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From Slavery to Redemption - Sermon Series
37 Plays18 days ago
In this sermon, Ridley Barron preached about the transformative journey from slavery to redemption as depicted in the book of Exodus. He explored the Israelites' transition from bondage under Pharaoh's rule to their eventual deliverance, illustrating how this narrative serves as the first redemptive story pointing to the ultimate redemption through Jesus Christ. Barron emphasized God's constant presence and intervention, affirming that God hears, remembers, sees, and intimately knows the struggles of His people. By unpacking Moses' encounter with God through the burning bush, Barron challenged listeners to proclaim, "Here I am," embracing God's call to action despite personal inadequacies or past mistakes. Through scriptural exploration and personal stories of faith and deliverance, he encouraged reliance on God as the sole source of rescue and emphasized the importance of communal prayer and support in overcoming life's challenges.
Timestamps:
00:00 Israelites Enslaved in Egypt
05:32 Midwives' Civil Disobedience Debate
09:48 Moses Flees Egypt: New Life Begins
11:30 "Tabernacle: Glimpse of God's Throne"
16:34 "God's Promise of Deliverance"
17:58 Doubt in Divine Timing
21:39 Drama Club and Scriptural Stage
27:45 "Faith, Trust, and Redemption"
29:38 "Faith, Not Ark Size, Matters"
33:14 Moses' Calling and Doubts
38:49 "Lay Down for God's Use"
40:01 "Understanding the Bible's Purpose"
44:40 Trust and Obey God
47:02 "Prayers Answered Amidst Medical Challenges"
53:04 Confront Hidden Struggles Openly
58:27 "Keep Praying for Freedom"
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Transcript
Introduction and Overview
00:00:00
Speaker
So at this point we should have Indiana Jones swinging in with his whip and his fedora and all that good stuff. um Hey, we are week five now in our journey chronologically through the Bible. How are you doing?
00:00:15
Speaker
Everybody okay? Survive Job? Made it through Job, okay.
Transition from Job to Exodus
00:00:19
Speaker
So yesterday, as I listened very attentively, I heard a sigh of relief as people flipped the page to Exodus. um Got into something different. um No, Job's a great book. It has great meaning for a lot of people. I had somebody this morning tell me it should have been titled The the Story of Me.
00:00:36
Speaker
It just replies so much to our lives. But this is a fascinating story we're turning our attention to today. We do begin the book of Exodus. I was told um that one of the presidents of Wheaton College, ah Evangelical Christian College up in Illinois, decided to preach the chapel service from the book of Exodus one year.
Engagement in Life Groups
00:00:52
Speaker
It took him 102 weeks. We're gonna do it in two. And I promise you, we will not hit everything. So again,
00:01:01
Speaker
Life groups, the Bible study on Wednesday night, podcasts help to fill in some of the gaps, help you to catch up on some places as you're reading through this. And stick with it. If you get behind, it's no big deal. Just keep reading, okay? Keep plugging away at it. So Exodus comes from a Greek word that means to draw out, and that's literally what happens. We are seeing the first redemptive story of God as he begins to point us towards the ultimate redemption in Jesus Christ at
Joseph's Journey and Israelite Multiplication
00:01:27
Speaker
the cross. It's the story of his people.
00:01:29
Speaker
So let me catch you up where we are, especially if you're new here today, first time joining us. Two weeks ago, Pastor Kyle led us through the story of Joseph, which takes up the last 13 or so chapters of the book of Genesis. And in that story, you remember Joseph is sold into slavery by his brothers. He winds up in Egypt where God elevates him to second in command of the greatest kingdom on the face of the earth at that point.
00:01:55
Speaker
And because he's in that position, he has the unique opportunity through the power of God to deliver an entire region of the world from a horrible famine that brought obviously lots of death and discouragement. Even his family that was still in Canaan was a part of this. They were touched by this famine. So as part of the story, you remember that Joseph relocates his family, which brings an opportunity for reconciliation between his family.
00:02:22
Speaker
They moved down to Egypt, to a part of Egypt that is known as the land of Goshen. That's going to come into play here in a little bit as part of our story this morning. It's important. But that little area of Goshen, they were there, they were blessed to have that. The reason they were put over there primarily is because Egyptian people didn't like shepherds. And that's all that Joseph's family was, was a family of shepherds. And so they put them over that area.
00:02:45
Speaker
The Pharaoh dies, a new Pharaoh comes into place, and in the meantime, while all this is going on, Israel's multiplying. They are very, very
Israelite Enslavement in Egypt
00:02:56
Speaker
fruitful. They entered Egypt with 70 people, and the estimates are that by the time we get to the point of the story we're in today, there were over two million of them in 400 years. And so this Pharaoh's watching this over there, and he doesn't know the story of Joseph and why Joseph is there or why the people are of Israel are there,
00:03:15
Speaker
But as he's watching it, he becomes very intimidated because they have great enemies, Egypt does, and he's thinking, okay, if those enemies come, those people may raise up rise up with them and fight against us. So he comes up with the plan to put them into slavery and to conscript them to build the great cities of Egypt. And so that's what they began to do, and they are under oppression for a long, long, long period of time.
