Israelites: But God!?!

Exodus: God Declares War

One thing I have learned in my 50 years on this ball of dirt is that things rarely go exactly the way you expect them to.

People and plans will often disappoint and discourage us. Your health may fail or a you get laid off or a friend turns out to not be quite so friendly.

Sometimes, you may be in a situation as you serve the Lord where it seems God has not kept His end of the bargain. Just remember, just because it seems that He hasn’t come through, it doesn’t mean He has failed and will not deliver on His promises.

Things don’t always work out the way we think they should.

We are too often left saying, But…. God!?!

Rest assured, if God leads us to do something and gives us a promise for how it will come about, we can trust Him. Things may seem to not be heading in the right direction at first, they may not go initially like you think they should, but just keep the faith. He will come through!

Many people come to Christ in faith and have the idea that the Christian life will be smooth sailing all the way to Glory, but nothing could be further from the truth! While the Christian life is the most blessed life, we will face difficulties and disappointments. However, these do not mean God failed. It simply means that perhaps we have been leaning on our own understanding or getting our plans and hopes in the way of what God truly wants to do.

Also, we must remember that there is an enemy that is seeking to fight against you as you follow Jesus. It is important to remember that when you step out to do what God has called you to do, opposition should be

Expected

Exodus 5:1 And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. 2 And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.

Last week, as we closed the service, I made a statement and gave a caution to the church family as we entered the last week before launching two services. I said, God is at work here, and the enemy does not like it. He will seek to discourage, distract, and divide. So, Armor Up! Let’s put on and wear our armor so we can see ALL the fiery darts quenched. We can thwart every attack of the enemy, and we can be victorious in Jesus!

Now, let me ask, how many of you were attacked this week?

Both of my hands are up!

How many of you did Satan try to get overwhelmed? How many fought discouragement? How many fought the tendency to be complacent or disinterested? How many were fighting the temptation to be at odds with someone else in your family or in the church?

Satan is fighting! But Satan is DEFEATED!

On Wednesday night, we went through the armor of God and discussed the importance of wearing each piece. I am thankful that God has equipped us for victory.

I would like to pause a moment and play for you a short audio clip.

<CrosspointLA praying.m4a>

This is how we see victory over the enemy. This is our church family praying on Wednesday night. This went on for about 30 minutes. It was so beautiful to hear the people of God calling out to Jesus for 30 minutes, asking God to do His work in and through us as He builds His Kingdom.

Many of us have prayed each day leading up to this morning, and then we have prayed already this morning. There are also people who have committed to praying during the services and some who gather every other Thursday to pray as well!

We prayed. Satan still fought. But God gave victory!

A reality of life is that the enemy opposes God’s work!

Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD that I should obey Him? I will not let Israel go!”

Exodus 5:3 And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword.

Now God had not told Moses that He was going to destroy the people of Israel if they didn’t go into the wilderness to worship Him, but I imagine that Moses considered when he had not fully consecrated himself and his family to the Lord and God started to kill him. Moses must have thought that not going to worship the Lord would communicate that they were not serious about serving God so God would kill them.

Perhaps, Moses was saying to Pharaoh, Let us go or God will kill us and you will not have your slaves anyway.

Whatever the reason, we are not told. Just that Moses and Aaron told this to Pharaoh.

Exodus 5:4 And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works? get you unto your burdens. 5 And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye make them rest from their burdens.

Pharaoh’s response was, Get back to work! Israel has a lot of work to do, and you are having them stop their work for some pie in the sky dream of taking a vacation! There are a lot of Israelites and when they stop working, a lot of progress has stopped! GET BACK TO WORK!

Opposition was to be expected. Next, Opposition may be

Fierce

Exodus 5:6 And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying, 7 Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God. 9 Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein; and let them not regard vain words. 10 And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spake to the people, saying, Thus saith Pharaoh, I will not give you straw. 11 Go ye, get you straw where ye can find it: yet not ought of your work shall be diminished. 12 So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw. 13 And the taskmasters hasted them, saying, Fulfil your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw.

Talk about going from the frying pan into the fire! Now they have to make bricks without the proper supplies given to them. They have to scrounge around to find whatever they can to make the bricks. This took many of them from actual brick making, so production slowed considerably.

Exodus 5:14 And the officers of the children of Israel, which Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and to day, as heretofore?

When we endeavor to obey the Lord, the opposition will be fierce! They will often come against us and pull out all the stops. We may find them to be

Unreasonable

Exodus 5:15 Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants? 16 There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us, Make brick: and, behold, thy servants are beaten; but the fault is in thine own people. 17 But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice to the LORD. 18 Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks. 19 And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case, after it was said, Ye shall not minish ought from your bricks of your daily task.

Pharaoh essentially said, “The work you do for me is more important than the worship you offer your God.”

We must not allow anything or anyone to come between us and our worship of Jehovah. I am grateful for the laws of our land that make it illegal for employers to fire or avoid hiring an individual because of their practice of faithfully attending church.

