Exodus 30:11-16; Ransom Money

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20120513_exodus30_11-16.mp3

05/13 Exodus 30:11-16 Ransom Money (38:25-28; Numbers 1)

Today we are in Exodus 30:11-16. This is a curious instruction for a ransom price to be collected whenever God’s people are numbered, placed in the middle of God’s instructions for building his tabernacle. At first glance this seems out of place, inserted here between the altar of incense and the bronze wash basin.

Exodus 30:11 The LORD said to Moses, 12 “When you take the census of the people of Israel, then each shall give a ransom for his life to the LORD when you number them, that there be no plague among them when you number them. 13 Each one who is numbered in the census shall give this: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs), half a shekel as an offering to the LORD. 14 Everyone who is numbered in the census, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the LORD’s offering. 15 The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when you give the LORD’s offering to make atonement for your lives. 16 You shall take the atonement money from the people of Israel and shall give it for the service of the tent of meeting, that it may bring the people of Israel to remembrance before the LORD, so as to make atonement for your lives.”

We see God commanding this census to be taken in Numbers chapter 1; this is what gives the book of Numbers its name.

Numbers 1:1 The LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, 2 “Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, by clans, by fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, every male, head by head. 3 From twenty years old and upward, all in Israel who are able to go to war, you and Aaron shall list them, company by company.

…

Reuben: 46,500

Simeon: 59,300

Gad: 45,650

Judah: 74,600

Issachar: 54,400

Zebulun: 57,400

Ephraim: 40,500

Manasseh: 32,200

Benjamin: 35,400

Dan: 62,700

Asher: 41,500

Naphtali: 53,400

…

44 These are those who were listed, whom Moses and Aaron listed with the help of the chiefs of Israel, twelve men, each representing his fathers’ house. 45 So all those listed of the people of Israel, by their fathers’ houses, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war in Israel–– 46 all those listed were 603,550.

There were 603,550 men 20 years old and up able to fight in battle. This did not include the men in the tribe of Levi.

47 But the Levites were not listed along with them by their ancestral tribe. 48 For the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 49 “Only the tribe of Levi you shall not list, and you shall not take a census of them among the people of Israel. 50 But appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all its furnishings, and over all that belongs to it. They are to carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings, and they shall take care of it and shall camp around the tabernacle. 51 When the tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall take it down, and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up. And if any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death. 52 The people of Israel shall pitch their tents by their companies, each man in his own camp and each man by his own standard. 53 But the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the people of Israel. And the Levites shall keep guard over the tabernacle of the testimony.” 54 Thus did the people of Israel; they did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses.

How Much Silver?

Scholars believe the half-shekel was a unit of weight that measured about 5.7 grams. If we do the math, 603,550 men giving a half shekel each would equal about 7,584 lbs or over 3 ¾ tons of silver. We find out what this silver was used for in Exodus 38.

Exodus 38:25 The silver from those of the congregation who were recorded was a hundred talents and 1,775 shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary: 26 a beka a head (that is, half a shekel, by the shekel of the sanctuary), for everyone who was listed in the records, from twenty years old and upward, for 603,550 men. 27 The hundred talents of silver were for casting the bases of the sanctuary and the bases of the veil; a hundred bases for the hundred talents, a talent a base. 28 And of the 1,775 shekels he made hooks for the pillars and overlaid their capitals and made fillets for them.

So, this ransom price was used for the foundation of the tabernacle. One hundred blocks of cast silver weighing about 75 pounds each were used as the bases for the frames of the tabernacle. The remaining 11 pounds of silver was made into hooks and overlay for the tops of the pillars.

Why The Census Tax?

This helps us to understand what the silver was used for, where it came from, and how much there was. But what did this offering mean? Why was each man numbered to give a half-shekel each? Look back at the text in Exodus 30.

Exodus 30:11 The LORD said to Moses, 12 “When you take the census of the people of Israel, then each shall give a ransom for his life to the LORD when you number them, that there be no plague among them when you number them.

This payment was a ransom for the life of each fighting man given to the LORD to prevent a plague. In verses 15 and 16, we are told that it is

15 …the LORD’s offering to make atonement for your lives. 16 … the atonement money from the people of Israel … that it may bring the people of Israel to remembrance before the LORD, so as to make atonement for your lives.”

This half-shekel was ransom money or atonement money. These Hebrew words are related. Atonement is to cover over sins, or to pacify or propitiate. We saw this term when we looked at the atonement cover, or the mercy seat – the lid that covered the violated covenant from God’s sight; the place where blood was applied once a year on the Day of Atonement. A ransom is the price of a life. It is the price paid to cover a person from the consequences of their actions. If someone had acted foolishly and gotten into debt that they could not pay, they would be sold into slavery in order to pay back the debt. If they had a relative that was willing to rescue them, he would pay the ransom price and redeem them from slavery. We were introduced to this concept of redemption in Exodus 13, where God claimed all firstborn as his property, all firstborn animals were to be sacrificed to him, and all firstborn sons had to be bought back or redeemed by paying the ransom price. In the final plague, God killed all the firstborn in Egypt, but in any house that was covered by the blood of the lamb, the firstborn was spared.

This ransom or atonement price is to cover sin so that you will not die, ‘that there be no plague among them when you number them.’ God is saying that he will treat you like he treated the Egyptians, his enemies, if you do not do this. What was the sin, and why did a price have to be paid? We see a graphic illustration of this in 1 Chronicles 21 (and 2 Samuel 24). King David, in his later years, was incited to number the people of Israel.

1 Chronicles 21:2 So David said to Joab and the commanders of the army, “Go, number Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, and bring me a report, that I may know their number.”

When David was young, he recognized that it is not numbers or weapons that win the battle. He said to the Philistine champion:

1 Samuel 17:45 …“You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give you into our hand.”

Throughout his military career, David had seen the LORD give victory to his people even when they were severely outnumbered and disadvantaged. Now, later in life, David had conquered much land and wanted to know how many troops he had. David’s military commander Joab knew that this was a dangerous move.

1 Chronicles 21:3 But Joab said, “May the LORD add to his people a hundred times as many as they are! Are they not, my lord the king, all of them my lord’s servants? Why then should my lord require this? Why should it be a cause of guilt for Israel?”

In spite of Joab’s warning, David persisted. David wanted to know how many men he had. God sent a plague and it cost him 70,000 men.

Sin Against God

Why was this so serious? We are told:

1 Chronicles 21:7 But God was displeased with this thing, and he struck Israel. 8 And David said to God, “I have sinned greatly in that I have done this thing. But now, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.”

First, to number the people without collecting the ransom money was in direct disobedience to God’s instructions recorded in Exodus 30. We sometimes feel that it’s no big deal. We want to know why God said what he said before we are willing to obey. But God is God. He doesn’t have to tell us why. It is ours to obey.

But I think we can see why this was so serious. It was demonstrating distrust in God. Counting men was a way to see how much military might you had. It showed a leaning on human strength rather than on God who himself gives the victory. At root, David’s foolishness and great sin was unbelief.

David’s sin was also a violation of ownership. You only take inventory of your own belongings. I don’t have any right to go into my neighbor’s house and count his belongings without his permission. I have no right to access my neighbor’s bank account and check his balance. David, by counting the people without having them pay the ransom price, was saying ‘these are my men. This is how many I have to work with’. He is not acknowledging God’s ownership of his people. He is counting God’s property as if it were his own.

What Are You Worth?

The ransom price was a way to say that these people are God’s people, and to acknowledge that God is the one who holds their lives in his hand. The atonement money was a covering for sin, owning the fact that we are all sinners before God and deserve to die. The ransom price was the price of your life. What are you worth? A half-shekel was the set price; no more for the rich and no less for the poor. We are all on equal footing before God. What are you worth? A half-shekel was about 5.7 grams of silver. I don’t know how much buying power that had then, but today you can cash in 5.7 grams of silver for about $2 – $5, depending on its purity. That’s humbling. You are kidnapped and held for ransom – for two dollars. That’s humiliating. I like to think I’m more valuable than that. And although I can think of lots of people who are worth more than me, I also think I’m more valuable than a lot of other people I know. God says no. If you are a human, you are of equal value. None more, none less. And think about this for a minute. Where did the Israelites get the silver? They were slaves in Egypt. God said “I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and when you go you shall not go empty …you shall plunder the Egyptians” (Ex.3:21-22; cf.Ex.12:36). So even this half-shekel was given to them by God. Everything they had was a gift. The only proper attitude to have before God is humility. “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (Jas.4:6, 1Pet.5:5). God said to Pharaoh “How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me?” (Ex.10:3), and that was also a question of ownership; God said “let my people go that they may serve me.” Pharaoh was proud. God humbled him. God owns us. God is the one who “gives to all mankind life and breath and everything” (Acts 17:25).

It is right that we humble ourselves before God. It is also right to understand who we are as God’s people. This silver was to be given:

16 … for the service of the tent of meeting, that it may bring the people of Israel to remembrance before the LORD, so as to make atonement for your lives.”

This atonement money became the foundation of the tabernacle. This silver was in the presence of God. It was designed to bring the people to remembrance before the LORD. In chapter 28, we saw that the high priest would bear the names of Israel on his shoulders on stones of remembrance (v.12). And he would also “bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece …on his heart when he goes into the Holy Place, to bring them to regular remembrance before the LORD” (v.29). Now, this silver, constantly in God’s presence, is to bring the people to remembrance before the LORD. Do you ever feel forgotten? Do you ever doubt your worth before God? Do you feel valueless?

Isaiah 43:1 But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. 3 For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. 4 Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life. 5 Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you. 6 I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, 7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

The Ultimate Price

You are called by name, precious, remembered, ransomed. Peter reminds us:

1 Peter 1:18 …that you were ransomed …not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

We have been ransomed, not with a half-shekel of silver, but with the precious blood of the Messiah. Jesus said:

Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (cf.Mt 20:28)

We get a glimpse of our High Priest in the tabernacle in heaven:

Revelation 5:8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty–four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, 10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”

In heaven Jesus is worshiped because he paid the ultimate price for us. The ransom price was infinite, the blood of God the Son. Jesus ransomed us by substituting himself in our place, dying the death we deserved, so that we can be his priests and reign with him. Paul reminds us:

1 Corinthians 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

You are not your own. You are owned by God. He paid the ultimate ransom price. You are his. You are his temple. So, live your life to the glory of God. Glorify God in your body.

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

Exodus 26 – God’s Tent; The Dwelling

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20120325_exodus26.mp3

03/25 Exodus 26 God’s Tent; The Dwelling

We are studying God’s word to us in Exodus. God instructed his people to build him a tent.

Exodus 25:8 And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.

God intended to dwell with his people. He would come to live in their midst. But having a holy God live in the camp with sinful people is dangerous, so careful instruction had to be given for their protection.

The description started, not as we might expect, from the outside moving in, but but with the things in the tent, the things closest to the presence of God, the things of most importance, and worked out from there. We have looked at the only piece of furniture in the most holy place, the box that contained the written copies of the covenant between God and his people, a box covered by a lid which was to be the place where God was propitiated, where his wrath against sinners who had broken their covenant was satisfied by substitutionary blood. We looked at the furniture in the holy place, the table, filled with abundance of bread and wine, with sweet smelling incense. We looked at the lampstand, shining in the darkness, giving light to those who enter in. Now we are going to look at the structure itself, the tent.

Exodus 26:1 “Moreover, you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarns; you shall make them with cherubim skillfully worked into them. 2 The length of each curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits, and the breadth of each curtain four cubits; all the curtains shall be the same size. 3 Five curtains shall be coupled to one another, and the other five curtains shall be coupled to one another. 4 And you shall make loops of blue on the edge of the outermost curtain in the first set. Likewise you shall make loops on the edge of the outermost curtain in the second set. 5 Fifty loops you shall make on the one curtain, and fifty loops you shall make on the edge of the curtain that is in the second set; the loops shall be opposite one another. 6 And you shall make fifty clasps of gold, and couple the curtains one to the other with the clasps, so that the tabernacle may be a single whole. 7 “You shall also make curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle; eleven curtains shall you make. 8 The length of each curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the breadth of each curtain four cubits. The eleven curtains shall be the same size. 9 You shall couple five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves, and the sixth curtain you shall double over at the front of the tent. 10 You shall make fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in one set, and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in the second set. 11 “You shall make fifty clasps of bronze, and put the clasps into the loops, and couple the tent together that it may be a single whole. 12 And the part that remains of the curtains of the tent, the half curtain that remains, shall hang over the back of the tabernacle. 13 And the extra that remains in the length of the curtains, the cubit on the one side, and the cubit on the other side, shall hang over the sides of the tabernacle, on this side and that side, to cover it. 14 And you shall make for the tent a covering of tanned rams’ skins and a covering of goatskins on top. 15 “You shall make upright frames for the tabernacle of acacia wood. 16 Ten cubits shall be the length of a frame, and a cubit and a half the breadth of each frame. 17 There shall be two tenons in each frame, for fitting together. So shall you do for all the frames of the tabernacle. 18 You shall make the frames for the tabernacle: twenty frames for the south side; 19 and forty bases of silver you shall make under the twenty frames, two bases under one frame for its two tenons, and two bases under the next frame for its two tenons; 20 and for the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side twenty frames, 21 and their forty bases of silver, two bases under one frame, and two bases under the next frame. 22 And for the rear of the tabernacle westward you shall make six frames. 23 And you shall make two frames for corners of the tabernacle in the rear; 24 they shall be separate beneath, but joined at the top, at the first ring. Thus shall it be with both of them; they shall form the two corners. 25 And there shall be eight frames, with their bases of silver, sixteen bases; two bases under one frame, and two bases under another frame. 26 “You shall make bars of acacia wood, five for the frames of the one side of the tabernacle, 27 and five bars for the frames of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the frames of the side of the tabernacle at the rear westward. 28 The middle bar, halfway up the frames, shall run from end to end. 29 You shall overlay the frames with gold and shall make their rings of gold for holders for the bars, and you shall overlay the bars with gold. 30 Then you shall erect the tabernacle according to the plan for it that you were shown on the mountain.