00:03:41
Speaker
And this is where we're going to pick up the story today because it's an incredible story. It's an incredible journey that the Bible takes us on.
God's Plan for Israel's Deliverance
00:03:48
Speaker
But I want to reassure you, many times we talk about stories in the Bible and I think probably some of us as we read them go, well, is that really true? Did that really happen? Did it really happen that way? Well, history confirms it.
00:04:01
Speaker
There are all kinds of documentations and evidence in archaeology and and even outside sources that talk about the fact that Egypt was one of the greatest empires on the face of the earth at this time, and shortly after this period, which is around 1400 and I think 65 BC, somewhere around there, shortly after this period, ah Egypt basically falls off as an empire, primarily because of the loss of its army. So,
00:04:30
Speaker
not to Not to spoil the story, but that's what's gonna happen, okay?
Civil Disobedience of the Midwives
00:04:35
Speaker
The truth is we all need rescuing. The problem is for most of us that we don't look to God. We try to find all other kinds of things to rescue us. And I think this is a story that reminds us the only place we need to turn is to God. Because God is more than capable of handling what we're going through and delivering us through the challenges that we face.
00:04:56
Speaker
So as I said, the Israelites have multiplied rapidly, they come up with this plan, and the plan is that using the midwives that help to deliver the children of the Hebrews, that they will put to death any of the male children who are born. Okay, let's pick up the story in Exodus chapter one, verse 15. It says,
00:05:12
Speaker
the king of egypt said to the hebrew midwives the first whose name was shiifphrah and the second whose name was pua when you help the hebrew women give birth observe them as they deliver if the child is so son kill him but if it's a daughter she may live The midwives, however, feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had told them. This is the first act of civil disobedience in history. They left the boys let the boys live. So the king of egypt Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, why have you done this and let the boys live? The midwives said to Pharaoh, the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife can get to them. They are some hearty ladies, is what they're saying.
00:05:57
Speaker
So was god God was good to the midwives and the people multiplied and became very numerous. Since the midwives feared God, he gave them families. I want to stop there for just a second. One of the great ethical questions of scripture we get to right here, one that's been asked for years is, was it right for these ladies to lie? And if if not, why did God bless them in the way that is indicated here? or why Why would God honor what is a sin, if lying is a sin?
00:06:24
Speaker
The answers are varied. There's a couple of ones I'll share with you this morning. Number one, for those who think that the lie is what what they did, that they lied about this issue, the question of which is the greater sin? Putting to death millions of baby boys or lying? And that maybe that's the reason God chose to bless them, because sometimes it's okay to do that, okay? I actually prefer the second one and it's this.
00:06:49
Speaker
They really weren't lying. The Hebrew women were much more hardy than the Egyptian women. The Egyptian women had been cared for and pampered and all those kinds of things.
Pharaoh's Desperation and Cruelty
00:06:57
Speaker
The Hebrew women were a very hardy group and so I don't know that they necessarily lied as much as they took advantage of the fact that they were hardy women and the babies were delivered delivered very quickly and used that as an excuse not to obey.
00:07:10
Speaker
Regardless, the point is that God saw it as the right thing to do in this story and He honored them because of their willingness to disobey Pharaoh in this situation. That should be an indication to us that sometimes the government isn't the final answer.
00:07:24
Speaker
amen Take that how you want to receive it. All right, keep reading verse 22, it says, Pharaoh then commanded all his people, you must throw every son born to the Hebrews into the Nile, but let every daughter live. So now he's incorporated all of the people in this process and he says, I want all of you to do this. The interesting note to me here in this story is this, we do not know from scripture the name of this Pharaoh, we do know the names of two midwives, which should be a reminder to us that God honors those who honor him.
00:07:56
Speaker
They are elevated above the most powerful men in the world because of their willingness to obey their God. So um this enrages Pharaoh even more. And so he orders them to throw the boys into the Nile. And what happens is that a Hebrew woman by the name of Jacobed has a child. It is indeed a boy. And so she makes a basket. She sticks this child in the basket. She puts him in the Nile River and commands his older sister Miriam to follow this child down the river to see what happens.
00:08:29
Speaker
Sure enough, God leads that basket literally to the feet of the Princess of Egypt, and she grabs the child and says to the little girl, she sees her over there, and says to the sister, hey, can you find me a
Moses' Early Life and Divine Intervention
00:08:42
Speaker
Hebrew woman to take care of this child? It needs to be a Hebrew woman. And that little girl goes, I just happen to know a lady who would be happy to help out in this regard, which to me is further indication that God's fingerprints are all over the story.
00:08:57
Speaker
So Moses is pulled out, he's brought to the home of the Pharaoh's wife, I mean daughter, excuse me, and um he's taken back to his mother's house where she is literally paid by Egypt to raise her own son.
00:09:12
Speaker
When he is finally weaned by his mother, he's brought back into the palace where Moses is given the opportunity to be raised by one of the greatest households of that day and age, exposed to international customs, ah foreign languages. Scholars say he probably knew multiple languages by the time Moses got to adulthood. He was trained by the greatest military leaders, which is obviously gonna come into play later on. Moses was set up to be equipped like nobody else could imagine.
00:09:42
Speaker
So I want to pick up the story at the end of chapter 2, verse 23.
