Celebrate!!!

, , , , ,

CELEBRATE!!!

In 1792 a group of settlers traveled to Africa. There were more than a thousand of them, all of African descent. Some had worked as slaves on American plantations. Others had served as soldiers in the British army and then moved north to live in Canada. Together they planned to resettle what is now Sierra Leone, on land purchased as a Province of Freedom. The settlers were all professing Christians. When they reached Africa, they marched ashore singing a hymn by William Hammond: “Awake, and sing the song Of Moses and the Lamb! Wake every heart and every tongue, To praise the Saviour’s Name.… Sing on your heavenly way! Ye ransomed sinners, sing! Sing on, rejoicing every day In Christ, the eternal King!” It was an appropriate hymn to sing. The settlers had been released from captivity, they had crossed the sea, and now they were entering their promised land. So they sang of the prophet Moses, who brought Israel out of Egypt. They also sang to Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who had set them free to serve God in a new land. God had done such a great thing for them that it called forth a song of praise. They couldn’t contain their celebration as they sang of who the Lord is and what he had done for them.

In our scripture this morning, in Exodus 15:1-21, we are going to see another group of slaves who have been released from captivity, have crossed the sea and are now ready to start out on their way to their Promised Land. When these slaves were finally free, on the other side of the sea, they sang a song to the Lord, about the Lord and for the Lord. God had set them free so that they could worship him in a land all their own. And in celebration they brought forth a song of praise for who the Lord is and for the great thing he did for them. That brings us to our big idea this morning that God is worthy and deserves our worship for who He is and what He has done.

Let’s pray: Heavenly Father, thank you for being with us this morning. Pour out your Holy Spirit on us and give us insight into your Word. Use it to teach us, to rebuke us, to correct us and to instruct us in righteousness. Let us hide it in our hearts so we may not sin against you and may it guide us on the path of our lives. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Our first point is God’s Victory found in verses 1-5. This is what God’s Word says, “Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord: “I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. Both horse and driver he has hurled into the sea. “The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is his name. Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he has hurled into the sea. The best of Pharaoh’s officers are drowned in the Red Sea. The deep waters have covered them; they sank to the depths like a stone.”

The word “then” lets us know that what comes next is because of what came before. And what came before was the Lord bringing the Israelites through the Red Sea on dry ground and the destruction of the Egyptian army. The song opens with identifying who sang the song and why. Moses and the Israelites sing a song of praise to the Lord, because of that mighty act which brought him victory over the Egyptians. This song has been called many things. The Song of Moses, The Song of Salvation, Song of the Sea, Song of Triumph, Song of Redemption, Song of Victory, to name a few.

This was probably a spontaneous celebration by the people because now their salvation, God’s power and God’s presence had been made real to them. The only proper response they could give was praise and worship to the Lord for who he is and what he had done for them. Moses and the Israelites sing because the Lord is worthy and he deserves it. He is the one true God and the only one worthy to be highly exalted and lifted up. Notice that the song never mentions Moses and what he did but only Yahweh and what he did. Worship should always be focused on the Lord and never on human beings. When we worship, it should always be to and for an audience of one. This is the first song, psalm or hymn recorded in the Bible. The name “Lord” or his pronoun is mentioned ten times in this section as they sang to the Lord praising Him for their deliverance. It was something they could not have done for themselves. The Lord is highly exalted because he has “hurled horse and driver into the sea. Hurled” gives the sense of being slung violently from a “slingshot.” The word used for “Lord” in verse 2 is translated “I Am.” Moses was bringing attention to the promises given to him at the burning bush and the awesome name of the Lord. ​​ 

The song describes five attributes of the Lord that they worship him for. First, they worship him because he is their strength. Notice that the Lord didn’t give them strength, he was their strength. Second, they worship the Lord because he is their “defense” or “might” or “song” depending on your version. The Lord not only fought for them but defended them as well. The word “song” gives the sense that the Lord is the reason for their song of praise and worship. Third, they worship the Lord because he has become their salvation. They recognized that they couldn’t save themselves but were in need of a Savior to bring them out of slavery and give them total freedom. Fourth, they worship him because he is their God and their father’s God. Now after first hand experience of what Yahweh had done for them, they profess that he was now their God and claimed the fact that he was also their father’s God. We all need to have our own personal faith. We can’t get to heaven on our parents’ or grandparents’ faith. Our faith is made personal when we believe that Jesus Christ died on a cross for our sins and rose again, that he took our punishment for sin, that we are broken before Him and we confess that we are in need of a Savior. This is what happened to the Israelites. The Lord saved them when they couldn’t save themselves and they professed him as their God and the God of their father Abraham. This was their confession of faith.

Fifth, they worship the Lord because he is a warrior literally meaning “man of war.” One of God’s names is Jehovah-Sabaoth which means “Lord of hosts'' or “armies.” This title is used 285 times in the OT reminding us that the Lord fought for his people as he promised he would. We are also reminded that the Lord is holy and just and is opposed to evil and anything that goes against his purposes and comes against his people. Stuart says, “They understood their God to be a warrior, one who would lead them into battle, who would fight for them during battles, and who would ensure their survival as his people.” The statement “the LORD is his name” clarifies the identity of the one who conquered the Egyptian army. He is none other than Yahweh, himself. Pharaoh claimed to not know who their God was, when Moses first came to him, but now, he did know His name.

The Lord was victorious as he hurled Pharaoh’s chariots and his army into the sea. In fact, he defeated Pharoah’s best officers by drowning them in the waters. Pharoah’s campaign to bring the Israelites back was a coordinated and thought-out military undertaking. Pharaoh didn’t just take a few men out to bring them back, he took the best of the best that he had, and the Lord totally destroyed them. In verses 4 and 5 there are four references to the sea including “deep waters” and “depths.” By commanding the “deep waters” to cover the Egyptians, Yahweh showed that he is the Lord of all creation. The word “depths” refers to the underworld where the Egyptian army was relegated after their drowning. The use of these words is confirmation that it wasn’t shallow water the Lord took the Israelites through but a deep sea. The Egyptian army, who opposed the Lord, sank to the depths of the sea like a stone thrown into it, never to be seen again. So Moses and the Israelites celebrated, praising and worshiping the Lord for who he is and for what he did for them which reminds us that God is worthy and deserves our worship for who He is and what He has done (Big Idea).

Our second point, God’s weapons, is found in verses 6-10. This is what God’s Word says, “Your right hand, Lord, was majestic in power. Your right hand, Lord, shattered the enemy. “In the greatness of your majesty you threw down those who opposed you. You unleashed your burning anger; it consumed them like stubble. By the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up. The surging waters stood up like a wall; the deep waters congealed in the heart of the sea. The enemy boasted, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake them. I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword and my hand will destroy them.’ But you blew with your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters.”

The song turns from singing about the Lord to singing to the Lord. We notice that the weapons the Lord used to defeat the Egyptian army were not the conventional weapons of warfare. The first weapon was the Lord’s “right hand” which was the hand of skill and power. The term “right hand” is used over fifty times in the Bible. In Psalms 45:4 it teaches us. In Psalms 48:10, it is full of righteousness. In Habakkuk 2:16, it is the cup of judgment. It is also a metaphor for divine power in action. ​​ Psalms 17:7 says, “Show me the wonders of your great love, you who save by your right hand those who take refuge in you from their foes.” And Psalms 60:5 says, “Save us and help us with your right hand, that those you love may be delivered.” The Lord’s right hand was “majestic in power”, and it shattered the enemy. The Lord is supreme over all things and subject to no other powers. He is mightier than anything or anyone else. The enemy, whether the Egyptian army in the present or an enemy in the future, would be vanquished and no longer pose a threat to God’s people. The Lord’s right hand also showed the “greatness of his majesty” which threw down those who opposed the Lord. This speaks to the beauty of how God threw the Egyptian army down. It was glorious and awe-inspiring. The second weapon was the Lord’s “burning anger” which consumed them like stubble. He took the leash off of his burning anger and forcefully set it in motion. Consumed like “stubble” signifies a rapid and complete removal from this life.

And the fuel for bringing his power to bear against Pharaoh and the Egyptians was their enslavement and cruel treatment of God’s people and the drowning of Israelite babies in the Nile River. God’s punishment was appropriate as he drowned their people for drowning his people. The third weapon was the “blast of the Lord’s nostrils.” This blast or wind was not random but used to fulfill God’s purposes. In the Bible, nostrils can be translated as anger so with the “wind of his anger” the Lord piled the waters up and they stood firm like a wall and the deep waters congealed in the heart of the sea. These phrases describe the walls of water on either side of the Israelites as they walked through the Red Sea on dry ground. This continues to confirm the miracle of separating the waters of the sea. It wasn’t a “retaining wall” that he created in the midst of the sea but huge, tall, walls of water. It also confirms the Lord’s mastery over the elements. Earlier in verse 5 we saw his mastery over the waters now we see his mastery over the wind. The wind is his to command and he does it as easily as we breathe in and out. He commands the winds and the seas, and they obey. The Lord’s anger reminds us of what the Egyptians had done to God’s people. Because the Lord is holy, he hates sin and because of his righteousness, sin must be punished.

Next, we see the attitude and the arrogant claims of Pharaoh and the Egyptians. They believed it would be easy to pursue and capture them. That they would divide the spoils and gorge themselves probably meaning they would take back all that the Egyptians had given them when they left Egypt. They were expecting a fight, but arrogantly confident they would win. Pharaoh boasted that his hand would destroy them, but his hand was nothing compared to the right hand of the Lord. Pharaoh was a lot of “hot air.” All the Lord had to do was breathe and the sea drowned his army. The wind of destruction took them down as quick as a lead weight in the mighty waters; a variation on the stone in verse 5.

The Israelites were so overjoyed at what the Lord had done for them that it caused a celebration of praise and worship, about the Lord, for the Lord and to the Lord. And we should do the same. When was the last time you gave the Lord honor, praise, worship and glory for the great things he has done for you? When was the last time you celebrated those things? If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you can celebrate your salvation which is freely given to you. (Big Idea). That brings us to our first next step on the back of your communication card which is to Praise and worship the Lord for what he has done in my life.

That brings us to our third point, God’s character, found in verses 11-16. This is what God’s Word says, “Who among the gods is like you, Lord? Who is like you—majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders? “You stretch out your right hand, and the earth swallows your enemies. In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling. The nations will hear and tremble; anguish will grip the people of Philistia. The chiefs of Edom will be terrified, the leaders of Moab will be seized with trembling, the people of Canaan will melt away; terror and dread will fall on them. By the power of your arm, they will be as still as a stone—until your people pass by, Lord, until the people you bought pass by.”

In this section we see God’s character. First, he is incomparable. Psalm 86:8 says, “Among the gods there is none like you, Lord; no deeds can compare with yours.” And Psalm 89:8 says, “Who is like you, Lord God Almighty? You, Lord, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you.” The Lord is the one and only true God. He is supreme and sovereign over everything and everyone. The emphatic repetition of the rhetorical question “Who is like you?” makes the forceful statement that there is no one like the Lord. Moses and the people sing of three things that confirm this. One, he is “majestic in holiness.” His beauty is seen in that he is good and always does what is right. He is set apart, unique and absolutely pure and just. Two, he is “awesome in glory” meaning that his power and might are impressive. He is rightly to be feared and should be praised. When we think about the Lord, who he is and the miraculous acts he has done, we should stand in awe, and it should cause us to be overwhelmed with reverence for him. Three, he is wonder-working. He does the supernatural, the miraculous and the amazing. He is so powerful that all he has to do is stretch out his right hand and the earth does his will. In this passage we have seen the Lord command the wind, the sea and now the earth expressing the totality of God’s power. In verse 12, the word “earth” again refers to the underworld, speaking of the Egyptian’s judgment by the Lord.

The second characteristic of the Lord is his unfailing love. The Hebrew word is “khesed.” There is no one English word that can describe all that “khesed” is. It can be translated “mercy,” “grace,” “love,” “goodness,” “kindness,” “loving-kindness,” “steadfast love,” and more. The idea behind “khesed” is that the Lord is passionately loyal to his people even though he is superior to them, and they are undeserving. This points to the covenant that the Lord will make with Israel in Exodus 34. He will guide them and lead them as their king because he has redeemed them for His purposes. He is to be their God and they are to be his people. Cole says, “God is seen as the ‘redeemer kinsman’ of his covenant people, Israel.” The third characteristic is the Lord’s strength. The Lord’s strength is seen in two ways. One, he will guide them to his holy dwelling. The dwelling is holy because the Lord’s special presence will be there. This could be talking about three places, Sinai, Canaan, or the Jerusalem temple or maybe all three. It has always been God’s plan to dwell with his people and to someday take them home to be with him. John 14:3 says, (Jesus is talking to his disciples) “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” Spending eternity with the Lord is what redemption and salvation brings to all believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 3:18 says, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.” The Lord is strong enough to lead his people to Sinai, Canaan, Jerusalem and eventually to Heaven.

Two, we see his strength and power as he strikes fear into the hearts of the nations. The nations will hear what the Lord has done for his people, and they will tremble. They will fare no better than Egypt when they encounter the Lord and his people. The nations mentioned are roughly in the order the Israelites will encounter them. The Philistines will be gripped with anguish. Anguish is the word used for the mental and physical effects of being terrified. The chiefs of Edom will be terrified causing them to be distressed and dismayed when confronted by the Israelites. The leaders of Moab will be seized with trembling and the people of Canaan will melt away because terror and dread will fall on them. The fact that the nations heard what the Lord had done to the Egyptians is confirmed in a number of OT passages. In Exodus 18:10-11, Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law says, “Blessed be the Lord, who hath delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh … now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods.” In Joshua 9:9, the Gibeonites said to Joshua, “Your servants have come from a very distant country because of the fame of the Lord your God. For we have heard reports of him: all that he did in Egypt. And hundreds of years later, in 1 Samuel 4:8, the Philistines said, “Who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty Gods? These are the Gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness.”

The fourth characteristic is the Lord’s power. By the power of his arm, he will make them as stone. He will petrify the nations and they will be so scared that they will not be able to lift a hand against his people as they pass through their territory. Just like the Egyptians sank like a “stone” the future enemies of Israel will be as “still as stone.” “Pass by” could be alluding to the Israelites passing through enemy territory or crossing the Jordan River in Joshua 3 which leads into the Promised Land. The Israelites are God’s chosen people, a nation created by him and redeemed by him for his purposes. As we continue to study Exodus, we will notice that the Israelites do not defeat their enemies as easily as this passage suggests. But Moses is writing these words from God’s perspective and from His perspective their enemies will be conquered. Moses wanted the Israelites to see their future from God’s point of view not their own. The battle belongs to the Lord, and he has promised to fight for them. They need not worry or doubt. This is good for us to remember as well. We must keep our focus on the Lord and not our circumstances. It’s hard to do but it is necessary if we are not to be swayed by Satan and the world. We have been promised a heavenly home spent with God and Jesus for eternity. We need to persevere and trust in the Lord because the end is never in doubt.

Now we come to our final point, God’s Promises, found in verses 17-21. This is what God’s Word says, “You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of your inheritance—the place, Lord, you made for your dwelling, the sanctuary, Lord, your hands established. “The Lord reigns for ever and ever.” When Pharaoh’s horses, chariots and horsemen went into the sea, the Lord brought the waters of the sea back over them, but the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground. Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women followed her, with timbrels and dancing. Miriam sang to them: “Sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. Both horse and driver he has hurled into the sea.”

In this section we see the promises that God made to his people for their future. He will lead them into the Promised Land that he has set apart for them and will plant them on the mountain of His inheritance. The mountain of His inheritance is Mount Zion, the hill in Jerusalem where the temple would be built. Mount Zion will be the place, the sanctuary, he will make, where he would dwell with his people. This verse is looking ahead to that time. The words “you” and “your” are used five times in this one verse. Being planted on the mountain was solely the Lord’s doing. Israel had nothing to do with it; they only followed the Lord as he led them to it. Two, the words “inheritance”, “dwelling” and “sanctuary” describe the land in religious terms because the place he was leading them to, was where they would worship the Lord and fully get to know him. Up to now they didn’t fully “know” the Lord. They had been in captivity in a foreign land with foreign gods. Now he was leading them to a place where they could fully know Him and worship Him as their ancestors did and to a land that was their own. This would fulfill the covenant promises of descendants and land made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

In verse 18, the song ends where it began: with its focus on the Lord. The Lord is their victorious king, and he will reign forever and ever. ​​ This emphasized the sovereignty and eternality of the Lord. Who the Lord is, and his attributes have been celebrated in this passage. He is incomparable, sovereign, eternal, majestic, awesome, wonder-working, all-powerful, loving, and faithful. Just as in the beginning, the song ends with a joyful outburst of praise to the Lord for who he is and what he has done for his people. We, also, as God’s people, need to spontaneously and joyfully burst out in praise and worship for who the Lord is. (Big Idea). In fact, I would like to do that right now as we praise the Lord for who he is. Just shout out an attribute of God that you want to praise him for. That brings us to the second next step on the back of your communication card which is to praise and worship the Lord for who is. This should be an ongoing celebration of praise and worship, not just one and done.

In verse 19, we have a summary of what happened in chapter 14. The Lord drowned the Egyptian army in the sea, but the Israelites walked through on dry ground. In verse 20 we have the first mention of Miriam by name. She is identified as Aaron’s sister and is called a prophetess. A prophet or prophetess was someone who the Lord directly spoke to in order to give a message to his people. Miriam is the sister who watched over Moses as a baby when he was placed in the Nile River by his mother and was able to convince Pharaoh’s daughter to have his own mother wean him. The celebration doesn’t stop at the end of the song. Miriam picks up a timbrel or tambourine and celebrates with all the women. They pick up tambourines of their own, follow her dancing as she sings the song to them. This again is a spontaneous and joyful celebration of praise and worship.

The song Miriam sang is almost exactly word for word as the opening phrase of the Song of Moses in verse 1b. “Sang” literally means “answered” and gives the sense of a call and response or chorus to what Moses and the Israelites were singing. Miriam taught the song of Moses to the women as she sang, ensuring that the song would be sung in every Israelite family and home. Everyone descended from Abraham or new to the nation would know the story of their peoples’ redemption and salvation by heart. The song would be repeated again and again to remind them of God’s great and miraculous deliverance at the sea. The point is also made that the women as well as the men were involved, meaning that the “song of salvation” is for all of God’s people. Israelite men, women and children were all saved by the Lord, and all needed to praise and worship Him for who he is and what he had done for them.

The title of the sermon today is Celebrate because Moses and the Israelites were so overcome with joy, relief and emotion for what God had done for them that they couldn’t contain it. They sang and danced and played instruments to the Lord, for the Lord and about the Lord. As we approach paying off the tax debt and bank loan, we need to think about how we are going to celebrate. It is imperative that we celebrate, praising and worshiping the Lord for what he has done for us. It has been miraculous and supernatural, and he deserves all the honor and glory for it. And what’s cool, is it isn’t the first time the Lord has come through for this church. He has always been faithful and always will be. This is just the next time and each time he is worthy and deserving of our worship for who He is and what He has done for us. (Big Idea). So, be on the lookout for how we will celebrate that. That brings us to our last next step which is to Celebrate along with my church family the Lord’s deliverance from our tax debt.

We started with a group of slaves who had been set free, crossed the sea, and entered into their Promised Land singing and celebrating. Today, we saw the Israelites who had been set free, had crossed the sea, and sang the song of Moses in celebration. And this Song of Moses echoes all the way to the Book of Revelation chapter 15, where a multitude has come from great suffering, has experienced great victory, stands on the shores of a great sea, and sings a song of praise and thanksgiving of deliverance and victory. I like what Spurgeon says, “It is obvious, then, from the plentiful allusions to this song in holy scripture, that it is full of deep spiritual significance. It teaches us not only to praise God concerning the literal overthrow of Egypt, but to praise him concerning the overthrow of all the powers of evil, and the final deliverance of all the chosen.”