The fulfillment of these instruction is recorded in chapter 36, where this chapter is repeated almost verbatim, with a few minor omissions to shorten it, and changes in verb form to say that they followed the instructions precisely. In spite of the lengthy detail spelled out in these chapters, some details of the construction are not clear. That is why the instruction is repeated to ‘erect the tabernacle according to the plan for it that you were shown on the mountain’.

What we see is a four layer tent, the inside layer an exquisite tapestry of fine linen of blues and purples and scarlet, with cherubim worked into it, held together with gold clasps. The second layer was goat’s hair, slightly larger so that it would completely cover and hide the first layer, held together with bronze clasps. This layer was covered by a layer of tanned ram’s skins, then a final layer of leather, probably the hides of sea cows or something like that. Inside there was a gold plated wood framework that gave the tent its structure, and this framework was set in bases of silver. From inside, this tent would be stunningly beautiful, the detailed craftsmanship of the richly colored tapestry framed by the gold boards that provided the structure, set in bases of silver. But very few would ever get to see this inner beauty of God’s sanctuary. It was cloaked in three more layers of drab, protective, weather resistant coverings that would hide all this exquisite craftsmanship from view. From the outside, this would be a rather plain and uninviting structure.

God is teaching his people that he is the unseen God. No one ever sees God. He is always invisible, hidden from sight. The ordinary Israelite would only see the outer covering of the tent, he would never see the inside of the sanctuary or any of the ornate furniture that adorned it. A measure of faith would be required of them to believe that some of the things inside even really existed.

Jesus: God Dwelt Among Us

We’ve seen how the different furniture in the tabernacle all points to Jesus. Jesus, who is the light of the world. Jesus, who is the bread of life, Jesus, whom God put forward as the propitiation or ‘mercy seat’ by his blood. The tent itself gives us one of the most direct connections to Jesus. In the beginning of John’s gospel, he tells us of the infinite and eternal second person of the triune God, the Word, the divine Creator of all that exists, who was with God and who was God, and he says:

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

This word translated ‘dwelt’ is literally ‘pitched his tent’ or ‘tabernacled’; the verb form of the word used in the Greek Old Testament for the tabernacle. God’s stated purpose for the tabernacle was to ‘dwell in the midst’ of his people, and we find this fulfilled in Jesus, God the Son, who ‘became flesh and dwelt among us’, or ‘pitched his tent among us’. God himself came to live with his people. But the way in which he came, the way he stooped down and condescended to live with us, the way he pitched his tent among us, was the most inconspicuous and outwardly humble way, a way that hid his true identity from almost everyone, a way that many found offensive. He entered this world as an embryo in the womb of virgin who was pledged to be married. He was born on the road, in a stable, his first bed was a feed trough for livestock. He grew up as a carpenter, learning the trade of his step-father. When he began to travel and teach, he warned his followers that he had nowhere to lay his head, no place on this earth that he could call home. His true identity was covered, hidden, veiled in the common and ordinary. But Mary knew.

Luke 1:35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy–the Son of God.

Luke 2:19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.

And God knew.

Luke 3:21 …when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

And the demons knew.

Luke 4:41 And demons also came out of many, crying, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.

And those who were healed by him began to get a clue as to his true identity.

Mark 7:36 And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37 And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

And Peter confessed what God revealed to him of Jesus’ true identity

Matthew 16:16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” …20 Then he [Jesus] strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

And on the mountain, Jesus pulled back the curtains, as it were, and gave a glimpse of the glory of his true identity to his three closest disciples.

Mark 9:2 …And he was transfigured before them. …9 And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

Jesus, God come in the flesh, came in such a way that the glory of his true identity was hidden under a hide, or skin, of ordinary humanity.

Isaiah had prophesied that this was the way the Messiah would come.

Isaiah 53:2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Paul speaks of this amazing condescension of the Son of God,

Philippians 2:6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Of course, Paul cannot stop there, having himself met the risen and exalted Jesus, who revealed to him his true identity as God in the flesh.

Philippians 2:9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus, fully God, became flesh and dwelt among us.

He Stretched Out the Heavens Like a Tent

Let’s look back at the design of the inner beauty of the tabernacle.

Exodus 26:1 “Moreover, you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarns; you shall make them with cherubim skillfully worked into them.

From the inside of the Most Holy Place, the walls, the ceiling and the veil would all be fine linen, blue, purple and scarlet, with cherubim. These angelic beings take us back to the garden, where they were placed to guard the way to God’s presence. The colors blue and purple and scarlet in the tapestry are another connection back to creation – they remind us of the colors of the sky. In Psalm 104, all of creation is described in terms of a tent or dwelling place for God.

Psalm 104:1 Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty, 2 covering yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent. 3 He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters; he makes the clouds his chariot; he rides on the wings of the wind; 4 he makes his messengers winds, his ministers a flaming fire. 5 He set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be moved.

We find this picture of God stretching out the heavens like the covering of a tent repeatedly in the scripture, especially in Isaiah.

Isaiah 48:13 My hand laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I call to them, they stand forth together. (cf. Isaiah 42:5; 44:24; 45:12; 51:13)

The heavens, or the night sky, are pictured as the tapestry of God’s tent. But here, the veil, which had the same appearance as the inner layer of the tabernacle, is intended to keep us out of God’s presence. It appears to be one piece, with no openings or any easy way to pull it aside to enter in. It is intended to be a separation. It is a protection for the priests from the deadly presence of a holy God. Only once a year, and only with the sacrificial blood of a substitute, was anyone allowed beyond this curtain.

Exodus 26:31 “And you shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. It shall be made with cherubim skillfully worked into it. 32 And you shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold, with hooks of gold, on four bases of silver. 33 And you shall hang the veil from the clasps, and bring the ark of the testimony in there within the veil. And the veil shall separate for you the Holy Place from the Most Holy. 34 You shall put the mercy seat on the ark of the testimony in the Most Holy Place. 35 And you shall set the table outside the veil, and the lampstand on the south side of the tabernacle opposite the table, and you shall put the table on the north side. 36 “You shall make a screen for the entrance of the tent, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, embroidered with needlework. 37 And you shall make for the screen five pillars of acacia, and overlay them with gold. Their hooks shall be of gold, and you shall cast five bases of bronze for them.

Our sins have separated us from God. We rebelled against him in the garden, and we were forced to leave his presence. Now God is dwelling in the midst of his people in a tent, but he requires a separation between the glory of his presence and his people. For their own protection they are kept out. Isaiah, in chapters 63 and 64, is crying out for mercy and confessing his sin and the sins of his people.

Isaiah 64:5 …Behold, you were angry, and we sinned; in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved? 6 We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. 7 There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities.

He cries out for God in his dwelling place to be stirred to compassion and act on behalf of his sinful people.

Isaiah 63:15 Look down from heaven and see, from your holy and beautiful habitation. Where are your zeal and your might? The stirring of your inner parts and your compassion are held back from me.

And then he makes this plea:

Isaiah 64:1 Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence–

Jesus bore our sins in his body on the tree (1Pet.2:24), the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (Jn.1:29), hanging on the cross, enduring the darkness of the displeasure of his Father, forsaken by God, crushed under his wrath against our sin (Is.53:6,10-12). He paid our price in full and cried out “it is finished” (Jn.19:30).

Matthew 27:51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.

Isaiah’s prayer was answered ‘Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down’. God became flesh and pitched his tent among us. God our Savior opened for us a new and living way through the curtain, that is, through his own flesh torn for us (Heb.10:20).

Hebrews 10:19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh,

And the centurion who stood watch knew: “Truly this was the Son of God!”

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

Exodus 19:1-8; God’s Initiative; Our Response

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20110612_exodus19_1-8.mp3

06/12 Exodus 19:1-8 God’s Initiative; Our Response

We are at a pivotal point in the history of Israel. The Hebrew people were in a helpless situation as slaves in Egypt. They cried out. God heard their cry, he remembered his covenant with his people, he took notice, and he took action. He brought them out of Egypt and conquered their enemies while they stood by and watched. He led them through the wilderness and provided for their every need, in spite of their grumbling and complaining. Now they are encamped at the base of Horeb, the mountain of God, Mount Sinai. This itself is fulfillment of God’s promise. When Moses was wrestling before God with his call to bring them out of Egypt, God said:

Exodus 3:12 He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”

This is the fulfillment of God’s promise to Moses. He has led the people out of Egypt. They have successfully made it back to the mountain where God initially interrupted Moses and called him into his service. You shall serve or worship God on this mountain. Let’s keep in mind, as we go forward, the purpose for which they have come – worship or service. God is about to enter into a covenant with his people, to introduce himself to his people, and to lay out for them what it means to be in a relationship with him. They had been in the service of Pharaoh. God had demanded of Pharaoh ‘Let my people go that they may serve (or worship) me.’ God had saved his people to bring them into relationship with himself. Now they are here.

Israel will be camped here for almost a year. This is the setting for the next 59 chapters. Mount Sinai is the setting of the remainder of Exodus, Leviticus, and the first ten chapters of Numbers. This is extremely important. Exodus chapter 19 is the introduction to this most extensive section. If we miss the significance of this passage, we will be in danger of misconstruing a substantial part of God’s Torah. Let’s look at the first 8 verses of this chapter together.

19:1 On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. 2 They set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain, 3 while Moses went up to God. The LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: 4 You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.” 7 So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him. 8 All the people answered together and said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do.” And Moses reported the words of the people to the LORD.

We are given the setting both by the time and the geography. This is the third new moon after the Exodus. This verse, by the way, is where the book gets its English name. The Greek version translates ‘had gone out of’ with the Greek word ‘exodos’ which means ‘the way out.’ The geographical note reminds us of Rephidim, also named Massah and Meribah because of their quarreling and grumbling, where God provided his people with water from the smitten Rock. Israel has come to the wilderness of Sinai, and they are camped before the mountain.

Moses went up to God and YHWH spoke to him. God gave Moses a message to communicate with his people. He addresses them as ‘the house of Jacob’ and ‘the people of Israel.’ Jacob, the deceitful, conniving heel-grabber, whom God renamed Israel, the one who prevails with God. God made covenant promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – not because of any good in them, but in spite of who they were. God gives Moses a word for his people, the descendants of Jacob or Israel.

4 You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

God reminds his people of three things. He reminds them of things they have personally witnessed. This isn’t hand-me-down faith. Just over three months earlier, these same people were slaves in Egypt. They had no choice but to serve Pharaoh. Now they are at the foot of the mountain of God. They are here to worship or serve him. Three things God wants them to remember.

God’s Gracious Initiative

1. You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians. God wants his people to remember his ten mighty acts of catastrophic judgment on the Egyptians and their gods. He wants them to remember the Red Sea, where they were trapped between the Egyptian special forces and the water, where they cried out in unbelief and fear, where they were commanded to be quiet and watch and God would fight for them, where God protected them with his presence in the pillar of cloud/fire, where God opened up a way through the great deep, where God lured their enemies to follow, where God decisively crushed them once and for all. Remember what I did to the Egyptians. They mistreated my people. They refused to acknowledge me. They were hardened against me. They were filled with cruel pride and persistent defiance and repeatedly refused to believe my words or heed my warnings. God wants his people to remember his judgment unleashed on his enemies. Remember that you did nothing. Remember, you yourselves have seen what I alone did to the Egyptians.

2. Remember how I bore you on eagles’ wings. God wants his people to remember his tender care for his own people. Remember, again, you did nothing. I carried you. This is a picture of helpless inability dependent on the care of another. I swooped in when you had no hope and I brought you to safety.

3. Remember that I brought you to myself. God wants his people to remember that their being in his awesome presence is not of their own initiative. The Hebrew people did not get together and say ‘let’s make a pilgrimage to Mt. Sinai. They were brought. They were led. They were carried. Often reluctantly so, almost against their wills. ‘What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt?’ (14:11). ‘It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians’ (14:12). ‘Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?’ (17:3). God patiently, graciously, persistently brought them to himself.

God commanded Moses to remind the people of these three things that they had personally experienced. I acted against your enemies; I carried you to safety; I brought you to myself. Remember where you came from. Look at where you are. Remember how you got here. It was not your own doing, it was the gift of God. It was completely by undeserved grace. Remember that this is the foundation of God’s relationship with his people. Their part was to be quiet and watch as God saved them. Now their part is to be reminded of how God saved them and respond in worship.

Our Grateful Response

This is what God outlines in the rest of his message through Moses to his people. Now, therefore. In response to what I have done for you, an appropriate response is expected of you. Obedience to my voice and keeping my covenant. Because I have demonstrated to you that I will do you good and not harm, that I know best, and am fully capable of doing everything necessary to care for you, you must listen listeningly to my voice. You must guard or watch or keep my covenant. With privilege comes responsibility. If, in response to my gracious action in saving you, you will obediently listen and respond to my promises, then you will hold three privileged places of responsibility before me.

First, you will be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine. Here, God’s ownership of everything is declared. YHWH is not some territorial deity whose jurisdiction is limited. He claims ownership of the whole earth and everyone on it. All the peoples of the earth belong to God, and he can do with them whatever he wants. He can execute judgment on the Egyptians, because they belong to him. But out of all the peoples of the earth who belong to God, these people are precious to him. They are treasured by him. If you will listen to me, you will be treasured by me. ‘You shall be my treasured possession among all peoples.’

