Mountain Do’s & Don’ts (Exodus 20:1-26)

It is illegal for donkeys to sleep in bathtubs in the state of Arizona.

It’s one of those weird laws that remain around the United States.

In Arkansas, it is illegal to mispronounce Arkansas.
In Iowa, one-armed piano players must perform for free.
In Louisiana, you can be fined $500.00 for sending a pizza order to someone else’s house.
In Oregon, it is illegal to hunt in a cemetery.
In Tennessee, it is illegal to share your Netflix password.
In Vermont, women must obtain written permission from their husbands to wear false teeth.

What about California? A frog that dies during a frog-jumping competition cannot be eaten afterwards.

Finally, it’s good we are not a congregation in Alabama. In Alabama, it is illegal to wear a fake mustache that causes laughter in church.

If weird laws are one end of the spectrum, the Ten Commandments would be at the wonderful end.

Our first ever encounter with the Ten Commandments in the Bible is in Exodus chapter twenty. God gave them to the Israelites so that they might enjoy a relationship with Him, with one another, and with all others who were not Jews.

Yes, I said “enjoy.” Obedience to the Ten Commandments would make for a wonderful world.

I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1 You Show What A Wonderful World It Would Be By Loving God, and #2 You Show What A Wonderful World It Would Be By Loving Others.

#1 – You Show What A Wonderful World It Would Be By Loving God (v1-11)

If you are ever asked to summarize what you believe, you might want to consider the following story. On April 23, 1962, theologian Karl Barth spoke at Rockefeller Chapel on the campus of the University of Chicago. Many have reported that, during the Q & A time, a student asked Barth if he could summarize what he believed in a single sentence.

As the story goes, Barth answered by saying, “In the words of a song I learned at my mother’s knee: ‘Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.’ ”

Jesus was once asked to summarize what He believed. “What is the greatest commandment in the law?” was the question. Jesus answered, saying,

Mat 22:37  … ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’
Mat 22:38  This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39  And the second is like it: ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’
Mat 22:40  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

It stands to reason that if these two commandments summarize “all the Law,” that they must also summarize the Ten Commandments.

It’s been pointed out by multitudes that the first four of the Ten Commandments are Godward; i.e., they have to do with having a relationship with God. The next six commandments are manward; i.e., they have to do with relationships between humans.

Loving the Lord with all your heart, soul, and mind – that’s Jesus’ summary of the first four of the Ten Commandments.
Loving your neighbor as yourself – that’s Jesus’ summary of the second six of the Ten Commandments.

Why is this important? It’s important because we generally believe that the Ten Commandments are an oppressive duty that burdens all those who try to keep them.

Jesus’ two commandments are understood to be a delight, and the formula for a wonderful life. Since they are – then so are the Ten Commandments that they summarize.

Exo 20:1  And God spoke all these words, saying:

We forget that before God wrote the Ten Commandments on tablets of stone, He spoke them aloud to the Israelites at Mount Sinai.

Something to ponder. Adam, Enoch, Noah, Job, Abraham, Jacob… None of these men had the Ten Commandments. Were these men saved? Of course they were. But it wasn’t on the basis of obedience to laws.

Obedience has never been a way of, or precondition to, salvation, but rather it is the grateful response of those who are saved by believing in God. Old Testament and New Testament, salvation is by grace through faith and not by works of any kind.

Exo 20:2  “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

The Ten Commandments, and the rest of the Law of Moses, was not given in order for mankind to get saved by keeping them. The Israelites were already in a saving relationship with the Lord. The laws that would now be given would show them how to enjoy that relationship to the fullest.

Exo 20:3  “You shall have no other gods before Me.

The word for “gods” is elohim. It’s a word we have been told is a name of God. It’s not; it is a reference to supernatural beings; or, better, it refers to the supernatural dimension, and is therefore used of anyone that inhabits that realm – God, angels, demons, and the spirits of the human dead.

When the Lord says “no other gods,” it’s a reminder that there are real supernatural beings that seek to defeat the worship of the One true God.

Exo 20:4  “You shall not make for yourself a carved image – any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;

“Carved images,” what we commonly call idols, represent elohim – real spiritual entities with destructive powers.

By the way, the prohibition of images for worship did not ban artistic expression, nor prevent the production of adornments used in the worship of the Lord, such as the cherubim in the Tabernacle (Exodus 25:18–20).

Exo 20:5  you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,

Not all jealousy is bad. We want God to be jealous over us, and to intervene to protect us from the elohim who would rob, kill, and destroy.

Sadly, there are those who “hate” the Lord. Hate is a word that can indicate someone is an enemy; so this is similar to saying the person is an enemy of God, i.e., a nonbeliever.

The rest of the wording makes God sound vindictive, as if He personally punishes the children of nonbelievers.

Before you draw that conclusion, just think about real life for a moment. The sinful behaviors of parents have profoundly negative effects on their children and grandchildren.

Let’s say the Center for Disease Control can be trusted. According to them,

Child abuse and neglect affect children’s health now and later, and costs to our country are significant.

In one long-term study, as many as 80% of young adults who had been abused met the diagnostic criteria for at least one psychiatric disorder at age 21. These young adults exhibited many problems, including depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and suicide attempts.

Studies have found abused and neglected children to be at least 25% more likely to experience problems such as delinquency, teen pregnancy, and low academic achievement. Similarly, a longitudinal study found that physically abused children were at greater risk of being arrested as juveniles, being a teen parent, and less likely to graduate high school.

A parent’s adultery, substance abuse, or other dysfunctional behavior establishes a pattern that children tend to model.
The result can be a repetition of their parents’ emotional brokenness leading to adverse responses that affect generations.

Let’s not blame God for the consequences of people being His enemy and indulging their sin.

Exo 20:6  but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

The “thousands” relates to generations to come. It’s God’s way of saying He intends to be merciful to believers both now and throughout their generations on the earth. It doesn’t mean a believer won’t have trials or troubles. It means that in them God has mercy to comfort and help.

Exo 20:7  “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

Commentators are all over the map on this one:

One writes, “This commandment does not refer to blasphemy or foul language. Rather it is intended to prevent the exploitation of the name of Yahweh for magical purposes or hexing.”

Another says, “This means to swear by God’s name that a false statement is actually true. It could also include profanity, cursing, oaths, or swearing to a promise and failing to fulfill it.”

Yet another says, “Strictly speaking, this commandment applies to perjury during a legal proceeding, and not to speech in general.”

Maybe it’s as simple as remembering that God is a Person with Whom we have a relationship.
That being true, we won’t use His Name as if it were some sort of power to get what we want. And we won’t refer to Him flippantly – certainly never as a curse word.

Exo 20:8  “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Exo 20:9  Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
Exo 20:10  but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.
Exo 20:11  For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

Before I say anything else, let me just point out something regarding those who insist we must keep the Sabbath. I don’t know any sabbatarian who puts this commandment to its full intent by demanding we maintain a six-day work week.

Cause, you see, God doesn’t just say you should rest on the seventh day. He says you should work the other six – like He did when He created the universe.

One more quick observation. The Sabbath command was to do no work on the Sabbath day. Nowhere in Scripture is the Sabbath day commanded to be the day of worship.

Should a Christian, in the Church Age, “keep” the Sabbath? Yes and No.

First – No. The Jews in leadership in the early church established that Gentiles were not required to keep things like the Sabbath.

The apostle Paul said, “So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ” (Colossians 2:16-17).

One whole book of the New Testament – Hebrews – was written to tell Jewish believers to not return to things like the Sabbath in order to avoid persecution.

At the same time, we do keep the Sabbath. We keep it as it was always intended – as a continuous spiritual rest in the Lord. When you become a Christian, you enter into His rest, and thereby “keep” the Sabbath.

I mentioned the Book of Hebrews. The writer to the Hebrews exhorts his readers to “enter in” to the Sabbath rest provided by Jesus. He wasn’t talking about a certain 24hr day of the week. He was talking about walking in the power of the Spirit everyday and enjoying spiritual rest 24/7.

One of God’s purposes for the nation of Israel was that they show Him to all the Gentile nations. He didn’t give them these four, or any of the Ten Commandments, to have them fail.

They may not have had the Holy Spirit indwelling them; that’s a blessing the church has. But the Holy Spirit was certainly at work among them, and they could have loved God with all their hearts and minds and souls. Some did, after all – The prophets, Ezra, Nehemiah, and a lot more.

We have the Spirit, indwelling… empowering.

How much more can we obey Jesus, Who said, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’

The first four of the Ten Commandments simply expand on this. In one sense, they reveal what it looks like when you are loving God with everything you’ve got.

When what you believe impacts your behavior, you show others the joy of knowing God:

You’re at rest, spiritually.
You talk to God, and of God, as if He were a real Person that you are in relationship with.
Your life is dominated by a healthy desire to serve Him instead of all lesser people and things.
No one and nothing interferes with your worldview that you are on your way home to Heaven, just a pilgrim on the earth whose gaze is fixed upon the Lord.

It’s a wonderful life to be in love with the Lord; let’s show it.

#2 – You Show What A Wonderful World It Would Be By Loving Others (v12-26)

We know that ancient Egypt had a code of sophisticated laws, but they haven’t survived. I blame papyrus.

Researchers guess at the laws of Egypt by reading other documents that mention them, or legal matters.

One researcher writes, “Egyptian law was based on a common sense view of right and wrong… based on the concept of truth, order, and justice in the universe… This concept allowed that everyone, with the exception of slaves, should be treated as equals.”

The Israelites had been slaves in Egypt for centuries. They were familiar with the Egyptian law code which gave them no protection. Now they were several million people being established as a nation under God. How were they supposed to relate to each other?

The next six commandments establish how; and Jesus said they could be summed-up by saying, “love your neighbor as yourself.”

Exo 20:12  “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you.

O, look! Moses is wishing you ladies Happy Mother’s Day.

This command, if you think about it, promotes the sanctity of human life. The elder members of their nation were to be honored, not ignored or abused or eliminated.

This isn’t promising a longer lifespan for individuals. It’s promising success in the Promised Land for honoring life.

Exo 20:13  “You shall not murder.

One commentator had this to say about the word “murder”:

Careful appraisal of the word Moses used [for “murder” (one of seven different Hebrew words for killing, and one used only forty-seven times in the OT) suggests a broad translation of “to kill, slay” but denoting the taking of life under a legal system where he would have to answer to the stipulations of a legal code, no matter whether he killed unintentionally or intentionally. By this command, people would be reminded and exhorted to strive after carefulness in the affairs of life so that, on the person-to-person level, no one would die by their hand.

Again, this promotes a sanctity of all human life by holding accountable those who take it either intentionally or unintentionally.

This isn’t the place to take time on this, but I’ll mention that this command does not prohibit capital punishment. In fact, by promoting the sanctity of all human life, it recommends and demands capital punishment for certain behaviors – as we will see later in God’s laws.

Exo 20:14  “You shall not commit adultery.

This commandment applies to both men and women. It sanctifies the marriage relationship as established in the Garden of Eden – monogamous, heterosexual, to last as long as both shall live.

Later, in Leviticus 20:10, we will read that the penalty for adultery was death.

This command contains the basis for regarding all human sexuality. If biblical marriage is to be protected, then by extension things like polygamy and homosexuality are prohibited.

All exploitation of another persons body, e.g., the sex trade, is unlawful.

Respect for biblical marriage seems to be at an all-time low. In society, that is to be expected. But not in the church. Let’s get it together.

You may have seen the story about a high-level Christian minister whose removal is being demanded by over one thousand women. Among the complaints is that he counseled women to remain in physically abusive marriages.

We don’t counsel that – and that isn’t the way to honor biblical marriage.

Exo 20:15  “You shall not steal.

Behind this is the concept of private property. There can be no stealing if there is no private ownership. The society God was establishing was not communal.

Exo 20:16  “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

William MacDonald writes, “This commandment forbids damaging the character of another person by making statements which are not true, and thus possibly causing him to be punished or even executed. It teaches respect for a person’s reputation.”

Exo 20:17  “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

This commandment passes from acts to thoughts. Perhaps we are to understand from it that all ten of the commandments involve more than the acts themselves; they involve our thoughts as well.

Which leads me to ask: Did God intend for the Israelites to obey these commandments?

Of course He did!

It is true that no one can obey the Ten Commandments perfectly.

It is also true that we break them in our hearts. Jesus’ famous statements that anger is murder in the heart; and that looking upon a person with lust is adultery; establish the sin in our hearts.

But that does not mean we go around murdering people, and committing adultery.
I might want to do these things and thus see my sin, but I understand that I can choose to not do them – even before I’m a believer.

The Ten Commandments are wonderful laws for people to live by:

They promote an orderly, godly society in which life is sacred and individual rights are taken into account.
They simultaneously show us our initial and our continuing need for God in that we cannot perfectly keep them either outwardly or inwardly.

Exo 20:18  Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off.
Exo 20:19  Then they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.”
Exo 20:20  And Moses said to the people, “Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.”
Exo 20:21  So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was.

God appeared to them this way as a test. God was testing them to see if they understood the seriousness of obedience.

“Fear” was, in fact, the proper response. Fearing Him would keep them from sin.
God thought it was possible for the Israelites to not sin. I’m not sure if I ever understood that before now.

We can be so focused on how God’s Law ultimately condemns us as sinners, and thereby drives us to the Cross, that we forget we are still called upon to obey them.

You’ve heard this, and it’s true: Nine of the Ten Commandments are repeated in some form the New Testament, and Christians are expected to obey them in the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Which do you think is the only commandment not repeated? Yep – the keeping of the Sabbath. (Unless you count our entering in to a permanent spiritual rest).

Bottom line: Love your neighbor as yourself and you are keeping the six commandments.

What does loving your neighbor as yourself look like?

It looks like you hold to the sanctity of human life.
It looks like you honor biblical marriage, and biblical sexuality.
It looks like you respect property rights.
It looks like you respect the reputation of others.
And it looks like you realize you have a fatal spiritual heart ailment that requires God to justify you by grace.

This is what Israel was supposed to show to the Gentile world. It is what we can show to the nonbelieving world.
It’s unlikely to happen, but if someone comes up to you and asks you to summarize what you believe, you might want to break-out singing “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”

Everyday, without being asked, realize that, as a Christian filled with the Holy Spirit, you are capable of loving God with all your heart, soul, and mind; and of loving your neighbor as yourself.

When you thus yield to Jesus, you show what a wonderful world this could be.

Ain’t No Mountain Holy Enough to Keep Me From Jews (Exodus 19:1-25)

He’s called Super Sherpa.

No man has climbed Everest as many times as Phurba Tashi Sherpa Mendewa. He holds the record at twenty-one.

Besides Everest, Tashi has climbed nine other peaks in the 8,000 foot category. He retired in 2014.

Moses was quite the mountain climber. The Bible records him making at least nine trips up and down Mount Sinai.

The traditional site of Mount Sinai has paths that take about four and one-half hours round trip to the seven-thousand five-hundred foot summit.

That’s a lot of climbing – especially in chapter nineteen where Moses makes the round trip four times.

It was necessary because God was going to visit Mount Sinai and make His presence known to the Israelites. They needed to be ready and responsive when He did.

We’re not Israel, but it’s always good to be ready for, and responsive to, the Lord. I’ll organize my comments around those two points: #1 It’s Good To Be Ready For The Lord, and #2 It’s Good To Be Responsive To The Lord.

#1 – It’s Good To Be Ready For The Lord (v1-15)

The rest of the Book of Exodus, the entire book of Leviticus, and the first nine chapters of the Book of Numbers record the events that took place at Mount Sinai. That’s a lot of ink.

Exo 19:1  In the third month after the children of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on the same day, they came to the Wilderness of Sinai.

Moses was a shepherd, not a Sherpa, but he had to wear mountaineers sandals once the Israelites arrived at Mount Sinai.

Turns out, we don’t know where Mount Sinai is. Little or no evidence has surfaced that supports the traditional site in the south central Sinai Peninsula. In fact, it seems the only reason that the traditional site is designated “Mount Sinai” is that Helena, mother of Constantine I, decreed it as such in the early 300s AD.

In addition to the traditional site, there is evidence that points to a peak in Saudi Arabia. We just don’t know.

Israel came to Mount Sinai seven weeks after the Passover. This timing is reflected in the feasts of Israel. Pentecost is seven weeks after Passover; and in the New Testament, the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost takes place seven weeks after the death of Jesus Christ.

Exo 19:2  For they had departed from Rephidim, had come to the Wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness. So Israel camped there before the mountain.

The term “wilderness” doesn’t always mean a dry wasteland but sometimes uninhabited grazing country.

This is the same as the mountain of God, also called Horeb, where God appeared to Moses in a burning bush. Moses was familiar with the grazing around it, having shepherded there for forty years.

Exo 19:3  And Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel:

The “house of Jacob,” i.e., Jacob and his sons and their families, had settled in Egypt some 70 persons. Four hundred years later, the “children of Israel” were millions of people.

Exo 19:4  ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.

What God “did to the Egyptians” was more than a show of power:

It was a show of of His compassion as He invited Pharaoh to repent.
It was a show of His patience as He waited nine times for Pharaoh to repent.
It was a show of His protection as He kept unrepentant Egypt from overwhelming Israel at the Red Sea.

God reveals Himself; He works at revealing Himself to mankind, so that we can seek after Him, and find Him. His dealings with Israel weren’t meant to exclude Gentiles from knowing Him, but rather to give them a witness through the Jews.

“Eagles’ wings” is one of the great illustrations in the Bible of God’s watchful care for His people. It is repeated in many different places. You probably have it on a wall in your home.

Too bad we’ve ruined it in our commentaries. Here is an example:

All at once the mother eagle pushes the little one out of the nest, and the eaglet falls down the face of the cliff, surely to be destroyed. But not so. In a flash the great mother eagle flies down, catches the little one on her back, and flies up and deposits it in the nest. The mother bird pushes the little one out again, and again, over and over.

The eagle’s behavior is then applied to your walk with the Lord – how that God pushes you out of your comfort zone for your own good, to teach you to soar spiritually, with Him always ready to swoop under you and catch you before you hit hard.

You already know what I’m going to say: It’s not true. Eagles don’t do that.

According to eagles.org, “Eaglets spend 10-12 weeks on the nest, do all of their own flight training, and fledge from the nest on their own, gradually gaining strength and honing their flight skills over the next month or two.”

Another ornithologist writes,

Some eaglets take their first flight and have no issues, but some may go crashing through the branches and injure their wing and won’t make it. Sometimes eaglets will fall out of the nest, due to some disturbance like fireworks, or a rogue puff of wind, and fall from the nest before they are ready or even able to fly… If they are forced from the nest too early, they just can’t fly… and usually will not make it.

So what does God intend from the illustration of the eagle?

I think in this case it’s as simple, but as beautiful, as God depicting His sovereignty as if He were an eagle soaring.

