God Saves His People
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God Saves His People
God Saves His People
What do we remember about the book of Genesis?
Creation, Adam & Eve, the fall, murder, Through the line of Seth there is hope which leads to Noah, the ark, the flood, nations rise, the tower of babel, Abraham, covenant with Abraham: sons & land, Hagar & Ishmael, Isaac, sacrifice of Isaac, Sodom and Gomorrah, Jacob & Esau, Joseph & his brothers, Jospeh in Egypt: powerful & then not.
As we transition from Genesis to Exodus there is a major transition that takes place. Because of Jacob’s sons moving to be near Joseph in Egypt, the Israelites were all living in Egypt. This worked out well for a while—Joseph had favor with Pharoah and was in a position of authority.
The problem began to settle in soon after:
6 Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. 7 But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.
8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9 And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us.
That king or Pharaoh took over he didn’t know Joseph and he was afraid of the growing number of Israelites. He attempts to suppress them by making them have to work but that doesn’t work so he takes it a step further and subjects them to slavery. That still doesn’t work, he orders the midwives to kill all baby boys. The midwives disobey and so the population continues to grow.
He then orders every son to be thrown into the Nile. I have been on the Nile river a handful of times, I cannot imagine being forced to throw my baby into that water. In addition to it being a large body of water, it is filled with crocodiles, snakes, hippos, elephants, giant fish, etc. That would be terrible.
Through that ruling we end up with Moses in a basket, being taken in by Pharaoh’s daughter of all people, raised up in his house. Eventually he has to flee Egypt because he kills a slavedriver for being too brutal.
Moses finds a wife in the wilderness, is serving as a shepherd when he comes across the burning bush. The burning bush that would not be consumed. He encounters God in that bush and is commanded to go free his people. God’s people had been crying out for deliverance and God heard them.
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.
I talked about this last week at the Christmas party—Moses did not want to go and was very resistent. Can’t you send someone else?
“Who am I “ that I should go? v 3:11
“Who am I supposed to say sent me?” 3:13
“They will not listen to me” 4:1
“I am not eloquent” 4:10
“Please send someone else” 4:13
Eventually Moses gives in or I should say God’s plan unfolds and he goes to Egypt.
Before we move on it’s helpful to have a reminder: the real hero of the story of Exodus (and every book) is God. We are going to see God do amazing things both through miracles and through sinful men to redeem a people for Himself.
That’s the beauty of the gospel: God uses sinful men to redeem a people for Himself. if you are a child of God you have had an encounter with the Holy God. It did not happen through a burning bush but rather through a man or woman who is sinful and flawed teaching you the things that God has commanded us and being used by God through the Holy Spirit to be saved.
Today that will be very clear but we must remind ourselves that the real hero of the story is God.
On your outline there is a section on the top I want you to fill out. You are going to draw two lines so listen carefully.
Draw a line from start to finish that represents how we want the path of our life to go. What would the ideal path look like?
Draw a line that represents the path of your life this far? (Hint: don’t complete it)
I’m guessing these will look a bit different for each of you. Is someone willing to come up and draw a line representing how we want our path of life to go?
Now is someone willing to come up and draw the path of your life thus far?
I would imagine the older you are in this room the more this path is bent and wayward and maybe circled around itself and up and down. And yet the path moves forward, pressing toward the goal.
We as humans like to know where we are going how we are going to get there. We prefer to be able to see the destination. And yet life is full of twists and tuns, unknowns.
And still God will save His people: he is personally invested and he is powerful and committed. We do not know the exact path but we know He will lead us home.
So Moses goes before Pharoah and says, “Let me people go”
And pharoah was just like, alright, sounds good, you can have them?
No—he refused, and so what had to happen in order for Pharaoh to relent?
The plagues. Do we remember any of the plagues? Take 2 minutes, with the person next to you, without opening your bibles, and write down as many plagues as you can remember.
Blood (Nile turns to blood, fish die, it stinks, people are afraid to drink it; all water in Egypt turns to blood)
Frogs (Pharaoh begs for relief and promises to let them go but he doesn’t his heart was hardened)
Gnats
Flies
Livestock diseased
Boils
Hail
Locusts
Darkness
Death of firstborn (first passover)
29 At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. 30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians. And there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead. 31 Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Up, go out from among my people, both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as you have said. 32 Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also!”
God fulfilled his promise and as they were leaving he gave them favor with the Egyptians and they took there gold & silver.
We don’t have time but in each of those plagues God attacked a “god” of the Egyptians and dismantled them, proving he was the one true and living God.
With our remaining time we come to our passage today. Turn to Exodus 13.
17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.” 18 But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle. 19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones with you from here.” 20 And they moved on from Succoth and encamped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness. 21 And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. 22 The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.
Right away we see God’s hand of protection, it would have been easier to just go straight but God knew that would have no been good for them so He protected them, took them on a long and hard journey to protect them.
God could have taken them the shorter path and used his power to defeat the Philistines in battle, but in taking this other route we actually see God’s power even more.
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
God is almighty and has a plan and his way is best.
Notice in this passage Moses brought something with him—what was it?
Someone read Genesis 50:22-26
24 And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” 25 Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.”
Joseph, Abraham, Isaac & Jacob never saw the fulfillment of God’s promise of land, but they were all part of the story and path to it.
As they leave Egypt God has given them, in his latest of miracles, a clear sign and direction which was what?
Pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night.
A pillar of cloud is a pretty amazing thing; especially when it follows you everywhere. This would be provide some comfort but also some fear to others as it represented the coming judgment for God’s enemies.