Revelation 15:3 shares three elements with Exodus 15. One, the focus is on God and what he has done. Two, God’s everlasting rule is glorified. Three, the nations fear God. God’s deliverance is not just about saving a group of people but asserting his right to rule over all creation. The Song of Moses and the people’s celebration is a picture of the eternal singing and worship that we will enter into when Christ comes to make all things new. That is the very vision that John received in Revelation 15:2-4 and I would like to end reading those verses and then echoing Exodus 15:18. This is what God’s Word says, “And I saw what looked like a sea of glass glowing with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and its image and over the number of its name. They held harps given them by God and sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb: “Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the nations. Who will not fear you, Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.” And Exodus 15:18, “The Lord will reign for ever and ever.”

As the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offerings and the praise team comes to lead us in a final song, let’s close in prayer: Lord God Almighty, creator of heaven and earth, I worship you for your perfect Word. Help us to take it and apply it according to your Holy Spirit’s prompting. You are worthy and deserving of our worship at all times for who you are and what you have done; not only in our individual lives but in the life of your church here at Idaville. May we never forget it and continually celebrate it. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

 

/by

The Great(est) Escape

, , , ,

THE GREAT(EST) ESCAPE

The Civil War was fought in 10,000 places, from Valverde, New Mexico, and Tullahoma, Tennessee, to St. Albans, Vermont, and Fernandina on the Florida coast. More than 3 million Americans fought in it, and over​​ 600,000 men—2 percent of the population—died in it. American homes became headquarters, American churches and schoolhouses sheltered the dying, and huge foraging armies swept across American farms and burned American towns. Americans slaughtered one another wholesale, right here in America in their own cornfields and peach orchards, along familiar roads and by waters with old American names. In two days at Shiloh, on the banks of the Tennessee River, more American men fell than in all the previous American​​ wars combined. At Cold Harbor, some 7,000 Americans fell in 20 minutes. Men who had never strayed 20 miles from their own front doors now found themselves soldiers in great armies, fighting epic battles hundreds of miles from home. They knew they were making history, and it was the greatest adventure of their lives. The war made some rich, ruined others, and changed forever the lives of all who lived through it.​​ Ken Burns – “The Civil War: the Cause”

We can’t begin to understand American history—the glories, horrors, and contradictions of America itself—without knowing something about the war we fought against each other, North and South, from 1861 to 1865. As one historian put it, “What the Iliad was for the Greeks, the Civil War is for Americans.” As long as there is an America to talk about, Americans will be talking about the Civil War. In the same way, as long as there is a Bible and people who follow the God of the Bible, people will be talking about the crossing of the Red Sea. Poems will be written, sermons preached, and movies upon movies made. It was, perhaps, the most famous event in the history of Israel. For Israel, the crossing of the Red Sea was much like the Civil War is for America. We cannot understand their history apart from it. It’s the event that the​​ Israelites kept telling themselves over and over again, and that God would remind his people over and over again when they forgot his great power and care for them. It was the greatest escape orchestrated by God for His chosen people in their history. In it he showed his almighty power and his power over creation. He showed his power over probably the greatest fighting force in the region at the time. And he displayed his power for all to see in order to save his people and gain glory for himself.

If we can’t understand Israel’s history apart from the crossing of the Red Sea, we surely can’t understand our Christian history apart from it, either. The crossing of the Red Sea became the central act on that side of the cross of God’s redemptive history to save his people. The crossing of the Red Sea was a great escape but some fifteen hundred years later, there would be the Greatest Escape of all time which would save God’s people. In it he would again show his power over creation. He would show his power over sin, death, the grave and Satan. He would display his power for all to see in order to save his people once and for all. And he would again gain glory for himself. That brings us to our big idea this morning that Moses wants us to understand which is “Our God is mighty to save.” He is all-powerful and he wielded that power to save the Israelites once and for all from Pharaoh and the Egyptians and he wielded that power to save us from our sin and from Satan once and for all. Our God is Mighty to Save!!!

“A Flood of Fear of Faith” Kevin DeYoung

Let’s pray: Dear Heavenly Father, you are mighty to save. You have displayed your power for all to see from the beginning of time. You displayed it in the creation of the universe. You displayed it in the plagues culminating with the killing of the firstborn of Egypt. And you continue to display your power throughout the world today. We are grateful for your power, especially your mighty power that saved us from eternal separation from You. Pour out your Holy Spirit on us this​​ morning so that we may see your power once again in your Word. I pray that we would never downplay the mighty miracles we see in the Bible or those we see in our lives. Give us eyes to see and ears to hear your power and might. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Our first point this morning is​​ “Frozen”​​ found in Exodus 14:15-20. Follow along as I read. This is what God’s Word says, “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen.” Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.

Right in the beginning of our scripture, we come across a puzzling statement from the Lord to Moses. Most commentators believe that God is talking to the Israelites through Moses because Moses was their spokesman between them and the Lord. The people may have been frozen with fear because the Red Sea was in front of them and they could not see any way to get past it. But it is also possible that Moses was frozen as well, just not with fear. Moses knew that the Lord would somehow gain glory through Pharaoh and his army and that the Egyptians would know that he is the Lord. He knew that the Lord was going to deliver them, but he may not have known exactly how that deliverance was going to happen. Last week, we saw that he told the Israelites to stand firm and be still and they would see the Lord’s​​ deliverance, that he would fight for them, and they would never see these Egyptians again. Moses may have been seeking God in prayer for what to do next and may have been frozen, so to speak, in that position.

And now the Lord says, “Enough. I have heard your crying out, and I have heard your prayers. Now is the time to get up and move. Now is the time to go forward.” This is good for us to think about today, as well. It is good and well to cry out to God about what we are going through. It is good to pray for his direction and guidance for what’s next but there comes a time when we must go forward. Sometimes crying out and even prayer can become a crutch that keeps us from completely surrendering our lives to the Lord or going out to the ends of the earth spreading the gospel. I like this quote from Spurgeon: “Far be it from me to ever say a word in disparagement of the holy, happy, heavenly exercise of prayer. But, beloved, there are times when prayer is not enough—when prayer itself is out of season. When we have prayed over a matter to a certain degree, it then becomes sinful to tarry any longer; our plain duty is to carry our desires into action, and having asked God’s guidance, and having received divine power from on high, to go at once to our duty without any longer deliberation or delay.​​ C.H. Spurgeon – “Forward! Forward! Forward!”

The Lord tells Moses to raise his staff and stretch his hand over the sea. We have seen God work through Moses before using his staff in bringing the plagues of blood, frogs, hail, locusts, and darkness. Moses’ staff or the “staff of God'' was the symbol of God’s power and presence and reminds us that it was not Moses performing the mighty acts but the Lord. It also showed that what was about to happen did not happen by chance. The raising of Moses’ staff will divide the water so the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. The Lord will harden the hearts of the Egyptian army so they will follow the Israelites into the sea. He will strengthen their hearts causing them to do what they already wanted to do which was to capture the Israelites and take them back to captivity.​​ The Lord again states that he will gain glory through Pharoah and his army, his chariots and his horsemen and they will know that he is the Lord. The Israelites may have also been frozen because they could see the Egyptian army close​​ behind them. So, the Lord now moves from guiding his people to protecting his people. The Angel of God, which is the pillar of cloud and fire that had been guiding the Israelites from in front, now moves and stands behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. We see the protection God gave his people as the cloud brought darkness to Pharaoh and his army but light to the Israelites. The darkness kept the Egyptians from attacking the Israelites all night long.

We may ask, “Why did God tell Moses to go forward and have the Angel of the Lord move behind them in protection only to wait out the night? I believe there are a couple of reasons. First, God’s timing is perfect. Two, maybe God was still pursuing Pharaoh and his people. I am reminded of 2 Peter 3:9 which says, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”​​ Think about this: What happened the last time that the Egyptians were plunged into darkness? The ninth plague of darkness was followed by the tenth plague of the killing of the firstborn of Egypt. Pharaoh was going to know that Yahweh was the Lord sooner or later but maybe it didn’t have to take more death for Pharaoh and the Egyptians to accept it. If they stopped long enough to think about what happened the last time darkness came upon them, they may have turned back and gone home. Three, and I think the​​ main reason for waiting through the night was so that what was going to happen would happen in the light of day. The Lord would gain glory by destroying the Egyptian army and saving his chosen people in daylight, in front of everyone to see.

That brings us to our second point this morning,​​ “Faith,”​​ found in Exodus 14:21-25. This is what God’s Word says, “Then Moses stretched​​ out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. During the last watch of the night the Lord looked down​​ from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. He jammed the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.”

We see the faith of the Israelites and the misguided faith of the Egyptian army. First, we see the faith of the Israelites. Moses stretched out his hand (and staff) over the sea as God commanded him to do. This seems to have happened during the night while the Angel of the Lord was between the two armies. The Egyptians had no knowledge of what was happening to the Sea. We see the almighty power of God in a couple of ways here. One, the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind. We are reminded of Jesus calming the storm in Mark 4:39, 41, which says, “He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” Two, the bottom of the sea turned into dry land. The wind the Lord brought was so powerful that the ground wasn’t wet, or even damp but was dry. Three, we see the Lord’s power in that the waters were divided with a wall of water on the Israelites right and a wall of water on their left. Stuart says, “The term used for “wall” here, ḥōmāh, connotes a very large wall—not a small stone wall or retaining wall but always a massively large (usually a city) wall, towering above the Israelites, who marched on dry land with walls of water on either side of them.” Imagine the power that the Lord displayed in dividing the Red Sea with towering walls of water that were probably a mile or more wide. The Lord is all powerful and the Lord of all creation because​​ he is​​ the only one who can command the wind and the seas, and they obey.

There have been many theories put forth trying to debunk the miracle at the Red Sea. There are those who would say that the crossing happened in a shallow body of water, possibly the Reed Sea. “Yam Suph'' can be translated as “Sea of Reeds” which is swampy and marshy, but the Septuagint (the Greek Translation of the Bible) translates Yam Suph as the “Red Sea.” And when Yam Suph is used in the Bible, it always refers to the Red Sea. Because of the cities it references, in 1 Kings 9:26 and Jeremiah 49:21, it​​ must mean the large body of water we know as the Red Sea. Also, the word ‘Yam’ never refers to a marsh or a swamp but always a lake, sea or some large body of water. When we take all this evidence and then see towering city walls of water separated by a mile or more of dry ground, we can believe this was not an ordinary, natural phenomenon or a story that we can explain away. It was a miracle brought by the Lord through his almighty power. (Big Idea).

This brings me to a funny anecdote, from Ryken’s commentary: “No matter how one looks at it, crossing the Red Sea was a miracle. Donald Bridge tells the story of a liberal minister preaching in an old, Bible-believing, African-American church. At a certain point in his sermon the minister referred to the crossing of the Red Sea. “Praise the Lord,” someone shouted. “Takin’ all them children through the deep waters. What a mighty miracle!” However, the minister did not happen to believe in miracles. So he said, rather condescending, “It was not a miracle. They were in marshland, the tide was ebbing, and the children of Israel picked their way across in six inches of water.” “Praise the Lord!” the man shouted again. “Drownin’ all them Egyptians in six inches of water. What a mighty miracle!”

When we try to explain away the miracles in the Bible as ordinary or natural or didn’t really happen that way, we diminish God and his power. We put him in a box and think we can understand or fathom him which is so far from the truth. God is bigger and greater than all people​​ and all things and we must stand in awe of who he is and what he can do. He still does miracles today, but if we continue to diminish his power displayed in the Bible, we won’t have eyes to see the miracles he performs today. This brings us to our first next step which is to​​ Believe​​ in the miracles of the Bible and the​​ power​​ of God to make miracles​​ happen​​ today.​​ Because of the power of God, the Israelites were able to walk through the Red Sea on dry ground. This was a major step of faith for them. They could probably hear the strong wind and see the walls of water towering about them. They had no way of knowing how long the walls of water would stay up. Mackay says,​​ “It was an act of faith to walk through that watery valley and take advantage of the salvation the LORD had provided for them. Salvation is an act of faith on our part, we have to accept it to take advantage of the salvation the Lord wants to freely give us.” We are reminded of Hebrews 11:29 which says, “By faith they passed through the Red Sea as​​ by dry land.”

Next, we see the misguided faith of the Egyptian army in Pharaoh.​​ They all pursued the Israelites right into the sea, following orders from their king. They believed that he knew what the right thing to do was. We continue to see the power of the Lord as he looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud and threw the Egyptian army into confusion. Their confusion would have been heightened as the wheels of their state-of-the-art chariots started to come off. Their chariots literally became “heavy” and they had difficulty driving them. The Lord did this to bog them down until the Israelites could get across the sea. I believe God has a sense of humor so as I read this, I can see a three stooges’ scene being played out with the Egyptians driving around in circles confused with the wheels of their chariots coming off. Psalm 77:17-18, talking about this event, says, “The clouds poured down water, the heavens resounded with thunder; your arrows flashed back and forth. Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind, your lightning lit up the world; the earth trembled and quaked.” With all​​ this happening while they were in a confused state imagine the panic and dread they are feeling. At some​​ point, they finally get the idea that the Lord of the Israelites was fighting for his people, and they realized this was a fool’s errand. They tried to get away from the Israelites, but it was too late. They now knew that Yahweh was Lord and proclaimed it as so.

That brings us to our third point, “Fulfillment,” found in Exodus 14:26-31. This is what God’s Word says, “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.” Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and the Lord swept them into the sea. The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh​​ that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived. But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. That day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.”

We see fulfillment in this section in two ways. First, we see the Lord’s judgment on the Egyptians. The Lord again commanded Moses to stretch out his hand over the sea and at daybreak the sea went back into its place and the waters flowed back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen and drowned them. The Egyptians were judged for their sins: keeping the Lord’s chosen people in the cruelest and harshest slavery and killing the Israelite babies. Moses again obeys the Lord’s command which brings us​​ to a great truth. God will often use human beings to do his miraculous works on the earth. He used Moses, ​​ the disciples, and he uses us today. It is possible that there are many miraculous works that do not happen today because the people of God aren’t willing to stretch out their hand. It was God who separated the waters and saved his people, but it was Moses who was willing to act on​​ his commands. I pray that we will be like Moses. That brings us to our second next step which is to​​ Be​​ willing​​ and​​ obedient​​ to allow God to use me as an​​ instrument​​ for his will in the world.

In their confusion, it seems the Egyptians on the shore kept running toward the sea even after it went back into its place and the Lord swept them into it. The Hebrew for “swept” means “shaken” which gives the picture of the Lord shaking out a dusty sheet or towel. I picture them going head over heels into the middle of the sea. The entire army of Pharaoh was killed. Not one survived!!!! We are not told explicitly in this scripture what happened to Pharaoh, but his destruction was inevitable because of the​​ Lord’s judgment on him. In Psalm 136:15, that Teresa read earlier, implies that both Pharoah and his army were swept into and drowned in the Red Sea. The gods of the Egyptians were also again judged by God here. I believe another reason God waited till daybreak to finish destroying the Egyptian was because that was when their sun god, Ra, was supposedly rising in the east. They found out that neither Ra nor Pharaoh could save them. Ryken says, “According to one ancient Egyptian inscription, “He whom the king has loved will be a revered one, but there is no tomb for a rebel against his majesty, and his corpse is cast into the water.” This inscription was a threat to drown Pharaoh’s enemies, but in the end the Egyptians were the ones who were lost at sea!”

Second, we see fulfillment in that the Lord saved his people by his power and might.​​ (Big Idea)​​ His people went​​ through on dry ground with the wall of water on their right and left. This repetition underscores how powerful the miracle was. On that day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians. The word “hand” is mentioned a number of times in this section, and it reminds us of what God said in Exodus 6:6, “Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm​​ and with​​ mighty acts of judgment.” This was the fulfillment of what God promised Moses. We notice that the Israelites “saw” a couple of things. They saw the dead bodies of the Egyptians on the shore. Not that long ago they saw the Egyptian army approaching and they were terrified, panicked and criticized Moses. Now they saw their dead bodies and knew they were free from their oppression once and for all. The Lord kept his covenant promises toward his people and demonstrated his faithfulness to them. The mention of Israel marks the beginning of the nation with Yahweh as its leader.

They also saw the great power of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians and this caused them to do two things: they feared the Lord and they trusted in Him and in his servant, Moses. This was the result God intended. Moses being described as a servant here is a result of his obedience to the Lord and he is elevated to a position of honor and authority. He is now vindicated by the people who had vilified him earlier in Exodus 14:11. From the beginning it is clear that Yahweh has orchestrated everything for​​ his glory and so that everyone would know that he is the Lord. ​​ 

(From Ryken’s Commentary) Notice the order: God did not wait for his people to trust in him before he saved them. Instead, God took the initiative. They didn’t earn it or deserve it; God did the work for his honor and his glory. First the people saw their salvation and then they feared and believed. First God delivered them from danger, saving them when they couldn’t save themselves. Then they responded in faith, trusting God and worshiping him. As Christians, Israel’s great escape is part of the history of​​ our own salvation. However, we have experienced an even greater escape—the greatest escape of all. We have been saved from our bondage to sin through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Here again we see the order of salvation, in which God took the initiative. It is while we were still sinners that Christ died for us. God’s saving work comes first, and then we are called to respond in faith.

Maybe you are here this morning and you have never responded to Christ’s call to be saved. Today, you can experience the greatest escape of all – the escape from the bondage of sin and from eternal separation from our Lord. If you have never accepted Jesus as your Savior, this next step is for you:​​ Accept​​ Jesus as my Savior and​​ experience​​ the greatest​​ escape​​ of all.​​ If you made that next step, please mark the back of your communication card so we can be in contact with you and help you move toward baptism and becoming more like Jesus.

What happened at the Red Sea ought to help us clarify our relationship to Christ. The only “Red Sea experience” that really matters is the one that Jesus had when he passed through the walls of death and came out victorious on the other side. This means that baptized Christians have already had their “Red Sea experience.” We had it at Calvary and in the garden tomb, because when Jesus died and rose again, he did it for us. Now that we are safe on the other side we must do what the Israelites did: fear the Lord and put our trust in Him.

As the ushers come to collect the tithes and offerings and as the praise team comes to lead us in a final song, let’s pray: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for your power and might you displayed in saving your chosen people at the Red Sea. Thank you for your power and might displayed in the death and resurrection of your Son, Jesus. You are truly mighty to save and we honor you and give you all glory this morning. Give us eyes to see your miracles today. Move us to be willing and obedient to be used as your​​ instrument in the world and I pray that you will draw those who do not know you into salvation so they can experience the greatest escape of all. And we thank you for all mothers. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

/by

Glory

Children ages 3 to 4th​​ grade can go to Children’s Church

GLORY

The movie “Glory” is a historical war drama about the 54th Massachusetts Infantry, one of the Union Army's earliest African-American regiments in the Civil War. The film depicts the soldiers of the 54th from the formation of their regiment to their heroic actions at the Second Battle of Fort Wagner. It stars Matthew Broderick as Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, the regiment's white commanding officer. Throughout the movie, the black regiment is mainly given manual labor to do as Colonel Shaw lobbies his superiors​​ to allow them to fight. Finally, they are given a chance and in their first battle at James Island, South Carolina, the 54th successfully repels a Confederate attack that had routed other units.

Afterwards, the Union Army undertakes a major campaign to secure a foothold at Charleston Harbor which involves assaulting Morris Island and capturing Fort Wagner, whose only landward approach is a strip of open beach; a charge certain to result in heavy casualties. Shaw volunteers the 54th to lead the attack and they suffer serious losses as they charge the fort at dusk. As night falls, the regiment is pinned down against the fort's walls. Attempting to encourage his men forward, Shaw is struck by several​​ bullets and killed. One of the men, despite his previous assertion that he would not do it, lifts the flag and tries to rally the men before he himself is shot dead. Then others take up the charge, and the soldiers break through the fort's outer defenses. Seemingly on the brink of victory, the 54th realizes that the enemy has cannons pointed right at them.