The eagle effortlessly soaring high above on the thermals, looking down with proverbial “eagle eyes,” was like God overseeing the Israelites on their exodus. While they were in the throes and thick of it, God was watching their every move.

Someone is going to come up and quote Deuteronomy 31:11, which says,

Deu 32:11  As an eagle stirs up its nest, Hovers over its young, Spreading out its wings, taking them up, Carrying them on its wings,

Eagles do stir their nests and hover and spread their wings over their young.
They do not take up their young; they do not carry them in any manner.

Is the Bible wrong? Of course not. This verse divides into two very different halves:

The first half refers to the image of the eagle and its loving care for its young.
Then the focus shifts and in the second half, God Himself is the subject of all three verbs.

The carrying on the wings, then, is not something the eagle does; it is something God does for Israel. The eagle cares for its young and hovers over them. In the same way, God himself spreads His wings over his people, sheltering them under his protection. But then, what the eagle cannot do, that the Lord did do. In the face of enemies and danger, God took Israel and put them on His wings and carried them through.

J.R.R. Tolkien captures some of this the way he portrayed the eagles in The Lord of the Rings.

I’m sorry if I’ve ruined this illustration for you. On the other hand, we can’t go around making things up.

Exo 19:5  Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.

“Treasure” can be translated jewels. God was inviting Israel to hold a special place among the nations of the world; to be His crown jewel.

Exo 19:6  And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”

A “priest” represents God to people, and people to God. God’s intention for His crown jewel was that Israel (and each Israelite) represent Him to the rest of the world.

To that effect they were to be “holy,” meaning set apart. The ceremonial laws, the rites and rituals, the diet and days they were to observe – all these set them apart from Gentiles to the end that they would be asked “Why?” and be able to share the Lord.

Exo 19:7  So Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before them all these words which the LORD commanded him.
Exo 19:8  Then all the people answered together and said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do.” So Moses brought back the words of the people to the LORD.

Israel has been criticized for too quickly promising “all that the Lord has spoken we will do.” Maybe; but we do something similar. As a Christian, you have an imperfect knowledge of God. You will never have a perfect knowledge of God until you are out of your mortal body and in His presence. Nevertheless you regularly commit to obeying God – no matter that you don’t have all the facts about His Word or your life.

Exo 19:9  And the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I come to you in the thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and believe you forever.” So Moses told the words of the people to the LORD.

The people needed to know that Moses would continue to speak for God. He was their leader. This wasn’t going to be a democracy. They would get a visual representation of Moses’ delegated authority by hearing God speak to Moses from the “thick cloud.”

Exo 19:10  Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes.
Exo 19:11  And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the LORD will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.

“Ready” is the key word. Their readiness would be symbolized by two things:
They would show they were ready by waiting until the third day.
They would show they were ready by washing their clothes.

These things Israel was told to do to be ready were symbols that communicated they were willing to obey the Lord. They were an outward show of their inward beliefs.

Waiting with washed clothes meant nothing. It’s important to understand the rituals themselves were powerless.

Exo 19:12  You shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, ‘Take heed to yourselves that you do not go up to the mountain or touch its base. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death.
Exo 19:13  Not a hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot with an arrow; whether man or beast, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds long, they shall come near the mountain.”

Although there was obviously a lot of terror at this event, don’t lose sight of how glorious it was. It reminds me of C.S. Lewis’ description of Aslan in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe:

“Aslan is a lion – the Lion, the great Lion,” [said Mr. Beaver]. “Ooh” said Susan. “I’d thought he was a man. Is he-quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”

Safe?” said Mr. Beaver. “Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”

YHWH was coming to enter into a covenant elevating this insignificant nation. He had redeemed them mightily and would now make them His crown jewel. They would be looked upon as those who had knowledge of the one true God. All the nations of the world would seek them out.

“Don’t touch the mountain” sounds reasonable to me. It emphasized His holiness, while simultaneously communicating that God made a way to have a personal relationship with them.

Exo 19:14  So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified the people, and they washed their clothes.
Exo 19:15  And he said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not come near your wives.”

In addition to waiting and washing, they were to abstain from normal sexual relations within their marriages. It was a temporary fast, intended to focus the mind away from self and onto God.

This is the point in our study that we make application to ourselves. But before we do, there is a passage in the New Testament we absolutely must read. If we don’t, we’ll for sure get this wrong.

In the New Testament Book of Hebrews, the writer was exhorting persecuted Christian Jews to not return to Judaism and thereby avoid martyrdom. He told them they had Someone better. To make his point, he used Mount Sinai as an illustration:

Heb 12:18  For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest,
Heb 12:19  and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore.
Heb 12:20  (For they could not endure what was commanded: “AND IF SO MUCH AS A BEAST TOUCHES THE MOUNTAIN, IT SHALL BE STONED OR SHOT WITH AN ARROW.”
Heb 12:21  And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I AM EXCEEDINGLY AFRAID AND TREMBLING.”)
Heb 12:22  But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels,
Heb 12:23  to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect,
Heb 12:24  to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant…

You and I no longer approach God as if He were thundering from Mount Sinai. We are already citizens of the New Jerusalem, the future city Jesus is away building that comes out of Heaven to hover over the earth.

We should not take from this that you have to wear your ‘Sunday best’ in order to come to church. Or that you cannot immediately approach the Lord, but must somehow wait to prove your sincerity.

God’s dealings with Israel at Mount Sinai were glorious. But they fade into shadows when compared with what we have in Jesus.

We believe in what theologians call dispensations. William MacDonald has a great section on this in his Believer’s Bible Commentary. Here is just a brief portion:

… It is very helpful to see that there are different dispensations [in God’s historic dealings with mankind]. The distinction between law and grace is especially important. Otherwise we will take portions of Scripture that apply to other ages and refer them to ourselves. While all Scriptures are profitable for us (Second Timothy 3:16), not all were written directly to us. Passages dealing with other ages have applications for us, but their primary interpretation is for the age for which they were written. We [could cite] the dietary restrictions of Leviticus 11. [According to Jesus in the Gospel of Mark 7:18-19] this prohibition is not binding on Christians today. [But] the underlying principle remains – that we should avoid moral and spiritual uncleanness.

I like to put it this way: We no longer sacrifice lambs as in former times because Jesus was the lamb Who took away the sins of the world. We thus live in a different dispensation, and we must be careful making application to ourselves from previous ones.

How, then, does Israel at Mount Sinai minister to us? In their being ready. The New Testament encourages us to be ready in at least two ways:

We’re told to “sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear” (First Peter 3:15).
We’re told in Second Thessalonians 3:5, “And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.”

Don’t look back to Mount Sinai, and the keeping of the Law with its rules and rituals, diet and days.
Look forward to the imminent coming of Jesus. Our waiting, and washing, and fasting, is spiritual and Holy Spirit empowered. Ours is a freedom in Jesus no previous dispensation experienced. We should revel in it.

#2 – It’s Good To Be Responsive To The Lord (v16-25)

We’re having a baptism today, but it won’t be a spontaneous baptism.

A large, outwardly successful megachurch was busted for its practice of what they called “spontaneous baptisms.” The pastor would announce the baptism, and people were immediately moved to come forward, with no advanced notice.

Turns out the supposedly spontaneous baptisms were carefully planned ahead of time, with people planted in the congregation to encourage the response of others. Fifteen people planted in the service would be the first ones to move when the pastor gives the call. They were to move intentionally through the highest visibility areas and take the longest walk. Their supposed spontaneous response to be baptized encouraged others to do the same.

It’s important we respond to God – but that we do it without stunts or gimmicks.

Our chapter continues with the response of the Israelites to God’s invitation.

Exo 19:16  Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.

The Lord manifested Himself by sights and sounds, but it wasn’t a gimmick or a stunt. It was an appropriate representation of His glory.

Exo 19:17  And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.

The people responded. It was genuine. They chose to be there; they wanted to be there.

Exo 19:18  Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly.
Exo 19:19  And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice.

This was maybe the worst venue ever. It was too dark and much too loud. If we ran church like this, no one would come back.

Exo 19:20  Then the LORD came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain. And the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.
Exo 19:21  And the LORD said to Moses, “Go down…”

Stop there for a moment. “Go down?” He just went up. It had taken him hours. God could have spoken to him anywhere, at anytime.

Sometimes God seems inefficient. I say that reverently; but it’s true. For example: Using you and I to spread the Gospel is terribly inefficient when you consider the resources at God’s disposal. But it is how the Lord has chosen to reveal Himself.

Exo 19:21  And the LORD said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to gaze at the LORD, and many of them perish.

These Israelites who were willing to ignore God’s warnings would have made great California drivers. We regularly ignore all kinds of warnings. “Street Closed” means less traffic. “Carry Chains” means call Triple-A.

Exo 19:22  Also let the priests who come near the LORD consecrate themselves, lest the LORD break out against them.”

A formal priesthood did not yet exist. Apparently each family had someone designated to perform sacrifices and make offerings to the Lord.

It sounds like these guys needed some extra consecration. We’re not told what it was.

Exo 19:23  But Moses said to the LORD, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai; for You warned us, saying, ‘Set bounds around the mountain and consecrate it.’ ”

Moses assumed the people would obey due to the severity of the warnings. But some might not.

Exo 19:24  Then the LORD said to him, “Away! Get down and then come up, you and Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the LORD, lest He break out against them.”

Go down; come up. If God wants you to spend most of your day climbing, that’s His call.

Exo 19:25  So Moses went down to the people and spoke to them.

Moses responds obediently throughout.
The people respond – not perfectly, but enthusiastically.

We ought to respond to God. Thankfully, He’s not manifesting Himself like at Mount Sinai. But He is present – both as we gather, and everywhere.

Isaiah’s famous declaration upon seeing God is still applicable: “Here am I God; send me.” It rings true with the exhortation in our dispensation that we offer ourselves living sacrifices and thereby serve the Lord as He directs us.

We all, daily and weekly, need to ask ourselves, “How am I responding to God’s presence in my life?”

If you’re not a believer in Jesus… You respond to Him knocking at the door of your heart. Open it; let Him in, to share eternal life with you.

After all, “those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).

Father-In-Law Knows Best (Exodus 18:1-27)

About 40 years ago I was a new Christian attending a morning men’s fellowship at Calvary Chapel of Lake Arrowhead. The question was asked, “Who is the Christian that has influenced you the most?”

Take a moment to think about how you would answer that question – especially early in your Christian walk.

As we went around the room, and guys gave their answers, no one said Billy Graham… Or Charles Swindoll… Or A.W. Tozer… Or C.S. Lewis.

No one mentioned any well-known Christian pastor or author. They all mentioned some ordinary believer that God had brought into their life, for a time or for a lifetime, that was an example for them, and encouraged them to make progress on the journey homeward to Heaven.

When it came to me, I said it was Loren Faulkner. He was my co-worker who converted to Jesus then, some months later, led me to faith in the Lord, and to attend Calvary Chapel.

Who is it for you? You probably have a list of several unknown, ordinary believers that God has used to be an example to you, and to encourage you, along your walk.

If Moses had been asked that question, he might have answered, “Jethro.” God brought Jethro into Moses’ life at certain key moments in order to influence Moses in his work and in his walk.

Chapter eighteen will be a lot more interesting and engaging if you think about who is influencing you, or how you are influencing others.

I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1 You Influence Others In Their Worship, and #2 You Influence Others In Their Work.

#1 – You Influence Others In Their Worship (v1-12)

Any list of the most popular words of the past decade is going to have “mentor” on it. Rarely does a day go by that I don’t hear it.

You might be someone’s mentor… You might look to someone as your mentor.

I discovered something interesting about mentoring. The concept originates in Greek mythology. Odysseus was the king of Ithaca, a small city-state in Ancient Greece. He left his wife Penelope, and infant son Telemachus, to fight with the Greek alliance in the Trojan War. He entrusted guardianship of his son and his royal household to an old friend, whose name was Mentor. During Odysseus’ long absence Mentor became Telemachus’ – you guessed it – mentor.

It’s popular to see Jethro and Moses as a biblical example of mentoring. Let’s not call Jethro Moses’ mentor. It would be forcing a context on the text that is foreign to it. These verses are not here to teach us the principles of modern mentoring.

Moses wasn’t Jethro’s disciple, either. But he was more than just his father-in-law. It’s best to see him as being brought by God into Moses’ life at certain key moments in order to influence him.

We’ve met Jethro before. When Moses fled for his life from Egypt, he encountered the daughters of Jethro at a well. After defending them against some surly shepherds, he was invited to stay with Jethro and family.

Moses married Jethro’s oldest daughter, Zipporah. He became a shepherd in the household of Jethro for forty years before he spoke with God at the burning bush.

Exo 18:1  And Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel His people – that the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt.

This will make no sense to you if you haven’t seen Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2. There’s a line of dialog where Peter Quill’s father tells him that even way out on the edge of the galaxy they’ve heard of the man who could hold an infinity stone in his hand without dying.

With the rod of God in his hand, Moses had decimated the empire of Egypt. Millions of Israelis were on their way to the land promised them through Abraham several centuries earlier. However news traveled, it was the lead story for months.

What’s your lead story? For example tomorrow when folks ask how you’re doing and what you did over the weekend – Will you include going to church? Will you summarize what you experienced or learned?

On Facebook and other social media sites people like to announce “In a relationship.” Is it obvious by what we post that we are in a relationship with Jesus?

Exo 18:2  Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her back,
Exo 18:3  with her two sons, of whom the name of one was Gershom (for he said, “I have been a stranger in a foreign land”)
Exo 18:4  and the name of the other was Eliezer (for he said, “The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh”);

We don’t know exactly why or when Zipporah and the two boys were sent back to live with Jethro. There’s no use speculating that it shows marital discord, or some other motive.

It makes more sense that Moses and Zipporah would want to protect their family from what was sure to be a fight in Egypt against Pharaoh.

In the movies, the bad guys always threaten and kidnap the family of the hero. Best to not give Pharaoh the opportunity.

The names of the two sons expressed, respectively, the despondency natural to an exile, and the gratitude of one who had just learned that by God’s goodness, the term of his banishment was over.

The naming of these boys reminds me of Mr. and Mrs. Brown’s two sons. One was named Mind Your Own Business & the other was named Trouble.

One day the two boys decided to play hide and seek. Trouble hid while Mind Your Own Business counted to one hundred. Mind Your Own Business began looking for his brother behind garbage cans and bushes. He started looking in and under cars until a police man approached him and asked, “What are you doing?” “Playing a game,” the boy replied. “What is your name?” the officer questioned. “Mind Your Own Business.” Furious the policeman inquired, “Are you looking for trouble?!” The boy replied, “Why, yes.”

Exo 18:5  and Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness, where he was encamped at the mountain of God.
Exo 18:6  Now he had said to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her.”

The reference to “the mountain of God” has some commentators suggesting this story is not in chronological order, because Moses had not yet come to Mount Sinai in chapter seventeen.

That may be true; or it may be that the wilderness area of Rephidim was associated with Mount Sinai in a way that folks called the entire area by that name.

Jethro sent a message ahead to alert Moses he was coming. Apparently he knew that Moses didn’t like the pop-in.

Exo 18:7  So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, bowed down, and kissed him. And they asked each other about their well-being, and they went into the tent.

This was the standard meet-and-greet. Every culture has its own; along with personal customs that develop among family and friends.

Our culture is going through a fist-bump phase. For fun, check out the Wikipedia article on the fist bump. One interesting fact: Fist bumping behavior has been observed in chimpanzees (according to a book published by Margaret Power in 1991).

Exo 18:8  And Moses told his father-in-law all that the LORD had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had come upon them on the way, and how the LORD had delivered them.

Assuming Moses was a great storyteller, Jethro must have been captivated, hanging on every word. It was an eyewitness, behind-the-scenes commentary regarding one of history’s greatest events.

Notice Moses kept the emphasis on God. He spoke of “all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh,” and “how the Lord had delivered them.” When you tell your stories, bring the Lord into them.

Exo 18:9  Then Jethro rejoiced for all the good which the LORD had done for Israel, whom He had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians.

Of course he did. The story was too wonderful not to rejoice.

When we ask someone, “What’s going on?,” or “How are you doing?,” chances are their answer won’t be quite as exciting as Moses’ retelling of the exodus. Nevertheless we ought to be sensitive to what they are saying.

Starbucks announced it would be closing shop on May 29th to provide its 175,000 employees with sensitivity training. The article I read was critical of the training and was cleverly titled, Let me venti about racial sensitivity training at Starbucks.

Sometimes Christians do lack sensitivity. One example: Someone tells you what’s happening in their life and you answer it by talking about yourself.

Another example: You give quick, shallow answers to someone who is struggling.

We should rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep – entering in to their joy or grief as it is appropriate.

Exo 18:10  And Jethro said, “Blessed be the LORD, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh, and who has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians.
Exo 18:11  Now I know that the LORD is greater than all the gods; for in the very thing in which they behaved proudly, He was above them.”

Jethro said, “the Lord is greater than all the gods.” It causes commentators to assume he was a pagan idolater until this moment. They see this as some sort of conversion to Yahweh as the one true God.

That doesn’t make sense, though, in terms of the entire context. Jethro is going to take the lead in the worship of God – not something you’d expect if he just got saved.

Exo 18:12  Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took a burnt offering and other sacrifices to offer to God. And Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.

Jethro wasn’t sacrificing for himself. He was acting the way a priest acts. He was acting as a kind of mediator between Moses, Aaron, and the elders with God.

In fact he took a higher place than Aaron – who was to be Israel’s high priest.

And in another fact in the first verse of this chapter he is identified as a priest.

It seems that Jethro already knew the God of Israel. One scholar wrote,

If we can assume that these Midianites were descendants of Midian, son of Abraham by Keturah (Genesis 25:2), our wonder will be lessened that among this Arabian people we should find the knowledge and worship of YHWH had been preserved, as seen in this narrative. Thus this episode may be added to other incidental proofs of the continuance of pure religion among Gentile nations.

In other words, while God was working to establish Israel as the nation through which the world’s Savior would be born, He was simultaneously working all over the world with the Gentiles who had been scattered at the Tower of Babel. The nations had the knowledge of God preserved and passed down.

They also had the witness of the Gospel in the stars that the ancients called the Mazzaroth. Creation did (and does) “declare the glory of God.”

Bottom line: There were lots of saved Gentiles before Israel was established as a nation. We too often discount God working in these ways even though we know He has put eternity in all hearts that we might seek Him.

So what about Jethro’s statement that “the Lord is greater than all the gods?”

If you consult your Strong’s Concordance you’ll see that the word for “Lord” is YHWH, and “gods” is a form of elohim. What Jethro was saying was that YHWH is supreme among the elohim.

That makes no sense to us because we’ve been taught that elohim is a name for God. Turns out, it’s not. It is a description that fits God, but also fits other supernatural beings.