00:09:48
Speaker
What has happened before we get to this point is that Moses one day at age 40 is out walking around. He sees a Hebrew that's being beaten by one of the Egyptian taskmasters. He confronts the taskmaster, and at the end of the encounter, he has killed the taskmaster, buried him in the sand, and thinks that nobody has seen, but very quickly discovers they have indeed. In fact, literally the next day, somebody says, are you gonna kill me the same way you killed that taskmaster? Well, Moses knows that his time is limited if he stays there in Egypt, so it says that he runs into the wilderness, which is this large area to the east of where Egypt is.
Moses' Exile and New Life in Midian
00:10:25
Speaker
There he's looking for water and he winds up at this well where it so happens, it's funny to say that because we know it's God, but it just so happens that these girls come up with their sheep and they are watering these sheep and a bunch of bullies show up and decide they're gonna pick on the girls. Well, Moses, using his strength and his training, overcomes the guys in his reward as dinner and a wife.
00:10:47
Speaker
He's invited back to the home of a guy by the name of Jethro, and Jethro invites Moses to become a part of their family and to marry his daughter Zipporah. And that's kind of where we're gonna pick up the story right here in verse 23. It says,
00:11:01
Speaker
After a long time, the king of Egypt died. So we we're now into another pharaoh. The Israelites groaned because of their difficult labor and they cried out and their cry for help because of the difficult labor ascended to God. I want you to pay close attention to that language that their cries ascended to God because this would be a foreshadowing of
Symbolism of the Tabernacle
00:11:22
Speaker
three great things. Number one, the tabernacle. Number two, the temple. And finally, ultimately, Revelation chapter eight, the end of the story.
00:11:31
Speaker
Because if you know the story of how the tabernacle and the temple were arranged, they are to give us a glimpse of what the throne room of God is going to look like. Okay? And in that instance, what happens when you walk into the door of the tabernacle or the temple, the tabernacle being the temporary thing that traveled around the wilderness with them, the temple being the permanent home in Jerusalem,
00:11:55
Speaker
As you walk into the holy place, on your right is a table called the table of the bread of presence or the showbread. On the left is a candelabra that stays lit from dark to dawn. And right in the center before you go into the most holy place are the holy of holies as a box made for incense.
00:12:13
Speaker
And it was the priest's duty every day to walk in, to light that incense and let it lift and ascend towards heaven, and assembling a way of symbolizing the prayers of God's people coming up to him.
00:12:28
Speaker
What's happening in the tabernacle, what happens in the temple, and then you flip over to Revelation 8 and you find out what happens to all those prayers. Because it says in the end, those prayers are captured in and a giant bowl, if you will, that God uses those, those are purified, and he literally throws them back down to earth at the end of time as part of the great conflict to bring earth back into line with what it was as part of Eden.
God's Covenant Remembrance
00:12:53
Speaker
So your prayers are ascending to the ears of a father who's not just dismissing them, he's collecting them and moving on them. And we're gonna talk about that some more here in just a second. Let me keep going. It says, ah And God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob, and God saw the Israelites, and God knew. Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian.
Moses' Divine Encounter and Mission
00:13:20
Speaker
He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mount of God.
00:13:25
Speaker
Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire within a bush." I want to stop there just for a second and tell you, I believe this to be a Christophany, okay? A Christophany. It says an angel of the Lord, but when we say Christophany, it's just a fancy way of saying it is the appearance of Christ in the Old Testament before He is incarnated in flesh in the New Testament, okay? In just a minute, I'll show you the reason, the very evidence why I believe that.
00:13:52
Speaker
says the the angel of the Lord appeared to him a flame of fire within a bush and Moses looked. He saw that the bush was on fire but was not consumed. So Moses thought, I must go over and look at this remarkable sight. Why isn't this bush burning up?
00:14:07
Speaker
When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called out to him from the bush. Moses, Moses. If God listens to you or calls out your name, you should definitely listen. If he calls it twice, you better get your act together, because he's about to do something in your life. That's literally what happens here with Moses. It happened with Abraham. It later happens with many other characters in scripture. As you go through scripture, you'll see it. Moses utters three words that are going to change his life and the life of Israel forever.
00:14:37
Speaker
Here I am. Now before we go any further, I just need you to be thinking about that this morning. and God is capable of anything. The Bible tells us over and over again, nothing is impossible with God. He can take everything you are, everything you've done, everything you've been,
00:15:00
Speaker
and make it exactly what he needs it to be. He needs you to give him three words. Here I am. Now the problem with Moses' story is he doesn't stop with here I am. He goes, here I am, but. Here I am, however. Here I am, surely not. And I'm afraid that's what many of us as Christians do. God, I'm here.
00:15:29
Speaker
but surely you're not gonna use me. I'm here, but please don't inconvenience me right now.
God's Character and Promise
00:15:37
Speaker
I'm here, but my life is good and I really don't need any challenges in this moment. Or you're gonna see here later, Moses offers some other excuses that many of us can relate to and God simply needs three words from you. Here I am. Let's keep reading.