Time off for worship was not Chick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy’s idea, it was God’s! He wanted and still wants His people to take time to focus on Him and to worship Him.

That is why even though we have some who are serving on our Hospitality team this morning, I have encouraged them to sit through an entire service without the distraction of serving.

Martha, Mary, and Lazarus had received Jesus into their home, and Martha was busy with lots of things to do while Mary sat at Jesus’s feet listening to Him speak and worshipping Him. When Martha complained, Jesus lovingly and graciously rebuked her and commended Mary for choosing that good part which He said, “will not be taken away from her.”

Determine to make time, make room for Jesus in your schedule. You may find that the heat gets turned up, but I guarantee you, God will give you grace to face it and to be obedient.

Sometimes though the opposition will seem to be

Too Much!

Exodus 5:20 And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh: 21 And they said unto them, The LORD look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.

The people said, Moses and Aaron, You have gone too far. This is too hard. This has cost us too much already. We are not up for this any more. Do whatever you want to do, but we are finished.

How discouraging for the man who was sent to lead the people out of bondage! He may have struggled with feelings of failure, but quickly determined that it was not he who failed.

Exodus 5:22 And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me? 23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.

He said, God, What do you think you are doing? Did you really mean to stir up the anger of Pharaoh so he would destroy the people of Israel?

You sent me. You gave me signs to show and words to say, but the people have not been delivered. In fact, they are worse off now than when I was in Midian!

Oh, how easy it is to see what Moses must have felt. It seems that God pulled a huge prank on Moses, Aaron, and all the children of Israel.

It seemed that God set them up and then abandoned them them to their fate. It seemed that God din’t really care what that fate was.

But feeling and what it seems like does not always reflect reality.

God is at work. He has not forgotten or abandoned us. We can trust Him.

Romans 4:21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.

Exodus 6:1 Then the LORD said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.

We can trust Him

Because of His Name

Exodus 6:2 And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD: 3 And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.

Proverbs 18:10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.

El Shaddai - God Almighty

Jehovah - Self Existent, Eternal One

1. Jehovah-Jireh - "The Lord will provide" (Genesis 22:14)

2. Jehovah-Rapha - "The Lord who heals" (Exodus 15:26)

3. Jehovah-Nissi - "The Lord is my banner" (Exodus 17:15)

4. Jehovah-Shalom - "The Lord is peace" (Judges 6:24)

5. Jehovah-Raah - "The Lord is my shepherd" (Psalm 23:1)

6. Jehovah-Tsidkenu - "The Lord our righteousness" (Jeremiah 23:6)

7. Jehovah-Shammah - "The Lord is there" (Ezekiel 48:35)

Exodus 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

Whatever it is that you truly need, I AM.

Psalms 20:7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.

God is the One in Whom we can and should trust completely.

Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

Philippians 2:9-11 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Because of His Word

Exodus 6:4 And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers. 5 And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant.

God had given His Word and made promises and even covenanted with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God’s covenant was an everlasting covenant with these and their descendants.

We see people even today fighting against the Word of God and the covenant of God. This is one of the many and perhaps the main reason that throughout history, the world has fought over a tiny strip of land that is slightly smaller than the state of New Jersey.

No, Israel has not always been righteous and holy as they were supposed to be. However, the everlasting covenant that God made with them was not dependent upon their keeping it - it was dependent upon God keeping it, and He will!

Nehemiah 1:9 But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.

You see, we can trust the Word of God. We can see that through His faithfulness to preserve the Jewish people throughout history.

And if He will keep His promises with them - even after they have been historically so unfaithful to Him, we KNOW He will continue to be faithful to us!

Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)

In our story, we see Moses and Aaron telling the people and attempting to assure them that God will do what He promised, then we see God assuring Moses that He will keep His promises.

Now, we have the benefit of fast forwarding the story and looking to the book of Joshua and seeing the testimony written there that tells how it turned out.

Joshua 21:45 There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.

Then we can trust Him

Because of His Power

Exodus 6:6 Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments:

Isaiah 40:28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.

Psalms 147:5 Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.

Jeremiah 32:27 Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?

Luke 1:37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.

What is it that you need? You may not even really know, but God does. And He has the ability - the power - to do whatever is needed. There is NOTHING too hard for God.

Romans 8:31-32 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

Finally, we can trust Him

Because of His Care

Exodus 6:7 And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the LORD.

1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

Isaiah 40:10-11 Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. 11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

Zephaniah 3:17 The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Conclusion

Others may fail us. Our situations may seem hopeless and bleak. The enemy may try to convince us that God has forgotten, but remember, His Name (I AM), Remember His Word - He will NEVER leave you nor forsake you, Remember His Power - there is NOTHING too hard for God, and Remember His Care - He gave His life for You.

He will do whatever it takes to fulfill His promises and His purpose in Your life!

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.