You know I’m no scholar; but I read them. Dr. Michael Heiser – who IS a scholar and a believer – explains elohim:

Several different entities are referred to as elohim in the Old Testament. Considering this variety provides insight as to how the term should be understood. The Hebrew text of the Old Testament refers to the following as elohim: YHWH, the God of Israel (over 1000 times); the members of YHWH’s heavenly council (Psalm 82); the gods of foreign nations (First Kings 11:33); demons (Deuteronomy 32:17); the spirits of the human dead (First Samuel 28:13); and angels (Genesis 35:7).

This variety demonstrates that the word should not be identified with one particular set of attributes: elohim is not a synonym for God.

All beings called elohim in the Hebrew Bible share a certain characteristic: they all inhabit the non- human realm. By nature, elohim are not part of the world of humankind, the world of ordinary embodiment. Elohim – as a term – indicates residence, not a set of attributes; it identifies the proper domain of the entity it describes.

Dr. Heiser concludes by saying, “YHWH is an elohim, but no other elohim is YHWH. This is what an orthodox Israelite believed about YHWH. He was not one among equals; He was unique. YHWH is utterly and eternally unique – there is none like Him.”

Jethro’s statement is therefore perfectly consistent with what the Old Testament actually teaches – that YHWH is unique among the elohim. He is the Creator, the Almighty God – omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, omnibenevolent. He is One God existing as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Jethro was not a recent convert. One commentator said, “Every act of Jethro indicates that he was a true believer in God.”

As Abraham’s descendant, he was surely taught from childhood what and how to sacrifice. He reminds us of another Old Testament priest – mysterious Melchizedek, who comes out of nowhere to bless Abraham as a priest of God prior to the establishing of the nation of Israel and its priesthood.

Now that we are clear on Jethro’s status, we can make application of his actions. He acted as a priest to encourage worship.

You and I are called “priests” in the New Testament:

In the Revelation, the apostle John says Jesus has, “made us kings and priests to His God and Father” (1:6).
The apostle Peter says, “you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ… you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light…” (First Peter 2:5&9).

William MacDonald comments, saying, “As holy priests, we offer spiritual sacrifices to God: our persons, our possessions, our praise, and our service. As royal priests, we tell forth the excellencies of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

There are, then, at least two aspects to our being priests:

The first is that you do not need anyone else to mediate between you and God. You have direct access through Jesus Christ.
The second is that you constantly represent God to the world.

I like #1. Having direct, immediate access to God’s throne of mercy and grace is a great thing.

I don’t always like #2. It can seem restrictive to have to think about how my actions and attitudes affect others for the kingdom of God.

But I should like representing God. Don’t people need Him? Of course they do. If I have to make some lifestyle adjustments so as to better represent Him, that’s a privilege, not a burden.
Jethro visited Moses and the result was a deeper worship of God. That can characterize our encounters with others – both believers and nonbelievers – as we offer ourselves as living sacrifices.

We’ve all had a Loren Faulkner in our Christian life. We can each be one, too.

#2 – You Influence Others In Their Work (v13-27)

D.L. Moody is quoted as saying, “It is better to set a hundred men to work than to do the work of a hundred men.”

Moses found himself doing the work of many more than a hundred men. Jethro gave him some advice about his workload.

Exo 18:13  And so it was, on the next day, that Moses sat to judge the people; and the people stood before Moses from morning until evening.

After his morning coffee, Moses would take a seat outside his tent, to hear matters among the Israelites.

I wonder how early the line formed? Probably some folks camped-out beyond Moses’ tent to get a good place in line.

“From morning til evening” made for long days of serving God.

Exo 18:14  So when Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he did for the people, he said, “What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit, and all the people stand before you from morning until evening?”
Exo 18:15  And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God.
Exo 18:16  When they have a difficulty, they come to me, and I judge between one and another; and I make known the statutes of God and His laws.”

Moses thought of his work as falling into two categories:

First, he dealt with their difficulties. Think of the myriad of disputes that could arise among several million people who were tent camping in the wilderness.

Second, he taught them about God. I’m guessing this was his preferred activity.

Exo 18:17  So Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you do is not good.

I should tell you that commentators are split as to whether or not Jethro’s advice was godly or carnal. I see it as sound wisdom from a godly man.

Exo 18:18  Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out. For this thing is too much for you; you are not able to perform it by yourself.

Besides the strain on Moses, think of the frustration of having to wait, literally, in a line all day. There was no guarantee your case would be heard, or that your question could be answered. I doubt to got your same place in line the next day.

At the end of the dark comedy, Beetlejuice, Michael Keaton’s character is waiting in line. He is number 9,998,383,750,000 (9 trillion, nine-hundred ninety-eight billion, three-hundred eighty-three million, seven-hundred fifty thousand). The sign says, “Serving #2.”

It was maybe not that extreme, but it must have felt like it to the average Israelite.

Exo 18:19  Listen now to my voice; I will give you counsel, and God will be with you: Stand before God for the people, so that you may bring the difficulties to God.
Exo 18:20  And you shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do.

Jethro was suggesting a better way of doing the tasks assigned to Moses. He would still be the guy tasked with standing in the gap for the people; he would still bring their difficulties before God; he would still teach them. He’d just do it more efficiently.

Exo 18:21  Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.

Although there were many problems among the Israelites, there were also godly individuals. These guys were probably obvious choices.

Exo 18:22  And let them judge the people at all times. Then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they themselves shall judge. So it will be easier for you, for they will bear the burden with you.

Lower courts and higher courts are what this amounts to. It’s a great idea.

Exo 18:23  If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all this people will also go to their place in peace.”

“And God so commands you” was Jethro’s way of telling Moses to consult the Lord about this plan. It made sense; it was full of wisdom; it didn’t contradict anything; but it must be approved by God through prayer.

The church, we’re told, is more of an organism than an organization. That being said, there’s nothing wrong with be organized. While we must always be careful not to mimic the world and its methods, some things just make sense – especially when they make things easier for the people of God.

Exo 18:24  So Moses heeded the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said.

If Moses “heeded,” then he certainly did take this plan before God. Seems that God green-lighted the plan.

Exo 18:25  And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people: rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
Exo 18:26  So they judged the people at all times; the hard cases they brought to Moses, but they judged every small case themselves.

Moses was like the Supreme Court. But most cases were settled in the lower courts without appeal to Moses.

Exo 18:27  Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went his way to his own land.

This is our farewell to Jethro as far as the Book of Exodus. He will appear in the Book of Numbers as a sort of guide to Moses through the wilderness (chapter 10).

In the New Testament, the apostle Paul gave similar counsel to Timothy: “And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (Second Timothy 2:2).

The Word of God suggests the work for God. We should constantly be seeking the Lord for vision and direction from His Word, energized by the Holy Spirit. Those entrusted with leadership ought then to encourage every believer to be a part of the work God is wanting us to do for His glory.

Invite folks to church. Encourage believers who attend to get more involved.

Get more involved yourself. We don’t make a big deal here at Calvary Hanford about attendance; but I’d encourage you to attend things you don’t normally attend.

For example: Come out on a Wednesday night. It doesn’t mean you’re committing to every Wednesday night until the rapture.

After he was used by God to lead me to Jesus, Loren Faulkner invited us to attend Calvary Chapel of Riverside. It was an invitation that totally shaped our lives. It most certainly influenced us.

Be an influencer. Better: realize you are an influencer and be a good one.

I Lift High With a Little Help From My Friends (Exodus 17:8-16)

Brad Pitt revealed in a 2017 interview that he had a Christian upbringing. He was first involved in a Baptist church that he called “cleaner, stricter, by-the-book” Christianity. When he reached high school, he said, “my folks jumped to a more charismatic movement, which got into speaking in tongues and raising your hands.”

No, he’s not a believer. In a 2015 interview he said he was “probably 20% atheist and 80% agnostic. I don’t think anyone really knows. You’ll either find out or not when you get there, and until then there’s no point in thinking about it.”

Sadly, when you get there, it’s too late.

Raising your hands in church seems to be associated more with charismatics than it does conservatives. For their part, charismatics often portray it as being more spiritual.

Of course, there are many different ways in which you can raise your hands in church. Christian comedian Tim Hawkins has a routine where he demonstrates ten hand-raising styles. It’s pretty funny, and I don’t want to ruin it for you, so let me just show you the first and last.

Once you get your hands out of your pockets, he calls this initial stage, Carry the TV.
He progresses through various other postures, each getting increasingly more ‘spiritual,’ all the way to what he calls Mufassa.

The prominent feature in our verses is Moses lifting his hands on the hilltop. Let’s read, beginning in verse eight:

Exo 17:8  Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim.
Exo 17:9  And Moses said to Joshua, “Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.”
Exo 17:10  So Joshua did as Moses said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
Exo 17:11  And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.

Moses’ raised hands on the high ground were critical to victory on the battle ground.

But I think we must quickly add that the battle ground was no less important. Joshua’s sword was equally necessary for the win.

There were thus two separate but equally important and necessary fronts on which victory depended.

I suggest the same is true in our walk with the Lord. I’ll therefore organize my comments around two points: #1 You Are To Maintain The High Ground, and #2 You Are To Gain On The Battleground.

#1 – You Are To Maintain The High Ground

This passage is almost universally taught as an example and an encouragement to intercessory prayer. Here’s a representative quote: “This amazing passage shows us that life or death for Israel depended on the prayers of one man. Moses prayed as we should pray – with passion, believing that life and death – perhaps eternally – depended on prayer.”

It may therefore surprise you to hear me say this: These verses are not about intercessory prayer.

I don’t say that lightly, or for the sake of being contrary. It’s just that the words themselves don’t indicate Moses was praying.

Take a moment and look for any word in this passage that indicates Moses was praying. You won’t find one.

We read that he ascended a hill, and that he raised his hands, and we assume he went to pray. The text itself tells a different story.

Exo 17:8  Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim.

The Amalekites were a tribe first mentioned during the time of Abraham. Genesis chapter thirty-six refers to the descendants of Amalek, the son of Eliphaz and grandson of Jacob’s brother Esau as Amalekites.

It might help if I told you that, during the time of Esther, when the Jews were subject to Persia, that Haman was an Amalekite. It’s a little confusing because he’s called an Agagite; but that’s because he is a descendant of the Amalekite King Agag. He was an Amalekite in Agag’s line.

Haman hated the Jews and tried to have all the Jews in Persia annihilated by order of King Xerxes. He was unaware that Queen Esther was Jewish. God used Queen Esther to save the Jews from genocide. Haman, his sons, and the rest of Israel’s enemies were annihilated instead – hung from the gallows he had prepared.

Haman is typical of the Amalekites – they were a people bent on the destruction of Israel.

Our verse tells us that the Amalekites “came and fought with Israel.” Israel wasn’t in Amalekite territory. Israel hadn’t happened upon them in their journey. The Amalekites went out of their way to attack God’s people. They “came” on a mission to kill them.

Exo 17:9  And Moses said to Joshua, “Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.”

We’re going to skip-over Joshua for now; he will be our second point. We’re sticking with Moses.

Moses said he’d go on top of a “hill with the rod of God” in his hand.

He didn’t ascend a mountain to be alone with God. Far from it; he was seeking a vantage point from which to see the battle, and to be seen as the battle was waged. In a moment we’ll see that he took two men with him; not exactly standard procedure if you want to be alone interceding.

He didn’t go up the hill empty-handed. He took with him the shepherds rod that had been instrumental thus far in bringing the ten plagues; and in parting the Red Sea; and in bringing water from the rock. Moses was going to do something with the rod.

Exo 17:10  So Joshua did as Moses said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.

Aaron was Moses’ older brother. According to the Jewish historian Josephus, Hur was the husband of Miriam, Moses’ sister. This same Hur will later be left with Aaron to supervise the people while Moses was on Mount Sinai.

Exo 17:11  And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.

Read carefully. Moses “held up his hand,” not his hands. It’s strictly singular in the original. Moses was therefore not in the posture of having both his hands raised. He was, in fact, holding out the rod in his hand.
I mentioned the several other times that we’ve seen Moses hold out the rod: in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and at Horeb. In any of those instances do we think he was involved in intercessory prayer?

No; and neither was he interceding in prayer here. He was simply obeying a leading God evidently gave him about how to engage the Amalekites. He was to go on a hilltop and hold out the rod.

We’re going to see (v12) that the battle went on until the going down of the sun. During that exhausting day, Moses’ arm grew weary holding the rod up in his hand. When the rod was lowered, the battle turned against Israel.

I’m sure Moses switched from hand-to-hand. But as hour-after-hour went by, his physical strength waned. Even alternating hands became too much for his 80 year old frame.

Apparently Moses was no Amar Bharati. He had one arm raised to honor the god Shiva for over forty years. Of course, the muscles were severely atrophied, coupled with a loss of circulation and permanent nerve damage in the arm. Any attempt to use it normally would destroy it. The arm’s connection to the rest of the body is the only thing that has preserved it from necrosis.

Exo 17:12  But Moses’ hands became heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.

At some point, his legs gave out and standing became too much for Moses, so Aaron and Hur found a suitable rock upon which he could sit for the rest of the day.

Then Aaron and Hur stepped in – one on one side, one on the other – to help Moses keep the rod in his alternating hands lifted high.

Aaron and Hur are typically discussed as a picture of believers coming alongside other believers to support them in prayer. As far as the text, they did not pray at all. If anything, they are an example of coming alongside to offer practical help – physical help.

I’m not saying that Moses, Aaron and Hur didn’t pray while they were engaged in all this activity. I’m saying that all this activity tells us that intercessory prayer isn’t the main application.

If this isn’t about intercessory prayer, what is it about? It’s about seeing your battles from the high ground with the resources and the authority that God has given you as a believer in Jesus Christ.

Two passages found in the Book of Ephesians help us understand the application that I’m suggesting:

Eph 2:6  [God has] raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
Eph 1:3  [And] has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

That describes Moses and Company, does it not? Seated in a high place, with God’s spiritual resource – the rod.
It describes us, too:

In some spiritual, yet very real sense, every Christian is already understood as being seated in Heaven with Jesus. We could say that we have the high ground.
And in some spiritual, yet very real sense, every Christian has at his or her disposal “every spiritual” resource Heaven has to offer.

Moses, on high ground with the one resource available to him, is thus a picture of your position in Jesus Christ, and of the resources He can equip you with.

From that vantage point, and with those advantages, you can be assured of ultimate victory in your battles.

What about Moses’ weariness, and getting help from Aaron and Hur?

First of all, we are still in our earthly, inglorious bodies. We grow faint; we grow weary.

Even with faith and hope and love at our disposal, we tire.
Even with prayer and the Bible at our disposal, we tire.
Even with God the Holy Spirit living in us, as His temple, we tire.

Second of all, the fellowship of believers is another resource available to us in our fainting and weariness. There are a great number of “one another” verses in the Bible, to encourage us to encourage others.

Too often the following lyric proves true:

To dwell above with saints we love,
Oh, that will be glory.
But to dwell below with saints we know,
Well, that’s another story.

Ideally the body of Jesus on the earth is a great resource to lift us up when we are down. We all need to get better at it.

So that, I think, is what this story is about. It is about us maintaining a heavenly vantage point in our earthly battles… And drawing only from heavenly resources as we fight those battles.

When we maintain a heavenly vantage point and draw from heavenly resources, we prevail.
When we don’t, the enemy prevails.

I should qualify that. By “prevail” I don’t mean things always go our way. “You can’t always get what you want.”

What you can always ‘get,’ since it is a gift, is grace from God that is sufficient to get you through each day as you await the return of the Lord.

Seated in Heaven, with Jesus, you believe that His grace is sufficient – despite outward blessings or buffeting.

Sometimes it can be a struggle to get through the next hour, or even the next minute. But His grace is always sufficient.

Moses had the rod. It was a tremendous resource.

You and I have so much more than the rod of God in our hands. We have the Spirit of God in our hearts.

#2 – You Are To Gain On The Battle Ground

At the end of The Return of the King, the dark lord, Sauron, discovered too late that the battle for Middle Earth was being fought on two fronts. While Aragorn and company openly marched on the Black Gate, Frodo and Sam were deep inside Mordor, secretly seeking to destroy the one ring of power.

Moses, on the hill, was one front. Joshua, on the field of battle, was a second front.

Without Moses’ raised hand, there could be no victory.
But without Joshua’s drawn sword, there could be no victory, either.

Exo 17:8  Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim.

Deuteronomy 25:17&18 fills out the story: “Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of Egypt, how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks, all the stragglers at your rear, when you were tired and weary; and he did not fear God.”

It was a case of dirty deeds done dirty – attacking the weak stragglers. Something had to be done to protect the weak.

Exo 17:9  And Moses said to Joshua, “Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.”

Hello, General. Just like that, Joshua was appointed to head the Israeli Defense Forces.

This is our introduction to Joshua. He is going to have an important role among God’s people during their wilderness journey; he is going to succeed Moses as their leader and take them into the promised land; and he is to have a Bible book named after him. Yet we know virtually nothing about him at this point.

At the Red Sea God told them to, “Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord… the Lord shall fight for you, and you shall hold your peace” (14:13). There would be no standing still this time.

It is so important we continually seek God for His methods. He seems to love throwing us curve balls and change-ups.

Israel had been subjected by the Egyptians for around four hundred years. They were farmers and brick makers. They were definitely not soldiers.

Krav Maga had not been developed as a fighting style. We’re not even sure where they got swords. Perhaps from the Egyptian soldiers that were drowned in the unparting of the Red Sea.

I can think of a lot of movies that portray the hero turning common farmers into skilled soldiers over a period of time. Kevin Costner’s Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves has a long sequence in which you see the training of his farmer-army in Sherwood Forest.

Joshua had just hours to choose a few good men and go to battle against a seasoned and stealthy enemy.

There are some occupations where you don’t want folks to get on-the-job training. Soldiering is one of those.
Christian soldiering is all on-the-job training. You get saved and immediately you are thrust into a battle on several fronts. You’ve got armor, but it might be months or years before you read about it in Ephesians. Meanwhile the world, the flesh, and the devil come right at you.

But you find that “He that is in you” is greater than all your enemies. You gain ground by simple trust in the few promises and verses you do know.

Exo 17:10  So Joshua did as Moses said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.

I said that this is where we are first introduced to Joshua. What a great introduction. “Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce Joshua – who did as Moses said to him.” In other words, Joshua was a servant.

Job descriptions can come in handy in certain industries. Not so much in Christian ministry. Your job description is simply “servant.” You do what needs doing. If you can’t figure out what that is, then you don’t have a job.

Sure, that is over-simplifying things. But I’ve noticed a trend among churches to over-complicate things by mimicking the world with detailed job descriptions. Too often a super-specific job description keeps you from serving.

They “fought with Amalek.” That’s a sanitized summary. This was brutal, hack-and-slash, eyeball-to-eyeball sword fighting. One expert said, “Swords, spears and axes are tools for maiming and slaughter. The purpose of getting an army into the field was to hack, cut and stab the enemy into oblivion.”
Then he added this: “Troops that have never been in action or have not been used to such spectacles, are greatly shocked at the sight of the wounded and the dying; and the impressions of fear they receive dispose them rather to fly than to fight.”

