ So far, the Israelites have been attacked from within as they’ve grumbled, complained and quarreled with Moses, Aaron and the Lord. This is the first time that they have been attacked from the outside. We notice that the Israelites are still in Rephidim.​​ If you remember last week, God led them to a place of “rest” where there was no water and they quarreled against Moses and God putting them on trial for attempted murder. God lovingly and graciously supplied them with water from the rock at Horeb. According to Paul in 1 Corinthians this wasn’t just any water, but spiritual water given to them from Christ. It was the special presence of the Lord to his people.

We notice a few things in these couple of verses. First, the Amalekites attacked the Israelites not​​ vice versa. The Israelites, who are being led by God to the Promised Land, weren’t trying to conquer the land. We don’t know why they attacked Israel, but it may have been a territorial conflict over water rights in the desert which would have been common. The Amalekites descended from Amalek, who was one of the chiefs whose line came from Eliphaz, Esau’s eldest son. If you remember, Esau and Jacob were twin brothers, and Jacob stole the birthright from Esau and went on to become Israel, God’s chosen people. No wonder there were hostilities between the two nations. We get more insight about this battle from Deuteronomy 25:17-19, where we learn that the Amalekites​​ attacked the rear of the Israelite ranks where the old, the infirm and the slower people were.​​ They cowardly attacked the weakest and the slowest. We are also told they had no “fear of the Lord.” These things might explain why the Lord treats them so harshly later on.

Second, Joshua was to put an army together, get to their battle stations, and be ready to fight the Amalekites. We are introduced to Joshua for the first time in the Bible and are literally told nothing about him. Normally they would have mentioned his father’s name or the tribe he was from. We can conclude that he was well known among​​ the first readers and that he was a talented and trusted fighting man. Later, we find out that it was Joshua who led the Israelite army that conquered the Promised Land. Third, the battle would start the next day with Moses standing on top of the hill. His​​ battle station would be a suitable vantage point where he could take a position of authority and control. “Tomorrow” represents the time the Lord will act to punish Israel’s enemies. In Exodus 9:22 and 10:12, Pharaoh was given a day’s warning before the plagues came. This is a last warning before we see another redemptive act by the Lord to save his people. Moses would be on a hill overlooking the battle where the army and the rest of Israel could see him. Seeing the staff of God would give the army and the Israelite people confidence in the Lord’s power and presence with them to overcome the enemy. Mackay says, “It (the staff) symbolized the presence of God in power, and it would be by that power that the outcome of the battle would be decided.” This is the same staff that last week struck the rock at Horeb bringing lifesaving water to the people and the same staff Moses used in the plagues. It signified God’s power and presence among his people.

Now that Joshua, the army, and Moses had taken up their battle stations, we come to our second point called​​ Battle Testing, found in Exodus 17:10-13. This is what God’s Word says, “So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his​​ hands, the Israelites​​ were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. 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. So, Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.”

The battle with the Amalekites was the next stage of testing for the Israelites. Would they rely on the Lord for the victory? (Big Idea)​​ We learn something else about Joshua here: he was obedient which will make him a suitable successor to Moses. We also see that Moses, Aaron and Hur go to the top of the hill overlooking the battle. Aaron of course is Moses’ brother, but Hur is introduced abruptly without family or tribal identification. The historian, Josephus, says he was Miriam’s husband, which would make him Moses and Aaron’s brother-in-law. He may have also been the grandfather of Bezalel, who was one of the builders of the Tabernacle. Later on, we see​​ that Hur was one of the elders of Israel appointed by Moses.

It is important that all we are told about this battle was that Joshua fought the Amalekites and what the result was. This tells us that the battle itself is not the focus.​​ The focus is what Moses was going to be doing while the battle was raging below him.​​ Moses must have received some instructions from the Lord that we aren’t privy to. Moses was to hold his hands and the staff up during the battle. As long as his hands were raised, the Israelites were winning the battle, but if he lowered his hands, they would be losing. The Hebrew here has the meaning of a continuous raising and lowering of Moses’ hands over a period of time. There was no doubt that there was a connection between what Moses was​​ doing and what was happening on the battlefield. The battle would be won totally through the sovereign will of the Lord. Commentators are split as to what exactly Moses was doing. Was he just holding up the staff of God or was he also praying and interceding with God for the victory? For the Jews lifted hands was the posture of prayer. No matter what he was doing he knew where the power for the victory would come​​ from. It would come from Yahweh. And, in some manner he was interceding with God for the victory whether or not it was just by holding up the staff or also by praying.