00:15:55
Speaker
Verse five, it says, do not come closer, he said, remove the sandals from your feet for the place where you are standing is holy ground. Then he continued, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. Did you hear what he said there? He said, I am the voice coming from the bush. I am the God of Abraham. This is why I believe this is a Christophany. This isn't another angel. This is Jesus himself himself speaking on behalf of his father, saying, I am the God of your father, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Moses hit his face because he was afraid to look at God. Then the Lord said, I have observed the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their oppressors. I know about their sufferings.
00:16:39
Speaker
And I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them from that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey. The territory of the Canaanites, Hethites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. So because the Israelites cry for help has come to me and I have also seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them, therefore go.
00:17:04
Speaker
I am sending you to Pharaoh so that you may lead my people to Israelites out of Egypt." I want to spend some time this morning talking about the character of the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Grove Hill.
00:17:18
Speaker
the God that you and I serve, because this encounter, this dialogue between Moses and the angel of the Lord reveals a lot about who God is and is capable of being for you and I this morning, okay? Now, let's just start by saying this. None of you are the exemption from this. None of you are disqualified because of anything you've ever said, done, or been. When God says these things to us, He says them to all of us.
00:17:47
Speaker
And again, what he waits for you to do is simply say, here I am God, do what you gotta do. So first of all, we know this from this passage is that God hears. God hears. How many of you have ever doubted that God heard your prayers?
00:18:03
Speaker
The rest of you aren't praying, I'm just kidding. Now the truth is, many times we get confused, we get doubtful, why? Because most often the reason is because God doesn't answer on our time frame, right? We are praying and we want an answer 13 minutes ago. We don't understand why you don't move when we ask or or think you know the way we do and respond exactly like we would would like to have the answers come. I want you to look at verse 23
Strategic Placement of Israel in Egypt
00:18:28
Speaker
again. It says, after a long time,
00:18:33
Speaker
How long? 430 years of crying out to God. 430 years of people going, is he even up there? Is he even listening? Does he not see what's happening? Does he not hear what's happening to my children, to my parents, to our family? Does he not hear? And the answer is absolutely 100% of the time, yes, he hears. So don't stop praying.
00:19:02
Speaker
Well, the next question is, well, if he hears, why isn't he doing something? Here's why. This is what I believe. Israel enters Egypt with 70 people. It exits Egypt with 2 million plus people. How does that happen? Well, God used Joseph and a famine to put Israel inside the protective custody of Egypt.
00:19:28
Speaker
By living in Goshen, they didn't have to fight their own battles because Egypt fought for them. Nobody else was going to come mess with them as long as they were in Egypt. While they're there, by the way, they're living in one of the most fertile parts of the Middle East, the land of Goshen. So they've got food, they've got resources, they've got protection. They're also exposed to great education because Egypt is the greatest knowledge on the face of the earth at that time.
00:19:54
Speaker
And finally, there's no outside influence to corrupt what God's trying to do in them because Egypt doesn't like shepherds. So they wouldn't come over there and bother them. There was no outside influence trying to convince them to worship a different God or to follow a different God. And so what happened is for 430 years, God has taken a family of 70 and turning them to a nation of 2 million people.
00:20:20
Speaker
The other part of this is later in the scriptures you will find that God will answer this question himself and say, the evil inside of Canaan had not reached its fullest potential.
God's Omniscience and Faithfulness
00:20:34
Speaker
In other words, he was waiting for the evil to to unfold in Canaan to a point where he could bring Israel in and using Israel punish the people of that nation, those lands, because of their unwillingness to follow the one through God.
00:20:50
Speaker
excuse me So all this is happening, and while it's happening, God is doing something. But God hears, he always does, and he always works out his will and response to it, okay? Secondly, God remembers. God remembers, you keep reading in that same verse, it says, God heard their groaning and God remembered,
00:21:14
Speaker
His covenant. When it says God remembers, it doesn't mean that God ever forgets. We forget, God never does. So what is what is meant by this? Well, the stories of the scripture are like a great play that is unfolding. A little bit of trivia about your pastor. I was in the drama club in high school. Yeah, it was. I was in the drama club. One of the things I learned about drama is I don't like drama.
00:21:45
Speaker
But my girlfriend did, so I stayed in the drama club. One of the things I learned about drama club is this. There's a front stage, a center stage, a back stage, there's off stage. Everything centers around that center stage.
00:22:00
Speaker
And so when the stories of Scripture unfold, it is a play that's taking place on this giant stage that God is carrying out things. And when it says God remembers, it means what's happening is He is bringing the covenant back to center stage for the person that He is interacting with at that point to remind them of what's about to happen, remind them of what He has promised, remind them of what's about to take place.
00:22:28
Speaker
So while something's going on over here, God very well may be for 430 years sitting backstage doing his thing. Thank you. It's very kind of you. So don't ever think that God forgets. God is always aware of what's going on. He's simply reminding us. The third thing here is that God sees.
00:22:53
Speaker
God sees. It says that God saw what was happening among his people. He saw the Israelites. Now, the Hebrew word there doesn't mean just see in the way that you and I see. It's the Hebrew word ruach. Ruach, you see it there on the screen. It means to see with emotion. So when he saw, he felt. The two are hand in hand. They go together. God never just sees and is detached from it or removed from it. He always sees with a sense of emotion, a sense of being connected.