The morning after the battle, the beach is littered with the bodies of black and white Union soldiers and are all buried together in a mass grave. A textual epilogue reveals that the regiment lost over half its numbers during the assault and that Fort Wagner never fell to the Union Army. However, the courage demonstrated by the 54th spurred Congress​​ to authorize the raising of black soldiers throughout the Union. Over 180,000 volunteered and President Abraham Lincoln credited them with helping to turn the tide of the war.

The title of the film recalls the "glory" for which First-Sergeant Robert John Simmons, who was mortally wounded at Battery Wagner, came to fight. Simmons himself wrote, in an account of the Battle of Grimball's Landing that was published in the New York Tribune on December 23, 1863: "God has protected me through this, my first fiery, leaden trial, and I do give Him the glory." For at least some of the African American soldiers, it was about something higher than themselves. It was more than just hoping to​​ be freed from slavery. Some like Robert John Simmons were moved to give God the glory for bringing him through the trials and struggles of war.

When I read something like this it makes me think, do I give God the glory for the conflicts and trials that he brings me through? Our trials are nothing compared to war, but do we stop and give Him the glory for the great things he has done for us. In today’s scripture we are going to see four things. We are going to see God’s Plan, Pharaoh’s Pursuit, Israel’s Panic as they forget the great things that God had already done for them, and God’s Power. But right at the beginning, we are told that everything that will happen will be so God will gain “glory” and that Pharaoh and the Egyptians would know that he is the Lord. I want you to think about this today as we delve into Exodus 14:1-14: God took the Israelites the long way around for his glory, he will destroy Pharaoh and the Egyptians for his glory, God is in control of our lives and he promises we will go through trials and tribulations and it will be all for his glory, and Jesus died on the cross for our sins for the Father’s glory. John 17:1 says, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.” Everything that God does is for his glory, and his alone and that brings us to what Moses wants us to know and understand this morning,​​ “God is passionate about His glory.”

As we ponder the implications of that big idea, let’s open our time of study with prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, we pray that your Holy Spirit will fill each of us this morning as we open your Word. Lord, we want to be connected to you more this year and one way to do that is through the study of your Word. So open our hearts and minds to what you want us to learn this morning and what you want us to share this week. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Our first point this morning is​​ Plan​​ seen in Exodus 14:1-4. Follow along as I read those verses. This is what God’s Word says, “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon. Pharaoh will think, ‘The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.’ And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” So the Israelites did this.

The Lord unfolds his plan to Moses who in turn will relay it to the Israelites. He tells Moses to “turn back” or literally “go back from where you came.” (Map) If you look at the map on the screen you see that Etham, where they have stopped, is at the top of the arm of the Red Sea. This is where scholars believe Etham was located. Notice the red dotted line. Instead of going east of the Red Sea and into the wilderness, God brings them back into Egyptian territory, to the west of the Red Sea. If they had kept going, they would have missed the Red Sea altogether. But instead, God guides them to a very precise location. Moses mentions three distinct places, Pi Hahiroth, Migdol and Baal Zephon. If you follow the red dotted line, you see where they believe Migdol was located. God guided them to a place between Migdol and the Red Sea. These places have very appropriate meanings. Pi-Hahiroth means “Place of Liberty” which it was about to be. Migdol means “tower” or “fortress.” The Lord was going to be their refuge and a tower of strength against their enemies. Baal-Zephon means “Lord of the North” and in scripture “north” was frequently associated with judgment. Pharaoh and the Egyptians would be judged here at the Red Sea.

The pillar, the presence of God, is still leading the Israelites, but we may wonder what God is doing? For all intents and purposes, they were out of Egyptian control and on their way to Mt. Sinai. If you were here a couple of weeks ago, we learned that God leads his people in a unique and personal way, and this is another step on that unique journey God was leading his people on. The Lord tells Moses why he is turning the people around. He is making the Israelites look vulnerable so he can lure Pharaoh into pursuing them. The Lord was not done meting out his justice to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for their enslavement of his people and the killing of the Israelite babies back in Exodus 1. He wants Pharoah to think that the Israelites are wandering around in circles, confused and not sure which way to go. The Lord wants it to look like the Israelites have hemmed themselves in by the Red Sea and have no way of escape.

This brings us to our first principle that​​ God’s ways are not our ways. Isaiah 55:8-9 says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” We can’t fathom God’s thoughts or ways as they are so much higher than we can even imagine. But as Christ-followers we can and must trust in his ways. Even when we are going through trials or nothing in our lives seems to be going the way we think they should, we can still trust in the Lord. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. That brings us to our first next step on the back of your communication card which is​​ Trust in God’s ways, especially when I don’t understand them, so that my paths are made straight.

The Lord is going to harden Pharaoh’s heart so he will pursue the Israelites. We talked about this before in the plague’s narrative. God did not change Pharaoh's heart, he strengthened it. Pharaoh already had the inclination to pursue the Israelites. All God did was strengthen his resolve so that he could do nothing else but pursue them. We then see why the Lord was doing this. It was to gain glory for himself through Pharaoh and his army and so that the Egyptians would know that he is the Lord. In Exodus 5:2, when Moses went to ask Pharaoh to free God’s people, he said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.” Everything that God does is for His glory. Not only would Pharaoh and the Egyptians “know that Yahweh is the Lord'', so would the Israelites and the surrounding nations, which would cause the Lord to gain glory.​​ (Big Idea)

Lastly, we are told that the Israelites obeyed Moses and the Lord; they obeyed God’s plan to “turn back.” Now we may wonder, how much did Moses tell the people? Did he really tell them that God was luring Pharaoh and his army out in order to hem them in between them and the Red Sea? We don’t know. We can surmise from what happens later on that he didn’t or that he did and they were overly confident that it wouldn’t pose a problem. But no matter what Moses told them, at this point, we are told they were obedient.

Now that we have seen God’s plan, next we will notice that God’s plan works to perfection, which brings us to our second point,​​ Pursuit, found in Exodus 14:5-9. This is what God’s Word says, “When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, “What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!” So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him. He took six hundred of the best chariots, along with all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them. The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out boldly. The Egyptians—all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, horsemen and troops—pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea near Pi Hahiroth, opposite Baal Zephon.

Pharaoh is told that the Israelites have fled. But didn’t Pharaoh let the people go? In fact, didn’t he “kick” them out of Egypt? Some commentators believe that three days have passed and now instead of coming back to Egypt, the Israelites have continued to go farther away. In Exodus 5:3, Moses asked for a three day’s journey so that the people could worship the Lord and Pharaoh may have been under the assumption they would return after three days. The Israelites have stayed in Egyptian territory so far and​​ Pharaoh’s outposts have seemed to keep him informed as to what they were doing. When they make no move to return, Pharaoh and his officials have a change of mind. They realize they have lost their free labor force and want to go and bring them back into slavery. In fact, they probably believe that it should be easy to do so since the Israelites are just wandering around confused. Interestingly back in Exodus 10:7, his officials seem to side with Moses and lobby for Pharoah to let the Israelites go but now​​ that the danger from the plagues has subsided, the officials now side with Pharaoh.

Pharaoh makes his chariot ready and takes his army with him. The Hebrew here means that he readied in​​ haste. He didn’t waste any time going to bring them back. Pharoah takes six hundred of his best chariots and the “best of the best” charioteers. He also takes all the other chariots in Egypt with him. Chariots would have been the fastest way to catch up to and overtake the Israelites. The chariots also had officers over them. Normally, chariots had two men each. One steering the chariot and holding the shield and the other shooting arrows and attacking the enemy. But Pharaoh takes officers with him that are​​ over each of the chariots. This shows how badly he wanted to bring the Israelites back. Not only did he take the best he had, but he also made sure that the command structure and communication was impeccable. He was doing everything in his power to bring God’s people back.

The Lord now hardens Pharaoh’s heart and he pursues the Israelites. We get a little tidbit that the Israelites were marching out boldly. In Numbers 33:3, the Israelites marched out “defiantly” and they continued to march “triumphantly” all the way to the sea where God led them. They are probably pretty confident after finally being freed from slavery and moving toward the Promised Land. Pharaoh's horses, chariots, horsemen and troops pursued the Israelites and overtook them near Pi Hahiroth. The Egyptian forces are mentioned again to deliberately show the strength of the military that is coming against the Israelites. It shows the inequality between the Egyptian army and the Israelites and how there was no human way of escape.

We are now set up for what will be the final conflict between Yahweh and Pharaoh. God has led both the Israelites and the Egyptians to exactly where he wants them. His plan for his people, their oppressors and the murderers of Israelite children will come to fulfillment. Pharaoh has pursued God’s chosen people believing they are his people to do with as he wished, and he has them trapped between his army and the Red Sea. Pharaoh and his life are a warning to us today. God is patient but there comes a time when his patience runs out and then comes judgment. He had given Pharaoh and the Egyptians ample reasons to acknowledge him as Lord and let his people go from slavery, but they refused. There are two ways God can be glorified in our lives: either in his saving mercy or in his just judgment. (Big Idea) Which way will you glorify the Lord??? That brings us to our second next step which is to​​ Acknowledge Yahweh as Lord, glorifying Him as the Savior of my life.

That brings us to our third point this morning,​​ Panic, found in Exodus 14:10-12. This is what God’s Word says, “As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”

All of a sudden, the Israelites who had been marching out boldly, triumphantly, and defiantly, look up and see Pharaoh and the Egyptians approaching. They probably saw the massive cloud of dust being kicked up from the chariots and the troops and they panicked. They are terrified and cry out to the Lord.​​ Now we may take this as a positive reaction but then they react negatively toward Moses. They say three things that show where their state of mind is, possibly proving that their crying out to the Lord was not as positive as it may sound.

One, they are sarcastic​​ with Moses. They accuse Moses of bringing them out to the desert to die since there were no graves in Egypt. This is sarcastic because of course there are graves in Egypt. Egypt was known for their massive graves or pyramids. This was not funny sarcasm but angry and biting sarcasm leveled against Moses that was caused by their panic. Second, they blame Moses for the predicament they are in. We are never told that they collectively told Moses to “leave us alone.” In Exodus 4 when Moses and Aaron went to the​​ elders and told them everything the Lord said and performed the signs, they believed and bowed down and worshiped the Lord. Now some individuals may have told Moses to leave them alone but nothing was ever collectively recorded and I believe it would have been recorded in the past if it had bearing on the present. Their panic caused them to blame Moses for their predicament. Third, they distorted the past. Who in their right mind would want to go back to slavery? But even more than that, they say, “it would be better for us to serve the Egyptians.” This word “serve” is the same word as “worship.” Back when Moses asked for permission to take the Israelites on a three-day’s journey, it was to “serve” or “worship” Yahweh. The Israelites’ panic causes them to distort not only the past but the truth. They said it would be better to “worship” Pharaoh than to die. Imagine if we today said that it would be better to worship Satan than to die. Death would be much more preferable and even imperative to worshiping Satan. Merida says, “The Israelites were out of Egypt physically, but Egypt had not gotten out of their hearts.”

We as humans, whether followers of God or not, often forget what God has done. We forget his power displayed in our lives. We see this with Pharaoh. He must have thought that the plagues were the limit to what God could do so he went out with all his chariots, officers, etc. to bring the Israelites back into slavery. It never dawned on Pharaoh that the Lord who could kill every firstborn in the land could keep Pharoah from taking his chosen people back to Egypt. Then we see the response of the Israelites who had witnessed the same plagues and saw the Egyptians burying their dead on the way out of Egypt. It never dawned on them that the Lord who could kill the firstborn of the Egyptians and not kill the firstborn of the Israelites could keep Pharaoh and his army from capturing them. It never dawned on Pharaoh and the Israelites that God’s power was limitless. That brings us to our third next step this morning:​​ Remember the power that God has displayed in the past and trust in his power for my future.

As the Israelites look on in panic and terror at the approaching Egyptian army with their chariots advancing, we are set up to see God’s Power which brings us to our fourth point,​​ Power, found in Exodus 14:13-14. This is what God’s Word says, “Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord​​ will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

Moses has been treated with angry sarcasm by his own people. They have blamed him for the situation they are in and have distorted the past and the truth because they are terrified and in a panic. He could have reacted in a number of negative ways, but he doesn’t. Moses, who had to flee Egypt after killing an Egyptian and who tried to turn Yahweh down when he was called at the burning bush, now reacts positively to the Israelites' negativity aimed at him. He responds with courageous and reassuring words. These same words will be used later to encourage King Jehoshaphat. 2 Chronicles 20:17 says, “You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’”

We see similarities that should be a lesson for us today. First, “do not be afraid.” The Israelites must have been thinking, “Ok, Moses, we are hemmed in. We are between a rock and a hard place. Of course we are afraid.” Israel’s forefathers also needed to be told “do not be afraid.” Abram in Genesis 15:1, Isaac in Genesis 26:24 and Jacob in Genesis 46:3. I am sure there have been many times in our lives where God has told us to “not be afraid, I got this.” God doesn’t dismiss our fears. He tells us to not​​ be afraid, not because our fears have no basis, but because as Isaiah 41:10 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 Psalm 46:1-3, that Sue read earlier, says, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth gives way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. So we do not need to be afraid.”

Two, Moses says, to “stand firm.” A lot of times our response to fear is “fight or flight.” Our fears can cause us to flee, to run away or to fight our way out. But God wants us to stop and pray and many times wait on him to reveal his plan to us. Three, Moses says if they do “stand firm” they will be ready. Not ready to fight or take flight but to see the deliverance that the Lord will bring them. Moses may not have known exactly what was going to happen, but he had faith that Yahweh would deliver them. Yahweh had said he would gain glory for himself through Pharaoh (Big Idea) and Moses believed him. Hebrews 11:29a says, “By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.” Moses then says something interesting: the Egyptians they see today you will never see again. This may have had something to do with them drowning in the Red Sea but it may also have meant that they were not going back into slavery and so would ever see these Egyptians again.

Four, we see the mighty power of Yahweh as Moses says the Lord will fight for them and all they needed to do was to “be still.” Alexander says, “The narrative leaves nothing to chance in that there is no way Israel gets away from Pharaoh alive without divine intervention.”​​ The battle belonged to the Lord, not them. This brings us to our third principle that the​​ Lord fights for his people.​​ The Israelites needed to know that their deliverance was from God alone. “To be still” meant they did not need to do anything but that they were to stay calm and keep quiet. This was not the time for panic, terror or complaining.

A grandfather and his grandson were on a walk. As they walked along the trail, the grandfather pointed to a small plant and told the young boy to uproot it. The boy did so easily. They came to a slightly larger plant, and the grandfather told the boy to do the same to that one. After some effort and a little more time, the boy was able to complete the task. The grandfather then pointed to a large plant and told his grandson to uproot this one. The boy’s eyes widened as he examined the task before him, but in obedience to his grandfather, went to work. He struggled for some time but was unable to get the plant to budge. The grandfather stepped to the boy’s side and helped him pull. Both of them were finally able to ease the plant from the ground. Along with the plant came a system of roots almost as long as the plant itself.

As the grandfather and the grandson continued their walk, the grandfather told the boy that the largest plant was the most difficult to pull out because of its roots; they had grown too long. He explained to the boy that our habits are much the same. If we catch them early, we can pull them ourselves. If we wait too long, we are powerless against their roots unless someone else comes into our lives and helps us to pry them loose.

The people of Israel had been in captivity for hundreds of years. Their habits of dependency and lack of faith had deep roots. Ten plagues may have broken up a little of the soil in these habits, but ahead of the Israelites were some major acts of prying and pulling to bring them to the point of being ready for the promised land God had told them about. The first huge plant will be the Red Sea and they will be powerless against Pharaoh and his army unless someone else helps them pry it loose. The theme of Exodus is “saved for God’s glory” and the Lord will deliver Israel from Pharaoh and his army in a way that guarantees that he will receive all the credit and the glory. (Big Idea).

As the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offerings and the praise team comes to lead us in a final song, let’s pray: Heavenly Father, thank you for your Word and the truths in it. Thank you for the applications that we can glean from it. I pray that individually and corporately we will continue to strive to be connected to you by applying your Word to our lives and our church. Help us to trust in your ways, especially when we don’t understand them, so that our paths are made straight. Help us to acknowledge you as Lord, glorifying you as the Savior of our lives. Help us to remember the power you have displayed in the past and trust in that same power for our future. Lastly, help us to know that you fight for us and are passionate about your glory. So let us do everything for your glory and not our own. In Jesus name, Amen.

 

/by

Training Ground

, , ,

TRAINING GROUND

The early American Indians had a unique practice of training young braves. On the night of a boy's thirteenth birthday, after learning hunting, scouting, and fishing skills, he was put to one final test. He was placed in a dense forest to spend the entire night alone. Until then, he had never been away from the security of the family and the tribe. But on this night, he was blindfolded and taken several miles away. When he took off the blindfold, he was in the middle of thick wood, and he was terrified! Every time a twig snapped, he visualized a wild animal ready to pounce. After what seemed like an eternity, dawn broke and the first rays of sunlight entered the interior of the forest. Looking around, the boy saw flowers, trees, and the outline of the path. Then, to his utter astonishment, he beheld the figure of a man standing just a few feet away, armed with a bow and arrow. It was his father who had been there all night long. His father was with him and protected him in a unique and personal way.

In our scripture this morning, the Lord has brought the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. Over the past couple of Exodus sermons, the narrative has been interrupted by Moses in order to give important instructions to the Israelites from the Lord. He gave them instructions on who could eat the Passover meal, on observing the yearly Festival of Unleavened Bread and on consecrating the firstborn of men and animals to the Lord. Moses now returns to the exodus narrative, and we will see the training ground that God has marked out for his chosen people. They will need to go through this training to take them from being slaves in Egypt to living as his chosen people occupying the land that he promised their forefathers. The Lord’s training ground will be unique because it won’t be the short way, but it will be the best way – because it is God’s way. And his training ground will be personal because he won’t let them go that way alone. He will lead them uniquely and personally just like he does for those who believe and trust in him today. We can trust that his wisdom for the way he guides our lives is the best, we can trust that his promises to and for us are perfect and we can trust in his continual presence with us along the way. That brings us to our big idea that Moses wants us to understand this morning: God leads his people in a unique and personal way.

Before we begin to study our passage this morning from Exodus 13:17-22, let’s ask the Lord to open our hearts and minds to his Word. Heavenly Father, you have brought us to this place this morning to worship you. We have worshiped you through prayer and song and now we want to worship you through your word. Pour out your Holy Spirit on us. Open our hearts and minds and illuminate us so that we can understand what you want us to know and what to share with others we come in contact with this week. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Our first point is God’s Wisdom and is found in Exodus 13:17-18. This is what God’s Word says, “When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt ready for battle.”

When Pharaoh finally relented and let the Israelites go, God did not lead them through the Philistine country even though that would have been the shortest route to the Promised Land. (MAP) You see a map up on the screen with the wilderness wanderings. If they took the green route at the top, it would have taken them about two weeks to get to the Promised Land. That would have been through what was known as the Philistine country when Moses wrote the book. But God in his infinite wisdom took them the red route which would end up taking forty years. Moses, the author, tells us the reason the Lord didn’t take them the shorter route was because he knew that if they faced a war, they would change their mind and return to Egypt. That brings us to our first principle which is “God is All-knowing.” He knows everything from the beginning of time until the end of time because He is eternal. He knew that if the Israelites faced a war soon after leaving Egypt they would be discouraged and want to turn back. In fact, in Numbers 14:3, we see these words, the Israelites are speaking, “Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” This took place in the second year after their release from Egypt and they still wanted to turn around going back into slavery or worse.

Now you may wonder about verse 18 which says the Israelites went up out of Egypt “armed for battle.” If they left Egypt “armed for battle” why was God so concerned with them going to war? We need to look at the Hebrew meaning of “armed for battle.” “Armed for battle” meant that they went “in an orderly fashion.” Most commentators say they went fifty abreast just like an army would have. It would have been quite an imposing scene seeing one to three million people walking across the wilderness in “army-like” divisions. This may have kept some smaller tribes in the wilderness from attacking them, but God knew that if a people such as the fierce Philistines attacked then the Israelites would want to turn back. They may have left Egypt in battle formation, but they were not yet battle tested.