I think what’s also important is what happened next. Moses grew tired of holding his hands and the staff up. This wasn’t because of any weakness on Moses’ part but because holding his​​ arms and hands up for a days’ time couldn’t be done in his own strength. So, we see the support, teamwork and connectedness between Moses, Aaron and Hur. They sat Moses down on a stone and helped to hold his hands and staff up, one of each side of him. In​​ this way they bore the burden together. They were able to hold his hands steady till sunset. Through obedience, perseverance, teamwork and a reliance on the Lord, the result was victory for Joshua and the Israelite army. Joshua overcame the Amalekites by​​ the sword, meaning​​ that he mercilessly and totally defeated them, even though casualties were inflicted on both sides.​​ Joshua is given the credit for the victory but it was the power and presence of the Lord that won the battle. The Israelites trusted in,​​ relied on and obeyed the Lord and he gave them the victory. Stuart says, “It was important that the Israelites understand unmistakably that the only reason they could win against the Amalekites was that God was fighting for them, giving them the victory” (Big Idea).

As Christians, we are in a daily spiritual battle with the forces of darkness, the world and Satan. We can’t even begin to win the daily skirmishes without the Lord. It takes obedience, perseverance, teamwork, intercessory prayer and total reliance on the Lord. But the most awesome and glorious thing is the Lord has already won the battle. By the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, the battle has already been won. We can rejoice in and praise the Lord that the battle belongs​​ to him which brings us to our first next step on the back of your communication card which is to​​ Praise and glorify the Lord and rejoice that the battle against Satan has already been won.​​ We see the Lord testing and teaching the Israelites here. Would they be faithful​​ to fight? They didn’t have to fight the Egyptians at the Red Sea but now the Lord was calling upon them to fight. But Moses, Aaron and Hur also had a part to play in the battle, interceding with the Lord and trusting in him for the victory. Also, would the rest of the Israelites be faithful in believing in the power of the Lord represented by the staff of God held up in Moses’ hand. The Lord was testing and teaching them who he was and how he expected them to act as his chosen people and they​​ had passed this test.

Now that they had been​​ Battle Tested, the Lord wanted the​​ Battle​​ to be​​ Remembered​​ which brings us to our final point found in Exodus 17:14-16. This is what God’s Word says, “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.” Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner. 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.”

The Lord wanted this first battle to be remembered and commemorated for a couple of reasons. First, he wanted it to be remembered because he had fought for his people and​​ given them victory. Second, he wanted them to know that he promised to “blot out” the name of Amalek from under heaven. Why the harshness of this judgment from the Lord. We just need to look back to the Egyptians. They enslaved God’s chosen people and wouldn’t let them go. They were systematically trying to exterminate the Israelites and the Lord destroyed them at the Red Sea. The Amalekites were also trying to exterminate the Israelites (and in cowardly fashion) and keep them from arriving in the Promised​​ Land. They were trying to thwart the purposes of God for his chosen people which is why they were included in Yahweh’s Holy War. The battle and God’s promise to “blot out” the Amalekites would be remembered in two ways. First, it would be written down. This probably refers to the Torah, the first five books of the Bible written by Moses. The second​​ way it was to be remembered was by telling Joshua. Joshua would need to be told of the Lord’s promise to “blot out” the name of Amalek from under heaven because​​ it would be his responsibility as the military leader of the Israelites. This would not be a quick “blotting out” as it would take many generations until Haman the Agagite was hanged in Esther 7:10, about 1300 years after this first battle.

Next, we see Moses commemorating God’s victory over the Amalekites in another way. He built an altar. This is the first altar recorded being built since Jacob built an altar at Bethel in Genesis 35. Moses built this altar to honor and glorify the Lord and memorialize what the Lord had done for them in defeating the Amalekites. He called the altar, “The Lord is My Banner” referring to the military custom of using a pole as a rallying point for the troops. The Lord is the banner that we must look to and turn to in prayer for his power and presence in defeating our enemies. The Lord once again proved that his provision, protection and presence was with his people. This proof again comes after the Israelites had questioned his presence with them. The presence of the Lord with​​ his people and his power was also proven to their enemies and the other nations in the area and in the Promised Land. The Lord’s testing and teaching of his people in the wilderness was a convincing testimony to the world about who Yahweh was. Through the​​ defeat of the Amalekites, the Israelites grew in their faith and God’s name was glorified. ​​ 