Second, you will be a kingdom of priests to me. This language is found nowhere else all the Old Testament. The whole people, not just one tribe, will be priests to God. A priest is one who represents God to others, and brings others into the presence of God. Their privileged position as God’s treasured possession among all peoples is not a place for boasting. God declares to them that he chose them not because of any deserving characteristic in them (Deut.7:6-8), but simply because he loves them. Being his treasured possession among all peoples means bringing his truth to all peoples and bringing all peoples into relationship with the only true God. This privilege is also a responsibility. This is exactly what God promised to Abram when he called him to follow.

Genesis 12:2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

God’s intent in choosing Abraham and his descendants out of all other nations is that they would serve all other nations for their good. They would serve as priests in bringing God’s word to the nations, and in bringing the nations into worship of the one true God. The whole nation was to be a kingdom of priests to God. A kingdom is made up of those over whom the King reigns. Refusing to obey the King places you outside of the kingdom. If you will obey, you will be priests to me among all peoples.

Third, you will be a holy nation. To be holy is to be distinct, set apart, different, designated for a specific function. As God’s priests, as his treasured possession, they are to be different from all other nations, precisely in the fact that they listen obediently and keep God’s gracious covenant with his people, and invite others to join them in that relationship with God.

A Conditional Promise?

When we understand what God is promising, we can better understand the conditional nature of the promise. This is not an if/then of reward for good behavior; ‘if you jump through all the proper hoops, then I will save you.’ No, God has already graciously saved them. The if/then is an if/then of the inherent nature of the position. In order to fulfill the role of God’s treasured possession, missionary intermediaries between God and the nations, yet uniquely distinct from the nations, you must be listening to God’s voice and remaining in proper relationship with him. You cannot be rebelling against God and treasured by him; you cannot be his ambassador and disregard what he says; you cannot invite outsiders into a relationship you do not have; you cannot be part of his kingdom and rejecting his authority; you cannot be set apart to him and while violating his commands.

3 while Moses went up to God. The LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: 4 You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.” 7 So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him. 8 All the people answered together and said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do.” And Moses reported the words of the people to the LORD.

Moses faithfully takes God’s words to the people, all the people agree to God’s terms, and Moses faithfully conveys the answer of the people to the LORD. The people are entering into a covenant relationship with the LORD. The rest of the chapter recounts the most awesomely terrifying revelation of God to his people in the whole bible.

Our Goal as Followers of Jesus

The language of Exodus 19 is clearly in Peter’s mind when he writes to encourage the suffering believers in his first letter.

1 Peter 2:4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. … 7 So the honor is for you who believe, …. 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Peter is addressing those who believe in Jesus, those who come to Jesus as their Lord and King, those who, according to his first chapter, have been given new life by God. We are being built up to be a holy priesthood, to offer acceptable sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ. He calls us who believe in Jesus a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession. We who believe in Jesus are privileged with a purpose. He calls us precious, but that comes with great responsibility. Not for pride in our position. We are chosen to serve. We are ambassadors for Christ. We are called to be holy, separate, distinct. We are his. We are to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands.

Peter describes our responsibility this way:

1Peter 2:9 …, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

By our words, with our attitudes, through our actions, flowing out of our transformed desires, we are to proclaim the excellencies of him who called us. All glory goes to him and him alone.

How do we do this?

First, we must acknowledge that God alone saves. God keeps his promises. God is the one who takes the initiative. God sent his only Son. Jesus has conquered sin and death and hell for us. Jesus has satisfied the just demands of a holy God in our place. He carries us on eagles’ wings. He reconciles us to God through his cross and brings us to himself. And God does all this not because we somehow deserve it, but while we were his enemies.

Then we can respondto him in humble, grateful obedience, not in order to get anything, but because he has already given us everything. We have been called to a great privilege. We are treasured by him. We are set apart. We are priests to the nations. So we must listen to his voice. We must submit to him as King. We must respond to his grace with glad-hearted obedience. In this way we proclaim the excellencies of him. 

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

Exodus 18; Humble Testimony

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20110515_exodus18.mp3

05/15 Exodus 18:1-27 Humble Testimony

Intro:

We’ve come to a crossroad in the book of Exodus. God has been about the business of rescuing his people from Egypt, intervening to save them from slavery. But his purpose was never to turn them loose to do whatever they wanted to do. His stated purpose to Pharaoh was ‘let my people go that they may serve me’ or ‘that they may worship me’. God is rescuing his people from futility to a life of purpose and meaning. He is bringing them into relationship with himself. He is bringing them to Mt. Sinai to teach them his ways. They are almost there.

God chose an unlikely candidate to be his tool to set his people free. Moses rose up to defend his people, but was rejected and exiled for forty years. There he was given a Midianite wife, became a shepherd, and had sons. When he was on the back side of the desert, God interrupted him and called him to ‘set my people free’. He reluctantly returned to Egypt, but not before God showed him how deadly serious a thing it is to have his own house in order and obey God’s commands. God confronted him over his negligence of the covenant sign of circumcision in his family.

Now, God has triumphed over the gods of the Egyptians, Moses has led the people of Israel out of Egypt, through the midst of the Red Sea, they have seen God’s gracious and miraculous provision in the wilderness, they have seen that God will give them victory over their enemies. Israel is encamped at the Mountain of God.

We now see Moses’ family reunited, we see Gentiles entering into worship of the God of Israel, and the establishment of a leadership structure that spreads the burden of responsibility among godly men.

Jethro

Exodus 18:1 Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel his people, how the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt. 2 Now Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, had taken Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her home, 3 along with her two sons. The name of the one was Gershom (for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land”), 4 and the name of the other, Eliezer (for he said, “The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh”). 5 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was encamped at the mountain of God. 6 And when he sent word to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her,” 7 Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. And they asked each other of their welfare and went into the tent. 8 Then 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 in the way, and how the LORD had delivered them. 9 And Jethro rejoiced for all the good that the LORD had done to Israel, in that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians. 10 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 has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. 11 Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods, because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with the people.” 12 And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God; and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.

Midianites

The Midianites were historically no friend of Israel. It was Midianite traders who sold Joseph as a slave in Egypt (Gen.37:28,36). The Midianites would conspire with the Moabites to hire Balaam to curse Israel (Num.22:7ff). The intermarrying of Israel with Midian with the consequent worship of Baal incited the LORD to wrath (Num.25). But in this passage, we see a Midianite priest converted to the true worship of YHWH.

This is amazing in light of the context. We have just seen another branch of Abraham’s family (Gen.25:2), the Amalekites, war against God’s people and be defeated by God’s power. Even God’s own people have been so far grumbling and complaining, putting the LORD to the test. They have not shown a great deal of faith in their deliverer. This priest of Midian, it says ‘heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel his people, how the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt. (18:1)’ God’s own people seem to continually be blaming Moses for leading them out to die rather than praising God for bringing them out of slavery. This Midianite priest seems to be one of the first to get it.

God-Centered Witness

8 Then 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 in the way, and how the LORD had delivered them. 9 And Jethro rejoiced for all the good that the LORD had done to Israel, in that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians. 10 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 has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. 11 Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods, because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with the people.”

Listen to what Moses tells his father-in-law. “Dad, you should have been there. The Pharaoh of Egypt was terrified every time I showed up. Remember when you sent me out in the desert with your sheep? You had no idea what I was capable of. I raised my staff, and you should have seen it! All Egypt was in mayhem. They were begging us to leave. All these people are following me, they’re looking to me for leadership. Can you believe it? I struck the rock with my staff and water came out!” No, Moses doesn’t draw attention to himself. He points to the LORD. He told his father-in-law all that the LORD had done. The LORD did this! This was a God-centered witness. And he didn’t edit out the struggles either. He told him about ‘all the hardship that had come upon them in the way, and how the LORD had delivered them.’ We’ve had some rocky times. No food, poisoned water, no water, grumbling people, enemies attacking, The LORD delivered us. We would have had no hope unless God had intervened. He gave all credit to God. This is a faithful witness. This is a real testimony. It’s not about me. It’s all about God. Look at what God has done!

Joyful Believing

Jethro’s response is joy. He rejoiced. He recognized the goodness of God in all of this. Jethro, priest of Midian, does not use the generic title of deity, he does not name the god of the Midianites, he does not assume that his god and Israel’s God are the same. He uses God’s revealed covenant name in distinction from all other pagan gods. The LORD – YHWH is good! This is the name of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Israel’s God, the great I AM. Jethro has heard all that God did for his people Israel. He heard that YHWH had brought them out of Egypt. He rejoiced for all the good that YHWH had done for Israel in that he delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians. He blesses YHWH: “blessed be the LORD, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh and has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians.” Jethro knew his son-in-law Moses was in trouble with Egypt. It was evident that something supernatural happened to preserve Moses’ life from the Egyptians and from Pharaoh, and seeing that the 400 years of slavery for the Hebrew people in Egypt had been sovereignly ended stirred his heart to worship this God of the Hebrews.

We are seeing the beginnings of a fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham.

Genesis 22:18 and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”

God had declared:

Exodus 6:7 I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

Exodus 7:5 The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.”

Now, a Midianite priest is converted to worship the one true God. He says:

11 Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods, because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with the people.”

He had seen the evidence, and he was convinced. He worshiped.

12 And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God; and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.

What an amazing scene! Jew and Gentile together worshiping the one true God, breaking bread together in the presence of God!

Psalm 22:27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.

Psalm 86:9 All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name.

In heaven they sing this about the Lamb:

Revelation 5:9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,

Revelation 15:4 Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

This is what Jesus commanded that we do:

Matthew 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

God has from the beginning intended to bring some from every nation together in worship of the one true God.

Moses The Judge

The next scene is a scene of Moses carrying out his responsibilities as leader of the people God has entrusted to his care.

13 The next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening. 14 When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?” 15 And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God; 16 when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make them know the statutes of God and his laws.”

Moses is filling the role of teacher/counselor/arbiter of disputes. He is teaching the people God’s standards, settling disputes and making peace, and seeking God’s direction for the people. All these things are good and necessary and important. But Jethro sees a problem in the system. This is an insurmountable task for one man. Justice delayed is no justice. He offers some advice.

Burdens of Leadership Shared

17 Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. 18 You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone. 19 Now obey my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you! You shall represent the people before God and bring their cases to God, 20 and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do. 21 Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. 22 And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. 23 If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace.”

Jethro’s instruction is for Moses to continue in the role of teacher and intercessor. He is to take their cases before God and seek God’s direction. He is to fulfill the role of teacher, communicating God’s truth to God’s people. He is to warn and make them know the way in which them must walk, to help them understand their relationship with God, and what their responsibilities are. But he is to choose able men to come along side him and share the load of leadership. These men are to have specific qualities. They are to be men of character. First on the list is a fear of God. Their relationship with God must be healthy. They must have proper awe and respect for the Most High. They must be God-fearers and not men-pleasers. They must be trustworthy, reliable, faithful men. They are to be men who cannot be bought. Men of character are to be chosen to share the counseling/arbitrating responsibilities.

The picture we have here illustrates the problem. God’s law has not yet been codified. All the people are coming to Moses with their questions and grievances. They wait in line all day and get no answers.

They go home discouraged and frustrated. Everyone has to go through this one man who goes to God to get their answers.

According to Jethro’s advice, the majority of cases would be settled at the local level, with only the difficult or new issues being brought to Moses. This will serve to alleviate the backlog of cases so that justice can be served in a timely manner, and frees Moses up to focus on his primary leadership responsibilities. Jethro’s advice is given not just as good practical common sense, but as guidance from God.

Moses’ Humble Response

Moses responds as any good leader today would. “Don’t you know who I am? God chose me to lead his people. Who do you think you are to give me advice in my job anyway? It was my staff that brought the plagues and parted the Red Sea and brought water from the rock. I spoke to God and he sent manna. I’m the one who intercedes with God for all the people. Don’t you think if God wanted me to do things differently, he would have told me himself?” No, again, Moses lays aside his natural pride and demonstrates amazing humility.

24 So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. 25 Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. 26 And they judged the people at all times. Any hard case they brought to Moses, but any small matter they decided themselves. 27 Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went away to his own country.

Moses listened. Moses obeyed the instruction from his father-in-law. He was wise enough to take advice, no matter the source.

There are some interesting connections between this chapter and the one before. In both, foreigners come to Israel; the Amalekites came to attack; the Midianites came to greet. In both, some men are chosen for a specific task – to fight or to judge. In both, Moses takes a seat on the second day and remains seated for the entire day. In both, Moses is said to be tired or weary, and is provided assistance by others. In both, Moses humbly and willingly receives help from others. He knows his own weakness and is vulnerable. Proverbs tells us:

Proverbs 15:33 The fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor.

In the New Testament, we are told:

Philippians 2:3 Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

We are in humility to consider others as more significant than ourselves. More significant! That is contrary to every natural instinct we have. This kind of humility takes gospel transformation to carry out. This takes crucifixion of self to put others first.

Romans 12:3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

Do not think more highly of yourself than you ought to think. This is against our inclination, but we are now equipped to fight the fight against our flesh. We now have God’s law written on our hearts (Jer.31:33). We have God’s Spirit in us to cause us to walk in his ways (Ezek.36:27). There is now one mediator between God and men; the man Christ Jesus (1 Tim.2:5). Every good gift comes from above, so whatever I have that is praiseworthy, the one who is worthy of praise is my Lord Jesus Christ, not me. Look at what the LORD has done for our sake. Rejoice in all the good that the LORD has done to us. Bless the LORD for delivering us from the domain of darkness and transferring us into the kingdom of his dear Son (Col.1:13).  

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

Palm Sunday – John 12:12-33 – We Would See Jesus!