So instead of taking them the shorter route to the Promised Land, God led them around the desert road toward the Red Sea. It was a longer way, but it was the better way because it was God’s way. Now we haven’t said anything about the “hard” way. Even though the longer way would keep them from facing warring peoples, it was not going to be the easiest way, either, which we will see in the coming weeks. Both ways were going to be difficult for them, but the difference was that first, God knew what was coming and would guide them and second, God was in control. That brings us to our second principle this morning that “God is Sovereign.” There are a number of reasons, I believe, why God took them the long way around. One, the long way through the wilderness would be their training ground that God would use to teach them to trust in Him and mold them into a nation. I like what Ross says, “God maneuvered his people into a place where they could do nothing else but trust him.” Two, God was not yet done dealing with Pharaoh and the Egyptians. Three, God had given a sign to Moses for the Israelites that it was Yahweh who had sent him. Exodus 3:12 says, "And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” (Map) Again, as we look at the map of wilderness wanderings, we see that Mount Horeb is there toward the bottom of the arm of the Red Sea. If they had taken the shorter (green) route, they would not have come to Mount Horeb to worship the Lord there. We may think that this was an insignificant promise for God to keep but with what we know about the grumblings of the Israelites in the wilderness, this promise would remind Moses and the people that it was Yahweh who had called Moses at the burning bush, and that it truly was Yahweh who was leading them on the way to the Promised Land.

The Israelites could trust in God’s wisdom for them as he guided them from Egypt to the Promised Land even as he took them the long way around. This is important as we follow the Lord today and especially as we face the unknown. God’s way is not the easy way and most of the time it’s not the shortest way either. We can trust in God’s wisdom as we follow the path that he has laid out for us. We can trust that God knows what is going to happen before it happens and is in control of it. If you are a follower of Jesus this morning, you can trust that he will faithfully guide you along the path that he has mapped out for you and will be there with you at all times. He leads each one of us in a unique and personal way (Big Idea) Psalm 5:8 says, “Lead me, Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies – make your way straight before me.” And Psalm 23:3 says, “He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.” Each one of us can trust in God’s wisdom and sovereignty for our lives. That brings us to the first next step on the back of your communication card which is: Trust in the Lord’s wisdom and sovereignty as he guides me on the right paths.

The Israelites could trust in the Lord’s wisdom and sovereignty to guide them out of Egypt to the Promised Land and they could also trust in his promises made to them which brings us to our second point, God’s Promises, found in Exodus 13:19. This is what God’s Word says, “Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the Israelites swear an oath. He had said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up with you from this place.”

We are told that when the Israelites left Egypt, Moses took the bones of Joseph with him. How does this verse show us that the Israelites could trust in God’s promises? In Genesis 50:24-25, we see these words, “Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” And Joseph made the Israelites swear an oath and said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place.” Verse 19 is repeated word for word from Genesis 50:25. This repetition is important because it shows us that some 300-400 years before the Lord brought the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, Joseph was convinced that God would be faithful and keep his promise to his forefathers to bring his people to the Promised Land. Joseph knew that Egypt was not his home and didn’t want his bones to be buried there. Wierbse says, “What did his coffin mean to the generations of Jews who lived in Egypt in slavery? They could look at his coffin and be encouraged. During their years in the wilderness Israel saw Joseph’s coffin as a reminder that God keeps his promises. Joseph was dead but he was bearing witness to the faithfulness of God.” The presence of Joseph’s body would remind the Israelites that God was keeping his covenant promises.

The Israelites could now trust in the promises of God because what Joseph prophesied had happened. They knew that when God came to their aid, the promise to their forefathers and to them had been fulfilled. Since God kept His past promises they could trust in His future promises as well. This brings us to our third principle this morning that “God is trustworthy.” God kept his promises to the Israelites and the same is true for us today. Think about how and why you trust someone, anyone. It’s because they have kept their promises in the past that you can trust them to keep their promises in the future. And the same is true of God. We trust in God’s promises more each time his promises come true in our lives. Sometimes we can struggle with trusting the promises of God because those around us don’t keep their promises. The difference is you never have to worry about God’s promises coming true. God’s promises always come true. That brings us to our second next step this morning which is to Trust in God’s promises in and for my life.

The Israelites could trust in the Lord’s wisdom and sovereignty to guide them out of Egypt to the Promised Land, they could trust in his promises made to them because his promises were always fulfilled, and they could trust in His presence with them, which brings us to our third point, God’s Presence, found in Exodus 13:20-22. This is what God’s Word says, “After leaving Sukkoth they camped at Etham on the edge of the desert. By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.”

We saw back in Exodus 12:37 that the Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, where they rested and ate. Now we learn that they left Succoth and camped at Etham. Again, just like Rameses and Succoth, we don’t know exactly where Etham is today, but they would have known back then. Moses was making it clear by giving us the different stages of the journey that the exodus was a true historical event with true historical places. (MAP) Here is Etham which as you can see, they believe was somewhere on the edge of the desert near the tip of the Red Sea.

We are told that the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud by day to guide them on their way and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light. This allowed them to be able to travel by day or by night. This was one pillar not two separate ones. The fire was burning inside the cloud continuously but not visible during the day. Then at night when it was dark the fire could be seen. The pillar of cloud and fire never left their presence; it was with them at all times. It was always going ahead of them. The most important thing about the pillar of cloud and of fire was that it was the Lord’s presence in their midst. The Lord going ahead of them indicated a repetitive action. His presence never left them the entire time they were in the wilderness. This was indicative of his special relationship with his chosen people, reminding us of our big idea that God leads His people in a unique and personal way. He led them uniquely in a pillar of cloud and of fire and he led them in a personal way by being in their midst and among them continuously. The pillar of his presence would go in front of them, guiding them day and night, it would protect them from the Egyptians as we will see in later weeks, and it would be with them continuously. That brings us to our fourth principle that “God is Ever-present.” He is always with us; he will never leave us nor forsake us.

We can also trust in God’s presence with us today. God’s presence was with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. His presence was with the Israelites in the wilderness in the pillar of cloud and of fire. His presence will be with them in the tent of meeting and in the temple in Jerusalem. And today God’s presence is with his people as the Holy Spirit dwells in those who have believed in Jesus for salvation. If you have not accepted Jesus as your personal Savior, the Holy Spirit does not dwell inside of you. But you can have the presence of God, the Holy Spirit, with you this morning. Romans 3:23 says that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The first thing you need to do is admit that you are a sinner. ​​ Romans 6:23 says that for the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. John 3:16 says that God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall have eternal life. The second thing you need to do is believe in God’s son, Jesus, for salvation, that he came to earth to take your punishment for your sins. Romans 10:9 says, if you declare with your mouth that “Jesus is Lord” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. The third thing you need to do is confess Jesus as Lord and then the Holy Spirit will come to dwell inside of you and guide you as the pillar guided the Israelites and much more.

So, if you’ve never accepted Jesus as your Savior, this next step is for you. My next step is to Admit that I am a sinner, believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sins and rose again, and confess Him as Lord and be saved. If you just made that decision the Holy Spirit is now dwelling inside of you. Now there wasn’t room to put this under the Next Step section so if you made this decision today, please put it in the comments section on the back of your communication card that you made that decision so we can have a conversation because the journey has just begun. Now comes the process of becoming more like Jesus. Now’s the time to learn what it means to be connected to God and we want to walk with you in that.

If you have already accepted God’s free gift of salvation and have the Holy Spirit in you, you can trust that His presence is always with you. There may be times that it doesn’t seem like he is with you but like the Israelites in the wilderness you can trust that he is there. In Hebrews 13:5b-6a the writer of Hebrews quotes God from Deuteronomy 31:6, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So, we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.” God is with us for the long haul, and we can trust that His presence will always be with us. That brings us to our fourth next step which is to Trust that the presence of the Lord is with me and will never leave me.

In 1984 Louise Degrafinreid of Braden, TN, astounded the nation when she persuaded an escaped convict from a TN prison to surrender. The prisoner, brandishing a gun, surprised Louise’s husband, Nathan, outside their modest home and forced him inside at gunpoint. Louise was not afraid of the gun. Amazingly, this grandmotherly woman with a confidence that had to be from God, began to talk to the prisoner and convinced him that he should put his gun down while she fixed him some breakfast. Surprisingly, the prisoner responded. She spoke to him about her faith in Jesus, and how the young man could have a better life if he accepted Jesus also. When the breakfast was ready, they had grace together and Louise prayed for the young man. They ate together, and by a miraculous working of the Spirit, the young man telephoned authorities, and before long, he was on his way back to a Tennessee prison.

Responding to questions, Louise Degrafinreid talked about the confidence that was hers in God – how she trusted God as ultimate authority, and therefore could overcome her fears. She was secure in the “pillar of cloud by day” and the “pillar of fire by night” that guided her life. It is everlastingly true. The cloud and the fire do not depart. The guiding and sustaining presence is ours always if we put our trust in God. The “pillar of cloud by day” and the “pillar of fire by night” were the constant presence that guided Israel throughout their journey.

So, there are a couple of questions for all of us to answer today. Do we trust the Lord for His wisdom to lead us on the journey of our lives? Do we trust that the Lord will keep His promises to us? Do we trust that His presence is always with us? Are we guided by the “pillar of cloud by day” and the “pillar of fire by night”? What about our church? Do we trust the Lord for His wisdom to lead us on the journey we are on? Do we trust that the Lord will keep His promises to our church? Do we trust that His presence is always with our church? Are we guided by the “pillar of cloud by day” and the “pillar of fire by night”? If we are then we can trust God for all these things. It may still seem that God is taking us the long way around and it may seem like life is still hard, but we can be assured and trust that His way is the best way. So, I pray that individually and corporately we will all be guided by the “pillar of cloud and of fire” trusting in the Lord’s wisdom, promises and presence in and for our lives and for our church.

As the Ushers come to collect the tithes and offerings and the Praise Team comes to lead us in a final song, let’s pray: Lord, you are faithful and your Word is true and everlasting. As we leave this place and go out into the world, help us to remember what the Holy Spirit has put on our hearts this morning. Help us to trust in your wisdom and sovereignty as you guide us on the right paths. Help us to trust in your promises in and for our lives. Help us to trust that your presence is with us and will never leave us. I also pray these things for our church as well. And mostly Lord, I pray that if there are those this morning who do not know you as their personal Lord and Savior that they would take that step of faith inviting the Holy Spirit to dwell inside of them. Lord, we pray for revival, we pray for spiritual awakening in ourselves, our church, our community and the world. Let it start with me, Lord. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

/by

Fencing the Table

, ,

FENCING THE TABLE

In Robert Frost’s poem, “Mending Wall” there is a quote: “Good fences are necessary to have good neighbors.” “Mending Wall” is a poem about borders—the work it takes to maintain them and the way they shape human interactions. The speaker and the speaker's neighbor spend much of the poem rebuilding a wall that divides their properties. As they do so, they debate the function of the wall and how it affects their relationship. The speaker suggests that the wall is unnecessary as it excludes people, injuring otherwise harmonious relationships. But the neighbor argues that walls actually improve relationships, because they allow people to treat each other fairly and prevent conflict. The speaker asks the neighbor why they need to continue repairing the wall at all and in response, the neighbor says simply and repeatedly: "Good fences make good neighbors." He believes that a good neighbor establishes clear boundaries, and in doing so prevents conflicts from arising between people who live near each other. The speaker believes that building the wall itself will most likely cause conflict, by creating a sense of "us" vs. "them."

In our scripture this morning, found in Exodus 12:43-51, God is creating a clear boundary between his people, the Israelites and the “mixed multitude” that came out of Egypt with them. There were clearly those whom God considered “us” and others that he considered “them.” God allowed others to come out of Egypt with his chosen people because they were to be a blessing to the whole world. But the “mixed multitude” were not going to have all the obligations and blessings that his chosen people had. One of these obligations and blessings they would enjoy was the Passover. The Passover was to be celebrated by God’s chosen people every year to commemorate his saving them from slavery and bringing them out of Egypt. Because the “mixed multitude” were not God’s chosen people they would be restricted from taking part in the Passover celebration. God’s chosen people were set apart from all others because they had the mark of the covenant called circumcision. But the Lord provided a way that the “mixed multitude” could join the “us” group. By taking the mark of the covenant they would be able to partake in the Passover.

The title of today’s sermon is “Fencing the Table” and refers to the rules set around who may and may not participate in the Lord’s Supper. The idea of “fencing the Table” comes from the Old Testament concept of keeping the holy things of worship holy. The expression appears to be of late-seventeenth-century origin and the practice goes back to the Reformation. It has been in continuous use in the Scottish Church ever since then. In our scripture this morning, God is “fencing the table” making the boundary clear that only those who have the mark of the covenant could partake of the Passover meal. Without the mark, the “mixed multitude” could not understand the significance of the Passover. The same is true for Christians and non-Christians or the “mixed multitude”, today. As Christians, we are under the new covenant, and as such, we must have the mark of the covenant. To enjoy fellowship with God, we must have had a spiritual circumcision, or a circumcision of the heart. For us today, “fencing the table” means that in order to partake in our “Passover” meal, or Communion, we must have had a circumcision of the heart. We must have believed in Jesus Christ for our salvation. Just like Passover, Communion doesn’t mean anything to those who have not trusted and believed in Jesus Christ for their salvation. That brings us to our big idea this morning that God wants us to understand: God requires his people to have a circumcised heart.

Before we look at our scripture, let’s open up our study of God’s Word in prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for bringing us together as a body of believers. Help us to be one as you and Jesus are one. Help us to be guided by your Holy Spirit as we look into your Holy Word this morning. Open and illuminate our hearts and minds to your Word and transform us where we need to be transformed. Then lead us out into the world to share the good news of your son, Jesus Christ, this week with those we come in contact with. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Our first point this morning is Introduction. I am going to read verse 42 from last week and then verse 43a from this morning’s scripture. This is what God’s Word says, “Because the Lord kept vigil that night to bring them out of Egypt, on this night all the Israelites are to keep vigil to honor the Lord for the generations to come.” And 43a, “The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “These are the regulations for the Passover meal:”

God has delivered the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. He delivered them by “passing through” Egypt killing the firstborn and “passing over” the Israelites. Those who had placed the blood of a perfect sacrifice on the doorposts were saved. The Lord then commanded them to commemorate the Passover on that same night every year. The Israelites were to keep vigil in honor of the Lord because he kept vigil on the original Passover night to save them from the Destroyer and bring them out of Egypt.

Last week we learned that the Israelites left Rameses and journeyed to Succoth. Now Moses records what most Bibles title “Passover Restrictions.” These restrictions were needed because of the “mixed multitude” who left Egypt with the Israelites. They may have been Egyptians who married Israelites or realized that the God of the Hebrews was more powerful or real than their Egyptians gods. They may have been slaves from other countries that Egypt had conquered and used the exodus to make their escape. Whatever the case, there were non-Israelite people now traveling with the Israelites. God was “fencing the table” by setting requirements and restrictions that had to be followed to ensure that the Passover would be kept sacred and holy to the Lord. It was not because the “mixed multitude” was racially different, it was because they were religiously different. It was because they worshiped many gods instead of the one true God, not because they weren’t Israelites.

That brings us to our second point called Instructions, found in Exodus 12:43b-49. This is what God’s Word says, “No foreigner may eat it. Any slave you have bought may eat it after you have circumcised him, but a temporary resident or a hired worker may not eat it. “It must be eaten inside the house; take none of the meat outside the house. Do not break any of the bones. The whole community of Israel must celebrate it. “A alien residing among you who wants to celebrate the Lord’s Passover must have all the males in his household circumcised; then he may take part like one born in the land. No uncircumcised male may eat it. The same law instruction applies both to the native-born and to the alien residing among you.”

The Lord is making a distinction between who could partake of the Passover meal and who could not. The Passover was the salvation event that the Lord used to save his people from the Destroyer and bring them out of slavery from Egypt. It was only to be commemorated by the Israelites and if you weren’t an Israelite, commemorating it wouldn’t have made any sense to you. The Lord starts his instructions by placing restrictions on who was allowed to partake of the Passover meal. He mentions different categories of “foreigners.” A foreigner being someone of another race and religion who in some way was associated with the Israelite community. He begins with a slave who has been bought. A slave that had been bought was considered a permanent resident of the community and so was eligible, but only after they had been circumcised. A “temporary resident” or “hired worker” were not considered permanent members of the covenant community and so could not eat it. Some of these may have been God-fearing persons but until they became part of the people of God, they could not partake in the Passover meal. Only those who trusted in the Lord and worshiped him could partake of it. Circumcision was the sign that you had faith and trusted in the Lord.

To understand this, we need to go back to Abraham. In Genesis 12:1-3, we see God’s call to Abraham: 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, by being obedient to the Lord’s call to leave his family and go to another land, proved that he had faith and trusted in the Lord. Because of Abraham’s obedience, God made a covenant with Abraham and in Genesis 17:11-13, we see God’s covenant sign: “You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant.” Alexander says, “Those who are circumcised enjoy the benefits associated with the everlasting covenant initiated with Abraham.”

We see how sacred and holy this covenant was when Moses is on the way back to Egypt with his wife, Zipporah and their son. Exodus 4:24-26 says, “At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses and was about to kill him. But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it. “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said. So the Lord let him alone. (At that time she said “bridegroom of blood,” referring to circumcision.) Seemingly, because Moses had not kept the covenant of circumcision, the Lord was about the kill him. This was a sacred and holy “setting apart” of God’s people for his holy purposes. Circumcision was the sign God required to be counted among his chosen people (Big Idea)

In the middle of giving the regulations for the Passover, the Lord gives a number of specific instructions about how they were to eat the Passover meal. These instructions speak to the unity of the community. First, it had to be eaten inside one house. This goes back to the instructions given to the Israelites at the first Passover in Exodus 12:3-4. Each father was to sacrifice one lamb for their household. But if a household was too small to eat the whole lamb, they were to share it with their nearest neighbor. ​​ The key was they had to eat it together under one roof, specifically under the roof where the blood of the perfect sacrifice had been applied to the doorposts.

Second, none of the meat could be taken outside. Again, this reminded them that the Passover meal had to be eaten inside a house where the blood was applied. This would also keep the meat from becoming defiled in some way and keep them from sharing the meal with a non-Israelite. Third, they were not to break any bones of the sacrificial animal. While this was not specifically mentioned in the Lord’s original instructions in the early part of chapter 12, this seems to have been the point of not cooking the meat in water but roasting the complete animal over the fire. This was a sign pointing to Jesus Christ as our perfect Passover Lamb. Finally, the whole community of Israel was to celebrate the Passover. This was to be a family meal eaten in each family’s home, but it was also a communal meal in that all Israelites were to eat the meal on the same day at the same time. But notice the wording, “The whole community of Israel must celebrate it.” You could not be part of the community of Israel and not share and celebrate the Passover. Every Israelite was obligated yearly to remember how the Lord had saved his people from slavery in Egypt. Because they shared being rescued by the Lord, they were to share in the Passover uniting them into one community.

In verses 43b-45, the Lord instructs Moses on who could not partake of the Passover. Now, in verses 48-49, the Lord instructs Moses on how those same people could partake of the Passover. In “fencing the table”, God was not preventing “outsiders” from participating, but as Alexander says, “he was drawing attention to the importance of circumcision and the covenant associated with it.” “Us” and “them”, meaning everyone, could now partake of the Passover meal as long as they were circumcised proving that they trusted in and worshiped the one true God. By allowing non-Israelites to be included in the commemoration of the “salvation” meal, God was fulfilling his ultimate plan for the redemption of the whole world.

So, essentially, the only persons who could celebrate the Lord’s Passover were those whose family had all their males circumcised. That was the requirement to be able to partake in the meal. This meant that they were identifying with the Lord and his chosen people. They were placing their faith in the one true God and accepting him by faith just as Abraham did. ​​ They were just like one who was born in the land. The “land” here is not Egypt but is looking forward to the time when the Israelites would celebrate the Passover in the Promised Land. Native-born meant those who were born as Israelites and circumcised as prescribed by the Lord to Abraham. This same law of circumcision was to be applied to the native-born and to the alien or foreigner living among them. To be included in the family of God and to have fellowship with him you had to be circumcised. (Big Idea).