There is some disagreement between scholars in interpreting whose hand is being referred to in verse 16. Is it the Lord’s hand, the hand of the Amalekites or Moses’ hand? The NIV which I read from seems to imply it was the hand of the Amalekites lifted “against” the throne of the Lord. The NASB says, “Because the Lord has sworn, the Lord will wage war against Amalek from generation to generation.” This implies it is​​ the Lord’s hand in swearing an oath. The result is the same whether it is the hand of the Amalekites or the hand of the Lord. The Lord will be at war with the Amalekites from generation to generation. This is a holy war​​ that would be fought between the Lord and the Amalekites because of their cowardly attack on God’s people, trying to keep them from fulfilling His purposes for them and getting in the way of his redemptive plan.

One winter’s day in a little fishing village on the New England coast a storm came up suddenly while the boats were out to sea. The men rowed desperately to reach the safety of the harbor. Everybody made it except for one old man named John. He had almost reached the mouth of the harbor when a great wave came along and dashed his tiny boat up against the rock. He managed to pull himself up on the tiny ledge and hang there for dear life. His friends saw what happened but there wasn’t anything they could do about it. It was growing dark, and the seas were high. All they could do was wait. They built a bonfire on the shore and kept it burning all night. Every once in a while, someone would throw his cap up in the air, hoping that the old man would see it. At last dawn began to break, and the winds began to die down. They put out their boats and were able to get close enough so they could bring him safely back to shore.

When the old man had been warmed by the fire and had been given something to eat, they asked what it was like out there. “Well,” he said, “it was the longest night of my life. I made out pretty well at first, but then a big wave came along and flattened me out and I felt myself slipping. I was worn out. I was ready to give up. My old father went down at sea, and I had decided my time had come. ​​ But just as I was ready to let​​ go, I looked through the darkness and saw somebody’s cap going up in the air. I said to myself, “If there’s somebody who cares enough about old John to stay out on a night like this, I guess I’m not going to quit yet. Just then the winds seemed to ease up,​​ and I got a fresh hold, and well, here I am.”

Connect that picture with Aaron and Hur holding up the hands of Moses and know that that’s a picture of being interconnected with the Lord’s​​ people. ​​ We hold their hands up in our prayers, in the kindness that​​ we show by simply being with them, by joining them sympathetically when they enter the dark night of their soul, and we pray, and we pray, and we keep on praying. We’re being the Lord’s intercessors and we’re connected with the Lord’s people. This bearing​​ of one another’s burdens and being connected together is important to us as Christians and the Church. Which brings us to our second next step: My next step is to​​ “Hold up the hands” of my Church family with my prayers and in being connected with each other for the glory of the Lord.

As the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offerings and as Gene and Roxey come to lead us in a final hymn, let’s pray: Heavenly Father, it is good to be in the House of the Lord with fellow believers. Thank you for this​​ time that we could spend in your Word. I pray that we will be faithful to spread your Word to those we come in contact with this week. May we remember that you have already won the battle with Satan and help us to live out that fact daily as we live as your children. Help us to also “hold up the hands” of our Church family with our prayers and in being connected with one another. And help us to do this to honor and glory you and your holy name. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Opening: Yahweh’s Holy War – Dr. Stephen​​ R. Cook thinkingonscripture.com

Closing: Maxie Dunnam – Commentary on Exodus (“Story of the Iron Gate,” Clarence J. Forsberg)

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The People’s Court

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People’s Court

It is not uncommon for people to shake their fists at God in the midst of tragedy and suffering. The Bible includes the stories of righteous men who questioned God for what they considered poor management of creation. But Nebraska State Senator Ernie Chambers has taken his complaints to court. In October 2007, Sen. Chambers sued God for "causing untold death and horror" in the form of "fearsome floods…horrendous hurricanes, [and] terrifying tornadoes." Furthermore, says the senator, God has wrought "widespread death [and] destruction" and terrorized "millions upon millions of the Earth's inhabitants." Chambers filed the suit to make a statement about the American court system. Outraged by a recent lawsuit he considered frivolous, the senator intends to demonstrate that "anybody can file a lawsuit against anybody." His motion against God, then, is tongue in cheek; Chambers, who has a history of antagonism against Christians, has no vested interest in his suit against the Almighty. Nevertheless, the case raises important questions about God's activity in this broken world. Is God to blame for poverty, warfare, and natural disaster? Chambers seems to think so. To him the facts are clear: there is suffering everywhere, and God is everywhere. Therefore, God must cause suffering. But God Is not the only being who is everywhere. So are sinful human beings.