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20110417_palm-sunday.mp3

04/17 Palm Sunday – John 12:12-33

Intro:

Today we celebrate Palm Sunday. I want to look at the text from John’s account of the gospel that is the history behind this day. We find this in John chapter 12. (The events are also recorded in Matthew 21, Mark 11 and Luke 19). Jesus is in his final week, the passion week, leading up to his crucifixion. He had raised his friend Lazarus, who had been in the tomb four days, from the dead. Jesus was now back at Lazarus’ house in Bethany, the home of his dear friends Martha and Mary. Mary, in an act of devotion and love, broke open a vial of ointment worth about one year’s salary, and anointed Jesus. Jesus defended her action, saying that she was anointing him for his burial. Crowds were gathering in Jerusalem for the upcoming Passover celebration, and many were taking the short trip to Bethany to see Jesus and the man he had raised from the dead. So many Jews were believing in Jesus because of this, that the chief priests were plotting to have Lazarus put to death. This is where we’ll pick up the story:

John 12:12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”

Hero’s Welcome

This is where we get the name ‘Palm Sunday’. This was a hero’s welcome; a royal welcome. This was a king’s welcome. The newly crowned king would be welcomed in this way by his subjects as he came to take his throne and rule. The people are welcoming Jesus as king. But not just any king. The people are quoting Psalm 118, a Psalm of victory over the enemy, a song of triumphant return from battle. This is the valiant king, commanding that the gates be opened to welcome him. In Psalm 118:22-29, it says:

Psalm 118:22 The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. 23 This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. 24 This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. 25 Save us, we pray, O LORD! O LORD, we pray, give us success! 26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We bless you from the house of the LORD. 27 The LORD is God, and he has made his light to shine upon us. Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, up to the horns of the altar! 28 You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God; I will extol you. 29 Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

Hosanna!

Verses 25 and 26 say ‘Save us we pray, O LORD!… Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!…’ This is what the people are quoting as their King rides to Jerusalem. The Hebrew word “Hosanna” means ‘save us we pray’. Israel is under Roman occupation. The Jews are looking for their Messiah, the anointed king that would rescue them, that would deliver them from the power of the Romans and give them back their freedom. The people are looking to Jesus to be this victorious king. In John 6, after Jesus had fed the multitudes, the people declared that he was the promised Prophet who was to come, and they wanted to take Jesus by force and make him their king, but Jesus withdrew by himself to the wilderness. This time, when the people are crying out ‘Save us, King of Israel who comes in the name of the LORD’ and giving him a royal welcome, he does not avoid them; in fact, he encourages them.

14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, 15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” 16 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.

The Donkey

Here we see Jesus intentionally fulfilling prophecy. The quote is from Zechariah 9:9

Zechariah 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

In the other three gospel accounts, we are told that Jesus sent disciples ahead to get this donkey so that it would be ready. Typically, the king would come triumphantly riding his war horse. But Jesus is a different kind of king. He comes in humility, riding on a donkey.

17 The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. 18 The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”

The World has Gone After Him!

The Pharisees entirely miss the point. They think they are in a popularity contest and they are losing. Jesus by his actions is teaching the people that he is a different kind of king than what they expect, and his salvation will be different from what they expect. He is indeed coming as King to save them, but in humility, not pride. And he will save the people, not from the Romans, but from themselves. The Pharisees, though, unknowingly make a profound analysis. Look, the world has gone after him. John uses this statement as a connection to some Greeks who were seeking Jesus.

20 Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. 21 So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.

The Greeks Seek Jesus

Greeks were coming to see Jesus. Among the crowds of Jews who came to worship at the Passover feast, were some Greeks, probably God-fearing Greeks, those who were intrigued by the Jewish scriptures and believed that the God of the Jews was the one true God. Possibly proselytes – those who had no Jewish genealogy, but who believed in God and became Jews through circumcision. They would be allowed into the temple’s court of the Gentiles to worship. They don’t feel they have any access directly to Jesus, so they go through the disciples. Their request is simple yet profound. ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus’. Simple faith! Would that we had this kind of desire, this kind of boldness. The world has gone after Jesus. Now there are Greeks that want to know Jesus. They come to Philip, Philip goes to Andrew, Andrew and Philip tell Jesus. Look how Jesus answers:

23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

The Glory of a Seed

At first read, this seems like a strange answer, if it is even answering the question at all. Greeks want to see you Jesus, and you start talking about being glorified and planting wheat and hating life. How does this answer their question? We need to understand what Jesus means when he says ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified’. Throughout the gospels, Jesus had been saying ‘my hour has not yet come’. Now he says ‘The hour has come’. The time is now. His whole life was leading up to some focal point, some climax. He uses his favorite title for himself ‘the Son of Man’, a title that comes from Daniel 7, a title showing his perfect humanity, but a title of the one who is the everlasting King. ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified’. What does he mean ‘glorified’? To glorify is to honor, to cause the dignity and worth of someone to be made known. The climactic time has come for Jesus, the perfect human representative, to be put on display and seen for the all the excellencies of who he is. What climactic event is he referring to that would put his glory on display? This royal welcome into Jerusalem where he was hailed as king, with everyone laying down cloaks and palm branches for him to walk on was pretty impressive, but that is already past. What is going to bring him the greatest glory? He tells us clearly in the context. He chooses the metaphor of a seed. A seed is very unimpressive if it is kept on the shelf. To unlock the potential of the seed, it needs to go into the dirt. A seed on a shelf is not seen for what it really is. It might be safe, but its real potential is lost. It remains alone. Jesus talks about the necessity for wheat to fall into the ground and die so it can bear fruit.

Remember, this is all in response to the Greeks who want an audience with him. How is this answering their request? ‘We want to see Jesus.’ It is time for the Son of Man to die so that he can produce much fruit and be seen for who he really is. Jesus is the Jewish King, coming to save, but he will save not just the Jews, but also the Greeks, and he will save, not by military might from political oppression, for that would be no help to the Greeks; but he will save us from our sins by dying for us. King Jesus marches in to Jerusalem to take his throne, but his throne is in the shape of a cross. He will be nailed to this throne and lifted up for all to see. The hour has now come for the Son of Man, the representative of all men not just Jews, to be exalted by dying in order to bear the fruit of salvation for anyone that will follow him, including these Greeks. The whole world has gone after him! ‘Whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me he must follow me, he will be with me, and my Father will honor him’. Jesus is pointing the Greeks to his death as the event that will open up to all men the way of salvation. Are we on the right track in understanding what Jesus is saying? Let’s keep reading:

27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.”

The Troubled Soul of Jesus

Jesus’ soul is troubled? What would trouble the soul of the Prince of Peace? What would cause anxiety in the heart of the one who taught us not to be anxious? What would incline him to desire to be rescued by his Father out of this hour? What would the Savior want to be saved from? If we ask why he came, we get some indication of what is troubling his soul. In John 10, Jesus said ‘I lay down my life for the sheep’ (v.15, 17). ‘I give [my sheep] eternal life and they will never perish’ (v.28). In John 6, Jesus said ‘the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh’ (v.51). In Mark 10, Jesus said:

Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

2 Corinthians 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

1 Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

Isaiah 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

What troubled the soul of Jesus to the point that he would desire escape is the prospect of bearing my sins. For the holy God who abhors sin to bear my sin, to take my sin upon himself, for the spotless lamb of God to become sin, for the innocent guiltless one to have my iniquity laid to his account would be unthinkable. For the first time in eternity the Father would look on his beloved Son not with love, affection and approval but disgust, anger, and judgment. Yet Jesus says ‘But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father glorify your name’. Jesus, the eternal Son of God, took on flesh, entered history and became human, with the sole purpose of being executed as a sin-bearing substitute for guilty mankind. Jesus looked at the prospect of being forsaken by his Father and it sent his soul into turmoil. ‘Nevertheless,’ he prayed, ‘not my will, but yours, be done’ (Lk.22:42)

28 …Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.

So here we are explicitly told that he is talking about his crucifixion – the death of being lifted up. The deepest expression of love and obedience – ‘Father save me’? No, but ‘Father, glorify your name’. His Father answered him from heaven. The glory of the Father and the glory of the Son is seen in the crucifixion. God’s character and nature is displayed for all to see. Absolute in holiness, perfect in righteousness and exacting justice, impossible to let sin slide, yet abounding in mercy and grace, eager to forgive offending sinners, slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness. Satisfying the demands of justice and righteousness while extending undeserved mercy to wicked sinners by absorbing in his own person the weight of the injury. ‘Now is the judgment of this world’. God’s holy wrath against all our sin is poured out now – absorbed in the perfect Lamb that God himself provided. ‘Now the ruler of this world is cast out’ -because the rightful ruler has taken his throne. Jesus the King, lifted up on a cross, enthroned in glory dying for the sins of the world, now draws people from every tribe and tongue and people and nation to himself.

Jesus wants to draw you today. Jesus is a different kind of King and offers a different kind of salvation. He comes to conquer, but to conquer by dying. He comes to conquer, not our enemies, but us. He comes to conquer our hard hearts by loving us, by entering our pain and bearing our guilt before his Father. Do you see him as glorious? Do you recognize the glory of the Father and the glory of the Son revealed on the cross? Do you see the point at which absolute holy justice and free and undeserved mercy meet? We would see Jesus! We would see Jesus! We would see Jesus!

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

Exodus 14:1-31; God Alone Saves

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20110313_exodus14_1-31.mp3

03/13 Exodus 14:1-31 God Alone Saves

Intro:

God’s purpose in the exodus is that he be known. God shows up to make himself known. He sets out to get glory for himself. God says ‘I will be known. I will be feared. I will be admired. I will act in such a way as to inspire awe and holy respect. I will get fame and honor and renown. I will not be slighted. I will be treated as weighty. I will be seen for who I am. I will get glory’.This is God’s purpose in the world.

Habakkuk 2:14 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

Even when God’s leading does not seem to make sense, we can be confident that he is at work for his glory and for our good. Even when he leads us into a corner with no way out and then incites our enemy to rise up against us, we must trust that his ways are perfect. He is acting for our good and for his glory.

In this passage, we will see the primary way God gets glory for himself. Our God is a God who saves. Here we are given such a clear picture of God our Savior – he alone saves his people.

14:1 Then the LORD said to Moses, 2 “Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi–hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal–zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea. 3 For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ 4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD.” And they did so. 5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” 6 So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him, 7 and took six hundred chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. 8 And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while the people of Israel were going out defiantly. 9 The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the sea, by Pi–hahiroth, in front of Baal–zephon.

Tracing Israel’s Faith

Last time we looked at the progression of Pharaoh and the Egyptians as they were brought to recognize YHWH (or Jehovah – the LORD), God of the Hebrews. God said ‘the Egyptians shall know that I am YHWH’, and Pharaoh said ‘who is YHWH that I should obey his voice. I do not know YHWH’. After only the second plague, Pharaoh was asking Moses to ‘plead with YHWH for me’. By chapter 14, the Egyptians were crying out ‘let us flee …YHWH fights for them against the Egyptians’. Let’s look at how the faith of God’s people progressed as he revealed himself to them.

In chapter 1, we are introduced to some Hebrew midwives who feared God. Because they feared God, they disobeyed the Pharaoh’s orders, and God dealt well with them. By the end of chapter 2, the people are groaning because of their slavery and crying out for help. The text doesn’t tell us that they addressed their cry for help to anyone, but we are told that ‘their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant … God saw the people of Israel – and God knew’. God revealed himself to Moses in the wilderness in chapter 3, and called him into relationship with himself, sent him to bring the people out of Egypt and into his service. Moses is reluctant but eventually surrenders and goes and tells the people everything that God had told him.

Exodus 4:31 And the people believed; and when they heard that the LORD had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.

But after Pharaoh rejects the initial demand of the LORD to release his slaves, and instead increases their workload to the impossible, the people run to Pharaoh and cry out to him for help. When Pharaoh refuses to listen to their plea, they curse Moses in the name of the LORD for stirring things up (5:21). In chapter 6, God gives Moses the good news of his promises to preach to his people, but, it says ‘they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery’ (6:9). From this point on, God steps in and acts on behalf of his people. He unleashes his mighty acts of judgment against Egypt, and he makes a distinction between Egypt and his people, exempting his people from the full force of the blows. He claims to do it:

Exodus 10:2 and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, that you may know that I am the LORD.”

God is working so that his people will know who he is. Not only is he working so that the Egyptians know that he is YHWH, but even his own people need to be taught his nature and character. God gives his people favor with the Egyptians so they are given whatever they need for preparation for their journey. God gave his people instructions for a feast that was to shelter them from his wrath and point them to Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The people here respond by bowing their heads in worship and obeying what the LORD had commanded (12:27-28). The Egyptians were brought to acknowledge YHWH and flee from him. The Hebrews worship and obey YHWH. Now they are following the visible manifestation of God as he leads them with cloud and with fire. Let’s see how they fare:

14:10 When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD. 11 They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Is not this what we said to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”

Faithless People and their Faithful God

Notice how faithless God’s chosen people are. They set their eyes on their circumstances and they fear. To their credit, this time they cry out to the LORD instead of Pharaoh, but then they start complaining. They accuse him of leading them to the wilderness to die. They act as if their rescue from slavery was a horrible thing. They say ‘I told you so’ – we told you to leave us alone to serve our old slave-master. And they look back to the good old days slaving over bricks and mortar in Egypt. You took us away from all we had ever known. It would have been better for us to stay. Better to have our children killed. Better to be beaten. Better to be crushed under the oppressive slave-master. Better to be afflicted with heavy burdens, oppressed by the cruel taskmasters. Better to be ruthlessly made to work as slaves. The bitter life of hard service in Egypt was better than this. They have the pillar of fire and cloud right in front of them, and they say slavery in Egypt was better! They have no faith in God’s promises. All they can see is the bad part of what they can see, and that most certainly means death. They leave God out of the equation, focus on their circumstances, and are consumed with fear and speak against God’s deliverance.