A pillar of fire now, that is pretty amazing and terrifying. God is a consuming fire; flames of fire come down on Jesus disciples in Acts 2 as a sign of the Holy Spirit. We have seen God appear in a burning fire.
A flaming sword is used to protect the garden after they are kicked out.
Think about walking around at night following a pillar of fire. It would be warm probably.
God was visibly leading the Israelites and intimiating his enemies.
Skip ahead to chapter 14. Pharaoh changes his mind and wants to take them back. He sends an army after them.
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.” 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.”
We begin to see the first complaints from the Israelites. We can relate though can’t we. We just saw all these amazing things happen in Egypt to change Pharaohs heart and release them. Now they are on there way, wandering the desert being chased by an army heading towards a big body of water. I would probably complain too.
Moses—seriously—there wasn’t anywhere to bury us in Egypt so you brought us here to be killed, thats great, thanks.
I would rather but a slave to them than to die out here, Moses!
Moses, remember the one they wouldn’t listen to and the one who wasn’t eloquent: “Stand firm, watch the Lord work”
The Lord will fight for you and protect you.
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.
That same cloud that led the Israelites went behind them and blinded the Egyptians. Do you remember a couple weeks ago when John had you build this jenga tower? There were two groups that did it right, what was the difference between the two? They could not see, and when you can’t see clearly you get disoriented and don’t know where anything is. Maybe you have driven through really dense fog and its hard to see.
A funny story similar to this. We are remodeling our basement and one of the things we have done so far is remove the tile that was down there, and to do so you have to remove the mortar or thinset that held it in place. We tried lots of things but what worked was this giant grinder that grinded away anything in its way. It worked really well but it was really dusty. And so I was working in the bathroom with a hammer and pry bar breaking the tile away. Mark was in the main room using the grinder and we had it connected to a shop vac to help with the dust. He was no more than from here to the back row. All of a sudden I notice its harder and harder to see, I kept missing the prybar with the hammer because I couldn’t see it, and within seconds I could no longer see anything, and I mean nothing—I couldn’t see my hands, there was no way to know where the walls or floor were and I couldn’t see Mark at all anymore. It was very disorienting.
What happened was the bag inside the shop vac ripped and so the same force that was sucking the dust in was now blowing it into the room.
God stunned the army and made it impossible for them to see Israel.
Let’s wrap up this story: God will deliver his People (yet again)
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.
In yet another miracle of God, Moses lifts his staff and the waters parter. God displays his power of creation once again and provides a way of escape. Just throwing this out there the red sea is approx 17 times the size of Lake Erie. There is varying guesses on how many Israelites there were ranging from 30,000 to 2 million.
Lets say there was 1,000,000 than that is about the total capacity of Cedar Point times 18 or the big house in Michigan filled 9 times, that many people crossed a sea 17 times the Lake Erie and passed on dry land.
And yet the Egyptians still chased after them.
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 same power than held the seas, brought them down and wiped the Egyptians away.
Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians so the people feared the Lord and believed.
The same God that parted the sea is at work in you and in me as redeemed children of God.
1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. 6 Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.
We have been given this book, and specifically Exodus, to be reminded of the great power God has and so that we might not desire evil.
The Israelites were overwhelmed, the enemy was barreling down on them and they had no where to go, nothing to do but surrender and give up, wait to be executed or taken into slavery.
They knew God had all this power and yet they also knew what they saw and that was no way of escape.
Humanity seemingly has no way of escape. We look around the world around us and there is little to no hope. Morality is decaying, wrong is right and right is wrong, the bible is just another book, Jesus just another super hero with nice stories and little power.
And hope came down on Christmas. Maker of Mary’s now Mary’s son. The God-Man, Jesus born of a virgin came to save his people from their sins. There is hope. God has not given up and is still at work. The bible commands us what is right and wrong and how to live. Jesus is alive and working. And as we celebrate Christmas we look to Easter, and the reason that baby was born.
Last night, I didn’t know I was teaching and we were listening to this song and so it was in my head. And this morning as I was thinking through this passage I kept thinking about the words of this song, Thank You Jesus for the Blood. Its on the back of your paper.
VERSE 1
I was a wretch, I remember who I was
I was lost, I was blind, I was running out of time.
Sin separated, the breach was far too wide (just like the sea, there was no way to cross, no way of escape)
But from the far side of the chasm, You had me in Your sight
VERSE 2
So You made a way, across the great divide (separated the waters)
Left behind, Heaven's throne, to build it here inside (span the chasm, came to earth of save us)
There at the cross You paid the debt I owed
Broke my chains, Freed my soul and for the first time I had Hope
CHORUS
Thank You Jesus, for the blood applied
Thank You Jesus, it has washed me white
Thank You Jesus, You have saved my life
Brought me from the darkness into glorious light
Verse 3
You took my place, laid inside my tomb of sin
You were buried for three days but then You walked right out again
Now death has no sting and life has no end
For I have been transformed by the blood of the Lamb
Bridge
There is nothing stronger
Than the wonder working power of the blood the blood
That calls us sons and daughters
We are ransomed by our Father
Through the blood
There is nothing stronger
OH the wonder working power of the blood the blood
That calls us sons and daughters
We are ransomed by our Father
Through the Blood
The Blood
Let’s pray
Thank you Jesus, for the blood applied.
Thank you Jesus, it has washed me white.
Thank you Jesus, You have saved my life.
Brought me from the darkness into glorious light.
Father, may that be true of everyone in year; way your power redeem anyone who has not been saved by the blood.
Amen.