In our scripture this morning found in Exodus 17:1-7, the Israelites put God on trial. The Israelites feel they have been suffering ever since they left Egypt. They suffered when they saw the Egyptians closing in on them at the Red Sea. They suffered when they had gone three days without water and only found bitter water at Marah. They suffered in the Desert of Sin when they thought they were starving. Now once again they are suffering, and the facts are clear. Moses and by proxy, God, is to blame for their suffering and today they will put them both on trial. The People’s Court is now in session.

You know, the Israelites weren’t wrong. It was the Lord who led them out of Egypt into the desert. It was the Lord, who was leading them the long way to the Promised Land. It was the Lord who led them to bitter waters. It was the Lord who led them to a place where there was no food. It was the Lord who was testing them to see if his people would trust in, rely on and be obedient to him. And this morning, we will see that it was the Lord who led them to a place where there was no water. The people will put the Lord on trial for three things: not providing for them, not protecting them and not being present with them. And we do the same thing today. How many times do we make demands of God, not wanting to wait on his will and timing? How many times do we accuse God of wanting to harm us during our trials and testing? How many times do we think that God has abandoned us in our wilderness? We have all put God on trial one way or the other. But we need to remember that the Lord will test us in order to grow us up spiritually and to strengthen our relationship with Him. He wants us to pass these tests that he brings into our lives. That brings us to our big idea this morning that Moses wants us to understand: God desires his people to trust in him for his provision, his protection and his presence.

Let’s pray: Heavenly Father, thank you for bringing us to your house this morning and fill us with your Holy Spirit. Let us not be conformed to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of our minds as we study your Word. Thank you for your promises found in your Word, especially those for provision, protection and your presence. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Our first point is Crisis and Complaint found in Exodus 17:1-3, 7b. This is what God’s Word says, “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. 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?” 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?” (7b) and because they tested the Lord saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

The Israelites continue to move from place to place in their journey from Egypt to the Promised Land. In Exodus 16:1, we learn that they left the oasis in Elim and traveled to the Desert of Sin. Now they leave the Desert of Sin and come to Rephidim. If you look at the map on the screen, you see Marah is #4, Elim is #5, and then Dophkah is #6. In between Elim and Dophkah is the Wilderness or the Desert of Sin. We learn from Numbers 33:13–14 that they traveled from The Desert of Sin to Dophkah and then to Alush, which is not on this map, and then they arrive at Rephidim which is #7. This is what the author means by “place to place.” Nothing of importance happened at Dophkah and Alush so nothing is reported. Rephidim would be the final stop before Mt. Sinai where God would give them the law.

We notice a few things about this journey from the Desert of Sin to Rephidim. One, it was the Lord who was leading them. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire at night is still going before the people. In the wilderness, he was leading them to testing in order to grow them up spiritually and to strengthen their relationship with him. Two, they camp at Rephidim. To camp meant that they would eat, drink and rest before starting out on the next part of their journey. In fact, Rephidim means, “to rest.” Three, at Rephidim, there was no water for the people to drink. Now we see the crisis. There was no water to drink where they camped, and it was the Lord who had led them there. The Lord led them on purpose to a place where there was no water to continue to test them to see if they would trust in him, rely on him and be obedient to him. The Lord had already provided water once, quail and manna, so, surely, they would trust him to give them water again. But sadly, no they didn’t trust the Lord. Enns says, “To have two similar episodes (lack of water) so close together points out the absurdity of the people’s lack of trust in Yahweh.” He was testing them to trust Him to provide for their daily needs, in this instance, for water (Big Idea) and they failed.

We now see their complaint. They did more than grumble, they “quarreled” with Moses and “demanded” he give them water. This word “quarreled” is significant because it meant that the people were beginning legal proceedings against Moses. They were in effect taking him to court and presenting charges against him. Moses responds with a familiar refrain reminding them that it was the Lord who led them here not him. By mentioning the word, “test”, he is reminding them that this is a test from the Lord but now they are putting the Lord to the test. They are trying to manipulate the Lord to act in their timing, not his. They were trying to force the Lord to jump through their hoops and make him accountable to them. Putting the Lord to the test is outright sin and rebellion against the Lord. In Matthew 4, Jesus totally rejected this idea when Satan tested and tempted Him by trying to manipulate him to act.