That brings us to the third point this morning, Instruments, found in verses 50-51. This is what God’s Word says, “All the Israelites did just what the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron. And on that very day the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt by their divisions.”

Both of these verses are familiar because they were recorded before. Back in Exodus 12:28 it says, “The Israelites did just what the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron.” In verse 50, it is reiterated that “all” of the Israelites obeyed what the Lord commanded. Exodus 12:41 says, “At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the Lord’s divisions left Egypt.” And in verse 51, it is reiterated that on that very day the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt by their divisions. The Israelites were completely obedient to what the Lord commanded, and the Lord was faithful to bring the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. Not that the Israelites salvation was dependent on anything they did but they needed to be instruments of faith in the Lord and his commands in order to be saved. And not that the Lord was saving them because of their works but he was the instrument through which salvation was brought to his chosen people because of their faith in him. Because of the Lord’s faithfulness to his people, they were to remember his salvation by partaking in the yearly commemoration of Passover. The reason these verses are repeated was to show future generations the importance of obeying the Lord and his covenant just as their forefathers did.

Today, we also commemorate the event of our salvation. When we partake in Communion, we are remembering Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross for the world and for each one of us. But the Communion meal is also subject to “fencing the table.” For the Israelites a physical circumcision was required for them to partake of Passover. For us today, a spiritual circumcision, or a circumcision of the heart, is required to partake in Communion. A circumcision of the heart means that you have believed in Jesus Christ for salvation, repented of your sins and have been transformed inwardly and outwardly. A true circumcision of the heart involves God “cutting away” things from your heart, which results in the transformation of your life. Before you can partake in Holy Communion you must admit that you are a sinner, believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins and confess He is Lord of your life. Communion doesn’t make sense if you haven’t taken this step of faith. This is important because in the next two weeks, there will be two opportunities to remember Jesus’ sacrifice for us on the cross: This Thursday, during our Maundy Thursday Service and Sunday, April 7, which is our next Communion Sunday. So, if you have never accepted Jesus as your Savior, this next step is for you: My next step is to admit that I am a sinner, believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sins and confess Him as my Lord making it possible for me to partake in Holy Communion.

Once you have believed in Jesus Christ for your salvation “fencing the table” doesn’t end. As Christians, we are obligated to properly come to the Lord’s Table. Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:27-29 says, “So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat the bread and drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.” Pastor Stuart, before he serves Communion, instructs us to do certain things. As Christians, we must search and prepare our hearts to take this sacred and holy ordinance. This is “fencing the table.” Charles Spurgeon in his sermon “Fencing the Table” outlines what each of us should solemnly do before we partake in Holy Communion. One, we must know why we are examining ourselves – it is because others have “profaned” themselves and taken part unworthily. Spurgeon talks about those in his day who took it in an unworthy manner. Some would take it on secular occasions, the poor would take it as a means to obtain benevolence, some would take it out of superstition, and some would take it believing that it would save them. What is important is that we can have wrong motives in taking Communion, so we need to examine our motives before we take it. The only reason we should partake is to remember Jesus’ sacrifice for us on the cross. If we take it for any other reasons, we profane it.

Next, we need to personally examine ourselves in certain areas. First, we need to examine ourselves concerning our knowledge. We can’t remember someone we never knew. Spurgeon says, “Have you ever known what it was to be spiritually hungry? Were you ever spiritually thirsty? If you have never known this spiritual hunger and thirst, if you have never realized your own spiritual needs, and if you have not known what it is, for Christ to supply those needs, I charge you to keep away from this table until you do know these things. Otherwise, you will be eating and drinking in utter ignorance; and the mere physical acts will be of no service whatsoever to you.” Second, we need to examine ourselves concerning our faith. Spurgeon again says, “Are you trusting alone in the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ?” I am sure that I have trusted my soul, for time and for eternity, wholly to the keeping of that Savior who lived, and died, and rose again for sinners.” He then says, “If you are believing in him, he invites you to come, and you will be welcome if you do come.”

Third, we need to examine ourselves concerning our repentance. Spurgeon continues, “A heart that has never been broken, because of sin, shall it come and remember the broken body and broken heart of Jesus? If your eyes have wept no tears of repentance, how can you properly remember him whose veins wept blood to redeem his people from their sins?” Do we hate our sin and want to truly turn away from it? Do we say as David says in Psalm 138:23-24, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” The Lord wants a contrite heart and a broken spirit so we need to make sure we are genuinely repentant before coming to the Lord’s table.

Fourth, we need to examine ourselves concerning our love. Do we truly love the Lord? Three times Jesus asked Peter if he loved him. Can we answer like Peter in John 21:16? “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you?” Lastly, we need to examine ourselves concerning our obedience to the commands of Jesus. If we aren’t obeying the commands of the Lord, then we aren’t truly loving him. When we truly examine ourselves concerning our knowledge, our faith, our repentance, our love and our obedience, then we are worthy to partake of Holy Communion. So, I pray that each one of us would take the time this week leading up to Maundy Thursday and/or Communion Sunday on April 7 to examine ourselves so that when we do partake of Communion it is with the right heart and the right spirit. Remembering Jesus' sacrifice is a sacred and holy thing that we do, and our Lord takes it very seriously and so should we. That brings us to our last next step which is to examine myself concerning my knowledge, my faith, my repentance, my love and my obedience, so I am found worthy by my Savior to partake in Holy Communion.

As the praise team comes to lead us in our final song and as the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offerings, let’s pray: Lord God, I worship and thank you for your powerful Word. I pray that if there are those here this morning who do not have a circumcised heart, that do not know you as their Lord and Savior, that they will come to salvation. Lord, you are patient with us, not wanting anyone to perish, but wanting all to come to repentance and be saved. So I pray for those who do not know you yet and pray that you would draw them to yourself. Lord, we think about the upcoming opportunities to come together as a congregation to partake in Holy Communion. Instill in each one of us the need and want to examine ourselves so that we are found worthy by you to partake. Let us remember and never forget your sacrifice for our sins on the cross. I worship and praise you for your death, burial and resurrection. Help us to fall deeper in love with you everyday. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

The Origin of Fencing the Table by Rev. D.W.B. Somerset

The Short and Incomplete History of Fencing the Table by Rev. Judith Fulp-Eickstaedt

Mending Wall Summary and Analysis https://www.litcharts.com/poetry/robert-frost/mending-wall

 

 

/by

Up! . . . Leave!! . . . GO!!!

, , ,

Up! . . . Leave!! . . . GO!!!

The time has come. The time has come. The time is now. Just go. Go. GO! I don’t care how. You can go by foot. You can go by cow. Marvin K. Mooney, will you please go now! You can go on skates. You can go on skis. You can go in a hat. But please go. Please! I don’t care. You can go by bike. You can go on a Zike-Bike if you like. If you like you can go in an old blue shoe. Just go, go, GO! Please do, do, DO! Marvin K. Mooney, I don’t care how. Marvin K. Mooney will you please GO NOW! You can go on stilts. You can go by fish. You can go in a Crunk-Car if you wish. If you wish you may go by lion’s tail. Or stamp yourself and go by mail. Marvin K. Mooney! Don’t you know the time has come to go, Go, GO! Get on your way! Please Marvin K.! You might like going in a Zumble-Zay. You can go by balloon . . . or broomstick. Or you can go by camel in a bureau drawer. You can go by Bumble-boat . . . or jet. I don’t care how you go. Get yourself a Ga-Zoom. You can go with a BOOM. Marvin, Marvin, Marvin! Will you leave this room! Marvin K. Mooney! I don’t care HOW. Marvin K. Mooney! Will you please GO NOW! I said GO and GO I meant . . . the time had come. So . . . Marvin WENT.

You may have recognized that from the Dr. Seuss book called Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now. (I thought about doing the rap myself but that would have been a sight and sound no one would be ready for) I thought that was an appropriate way to start the study of our scripture this morning in Exodus 12:31-42. This morning Pharaoh and the Egyptian people will tell Moses and the Israelites, respectively, to go, Go, GO! And they won’t care how. They just want them gone and the Egyptians will even give them gifts as they leave the country. After 430 years, in God’s perfect timing and sovereignty, Pharaoh will say GO and GO he meant . . . the time had come. So . . . Moses and the Israelites WENT. Today we will see that Moses and the Israelites will realize that God always keeps his promises no matter how long it takes and that he will provide exactly what they need just when they need it. That brings us to our big idea that Moses wants us to understand this morning: We can trust God’s provision and promises in and for our lives.

Before we begin to study our scripture for today, let’s pray: Dear Heavenly Father, we bow before you this morning as we gather in this place to worship you in Spirit and in Truth. May our thoughts and attitudes be honoring and glorifying to you. Open our hearts and minds to your Word and guide us in learning your truths from it by your Holy Spirit. Help us to be attentive to your words so that we can apply them to our lives and so we can share them with others this week. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Our first point this morning is Complete Surrender found in Exodus 12:31-36. Follow along as I read. This is what God’s Word says, “During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord as you have requested. Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me.” The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. “For otherwise,” they said, “we will all die!” So the people took their dough before the yeast was added, and carried it on their shoulders in kneading troughs wrapped in clothing. The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. The Lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians.”

During the night Pharaoh summons Moses and Aaron. “During the night” is repeated from verse 30 to point out that this is the same night that the Lord “passed over” and struck down all the firstborn of Egypt. Sometime during that night, Pharaoh had been awakened by the sound of wailing. In fact, he may have been awakened first by the sound of wailing in his own household, when it was discovered that his firstborn had been struck down. We may think it odd that he summons Moses and Aaron since back in 10:28-29 we see these words, “Pharaoh said to Moses, “Get out of my sight! Make sure you do not appear before me again! The day you see my face you will die.” “Just as you say,” Moses replied. “I will never appear before you again.” This last time had ended on an angry note and they both probably figured they would never see each other again. But this was a special circumstance that warranted Pharaoh summoning Moses and Aaron for another face-to-face encounter.

Pharaoh tells Moses in three successive imperative statements to “GO.” First, he says “Up!” Second, he says “Leave.” In fact, he says, “leave my people, you and the Israelites.” Pharaoh didn’t seem too concerned with his people as God was sending the plagues. But now that he had shared their grief, he was in agreement with them. This was also the first time Pharaoh had called them Israelites, recognizing their identity. And third, he says “Go, worship the Lord as you have requested.” Ross says, “He (Pharaoh) was admitting there was someone who had a greater claim upon their service (worship) than he did.” Pharaoh wanted Moses and the Israelites to GO NOW and he was bent on driving them out of his country. This was predicted by the Lord in Exodus 6:1 which says, “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.” ​​ And Exodus 11:1 says, “Now the Lord had said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. After that, he will let you go from here, and when he does, he will drive you out completely.” There was no question that Pharaoh had now made up his mind that the Israelites had to GO and GET out of Egypt immediately. God promised to free the Israelites from slavery and that promise was now going to be fulfilled. (Big Idea)

“As you have requested” and “as you have said” signal a total and complete surrender. Pharaoh would now allow everyone to go, meaning men, women and children. This was a reversal of what Pharaoh said after the plague of locusts. Pharaoh wanted to know who would be going to worship the Lord, and in Exodus 10:9 we see these words of Moses, “our young and our old, with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds . . .” And Pharaoh responds in verse 11, “No! Have only the men go and worship the LORD, since that’s what you have been asking for.” And Pharaoh would also now allow them to take their flocks and herds, which was a reversal of what he said after the plague of darkness. Pharaoh summons Moses, and in Exodus 10:24 we see these words, “Go worship the LORD. Even your woman and children may go with you; only leave your flocks and herds behind.” Now, everyone and everything they owned could go and worship as Moses earlier requested. There were no conditions on how far they could go or how long they could go for. For all intents and purposes, in Pharaoh’s mind, he was now giving permission for them to leave and he was not expecting them to return. This was a total, unconditional and complete surrender.

Pharaoh knew he was beaten but didn’t want to admit defeat. We see this in two ways. One, he is still giving orders and acting like he has a say if God’s chosen people stay or go. Two, at the end of saying GO for the third time, he asks Moses to bless him. He may have wanted to be rewarded for letting the Israelites go. Or maybe have felt the land of Egypt had been cursed by the Lord and a blessing from Moses would reverse it. He may have thought that without the blessing, even when the Israelites left, the land would still be under a curse. Seeking a blessing from Moses, again highlights his complete surrender. But Moses does not bless Pharaoh. Again, as we have seen before when he asked Moses to pray to the Lord on his behalf, Pharaoh wanted something from the Lord, but was not interested in a relationship with him, nor was he repentant or did he want to take any responsibility that came with being a true follower. We can fall into this same trap today. We want blessings from God, but we want them on our terms and not on His terms. We want the perks of being a Christ-follower but not the relationship or responsibility. We want to continue to live on the throne of our own hearts instead of submitting to God and letting him rule our lives. God will not bless us unless we are pursuing a personal relationship with him, truly repentant of our sins, and accept the responsibility of being in that relationship. God’s blessing is for those who trust in the blood of Jesus Christ. That brings us to our first next step found on the back of your communication card which is to “Allow God to rule and reign in my heart and life letting him bless me, as he sees fit.”

Not only did Pharaoh completely surrender, but the Egyptian people did, as well. They urged or pressured the Israelites to hurry and leave the country. They felt that if the Israelites stayed any longer, all of the Egyptians would die, not just their firstborn. The proof that the Israelites were pressured to go is seen by leaving in the middle of bread-making. The Israelites took their dough before the yeast could be added, put it in kneading troughs wrapped in clothing and carried it on their shoulders. The next days’ bread would have already been mixed and ready to add yeast the next morning. But they weren’t going to have time to add the yeast and let it rise. When Pharaoh said go, he meant go now. Moses and the people were supposed to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice and that time had now come. They would have to take their bread without yeast with them as they left in a hurry. Later on, the unleavened dough would remind the Israelites of eating the Passover meal and would connect it with the haste and the urgency of the exodus that was about to take place. This was the Lord, in his sovereignty, teaching his people obedience, making their future observance of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread even more meaningful.

We see the fulfillment of God’s promise to make the Egyptians favorably disposed to the Israelites so they would not leave empty-handed in verses 35 and 36. God had promised Moses this would happen back in Exodus 3:21 and again in Exodus 11:3. ​​ The Israelites asked the Egyptians for articles of silver, gold and clothing. The clothing would have been expensive articles. In Exodus 3:22 it says, “Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters.” The Egyptians wanted the Israelites to leave the country so badly that they voluntarily gave them anything and everything they asked for. We are never told when Moses gave this command to the people, but are now told that they obeyed, and God provided just what he had promised. (Big Idea). By giving them what they asked for the Israelites “plundered” the Egyptians. “Plunder” is a military term giving us the picture of soldiers conquering a city and leaving with the spoils of war. Numbers 33:3-4 says, “The Israelites set out from Rameses on the fifteenth day of the first month, the day after Passover. They marched out defiantly in full view of all the Egyptians, who were burying all their firstborn, whom the Lord had struck down among them; for the Lord had brought judgment on their gods.” The Israelites left Egypt, not as slaves, but with their heads held high like conquering heroes.

Pharaoh and the Egyptian people had been thoroughly disgraced and conquered and their gods were shown to be impotent and false. They raise the white flag in total, unconditional, and complete surrender. Now our attention turns to the Israelites as they are given Complete Deliverance by the Lord, which is our second point this morning found in 12:37-42. This is what God’s Word says, “The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Sukkoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. Many other people went up with them, and also large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds. With the dough the Israelites had brought from Egypt, they baked loaves of unleavened bread. The dough was without yeast because they had been driven out of Egypt and did not have time to prepare food for themselves. Now the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt was 430 years. At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the Lord’s divisions left Egypt. Because the Lord kept vigil that night to bring them out of Egypt, on this night all the Israelites are to keep vigil to honor the Lord for the generations to come.”

Pharaoh and the Egyptian people said GO . . . So Moses and the Israelites WENT. The Israelites were now freed from slavery and the tyranny of Pharaoh. The oppression was over. God had heard their cry, was concerned for his people, and was faithful to his promises to them. They journeyed from Rameses to Succoth that first day, which would have been about a 15-mile journey southeast. At Succoth they probably regrouped, rested and ate. We don’t know where these two cities were exactly located during that time, but Rameses was probably one of the Egyptian storehouses that the Israelites were forced to build in the area of Goshen where they lived. It must have been centrally located as the Israelites seem to mobilize there to start their journey out of Egypt. Our main concern is not that we can or can’t locate these cities on a map, but that the Israelites exodus from Egypt really happened. It was a true event and the places named prove it. Although we do not know exactly where these places are today, when Moses wrote this book, the first hearers and readers would have known.

About 600,000 men “on foot,” besides women and children left Rameses and journeyed to Succoth. It has been estimated that there could have been anywhere from two to three million people involved in the exodus. The phrase “on foot” was used to mean foot soldiers in an army. This is the second time a military term has been used in this passage. This astronomically high number appears consistently in the Bible. In Numbers 1, God commanded Moses to take a census of the whole Israelite community on the first day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites came out of Egypt. The total according to Numbers 1:46 was 603,550. In Numbers 26:51 the number of Israelites taken in the second census was 601,730. These numbers would attest to what Pharaoh said in Exodus 1:9, “The Israelites have become far too numerous for us.” When Jacob and his family originally came to Egypt, they were seventy people, now with God’s miraculous blessing they had multiplied to over 600,000. Their number was also great enough to terrify the Moabites. Numbers 22:3 says, “and Moab was terrified because there were so many people. Indeed, Moab was filled with dread because of the Israelites.” Moses was not worried about giving us exact numbers but with letting the first hearers know that their God was and is a miracle-working and promise-keeping God.

We notice that “many other people” or a “mixed multitude” went up with them. These may have included Egyptians who believed in what Moses was saying and knew Pharaoh was not the right horse to back, so to speak. They may have included Egyptians who had married Israelites and other foreign slaves that had been captured by the Egyptians and had been oppressed as the Israelites were. All of these groups of people and possibly others took this opportunity to get out while the getting was good. Fretheim says, “God’s redemption is not for the chosen few; it is for the sake of all the world.” Isaiah 56:6-7 says, “And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant—these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” We don’t assume that all this “mixed multitude” changed their allegiance to God, but it reminds of God’s covenant with Abraham in Genesis 12:3b: “all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Idaville Church should also be a blessing to the “mixed multitudes” around us. All people are made in the image of God and are worthy to be accepted in God’s house. We are to be a hospital for the sick, not a country club for the entitled. Everyone is somewhere on the journey of becoming more like Jesus and we need to be welcoming and accepting of others no matter where they are on that journey. That brings us to our second next step this morning which is to “Be welcoming and accepting of others no matter where they are on their journey with the Lord.”

We also see that large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds, went with them. God is concerned about all of his creation and brings everyone and everything out of slavery. It was truly a complete deliverance. When they had arrived in Succoth to rest, they also took time to eat. They took the dough that they carried in the kneading troughs on their shoulders and now baked them into cakes of unleavened bread. We are again told that the dough was without yeast to remind us of the Passover meal and the haste in which they left Egypt. We might think why didn’t they now add the yeast? First, the journey was far from over. There was still a long way to go, and they were probably thinking that Pharaoh was not going to let them go that easy. They still wasn’t time to waste by letting the dough rise. Second, it continued the theme of remembering what God had just done in freeing them from slavery. In the picture of the unleavened bread God was providing for his people and keeping his promises to them.