00:23:27
Speaker
That phrase, I see you, has become a very popular phrase this day and age. And when you speak it to somebody, in a very real sense, you're saying the same thing that God says here. I see you means not just I observe you, but I see you and I relate to you. I connect with you.
00:23:43
Speaker
It's really important for a younger generation that this day and age feels like nobody sees or cares who they are. That their voice has been lost amidst all the chaos and all the noise and maybe some of you here today feel that way. Maybe you feel like you're just a side note to history and that nobody really pays attention to you. In large part that's because we are so wrapped up in our technology we all live in our own little worlds.
00:24:07
Speaker
right We're just so focused on what's going on here in this moment. And rather than relating to the people who are in our workplace or at our school or even sometimes the people who sit at our dinner table, we're we're more engaged with what's going on in other parts of the world because the news is bombarding us all the time.
God's Compassionate Response
00:24:24
Speaker
And so a large part, not feeling seen, is because of our own choices. But regardless of what the reason is, we all want to know we are seen.
00:24:35
Speaker
The good news for you here this morning is there is a God who says all the way through scripture, I see you. I see you. There's nothing about you that's hidden from me. In fact, I have seen you since the very beginning of your life. And more importantly, I will see you all the way through to the end if you'll trust me. I can see the next part of the journey before it's ever revealed to you. And I can even see things about your current situation you can't see.
00:25:04
Speaker
So what better place to pace your life than and right there in the hands of a God who sees and knows it all? Which leads us to the next thing. God knows. God knows. The Hebrew term there is yetta. Yetta, which means to know intimately.
00:25:21
Speaker
It's the same word that's used throughout scripture to refer to a husband and a wife and the intimacy that they experience. God knows intimately what you're going through, every single piece of it.
00:25:36
Speaker
So when you go to him with your concerns, when you go to him with your emotions, when you as a wife are speaking to him and saying, I just don't feel like my husband hears me, or as you as a child say, I don't feel like my parents pay any attention to me, or if you're praying to him and saying, my friends have abandoned me, God says, I know and I feel it. And I know you in a way that no one else can. And before you ever spoke my name on your lips, I knew what you were feeling.
00:26:09
Speaker
So if you came in here this morning thinking, hey, I'll go in there and I'll hide in that group of 200 people sitting in that room, sorry, you've been exposed by a God who cares more deeply for you than you care for yourself. That should blow our minds, because we love ourselves a lot, most of us, right? But God says, I love you more than you love yourself. And if you will trust me, the things I know will set you up for the most incredible blessings.
00:26:38
Speaker
You just gotta to trust me. Lastly, and this may be a little bit shocking to you, okay?
Purpose and Faith in God's Plan
00:26:45
Speaker
We're we're good with the God sees, God remembers, God hears, God knows, right? We we like those, those encourage us. Okay, if you're a follower of Jesus Christ this morning, this is where you gotta to put on your tennis shoes and get ready. God sends. God sends. You are not saved for your benefit.
00:27:05
Speaker
You were not redeemed for your purposes. You were not redeemed just so you could get a blessing. You were redeemed so he could get glory. And in many instances what he's saying is the next step in your redemption is talking about that redemption so the world can know it. So the world can see it, the world can hear it. Look at verse 10. He says to Moses, therefore, what's the word? Go. Go.
00:27:37
Speaker
Go. It's like the ESPN anchor who says, I don't care where you're going, you just got to get out of here. I think God says that to many times. He says to us, I don't care where you go, wherever you go, take me with you because there's a world that needs to know the the beautiful gospel that's been revealed to you. You don't have the luxury of sitting back. You don't have the luxury of entertaining yourself. You don't have the luxury of painting yourself on the back. You have been given the assignment to go.
00:28:07
Speaker
The Hebrews were oppressed, but backstage God is up to something. God's about to write this great redemption story. Moses' parents made a courageous decision of incredible faith when they defied Pharaoh that day. They chose to trust God no matter what. Think about this.
00:28:31
Speaker
Can you imagine tasty taking your infant boy, placing him in a basket and sticking him in the river?
00:28:41
Speaker
You know, when we do parent-child dedications around here, we do them a couple times a year, the very message we're trying to send in a parent-child dedication is that child is a gift from God that you're supposed to give back to him. Why? Because God's plans for your child are far better than yours.
00:29:01
Speaker
God's plans for your child go way deeper than most of us would even push our children. God's plans for your children are always best. So it's always best to put your child in their hands and let him write the story.
Moses' Providential Survival and Preparation
00:29:18
Speaker
Ultimately, we equip them so that we can release them. And that requires tremendous faith. God's fingerprints are all over the story of Moses.
00:29:31
Speaker
Let me take you into some greater detail. Chapter two, verse one, it says that a man from the family of Levi married a Levi woman, the woman became pregnant, gave birth to a son, but then they stuck this child in a papyrus basket, coated it with asphalt, and stuck him in the Nile River. That word for basket is only used one other time in scripture in the entire Old Testament. It's in the story of Noah, the Ark.
00:30:01
Speaker
You see, the ark that was used to preserve Noah and to preserve God's plan for the world and the ark that was used to preserve Moses and God's plan for the world are the same. The point I'm trying to make to you, it doesn't matter the size of your boat, it matters the size of your God.