Joshua and his few chosen men showed incredible courage. It’s too bad his efforts are often overlooked because we concentrate on Moses, thinking his part to be inherently more spiritual.

You notice that Moses skipped diplomacy. The Amalekites could not be reasoned with, or appeased. They were like those in the Middle East today who call for the annihilation of Israel.

As recently as 2015, Iran’s Brigadier General said the only way to deal with Israel “is full annihilation and destruction of the Zionist regime.”

Exo 17:11  And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.

By “Amalek prevailed” I can only assume that Israelites were killed. As far as Joshua was concerned, defeat was a real possibility.

If your battle is not going well, take a look at your high ground.

It isn’t only weariness and fainting on the high ground that can result in loss. Often the resources of the high ground are replaced by a dependence upon natural, fleshly weapons. Christians and churches adopt the ways of the world. Having begun in the Spirit, they try to go forward in the flesh.

A.W. Tozer once said, “If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, 95% of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference. If the Holy spirit had been withdrawn from the New Testament church, 95% of what they did would stop, and everybody would know the difference.”

Exo 17:12  But Moses’ hands became heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.
Exo 17:13  So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

One commentator put it like this:

The two actions… are [equally] important: it is as important that Joshua fights with the sword as that Moses should [raise his hand]. Neither would be effective without the other. The battle does not depend ultimately on Joshua’s skill as a swordsman; but neither is it won apart from Joshua’s engagement. Similarly, Moses’ [raised hand] is nothing without the practical service of Joshua, who remains dependent on Moses, even although he cannot see him or hear him beyond the din of battle.

Exo 17:14  Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.”

Do you like to journal? I don’t, so I won’t say too much. People who journal swear by it. They call it life changing.

Moses was a journaler. I think it was less about him, though, and more about the works of God.

The Amalekites would be around for a long time, harassing Israel. Ultimately they would be blotted out of remembrance. As far as I know, there are no living descendants of the Amalekites.

Many commentators suggest that the Amalekites illustrate our flesh – which constantly battles against the spirit and must be struggled against until completely conquered (Galatians 5:17).

Exo 17:15  And Moses built an altar and called its name, The-LORD-Is-My-Banner;
Exo 17:16  for he said, “Because the LORD has sworn: the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

An altar usually means sacrifice, but this may have been more of a memorial.

“Banner” can be translated lifted high. Moses thus commemorated the method God used to defeat the Amalekites – the hand lifted high holding the rod.

The war with Amalek would go on for centuries – but their ultimate defeat was never in doubt.

Amalek-like enemies abound as long as we are on this earth, and they may prevail against you for a time, but ultimately they will suffer total defeat as you are raised or raptured into your glorious new body.

The high ground and the battle ground are two fronts in your walk with the Lord. You can’t neglect either; and neither is more important than the other.

Notice nothing is said of Joshua getting tired – even though he wielded a sword all day. That’s because he was really fighting with the resources of the high ground.

The battle ground is where you engage your enemies with the resources of the high ground. When you are attuned to what God has provided you, spiritually, you will run (or fight) and not grow weary.

Brad Pitt described himself as “probably 20% atheist and 80% agnostic.” That adds up to 100% lost.

If you are not a believer, you need to raise your hands… In surrender to Jesus.

The Emissary Strikes Rock (Exodus 17:1-7)

This morning, come and listen to my story about a man named Jed. A poor mountaineer, barely kept his family fed. And then one day he was shootin’ at some food, and up through the ground come a bubblin’ crude.

Oil that is, black gold, Texas tea.

I’m no oilman, but I’d guess that a round from an old muzzleloader inadvertently shot into the ground at an angle isn’t going to produce a geyser of oil that will get you an address in Beverly Hills.

We’re going to read about Moses striking a rock with his shepherds rod. Water from the rock will gush to satisfy the needs of both the Israelites and their livestock.

Critics who deny any supernatural or miraculous explanation for this event want us to believe Moses struck a naturally occurring aquifer. They want us to believe that he was the Jed Clampett of the wilderness, and with a lucky strike found water for several million Israelites and their livestock.

Why is it so hard to believe God did, and does, miracles? G.K. Chesterton once said, “The whole order of things is as outrageous as any miracle which could presume to violate it.”

We’re going to take a look at this miracle strike. As we do, we’ll additionally see some things about God’s leading – both then and now.

I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1 God Will Lead You To Learn You, and #2 God Will Not Lead You To Leave You.

#1 – God Will Lead You To Learn You (v1-3)

I know what you’re thinking: Gene should have paid more attention to grammar in English classes. I sound like Huck Finn, who said of Miss Watson, “She tried to learn you manners.”

Turns out (and I quote), “A sentence fragment that is often believed to be grammatically incorrect, is actually completely correct. The word ‘learn’ is actually rooted in an Old English verb meaning “to teach,” and can be used transitively in this manner, e.g. “I’m going to learn you a lesson.”
Let’s see how God learns us in these verses.

Exo 17:1 Then all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sin, according to the commandment of the LORD, and camped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink.

Put these two phrases together: “According to the commandment of the Lord… There was no water.”

God specifically told Moses to lead the Israelites to a place where there would be no water. To a place of lack, where He would have to supply the need.

Look back on your walk with the Lord and you can see times where you lacked. There was no employment… No friends… No health. Those are times God wants to show Himself sufficient for your needs.

Have you encountered the term, Generation Snowflake? It was one of 2016’s Collins Dictionary words of the year. It is an informal, and derogatory, way to describe the generation of people who became adults in the 2010s. They are viewed as being less resilient and more prone to taking offence than any previous generations.

The suggestion is that, like snowflakes, these people are delicate individuals and a slight increase in temperature will see them melt, often resulting in a high emotional response.

It’s proven true by the observation that some of those supposedly in Generation Snowflake have suggested the label itself is causing them mental health issues.
Christians can be snowflakes. In the Book of Hebrews, suffering from persecution, believers were drawing back from walking with the Lord. Things were just too tough, they thought.

The writer to the Hebrew believers said, “You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin” (12:4). None of the Hebrews had experienced such intense exhaustion or persecution that it brought them to death or martyrdom. They were told to therefore quit being snowflakes.

One commentator said, “God loves us, but He is not an overprotective parent who has us tied to His apron strings. He will send us into the most excruciating situations [especially] to proclaim His Word. God will do what he did with the apostle Paul with you and me.”

Do you want to be a Snowflake Christian? Of course you don’t. One of the first things to remember is that God will lead you to places of lack.

Exo 17:2  Therefore the people contended with Moses, and said, “Give us water, that we may drink.” So Moses said to them, “Why do you contend with me? Why do you tempt the LORD?”

Earlier on their journey they had found water that was too bitter to drink. God made that water drinkable, and sweet, by having a tree thrown into it.

We talked about how that tree prefigured the Cross upon which Jesus died.

You’d think that since God provided water before, they’d believe He would do it again. Except that the circumstances were much different:

At Marah, there was water – even if at first it wasn’t potable.

At Rephidim, there was no water to be made potable.

The need was the same… God was the same… But the circumstances were more severe, and, so, their faith was being tested.

In my life, the needs are the same… And God is the same… But my trials get more (not less) severe as I walk with the Lord – testing my faith. Testing your faith.

Those of you who play video games: Do the levels get easier, or harder, as you progress? They get harder; you want them to get harder. You must defeat them in order to receive the hidden rewards.

Moses deferred to God, as well he should have. Sure, he was the point man; but it wasn’t Moses leading Israel. It was God.

We’ll see how it was that they “tempted the Lord” when we get to verse seven.

Exo 17:3  And the people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses, and said, “Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”

Their thirst was real. Their need for water was, in fact, a matter of life and death.
Christians find themselves in real need, facing matters of life and death.

In the case of the Israelites and the exodus, God would provide the life-giving resource they needed. It seems none of them died from thirst.

In the case of Christians on our journey homeward, God will provide the eternal life-giving resources we need. But it doesn’t mean we won’t suffer; and it doesn’t mean we won’t die.

What was true physically for Israel in the wilderness is true for us spiritually in the world:

They would receive all the water they needed.
We can receive torrents of living water – every spiritual resource we need.

With those resources, we “quench the violence of fire, escape the edge of the sword, become valiant in battle, turn to flight the armies of the enemies. We receive the dead raised to life again. AND we are tortured, not accepting deliverance, that we might obtain a better resurrection. We have trials of mockings and scourgings, and of chains and imprisonment. We are stoned, we are sawn in two, we are tempted, we are slain with the sword.
We wander about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented…”

That was a long paraphrase from the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, known to Christians as the Hall of Faith. It lists many heroes and heroines of the faith, along with their accomplishments.

Which half of that paraphrase are you in right now? Are you being abundantly blessed? Or terribly buffeted?

One of my favorite meditations (if that’s the right term) is the story of James and Peter in the Book of Acts. King Herod put to death James, the brother of John. Seeing that it pleased the Jews, he seized the apostle Peter and locked him in the prison to await similar execution.

Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and there were guards before the door. Suddenly an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, “Arise quickly!” And his chains fell off his hands.

Peter was able to walk right by (or maybe over!) the guards and escape into the night.

Why was James martyred, but Peter spared? Some have suggested that it was because fervent prayer was offered by the church for Peter, but not for James.

We do read about the church praying for Peter. But there are at least two problems with the fervent prayer argument:

First, we can’t say that the church didn’t pray for James. Just because it wasn’t recorded, it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. I’d say most likely they did pray for him.
Second, although their prayers for Peter may have been fervent, they prayed with some unbelief. When Peter showed-up at the meeting after his angelic escape, they refused to believe it was really him knocking on the door – even as they were fervently praying for his release.
A better, more biblical, answer is that God had a different leading for James than He did for Peter. He called James home, while sending Peter on to evangelize.

God can use your circumstances to learn you. Mostly, to learn you that His grace is your sufficiency at all times, and in all circumstances.

#2 – God Will Not Lead You To Leave You (v4-7)

I interrupt our study to bring you this public service announcement: Coffee is not a diuretic.

It is commonly believed that you need to offset your morning coffee with a big glass of water to stay hydrated. British researchers published a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition which compared several popular beverages to the hydrating effects of water. They found that you can hydrate with coffee.

So sip that morning brew with confidence – you’re adding to your daily fluid intake, and that means you’re hydrating.

If the exodus were happening today, there’d be a Starbucks every few miles along the route the Israelites were taking. There wasn’t. And there wasn’t any water, either.

Exo 17:4  So Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me!”

Emojis are a great way to communicate. For those of you from Riverdale, an emoji is a small digital image or icon used to express an idea, or an emotion, in electronic communication.

What I type can always be taken the wrong way. Add autocorrect to the mix and you’ve got a recipe for disaster.

That’s where emojis are handy. That smiley face trumps any possible misinterpretation. In fact, I can say something awful, but if it’s followed by a winking emoji, I’m safe.

You probably know that there are Bible emojis, but did you know that an “emoji translation” of the Bible is now available? Search for “Bible Emoji” on iTunes. It is described as “a great and fun way to share the Gospel.”

What does any of this have to do with our study? I have not the slightest clue to what emoji Moses would have added when he said, “What shall I do with this people?” Was he angry? Perplexed? Sad?

I’m saying we need to be careful reading emotions in to the Bible things we can’t possibly know.

I think we can assume that the people really did want to stone Moses.

Exo 17:5  And the LORD said to Moses, “Go on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel. Also take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river, and go.

In ancient societies, the elders were the adult men, usually older, who assumed some leadership in the tribe. We’ll suggest why Moses was told to take them in a moment.

Exo 17:6  Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

Let’s talk about Horeb. The Strong’s Concordance says that the word means desolate. You gotta love this. They were in the desert; there was no water; so God’s solution was to go to a place even worse off, called “desolate.”

Have you ever followed the Lord into Horeb? Things were already bad, but I guess not bad enough, because He took you further in.

Maybe you’re there now and instead of Horeb you would call it horrible. I’d like to promise you that you are about to be delivered; but I don’t know if you are on a James-track, or a Peter-track. I can only say that God’s grace will prove sufficient.

Moses was instructed to “strike” a particular rock with his rod. I suggest that this was ridiculous, in this sense: The rod could never penetrate the rock. No matter the force of the blow, the rock would not yield.

Besides, how does water come from a rock? It doesn’t – especially in a place so dry it’s called “desolate.”

In Psalm 78:15-16 we get a description of this rock:

Psa 78:15  He split the rocks in the wilderness, And gave them drink in abundance like the depths.
Psa 78:16  He also brought streams out of the rock, And caused waters to run down like rivers.

A couple of things to realize:

One thing is that this was no trickle of water. It wasn’t like a well that you could get a pail full of water from. No, this ran like “rivers.” Remember, there were several million Israelites, along with innumerable livestock.

Another thing to realize is that the Israelites would be in this general region for the next eleven months or so. This was a continual source of water for about a year.

The fact Moses did this “in the sight of the elders” might indicate that it wasn’t something that all the Israelites witnessed. It would therefore be up to the elders to spread the word as to how God had provided this abundance of water.

Your testimony of how the Lord is working in your life, and in the lives of others, is important. Most people do not come to church or attend a Bible study. But they do see and hear you.

God went and “stood” by the rock at Horeb. Most likely it was the the pillar of cloud who moved onto the rock. Then, according to God’s command, Moses struck the rock with his staff and out came water.

So you might say that Moses struck the Lord in order to provide the life-giving water. More on that in a moment.

Exo 17:7  So he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contention of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?”

The two words mean “testing” and “contending.” It seems to be a compound name – like Dallas-Fort Worth, or Minneapolis-St. Paul.

It’s a little sad that what was such a tremendous miracle would bear such a terrible name down through the centuries. I wonder if in Heaven, at the Reward Seat of Jesus, we will find out that our spiritual battles and lessons have been given names? Names that the Lord has given them in light of how we fared going through them.

They asked, “Is the Lord among us or not?” In asking that, they were tempting God.

It’s a temptation because what they were saying was, “God, you must prove You are among us by giving us what we are asking for.”

God had already proven He was among them – and that He was for them, not against them:

Over 400 years earlier, God had promised Abraham He would be with his descendants in their captivity in Egypt.
He raised-up for them the promised deliverer.
God was definitely among them during the ten plagues.
God manifested Himself to them as a pillar of cloud by day, and of fire by night. He literally was among them!
The cloud prohibited the advance of the Egyptian army as they came to destroy the Israelites.
God parted the Red Sea so the Israelites could cross over on dry ground.
God unparted the Red Sea, killing the Egyptians who pursued in their chariots.
God provided sweet water from bitter at Marah.
He sent quail for meat, and had been giving manna each morning.

It was incredible they should demand God prove Himself. It hinted a belief that God had left them to fend for themselves.

We are similar to them when we demand God change our situation:

We seem to forget that He saved us from sin and Satan and the Second Death.
We seem to disregard the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
We willfully ignore anything marvelous God has done in our past.

God doesn’t lead you to leave you. He is often more present in times that He seems absent.

I know that sounds contradictory, but it’s true. Look at the Israelites. God seemed absent; but we know He was more present among them than ever.

There’s more to this rock than meets the eye.

The apostle Paul wrote about the rock Moses struck. He says that ‘they all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ” (First Corinthians 10:4).
In some sense, therefore, the striking of the rock at Rephidim, resulting in the provision of water, provides us with an analogy of the one who is our Rock, and Who gives us spiritual water to drink: Jesus Christ.

Jesus wasn’t the rock – not literally. It’s a type. He was represented by the rock.

We saw that the rock was struck while the pillar of cloud was there; that God was, in that sense, struck. The Israelites wouldn’t have understood, but we know that Jesus – in order to save mankind – had to be struck. He had to be smitten, and to die, for the sins of the world.

According to James Jordan, “the glory-cloud stood before Moses and when Moses struck the rock, his rod passed through the cloud. The Lord thereby submitted to the rod of judgment, taking the punishment the people deserved for their insolence, and out of His vicarious suffering provided life-giving water. In short, when Moses struck the rock, he was also striking the Rock – and it was the latter that really provided water for the people.”

The rock Moses struck did not literally “follow” them. It didn’t roll after them. I think that would have been cool, but that’s not what it is saying.

The word “them” is not in the original Greek text; the sentence says that they drank of the water from the rock, and that this event followed the giving of the manna.

One resource I consulted said the following:

There is no hint of movement of the rock in the Old Testament, but a legend developed on the basis of a Jewish interpretation of Numbers 21:17, which tells us that when Israel came to Beer, where Moses assembled the people to receive water, “Then Israel sang this song, “Spring up, O well! Sing to it!’” Jewish tradition apparently said that the water on this occasion came from the same rock that Moses had struck in Exodus 17, and which thus had travelled with the people to this new location.

It didn’t travel with them. I should mention that there is a second rock strike recorded in the Book of Numbers. It is a different one, on another occasion. The rock in Numbers is a different rock.

What about that second rock?

Num 20:7  Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
Num 20:8  “Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.”
Num 20:9  So Moses took the rod from before the LORD as He commanded him.
Num 20:10  And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?”
Num 20:11  Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank.
Num 20:12  Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”

Because Moses disobeyed, striking the rock and not simply speaking to it, he and Aaron were prohibited from entering the Promised Land.

Commentators are in general agreement that since the rock is a type of Jesus, stricken at Calvary, that He was only to be struck once. After His death, the Holy Spirit would be given, of which the water from the second rock was a type.

Moses’ disobedience, accompanied by anger, thus misrepresented God and His grace to the nation. Misrepresenting God is serious.

Despite the complaining and the contention of the Israelites, and despite the misrepresentation by Moses, on both occasions God provided the needed water.

The people got what they did not deserve: Grace on top of grace.

You’ve come and listened to a story about a man named Moses. It’s about you, too, and the Rock Who was Jesus – struck for you that you might live.

Speak to Him.

Manna Mia! (Exodus 16:1-36)

On April 5, 1887, Anne Sullivan made a breakthrough with her blind and deaf pupil, Helen Keller, when she taught her the meaning of the word “water” spelled out in the manual alphabet.

When she was just 19 months old, an unknown disease left Helen deaf and blind. She became an unruly child who often lashed out in anger at her inability to communicate and her failure to comprehend the world around her.

Anne Sullivan, a teacher at the Perkins School for the Blind in Boston, was hired to tutor Helen. Sullivan spelled words into Helen’s hand and tried to help her connect letters and words with objects’ names. Helen memorized words but failed to understand that they had meaning.

On April 5, 1887, Anne took Helen to an old pump house. She put Helen’s hand under the stream and began spelling “w-a-t-e-r” into her palm, first slowly, then more quickly.

In a break through moment, Helen suddenly understood that everything had a name. She would later write in her biography, “As the cool stream gushed over one hand she spelled into the other the word water, first slowly, then rapidly. I stood still, my whole attention fixed upon the motions of her fingers. Suddenly I felt a misty consciousness as of something forgotten – a thrill of returning thought; and somehow the mystery of language was revealed to me. I knew then that ‘w-a-t-e-r’ meant the wonderful cool something that was flowing over my hand. That living word awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, joy, set it free!”