The Israelites spent 430 years in Egypt which was foretold to Abraham in Genesis 15:13, “Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.” The difference between the four hundred years in Genesis and the four hundred and thirty years here is insignificant. Again, Moses was not concerned with exact figures. He was concerned that future Israelite generations would know that their God was faithful to his people, and he had brought the Israelites out of Egypt right on schedule on the very day he had planned it. They needed to know that God kept his promises and provided for them, and that he would continue to do so in the future. (Big Idea) At the end of the 430 years, the Israelites left Egypt. “To the very day” doesn’t mean they left exactly 430 years from the day they arrived there. It means that on “that very day” after the Passover night, Moses and the Israelites left Egypt. ​​ “All the Lord’s divisions” is the third instance of a military term being used in this passage. The chosen people of Israel are portrayed as the army of God, looking forward to a time when they would conquer the Promised Land. This is the beginning of the nation of Israel, and they left Egypt as a conquering army and would enter the promised Land the same way.

As we near the end of the passage we are reminded of the commemoration, first introduced in Exodus 12:14, that was to take place in future generations. On Passover night, the Lord kept vigil and “passed through” Egypt striking down the firstborn and “passed over” the Israelites. The word “vigil” gives the sense of “watching” or “observing.” Psalm 121:7-8 says, “The Lord will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” In the future, the Israelites were to do the same. They were to carefully “watch” or “observe” the Passover which would remind them of that night when God kept his promises made to Abraham and brought them out of slavery in Egypt. The phrase “out of Egypt” will be repeated 56 times after this. God wanted his people to remember that he delivered them out of slavery in Egypt and brought them to the land he had promised their forefathers.

On God’s promises, C.H. Spurgeon said: “God never gives his children a promise which he does not intend them to use.” He goes on to say, “There are some promises in the Bible which I have never yet used, but I am well assured that there will come times of trial and trouble when I shall find that that poor despised promise, which I thought was never meant for me, will be the only one on which I can float.” Charles Spurgeon (Spurgeon, Spurgeon’s Sermons, vol. 2, 404.) The Lord had made many promises to Abraham and Moses concerning his people who would be or were now in captivity in Egypt. In Genesis 15:14 and Exodus 3:8, the Lord promised he would bring his people out of slavery in Egypt and into the Promised Land. He also promised that they would leave as wealthy people providing everything, they would need in the wilderness to survive and to worship him. In Genesis 12:2, the Lord promised they would become a great nation and in Genesis 12:3, the Lord promised that they would be a blessing to the world. In Exodus 3:20, God promised Moses that he would perform mighty wonders in Egypt. 1 Kings 8:56 says, “Praise be to the Lord, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses.” No matter how long it takes, God’s promises always come true. No matter what we need, God will provide it for us.

The Israelites after 430 years may have thought that the Lord had given Abraham and Moses promises that he did not intend for them to use. They may have thought that his promised deliverance was too good to be true. But the Lord’s promised deliverance was the poor despised promise, that they never thought was meant for them, but was the one on which they could float. They could trust and believe in God’s promises and provision for their lives, and we can too no matter how long it takes and no matter what we need. That brings us to our last next step this morning which is to Trust in God’s provision and promises in and for my life.

As the praise team comes forward to lead us in a final song and the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offerings, let us pray: Lord God, you are so great. You are so high above us. Thank you for teaching us your ways and showing us who you are and how you want us to live. Help us to allow you to rule and reign in our hearts and life letting you bless us as you see fit. Help us to be welcoming and accepting of others at Idaville Church no matter where they are on their journey with you. And help us to trust in your provision and promises not only in and for our own lives but in and for the life of our church. I pray all this in the precious name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

 

/by

Escape Plan

, ,

Escape Plan

In 1848, William and Ellen Craft masterminded a creative and daring escape. The two had married in Macon, Georgia, in 1846, but were held in slavery by different masters.​​ Terrified of being separated, they devised an ingenious plan to flee the Deep South for Philadelphia. The light-skinned Ellen cut her hair short, dressed in men’s clothing and wrapped her head in bandages to pose as an injured white man. William, meanwhile, assumed the role of her loyal black manservant. On December 21, 1848, the Crafts donned their disguises and boarded a train to begin the long journey North. The scheme seemed doomed from the very start after Ellen found herself sitting next to a close friend of her master, but her elaborate costume prevented her from being recognized. The Crafts spent the next several days traveling by train and steamer through the South, lodging in fine hotels and rubbing elbows with upper-class whites to maintain their​​ cover. Since she could not read or write, Ellen placed her arm in a sling to avoid signing tickets and papers, but her ruse was nearly found out when a Charleston steamer clerk refused to sell the pair their tickets without a signature. Luckily for the Crafts, the captain of their previous ship happened to pass by and agreed to sign for her. The Crafts arrived in Philadelphia on Christmas Day and were sheltered by abolitionists before continuing on to Boston.

This couple had an escape plan, didn’t they? They wore disguises and anticipated some of the pitfalls of the journey that could have gotten them caught. This morning, we are going to see another creative and daring escape plan found in Exodus 12:1-13. God has devised an escape plan for the Israelites and he instructs Moses and Aaron on how his plan is to be implemented among his chosen people. The specifics of the plan must be kept to the letter because it is a matter of life and death. For the first time, both Egyptians and Israelites will be subject to a plague and its punishment because both are sinful. But God through his escape plan will make a way for those who believe in him to escape the punishment for their sin. And praise God, he does the same for us today which brings us to our big idea this morning that​​ God desires that his people escape the punishment for their sin.

Before we start to unpack God’s escape plan for his people in Egypt and ultimately for you and I in the here and now, let’s pray: Lord God, thank you this day that you have made​​ and thank you that we can gather together as a community of believers in your house. May your great name be praised and glorified this morning as we open your Word seeking nourishment for our souls that we so desperately need. In Jesus’ name. Amen ​​ 

Our first point this morning is Preamble. Found in Exodus 12:1-2. This is what God’s Word says, “The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year.” In chapter 11, Moses tells Pharaoh that every​​ firstborn son in Egypt and of the cattle will die.

The final plague seems imminent but as we open chapter 12, Moses delays telling the actual event, heightening the drama, especially for the first hearers. But that wasn’t the only reason. Moses inserts very important preparations that are from the Lord to the Israelites that are essentially his escape plan for the people. It is imperative for the Israelites to follow these preparations precisely in order to make it out alive. The escape plan communicates​​ his present intentions as they prepare for the final plague and his future intentions as they remember his​​ mighty deeds once they leave Egypt. These preparations and the focus on their future would have given the people confidence in the Lord’s escape plan​​ and his promises to them.

We are reminded that Moses wrote the book of Exodus somewhat later, probably in the wilderness or in the Promised Land. “The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt” means the following instructions from the Lord were spoken to them while still in Egypt. The preparations the Israelites were to make for the first Passover and later in remembrance of it started in Egypt. The Lord then institutes a new beginning to the Israelite year. While living in Egypt, they had probably been subject to an agricultural calendar which would have been dominated by the planting and harvesting seasons. “This month” literally means “this new moon” and suggests that the Israelites would now be following a lunar calendar. ​​ The present month was March/April, and from now on would be the “first” month of their year. The Lord was instituting a religious calendar based on what he is about to do for his chosen people. Their escape from slavery in Egypt would mark a new beginning for them and would be celebrated​​ in the years to come. Interestingly, this would not be the only time that God’s people would be freed from captivity on the first day of the first month of the year. In Ezra 7:9 it says, “He [Ezra] had begun his journey from Babylon on the first day of the​​ first month.” It is not a coincidence that the Israelites leave captivity in Babylon on the first day of the first month of the year. ​​ 

After the Lord instituted the beginning of a new religious calendar for his chosen people, he gave them instructions for their preparations for the coming plague. It would be vital that the people follow these preparations to the letter for his escape plan to be successful. That brings us to our second point this morning, which is Preparation, found in 12:3-11. This is what God’s Word says, “Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the​​ goats. Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where​​ they eat the lambs. That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire—with the head, legs and internal organs. Do not​​ leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover.

The first​​ thing we notice in this section is that Moses and Aaron are to give these instructions to the whole community of Israel. This was probably done by first informing the elders of the people who would then relay the instructions to the rest of the Israelites. This is the first of over hundred times that the term “community” appears in the Bible referring to God’s people. The church today is also a “community”; a community of believers and followers of Jesus Christ that share a bond with one another and worship the same Lord and Savior. Moses addressing the whole community would signal that something of great importance is about to be said. What he relays are very specific and precise preparations the people needed to follow to escape their slavery in Egypt. Previously, the Lord had made a distinction between his people and the​​ Egyptians, exempting them from the effects of the plagues. But now there would be no such distinction this time. The only way for the Israelites to escape the Lord’s judgment was to follow his preparations precisely.​​ (BIG IDEA)​​ The Lord’s preparations included the who, what, when, where, why, and how of the Lord’s escape plan. The “when” was the tenth day of the present month. The “who” was each man or father of each household. And the “what” was a lamb. Each man was to take one lamb for each household meaning this was not an individual meal but a communal one. It was also important that the men or fathers of each household did this because they were the spiritual leaders of their families.​​ This meal was to have spiritual ramifications for all time. The men were to choose the lamb that would be slaughtered that would save their family from death and deliver them to freedom. Later on, when this event was remembered, the father would also play​​ an important role. They were to pass down the story of the Exodus during the Passover seder meal. They were the ones who were to tell what the Lord had done for his people. If the fathers neglected their role in Egypt, his firstborn would have perished. If the fathers neglected their role in the future, the story of how the Lord saved his people would be forgotten.

This is exactly what happened in Israel from around 1050 to 620 BC. According to the account of King Josiah’s reign in the Books of Kings and​​ Chronicles, the Jews did not observe Passover for 400 years, from the time of the Prophet Samuel to the time of Josiah. 2 Kings 23:21-22 says, “The king gave this order to all the people: “Celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” Neither in the days of the judges who led Israel nor in the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah had any such Passover been observed.” And 2 Chronicles 35:18 says, “The Passover had not been observed like this in Israel since the days of the prophet Samuel; and none of the kings of Israel had ever celebrated such a Passover as did Josiah, with the priests, the Levites and all Judah and Israel who were there with the people of Jerusalem.”

The Israelite fathers at some​​ point stopped obeying the Lord. They stopped celebrating the Passover and forgot to remember what God had done for them in bringing them out of slavery and into the Promised Land. Men, fathers, let us not neglect our Christian duty to be the spiritual leaders of our family. Let us obey the Lord in all things and pass these things down to our children and our grandchildren. And for those who do not have children, to pass them down to your nieces and nephews, and any other children you come in contact with.​​ It is imperative that we do not forget the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross that saves everyone who believes from their sin and gives them eternal life. That brings us to our first next step found on the back of your communication card. It is for all​​ the men this morning: My next step is to​​ be the spiritual leader of my family, passing down the great things the Lord has done, especially the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.

The preparations for choosing the lambs show that extreme care was to be taken. If a household was too small for their lamb they were to get together with their nearest neighbor and share it. We see the precision of the preparation the people were to take. They were to calculate exactly how much each person would eat so there would​​ be no leftovers. No one was to go without, and no one was to gorge themselves. The meat and the eating of it was important. The fact that more than one family could take part showed a communal aspect of the meal. But there was also a worship aspect to it.​​ The word “eat” appears thirteen times in Exodus 12:1-20. Hamiliton says,​​ “The OT seldom dissociates worship from eating. Dinner is not something that follows worship. Dinner is an integral part of worship.” It is interesting that when we are connecting with others, we are also connecting with God.

The animals chosen were to be year old males without defect. Verse 5 stipulated the animal could be a lamb or a goat. They were to be a fully grown but young animal in the fulness of its strength. The important thing was not that it was lamb or a goat but that it was without defect. It had to be the best they had. In Deuteronomy 17:1, we see these words, “Do not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep that has any defect or flaw in it, for that would be detestable to him.” The animal had to be a perfect sacrifice to be the substitute for their sins. This perfect sacrifice foreshadowed Christ as our perfect substitute, who would save us from the punishment for our sins. 1 Peter 1:18-19 says, “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.” As sinners, we are unworthy before a holy God, and in need of a Savior. We need a substitute to take the punishment for our sins just like the Israelites did on the first Passover. The animal they chose had to be without defect to satisfy the wrath of God just as Jesus, the perfect “lamb​​ of God”, satisfied his wrath for us. This reminds us of our big idea that​​ God desires that his people escape the punishment for their sin.​​ (Big Idea)

The lamb or goat was to be taken care of by each household for four days, until the fourteenth of the month. This would give them time to ensure that they had chosen a perfect animal, without blemishes or defects. Also the lamb or goat would become part of the family and by the time it was slaughtered would have been cherished and mourned. The sacrifice would become precious to each family. This also would have been a public testimony of their faith in the Lord and his promise to free them from slavery. The entire community of Israelites were to slaughter the lambs or goats at the same time, at twilight on the fourteenth of the month. Twilight was the period between early evening and sunset giving them between one and a half to two hours to kill the animal and prepare the meal. The fathers acted on behalf of each family member just as the priests would later in Israel’s history. It would have been a solemn act as they sacrificed the animals as a community. It is interesting that in chapter 12, the plural “lambs” is never used, reminding us of Jesus’ sacrifice. Urquhart says, “There was only one before God’s mind—The Lamb of Calvary.”

Next, we see the “where.” They were to put the blood of the animal on the sides and tops of the doorframes of their houses where they would eat the lambs. A number of commentators say they would have actually tied the lamb or goat​​ in their doorways on the tenth day and would have slaughtered them right there on the fourteenth day. The blood of the perfect animal would have been on all four sides of the doorframe leading into their houses. Again, this would be a public showing of each family’s obedience and faith that the Lord would keep his word and protect them from this final plague. The applying of the blood ​​ highlighted the fact that this was a sacrifice and would save those who lived there. Milgrom says, “The things that receive​​ blood are extremities, the particular points of the object that a hostile force would strike first.” The blood on their door frames was to keep the Destroyer out of the house.

Next, we see “how” they were to prepare and eat the meal. It was to be prepared​​ and eaten on the​​ same night they slaughtered the animal. They were to roast the meat over the fire and eat it with bitter herbs and bread made without yeast or unleavened bread. They were not to eat it raw or cooked in water and the head, legs and inner parts were to be roasted, as well. Roasting the meat highlighted the sacrificial nature of the meal and that the Israelites were to be consecrated or “set apart” as God’s chosen people. They weren’t supposed to eat the meat raw, probably to keep them distinct from the pagan culture they will find themselves surrounded by in the Promised Land. They weren’t supposed to boil the meat either. Wiersbe says, “It was forbidden to be boiled because the bones would have to be broken and the meat in cooking would separate from the bones. It was important to see the wholeness of the lamb.” This reminds us that none of Jesus’ bones were broken on the cross. Roasting the animal with its head, legs and inner parts meant they didn’t have to fully butcher the animal. This preparation of the meat would have been the fastest and simplest way, saving time and demonstrating a readiness to leave at a moment’s notice.

Eating the meat with bitter herbs and bread without yeast also pointed to the quickness and ease of preparing the​​ meal. The bitter herbs could be eaten raw or roasted with the meat. The bitter herbs would remind them of the bitter experience of slavery in Egypt, that God was going to deliver them from captivity and remind them of their remorse over breaking God’s law.​​ Eating unleavened bread was often associated with sacrificial meals. Leviticus 2:5 says, “If your grain offering is prepared on a griddle, it is to be made of the finest flour mixed with oil, and without yeast.” Yeast was a symbol of impurity and sin. It​​ is hidden and works silently and secretly; it spreads and pollutes. Eating anything without yeast or leaven was so serious that in Exodus 12:15 anyone who did was to be cut off from the community. Eating unleavened bread signified they were ridding themselves of sin and impurity. 1 Corinthians 5:6-8 says, “Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

The Israelites were God’s chosen people, and the Passover was to set them​​ apart as his special people to do his special work in the world. Paul urges the church to purge sin from among their midst and present themselves as set apart to the Lord to do his work in the world. It is only when we are considered righteous before a holy God that we can fulfill his purpose for our lives. That brings us to our second next step this morning which is to​​ Purge the leaven (sin) from my life so I can be set apart to do God’s work in the world. ​​ Since they had calculated the meat that each person would eat, there was to be nothing of the lamb or goat remaining. If there was any remaining, they were to burn it. This highlighted the sacrificial nature of the meal and pointed to their trust in the Lord for his provision in the desert. It was also​​ a sacred meal and was to be treated as such.

Then the Lord instructed the people how they were to eat this special meal. They were to eat it with their cloak tucked into their belt, their sandals on their feet and their staff in their hands. Cloaks were usually worn loosely indoors and tucked in their belts when they were traveling. Sandals were usually only worn outdoors and not indoors. And staffs or walking sticks were used when traveling from one place to the other. This showed their trust in the Lord​​ that he would deliver them from slavery, showed their commitment to go where the Lord would lead them and​​ showed their readiness to travel when the time came. Guzik says, “Faith was essential to the keeping of Passover.” Hebrews 11:28 says, “By faith he [Moses] kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.” Lastly, they were to eat the meal in haste. This was not to be a relaxing meal but one eaten in anticipation of being freed from slavery at any moment. They were to be fully ready to depart. The Lord then calls the meal the “Lord’s Passover.” This is the first use of the word “Passover” and describes the act of the Lord in rescuing and redeeming the Israelites as a community​​ from slavery in Egypt.

After giving specific and precise instructions for the preparations of the execution of his escape plan, the Lord tells Moses how the plague would happen and how those who believed the Lord would be protected from judgment which brings us to our third point, Protection, found in 12:12-13. This is what God’s Word says, “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the​​ Lord. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.”

It is still the same night that the meal has been consumed. On that night the Lord would “pass through” Egypt and “strike down” every firstborn, of men and animals. To “pass through” meant judgment and to “strike down” meant to kill with a fatal blow. Because Pharaoh had tried to exterminate the Israelites, God’s firstborn, God would exterminate the firstborn of Egypt. But unlike Pharaoh, God’s “striking down” would be a quick and merciful judgment. The firstborn was God’s by right and he was exercising his right to do with them as he wished. When Pharaoh oppressed and killed the Israelites, he was setting himself up as “god” and trying to take away Yahweh’s right to the firstborn. The firstborn of the animals were to be “struck down” probably because so many of the Egyptian gods were represented by animals. Stuart says, “The gods were seen, above all, as the grantors of life and protectors of the living. The plagues, appropriately, were largely focused on death. The tenth and final plague showed that their gods could not save anyone or anything from death. If God can take the life of the​​ firstborn, he can take the life of anyone regardless of birth order.” By taking the lives of the firstborn of Egypt, God brought judgment on all the gods of Egypt. God then states that “He is the Lord.” This was his signature and emphasized his identity.​​ There would be no question who was “passing through” Egypt and killing the firstborn. He would be supreme over all other gods and has the authority to claim the firstborn of the Egyptians and Israelites alike. This would give further proof of his presence​​ in the land and his sovereignty over it.

As the Lord would go through Egypt killing the firstborn, the houses that had the blood applied to their doorposts would be “passed over”. It is important to not forget that the Israelite’s firstborn were also subject to this judgment. The Israelites were as guilty of sin as the Egyptians were and both needed a sacrifice to be saved. Each family’s lamb would die in place of their firstborn. The innocent would die in place of the guilty and God’s justice would be satisfied. Merida says, “The blood on their doors served as a sign that judgment had already fallen at that house. God accepted the blood of the sacrifice and passed over their sin.” This was the mercy of God. The blood would be a sign to the Israelites of God’s promise and that they trusted in the Lord to favorably intervene and free them from slavery. The power was not in the sign but in God’s word and promise to “pass over” the houses who had applied the blood to their door​​ frames. The Lord would see the blood of the sacrificial lamb or goat and even though they were eligible to be destroyed, no destructive plague would touch them when he struck Egypt. He would literally “stand watch over” and protect them from the Destroyer. It wasn’t their Hebrewness that​​ would save them but by trusting, believing and obeying God that the blood of the sacrifice would take their punishment for their sin.​​ (Big Idea).