00:30:24
Speaker
It doesn't matter the size of your boat, it just matters if you're gonna say to God, here am I. Hear my use me. God sees this plan through, he always does. And so he floats Moses right up to the feet of the princess of Pharaoh. Now she knows deep down in her heart, she should dump this child into the river. She should do what is commanded. But let me ask you something. Who is the one person in all of Egypt that could have challenged the authority of Pharaoh and got away with it? His daughter.
00:30:58
Speaker
I raised three of them, I can tell you. Daughters have a way with their daddies, right? They have a way with their daddies. What I'm picturing is the princess of Pharaoh sauntering up to her dad. I'm not gonna saunter for you, because that would be a nightmare. Walking up to her dad and saying, daddy, I found something. And of course Pharaoh relents.
00:31:26
Speaker
Now what happens is, as we said, the princess turns Moses back over to his mother. His mother raises the child till it's weaned. He's brought back into the palace where he has adopted and he is uniquely equipped for the assignment that is going to be given to him. Way before he even knows what that assignment is. Now can I suggest to you this morning what you're going through in your life right now is God's classroom for your assignment.
00:32:04
Speaker
what he's putting you through. Man, it's hard. Makes you want to quit. Makes you want to give up. Makes you want to lash out at other people.
00:32:22
Speaker
But God's classroom is always good. And you just have to hang on to the end and trust that what he's up to is it's going to be for your benefit and for his glory.
00:32:36
Speaker
Don't tell me God's not in the details. Because every bit of this story shows a God who leaves nothing to chance. So at age 40, he kills this taskmaster. And because he knows he's been exposed, he goes running into the wilderness where he picks up a wife, Sapphira. Zipporah, sorry. Wrong rah. Zipporah.
00:33:03
Speaker
For the next 40 years, Moses gets a different kind of education. An education he couldn't have received in Egypt. This time he learns how to be a husband, a father, he learns how to shepherd, and he learns how to survive in the wilderness.
Moses' Mission Revelation
00:33:24
Speaker
In Exodus 3, he sees a burning bush that's not consumed. He hears the voice of God. Moses replies, here I am. He takes off his sandals and God says to Moses, I am sending you to lead my people out of Egypt. And Moses goes, well, who am I to do this? Who am I? This is the very same response that many of you are giving him right now.
00:33:47
Speaker
I need you to go teach a kid's class. Well, who am I to do that? I need you to start that Bible study at work. Who am I to do that?
00:33:59
Speaker
Moses' question could be considered legitimate. I mean, remember this, he is after all a shepherd and Egyptians don't like shepherds. So for a shepherd to walk into the throne room of the Pharaoh and to challenge his gods would have ruffled a lot of feathers, as it would really eventually do.
00:34:20
Speaker
So then Moses turns his attention and says, well, God, who do I tell them you are? They're gonna ask, you know they are, so who do I tell them you are? And God says one word in Hebrew, it's a fun word, but this word is gonna change the history of the Hebrew people. The Hebrew word, haya. Yeah, like the karate chop, haya.
00:34:45
Speaker
And what that word literally means is I am who I am. I am the ultimate being. I am everything you could possibly need. I am everything that's necessary for this to happen. Now Moses being a good Moses offers even more excuses.
00:35:12
Speaker
But I'm not a great speaker, Lord. You you heard my speech. Man, I got a stuttering problem.
00:35:20
Speaker
Which, by the way, I'm not convinced he did. He'd been raised in the greatest classrooms on the face of the earth by the Egyptians. I'm pretty sure he didn't have a stuttering problem or a knowledge problem. I'm pretty sure he was just offering some lame excuses. He might have said to God, hey, I'm just a shepherd. What's a shepherd gonna do in the greatest throne room on the face of the earth?
00:35:43
Speaker
Most likely at some point he got to his past. He said, God, you do know what I did back there. If I go back, he'll kill me. He'll put me to death. Now hear this carefully. God tells Moses in response to his excuses, the very same thing he will say to you with your excuses. Moses says, I can't God,
00:36:10
Speaker
God says, you won't, I will. Moses says, I am not capable. God says, you got that right. But by the way, you're not doing this, I am. But God, right now, I need a navigator for my life. I feel so lost. God says, I am. God, I need some kind of consolation in my life. I'm out here by myself in the middle of the wilderness. God says, I am.
00:36:41
Speaker
But God, I don't have all the talents that will be necessary. What would I possibly do? I can't do this. And God says, you're absolutely right, which is why I'm telling you to go in my strength, not your own.
00:36:59
Speaker
Remember, Moses is 80 years old at this point. He's probably a little tired, a little worn out. And guess what? God wins.
00:37:12
Speaker
just like he's gonna win the debate with you. Just like he's gonna win the argument with you. He always wins. God always accomplishes his purposes.
00:37:27
Speaker
The question is, is he gonna fulfill his purpose with you or without you? Are you gonna say, God, here I am, use me in this moment?
00:37:39
Speaker
Are you gonna say, God, you can't have me, you're gonna have to work around me?