Anne Sullivan broke through to Helen Keller. I suggest that God needed to break through to the Israelites. There were things about His nature that they had not yet comprehended.

Think about it: Moses appeared before Pharaoh to speak for God, saying, “Let My people go.” The Israelites witnessed God perform ten signs:

He turned water into blood.
He multiplied frogs.
He multiplied lice.
He multiplied flies.
He diseased livestock.
He brought boils upon men and animals.
Hail fell, killing all in the open fields.
He brought locusts.
There was oppressive darkness for three days.
At the last, the Angel of the Lord killed the firstborn who were not ‘covered’ by the blood of a sacrificed lamb.

This series of plagues upon Egypt was followed by the parting and un-parting of the Red Sea, drowning the entire Egyptian army.

If you’re trying to communicate omnipotence, you’ve certainly succeeded. But what about other attributes, like “… merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy” (Psalm 103:8)?

Providing bread from Heaven to a hungry people is going to be an object lesson of those attributes of God.

It doesn’t end with providing bread in the wilderness for Israel. Bread from Heaven was a favorite theme of Jesus’ in order to convey His mission as Savior of the world. He said of Himself, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35), and, “I am the living bread that came down from Heaven” (John 6:51).

Let’s think about our daily spiritual bread as we work through the story about the manna. I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1 Daily Bread Is Your Sustenance As You Journey Homeward, and #2 Daily Bread Is Your Testimony As You Journey Homeward.

#1 – Daily Bread Is Your Sustenance As You Journey Homeward (v1-31)

Bruce Wayne of Tiffin, Ohio – not to be confused with Bruce Wayne of Gotham City – set his sights on crushing the previous record of 425 consecutive days of eating at Chipotle. He surpassed the record on December 30, 2017.

The January 2018 article I read indicated he was going to continue eating at Chipotle indefinitely.

Could you eat at the same place everyday? What about eating the same meal everyday? I could eat spaghetti everyday.

Believe it or not, it is somewhat trendy to eat the same food everyday:

Celebrities like Jennifer Gardner and Eve Mendes claim to eat the same foods everyday.
Regular people are claiming extreme weight loss, while maintaining health, by eating the same foods everyday.

The Israelites were about to be introduced to a new food – a new diet, really – that they would eat everyday for the next forty years.

BTW: Rabbinical literature claims that manna produced no waste, “encapsulating its eater’s nutritional needs so precisely that after the body absorbed what it needed there was nothing left…” Meaning that, “none of them needed to answer nature’s call during all those forty years.”

Exo 16:1  And they journeyed from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they departed from the land of Egypt.

Whatever food they had brought with them into the wilderness, it was now six weeks into their journey, and provisions were depleted.

Exo 16:2  Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.

Psalm 133:1 says, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” The Israelites were definitely united; but it certainly wasn’t “good,” and it wasn’t “pleasant.” Theirs was a unity that caused division.

It may seem obvious, but I’ll say it anyway. Don’t join in a unity that causes division. “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3).

Exo 16:3  And the children of Israel said to them, “Oh, that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

They believed that God was going to kill them. I think we’d agree that their knowledge of the nature of God was severely limited.

Since they believed God was going to kill them, they thought they’d have been better off dying in Egypt. At least there they would have gotten a last meal.

What would you choose as your last meal? While you’re deciding, here are a few of the last meals death row inmates requested:

In 2009, Bobby Wayne Woods requested 2 chicken fried steaks, 2 fried chicken breasts, 3 pork chops, 2 burgers, 4 slices of bread, a half pound of French fried potatoes, half pound of onion rings, chocolate cake, and two pitchers of milk.

In 1982, Velma Barfield requested Cheez Doodles and a Coke.

In 1963, Victor Figuer requested a single olive.

In 1990, James Edward Smith requested dirt in order to perform a voodoo ritual. It wasn’t on the approved menu, so they substituted yogurt.

I’d request… Spaghetti. Several plates, each with a different sauce. And Topo Chico sparkling water to drink. Don’t forget the cannoli.

The Israelites had an inflated view of their previous conditions. When they were enslaved by Egypt, were they really coming home each day to overflowing pots of meat and all the fresh bread they could eat? I don’t think so.

If you’re saved, you have power over Satan and sin; you will not be subject to the second death, but will live forever in a perfect, glorified body in a perfect Heaven. Don’t exaggerate how good you had it before you were saved just because the road homeward is perilous.

Exo 16:4  Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not.

Those of you who are deeper into fitness, or are training for an event, e.g., a marathon… Do you not put yourself on a different diet to perform your best?
God’s diet would sustain them physically, but it could also bring out their spiritual best, if they obeyed its rules.

Exo 16:5  And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.”

We already know why: Because the seventh day was the Sabbath. But I’m going to show you in a moment that the Israelites knew nothing about the Sabbath until this moment.

Exo 16:6  Then Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, “At evening you shall know that the LORD has brought you out of the land of Egypt.
Exo 16:7  And in the morning you shall see the glory of the LORD; for He hears your complaints against the LORD. But what are we, that you complain against us?”
Exo 16:8  Also Moses said, “This shall be seen when the LORD gives you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to the full; for the LORD hears your complaints which you make against Him. And what are we? Your complaints are not against us but against the LORD.”

Moses let them know that by complaining against he and Aaron, they were complaining against God. Two things stand out about that:

First, good for Moses, in that he took it in stride, rather than taking it personally.
Second, it’s good to call your behavior what it really is.

You and I must learn to not take everything so personally. Don’t get me wrong – sometimes people are attacking you. But when they are attacking God through you, Keep Calm and Carry On.

Exo 16:9  Then Moses spoke to Aaron, “Say to all the congregation of the children of Israel, ‘Come near before the LORD, for He has heard your complaints.’ ”
Exo 16:10  Now it came to pass, as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud.

The pillar of cloud by day, and fire by night, was guiding them. It was a visible manifestation of God. From this day forward, it would be cloudy with the chance of bread falling.

Exo 16:11  And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
Exo 16:12  “I have heard the complaints of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. And you shall know that I am the LORD your God.’ ”

Note that even though what they did was wrong, even though it was a “complaint,” God gave them what they asked for. He gave them much more than they asked for, and in a way that would help them grow, if they received it.

Contrary to our way of thinking, God can bless when you are disobedient, and He can withhold when you are obedient. Grace is funny that way as God seeks to teach you it is always sufficient.

Exo 16:13  So it was that quails came up at evening and covered the camp, and in the morning the dew lay all around the camp.
They’d get quail one more time after this. This reads like a last meal of meat before they went on the manna diet.

Exo 16:14  And when the layer of dew lifted, there, on the surface of the wilderness, was a small round substance, as fine as frost on the ground.
Exo 16:15  So when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was…

The word manna means, “What is it?” It reminds me of It’s-It Ice Cream. As the story goes, in 1928 George Whitney placed a scoop of creamy vanilla ice cream between two freshly baked large old-fashioned oatmeal cookies, and then dipped the sandwich into fine dark chocolate.  The delicious combination of savory sweetness was declared by all to be “IT!”  Hence, It’s-It.

Exo 16:15  So when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “This is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat.

We will be told in verse thirty-one that “it was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.” Numbers 11:7 states that manna’s appearance was like “bdellium” which is a resin. Psalm 78:24 refers to manna as “grain from heaven,” and the next verse calls it the “bread of angels.”

Exo 16:16  This is the thing which the LORD has commanded: ‘Let every man gather it according to each one’s need, one omer for each person, according to the number of persons; let every man take for those who are in his tent.’ ”

Don’t know what an “omer” is? Easy – according to verse thirty-six, “Now an omer is one-tenth of an ephah.”

Here’s a quote about the omer: “In traditional Jewish standards of measurement, the omer was equivalent to the capacity of 43 eggs, or what is also known as one-tenth of an ephah. In dry weight, the omer weighed between 1.560 kg to 1.770 kg.” (About 60 ounces, if I did the math correctly).

Exo 16:17  Then the children of Israel did so and gathered, some more, some less.
Exo 16:18  So when they measured it by omers, he who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack. Every man had gathered according to each one’s need.

This seems to be a miracle within the miracle. Whatever quantity each person had gathered, when he measured it in his tent, he found that he had just as many omers as he needed for the consumption of his family.

Exo 16:19  And Moses said, “Let no one leave any of it till morning.”
Exo 16:20  Notwithstanding they did not heed Moses. But some of them left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them.

Moses could be cranky. Even though he was “very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3), his temper would get him into trouble.

The passage isn’t really teaching this, but you should not overlook what you consider to be small sins. They can suddenly overtake you.
Exo 16:21  So they gathered it every morning, every man according to his need. And when the sun became hot, it melted.

With apologies to those who weren’t morning people, manna had to be gathered early in the day or you’d not have food to sustain you.

Exo 16:22  And so it was, on the sixth day, that they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. And all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses.

Why gather twice as much? Well, it was because the seventh day was the Sabbath. Except until that moment – the seventh day wasn’t the Sabbath.

Had the Israelites been keeping the Sabbath throughout their generations, they would have not needed the explanation in verse five to gather twice as much on the sixth day. They’d have known gathering was prohibited as work.

No where in the Old Testament prior to this did anyone keep the Sabbath. Even sabbatarians concede this.

What about God resting on Day Seven of creation week? Sabbatarians say it established a pattern all men were to follow. But that’s an assumption, an argument from silence at best.

God did not command man to rest on the seventh day. In none of His instructions to any of the patriarchs does He ever tell any of them to keep the Sabbath. He gives them plenty to follow, e.g., circumcision. But nothing about the Sabbath, not until the exodus.

Exo 16:23  Then he said to them, “This is what the LORD has said: ‘Tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. Bake what you will bake today, and boil what you will boil; and lay up for yourselves all that remains, to be kept until morning.’ ”
Exo 16:24  So they laid it up till morning, as Moses commanded; and it did not stink, nor were there any worms in it.
Exo 16:25  Then Moses said, “Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field.
Exo 16:26  Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none.”

Verse twenty-three is the first occurrence of the word Sabbath in the Bible. This was all brand new to them. It was their orientation to the Sabbath.

Exo 16:27  Now it happened that some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found none.

No Jew would have done this if they had been keeping the Sabbath prior to this.

Exo 16:28  And the LORD said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws?
Exo 16:29  See! For the LORD has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. Let every man remain in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.”

I belabor the point by saying it, but this is when God gave Israel the Sabbath. The Sabbath was, and is, part of God’s covenant with Israel.

Exo 16:30  So the people rested on the seventh day.
Gentiles were never commanded to keep the Sabbath. Nine of the Ten Commandments are repeated in the New Testament as instructions in righteousness for the church.

The only one that is not repeated is the Sabbath. In fact, we are warned to not be subject to days and rituals which were a mere shadow of the reality that we have in Jesus.

Exo 16:31  And the house of Israel called its name Manna. And it was like white coriander seed, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.

I found this interesting quote by Spurgeon: “According to the Apocrypha, which is not to be received as Scripture, but still is often valuable in some respects, each man tasted the manna according to his own liking. There was something about it that enabled the mouth to give its own flavor to it.”

It tasted like spaghetti.

The Israelites could see in this provision God’s providence. They could see His mercy… His tenderness… His compassion. They could see many attributes of God that they had not previously been made aware of.

He wasn’t just omnipotent and omnipresent and omniscient. There was a fourth ‘omni’ – He was omnibenevolent.

The word omnibenevolent comes from the Latin word omni, meaning “all,” and the word benevolent, meaning “good” or “charitable.”

When we say that God is omnibenevolent, we are saying that God is absolutely good and that no action or motive or thought or feeling or anything else about Him is not purely good. He is “all-good.”

Among all the other things manna was for them, its appearance could have served as a break through moment. Hopefully you have had such moments, when you are overwhelmed by the grace of God.

#2 – Daily Bread Is Your Testimony As You Journey Homeward (v32-36)

Speaking of bread, “Boudin’s sourdough bread’s unique tangy taste and chewy center has been a hit with San Francisco residents since the bakery first opened in 1849.

A big part of brand’s success has been due to its unyielding consistency – a feat only accomplished because the company is still using the same yeast culture that Isidore Boudin collected 160 years ago.”

It’s a running joke among Pensiero’s that all sourdough bread everywhere has molecules from the original starter.

Manna wouldn’t last overnight, unless it was sixth-day manna. That is, except for one particular manna which would be placed in the Ark of the Covenant and be there for centuries as a testimony.

Exo 16:32  Then Moses said, “This is the thing which the LORD has commanded: ‘Fill an omer with it, to be kept for your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’ ”
Exo 16:33  And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a pot and put an omer of manna in it, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generations.”
Exo 16:34  As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.

The “testimony” is a reference either to the Ark of the Covenant, or to the entire Tabernacle that housed the Ark and its other symbolic furnishings. The Tabernacle plans had not been given. This is commentary by Moses on what would occur later.

Manna in that jar, in the Tabernacle, would be a testimony for generations to come.

Exo 16:35  And the children of Israel ate manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land; they ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.

That’s a long time to eat something that isn’t spaghetti. It reminds me of the lembas bread of the Elves in the Tolkien stories.
At one point in the movie trilogy, in The Two Towers, Frodo asks what they have left to eat. Sam says, somewhat disdainfully, “Lembas bread, and look, MORE lembas bread.”

The Israelites did have different ways of preparing manna. We read it could be baked or boiled, for instance. Manna recipes were made famous by Keith Green in his song, So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt: Manna waffles… Manna burgers… Manna bagels… Fillet of manna… Manna patty… BaManna bread.
Their food was part of their testimony. Your food is a part of your testimony – because Jesus is your spiritual manna.

Just as God provided manna to the Israelites to save them from starvation, He has provided Jesus Christ for our salvation.
The manna temporarily saved the Israelites from physical death. The spiritual manna permanently saves us from eternal death.

Jesus said, “Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die” (John 6:49-50).

When you and I live according to God’s Word… When it is our standard of measure, and our absolute rule of life… It gives the world the testimony that “ ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE, BUT BY EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS FROM THE MOUTH OF GOD’ ” (Matthew 4:4).

Like Jesus, we show that we, “have food to eat of which [the nonbeliever does] not know. Our “food is to do the will of” God (John 4:32 & 34).

Whether your go-to meal is spaghetti, or something else – Jesus is your go-to for spiritual sustenance. When His Word is your standard, and you do His will, you give testimony to His grace. Your testimony can strengthen other believers.

And it can challenge nonbelievers by showing, “he who believes in [Jesus] has everlasting life“ (John 6:47).

Adopt and maintain a Word-based diet. If someone asks you how you eat, tell them you’re a Manna-eater.

She Sings Sea Songs By The Sea Shore (Exodus 15:1-27)

What do the following feature films and film franchises have in common: Star Wars, Indiana Jones, E.T., Jurassic Park, Close Encounters, Superman, Harry Potter, and Jaws?

All of them have memorable, immediately recognizable theme music that was composed by John Williams. After just a few bars, you’re transported by the music into the atmosphere of the film.

In our verses today we will encounter the first song that is recorded for us in the Bible. It is the praise song that commemorated and celebrated the Israelites Red Sea crossing.

Was it Israel’s theme music? It should have been; but they would soon be singing another tune.
Right after they sang praises to the Lord, the Israelites travelled in the desert three days without water. When they found water at a place called Marah, the water was bitter and undrinkable.

We read of them, “And the people complained…” (v24).

One minute they were praising the Lord; the next, they were grumbling. It reminds us of something James wrote in his letter in the New Testament, to emphasize grace in our speaking to one another:

Jas 3:11  Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening?

In nature, the answer is “No.”

In our human nature, too often the answer is “Yes.”

Times of victory should elicit praise. Times of adversity should not elicit grumbling – but if we’re being honest, they do.

Today we want to take a look at ourselves in times of victory, and in times of adversity. I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1 On Your Journey Homeward You Will Experience Rushing Waters Of Victory, and #2 On Your Journey Homeward You Will Encounter Stagnant Waters Of Adversity.

#1 – On Your Your Journey Homeward You Will Experience Rushing Waters Of Victory (v1-21)

Rolling Stone magazine polled its readers to determine the Top Ten “One-Hit Wonders” of all time.

Notables on the list were The Knack, with My Sharona; and Norman Greenbaum, with Spirit in the Sky.

Moses was no one-hit wonder. He was a three-hit wonder. In addition to the song here in chapter fifteen of Exodus, Psalm 90 is attributed to Moses. He wrote the third song in the last days of his life; it’s in Deuteronomy 32.

In the fifteenth chapter of the Revelation, you read, “They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb…” (v3). Commentators believe the song referenced is the song we’re looking at today, sung in the future by Tribulation martyrs “who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing [in Heaven] on the sea of glass, having harps of God” (v2).

The Song of Moses is, chronologically, the first psalm, and it will be sung again in Heaven, in the Last Days. Pretty impressive.

Exo 15:1  Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the LORD, and spoke, saying: “I will sing to the LORD, For He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!

Look ahead to verse twenty-one:

Exo 15:21  And Miriam answered them: “Sing to the LORD, For He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!”

This means there was responsive singing.

Moses and “the people” sang, and at certain intervals, Miriam (and other women) sang in response, “For He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea.”

According to the folks at the Book of World Records, “The largest choir [on record] consisted of 121,440 people in India, on January 30, 2011. The choir sang in unison for over 5 minutes.”

Israel holds the real world’s record for largest choir. There were between two and six million people praising the Lord. What an amazing worship service that must have been. Especially considering they had just personally experienced what the song celebrated.

The praise songs we sing – do they not celebrate your personal experiences of salvation and sanctification? Those things should never get too old to elicit heartfelt praise.

Exo 15:2  The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; He is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will exalt Him.

He was the God of their fathers, known to them by stories handed down, but now they had personally experienced Him for themselves. They could say, O God, You are “my God,” and I will ever praise You.

God’s strength saved them, so they sang to “praise” Him and to “exalt” Him.

Exo 15:3  The LORD is a man of war; The LORD is His name.

If you find yourself backed-up against an uncrossable body of water, with mountains on both sides, and there is a hostile armored force barreling down on you, then you might need the Lord to be a “Man of war.”

What about you? What is your adversity? How do you want God to respond?

You might want Him to be a “man of war,” when instead He is presenting His power to you as Someone else, e.g., the Prince of Peace.

God wears a lot of hats in His responses to us. Analyze how God is already responding to your circumstances. It might help you get a handle on what He is doing spiritually to conform you into the image of Jesus. Instead of being upset that He isn’t a man of war, embrace the way He is manifesting Himself to you. Go with it. When God doesn’t part the waters you want to walk through, He’s doing something else; trust in Him.

Exo 15:4  Pharaoh’s chariots and his army He has cast into the sea; His chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea.