Can you believe this? After God’s ten mighty acts of power over Egypt and all their gods, leaving the land and the people ruined and devastated, after God clearly established his supremacy over all things, humiliated Pharaoh and emasculated his gods, after he has demonstrated his compassion and care for his people, making a distinction, fighting on their behalf, after Pharaoh had consistently demonstrated that he was a cruel and pitiless slave-master, God’s people still want to return to Egypt? This makes no sense. They cannot see beyond their immediate circumstances, they cannot trust in the promises of their faithful God, they turn everything upside down and make God and his chosen deliverer out to be cruel and their slavery to a godless tyrant out to be paradise. This is incomprehensibly stupid! Can you believe it?

I can. I can, because this is what I do every day. This is where I live. This is the battle I fight. Will I trust God who has proven himself faithful and wise and awesome and loving? Will I believe that he has good in store for me? Or do I think that God is keeping some good thing away from me? Do I fondle in my heart the fleeting pleasures of sin that I know only bring me back into bondage and will never satisfy but instead create greater emptiness and craving? I have tasted the sweetness of intimacy with God. I have seen evidence of his relentless love. And my heart is still prone to wander. Prone to doubt. Prone to disbelieve. This is who we are. This is the battle we fight. What should we do? We cry out with the Apostle “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Rom.7:24).

But praise God he does not give us what we deserve. Praise God it does not depend on me! Praise God that salvation is by grace alone! Praise God that, as Paul says:

2 Timothy 2:13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful–– for he cannot deny himself.

God would have been just to say ‘you liked Egypt so much? Back to Egypt you go!’ Praise God his faithfulness is not based on our fickleness but on his own reputation. God will remain true to himself.

Call to Stop Fearing and Stand Firm

14:13 And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. 14 The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

This is an amazing call to worship. First we are told to stop being afraid. In verse 10, when the Egyptian military was drawing near, it says the people feared greatly. They had an awesome respect for the skill and power and deadly force of the Egyptian army. By now, they should have had an even greater awesome fear and respect for their God, who decimated the Egyptians with blow after blow of his strong right hand. This massive horde of former slaves were no military match for the special forces of Egypt, but they should have seen that Pharaoh’s puny army was no match for the sovereign power of their Creator God. Jesus said:

Matthew 10:28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. (cf. Luke 12:5)

We are told to stand firm. Stand still. Stand your ground. Paul told the Galatian believers to stand firm in their blood-bought freedom.

Galatians 5:1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

In the passage on spiritual warfare in Ephesians 6, we are told repeatedly to stand firm.

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. …13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore…

Peter warns against the adversary and tells us to resist, firm in faith.

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober–minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. 12 … I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it.

We are not to be afraid. We are to stand firm – not in our own strength, but strong in the Lord and the strength of his might, firm in the faith – the belief that he loves us and is fighting for us, that he himself will by grace restore, confirm, strengthen and establish us. Stand firm in the true grace of God – standing, not on our rights or what we have earned, but standing firmly on the word of a God who gives good gifts to sinners at great cost to himself.

Call to Be a Spectator

“Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today.

Have you ever thought about your salvation this way? We are spectators in our salvation. We are utterly incapable of even helping God out in our salvation. God works alone in salvation. We watch. We are the ones being fought over. We do not do the fighting. We do not do the work. He will work for you today. The LORD will accomplish your salvation.

Titus 3:4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy,

God is the one who saves. Subject, verb, object. God is the subject of the sentence. We are the object of his salvation. We are the recipient. God performs the action. We are described as ‘dead in the trespasses and sins’ (Eph.2:1); ‘slaves of sin’ (Rom.6:17); ‘foolish, disobedient, led astray, salves to various passions and pleasures’ (Tit.3:3). We are told to stand still and watch, because if we start scurrying around trying to help God out, we will only raise a dust cloud that will obscure his glory. We can contribute nothing of worth to our salvation. We are even told to repent of our righteous deeds:

Isaiah 64:6 We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment…

The author of Hebrews tells us that the elementary doctrine of Christ, the foundation that everything else stands on starts with repentance from dead works.

Hebrews 6:1 Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God…

If you are attempting to play a part in your salvation, if you are trying to help God out, STOP! Stop stirring up dust! Stop creating more dead works that you will have to repent of! Salvation belongs to the LORD (Ps.3:8; Jonah 2:9; Rev.7:10; 19:1) Take your place as a spectator to God’s salvation. Stop and look. Watch. ‘See the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you’

14 The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

Hear what God is saying to you. You are loved. You are wanted. You are being fought over. Do you know how good it is to have someone who will fight for you? In college, I was being accused of something I did not do. I was being threatened with legal action. I was scared. Then I was called in to the office of the president of the college. He looked me in the eye across his big desk and asked me if I had done what I was being accused of. He believed I was innocent. He said ‘Rodney, if you get any more harassing phone calls, you let me know. I will go to bat for you.’

13 And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. 14 The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

Triumph Over their Enemies

They were looking at the situation all wrong. God had said he would harden the hearts of the Egyptians and cause them to pursue his people. God had promised to get glory over the Egyptians. If the Egyptian army had not shown up, if they were left alone in the desert, then the people should have wailed and cried out because God had not kept his word. Had the Egyptian army not come after them, they could be sure they would see them again. But because the Egyptians pursued them, as God had promised they would, they will never be seen again. God’s people will be free. Decisively free. Finally free. Free forever.

15 The LORD said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. 16 Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground. 17 And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen. 18 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.” 19 Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, 20 coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night. 21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. 22 And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 23 The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. 24 And in the morning watch the LORD in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic, 25 clogging their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from before Israel, for the LORD fights for them against the Egyptians.” 26 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.” 27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the LORD threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. 28 The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained. 29 But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 30 Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31 Israel saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses.

The LORD saved Israel that day. They saw. They were spectators. They saw their enemies dead on the seashore. They saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians. They did not lift a finger against their enemies. The LORD saved them by himself!

Salvation by Grace Alone Resulting in Faith

Here we see the response of the people to the great salvation that the LORD accomplished for them. They saw, they feared, and they believed. This is a beautiful example of salvation by grace alone. Grace is God’s goodness given to undeserving sinners.

Romans 5:8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

God’s people were complaining against God, wishing for a return to slavery when God intervened on their behalf. They were totally undeserving. God saved them anyway. That is salvation by grace alone. God’s salvation by grace resulted in their faith. They responded to God’s grace with fear and belief. His people were beginning in the path of wisdom. They were beginning to fear the LORD. They were beginning to see how awesome he is and it rightly terrified them. And they saw that he is on their side, fighting for them, and they began to trust him. They began to believe. God’s gracious salvation resulted in faith. God fought for them when they were ready to defect. God won back the hearts of his people.

Romans 5:10 …while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son…

Jesus is Salvation

13 And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. 14 The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

The Hebrew word translated salvation is [ hewvy] yeshuah. This is linked to the Greek name [Ihsouv ] Iesous given in the New Testament. It comes into the English as Jesus

Matthew 1:21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

No Room for Christ in the Inn – C.H. Spurgeon

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20101219_no_room_for_christ_in_the_inn.mp3

20101219 No Room for Christ in the Inn (abridged by Rodney Zedicher)

A Sermon

(No. 485)

Delivered on Sunday Morning, December 21st, 1862, by

Rev. C. H. SPURGEON,

At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington

 

“And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.”—Luke 2:7.

…

When all persons of the house of David were thus driven to Bethlehem, the scanty accommodation of the little town would soon be exhausted. … for coming from a distance, and compelled to travel slowly, the humble couple had arrived late in the day. … there remained no better lodging, even for a woman in travail, than one of the meaner spaces appropriated to beasts of burden. The stall of the ass was the only place where the child could be born. … here, in the stable, was the King of Glory born and in the manner was he laid.

My business this morning is to lead your meditations to the stable at Bethlehem, that you may see this great sight—the Savior in the manger, and think over the reason for this lowly couch—”because there was no room for them in the inn.”

I. I shall commence by remarking that THERE WERE OTHER REASONS WHY CHRIST SHOULD BE LAID IN THE MANGER.

1. I think it was intended thus to show forth his humiliation. He came, according to prophecy, to be “despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;” he was to be “without form or comeliness,” “a root out of a dry ground.” Would it have been fitting that the man who was to die naked on the cross should be robed in purple at his birth? Would it not have been inappropriate that the Redeemer who was to be buried in a borrowed tomb should be born anywhere but in the humblest shed, and housed anywhere but in the most ignoble manner? The manger and the cross standing at the two extremities of the Savior’s earthly life seem most fit and congruous the one to the other. He is to wear through life a peasant’s garb; he is to associate with fishermen; the lowly are to be his disciples; the cold mountains are often to be his only bed; he is to say, “Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head;” nothing, therefore, could be more fitting than that in his season of humiliation, when he laid aside all his glory, and took upon himself the form of a servant, and condescended even to the meanest estate, he should be laid in a manger.

2. By being in a manger he was declared to be the king of the poor. They, doubtless, were at once able to recognize his relationship to them, from the position in which they found him. I believe it excited feelings of the tenderest brotherly kindness in the minds of the shepherds, when the angel said—”This shall be a sign unto you; you shall find the child wrapped in swaddling-clothes and lying in a manger.” In the eyes of the poor, imperial robes excite no affection, a man in their own garb attracts their confidence. With what pertinacity will workingmen cleave to a leader of their own order, believing in him because he knows their toils, sympathizes in their sorrows, and feels an interest in all their concerns. Great commanders have readily won the hearts of their soldiers by sharing their hardships and roughing it as if they belonged to the ranks. The King of Men who was born in Bethlehem, was not exempted in his infancy from the common calamities of the poor, nay, his lot was even worse than theirs. …

3. Further, in thus being laid in a manger, he did, as it were, give an invitation to the most humble to come to him. We might tremble to approach a throne, but we cannot fear to approach a manger. … Never could there be a being more approachable than Christ. No rough guards pushed poor petitioners away; no array of officious friends were allowed to keep off the importunate widow or the man who clamored that his son might be made whole; the hem of his garment was always trailing where sick folk could reach it, and he himself had a hand always ready to touch the disease, an ear to catch the faintest accents of misery, a soul going forth everywhere in rays of mercy, even as the light of the sun streams on every side beyond that orb itself. By being laid in a manger he proved himself a priest taken from among men, one who has suffered like his brethren, and therefore can be touched with a feeling of our infirmities. Of him it was said “He doth eat and drink with publicans and sinners;” “this man receiveth sinners and eateth with them.” Even as an infant, by being laid in a manger, he was set forth as the sinner’s friend. Come to him, ye that are weary and heavy-laden! Come to him, ye that are broken in spirit, ye who are bowed down in soul! Come to him, ye that despise yourselves and are despised of others! Come to him, publican and harlot! Come to him, thief and drunkard! In the manger there he lies, unguarded from your touch and unshielded from your gaze. Bow the knee, and kiss the Son of God; accept him as your Savior, for he puts himself into that manger that you may approach him. The throne of Solomon might awe you, but the manger of the Son of David must invite you.

…

Class exclusions are unknown here, and the prerogatives of caste are not acknowledged. No forms of etiquette are required in entering a stable; it cannot be an offense to enter the stable…. So, if you desire to come to Christ you may come to him just as you are; you may come now. Whosoever among you hath the desire in his heart to trust Christ is free to do it. Jesus is free to you; he will receive you; he will welcome you with gladness, and to show this, I think, the young child was cradled in a manger. We know that sinners often imagine that they are shut out. Oftentimes the convicted conscience will write bitter things against itself and deny its part and lot in mercy’s stores. Brother, if God hath not shut thee out, do not shut thyself out. Until thou canst find it written in the Book that thou mayest not trust Christ; till thou canst quote a positive passage in which it is written that he is not able to save thee, I pray thee take that other word wherein it is written—”He is able to save unto the uttermost them that come unto God by him.” Venture on that promise; come to Christ in the strength and faith of it, and thou shalt find him free to all comers.

5. We have not yet exhausted the reasons why the Son of Man was laid in a manger. It was at the manger that the beasts were fed; and does the Savior lie where weary beasts receive their provender, and shall there not be a mystery here? Alas, there are some men who have become so brutal through sin, so utterly depraved by their lusts, that to their own consciences every thing manlike has departed, but even to such the remedies of Jesus, the Great Physician, will apply. … I believe our Lord was laid in the manger where the beasts were fed, to show that even beast-like men may come to him and live. No creature can be so degraded that Christ cannot lift it up. Fall it may, and seem to fall most certainly to hell, but the long and strong arm of Christ can reach it even in its most desperate degradation; he can bring it up from apparently hopeless ruin. If there be one who has strolled in here this morning whom society abhors, and who abhors himself, my Master in the stable with the beasts presents himself as able to save the vilest of the vile, and to accept the worst of the worst even now. Believe on him and he will make thee a new creature.

…

…For these reasons which I have mentioned, methinks, Christ was laid in a manger.

II. But still the text says that he was laid in a manger because there was no room for him in the inn, and this leads us to the second remark, THAT THERE WERE OTHER PLACES BESIDES THE INN WHICH HAD NO ROOM FOR CHRIST.