On April 25, 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear power station in the Soviet Union experienced a meltdown and created​​ an enormous tragedy. It is one of the worst disasters in the history of nuclear power. To make the best of a catastrophic situation, the Russian authorities decided their best plan of attack for resolving this mess was to dump hundreds of tons of sand and​​ concrete into the live reactor in order to seal it up and prevent its radioactive discharges. One helicopter pilot was decorated for his heroism in making dozens of passes over the hot reactor to dump the huge cargoes of sand and concrete. Each pass he made over the reactor increased his health risk, but the job had to be done or the reactor would keep bubbling out its deadly fallout for decades to come. This pilot exposed himself to the deadly radiation in order to save the lives of millions of people and​​ many more who had not yet been born. This one man’s sacrifice saved many lives.

Almost two thousand years before this, there was another sacrifice by one person which would save the lives of millions of people and many more who had yet to be born. Jesus Christ sacrificed himself on a cross to offer salvation for all humanity. Jesus was the Passover lamb foreshadowed by the lamb that was slain by the Israelite families in Egypt. It was Jesus’ shed blood that was foreshadowed by the blood put on the doorposts​​ that evening. Hebrews 9:22 says, “Without the shedding of blood there can be no remission of sin.” However, for Jesus’ blood to be effective for us we must appropriate that sacrifice for ourselves. His atonement must be made personal for each one of us. Anders says, “Jesus’ sacrifice can be studied and contemplated, but until a person applies the blood of Christ by faith to his or her own heart, there is no hope of eternity in his presence in heaven.” Those who are born again have the blood of Jesus covering them. God sees his firstborn son’s blood on us and passes over us. He forgives our sins and see the righteousness of Jesus as our own. We need the righteousness of Jesus to be in a relationship with God. This can’t happen because of anything in us. So,​​ where does your righteousness come from? Are you trying to achieve salvation through “good works” or “going to church” or “giving to the poor”? Those are good things, but they can’t save you. Only by believing in Jesus and what he came to earth to do can you be saved. ​​ God has provided the perfect Lamb who takes away the sins of the world, and everyone who trusts in his blood will be saved. That brings us to the last next step on the back of your communication card which is to​​ Apply the blood of Jesus Christ by faith to my heart, trusting in Him for salvation.

As the praise team comes to lead us in a final song and the ushers prepare to collect the tithes and offerings, let us close our time together in prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for your Word. Thank you that it is truth and life and light. Help us to feed on your Word not only on Sundays but every day of the week. Lord, help those men who call you their Lord and Savior to be the spiritual leaders of the church and their families. And help us all to​​ purge the leaven or sin from our lives so that we are able to do your work and will in our communities and the world. Lastly, Lord, if there is anyone here this morning or listening that has not applied the blood of Jesus Christ to their hearts, trusting in Him for salvation. I pray that today would be the day and that your kingdom would continue to grow. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

/by

Paint It Black

, ,

Paint It Black

On August 1, 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew set sail from London aboard the ship Endurance. They were bound for Antarctica, where the famous explorer hoped to traverse the continent on foot. But Shackleton never made the trek because before the Endurance could reach land, the ship became hopelessly lodged in an ice pack. It was January 1915, and from this point on their goal was simply survival. The crew faced many hardships in the months that followed, including freezing temperatures and near starvation. But of all the frozen terrors they faced, none was more disheartening than the long polar night. The sailors grew uneasy as winter set in, and the light began to fade. In early May the sun vanished altogether, not to be seen again until late July. Shackleton’s biographer wrote, “In all the world there is no desolation more complete than the polar night. It is a return to the Ice Age—no warmth, no life, no movement. Only those who have experienced it can fully appreciate what it means to be without the sun day after day and week after week. Few men unaccustomed to it can fight off its effects altogether, and it has driven some men mad.” The bottom line is that humans need light and interaction to stay sane. Without light, we lose our sense of time, and without interaction, we become consumed with loneliness and boredom. With this sensory deprivation comes the strangest, most unimaginable psychological effects.

The Rolling Stones wrote a song in the mid-sixties called Paint it Black. At the end of the song it says – I wanna see it painted, painted black, Black as night, black as coal, I wanna see the sun blotted out from the sky, I wanna see it painted, painted, painted, painted black. In the song, the author has suffered a sudden loss, and can’t bear that life must go on without that person – his mourning has veiled his appreciation for the vibrant colors around him and he can’t even consider anyone else in his present state. There is little respite in the author’s grief, and as the song ends, he seems to sink deeper and deeper into his suffering saying “It’s not easy facing up when your whole world is black.”

These words can also reflect a spiritual truth in our world today. When we are living in darkness our lives are black and we want everyone around us and even all of creation to be black as well. But if we only knew what true blackness was like, we would probably do a closer self-examination and long for the Light. Eternal “outer darkness” is how Jesus describes hell. He says it is a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth, and He teaches us that it is a real place where real people will be sent. But being sent there is a voluntary choice. Jesus has offered us light, life, and peace in place of that; taking all of the darkness of the world upon Himself so that we could see the true Light of God once again. This morning in our scripture found in Exodus 10:21-29, the Egyptians are going to be plunged into darkness for three days. It will be a total darkness that can be felt, and they will not be able to see anyone else or even have the ability to leave their homes. The three days of physical darkness with certainly effect the Egyptians emotionally, but the darkness is really symbolic of their spiritual state. God doesn’t want them to stay in darkness which is why he keeps imploring Pharaoh to repent and let his people go. He wants Pharaoh and the Egyptians to “know” that he is Lord and in knowing and accepting that fact they can be brought into the light which brings us to the big idea that God wants us to understand from this passage this morning that God desires his people to live in the light.

Let’s pray: Lord God, we pause to thank you for the study of your Word. It is a light unto our path and food for our souls. May we be attentive to your Holy Spirit this morning as we dive into your Holy scriptures. Let us be convicted, corrected and instructed in righteousness by it. Please do what only you can do in our hearts and minds and wills. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

This morning there are two points. The first is No Warning found in Exodus 10:21-23. This is what God’s Word says, “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness spreads over Egypt—darkness that can be felt.” So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and total darkness covered all Egypt for three days. No one could see anyone else or move about for three days. Yet all the Israelites had light in the places where they lived.”

This morning, we are studying the ninth plague of darkness. It is the third plague in the third cycle of plagues and most resembles the plague of gnats and the plague of boils in that there was no warning to Pharaoh that it was coming. Having no warning would have brought Egypt to a standstill making its impact all the more dire and frightening. God instructs Moses to act and from that action God will bring the plague upon Egypt. In this instance, Moses is to stretch out his hand toward the sky and God will bring a darkness that “can be felt” over all of Egypt. Once God gave Moses the instructions, he immediately obeyed. He stretched out his hand and his staff, which is implied, toward the sky and instantaneously total darkness covered Egypt. Mackay says, “three days emphasized the completeness of God’s control over the situation in Egypt.” Total darkness is literally translated as ‘the darkest of darkness’ or “pitch-black darkness.” Alter describes it as “the claustrophobic palpability of absolute darkness.” Pharoah and the Egyptians would have seen the darkness as judgment and an ominous sign of what was to come. Total or “thick” darkness is used in the OT for the devastating effects of God’s judgment. Isaiah 8:22 says, “Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness.” And Zephaniah 1:15 says, “That day will be a day of wrath—a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness.”

The darkness over Egypt was so intense that the Egyptians couldn’t see anyone else or even leave their house for three whole days. Can you imagine this? Imagine living in the same house with your family but it is so dark that you can’t even see them. Imagine not being able to even leave your house because it is so dark. This eerie darkness would have caused panic and foreboding throughout the land of Egypt. Some commentators say this plague was caused by an eclipse or a sandstorm that made light and visibility nonexistent. But think about this: they couldn’t even seem to light a candle and there were no outside lights such as the moon or the stars. God had made it so flint couldn’t be ignited, fires couldn’t be started, and the moon and the stars were no longer in the Egyptian sky. It was a true and total blackout sent by God, and the Egyptians could do nothing but “grope” around in the darkness. It would have been dangerous to move around because you could fall or run into things. It would have been easier just to be still. Again, for the third plague in a row it was unlike anything the Egyptians had experienced before.

But, surprise, the Israelites had light in the places where they lived. This was truly a supernatural darkness brought on by God and not some natural occurrence. Now we don’t know if the cycle of day and night continued in Goshen as normal, but certainly they were able to have light in their houses. The Israelites continuing to have light signified that the presence of the Lord was with his people. Guzik says, “Light is not only a physical property; it is an aspect of God’s character. What we see with the ninth plague is God, in judgment, withdraw His presence so significantly that the void remaining is darkness which may even be felt.” And concurrently, God is light for the Israelites as he is for us as well. Isaiah 60:3 says, “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.” And Revelation 21:23-24 talking about the New Jerusalem says, “The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.” Physically, God made it so his people had light in order that the Egyptians and the Israelites would both know that he is the Lord. Isn’t that the way it should be? God’s people should be literal “lighthouses” in a dark world. (Big Idea).

The Egyptians were not only struggling physically in the darkness but emotionally as well. There would have been widespread panic and belief that the natural order of things had been stopped. It would have caused sensory deprivation, disorientation, depression and psychological distress. Since they believed that darkness brought death, they would have been terrified and had a sense of doom. They also worshipped the sun and the sun-god Ra. Every sunset represented death to them, but each sunrise offered them a hope of resurrection and the life-giving power of Ra. They had faith that the eternally rising sun could never be destroyed and each morning, they celebrated Ra’s victory over the forces of darkness and chaos. Darkness for three days straight was an attack by Yahweh on Ra and showed that Yahweh was more powerful than the most powerful god in Egypt. For Pharaoh it was even worse though. He was Egypt’s god, known as the son of Ra, the incarnation of Amon-Ra, who maintained the cosmic order. Quirke writes: “Within the reign of each king, he (Pharaoh) alone appears as the living representative of the sun god on earth and enjoys a unique sovereignty in the practical exercise of power.” Children in school were instructed to, according to Ryken, “Worship [Pharaoh], living forever, within your bodies and associate with his majesty in your hearts.… He is Re, by whose beams one sees, he is one who illuminates the Two Lands more than the sun disc.” They were to ascribe majesty and eternity to Pharaoh and even pray to him. Egyptian worship was deeply offensive to Yahweh as the Egyptians were worshipping a mortal man as the eternal god. Pharaoh was claiming attributes that belonged to Yahweh alone which was idolatry.

Idolatry is alive and well in our culture today as well. Origen wrote, “What each one honors before all else, what before all things he admires and loves, this for him is God.” Whatever we honor, admire, and love instead of God is our idol. The question is, what do we love most of all? Who is our supreme deity? Is it money, another person, a certain lifestyle, or ourselves. Walt Whitman’s famous poem, “Song of Myself”, says this: “I celebrate myself, and sing myself …the song of me rising from the bed and meeting the sun.… Divine am I inside and out, and I make holy whatever I touch.…If I worship one thing more than another it shall be … my own body.” We depend on our own abilities and admire our own accomplishments. We devote nearly all our attention to making our own plans, meeting our own needs, serving our own interests, and satisfying our own pleasures. We even complain about our own problems. It’s all about us. We idolize ourselves. Let us be a people who only worship the Lord and no one or nothing else. That brings us to our first next step on the back of your communication card: My next step is to stop making myself the object of my worship and turn my eyes upon Jesus and worship him alone.

That brings us to our second point this morning which is No Compromise found in Exodus 10:24-29. This is what God’s Word says, “Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, “Go, worship the Lord. Even your women and children may go with you; only leave your flocks and herds behind.” But Moses said, “You must allow us to have sacrifices and burnt offerings to present to the Lord our God. Our livestock too must go with us; not a hoof is to be left behind. We have to use some of them in worshiping the Lord our God, and until we get there we will not know what we are to use to worship the Lord.” But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to let them go. Pharaoh said to Moses, “Get out of my sight! Make sure you do not appear before me again! The day you see my face you will die.” “Just as you say,” Moses replied. “I will never appear before you again.”

Again, Pharaoh summons Moses and seems willing to let the Israelites go to worship the Lord, even though the plague is likely already over. Moses was probably summoned after the three days of darkness had finished. First, this is evidenced in that during the three days of darkness Pharaoh would not have been able to send anyone to get Moses. Second, Pharaoh didn’t have to ask Moses to ask God to stop the plague. It had already come to an end according to God’s timing rather than a prayer from Moses. Pharaoh now gives permission for Moses to take the women and children with him but makes the stipulation that he can’t take their flocks and herds with them. Pharaoh again tries to bargain with God and Moses. He still can’t let go of whatever authority he thinks he has and wants to control and dictate what happens to the Israelites. But Moses was not willing to compromise. He didn’t compromise during the previous plagues, and he wasn’t about to compromise now. He tells Pharaoh that they will not leave without their flocks and herds because that is where their sacrifices and burnt offerings will come from in their worship of the Lord. The proof that Moses and the Israelites were living in the light was their unwillingness to make even the smallest compromise in their commitment to worship God and him alone. (Big Idea) Moses uses the phrase “not a hoof is to be left behind” meaning every animal had to go with them. They would need some of the animals in order to worship the Lord, but he didn’t know exactly which ones and he wouldn’t know until they got to the desert. We may think that Moses was just making excuses here but actually it was while the Israelites were in the desert that God started to unwrap how the sacrificial system would work. We see this in Leviticus chapters 1-10.

This was Pharaoh’s third attempt to get Moses and the Israelites to compromise their worship to the Lord. First, it was “go, but don’t go too far” which for us today translates to give God your Sundays but do what you want the rest of the week. Second, it was “go but leave your children behind” which translates to you don’t have to influence your children, let them make their own decisions about worship, the church and Jesus instead of leading them in the way of Christ. Third, it was “go, take your children but leave your flocks and herds behind” which translates to you don’t need to surrender everything you have to Lord. As long as you give him a little bit, he will be happy. ​​ The human will hates absolute surrender. “Not a hoof is to be left behind” reflects the response of God to every attempt we make to surrender less than everything to Him. Do you believe that everything we have belongs to the Lord? Do you believe that God has the title to all we possess. Everything we have is given to us by God to be good stewards of for him. Our time, our talents and our treasures must be placed in his hands. ​​ “Not a hoof” means, that all that I have and all that I am is held at the disposal of the Lord. Those who are living in the light are the ones who refuse to hold anything back from the Lord. (Big Idea) Let us faithfully recognize that God wants all of us, our heart, soul, mind and strength, and that he wants everything we own to be used for his glory and for his work in the world. Let us refuse to hold anything back from him. That brings us to the second next step on the back of your communication card which is to “Not leave a hoof behind” surrendering my whole self and all my possessions to the Lord for his glory and his use.

Pharaoh does not have an opportunity to respond as God hardens his heart and he was not willing to let the Israelites go. In this context, as in 10:20, this is again a self-hardening of the heart by Pharaoh, the Lord’s action is passive. Despite the pressure from his own people he would not voluntarily allow them to leave Egypt. Normally, the reference to God hardening Pharaoh’s heart would signify the end of the plague narrative but here we see further interaction between Pharaoh and Moses. This change in the narrative alerts us to pay attention to what’s coming next. The hardening of Pharaoh’s heart causes him to respond in “violent fury” reacting angrily and irrationally expelling Moses from his sight, threatening him with death should he ever see him again. Ironically, after not being able to see anyone for three days, Pharoah tells Moses to get out of his sight. He is frantic, knows he is outmatched and not willing to admit defeat. We also see how much he has come to hate Moses as he threatens him with death. Moses agrees with and responds in the positive to Pharaoh’s ultimatum. He would never appear before Pharaoh again. Pharaoh has cut off his only means to salvation. Only Moses could help Pharaoh escape the spiritual darkness he was in, but he refused to listen and expelled Moses from his sight for good. The hardening of Pharaoh’s heart should be a clear warning to all of us to examine our hearts regularly to make sure we are not hardening our hearts toward the Lord.

Pharaoh’s actions were outrageous in a number of ways. First, it violated the immunity Moses should have had as a prophet of God. Moses spoke for God and so Pharaoh’s anger should have been directed toward God and not Moses. This violation would have been a serious breach in the ancient world. Second, it was mean-spirited and vindictive. Pharaoh had been given many warnings to let God’s people go and even after agreeing to do so he continuously went back on his word. Now instead of admitting he was wrong he threatens Moses with death. Third, it was cowardly. He tried to get rid of Yahweh’s demands by preventing his messenger from bringing those demands to him. An impasse has now been reached and the stage is set for the final interaction. If Pharaoh wasn’t going to deal with Moses it meant he was going to have to deal with Almighty God, himself, which should have been a daunting prospect. This points to the plagues narrative soon coming to a conclusion.

My conclusion is from Christian author Kate Hannon. Johanna had lived her entire life in the dark cave, deep underneath the earth’s surface. She’d never seen light—not pure light, anyway. There were little glimmers of light that reached her here and there—a fish that glowed, a glimpse of the outside world if she wandered too close to the edge, and an occasional traveler with a headlamp. Johanna, and the thousands of others who lived in the gigantic cave, passed their existence in darkness. They stumbled along, making their way as best as they could in the blackness, often falling to their deaths in huge drop-offs, getting bitten by poisonous creatures, or twisting an ankle on a rock—all because they couldn’t see. They daily walked right over incredible crystal formations and jewels, only they didn’t know it, because they couldn’t see them in the darkness. They remained oblivious to the breathtaking colors and dazzling designs. As odd as it may sound, these people lived in the darkness by choice. I know that sounds crazy—who would choose to stumble in the fearful darkness? Who would choose not to see? And why would they choose that?

Well, although very few admitted this was the reason, the people chose the darkness because they didn’t want to see themselves as they really were. In the darkness, they’d convinced themselves they were clean and healthy, and they didn’t want to admit that wasn’t true. Light showed them things as they really were. It showed them the dirt all over them. It showed them the dried-up blood and the uncared for wounds covering their bodies. It revealed the sores and disease that ravaged their bodies. It showed them their mangled hair and weak eyes. In short, it showed them that they were a mess. Had they only realized the healing and life that could be theirs if they were only willing to step into that light, they wouldn’t have hesitated for one moment. Had they only really understood that their present life in the dark cave ended only in death, they would have raced into the life the light offered to them. But instead they refused, living in darkness—loving it actually—rather than in the light of life. John 3:19-21 says, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.”

Light is an amazing thing. Without it, we don’t know how to walk safely…nor can we see the beauty surrounding us. Light shows things as they really are—it reveals the truth about ourselves and the world around us. God is light and truth—and He reveals Himself in His Word, the Bible. Are we willing to let God show us the truth—even if it’s not initially pleasant? Are we connected to God through His Word and through prayer? Or are we trying to live this life on our own without God, “groping” around in the darkness? As I mentioned earlier, if we only knew what true blackness was like, we would probably do a closer self-examination and long for the Light. Jesus has offered us light, life, and peace in place of that; taking all of the darkness of the world upon Himself so that we could see the true Light of God once again.

1 John 1:5-7 says, “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” And Ephesians 5:8 says, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.” God doesn’t want any of his creation to stay in darkness. He wants everyone to “know” that he is the Lord, accept him as their Savior and be brought into the light that only he can give. God desires his people to live in the light. That brings us to our final next step this morning which is to “Forsake the darkness, accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior and begin to live in the light.”

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: Heavenly Father, thank you that we can study your Word and in that we can show ourselves approved unto you, workmen that do not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth. Help us to stop worshiping ourselves and turn our eyes toward you and worship you and you alone. Help us to “not leave a hoof behind” and to ​​ surrender our heart, mind, soul and strength to you along with all of our possessions. Let it all be for your glory and use. And Lord, help us to forsake the darkness and to live in the light. And if there are some today that do not know you as their personal Lord and Savior I pray that today would be the day of salvation. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

/by

Let’s Make A Deal

, ,

Let’s Make a Deal

Let’s Make a Deal debuted on television in December 1963. The premise of the show involved guests wearing crazy costumes, winning merchandise and being offered the opportunity to take the items they had already won and trade them for items they could not see. The items were hidden behind doors or in boxes and the contestant had to make a choice. If they chose to trade the prizes they had already won, they might get something better, or they might get a “Zonk.” ​​ That is, they might leave with something worthless. The show succeeded because there was always someone willing to make a deal. There was always someone ready to compromise by trading what they already had for what they thought would be something better.