The power of Egypt was overcome. There was nothing in reserve; all had been destroyed.

If you are a believer, you can praise the Lord for all that He overcame to save you: Satan and sin and death.

It didn’t mean the end of conflict for Israel. They’d face fierce foes in the desert and in the Promised Land.
Salvation isn’t the end of conflict for you, either.

Exo 15:5  The depths have covered them; They sank to the bottom like a stone.

There are stories on the internet that bodies and implements have been discovered in the Red Sea by archaeologists. It’s not true. Remember we aren’t even sure exactly where this crossing occurred. Bodies and implements might still be somewhere, if we knew where to look.

Exo 15:6  “Your right hand, O LORD, has become glorious in power; Your right hand, O LORD, has dashed the enemy in pieces.

The “right hand” symbolized authority. This lyric proclaims God as the absolute authority over the affairs of men and nations.

We like the phrase, “God is in charge.” It establishes His sovereignty over all creation while allowing for the fact that He tolerates Satan as the ruler and god of this world system, until the Second Coming of Jesus.

Exo 15:7  And in the greatness of Your excellence You have overthrown those who rose against You; You sent forth Your wrath; It consumed them like stubble.

A by-stander would have concluded that Egypt was against Israel. But in positioning themselves against God’s people, their real aggression was against God.

After using His people to give Pharaoh ten chances to repent, God released His wrath at the Red Sea.

God’s wrath is compared to fire consuming dry stubble. It’s a metaphor within a metaphor. God’s wrath is a consuming fire, but it manifested itself in this instance as waves of water.

In the last book of the Bible, in the Revelation, God’s fiery wrath is manifested in many ways as He strives with men but ultimately must judge them.

Exo 15:8  And with the blast of Your nostrils The waters were gathered together; The floods stood upright like a heap; The depths congealed in the heart of the sea.

God used a strong east wind that Moses poetically likened to the Lord breathing heavy from His nostrils.

Exo 15:9  The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; My desire shall be satisfied on them. I will draw my sword, My hand shall destroy them.’

“I, I, I, My, I, My.” Pharaoh was proud and impressed by his physical strength.

It’s so hard, among believers even, to get over judging things by their outward prosperity. Money and numbers and property are too often a terrible gauge of spiritual success.

Exo 15:10  You blew with Your wind, The sea covered them; They sank like lead in the mighty waters.

This is an abbreviated version of the action described in the song. Maybe it’s a portion that sort of stuck with them – like when you hear a song and then find yourself humming it.

Exo 15:11  “Who is like You, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, Fearful in praises, doing wonders?

Who are “the gods?” Most likely this is a reference not to Pharaoh or other human powers, but rather to supernatural beings, e.g., angels (both faithful and fallen). It is an exclamation and a proclamation that God is unique as Creator. He alone in Heaven is holy, to be feared, in “doing wonders” on behalf of His people.

These words might be a warning to Israel not to go after the idols that represent other gods. Even if they or their adherents did wonders, they are not holy or to be feared.

Exo 15:12  You stretched out Your right hand; The earth swallowed them.

Other phenomena accompanied the crashing of the waters of the Red Sea upon Egypt. One was a massive earthquake. Could it be that we haven’t found any bodies or implements because the majority was “swallowed” by the earth in a massive chasm?

At this point, the song begins to look forward, to the conquest of the Promised Land.

Exo 15:13  You in Your mercy have led forth The people whom You have redeemed; You have guided them in Your strength To Your holy habitation.

It hadn’t happened yet, but it would happen. It wouldn’t happen as originally planned, but it would happen.

These words were for Israel, but they capture something that is true for every believer: We’ve been redeemed, and are guided in His strength by the indwelling Holy Spirit, and have a home waiting for us in Heaven.

We might not walk exactly as planned, since we are still “Prone to wander, Prone to leave the God I love.” But His “streams of mercy, never ceasing,” will get us home.

Exo 15:14  “The people will hear and be afraid; Sorrow will take hold of the inhabitants of Philistia.
Exo 15:15  Then the chiefs of Edom will be dismayed; The mighty men of Moab, Trembling will take hold of them; All the inhabitants of Canaan will melt away.
Exo 15:16  Fear and dread will fall on them; By the greatness of Your arm They will be as still as a stone, Till Your people pass over, O LORD, Till the people pass over Whom You have purchased.

We have the benefit of history and can consult the Book of Joshua. When the next generation of Israelites finally entered the Promised Land, all the tribes and nations that were settled in the land were, in fact, trembling with fear on account of the advance of the God of Israel.

Exo 15:17  You will bring them in and plant them In the mountain of Your inheritance, In the place, O LORD, which You have made For Your own dwelling, The sanctuary, O LORD, which Your hands have established.

Jerusalem is the “mountain.” They would indeed establish it as their capital, and erect first the Tabernacle, then the Temple, on the Temple Mount.
Exo 15:18  “The LORD shall reign forever and ever.”

It reads like the conclusion to a prophecy update! Looking beyond the Red Sea crossing, and beyond the Promised Land, the Lord will establish His forever kingdom, free from sin.

Exo 15:19  For the horses of Pharaoh went with his chariots and his horsemen into the sea, and the LORD brought back the waters of the sea upon them. But the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea.

Back to the situation at hand. Victory in Jesus was theirs to enjoy.

Exo 15:20  Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.
Exo 15:21  And Miriam answered them: “Sing to the LORD, For He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!”

Miriam was the oldest; at least in her nineties at this point. The word we use in such cases is “spry,” is it not?

As I suggested earlier, this was responsive singing (accompanied by timbrels and dancing) throughout the song. It was arranged; it was choreographed; in order to bring glory to the Lord.

Occasionally I’m asked why we don’t have female dancers come and aid us in our worship on a Sunday morning. It’s just so hard to find spry lady timbrelists in their nineties. If you know any…

Miriam was a “prophetess.” God spoke through her. We don’t have any of her prophecies recorded in the Bible. There are extra-biblical accounts that survive as traditions among the Jews, but nothing we can say for sure.

The Israelites experienced what I’m calling “rushing waters of victory.” You have experienced them, too:

If you’re saved, it doesn’t get more victorious than that. Plus Jesus promised you the Holy Spirit as rivers of living water flowing into you, and through you.
If you’ve been saved for a while, you’ve experienced victories in your walk with the Lord. You probably didn’t commemorate them with a song, but they are praiseworthy.

Take some time today or soon to remember some Red Sea crossing of your own. Then “sing and make melody in your heart to the Lord.”

#2 – On Your Journey Homeward You Will Encounter Stagnant Waters Of Adversity (v22-27)

Drink plenty of water, they say, so it’s estimated we consumed 391billion liters of bottled water in 2017.
Bottled water is killing us, they say.

CBS News posted this:

More than 90 percent of some of the most popular bottled water brands contain tiny particles of plastic. That’s according to research conducted at the State University of New York by Orb Media, a nonprofit journalism group, which detected “constellations” of plastic in brands including Aqua, Aquafina, Evian and Nestle Pure Life.

Orb’s findings suggest that a person who drinks a liter of bottled water a day might be consuming tens of thousands of microplastic particles each year…

Hanford water never tasted so good.

Water, in the desert, for millions of people and their livestock, took center stage in Israel.

Exo 15:22  So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea; then they went out into the Wilderness of Shur. And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water.

This was a crisis of biblical proportions. Survival blogs suggest that an average person can only survive from as little as two days up to a week without liquid.

Exo 15:23  Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah.

In 1965 one-hit wonders, The Standells, recorded Dirty Water about the then-famously polluted Boston Harbor and Charles River. It would have been an appropriate title for the waters of Marah.

As a devotion, we would say that many things in the world look refreshing, but experience proves them bitter. It prompted one commentator to say, “All the waters of life are embittered by sin. They look well, but are vanity and vexation of spirit.”
Famous pastoral question: “What well are you drinking from?” Is it Jesus, and His rushing river of life… Or some reservoir of the world’s, promising life, but yielding only distraction at best, and disaster at worst. “Living water we desire, to flood our hearts with Holy Fire.”

Exo 15:24  And the people complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?”

Moses just can’t catch a break. Nevertheless, he was their leader, so it was time to man-up.

Exo 15:25  So he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree…

Stop there for a moment. I think it’s safe to assume that the Israelites had been looking for rivers or streams or old wells; maybe even natural formations that acted as cisterns, capturing rain water.

I can tell you what they were not looking for: “A tree.” No one said, “Find a tree that we can throw into the water to make it drinkable.”

The tree was hiding in plain sight, but it had to be revealed to Moses, through patience accompanying prayer.

The Do-Nut Man memorialized this event when he sang,

The bitter water was at Marah;
The bitter water was no good.
But the bitter water was a better water
when it was made better with wood!
What about this tree? I came across this quote:

Shall we say with the fathers that the tree cast into the waters represents the cross of Christ? At least it is a type of the sweetening and assuaging influences of [Christ] – a new element, entering life… making all wholesome and refreshing to the disappointed wayfarer, who found it so bitter hitherto.

I don’t think it’s going too far to see the tree representing the Cross. Later in the exodus we’ll see a rock from which water flows, which we definitely know from the New Testament is Jesus (First Corinthians 10:4).

The Bible does refer to the Cross upon which Jesus died as a tree; Peter does so in his first letter (2:24). Dr. J. Vernon McGee said,

We are told that a tree cast into the water made it sweet. Deuteronomy 21:23 says, “he that is hanged is accursed of God …” and in Galatians 3:13 it says, “… Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.” Jesus Christ died on a tree, and it is that cross that makes the experiences of life sweet.

Your adversity, your Marah, is thus helped or healed by applying the Cross to it. At the Cross, His love ran red, and your sins were washed white. You owe all to Him; Be in awe of Him.

What does that mean, in practice?

For one thing, it means you must die to self, and take up the Cross as a disciple. In those cases, your adversity doesn’t change, you do – being conformed into the image of Jesus.
For another thing, some situations are only resolved by a person coming to salvation in Jesus Christ. The father waited and waited, but it wasn’t until the prodigal son came to his senses and returned that all could be restored.

Exo 15:25  So he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them,

God gave Israel an object lesson to “test” them. They failed the test, but He blessed them anyway. We, too, will fall short; we, too, will go on experiencing grace on top of grace.

The “statute and ordinance” is in verse twenty-six.

Exo 15:26  and said, “If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.”

Some of God’s promises are conditional. Obedience would bring them physical prosperity. Disobedience would bring them physical adversity.

We have no such physical promises, as should be evident by reading about the apostle Paul and all he suffered for the privilege of knowing God and preaching the Gospel.

Exo 15:27  Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees; so they camped there by the waters.
I know what you’re thinking: “When do I get to leave Marah and arrive at Elim?”

I can’t say. Not for you; not for me. I know that the Cross, applied to Marah, can accomplish God’s purposes in my life. But it doesn’t always release me from Marah, or turn Marah into Elim.

Elim isn’t always the best place to be, by the way. The Israelites would learn that prosperity was dangerous to their spiritual walk. It fostered apathy, which led them into apostasy.

I don’t generally like musicals, but you’ve got to love the classics. The Sound of Music recently celebrated its Golden Anniversary.

Our walk with the Lord is a musical. For one thing, we are told to “[speak] to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:19).

We similarly read in Colossians 3:16, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”

Blessed be His Name in the land that is plentiful AND when you’re found in the desert places. Whether He gives, or takes away, let your heart choose to say, “Blessed be Your Name.”

Madman Across The Water (Exodus 14:14-31)

Who is from Missouri? Or should I say, Missouruh?

The pronunciation became a major issue in a recent campaign for governor. Then Governor Jay Nixon endured accusations of flip-flopping, not on the major issues, but for using both pronunciations in a virtual one-to-one ratio, sometimes in the same sentence.

His opponent, Dave Spence, said he was more consistent, exclusively using the Missouree pronunciation. But he caught flak when a video clip featured the candidate’s wife saying “he’s going to be a great governor for the state of Missouruh.”

A reporter commented, “Most of the state’s top officials stick mostly to Missouree, but they sprinkle the other ending into the occasional speech, especially when they’re introducing themselves or speaking to rural audiences. Strategists say that’s just good Missouri manners.”

One thing all Missourians agree upon is the unofficial state slogan. You probably know it: The Show-Me State. The state website says, “Show-me describes the character of Missourians; not gullible, conservative, and unwilling to believe without adequate evidence.”

The Red Sea crossing of Israel, and the pursuit of the Egyptian army, is a biblical “show-me.” I think it perfectly illustrates something we read regarding our salvation in Jesus Christ in the New Testament letter to the Colossians:

Col 1:13  He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,

The Israelites had been powerfully delivered from the power and dominion of Pharaoh and Egypt. Crossing the Red Sea safely, they were being conveyed along to the Promised Land.

But more than the obvious, the crossing illustrates spiritual truths for all believers at all times:

Being rescued from Egypt the way they were, by the blood of a substituted lamb, illustrates being delivered by God from Satan and sin.

Miraculously crossing the Red Sea onto the opposite shore illustrates being supernaturally “conveyed” onward to the Kingdom of God.

If you’re a Christian, you’ve been delivered, and you’ve been conveyed. Keep that in mind as our point of contact with this incredible story.

I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1 Keep Looking Forward At The Kingdom Into Which You’ve Been Received, and #2 Take A Look Back At The Kingdom From Which You’ve Been Rescued.

#1 – Keep Looking Forward At The Kingdom Into Which You’ve Been Received (14-22)

When a Christian refers to “the Kingdom,” or “the Kingdom of God,” exactly what does he or she mean?

There are three ways we speak about the Kingdom of God.

First, the Kingdom of God is the rule of the eternal, sovereign God over all the universe He has created. In Psalm 103:19 we read, “The LORD has established His throne in Heaven, And His kingdom rules over all.”

Second, the Bible describes the Kingdom of God as the spiritual rule over the hearts and lives of those who willingly submit to His authority. One site said (and I quote),

That the kingdom of God can be equated with salvation is evident in John 3:5-7, where Jesus says the kingdom of God must be entered into by being born again.

The Kingdom of God is His rule over creation, and it is His rule over His new creatures in Jesus Christ.
There is a third way the Bible speaks of the Kingdom of God. God has unconditionally promised the nation of Israel that they will experience a future, physical Kingdom of God on this earth, with Jesus ruling over it from David’s throne in Jerusalem. The prophet Daniel said that “the God of Heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed” (2:4).

We often call this future reign of Jesus the Millennial Kingdom, because in the Book of the Revelation, in chapter twenty, we’re told at least six times it will last for “a thousand years.”

It has a very distinct beginning – the Second Coming of Jesus to the earth with His saints.
It has a very dramatic end – the final judgment of Satan and all nonbelievers from all of human history; and,
It endures from beginning to end for a literal thousand years.

Putting all three explanations of the Kingdom of God together we say:

God is in charge of the universe.
Jesus is coming back a second time to fulfill the promises of the Kingdom on earth.
As we wait for Him, the kingdom of God is His spiritual rule over those who are saved.

There is, simultaneously, another “kingdom” at work:

Satan is referred to as “the god of this world” (Second Corinthians 4:4).
Satan is called the “prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2).
He is given the title, “ruler of this world” (John 12:31).
In First John 5:19 we read, “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.”

In the desert temptation, Satan offered Jesus all the kingdoms of this world if the Lord would bow-down and worship him. The Lord declined, but He did not dispute Satan’s claim over the kingdoms of the world as the god of this world.

On the Cross at Calvary, Jesus defeated Satan, conquering sin and death at the same time. But seeing He was rejected by the Jewish officials, the establishment of the Kingdom of God on the earth was postponed. When Jesus returns, in His Second Coming, the Revelation proclaims, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”

God is in charge, but in His longsuffering, not wanting any to perish, He tolerates Satan and his evil empire. Defeated, the devil fights on. His fate, however, has been determined:

At the Second Coming of Jesus, he will be incarcerated for the thousand years in a place called the Abyss.
At the end of the thousand years, he will be cast alive into the Lake of Fire to spend eternity in conscious torment.

We are participants in the spiritual kingdom of God as He rules over us, but we live in a world whose god is the devil.

In the crossing of the Red Sea our salvation is illustrated as we see the Israelites first rescued from Egypt, then conveyed to the far shore. It’s like our being rescued from Satan and sin to be conveyed to Heaven.
We’re picking-up the story in verse fourteen. Israel is trapped between the devil and the deep Red Sea, with mountains on both sides, and an uncrossable body of water ahead of them. The Egyptian armored forces are barreling down upon them, to destroy them.

Exo 14:14  The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”

God had positioned them in such a way that they were powerless and helpless on their own. There was nothing they could do or say to save themselves.

Men must be rescued from the kingdom of Satan. We cannot help ourselves. Only Jesus can bind the strong man and save those held captive by him and kept blinded in the dark.

Exo 14:15  And the LORD said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward.

Moses had been praying. That was good, as far as it went. God told Moses the time for praying was over; it was a time for doing.

As believers, we should have times we set aside for prayer. We should often pray with, and for, one another. And we should be praying at all times – communing and having fellowship with God in our hearts.

There are times when praying is a stall tactic. One writer said, “There comes a moment when praying becomes a form of spiritual procrastination. It’s time to stop praying and start acting.”

If you know something needs to be done, and it is something good, then you may not need to pray about it. And you certainly need to do more than pray about it.

Think of some of the things you might be sincerely praying about. Is it in your power to help? To meet the need? To participate? To serve? To give? To go?

Perhaps today God is saying to you, right now, “Why do you cry to Me? Go forward.” The “staff” is in your hand.

Exo 14:16  But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.

This would not have been my first choice. How about God just rains hailstones down on the enemy? Or some other method in which I was a spectator, not a participant.

It’s never about defeating the enemy. That’s easy for God. It’s about you and I growing in faith. We are His great workmanship, and He takes every opportunity to create us more in the image of Jesus.

Exo 14:17  And I indeed will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. So I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen.

Every time we see God “harden the hearts,” I feel obligated to remind you that what is meant is that He allows folks to follow the dictates of their own will. In this case, He allowed the Egyptians to follow their rage into the water.

If the wrath of men is what they offer God, He can use even that to His “honor.”

Exo 14:18  Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gained honor for Myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

You’d think that by now the Egyptians would know that Israel’s God was God. Over a period of eight months they’d had a series of ten incredible wonders performed before their very eyes.

Really, what more could God have done to reveal Himself to them?

If men and women do not get saved, it isn’t for lack of effort on God’s part:

Creation reveals God to everyone, everywhere.

The Gospel is presented in the heavens, in the form of the constellations that the ancients called the Mazzeroth.

He has placed “eternity in [our] hearts,” the Bible says in Ecclesiastes 3:11. We take that to correspond to what the apostle Paul said on Mars Hill, that “[God] has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us…” (Acts 17:26-27).

Dr. Stephen Hawking died this week at age 76. He had this to say about death:

“I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no Heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.”