The palaces of emperors and the halls of kings afforded the royal stranger no refuge? Alas! my brethren, seldom is there room for Christ in palaces! How could the kings of earth receive the Lord? He is the Prince of Peace, and they delight in war! He breaks their bows and cuts their spears in sunder; he burneth their war-chariots in the fire. How could kings accept the humble Savior? They love grandeur and pomp, and he is all simplicity and meekness. He is a carpenter’s son, and the fisherman’s companion. How can princes find room for the new-born monarch? Why he teaches us to do to others as we would that they should do to us, and this is a thing which kings would find very hard to reconcile with the knavish tricks of politics and the grasping designs of ambition. O great ones of the earth, I am but little astonished that amid your glories, and pleasures, and wars, and councils, ye forget the Anointed, and cast out the Lord of All. There is no room for Christ with the kings. … “Not many great men after the flesh, not many mighty are chosen.” State-chambers, cabinets, throne-rooms, and royal palaces, are about as little frequented by Christ as the jungles and swamps of India by the cautious traveler. He frequents cottages far more often than regal residences, for there is no room for Jesus Christ in regal halls.

…

But there were senators, there were forums of political discussion, there were the places where the representatives of the people make the laws, was there no room for Christ there? Alas! my brethren, none, and to this day there is very little room for Christ in parliaments. How seldom is religion recognised by politicians! Of course a State-religion, if it will consent to be a poor, tame, powerless thing, a lion with its teeth all drawn, its mane all shaven off, and its claws all trimmed—yes, that may be recognised; but the true Christ and they that follow him and dare to obey his laws in an evil generation, what room is there for such? … Who pleads for Jesus in the senate? … Who quotes his golden rule as a direction for prime ministers, or preaches Christ-like forgiveness as a rule for national policy? One or two will give him a good word, but if it be put to the vote whether the Lord Jesus should be obeyed or no, it will be many a day before the ayes have it. Parties, policies, place-hunters, and pleasure-seekers exclude the Representative of Heaven from a place among representatives of Earth.

Might there not be found some room for Christ in what is called good society? Were there not in Bethlehem some people that were very respectable, who kept themselves aloof from the common multitude; persons of reputation and standing—could not they find room for Christ? Ah! dear friends, it is too much the case that there is no room for Him in what is called good society. There is room for all the silly little forms by which men choose to trammel themselves; room for the vain niceties of etiquette; room for frivolous conversation; room for the adoration of the body, there is room for the setting up of this and that as the idol of the hour, but there is too little room for Christ, and it is far from fashionable to follow the Lord fully. The advent of Christ would be the last thing which … society would desire; the very mention of his name by the lips of love would cause a strange sensation. Should you begin to talk about the things of Christ in many a circle, you would be tabooed at once. “I will never ask that man to my house again,” so-and-so would say—”if he must bring his religion with him.” Folly and finery, rank and honor, jewels and glitter, frivolity and fashion, all report that there is no room for Jesus in their abodes.

But is there not room for him on the exchange? Cannot he be taken to the marts of commerce? Here are the shop-keepers of a shop-keeping nation—is there not room for Christ here? Ah! dear friends, how little of the spirit, and life, and doctrine of Christ can be found here! The trader finds it inconvenient to be too scrupulous; the merchant often discovers that if he is to make a fortune he must break his conscience. How many there are—well, I will not say they tell lies directly, but still, still, still—I had better say it plainly—they do lie indirectly with a vengeance. … What sharp practice some indulge in! What puffery and falsehood! What cunning and sleight of hand! What woes would my Master pronounce on some of you if he looked into your shop windows, or stood behind your counters. Bankruptcies, swindlings, frauds are so abundant that in hosts of cases there is no room for Jesus in the mart or the shop.

Then there are the schools of the philosophers, surely they will entertain him. The wise men will find in him incarnate wisdom; he, who as a youth is to become the teacher of doctors, who will sit down and ask them questions and receive their answers, surely he will find room at once among the Grecian sages, and men of sense and wit will honor him…. No, dear friends, but it is not so; there is very little room for Christ in colleges and universities, very little room for him in the seats of learning. How often learning helps men to raise objections to Christ! Too often learning is the forge where the nails are made for Christ’s crucifixion; too often human wit has become the artificer who has pointed the spear and made the shaft with which his heart should be pierced. We must say it, that philosophy, falsely so called. (for true philosophy, if it were handled aright, must ever be Christ’s friend) philosophy, falsely so called, hath done mischief to Christ, but seldom hath it served his cause. A few with splendid talents, a few of the erudite and profound have bowed like children at the feet of the Babe of Bethlehem, and have been honored in bowing there, but too many, conscious of their knowledge, stiff and stern in their conceit of wisdom, have said,—”Who is Christ, that we should acknowledge him?” They found no room for him in the schools.

But there was surely one place where he could go—it was the Sanhedrim, where the elders sit. Or could he not be housed in the priestly chamber where the priests assemble with the Levites. Was there not room for him in the temple or the synagogue? No, he found no shelter there; it was there, his whole life long, that he found his most ferocious enemies. Not the common multitude, but the priests were the instigators of his death, the priests moved the people to say “Not this man, but Barabbas.” The priests paid out their shekels to bribe the popular voice, and then Christ was hounded to his death. Surely there ought to have been room for him in the Church of his own people; but there was not. … it is strange that when the Lord comes to his own his own receives him not. The most accursed enemies of true religion have been the men who pretended to be its advocates. … The false hirelings that are not Christ’s shepherds, and love not his sheep, have ever been the most ferocious enemies of our God and of his Christ…. Go where ye will, and there is no space for the Prince of peace but with the humble and contrite spirits which by grace he prepares to yield him shelter.

III. But now for our third remark, THE INN ITSELF HAD NO ROOM FOR HIM; and this was the main reason why he must be laid in a manger. What can we find in modern times which stands in the place of the inn? Well, there is public sentiment free to all. In this free land, men speak of what they like, and there is a public opinion upon every subject; and you know there is free toleration in this country to everything—permit me to say, toleration to everything but Christ. … If God’s Word be true, every atom of it, then we should act upon it; and whatsoever the Lord commandeth, we should diligently keep and obey, remembering that our Master tells us if we break one of the least of his commandments, and teach men so, we shall be least in his kingdom. We ought to be very jealous, very precise, very anxious, that even in the minutiae of our Savior’s laws, we may obey, having our eyes up to him as the eyes of servants are to their mistresses. But if you do this, you will find you are not tolerated, and you will get the cold shoulder in society. A zealous Christian will find as truly a cross to carry now-a-days, as in the days of Simon the Cyrenian. If you will hold your tongue, if you will leave sinners to perish, if you will never endeavor to propagate your faith, if you will silence all witnessing for truth, if, in fact, you will renounce all the attributes of a Christian, if you will cease to be what a Christian must be, then the world will say, “Ah! that is right; this is the religion we like.” But if you will believe, believe firmly, and if you let your belief actuate your life, and if your belief is so precious that you feel compelled to spread it, then at once you will find that there is no room for Christ even in the inn of public sentiment, where everything else is received. Be an infidel, and none will therefore treat you contemptuously; but be a Christian, and many will despise you. “There was no room for him in the inn.”

How little room is there for Christ, too, in general conversation, which is also like an inn. We talk about many things; a man may now-a-days talk of any subject he pleases; no one can stop him and say, “There is a spy catching your words; he will report you to some central authority.” Speech is very free in this land; but, ah! how little room is there for Christ in general talk! Even on Sunday afternoon how little room there is for Christ in some professed Christian’s houses. They will talk about ministers,… they will talk about the Sunday school, or the various agencies in connection with the Church, but how little they say about Christ! And if some one should in conversation make this remark, “Could we not speak upon the Godhead and manhood, the finished work and righteousness, the ascension, or the second advent of our Lord Jesus Christ,” why we should see many, who even profess to be followers of Christ, who would hold up their heads and say, “Why, dear, that man is quite a fanatic, or else he would not think of introducing such a subject as that into general conversation.” No, there is no room for him in the inn; to this day he can find but little access there.

I address many who are working-men. You are employed among a great many artisans day after day; do you not find, brethren—I know you do—that there is very little room for Christ in the workshop? There is room there for everything else; there is room for swearing; there is room for drunkenness; there is room for lewd conversation; there is room for politics, slanders, or infidelities, but there is no room for Christ. Too many of our working men think religion would be an incumbrance, a chain, a miserable prison to them. They can frequent the theater, or listen in a lecture-hall, but the house of God is too dreary for them. I wish I were not compelled to say so, but truly in our factories, workshops, and foundries, there is no room for Christ. The world is elbowing and pushing for more room, till there is scarce a corner left where the Babe of Bethlehem can be laid.

…

IV. This brings me to my fourth head, which is the most pertinent, and the most necessary to dwell upon for a moment. HAVE YOU ROOM FOR CHRIST? HAVE YOU ROOM FOR CHRIST?

As the palace, and the forum, and the inn, have no room for Christ, and as the places of public resort have none, have you room for Christ? “Well,” says one, “I have room for him, but I am not worthy that he should come to me.” Ah! I did not ask about worthiness; have you room for him? “Oh,” says one, “I have an empty void the world can never fill!” Ah! I see you have room for him. “Oh! but the room I have in my heart is so base!” So was the manger. “But it is so despicable!” So was the manger a thing to be despised. “Ah! but my heart is so foul!” So, perhaps, the manger may have been. “Oh! but I feel it is a place not at all fit for Christ!” Nor was the manger a place fit for him, and yet there was he laid.” Oh! but I have been such a sinner; I feel as if my heart had been a den of beasts and devils!” Well, the manger had been a place where beasts had fed. Have you room for him? Never mind what the past has been; he can forget and forgive. It mattereth not what even the present state may be if thou mournest it. If thou hast but room for Christ he will come and be thy guest. Do not say, I pray you, “I hope I shall have room for him;” the time is come that he shall be born; Mary cannot wait months and years. Oh! sinner, if thou hast room for him let him be born in thy soul to-day. “To day if ye will hear his voice harden not your hearts as in the provocation.” “To-day is the accepted time; today is the day of salvation.” Room for Jesus! Room for Jesus now! “Oh!” saith one, “I have room for him, but will he come?” Will he come indeed! Do you but set the door of your heart open, do but say, “Jesus, Master, all unworthy and unclean I look to thee; come, lodge within my heart,” and he will come to thee, and he will cleanse the manger of thy heart, nay, will transform it into a golden throne, and there he will sit and reign for ever and for ever. Oh! I have such a free Christ to preach this morning! I would I could preach him better. I have such a precious loving, Jesus to preach, he is willing to find a home in humble hearts. What! are there no hearts here this morning that will take him in? Must my eye glance round these galleries and look at many of you who are still without him, and are there none who will say, “Come in, come in?” Oh! it shall be a happy day for you if you shall be enabled to take him in your arms and receive him as the consolation of Israel! You may then look forward even to death with joy, and say with Simeon—”Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation.” My Master wants room! Room for him! Room for him! I, his herald, cry aloud, Room for the Savior! Room! Here is my royal Master—have you room for him? Here is the Son of God made flesh—have you room for him? Here is he who can forgive all sin—have you room for him? Here is he who can take you up out of the horrible pit and out of the miry clay—have you room for him? Here is he who when he cometh in will never go out again, but abide with you for ever to make your heart a heaven of joy and bliss for you-have you room for him? ‘Tis all I ask. Your emptiness, your nothingness, your want of feeling, your want of goodness, your want of grace—all these will be but room for him. Have you room for him? Oh! Spirit of God, lead many to say, “Yes, my heart is ready.” Ah! then he will come and dwell with you.

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

Exodus 9:13-35; Hail from Heaven and the Fear of the LORD (Mighty Act #7)

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20101107_exodus09_13-35.mp3

11/07 Exodus 9:13-35 Hail from Heaven and the Fear of the LORD (Mighty Act 7)

God is beginning the third and final cycle of his mighty acts of power against Egypt and against Pharaoh and against all the gods of Egypt. God is demonstrating his power and his sovereignty and his ability to save his people. The blows against Egypt are mounting up to his climactic blow, the death of the firstborn and the drowning of the Egyptian army in the sea. Here we are at the seventh mighty act of God, the first in the final round of three. This account is longer than any of the other narratives, and it signals a significant escalation in intensity of God’s actions against Egypt. At the beginning of the seventh display of his might, we are reminded of the ground and the goal of the exodus.

9:13 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may serve me.

Ground and Goal of the Exodus

The ground of the exodus is the ownership of the people. They are God’s people. They belong to him. They are not the Pharaoh’s, to do with as he pleases. They are God’s and must be released so that they can serve and worship their true Master and Lord. The exodus is rooted in God’s relationship with his people. ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may serve me.”’

The ground of the exodus is the rightful ownership of God over his people. The goal of the exodus is to restore God’s people into service of their true Master. The goal of the exodus is worship, glad service of the true King of kings and Lord of lords. And this is the demand of the King of kings to the king of Egypt – ‘Let my people go, that they may serve me.’

And this command comes with a warning.

14 For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself, and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth.

Now, at this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself. This is the first use of this particular word translated ‘plagues’ in the bible, and its only use in the plural. Up to this point, God has described his actions as ‘extraordinary difficult work (translated wonders in 3:20), signs (4:17, 28, 30, 7:3, 8:23), wonder or miracle (7:3, 9, 11:9-10), great acts of judgment (6:6, 7:4), striking down (3:20; 7:17, 20, 25; 8:16-17; 9:15, 25; 12:12-13, 29), strike or smite (translated plague in 8:2), a very heavy destruction or pestilence (translated plague in 9:3). The word used here means a fatal blow, a plague or a slaughter. God is letting Pharaoh know that he is about to let the hammer fall. The six mighty acts up to this point have been merely a warm-up. Turning the water supply to putrefying blood, heaps of frogs littered all over town, a horrible infestation of biting insects, inescapable swarms of biting flies, disease and death of all the livestock in Egypt, and painful deep festering wounds covering all the people and animals to the point that they were incapacitated – all this was merely an introduction, God says, to what I have in store for you. ‘This time I will send all my plagues on you yourself, and on your servants and your people.’