But the people weren’t listening to Moses. Their “thirst” had taken over just like their “stomachs” had in the previous passage. They were blind and deaf because of their thirst. Commentators agree that the situation seems to be more serious than Marah and the Desert of Sin. They weren’t faking their thirst, but they weren’t trusting in the Lord to provide water as he had done before. They were refusing to wait on God to give them what they desperately needed. They continue to make complaints and accusations, viciously attacking Moses. We again hear a familiar accusation, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die?” They even included their children and livestock in the complaint showing the intensely personal nature of what they were feeling. The people had felt close to death before because of hunger and thirst but God had come through every time. The Lord was testing them to trust Him to provide their daily needs, in this instance, the protection of their lives (Big Idea). He had protected them from Pharaoh and the Egyptians in slavery and at the Red Sea. He had protected them from death by thirst at Marah and death by hunger in the Wilderness of Sin. They weren’t saying that the Lord’s timing was slow, they were accusing the Lord of not being a good God, not being a faithful God and that he didn’t care about them. They wanted the Lord to prove he was a good God and to do it immediately. They tested the Lord because they doubted he could take care of them. They accused Moses and the Lord with attempted murder.

Now in verse 7b, we see their third complaint and accusation: “Is the Lord among us or not?” Think about what they are saying. These people have been traveling for about six weeks now with a supernatural pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night going before them. Back in chapter 16:10 we see these words, “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.” These same people less than two weeks ago saw the “glory of the Lord” appear in the cloud and they have the audacity to ask “if the Lord was among them or not.” The Lord was testing them to trust Him to provide for their daily needs, in this instance, His presence (Big Idea).

After all they had seen the Lord do for them, the Israelites still did not trust the Lord to provide for their needs of provision, protection and His presence. But we shouldn’t be surprised. We do the same thing. We don’t trust the Lord for our daily needs all the time either, even when we know God’s promises found in the Bible and have experienced them for ourselves. God promises to provide for us. In Luke 12:24 it says, “Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!” God promises to protect us. In Isaiah 41:10 it says, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” And God promises His presence to us. In Deuteronomy 31:8 it says, “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” We see God’s promises in his Word for provision, protection and His presence with us. We can be assured and trust in the Lord that he will keep his promises to us, which brings us to our first next step on the back of your communication card. My next step is to trust in the Lord for my daily needs of provision, protection and presence.

Not only can we trust in the Lord for our daily needs, we can also trust in the Lord for our deepest need. That brings us to our second point, Court-martial and Christ, found in Exodus 17:4-7. This is what God’s Word says, “So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me!” Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pass before the people and take with you some of the elders of Israel; and take in your hand your staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. Then he named the place Massah and Meribah because of the quarrel of the sons of Israel, and because they tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us, or not?”

Moses does what he is supposed to do and what he has done in the past, he cries out to the Lord. But he also seems to lose his focus on the Lord. He says, “What am “I” to do with these people?” It seems that Moses is getting fed up with the people’s grumbling, complaining and now quarreling. He is probably thinking, “How much more can I take?” What really has Moses upset, though, is that the people are almost ready to stone him. He was about to be court-martialed and sentenced to death. Stoning was the normal sentence carried out on someone who was seen as a threat to the survival of the community. It was a legitimate and legal form of punishment. Cole says, “This is the last stage of rejection of a leader in Israel. Christ (John 10:31), Stephen (Acts 7:58) and Paul (Acts 14:19) all faced stoning at the hands of God’s people, the very ones to whom they had been sent.”

Moses had forgotten that he could trust the Lord for his provision, protection and presence. He was the Lord’s instrument, and the Lord would provide what he needed, would protect him from the quarreling people and his presence would always be with him. Next, we see the Lord’s answer to Moses. And it’s not a rebuke for forgetting he could trust Him but His provision and Presence to him. The Lord was going to give the people what they wanted even though they were putting the Lord on trial and putting him to the test. He would do this in miraculous fashion. First, it would be a public miracle. He told Moses to take some of the elders and walk ahead of the people. Moses was being vindicated as God’s chosen leader. Second, it would be witnessed by the elders who would be the jury and would see the evidence presented by the Lord proving his provision, protection and presence. They would make the ruling in the People’s Court, and it would become part of what they know, teach and how they judge the people in the future.