Hawking also said, “One can’t prove that God doesn’t exist, but science makes God unnecessary.”

“Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist,” he wrote in his celebrated book, The Grand Design.

There is a “grand [intelligent] design” – but no Designer? It’s not a tenable position. There is plenty of evidence that God is reaching-out to mankind.

Exo 14:19  And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them.

The “Angel of the Lord” is an Old Testament (more accurately, a pre-incarnate) appearance of Jesus Christ in some form. Here it seems we are to understand that Jesus was the “pillar” that had been leading Israel.

Twice God said He would gain “honor.” He had positioned Israel in a way that their circumstances would reveal His glory.

We took a long look at this last study. We won’t always know, this side of Heaven, how certain of our circumstances bring God glory. We’re to trust and believe that they do, or that they will.

Exo 14:20  So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so that the one did not come near the other all that night.

There was a clear separation between the two groups. One was a kingdom enshrouded in darkness. The other, a kingdom of light.

When Jesus came to earth the first time, He said to Nicodemus, “… the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil“ (John 3:19).

Exo 14:21  Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided.

It’s no less a miracle because God utilized Moses’ staff and “a strong east wind.”

God does not work alone; God works through the instrumentality of both human and nonhuman powers to accomplish the divine purpose.

Exo 14:22  So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

It’s been estimated the crossing would have taken nine hours if the Israelites numbered 2million. We think there is good evidence they numbered more like six million.

This was no dash across; it took considerable time – during which walls of swirling water were on either side.

There was only one way to go, and that was forward on the path the Lord had chosen for them.

There is only one way to go, and that is forward on the path the Lord has chosen for you.

Your path may be up to the high places. It may be through the valley of the shadow of death. Job cried out, “though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him” (13:15).

Whether you are in a time of peril or of prosperity; whether you are being buffeted or blessed; your path leads forward to the coming of the Lord.

Keep looking forward to the Kingdom of God.

#2 – Take A Look Back At The Kingdom From Which You’ve Been Rescued (23-31)

I usually counsel folks to keep their before-Christ days in the rear view mirror. Giving your testimony is one thing; dwelling on your sinful past is another.

There is a way of taking a look back that can be helpful to your walk. The apostle Paul put it like this:

1Co 6:9  Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites,
1Co 6:10  nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.
1Co 6:11  And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

What a great perspective! Call your past what it was, then see that it pales in comparison to walking in a relationship with the living God.

If you’re not careful, you might sometimes catch yourself thinking that you were abducted from your former life. It can seem as though it was more fun in the kingdom of darkness.

You weren’t abducted; you were rescued. If you can’t have wholesome fun in the Kingdom of God; if you’re always longing for the garlic in Egypt; that’s your sin nature raising-up its ugly head.

Exo 14:23  And the Egyptians pursued and went after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.

I love those old gangster films where all the bank robber had to do to avoid capture was to cross over state lines.

God had definitely drawn a line in the dry sand of the Red Sea. But Pharaoh crossed it. He was bent on destroying Israel. He was blinded by sin – a captive of the devil, to do Satan’s will.

Exo 14:24  Now it came to pass, in the morning watch, that the LORD looked down upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and He troubled the army of the Egyptians.
Exo 14:25  And He took off their chariot wheels, so that they drove them with difficulty; and the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the LORD fights for them against the Egyptians.”

Psalm 77 is helpful here:

Psa 77:16  The waters saw You, O God; The waters saw You, they were afraid; The depths also trembled.
Psa 77:17  The clouds poured out water; The skies sent out a sound; Your arrows also flashed about.
Psa 77:18  The voice of Your thunder was in the whirlwind; The lightnings lit up the world; The earth trembled and shook.

God unleashed a spectacular display of thunder, lightning, rain, and earthquake. The noises would have been deafening as well. It was sufficient that Egypt’s charioteers were struck with terror.

As if that wasn’t enough, God made the chariot wheels “come off” (NIV), or “jam,” against one another, so that the Egyptians had difficulty driving.

The Egyptians realized that they had made a grave error, but it was too late.

Exo 14:26  Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen.”

How large was this armored force? We described in our last study that the 600 “choice chariots” were ridden by three soldiers. So that’s 1800 armed men. There’s no way of knowing how many regular chariots, ridden by two soldiers, there were.
Let’s be super conservative and say there were 5000 Egyptians on chariots.

Exo 14:27  And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and when the morning appeared, the sea returned to its full depth, while the Egyptians were fleeing into it. So the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.
Exo 14:28  Then the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them. Not so much as one of them remained.

There were “horsemen” as well as chariots; and there appears to have been an “army” on foot. This was a huge force.

On October 24, 2014, the web site World News Daily Report published an article reporting that chariot wheels and the bones of horses and men had been discovered at the bottom of the Red Sea, thereby providing archaeological proof of the Biblical account.

It’s not true. It was recycled fake news from previous fake news.

World News Daily Report has this disclaimer on their web page:

We assume all responsibility for the satirical nature of our articles and for the fictional nature of their content. All characters appearing in the articles in this website – even those based on real people – are entirely fictional and any resemblance between them and any persons, living, dead, or undead is purely a miracle.

Be careful surfing that thar’ Inter Web.

Exo 14:29  But the children of Israel had walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
Exo 14:30  So the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.

There’s some debate over whether or not Pharaoh died. Psalm 136:15 indicates he did die when it says, “[God] overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea…”

“Overthrew,” however, doesn’t conclusively mean he died along with the others. We just don’t know for certain.

Bible teachers frequently refer to, and quote, first century Jewish historian, Josephus. In his account of the Red Sea crossing,
Josephus says that the wind turned around and blew the bodies of the drowned corpses to the eastern shore so that Moses could obtain the weapons and armor for the Israelites.

Exo 14:31  Thus Israel saw the great work which the LORD had done in Egypt; so the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD and His servant Moses.

I wonder if God was the first one to say, “I love it when a plan comes together.” This one certainly did.

Israel looked back upon the kingdom they had been rescued from. Mighty Egypt – a world ruling empire. Wealthy. Powerful.

In reality, what characterized Egypt is what characterizes every kingdom ruled by the god of this world: “fornicators… idolaters… adulterers… homosexuals… sodomites… thieves… covetous… drunkards… revilers… extortioners…”

We read those words earlier as the apostle Paul described the Corinthian culture.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ rescues you from all that, and you are received into a new way of life, with Jesus ruling your heart.

“And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”

If you’re not a believer, you are a blind captive in Satan’s dark kingdom. “The light shines in the darkness” (John 1:5) whenever the Gospel is presented to you.

You say, “show-me and I’ll believe?” He has shown you – in creation, in the heavens, and by placing eternity in your heart.

The greatest intellect of our time knew there was a design to the universe. The design reveals the Designer – Jesus Christ.

Hey (Hey), You (You), Go After My Cloud (Exodus 13:17-14:14)

I frequently get lost. The embarrassing thing is that I get lost going to places I’ve already been to.

GPS is a big help to me – except when its not. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard, “You have arrived at your destination,” when I’m nowhere near it.

Google it, and you can read all manner of hilarious stories involving GPS mistakes. Like the woman in Northbridge, Massachusetts, who drove her car into a sand trap on a golf course by strictly following GPS directions.

In 2013, an Apple Maps GPS error directed people to drive right onto an active runway at a major Alaska airport. Thankfully, no one was hurt.

Some GPS errors have been deadly.

“It’s what I’m beginning to call death by GPS,” said Death Valley wilderness coordinator Charlie Callagan. “People are renting vehicles with GPS and they have no idea how it works and they are willing to trust the GPS to lead them into the middle of nowhere.”

“It’s important for people to know that only a tiny portion of Death Valley has cell phone reception,” search and rescue coordinator Micah Alley said. “GPS units are not only fallible but send people across the desert where no road exists.”

The Israelites who left Egypt in the exodus had a positioning system to lead them through the desert:

Exo 13:21  And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night.
Exo 13:22  He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people.

Unlike our modern GPS, God’s Pillar System could never be wrong. Where it led, the Israelites were to follow. When it stopped, the Israelites were to camp.

Christians talk a great deal about God “leading” us on our pilgrim journey home. God’s leading will be our point of contact with this history.

I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1 God Positions You By What We Call His Leading, and #2 God Positions You For What He Calls His Glory.

#1 – God Positions You By What We Call His Leading (13:17-22)

It struck me that God enjoys giving us signs in the heavens. Can you think of some?

The rainbow in the sky after the flood promised Noah (and us) that God would never destroy the earth by water again (Genesis 9:13).

During Joshua’s conquest of the Promised Land, God caused the sun and the moon to stand still “about a full day” so Israel could defeat her enemies on the field of battle (Joshua 10).

The New Testament era began with the Star of Bethlehem leading the magi to the King of the Jews.

We have forgotten, or we ignore, what believers in times past called the Mazzeroth. It is the Gospel proclaimed by the constellations God has placed in the night sky. It’s mentioned in the Book of Job, when God said, “Can you lead the Mazzeroth in their season?” (28:12).

Today if you even mention it folks think you’re talking about astrology. But godly men like Dr. Henry Morris and Donald Grey Barnhouse pointed to the Gospel in the constellations as the real meaning of the phrase, “the heavens declare the glory of God.”

In the future, the Revelation of Jesus Christ lists heavenly sign after heavenly sign as the Great Tribulation progresses on the earth. It will be the fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel that God “WILL SHOW WONDERS IN HEAVEN ABOVE AND SIGNS IN THE EARTH BENEATH: BLOOD AND FIRE AND VAPOR OF SMOKE. THE SUN SHALL BE TURNED INTO DARKNESS, AND THE MOON INTO BLOOD, BEFORE THE COMING OF THE GREAT AND AWESOME DAY OF THE LORD” (Acts 2:19-20).

Last year the internet was buzzing with the observation that for either the first time ever, or for the first time in centuries, constellations and planets were going to line-up just precisely they are portrayed in Revelation chapter twelve. Certain extremists argued that it pointed definitely to the rapture on a certain date in September, which was unfortunate because their critics had grounds to immediately ignored the sign and spent their time discrediting the extremists.

God went to extraordinary lengths to put that sign in the sky. He’s a heavenly sign-maker.

The exodus-ing Israelites experienced an amazing heavenly phenomena. We’ll see it as their story is told.

Exo 13:17  Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, “Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.”

There was a more direct route through the desert, but it would take them past Egyptian fortresses along the way. The people would look at those and “see war” by thinking the Egyptians might attack them. God therefore led them by another route.

Make a mental note: God led them with their best interests in mind. I’ll give you a spoiler: It won’t always seem as though God has their best interests in mind.

Nevertheless, God was definitely thinking about His people, for their good. It’s His nature to always do so.

Exo 13:18  So God led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children of Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt.

Contrary to what you might read or be taught, no one is absolutely certain of the route the Israelites took. There are several biblical possibilities.

Whatever route you suggest must take into account two things we are certain of:

The body of water they had to cross was deep enough to make crossing it impossible without miraculous intervention.
The water was deep enough to drown the Egyptian army.

You may have heard critics of the miracles of the Bible say that the words translated “Red Sea” are really “Reed Sea,” a different body of water. They say the Reed Sea was shallow enough to cross without divine intervention. That it may have been only a foot deep in places.
To which you’ve undoubtedly also heard it said that it’s an even greater miracle that Pharaoh’s army drowned in twelve inches of water.

Truth is, if you consult Strong’s Concordance, the translation is “Reed Sea.” But that doesn’t resolve it, because there are places in the Bible where those words identify what is definitely todays Red Sea.

Whether the Red Sea, or the Reed Sea, or one of the other biblically possible locations, it was deep… And it was wide.

They “went up in orderly ranks.” It was an orderly march – no small task for nearly 6million people and their much livestock.

The exodus camp would rank as the fifth or sixth largest gathering in human history. I’ll let you discover the list on the inter-web. The largest was in 2013 when 30million Hindu pilgrims gathered for an event that occurs every dozen years.

Exo 13:19  And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had placed the children of Israel under solemn oath, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here with you.”

Centuries earlier, Joseph requested that his bones be taken from Egypt (Genesis 50:25). In the Book of Acts, Stephen indicated that the remains of other sons of Jacob were taken there also (Acts 7:15–16).

Joseph, you’ll recall, had risen to become second in power only to Pharaoh. From his position he was able to save his brothers from famine by having them move to Goshen. But Joseph saw it as a temporary stop on the way to the Promised Land.

He thought little of his position in the world and preferred to look forward to the fulfillment of God’s promises.

People of God prefer a barren pilgrimage to the pleasures of sin for a season. Their hearts are set on the city whose builder and maker is God.

It had been centuries since Joseph died, yet his request was still fresh on the minds of the Israelites. We say “Good job” to previous generations for passing on their heritage.

Exo 13:20  So they took their journey from Succoth and camped in Etham at the edge of the wilderness.

Again, we do not know the exact location of these places. What is important is that they were straight out of Egypt, “at the edge of the wilderness.”

Exo 13:21  And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night.
Exo 13:22  He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people.

It was a single “pillar” which was a cloud by day, and fire at night. Don’t think of it as a narrow column, however. In Psalm 105:39 we read that God “spread a cloud for covering.” That means it was wide enough to cover the entire congregation of 6million.
These were as Matthew Henry puts it, “constant standing miracles.”

In verse nineteen the cloud will be equated with the Angel of the Lord. The pillar was a manifestation of the Angel of the Lord – an Old Testament appearance of Jesus.

The pillar guided them and, when they get to Mount Sinai, God will speak to them from it. Thus were they led by the Lord.

We, too, are led by the Lord. We read in Romans 8:14, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, the Spirit of God Who lives in you, leads you.

He’s not doing it as a pillar, so how is the Spirit leading us?

First, we have direct communication with the Holy Spirit. In Second Corinthians 13:14, the apostle Paul uses the phrase, “the communion of the Holy Spirit.” In Philippians 2:1 he calls it “the fellowship of the Spirit.”

The Holy Spirit, Who lives in us, communes with us; we have fellowship with Him.

It sounds like I’m saying that God talks to us. Vice-president Mike Pence got criticized for saying God speaks to him. One washed-up celebrity said people who believe God speaks to them are suffering from mental illness.

Except for Oprah, who denied she’s running for president in 2020 by saying, “If God actually wanted me to run, wouldn’t God kinda tell me?”

Whether you call it a still small voice, or a prompting, or an inner witness, or a check in your spirit, or a quickening – as a believer you grow in relationship with the indwelling Holy Spirit and begin to commune with Him, and to have fellowship with Him.

Second, Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would bring His Words to remembrance, and thereby teach us:

Joh 14:26  But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

An incredible amount of personal leading already is written for us in God’s Word, the Bible. The Holy Spirit teaches us God’s Word, then brings it to remembrance, then empowers us to obey it.

To be complete, we should mention a few other ways the Bible says God can lead us: visions and dreams and prophecies. Don’t freak-out; all these are exampled for us in the New Testament by believers in the church age:

The Lord came to Peter in a vision to tell him to go to the house of Cornelius and share the Gospel.
The Lord came to Paul in a dream to encourage him in his ministry to the city of Corinth.
It was probably a prophecy that sent Paul and Barnabas out on the first missions trip.

Maybe it’s rare, but God never quit communicating in these ways. The only caution, and it’s a good one, would be that we must test visions and dreams and prophecies by the sure Word of God.

Bottom line: God positions you, getting you where He wants you, in order to continue the work He began in you at your conversion. You are probably right where God wants you.

#2 – God Positions You For What He Calls His Glory (14:1-14)

I gave you a spoiler earlier when I said that God’s leading won’t always seem as though He has your best interests in mind. I get that from the position His pillar put the Israelites in.

Exo 14:1  Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying:
Exo 14:2  “Speak to the children of Israel, that they turn and camp before Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal Zephon; you shall camp before it by the sea.

They were to camp between two mountains with the sea behind them. They would thereby be boxed-in.

Exo 14:3  For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, ‘They are bewildered by the land; the wilderness has closed them in.’

Pharaoh would receive intel about the Israelite movements. They’re campsite was so absurd that not for a moment would he think that their God was still protecting them. They seemed lost and wandering aimlessly. They were in the perfect spot to be attacked.

Exo 14:4  Then I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, so that he will pursue them; and I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD.” And they did so.
We’ve spent a ton of time in previous studies discussing the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart. Suffice it to say that it means that God was doing things that revealed Pharaoh’s own hard heart. God would make a move, offering Pharaoh a genuine opportunity to obey Him, but each time it only strengthened Pharaoh’s resolve to disobey.

“Let My people go,” God said to Pharaoh. When Pharaoh refused, God sent a series of nine signs to plague Egypt. After each one Pharaoh had opportunity to obey, but instead he hardened his heart. Finally the tenth sign, the death of all firstborn among man and beast, overcame Pharaoh’s refusal, and he let Israel go.

Pharaoh could have cut his losses right there. But his heart was hardened even more, and he was bent on punishing the Israelites. It would seem as though the Spirit of God had now ceased to strive with Pharaoh.

God didn’t force Pharaoh to follow Israel, to attack them. It was his free-will decision.

God’s response would bring Him “honor,” or as it could be translated, “glory.”

Exo 14:5  Now it was told the king of Egypt that the people had fled, and the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people; and they said, “Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?”
Exo 14:6  So he made ready his chariot and took his people with him.

They “let Israel go” because of the ten plagues. But now that the immediate crisis was over, they regretted the loss of their workforce, and probably wanted some revenge to boot.

Nonbelievers often cry-out to God for help in their catastrophe, only to renege on their promises to believe and follow Him if He helps them.

Exo 14:7  Also, he took six hundred choice chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt with captains over every one of them.

A difference is made between “the choice chariots” and “the chariots of Egypt.” The first were the king’s guard, amounting to six hundred, and they are called “choice,” literally, “third men”; three men being allotted to each chariot, the charioteer and two warriors.

As to “the chariots of Egypt,” they contained only two persons, one for driving and the other for fighting; sometimes only one person was in the chariot, the driver lashed the reins round his body and fought.

A chariot was the ancient equivalent of a tank.

Exo 14:8  And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the children of Israel; and the children of Israel went out with boldness.

They had left with “boldness.” But when God led them into what looked like a trap, their boldness gave way to fear.

Exo 14:9  So the Egyptians pursued them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and overtook them camping by the sea beside Pi Hahiroth, before Baal Zephon.
Exo 14:10  And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the LORD.

Humanly speaking, there was no way out. It looked like a complete mistake. Remember, too, that they had no military training and no weapons. The Israelites were like lambs led to slaughter.

Exo 14:11  Then they said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt?

A week, maybe two, had gone by. From elation and boldness they sunk into despair and fear. Even after everything they had witnessed God do, both in Egypt and lately, their faith was gone.

Exo 14:12  Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.”

The Israelites knew the location of the Promised Land. They knew that at first they had purposely been led to take a longer route. They knew that the way to the Promised Land was either across uncrossable water, or through the Egyptian army.