Know there is none like me

And the purpose is clear – ‘so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth.’ Pharaoh has begun by saying ‘Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.’ (5:2). God said in Exodus 7:5 “The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.” Introducing the first mighty act, Moses said to Pharaoh: ‘Thus says the LORD, “By this you shall know that I am the LORD: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood.’ (7:17). When Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron after only the second mighty act to ‘plead with the LORD to take away the frogs from me and from my people (8:8), Moses invited Pharaoh to set the time that the frogs would be cut off; ‘and he said, “Tomorrow.” Moses said, “Be it as you say, so that you may know that there is no one like the LORD our God’ (8:10). When Egypt’s magicians failed to reproduce the third mighty act, they confessed to Pharaoh ‘this is the finger of God’ (8:19). At the fourth mighty act, God drew a distinction by setting apart the land of Goshen ‘that you may know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth’ (8:22). Pharaoh again called on Moses and Aaron to plead for deliverance, and to bargain on the details of how they were to ‘sacrifice to the LORD your God’ (8:28). Pharaoh was beginning to understand who this YHWH God of the Hebrews is, he was beginning to realize that he is a force to be reckoned with, that he is a God superior to many of his Egyptian gods, but he was not yet ready to acknowledge that YHWH is in a class by himself, and he was not yet willing to surrender to him and obey him. God says the purpose of what’s coming is ‘so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth.’ Our God is absolutely unique. He is incomparably great, incomprehensibly awesome, uncompromisingly sovereign. God says ‘I want you to know that there is none like me in all the earth.’ And one of the ways I will demonstrate that there is none like me, is I will tell you what I could have done but didn’t.

15 For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth.

What I could have done but didn’t

God says to Pharaoh, I want you to look at the first six of my mighty acts of power in a different way. Instead of looking at them as painful acts of judgment, look at them as merciful acts of longsuffering and patience and kindness. Pharaoh, I could have cut you off from the earth with the first twitch of my little finger. The fact that you are still breathing my air is an undeserved gift and evidence of my great grace toward you. The fact that I have allowed you to survive the first six of my mighty acts after you mistreated my people and rejected my servant and spat in my face is evidence of unfathomable divine restraint, evidence of my great mercy toward you. There is none like me – not only in power, but also in mercy.

But the implicit warning is clear. This time I will. I will strike you and your people. You will be cut off from the earth. That, Pharaoh, is what is coming. That is where we are headed. This will be the first mighty act that directly results in loss of human life. Pharaoh, you still think you are in control. You still feel that it is your right to release or not release the slaves. You are still demanding that my people serve you. Pharaoh, I want to let you in on a little secret. I want you to know that you are really serving me. Listen to what God says to Pharaoh:

16 But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.

This episode with Pharaoh is quoted by Paul in Romans 9 as an illustration of the biblical principle of the rights of the creator over his creation.

Romans 9:21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honored use and another for dishonorable use? 22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory–

This is exactly what God is doing with Pharaoh – patiently enduring a dishonorable lump of clay so that he can display to the world his power and just wrath.

Romans 9:17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”

Pharaoh irrationally still thinks he is in control and is going to win in this battle for supremacy with YHWH. YHWH says ‘Pharaoh, even in your hard-hearted rebellion, you are serving me. I, who give to all men life and breath and everything, am right now sustaining you alive, enduring with much patience your willful self-centered pride-filled insubordination. I am causing you to continue to stand firm so that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.

God’s Global Purpose

God’s purpose in his display of power in Pharaoh is bigger than the Egyptians knowing that YHWH is God. It is bigger than Pharaoh bowing the knee to YHWH. It is even bigger than the people of Israel worshiping their great God who redeemed them out of Egypt. God’s purpose is global – ‘that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.’ God had promised Abraham that ‘in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed’ (Gen.26:4, cf.18:18; 22:18). That offspring was Jesus, and Jesus told his disciples

Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

God’s global purpose is to put the fame of his name on display for all the earth to stand in awe. We are told that name is Jesus.

Philippians 2:9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

God’s purpose with the Pharaoh was to put his power on display for the world to see. And see it did. When the Israelites made it to the promised land, the people were terrified because they had heard what Israel’s God did to the Egyptians (Joshua 2:9-10). God’s reputation had preceded them. And here we are, several thousand years later, on the opposite side of the globe, reading these words:

16 But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. 17 You are still exalting yourself against my people and will not let them go.

Pharaoh was exalting himself. Self-exaltation is never a good thing. If you are exalting yourself, God will grind you down, because ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble’. (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5)

So much for the introduction; let’s get to the plague itself.

18 Behold, about this time tomorrow I will cause very heavy hail to fall, such as never has been in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. 19 Now therefore send, get your livestock and all that you have in the field into safe shelter, for every man and beast that is in the field and is not brought home will die when the hail falls on them.’”” 20 Then whoever feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh hurried his slaves and his livestock into the houses, 21 but whoever did not pay attention to the word of the LORD left his slaves and his livestock in the field.

This is amazing! God is warning the Egyptians that his wrath is about to be unleashed and he tells them exactly what will happen and even how to avoid it! Everyone outside will get killed, so bring everyone inside! The first plague that will directly result in human death as God sends missiles from heaven to crush everything, and God tells them exactly how to escape. In fact he commands it. Send – the same word that God is demanding Pharaoh to do with the Hebrews – send them out of Egypt. Now he demands that Pharaoh send and get everything in from the field so that it would be spared. This is a God rich in mercy! Here again a distinction is made, but this time it is among the Egyptians. There is a distinction between those who feared the word of the LORD and those who did not pay attention to the word of the LORD.

Isaiah 66:2 …But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.

God speaks, and we must obey. For our own good we must listen to what he says. Notice that those who feared the word of the LORD hurried to respond. There is urgency. We can disregard him to our own everlasting hurt. Even to the Egyptians, God extended a way to be delivered from the coming judgment.

22 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man and beast and every plant of the field, in the land of Egypt.” 23 Then Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt. 24 There was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. 25 The hail struck down everything that was in the field in all the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And the hail struck down every plant of the field and broke every tree of the field. 26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel were, was there no hail.

God promised; God warned; God provided a way of escape, but God’s judgment fell. God delivered on his promise. Everyone and everything left in the fields was bludgeoned to death. Trees were shattered. But God exempted his people from the judgment.

27 Then Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron and said to them, “This time I have sinned; the LORD is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. 28 Plead with the LORD, for there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.”

This is the third time that Pharaoh has called for Moses and Aaron to pray for him. This is also the third time that Pharaoh has promised to let the people go. But this is the first time that Pharaoh admits his own guilt. This is profound in light of what has been said before. When we read that God hardens Pharaoh’s heart and God says to Pharaoh ‘for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth’ , we tend to feel ‘poor little pharaoh, that’s just not fair. God is mistreating one of his creation.’ But these words were spoken to the Pharaoh. And Pharaoh himself says ‘I have sinned. The LORD is in the right and I and my people are in the wrong.’ God is just. His justice is proclaimed even by his fiercest enemies. Pharaoh here confesses to anyone who has ears to hear that YHWH God of the Hebrews is just and right and he is in the wrong.

29 Moses said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will stretch out my hands to the LORD. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the LORD’s. 30 But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the LORD God.”

Moses agrees to stretch out his hands in prayer for his enemy. His purpose is to further demonstrate that the earth is the LORD’s. But Moses communicates to Pharaoh that he knows they do not yet fear the LORD. Some of Pharaoh’s servants were said to fear the word of the LORD, but they do not yet fear the LORD God. They recognize that his words have power and he follows through with what he says, but they do not yet reverence him as God. They are afraid of his wrath, but they do not gladly submit to his authority. They are afraid of his actions, but they do not yet respect his person.

Moses gives us a clue as to why Pharaoh may have hardened his heart. Two staple crops were destroyed in the hail, but two other staples were later in their growth cycle so they survived. Egypt still had something tangible in which to place its hope.

31 (The flax and the barley were struck down, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud. 32 But the wheat and the emmer were not struck down, for they are late in coming up.) 33 So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and stretched out his hands to the LORD, and the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured upon the earth. 34 But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet again and hardened his heart, he and his servants. 35 So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people of Israel go, just as the LORD had spoken through Moses.

Again we see God’s power in response to prayer, and in the face of undeserved mercy, we see the sinful stubborn heart of Pharaoh in again refusing to let God’s people go. But as we have seen, this hardship for God’s people is for a good purpose.

16 But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.

God’s name is being proclaimed in all the earth.

Isaiah 12:3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4 And you will say in that day: “Give thanks to the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted. 5 “Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth.



Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

Exodus 3:6-9; God Come Down

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20100613_exodus03_7-9.mp3

6/13 Exodus 3:7-9 God Come Down

2:23 During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. 24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 God saw the people of Israel––and God knew.

3:1 Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. 3 And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” 4 When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. 7 Then the LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, 8 and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9 And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

God’s people have been in Egypt over 400 years. They are slaves, cruelly oppressed. God has been blessing them and multiplying them and making them powerful in fulfillment of his promises, but Egypt sees this as a threat and so they have taken measures to control and restrict the population growth, even going so far as state mandated execution of all male babies born. But in preparation to answer prayers that the people would pray 80 years later, God providentially preserved one baby boy named Moses. Moses was raised in the courts of Pharaoh, but when he was 40 years old, he understood that God was sending him to save the Hebrew people. He took action to deliver them, but he was rejected by his own people and went into exile in the desert. Moses spent the next 40 years in the wilderness caring for another man’s flocks. He married the daughter of an idolatrous Midianite priest and has begun a small family. There is no suggestion in the text that he had any goals or aspirations other than continuing to lead sheep around the desert. It appears that he had lost all hope, lost purpose, lost direction, and he may have even lost his faith in God. He was certainly not looking for an encounter with God. But that’s when God showed up and got his attention. God captured his attention by showing up as a flame of fire in the midst of a desert bush when he was far away from home.
God introduced himself to Moses. He called Moses by name – twice – as an indication that he cares deeply and is intimately acquainted with him. He appeared as a consuming fire, and yet as merciful, not consuming the bush. He presented himself as holy, unapproachable by sinful man. Moses is instructed to remove his sandals, humbling himself and taking the place of a servant, because that is our place in the presence of God. And God connected himself with history – he is Moses’ father’s God. He is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. He is the same God that called Abram from out of his pagan idolatrous culture and initiated a relationship with him. This is the same God who made staggering promises to Abraham and entered into a covenant relationship with him and with his descendants, with Isaac, with Jacob and all who would follow in their footsteps.

Moses’ response to this revelation was appropriate. He was afraid and hid his face. Throughout the bible, whenever God’s people have an encounter with the Divine, they are terrified, on their faces, crying out ‘woe is me’. God is holy and he is to be feared. Even the seraphim around the throne of God cover their faces in the presence of God (Is.6:2). And yet to see the glory of God is the one thing that the human heart longs for more deeply than anything else. All other pleasures are but cheap imitations of the One we were designed to delight in.

Once God has captured Moses’ attention and revealed to him his character and how he is to be approached, God now is ready to bring his message to his servant.

7 Then the LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, 8 and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9 And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

Much of this is repetition of what we saw in the narrative of 2:23-35 in God’s response to the cries of his people.

2:23 During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. 24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 God saw the people of Israel–and God knew.

We, the hearers of the story know God’s heart for his people, but Moses, who’s been out tending sheep on the backside of the desert has not heard what we have heard. He does not know what we know. He doesn’t know that the king of Egypt had died, and he doesn’t know that God was moved to compassion by the cries of his people So God now communicates to Moses his heart for his people.

Back in 2:23-25, the four words used to describe God’s response to the people’s cries are: God heard, God remembered, God saw and God knew. Those verses give us a third person narrator’s perspective, describing God’s attitude toward his people. Here God is speaking in the first person to Moses, and he says ‘I have seen, I have heard, I know and I have come down’. The first three; ‘I have seen, I have heard, and I know’ are all a repetition of what was said before.

God says ‘I have seen’. Moses years earlier…

Exodus 2:11 One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people.

God says ‘I have surely seen the affliction of my people’. Moses identified with the Hebrews – they were his people. Much more, God identified them as his people, a people who were to be his own possession.

Deuteronomy 7:6 “For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. (c.f. Deuteronomy 14:2; 26:18; Psalm 135:4; Malachi 3:17; Titus 2:14; 1 Peter 2:9)

Moses called the Hebrews ‘my people’ as an indication of his identity. God called Israel ‘my people’ as an indication of ownership. Moses observed one instance of injustice and cruelty and took action to rescue. Much more, God had seen every unjust act, every cruelty. Our translation ‘surely I have seen’ attempts to capture the emphasis of the original language. Literally it reads ‘seeing I have seen’, the same word duplicated to intensify the thought. Nothing of the past 400 years had escaped his attention. God has seen. God has seen. He has seen their affliction. There have been many words used in Exodus thus far to describe the suffering of the people of Israel; taskmasters, afflict, oppressed, ruthlessly, slaves, bitter, hard service, work as slaves, burdens, beating, groaned, cried out for help, cried for rescue; but the four words used by God in this verse are new to the Exodus narrative; affliction, cry, taskmasters, and sufferings. The word ‘affliction’ means to be bowed down, pressed down, or humbled. The word ‘cry’ indicates an outcry against an intolerable situation or a cry of distress. The word for taskmaster used earlier in Exodus describes one who oversees laborers; this word indicates one who presses or drives or oppresses. The word for suffering is one of pain or grief. God has not missed anything. None of their suffering has gone unnoticed. Even if God seemed silent and unmoved, God says ‘I have surely seen.’