This morning we continue our study of Exodus in 8:20-32. God’s chosen people, the children of Israel, are in slavery in Egypt. God has sent Moses to Pharaoh to demand he let His people go. When Pharaoh refuses God sends plagues on Pharaoh, the Egyptians and the land. Through the first three plagues, water to blood, frogs and gnats, Pharaoh has hardened his heart toward the Lord and has refused to let the people go. In the second plague, Pharaoh outright lied saying he would let the people go if Moses would pray to God to take the frogs away. In the fourth plague, this morning, we are going to see a “Let’s make a deal” scenario play out, as Pharaoh offers to let God’s people go, but only on his terms. ​​ He will attach a condition or compromise to their leaving. He will in effect say to Moses, “I know God said to let His people go, and I will, but first, let’s make a deal.” He wanted Moses and Israel to compromise that which God had promised them, which was total freedom from slavery, for something much less.

The same goes for us today. Pharaoh stands for Satan, Egypt stands for the world and the children of Israel stands for the church, all those who are saved by grace. When we are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ and commit to lives to the Lord, we are called to leave the world and our old master, Satan, behind. The world and Satan are forever trying to call us back to our old selves and convince us to make a deal with him and to compromise our faith. But, with the Devil, there are no upgrades, only “Zonks.” Satan wants us to compromise by trading what we already have from the Lord, for something much less.

God wants us to lead a life of obedience that is Spirit-filled and blessed by Him. The Devil wants us to trade the blessings of God for the rubbish of this world and he will offer us every compromise at his disposal to attempt to lead us astray. Sadly, many people, Christians included, will fall for his tricks. But don’t be discouraged this morning. John 16:33 says, “I have told these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” By the cross, Jesus has conquered Satan and the grave. With the Holy Spirit living within us and helping us to obey all that Jesus commanded, we have the same power to overcome Satan and the world. We do not have to trade the blessings of God for something less. We don’t have to compromise with Satan or the world. That brings us to our big idea this morning that God calls his people to obedience, not compromise. And with the Holy Spirit within us it can be done.

Let’s pray: Heavenly Father, open our eyes, ears, hearts and minds to your Word this morning. Don’t let us leave this place unaffected or unchanged. Help us to be obedient to your commands and not compromise the great things we have with you for the trash of this world that Satan wants to give us. Thank you for your Holy Spirit within us. We worship you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

There are three points this morning. The first is Complete found in Exodus 8:20-24. Please follow along as I read those verses. This is what God’s Word says, “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh as he goes to the river and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. If you do not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies on you and your officials, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies; even the ground will be covered with them. “‘But on that day, I will deal differently with the land of Goshen, where my people live; no swarms of flies will be there, so that you will know that I, the Lord, am in this land. I will make a distinction between my people and your people. This sign will occur tomorrow.’” And the Lord did this. Dense swarms of flies poured into Pharaoh’s palace and into the houses of his officials; throughout Egypt the land was ruined by the flies.”

This is the beginning of the fourth plague, the second cycle of plagues that God has sent against Pharaoh and Egypt. The first cycle consisted of water turning to blood, frogs and gnats. The fourth plague is similar to the first plague, the fifth plague will be similar to the second and the sixth plague will be similar to the third. The first similarity is that Moses was to “present” himself to Pharaoh as he went to the water or the Nile River. Pharaoh and the Egyptians worshipped the gods of the Nile so it was probably his ritual to go to the river each morning to worship. The second similarity is that Moses was to tell Pharaoh to let God’s people go so they could worship him. The third similarity is that Moses was to announce the fourth plague. The fourth plague would consist of swarms of flies being sent on Pharaoh and his officials, on the people and in their houses. It would be a complete infestation where Pharaoh, his officials and the Egyptian people lived; even the ground would be infested. There would be so many flies that Stuart says, “you won’t even be able to put a foot down without stepping on lots of them.” There would be no escape from them.

In verse 21 we see a play on words: If Pharaoh will not “send” God’s people out of Egypt, God will “send” the swarms of flies against Egypt. The language of “send against” was a sign of divine response and punishment to his people’s slavery in Egypt. The choice was Pharaoh’s as to whether the plagues stopped or not. Would he be obedient to Almighty God or not? (Big Idea) These swarms of flies were not your ordinary housefly. They were made up of many different kinds of insects including dog flies, sandflies, horseflies, March flies, fleas, mosquitoes, midges, and even gnats again. The Septuagint identifies them as biting insects. This plague would be a complete infestation of biting insects sent against Pharaoh, his officials and the Egyptian people. There would be nowhere where these insects could not to get to them and bite them.

We also see some differences with the first plague. First, Moses didn’t have to identify the Lord to Pharaoh. In Exodus 7:16, Moses identified the Lord as the God of the Hebrews. After three plagues, Pharaoh knew it was Yahweh who was sending these plagues. Second, Moses didn’t need to identify where the Israelite people would go. Pharaoh didn’t need to be reminded that God had commanded them to go three-days into the desert. Moses may have left that part out fueling Pharaoh’s compromising response later on in the narrative. Third, the magicians will not be present, and Pharaoh will not call them. He knew after the plague of gnats that his gods were defeated and that there was no reason to summon the magicians. Also, Aaron is absent signifying that this is now between Moses and Pharaoh. Fourth, no staff would be needed to perform this miraculous sign. This would be a direct display of God’s power. All the Lord would have to do is speak and the plague would happen. That brings us to our first principle that God is All-powerful. We have seen this time and time again throughout our narrative.

Fifth, the first and second plagues were an attack on the water as all water above the ground was turned to blood and frogs came out of the Nile. The third plague was an attack on the earth as the dust of the ground became gnats. But the fourth plague will be different. It will be an attack on the air as swarms of flies overtake Pharaoh and the Egyptians. Like the frogs, the fly was revered because they seemed to bring life out of death. Ross says, “As the maggots came crawling out of rotting flesh, only to fly away, they manifested a power over death that was very appealing to a people obsessed with surviving after death.” This plague seems to be connected to the ichneumon fly which the Egyptians considered a manifestation of the god Uatchit. There also seems to be a connection with “Beelzebub” which means “Lord of the flies.” Beelzebub was actually a tool of Satan and one of the representations of Satan’s power in Egypt. Luke 11:15 says, “But some of them said, “By Beelzebub, the prince of demons, he (Jesus) is driving out demons.” Dunnam says, “They depended on Beelzebub to guard them against ravenous flies, but this plague convinced them he was impotent causing them to look elsewhere for relief.” The Lord has complete sovereignty and power over the gods of Egypt. He is also in control of all nature. That brings us to our second principle that God is in control of all nature. He is in control of the water, the earth, and the air. He created all nature, and he sustains all nature, and we can worship him for that this morning.

Lastly, probably the greatest difference between the fourth plague and the others is that we are told explicitly that the plague of flies would not happen in Goshen, where his people resided. The question we may ask is: has Goshen been exempt from the plagues so far? Stuart says, “At this point Moses chose to make the distinction explicit. It will appear as a feature in some of the subsequent plague accounts as well (nos. 5, 7, 9 and 10), but not in all of them—indicating that the cases where the distinction is overtly described are intended to suggest to the reader the general pattern that prevailed in all ten plagues. It is possible that Goshen has been exempt and we are now only being told. Pharaoh may or may not have been aware, but he is also now being told and he will not be able to ignore the fact that it is the Lord God of the Hebrews that is bringing these plagues.

The Lord was going to deal differently with the land where his chosen people lived. The Lord was going to make a distinction between the Israelites – his people and the Egyptians – Pharaoh’s people. The complete infestation of flies that the Lord promised to send against Egypt would be non-existent in the land of Goshen where his people were living. The reason given for this was so that Pharaoh would know that the Lord of the Hebrews is in the land. Pharaoh thought he was the king of Egypt, and he was in control of his land, and wielded the power there. But the Lord was going to let him know that was not the case. Yahweh is the Lord of all the world even the land of Egypt and all power is his.

The fact that it would only happen in Egypt and not in Goshen would be a miraculous sign from the Lord. It would also be miraculous because it would have a starting time, which would be the next day. This would prove that the plague of flies was not be a natural phenomenon or something that happened by chance. This sign was supposed to change the heart of Pharaoh into softening his heart and letting God’s chosen people go. But it was also a sign to the Israelites that they were still God’s chosen people. Magonet says, “This degree of discrimination moves the events beyond a natural cataclysm into a precise divine intervention.” Here God is granting his people a serene immunity because they are, after all, his people. The language of “knowing” and “sign” should have been a “sign” to Pharaoh of future disaster. This same distinction will be made again in Exodus 11:7 with the death of the firstborn sons. Even the word “ruin” used in verse 24 points to something more disastrous than a fly infestation.

Pharaoh did not comply with the Lord’s command, and he sent dense swarms of flies into Pharaoh’s palace, into the houses of his officials and throughout Egypt. The land was “ruined” or “corrupted” by the flies. This corruption would have kept the Egyptians from worshipping their gods because of being unclean, as they were with the plague of gnats. The imperfect form of the verb “ruin” is used to signify that the ruining continued for a period of time. Ryken says, “These were blood-sucking bugs that tormented both man and beast.” Literally, the swarms are described as “heavy”, meaning they were so numerous they became a burden to the Egyptians. Psalm 78:45 confirms this, saying, “He sent swarms of flies that devoured them.” These biting flies terrorized the people and devastated the countryside. The flies fed on the people and devoured them. We again see the principle that God is All-Powerful as he is able to use the even the smallest of his creations with such destructive force.

Now that the land was completely infested with flies, we could expect Pharaoh to comply with the Lord’s demands to let his people go which brings us to our second point this morning, called Compromise, found in verses 25-29. Please follow along as I read. This is what God’s Word says, “Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God here in the land.” But Moses said, “That would not be right. The sacrifices we offer the Lord our God would be detestable to the Egyptians. And if we offer sacrifices that are detestable in their eyes, will they not stone us? We must take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, as he commands us.” Pharaoh said, “I will let you go to offer sacrifices to the Lord your God in the wilderness, but you must not go very far. Now pray for me.” Moses answered, “As soon as I leave you, I will pray to the Lord, and tomorrow the flies will leave Pharaoh and his officials and his people. Only let Pharaoh be sure that he does not act deceitfully again by not letting the people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.”

We don’t know how long it took Pharaoh to summon Moses and Aaron, but once it happened they must have thought that Pharaoh was ready to let the Israelites go to worship the Lord. Pharaoh wanted relief and had seemingly started to crack under the burden of the flies. He was now willing to let the Israelites go but he was not willing to let them go to the desert. Instead, he was only willing to allow the Israelites “a holiday” in order to sacrifice to their God in the land of Egypt. This may have been seen as a capitulation on Pharaoh’s part, but it really wasn’t. They would continue to be under his jurisdiction, and he wouldn’t have to recognize their God’s superiority. Interestingly, Pharaoh now admits the existence and power of the Lord that He had claimed earlier to not “know.” But even now he only recognizes him as God of the Hebrews and not as God of all creation.

Pharaoh was offering to make a deal with Moses and Aaron to compromise that which God had promised them, which was total freedom from slavery, for something much less. Nothing but the complete release of God’s chosen people out of the land of Egypt and out of slavery was going to do. These were God’s people not Pharaoh’s. They were created to worship the one true God of the universe, the Lord God Almighty, not Pharaoh. This brings us to our third principle that God is pleased when we fulfill our created purpose to worship him and him alone. ​​ We see this in Psalm 148:5, “Let them praise the name of the Lord, for at his command they were created.” And in Psalm 86:9, “All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, Lord, they will bring glory to your name.” And in Exodus 20:3, “You shall have no other gods before me.” We were created to worship the Lord and that is why God brought the plagues upon Egypt. It was so His people could be free to worship him and him alone. That brings us to our first next step on the back of your communication card which is to Fulfill my created purpose to worship the Lord and have no other gods before Him.

Next, we see Moses’ response to Pharaoh’s compromise. This was not going to fly with God nor with Moses. Moses knows that staying in Egypt would violate God’s command and he refuses to compromise saying that sacrificing to the Lord in the land of Egypt would not be right. The sacrifices the Israelites would make would be detestable to the Egyptians and would cause them to stone them. Cole says, “Moses refuses on the grounds that to sacrifice in Egypt would be like killing a pig in a Muslim mosque or slaughtering a cow in a Hindu temple. In the sense that the Egyptians would consider the sacrifice of a sacred animal as blasphemous.” The Egyptians would stone the Israelites on principle. Then Moses reiterates that they must take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord, as he has commanded them. Pharaoh knew this three-day journey meant that he would never see the Israelites again. He would lose his free slave labor force and that was something he wasn’t prepared to do. We see the truth that Pharaoh knew that the Israelites wouldn’t be able to get away with making sacrifices in the midst of the Egyptians because he didn’t argue with Moses about it. He immediately tried again to get Moses to compromise. He said that he would let the people go as long as they didn’t go too far. He seemed to be allowing them to leave but really, he was keeping them on a short leash. They could only go as far as he could send his army after them to easily bring them back. This was as far as Pharaoh was going to go even with the plague of flies ruining the people and the land.

This goes to show that it wasn’t about the Israelites worshipping their God. It was about the Israelites freedom and whose they really were. ​​ “I will let you go” shows that Pharaoh believed he still owned and controlled God’s chosen people. Spurgeon says, “They were not Pharaoh’s people; Pharaoh never chose them, he had never brought them where they were. He had not fought with them and overcome them. They were not captives in war, nor did they dwell in a territory which was the spoil of fair conflict.” As Christ-followers, we are called to be in the world but not of it. We can’t compromise by worshiping “in the land” or worshiping the way the world wants us to. The world would say “worship on Sundays but the rest of the week do whatever you want.” The world would say “go ahead and worship but don’t be extreme, God will be okay with a little bit of worship or half-hearted worship.” No, we are to be obedient to the Lord and leave sin behind completely. Satan wants Christians to mix the world and church to the point where there is no distinction between God’s people and his people. Instead of being hated by the world like Jesus was Christians are joining the world and blurring the lines. We want to offer sacrifices to God but remain within the friendly confines of Egypt. But our scripture teaches us that we must not settle for the deals that Satan wants to make with us and compromise with the world

Jesus said we would worship the Lord “in spirit and in truth” and that means two things. One, it means leaving Egypt for the wilderness and ultimately the promised land. Two, it means total obedience to the Lord. ​​ We can’t compromise our faith; we must obey Jesus completely without compromise. (Big Idea) Spurgeon explained it like this: God’s demand is not that his people should have some little liberty, some little rest in their sin, no, but that they should go right out of Egypt.… Christ did not come into the world merely to make our sin more tolerable, but to deliver us right away from it. He did not come to make hell less hot, or sin less damnable, or our lusts less mighty; but to put all these things far away from his people and work out a full and complete deliverance.… Christ does not come to make people less sinful, but to make them leave off sin altogether—not to make them less miserable, but to put their miseries right away, and give them joy and peace in believing in him. The deliverance must be complete, or else there shall be no deliverance at all.” When it comes to obeying the Lord there can be no deals and no compromise. That brings us to our second next step which is to Obey the Lord completely, leaving Egypt (the world) and compromise behind.

Pharaoh then asked Moses to pray for him. “Now pray for me” shows Pharaoh knew exactly who the plagues came from, and how they could be stopped which was by humbly appealing to the Lord. Moses tells Pharaoh that as soon as he leaves him, he will pray to the Lord and tomorrow the flies will be completely gone. This would be proof to Pharaoh, the Egyptians and also to the Israelites that this plague was another miraculous sign from the Lord. The fact that the flies would leave at the precise moment that Moses said they would, would be all the proof Pharaoh needed to “know the Lord” and to let God’s people go. Pharaoh had already hardened his heart three times, so Moses warns Pharaoh to not act deceitfully again by not letting the people go to make sacrifices to the Lord.

After the plague of the flies brought ruin to the land and Pharaoh tried to get Moses to compromise by not going too far from Egypt to make sacrifices, we now come to our third point this morning, which is Choice, found in verses 30-32. Please follow along as I read. This is what God’s Word says, “Then Moses left Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord, and the Lord did what Moses asked. The flies left Pharaoh and his officials and his people; not a fly remained. But this time also Pharaoh hardened his heart and would not let the people go.”

Moses leaves Pharaoh and prays to the Lord just as he promised, and the Lord did just as Moses asked. The flies completely left Pharaoh, his officials and his people, not one fly remained. Now Pharaoh had a choice to make. He could choose to let God’s people go, or he could choose to harden his heart again. This brings us to our fourth principle this morning that God is pleased when we choose him as our Lord. God wants us to be obedient to him. He is long-suffering, not wanting anyone to perish and this was true of Pharaoh as well. God longed for Pharaoh to choose repentance and begin to serve and worship Him. God wanted to show his mercy toward Pharaoh instead of forcing him into submission, but Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he resolved to stand against God and his chosen people. Making choices is the privilege and price of being human. Every choice we make forms our character and the more choices we make forms a habit within us. As responsible human beings we need to make proper moral choices. When we become Christ-followers, God calls us to choose obedience to him, and every time we do it forms our Christian character. But if we choose to not obey the Lord and harden our hearts toward him then we form a different kind of character. No one knows when the “point of no return” will be, which was where Pharaoh found himself. Pharaoh had hardened his heart to the Lord and his people for so long and so many times that he was beyond that point of no return, and he would reap the punishment of his choices not only for himself but for the Egyptian people as well. Maybe that is where you are at this morning. Maybe you have been hardening your heart toward the Lord for a while now. He has been pursuing you and you have continued to put him off. If you are able to recognize this then you are not too far gone like Pharaoh was. We all have a choice to make when confronted by the Lord and you can still choose to soften your heart and bow before Almighty God this morning and accept him as your Savior and make him Lord of your life. That brings us to our last next step which is to Soften my heart, bow before Almighty God, accept him as my Savior, and live in obedience to Him and His commands.

I want to end with two short illustrations: In the early 1900’s through the 1960’s Broadway Presbyterian Church was a powerful witness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Upper Manhattan, but from the 1960’s to the 1990’s a subtle change began to take place. A change in emphasis stole in as massive feeding programs for the homeless were undertaken. Church membership slipped from over 1000 to 120. In the soup kitchens, prayers were not even offered over meals out of concern that the clients might resent it. And it was discovered that the same people were coming through the lines year after year. There was no change taking place in their lives. What happened? The decisive point of the battle, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, had been surrendered. Free food doesn’t transform lives, The resurrected Christ transforms lives. (World Magazine, 26 January 2002).

The second comes from A. T. Pierson: Suppose you had a thousand-acre farm, and someone offered to buy it. You agree to sell the land except for one acre right in the center which you want to keep for yourself. Did you know that in some areas the law would allow you to have access to that one lone spot? And that you would have the right to build a road across the surrounding property in order to get to it? So it is with us as Christians if we make less than 100-percent surrender to God. We can be sure that the devil will take advantage of any inroad to reach that uncommitted area of our lives. (Encyclopedia of Illustrations #1775).

We have all heard Satan say at one time or the other, “Let’s make a deal.” He has tempted us to trade something precious for something worthless. He has tempted us to trade our testimony for empty promises and wasted years. The great thing about our God is his mercy, grace and forgiveness. When we fall, Jesus will forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. He will restore us to life in Him. So I want to encourage all of us this morning that with the help of the Holy Spirit within we do not have to fall for Satan’s deals and compromises. And if we do our heavenly Father will let us trade in that which the Devil has given us for something more precious than gold.

As the ushers come to collect the tithes and offerings and the praise team comes to lead us in a final song, let’s pray: Heavenly Father, I thank you for your Word. It is true and tells us of your mighty deeds for your people. We can trust in it for our lives. I praise you because you are all-powerful and that you are in control of all nature. I also praise you for creating us to worship you alone and that we can choose you as our Lord. Help us to fulfill our created purpose by worshiping you and having no other gods before you. Help us to obey you completely, leaving Egypt and compromise behind. And Lord, I pray that we all would soften our hearts towards you, bow before you, accept you as our Savior and live in obedience to you and your commands. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

 

 

 

 

/by