They thought they were about to die. Slavery looked pretty good compared to certain death.
Exo 14:13  And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever.
Exo 14:14  The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”

Moses was like the watchmen who cries out, “All’s well!” In fact it was better than well. Egypt would be removed as a threat for decades to come, and God would strike fear into all the surrounding peoples and nations by the glory He would bring to Himself defeating Pharaoh so completely.

Let’s summarize what we know. God’s chosen people found themselves in the worst possible position. They were caught in a trap that seemed to seal their imminent destruction. They had no way of escape. There was absolutely nothing they could do to help themselves. Any hope of reaching the Promised Land was gone. They had sunk to complaining against God.

It screamed “death by GPS.”

And yet we are confident that God had divinely positioned them.

I must respectfully conclude from all this that a Christian may – in fact, will – find himself or herself in the worst of positions. You will see it as entrapment – thinking that God has Himself led you into the trap. All of His promises to you may seem empty. Hope is lost. There is nothing you can do. You are given to openly complaining against God.

Job was positioned. There was no way out of his suffering; nothing Job could do except scrape his boils. All God’s promises seemed empty; all hope was gone. Job complained against God.

The Israelites were in their precarious position for a day or so. Then they saw “the salvation of the Lord” as the pursuing Egyptian army was drowned.

Job was positioned on the ash heap for maybe six months. Then he saw “the salvation of the Lord” as he returned to health and as his earthly fortunes were totally reversed.

The same will be true of you, Christian; except I have one significant qualifier. I can’t tell you how long you’ll be boxed-in by the advancing enemy.

I can’t tell you if your ‘position’ will last for hours… Or for days… Or for weeks… Or for months… Or for years… Or for decades… Or for the rest of your life.

I wouldn’t have said that when I was younger. I couldn’t comprehend a believer enduring years or a lifetime in such a position. But as I’ve suffered over the years, and especially as I’ve been privileged to share in the sufferings of others, I’ve come to understand that some believers who faithfully “stand still” do not “see the salvation of the Lord” until after this life is over.

But see it we shall, when we are received to our reward in Heaven.

With Job we can cry, “I know that my Redeemer lives” (19:25). From Job we can learn, “He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold” (23:10).

Mean time, “stand still,” but look up and keep your head in the clouds:

Rev 1:7  Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.

Leaven Can Wait (Exodus 12:43-13:16)

There are a lot of diets and diet plans out there: Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, NutriSystem, Atkins, Paleo, Slim Fast, South Beach, Dash, Mayo Clinic.

According to ABCNews, 100 million people fuel a twenty billion dollar weight loss industry.

If you’re going to shell-out cash, for around $6000 you can spend a week losing weight in Switzerland at the Beau Rivage Palace, including massage and personal training sessions.

Every now and then a diet said to be based on the Bible gains popularity. The Daniel Diet is one. Daniel fasted twice:

During the first fast, he ate only vegetables and water to set himself apart for God.

For a second fast mentioned in a later chapter, Daniel stopped eating meat, wine and other rich foods.

The First Presbyterian Church of Honolulu holds an annual 21 day “Daniel Fast” for members to not only encourage healthy eating, but to help people keep their faith by refocusing their attention on their diet.

My favorite Bible diet is the Ezekiel diet. It’s really a misnomer, because all you get from the prophet Ezekiel is a recipe for a certain type of bread. Ezekiel was required by God to make the bread from a restricted list of ingredients: wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt (4:9). The prophet was required to eat this bread and nothing else for 390 days, while lying on his side, to symbolize the coming disobedience and defilement of the Israelites.

Proponents of Ezekiel bread always neglect to tell you how the bread was to be baked: “And you shall eat it as barley cakes; and bake it using fuel of human waste in their sight” (4:12).

It’s an effective diet if you have to use the recommended fuel, ‘cause you pretty much lose your appetite.

When the Israelites were delivered from Egypt, they were given a strict menu for the Passover meal: roasted lamb, bitter herbs, and unleavened bread. The morning they left Egypt, they took only unleavened bread for their journey.

Later, after they entered the Promised Land, they were to follow-up the annual Passover meal by eating unleavened bread for a week straight, observing what we commonly call the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Like Ezekiel bread, this wasn’t meant to be a diet plan. It was rich with symbolism. It told the story of their deliverance from slavery in Egypt to their freedom to serve the Lord in the Promised Land.

As we discuss some of that symbolism, we want to suggest what all this might mean to us as Christians who are under no obligation to observe Passover or Unleavened Bread as feasts.

To that end, I’ll organize my comments around two points: #1 You Have The Power Of An Unleavened Life, and #2 You Have The Priorities Of A Redeemed Life.

#1 – You Have The Power Of An Unleavened Life (12:43-51 & 13:3-10)

As great as yeast is for baking, it is an agent of corruption. It is therefore used in the Bible as a symbol of evil in general. In the New Testament, for example, the church at Corinth was tolerating the sexual sin of one of its professing members. The apostle Paul wrote to them about it, saying, “Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven…” (First Corinthians 5:6-7).

He compared the sexual sin to leaven that would corrupt the entire church. His counsel was to remove the sinner – the leaven.

Paul went on to say, “Then you will be like fresh bread made without yeast, and that is what you are” (5:7). Because of our relationship with Jesus, we are considered already unleavened. We don’t become unleavened by removing sin, as important as it is to do so. No, we are considered by God to be unleavened, and therefore must guard against allowing corruption to enter our lives and our church.

We still sin, do we not? Yes, so that tells me what the apostle means is that we have the power to not sin. We have, by virtue of the indwelling Holy Spirit, the power of an unleavened life.

I ran across this quote attributed to R.A. Torrey. It captures what I’m trying to say.

The Holy Spirit can take a man whose mind is blind to the truth of God, whose will is at enmity with God and set on sin, and transform that man, impart to him God’s nature, so that he thinks God’s thoughts, wills what God wills, love what God loves, and hate what God hates.

Keep that in mind as we take a look at the verses.

Exo 12:43  And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the ordinance of the Passover: No foreigner shall eat it.
Exo 12:44  But every man’s servant who is bought for money, when you have circumcised him, then he may eat it.
Exo 12:45  A sojourner and a hired servant shall not eat it.

The tenth wonder, the death of the firstborn of man and beast, had just occurred. The Egyptians had given the Israelites tremendous spoil, and sent them out of Egypt.

Moses had earlier mentioned that a “mixed multitude” went with the Israelites. The question would naturally come up, “What was their part in the future Passover feasts?”

Moses instructed them it was only to be eaten by Israelites and those Gentiles who converted to Judaism by becoming circumcised – which was the physical sign of the covenant God made with Abraham.

So Passover was at once both restricted to the Jews and open to anyone who believed God. Hearing this, the Jews should have understood that God had saved them for a greater purpose, and that was to reveal Him to the other nations and peoples of the world.

Exo 12:46  In one house it shall be eaten; you shall not carry any of the flesh outside the house, nor shall you break one of its bones.

Passover wasn’t a picnic to be enjoyed outdoors; it wasn’t a BBQ. It was restricted to indoors to remind future generations that the Angel of the Lord had been outside, killing the firstborn of man and beast in every house that lacked lambs blood on their doorposts.

As far as the bones being unbroken, this is in keeping with the fact that Jesus, the future and final Lamb of God, would not have a bone of His body broken – even though breaking the legs of those who were crucified to effect a quick death was common.

Exo 12:47  All the congregation of Israel shall keep it.
Exo 12:48  And when a stranger dwells with you and wants to keep the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as a native of the land. For no uncircumcised person shall eat it.
Exo 12:49  One law shall be for the native-born and for the stranger who dwells among you.”

On blogs, and in hip-churches, you hear the word “missional” tossed around quite a bit. As popular as it is, I couldn’t find a single, coherent definition. It seems it takes an entire blog post or two to get to the bottom of it.

As I said, Israel was to represent God and invite Gentiles to convert to Him – to believe Him. It was a mission – thus they were to be missional.

Once converted, a Gentile and a Jew were under the same “law.” They were equal.

Exo 12:50  Thus all the children of Israel did; as the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

If I’m remembering correctly, this is at least the second time they are commended for being doers of God’s Word. They started well… But they would not finish well.

Anyone can start well; it’s endings that are hard. Don’t grow weary in well-doing; throw off weights that hold you back, and run to the finish line of your faith.

Exo 12:51  And it came to pass, on that very same day, that the LORD brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt according to their armies.

They were brick makers and farmers. They had no military training. Yet God saw them as an army with various ranks.

We, too, are soldiers in a spiritual warfare, fighting battles everyday using spiritual weapons to defeat fell foes.

Let’s move into chapter thirteen, but begin with verse three for now.

Exo 13:3  And Moses said to the people: “Remember this day in which you went out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the LORD brought you out of this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten.

To help future generations “remember,” in addition to observing Passover, there would be another observance on its heels – the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Exo 13:4  On this day you are going out, in the month Abib.

The commentators I read suggest that “Abib” was the Egyptian name for what would come to be called Nisan. It corresponds to April on our calendar.

Exo 13:5  And it shall be, when the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, which He swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall keep this service in this month.

God had just called them “armies,” and here they learned that as wonderful as the Promised Land would be, there would be hostile armies to fight, and powerful nations to overthrow.

Remember that pop song, I beg your pardon; I never promised you a rose garden? There was serious work to be done in the Promised Land- not just gardening.

The goal of your Christian life shouldn’t be to get to retirement and hit cruise control. We’re to be like Caleb. When he entered the Promised Land, he was a very old man – seeing he and Joshua were the only ones of their generation who survived the forty-years of wandering in the wilderness.

He asked for a mountain to climb, with giants on it to fight. Real giants, Nephilim. It was arguably the most difficult and strenuous part of his life.

Exo 13:6  Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the LORD.

The last day of the observance was to be considered a Sabbath – a day of rest.

Exo 13:7  Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days. And no leavened bread shall be seen among you, nor shall leaven be seen among you in all your quarters.

I don’t do a whole lot of baking from scratch, but I know how tiny those yeast granuals are. Not even one of them was to be found anywhere in your house.

Exo 13:8  And you shall tell your son in that day, saying, ‘This is done because of what the LORD did for me when I came up from Egypt.’

They had to leave in haste – and that’s what unleavened bread represents, since there was no time to wait for it to rise.

Exo 13:9  It shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the LORD’s law may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt.

Later in the history of Israel, certain Jews took to wearing prayer boxes on their foreheads and forearms, containing key Bible verses. They are commonly called phylacteries.

The practice comes from a literal reading of this verse.

As far as I know, they didn’t put anything in their mouths – even though in the same breath it says, “that the Lord’s law may be in your mouth.”

How can you take a part of it as being literal – but not all of it? Clearly this was to mean that whatever you think, do, or say, it ought to be in accordance with God’s law.

Exo 13:10  You shall therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year.

God was adding to His annual calendar. We’ll see more on His agenda as we progress – seven feasts, four in the spring, and three in the fall.

Since we have the whole story, we know that the Passover Lamb illustrates Jesus as the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world. He died in your place – as your substitute – to deliver you from death and give you eternal life.

We know He fulfilled the Passover by dying on the Cross exactly as the Passover lambs were being sacrificed in the Temple.

And because He lived a sinless life, and in death saw no corruption, He fulfills the Feast of Unleavened Bread as well.

We’ll see that during this same observance is the Feast of Firstfruits – an illustration of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead as the firstfruits of all those who would believe in Him.

Do you believe in Him? Then you are understood to be “in” Him; what is true of Him is true of you.

By virtue of being saved, and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, you have the power of His unleavened life in order to overcome sin and the world.

We talked about diets. Most of them have a lot to say about your consumption of water – how important it is to overall health.

With regards to your spiritual life, Jesus invites you to ask Him, and then believe you’ve received, rivers of living water. You really do have the power of an unleavened life. Say “No” to sin.

#2 – You Have The Priorities Of A Redeemed Life (13:1-2, 11-16)

Back in 2013, an Indian farmer decided not to sell his prized bull for a then-world record price of $1.7million.

Locally, every now and then you’ll see a truck from World Wide Sires. Their mission is genetic modification to produce better bulls. Some of them are extremely valuable commodities.

The Israelites had flocks and herds. They were extremely valuable commodities to them. We read in 13:1-2,

Exo 13:1  Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
Exo 13:2  “Consecrate to Me all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and beast; it is Mine.”

What does that mean – “consecrate?” That’s what these next verses explain.

Exo 13:11  “And it shall be, when the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as He swore to you and your fathers, and gives it to you,
Exo 13:12  that you shall set apart to the LORD all that open the womb, that is, every firstborn that comes from an animal which you have; the males shall be the LORD’s.

Before we continue talking about the firstborn of man and beasts, we need to stop on the word “when” in verse one. Getting to the Promised Land was a matter of “when,” not “if.” It would have been a tremendous encouragement to the Israelites to know God’s plan, especially after having seen in the ten wonders He performed that He had the power to accomplish it.

I was reminded of that old campfire song, When I get to Heaven, gonna walk with Jesus… Talk with Jesus… See His face…. Saved by His wonderful grace.

If you believe Jesus Christ, Heaven is a matter of “when,” not “if.” You’re not saved based on your performance as a Christian, but on account of His having declared you righteous when the Holy Spirit freed your will in order to choose Him.

There is a lot going on with the theme of “firstborn.” For our purposes in this study, in context, it’s as simple as what one commentator wrote:

The setting apart of the first-born was a grateful acknowledgment of the Divine mercy in sparing the first-born from the midnight destruction. The first-born of the Israelites had been mercifully preserved from the stroke of the Destroying Angel, which had inflicted death upon the first-born of Egypt in the silent midnight hour. Hence what more reasonable than that the life that had been thus spared should be separated unto the Lord.

Great; set apart and consecrate the firstborn. How do you do it?

Exo 13:13  But every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb; and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. And all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem.

What? Break the necks of donkeys? What just happened?

What happened is this: The firstborn of clean animals were to be set apart by being sacrificed to God within a year.

Think back on that prize Indian bull. Or a World Wide Sire. If a firstborn, it would be sacrificed. If not, its firstborn would have to be sacrificed. Suddenly things got very costly.

The firstborn of certain animals listed by God as unclean, such as a donkey, could not be sacrificed to the Lord; therefore, it had to be redeemed by the death of a lamb; that is, a lamb had to die in its place. If the donkey was not redeemed by a substitute, then its neck had to be broken. It was a choice between redemption and destruction.

The firstborn of men also belonged to the Lord; but they were never to be sacrificed. Moses does not here specify the manner of the redemption of the first-born of male children, but it was probably originally by a lamb also. The redemption was subsequently changed to a money-payment of five shekels (Numbers 18:16).

Any unredeemed life had to die. The basic transaction is this: Either you die, or a Substitute dies in your place.

And that’s the Gospel, is it not? You are born dead in trespasses and sins, but Jesus took your place on the Cross, dying to offer you redemption.

As I said, there is a lot we could say about the theme “firstborn” in the Bible… But for our purposes today, verses fourteen and fifteen set the tone:

Exo 13:14  So it shall be, when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ that you shall say to him, ‘By strength of hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Exo 13:15  And it came to pass, when Pharaoh was stubborn about letting us go, that the LORD killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast. Therefore I sacrifice to the LORD all males that open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’

“Daddy, why is that man breaking that little donkey’s neck?”

It was important to pass-on the Passover story from generation to generation. The annual observance of Passover, with its restricted meal eaten indoors, and the accompanying observance of Unleavened Bread, would go a long way towards illustrating the wonder of that night Israel was freed.

Passover was so important that the Israelites would also be reminded of it on a daily basis by the consecrating of the firstborn of man and beasts:

In a congregation of nearly 6million people with their livestock, firstborn human babies were being delivered all the time. As each firstborn male was redeemed by a substituted lamb, and later money, it was a visual reminder that God had passed-over the firstborn of Israel – sparing them on account of the blood of a substituted lamb.

In a congregation of nearly six million people with their livestock, firstborn animals were being delivered all the time. As each firstborn male was either sacrificed or had its neck broken, it was a visual reminder that God had passed-over the firstborn of Israel’s beasts – sparing them, too, on account of the blood of a substituted lamb.

If you wanted a way to keep the Passover fresh on everyone’s mind, this was it.

Exo 13:16  It shall be as a sign on your hand and as frontlets between your eyes, for by strength of hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt.”

I just can’t see taking this literally. It’s meant to convey that these redemptions make the Passover as conspicuous as if you had the story written on your forehead for everyone to read.

John Gill wrote:

These laws observed concerning the setting apart the firstlings of their beasts, the redemption of the firstborn of unclean ones, and of the firstborn of men, will bring the reason of it, the destruction of the firstborn of Egypt, and the preservation of the firstborn of Israel, as fresh to remembrance as any token upon the hand, put there to bring things to mind; and it will be as easily and as clearly discerned as anything upon a man’s forehead may be seen by another…

Another commentator wrote:

By the separation of the first-born unto the Lord an Israelite would have many and varied memories awakened within him; he would be reminded of the eventful night on which death visited every Egyptian family, of the departure of his nation from a cruel bondage, and of the wondrous power and providence of God. And even when the multitude that came out from Egypt were dead, in the history of the nation of Israel, the separation of the first-born would always be associated with the idea of national deliverance.

Truth be told, it’s easier to wear a phylactery than it is to redeem or to sacrifice the firstborn.
Martyn Lloyd-Jones told a story about the Israelite who went into the house one day to tell his wife and family some good news. “The cow just gave birth to twin calves, one red and one white,” he said.

He continued, “We must dedicate one of these calves to the Lord. We will bring them up together, and when the time comes, we will sell one and keep the proceeds and we will sell the other and give the proceeds to the Lord’s work.”

His wife asked him which he was going to dedicate to the Lord. “There’s no need to bother about that now,” he replied, “we’ll treat them both in the same way, and when the time comes, we’ll do as I say.”

A few days later, he entered the kitchen looking unhappy. “What happened?” his wife asked.

“I have bad news,” he replied. “The Lord’s calf is dead.”

If I asked you, “Do you have the priorities of a redeemed life?”, what would you say?

Before you answer, something the apostle Paul wrote is helpful:

1Co 6:20  For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

It’s at this point the Holy Spirit must be invited to take over. I cannot decide for you if you are glorifying God both spiritually and physically. I can’t say whether or not what you are giving to the Lord is the dead cow.

I do know that, if you’re a believer, you will want to give the Lord your first and your best. It’s the only reasonable thing to do considering Who He gave for you – His Son, Jesus Christ.

Take a look at your diet plan:

We already mentioned the living water of God the Holy Spirit. “Whoever believes in me,” Jesus said, “rivers of living water will flow from within them” (John 7:38). He indwells you, and that means He empowers you.
God’s Word is compared to meat and honey and milk and bread. In it we find all we need for life and godliness.

Rededicate yourself to a Spirit-led life, fueled by the Word of God.

Then revisit yourself as a living sacrifice.