00:37:50
Speaker
God uniquely equipped Moses for this moment, and it's very likely he's equipping you for yours. God has a plan and a purpose for your life. He saved you from sin, but now he wants to work in you and through you.
00:38:08
Speaker
Our God is the God who saves, but he's also the God who sins. And if you go on and read the rest of the story, if you're familiar with it, what happens next is pretty interesting because Moses is having this conversation with him and he says to Moses, take your staff and lay it on the ground.
00:38:29
Speaker
Now, a lot of things could be said about that, but here's the one thing I think that that's being said to Moses. I want you to take the one thing that's your security right now and lay it down before me. Your entire livelihood. Put it on the ground. Some of you are clinging to your career.
00:38:48
Speaker
Some of you are clinging to your portfolio. Some of you are clinging to your financial wellbeing. Some of you are clinging to your status or or your popularity, those kinds of things. And God says, lay those things down so that I can use them. Lay them down so that I can make use of them for my glory. God is a God who sins. And if you're following God, he's sending you.
00:39:14
Speaker
I want to close by sharing with you very quickly four questions, okay? I want you to use this through the rest of this year as you're approaching these stories. These are ways to help you kind of dig deeper into these stories. The questions that we'll ask, I hope they become second nature for you as you unfold this gospel story. First of all, where do I see God in this story? Remember, from Genesis to Revelation, God is the hero of this book.
00:39:38
Speaker
He is always center stage. Sometimes He invites us into center stage with Him. Sometimes He doesn't. But it's always about Him. This is always the question we're asking, where do you see God in this story this morning? Everywhere. Everywhere. You would have to be living in complete and total denial to not see where God is working in this story with Moses' life.
00:40:01
Speaker
Second question, what does this story teach us about us, about man? Okay, now be very careful with this question because when you ask this question, it's real easy to put you back at the center of the story. The Bible is not about you. The Bible was not written to bring you glory.
00:40:21
Speaker
The Bible was written for one purpose alone and that is that God would receive glory. When we ask the question, what does it teach us about man? Personalize it. What does it teach about me and how I'm supposed to respond to God in this moment? What does it teach me about my condition and how desperately I need the one who is the hero of the story? Thirdly,
00:40:43
Speaker
How does this point us to Jesus? Everything in the book, every part of the book, every page of the Bible points us to Jesus. There's a climax in the story at the cross and then there's an even greater climax at the end of the book when Jesus comes again. And this is what it points us to because Jesus brings us back into right relationship with his father.
00:41:10
Speaker
So how does this story this morning point us to Jesus? Well, it's Jesus that's in that bush saying to Moses, you need me. It's Jesus that's pointing to the redemption that's about to come saying, I'm going to deliver my people and oh, by the way, I'm not just gonna deliver the Hebrew people out of Egypt, I'm gonna deliver the lost people out of sin. There's a greater redemption that's coming. This is just a small part of the story. Lastly, how do I respond in faith and obedience to what I've read?
00:41:40
Speaker
How do I respond in faith through obedience? Listen, I love preaching to you guys. I can't stand it. I know I do it, but I can't stand it when Kyle preaches. I can't stand it when John gets up here or Matt and those others. Why? Because I love preaching God's word. And so I have to sit down here on my hands. It's not because those guys aren't great. They do a fantastic job. And I know that anytime I'm out of town or sick or whatever, they're gonna do a fantastic job. Here's the point of what I'm saying to you.
00:42:11
Speaker
I don't get up here, I don't get up here so that I can make you feel good. I don't get up here so that I can entertain you. I don't get up here to do anything else except for to try to get you from point A to point B in your journey with Christ. So what does that mean? That means every time I preach on Sunday morning, if I'm doing my job and listening to the Holy Spirit, there should be some response to what you've heard.
00:42:39
Speaker
some adjustment in your life, some new level of obedience in your spirit, some new action that you should take walking out of here. This isn't just so you can come and feel better about the situation. It's not just so you can come and check it off your list. It's so you can come in here and stand in front of the mirror of God's word and look at how you look and go, okay, I need to go away and do something different this week because of what I have seen.
00:43:12
Speaker
This morning, the question is, where are you willing to let God do in you? Where are you let willing to let God do through you? Are you willing to say, God, here I am? Nothing else. Here I am. No ifs, ands, buts, howevers. Here I am.
00:43:42
Speaker
This morning our response time's gonna be a little bit different. I'm gonna invite you just to sit and to listen. If you wanna sing, the words will be on the screen, that's up to you. But I think I want you just to listen to what's about to take place, let that encourage your heart a little bit, and then I'll come back together and close this time with us. Let me pray for us as we get ready.
00:44:11
Speaker
Father, I thank you that you are a God who is truly intimately involved with where we are, that you are right here engaged in this moment with our hurts, our pains, our discomforts, our oppressions, our depressions. You are intimately aware of every single one of them. And like a good father, you lean into us and say, child, just reach out to me. Just trust me.
00:44:43
Speaker
Just lay all you have right here before me and watch what I can do. Experience the freedom that I wanna offer you. Know the fulfillment that comes from being in relationship with me. Father, this morning, would you make our hearts bold? That we wouldn't care what anybody else in this room thinks.