Three, it would be a continuation of the miracles God did in Egypt. Moses was to take in his hand the staff that he struck the Nile with in the first plague. It would be the same staff, the same power, the same grace and the same God. Then the Lord instructed Moses to “go.” “Go” meant to follow the Lord’s leading. Four, the miracle would happen by God’s presence. The Lord would lead him to the rock at Horeb and “stand before” Moses. We are acutely aware of the Lord’s presence here. The people accused the Lord of not being with them and again he graciously showed that he was there with them and had never left them. The Lord commanded Moses to strike the rock and he promised to lovingly and graciously provide water for the people even though they had again failed his testing. And Moses obeyed the Lord in the sight of the elders. The Israelites needed more than physical water; they needed spiritual water. They thought they needed water to drink but what they really needed was the Lord, which was their deepest need

Notice that we aren’t explicitly told that water came out of the rock but we can be assured it did. But Moses wants the people to know their testing ended in failure. They failed the greatest test in light of God’s greatest gift – himself. We see this in the verdict, so to speak, as Moses gives what I call a closing statement. Moses called the place Massah, meaning “to test” and Meribah, meaning “to strive, to argue, to contend.” The famous Old Testament scholar Gerhard Von Rad thus concluded that the names Massah and Meribah “imply that legal cases were investigated and decided by ordeal there.” One commentary called these places, Testingsville and Complainingsburg. How would you like to live in a place with those names? Not me. These places received their names because the Israelites quarreled with Moses and tested the Lord. They didn’t trust in the Lord for his provision, protection or His presence but he lovingly and graciously gave them what they asked for without rebuke or punishment. (Big Idea)

The play “The Sign of Jonah” is about a group of people who put God to the test. They wanted to know who was responsible for the Holocaust—the destruction of millions of Jews and others in the Nazi concentration camps. The play not only asks the question, “Who’s to blame?” but it also draws both the cast and the audience into the answer. No one is really to blame. A storm trooper merely followed orders. An industrialist merely kept up production. A citizen simply did not become involved. Yet in defending their own innocence each of the accused becomes an accuser. All are guilty. Some are guilty by words; others by silence. Some by what they did; others by what they did not. And suddenly the accused accusers all take up another cry. “We are to blame, yes, but we are not the most to blame. The real blame belongs much higher. God is to blame! God must go on trial!” So that is what the people do: They put God on trial. In the play God is accused, prosecuted, convicted, and sentenced. What is the sentence? The characters decide that God must “become a human being, a wanderer on earth, deprived of his rights, homeless, hungry, thirsty. He himself shall die. And lose a son, and suffer the agonies of fatherhood. And when at last he dies, he shall be disgraced and ridiculed.” Of course, that is exactly what happened. God sent his Son into the world, and people did to him what the Israelites wanted to do with Moses. The Son of God was a man without a home, a wanderer on earth. He was hungry and thirsty. And when his life was almost over, he was deprived of all his rights. He was stripped, mocked, beaten, and then condemned to die the most disgraceful and excruciating death—death on a cross.

The rock that Moses struck with his rod was Christ and symbolized God and his salvation. It showed how God would submit to the blow of his own justice so that out of him would flow life for his people. The rock was Christ because like the rock, Christ was struck with divine judgment. The judgment that Christ received on the cross is the proof of our protection. It shows that we will not suffer eternal death for our sins. God has taken the judgment of our guilt upon himself, and now we are safe for all eternity. The rock was also Christ because it flowed with the water of life. In his Gospel John records how, in order to confirm that Jesus was dead, “one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.” The blood was the blood that he shed for our sins. But John also mentioned the water, not simply to prove that Jesus died on the cross, but also to show that by his death he gives life. Jesus also said, “Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.” He is our provider as well as our protector. More than that, everyone who comes to Jesus by faith is filled with the Holy Spirit, and now his life flows within us. Jesus went on to say, “Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” In Christ, God is for us what he was for Israel—our provider, protector, and ever-present Lord. This is what Paul meant in 1 Corinthians 10:3-4, “They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.” Paul calls the rock at Horeb a type of Christ, pointing us to Christ just like the Passover Lamb. In the same way that God was with Israel at Horeb, he is with the church in Christ. Our Lord is our Rock, and we trust in his provision, his protection, and his presence. Israel’s and our deepest need is Christ, our living water. Let’s purpose to trust in Christ, our living water, for our salvation – which is our deepest need. Which brings us to our second next step which is to trust in the Lord for my deepest need.

As Gene and Roxey come forward to lead us in a final song, let’s pray: Lord God Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth. May you be honored and glorified by our lives as we live out the Gospel of Jesus Christ this week. May we trust in you for our daily needs of provision, protection and presence and may we trust in you for our deepest need, salvation. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Opening: “God on Trial” (article in Preaching Today)

Conclusion: Ryken’s Commentary on Exodus

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