God says ‘I have heard their cry because of their taskmasters’. God has heard their cry. God is not deaf to the cries of his people. When we pray we may feel that God does not hear us. But that is our perception, that is not reality. God hears everything all the time.

Psalms 94:9 He who planted the ear, does he not hear? He who formed the eye, does he not see?

Psalms 139:2 …you discern my thoughts from afar. …4 Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.

Hebrews 4:13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

God may not respond to our prayers the way we would like. It may be because there is sin in our life.

Isaiah 59:2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.

Or it may be simply that he hears and answers ‘no’.

2 Corinthians 12:8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

God says ‘I have surely seen.. I have heard.. I know’. God sees our affliction. God hears our cries. God knows our sufferings.

Psalms 139:1 O LORD, you have searched me and known me! 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. 3 You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.

God sees, God hears, and God knows. But this means more than that God is all-seeing, everywhere present, and all knowing. God cares. God is deeply and intimately involved in our lives. God is not standing aloof. God is with us.

Proverbs 18:24 … but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Hebrews 13:5 … for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

God is looking with compassion on their situation and preparing to do something about it. God sees, God hears, and God knows. God remembered is replaced in this section by ‘I have come down’. Where God has remembered his covenant promises to his people, now God says I have come down. This is personal. God made promises and now God is going to show up personally to see that those promises get fulfilled. This is an intense and personal thing for God to say that he has come down.

Psalms 18:9 He bowed the heavens and came down; thick darkness was under his feet.

Psalms 144:5 Bow your heavens, O LORD, and come down! Touch the mountains so that they smoke!

Isaiah 64:1 Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence–

Micah 1:3 For behold, the LORD is coming out of his place, and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth.

God come down. This is Jesus!

John 6:38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Notice what God comes down to do. He comes down to deliver his people. To deliver his people and to bring them up.

8 and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

God has personally come down to deliver his people out of the hand of their enemies and to bring them up to a good and broad land. See God’s heart here! God so desires to bless his people! A good land; a land flowing with milk and honey. A land bursting with produce and dripping with sweetness. A good land and a broad land. A land with room to spread out and grow. A land so large that it has been the home of six peoples. Take heart in your suffering, because God is preparing a place for you!

Psalm 30:4 Sing praises to the LORD, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name. 5 For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.

God has come down to bless and to save and to rescue and deliver. Let’s look for a moment at why God has come down. What was it that motivated God to come down? God says ‘I have surely seen’, not the perfect performance of my people, but the affliction of my people. God says ‘I have heard’, not because they claim to have done everything right, but because they cried out for help. God says ‘I know’, not their righteousness and goodness, but their sufferings. What is it that motivates God to come down and deliver? Not merit, but need. Not righteousness but helplessness. Not performance, but desperateness. God is not compelled by our inherent goodness to come and save us. God sees our helplessness and need and when we cry out to him in utter desperation, he is moved to act. This is the free and sovereign grace of God in salvation.

Titus 3:4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us , not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, …

Ephesians 2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ–by grace you have been saved–

God saves not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy. It is not by our merit but by his grace that we are saved. Jesus said:

Mark 2:17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

If you will acknowledge yourself as a needy sinner then you are in the right position to be rescued by Jesus!

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

Exodus 2:11-15; A Deliverer Rejected

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20100516_exodus02_11-15.mp3

5/16 Exodus 2:11-15 A Deliverer Rejected

We’re in the second book of the bible, Exodus. In Exodus, we’ve seen God at work keeping his promises to his people. God promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that he would bless them and make their name great and multiply them abundantly. Exodus begins by seeing the blessing of God in the multiplication of the people of Israel in Egypt. But the blessing of God often comes at a cost. God’s blessing on the people of Israel was perceived as an internal threat to the national security of Egypt. The Pharaoh took action to get this threat under control. He appointed taskmasters to oppress the people severely to break their spirits and reduce their population. But instead, “1:12 …the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they were spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel.” So the Pharaoh took the head midwives into his confidence and commanded them to kill all the boys that were born to the Hebrews. But these two women, Shiphrah and Puah, feared God and disobeyed the Pharaoh.

1:20 So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.

So, rather than reducing the population as planned, the population continued to increase, with even these barren women now having children of their own.

1:22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.

God moves in mysterious ways. The response we see to this decree is that an unnamed Hebrew family from the tribe of Levi have a baby boy. The mother recognizes the creative goodness of God in this new life, and hides him for three months, then, in faith, she throws him into the Nile herself – in his own personal ark waterproofed with pitch, and sets her daughter to watch over him. The daughter of the wicked Pharaoh happened to come down to the Nile to bathe just at that place, and happened to see the ark, and she just happened to have pity on him and chose to disobey her father rather than drown this Hebrew boy in the river. She adopted him to be her own son, and hired his own mother to nurse him for her. So this evil Pharaoh is foiled in his plan by two God-fearing Hebrew midwives, a Hebrew mother and her young daughter, and his very own disobedient daughter. So this mother who walked by faith in God ends up being payed out of the evil Pharaoh’s treasury to nurse and train and care for her own condemned baby boy during the formative first years of his life. After three or four years of pouring herself and her faith and her history and her God into this boy, she brought him to the Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. Maybe we should all have that mindset when we train our children. We have but a short time before we must turn them over to the pagan world empire, so it is urgent that we do everything within our power to train them up in the way that they should go.

10 When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, “Because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”

I’m sure that when she entrusted him to the Pharaoh’s house, she entrusted him to God, and never ceased to pray for him. Now the narrative jumps ahead forty years.

2:11 One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. 12 He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, “Why do you strike your companion?” 14 He answered, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing is known.” 15 When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by a well.

In this passage, we see Moses transition from favored position of prince in the royal courts of the greatest nation in his world to condemned criminal exile hiding in the wilderness. Twice in verse 11 Moses identifies himself with ‘his people’, the Hebrews. He went out to his people… he saw and Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. There is no question where Moses’ allegiance lies. Stephen fills in some background details for us in his sermon in Acts 7:

Acts 7:22 And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds.

He was highly educated in the most advanced center of education in his day. He was mighty in words and deeds. He had a promising career ahead of him. Josephus was a Jewish historian that lived AD37-100. If what Josephus records is accurate, the princess who adopted him was Thermuthis, who had no children of her own and hoped that Moses might one day ascend to the throne. Josephus also records an story of Moses as an Egyptian military leader, leading a victorious attack on the Ethiopians. Whatever the true details of these unknown forty years, Moses could easily have embraced his life as Egyptian royalty and ignored his connection with the slave people. He could have turned a blind eye to the sufferings of his people and held on to his position of power and his life of ease. But a mother’s training leaves a lasting impression. Forty years later he takes action to identify himself with his people and alienate himself from the Egyptians who raised him. Understand, Moses personally had nothing to gain and everything to lose by this move. The writer of Hebrews attributes his actions to faith:

Hebrews 11:24 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.

It was by faith he chose to identify himself with the people of God. He abandoned the wealth of Egypt as ‘fleeting pleasures of sin’. We can imagine what kind of sinful pleasure might have been available to him, but it could be as simple as what James tells us:

James 4:17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Moses knew what was right. He knew what the Egyptians did was wrong. For him to turn a blind eye to unjust suffering and continue to enjoy the benefits of Egypt would have been sin. So in faith, he acts. Faith is trust in the promises of God. God had made promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Maybe Moses studied the prophecies of his people and did the math and knew that the time of their slavery was coming to a close. So in dependence on God who is always faithful to keep his promises, he acts.

He went out, he looked, and he saw. The verb ‘he went out’ ( auy yatsa’) is the verb that is used throughout the Old Testament to describe how God brought out the Israelites from Egypt. Here Moses in his own exodus goes out from the Egyptians to his people. “He went out to his own people”.

The verb for ‘he looked’ and ‘he saw’ ( har ra’ah) is the same one that is used in 2:25 and 3:7, 9 of God looking on or seeing the affliction of his people. Just as God would look on his people with compassion and act, so now Moses was looking on the burdens of his people and acting out of compassion. He was not disinterestedly observing from a safe distance. He was investing himself in the situation of his people and doing so at great personal risk to himself.

In Acts 7, Stephen gives us a helpful summary of the Exodus history and even some insight into the thoughts of Moses in this event:

Acts 7:17 “But as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, …

Genesis 15:13 Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.

Acts 7:17 …the people increased and multiplied in Egypt 18 until there arose over Egypt another king who did not know Joseph. 19 He dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, so that they would not be kept alive. 20 At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God’s sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father’s house, 21 and when he was exposed, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. 22 And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds. 23 “When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. 24 And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. 25 He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand. 26 And on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’ 27 But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? 28 Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29 At this retort Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.

Moses understands that God has raised him up to bring salvation to his people. He is defending the oppressed and standing up for slaves who are being wronged that have no voice. Later in Exodus when God gives Moses his laws he says this:

Exodus 21:20 “When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be avenged. …23 …you shall pay life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

Moses is acting as avenger and bringing justice to a cruel and hopeless situation. I’m not saying that what Moses does here is without fault, or that it was the wisest action, but it was right for him to take action and defend the oppressed. (cf. Isaiah 59:14-16)

11 One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. 12 He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

There is something in these verses that doesn’t come through very well in our English translations. The word describing what the Egyptian was doing to the Hebrew slave is the exact word that describes what Moses did to the brutal Egyptian taskmaster. Moses saw an Egyptian beating to death a slave, so he beat to death the Egyptian. He saw an Egyptian striking down a Hebrew, so he struck down the Egyptian. What was being done to the helpless slave, he, coming to his rescue, did to the taskmaster. God was giving salvation to the Israelites by his hand. This was indeed a huge act of faith, a David against Goliath move, as he was one man against a powerful nation. I’m not sure what Moses was expecting to be the next step. Maybe the Israelites would rally behind him as their leader and they would fight against the Egyptians. Maybe he expected that God would do a miracle as he stepped out in faith. I don’t think he was planning on what happened.

13 When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, “Why do you strike your companion?” 14 He answered, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing is known.” 15 When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by a well.

Again Moses uses the same word that was used in verses 11 and 12. Why are you striking down or beating to death your brother? To Moses it was not an ethnic thing. It was not the Israelites against the Egyptians. It was right against wrong. When an Israelite mistreated another Israelite, that was just as wrong as when an Egyptian mistreated an Israelite. Moses here acts as judge – one of the roles in which he will serve Israel in the wilderness – and he makes a determination of who was in the wrong and confronts him about it. Moses was seeking to make peace between his people. Moses knew that killing an Egyptian would not win him any points with the Egyptians. But he was not expecting the response that he got from his own people.

14 …“Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?”…

Moses expected that his people would see what God was doing and embrace him as their deliverer. Stephen tells us:

Acts 7:25 He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand.

Instead of welcoming their deliverer, the Hebrews reject his rule over them. Their question is rhetorical – who made you a prince and a judge over us? But the answer is God. God was giving them salvation by his hand. But they did not understand. Moses came to do good to his people. Instead, they accuse him of intending them harm. Moses is afraid, probably very confused. As he expected, Pharaoh heard and was after his head. This is the second time Moses was under sentence of death from this Pharaoh. The first time he was protected by his parents, then adopted by the Pharaoh’s daughter. Now he runs, a condemned criminal exiled in a strange land. Born of the Hebrews, raised by the Egyptians, now rejected by both. He had nowhere to lay his head. He flees to the wilderness.

I’ve often heard it said that Moses missed his cue and jumped the gun. He was not supposed to do what he did and that’s why it turned out so bad. But throughout this passage, God is persistently keeping his promises, and from our perspective, things seem to be going from bad to worse. But God has his good purposes and is moving things according to his plan. Moses spent four years under the training of his mother, then 36 years under the training of Egypt, and God wanted him to spend the next 40 years of his life under his schooling in the desert. Moses needed to understand that to lead God’s people does not mean glory and praise, but often rejection and criticism and a wilderness experience. Moses needed to feel what it felt like to be an alien and stranger looking for a home. He needed to learn what it meant to lean not on his own strength and wisdom, but entirely on God who guides and gives strength. Moses needed to learn humility and dependence and patience and God taught him those things and more in the next forty years seemingly on the shelf. We can take heart when we end up in the wilderness, because God does have a purpose and he makes no mistakes.

But we can’t miss the connection with Jesus. Moses was another sign to point us to Jesus. Moses himself pointed to this:

Deuteronomy 18:15 “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers––it is to him you shall listen–– …18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.

Moses, like Jesus, was preserved from a maniacal tyrant who was afraid of any threat to his power and had all the baby boys executed. Moses tried to make peace among his brothers. Jesus, the Prince of Peace, came to bring peace. Moses came to his own people and was rejected as their leader. John’s gospel says of Jesus:

John 1:9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

This is exactly the point Stephen is making to the Jews in his farewell sermon. There is a historical pattern that Israel rejects the deliverers that God sends. Stephen continues:

Acts 7: … 35 “This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’––this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years. 37 This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.’ 38 This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. He received living oracles to give to us. 39 Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and in their hearts they turned to Egypt, 40 saying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 41 And they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and were rejoicing in the works of their hands.

Stephen began with Joseph, who was rejected by the patriarchs and sold, moves through Moses rejected by his people, and on to the prophets, where he makes application to those who are about to stone him:

Acts 7:51 “You stiff–necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. 52 Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, 53 you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.”

The whole story of Moses is meant to point us to Jesus. Just like Moses’ rejection by his people was not a surprise to God, So the rejection of Jesus by the Jewish people and his reception by a people who were outside the covenant community was all part of God’s plan. It was foretold by the prophet Isaiah that Jesus would be:

Isaiah 53:3 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

But we do not have to reject him. John goes on:

John 1:11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

We can receive him. We can believe. We can become children of God. We can be born of God.

 

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org