00:45:07
Speaker
We wouldn't care about what inconvenience it might cause, but that if you are reaching into our hearts and speaking words of correction or commandment to us, that we would not hesitate to obey and to do exactly what you've asked us to do. I thank you that you're a God who sees and hears, who knows, who remembers, and even that you're a God who sins so that others may hear and know. It's in Jesus' name I pray. amen
00:47:01
Speaker
After many years, ah about 20 for me, um for praying for a boy, God answered. and the In the midst of that answer, um the doctors told us that Liam had fetal growth restriction, and he was about 1% in size. um We went to ultrasounds twice a week. They told us that he had an embarras umbilical varix, which caused could cause complications, including stillbirth.
00:47:29
Speaker
um But our Grove Hill family just showered him with prayer and y'all rattled the gates of heaven where I'm pretty sure God was like, okay, okay, I hear y'all. Y'all surrounded us at this altar and just showered him with prayer. And because of that, God delivered our healthy boy.
00:49:06
Speaker
So I struggled with drugs and alcohol for a long time in my life. It resulted in a lot of dark moments where I didn't see a way out.
00:49:19
Speaker
And I didn't have a whole lot of strength to to even pray for myself at times. I remember my family and a lot of you guys praying for me and fighting for me. um And God used some of you guys in this church and sent three or four guys to my doorsteps and drug me out of that and give me an opportunity to to go to a treatment for a little while. But I'm here today as a result of those prayers.
00:49:52
Speaker
I encourage you guys, if you can't see a way out, you can still pray about it. And if you if you don't have the strength to do that, you've got somebody beside you that will.
00:50:08
Speaker
Don't stop praying for the prodigal. Don't stop praying for the miracle.
00:51:43
Speaker
Two and a half years ago, after another failed attempt to beat my pornography addiction on my own, I felt a conviction from the Holy Spirit to bring it into the light and admit to my wife what I've been hiding for so long. With an incredible amount of prayer and even more grace, God has not only set me free from that addiction, but has removed all temptation from that sin.
00:52:05
Speaker
Let's stand and sing this last chorus together. So don't stop prayin'
00:53:04
Speaker
So what is it in your life?
00:53:08
Speaker
that Satan has convinced you to just keep to yourself that somehow you can beat it on your own.
00:53:16
Speaker
That somehow you can knock it out yourself. For 430 years the people lived in slavery in Egypt and they continued to pray knowing that someday God would answer. How long have you been praying?
00:53:33
Speaker
Maybe it's time to come to this altar, maybe it's time to get on your knees, and maybe it's time to bring out into the light what's been holding you back in the darkness.
00:53:46
Speaker
The Hebrew word for altar literally means the killing place. Jesus used less graphic terms when he said, you're gonna have to take up your cross, you're gonna have to die.
00:54:03
Speaker
but you've got to be willing to bring it out into the open and let it go. And it may mean that just like these three guys, you're gonna have to turn a look at somebody and say, I can't fight this battle on my own. I just can't.
00:54:21
Speaker
When Will and Tally found out about their child, they immediately gathered their life group around them and suddenly it was the whole church praying for them and many of you prayed many prayers for them. Now William's gonna be a linebacker.
00:54:41
Speaker
I'll take it, I'll take it. Rodney Shelly showed up in my office many times in tears. I frankly many times wonder myself, are they gonna make it? Are they gonna make it? But many of you, including that same life group gathered around them and prayed for them. I joked in the first service, Rodney even showed up in my office one day with me and Kyle, hi.
00:55:12
Speaker
I thought, man, that takes a lot of guts to walk into the pastor's office. Eyes glazed over and say, I can do this. I'm thinking, brother, you can't. And praise God, he got his attention because it was brought out into the open.
00:55:28
Speaker
And Aaron used those words himself in his testimony. I brought it to the open. This morning, somebody in here,
00:55:40
Speaker
Maybe many somebodies need to come down here and just let something be put to death so that the enemy doesn't keep holding you in slavery. We didn't do this first hour, we're gonna do it this hour. Let's sing that again. And if you need to come to this altar, grab four people around you and say, come pray with me, come pray over me, come pray for me where I can't pray for myself.
00:56:10
Speaker
Why would you live one more day in slavery? Let's sing.
00:57:49
Speaker
God has won a lot of victories at this altar over the last seven years. A lot of incredible stories that have been written right here in this moment, in this place.
00:58:06
Speaker
But the same God who shows up here on a Sunday morning shows up in the middle of a wilderness in a bush. He shows up on the banks of a Nile River in a basket.
00:58:18
Speaker
He shows up at your workplace, he shows up in your neighborhood, he shows up in your bedroom at night. Whatever pain you're going through, don't stop praying.
00:58:31
Speaker
Because if Shelly had given up, she'd have missed out on what she's standing next to right now. And I'm pretty sure she thinks it's sexy.
00:58:45
Speaker
Hey listen, as you're leaving today, if you still just haven't gotten to that place yet, grab the person standing next to you. Grovers are pretty good at loving on each other. And just say, hey, can you just take a second to pray with me?
00:59:06
Speaker
Can you just take a second to pray the words, I can't?
00:59:15
Speaker
Because in those words, there's a potential for freedom that only Jesus Christ can give you. So you go out this week,