EXODUS - The Exodus (Part 3)
EXODUS: “The Way Forward” • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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EXODUS: “The Way Forward” - The Exodus (Part 3)
EXODUS: “The Way Forward” - The Exodus (Part 3)
Recap
Recap
Just to sum up where we’ve come:
The people of God were in bondage.
God heard their cry and raised up a deliverer.
Moses was developed into a great leader through much struggle and some uncertainty.
Through plagues, God brings Egypt to its knees.
He memorializes it through the Passover, which is also prophetic of Jesus.
The people walk straight out of Egypt.
Pharaoh believes they are walking themselves into a dead end, so he chases them.
God walks them through the Red Sea on dry ground and brings the water down on the Egyptians in a sudden and total defeat.
COMPLETE AND TOTAL DELIVERANCE. GOD HAS NO INTENTION OF DOING THINGS HALFWAY!
Now, things truly take a turn in this book. It’s taken a lot to get to this point. It’s heavy. And we need to feel the gravity of what has taken place to understand what comes next…
Chapter 15
Chapter 15
Moses Sings Unto the Lord
Moses Sings Unto the Lord
Because the vast majority of this next chapter (Exodus 15) is not continuing the telling of the story. It’s the inclusion of the song they sang at this point. It’s a Psalm inside Exodus, for a fact!
1 Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. 2 The Lord is my strength and song, And he is become my salvation: He is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; My father’s God, and I will exalt him.
3 The Lord is a man of war: the Lord is his name. 4 Pharaoh’s chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: His chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea. 5 The depths have covered them: They sank into the bottom as a stone. 6 Thy right hand, O Lord, is become glorious in power: Thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemy.
7 And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee: Thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble. 8 And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, The floods stood upright as an heap, And the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea.
9 The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them. 10 Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: They sank as lead in the mighty waters. 11 Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in holiness, Fearful in praises, doing wonders?
12 Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, The earth swallowed them. 13 Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: Thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation. 14 The people shall hear, and be afraid: Sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestina.
15 Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed; The mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold upon them; All the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away. 16 Fear and dread shall fall upon them; By the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a stone; Till thy people pass over, O Lord, Till the people pass over, which thou hast purchased.
17 Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, In the place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, In the Sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established. 18 The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.
19 For the horse of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and the Lord brought again the waters of the sea upon them; but the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea.
For a people who just got to the other side of the sea and looked back and saw their enemy sinking in the water… for a people who called on the Lord and He answered… for a people who were just delivered out of bondage…
…do you know what the first thing on their mind was?!
I GOT TO PRAISE THE LORD!!!
DELIVERED PEOPLE PRAISE THE LORD!!!
Delivered people ACT LIKE THEY’VE BEEN DELIVERED!
I was preaching in a church somewhere north, south, east, and west of here… and there was a lady there (not much older than me) who was going through cancer. At a horrible stage. Her hair had come out. She was weak. She was tired. Still had the drive to help with worship.
Worship was great. But there needed to be something break through in that place. All of a sudden in the middle of my preaching, the Holy Ghost began to fall. And that lady stood up from her seat and - with tears in her eyes - began marching and shouting around that church! Pretty quick a precious elder saint (with the support of her walker) began to give it all she could around the front of that church!
Miriam’s Song
Miriam’s Song
And here’s something beautiful!
20 And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. 21 And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously; The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.
Miriam is not about to let Moses do all the shoutin’! The ladies got in on this, too!
It says she got the timbrel out! That’s a tambourine! And all the women went out with her with tambourines and dancing!
When I look at these scriptures, it calls out Moses and Miriam, but it’s pretty clear that this was an all-of-Israel praise session!
It sounds a lot like Apostolic Pentecostal worship! And that’s because it’s a heritage of expressive worship that goes back to Acts, back to the Gospels in the triumphal entry, weaved all the way back to Exodus… DELIVERED PEOPLE ARE NOT FOUND TO BE AS DRY AS WHEAT THINS!
There is a push in the Christian world at-large to convince people that the Church is supposed to reserved, quiet, dignified, and solemn!
And there’s a lot of places, even in some instances within the Apostolic movement, where anointed worship has been replaced with lights and smoke and good production and a concert atmosphere!
Look, I’m not against lights and good organization and excellence… but if we let those things take the place of our anointed worship - we’ve messed up!!!
Our praise should naturally come from our lips! We don’t need to be cheerled! We don’t need a specific song! It’s not about any of that! My praise is my offering!!!
And the quality of our praise has a lot to do with what’s on our minds!
If our mind is on everybody else (and what we think of them and they think of us), IT’S HARD TO LET LOOSE YOUR PRAISE!
But if our mind is centered on Jesus - and all the things He’s done for us… how great He is - IT’S HARD TO STAY STILL!
I need some people who are willing to be praise standard-bearers to stand up tonight! This ain’t just some cute social gathering - we’ve brought our praise to the King!!!
It’s time to break through in your praise! I’ve got a feeling there was some kids that day who saw mom and dad praise like they never have before! Maybe some adults did it for the first time! But when you’re truly touched by the Lord - you learn the dance of the redeemed!!!
YOU’VE GOT A RIGHT AND A REASON TO PRAISE HIM!
22 So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water.
Now… all of this excitement that we’ve had… all this rejoicing and blessing… and now… THERE’S NO WATER.
Now one thing that’s interesting about this is that Hagar (earlier in Genesis) had been found by the Angel of the Lord by a spring on the way to Shur.
7 And the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.
I don’t know if that fountain of water was still there somewhere. It could be that, if they had asked Him, God would have led them to it. If there was real dependence and trust in God.
The pathway of God can often lead through some dry places. But we shouldn’t assume we missed His leading when we find ourselves in a troubling situation!
OUR DRY PLACE DOESN’T HAVE TO BE OUR DYING PLACE!
You’ve got a decision to make, saint of God! Am I gonna die here, or am I gonna grow here?!
Very often, I find that I’m there because He wants me to learn to quit depending on me and start depending more on Him!
The Bitter Waters of Marah
The Bitter Waters of Marah
23 And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah.
That word “Marah” means bitter. In Ruth 1:20, Naomi actually asked to be called Mara because she said God had dealt very bitterly with her.
20 And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.
This place that is being called “Marah” is usually identified with the site known as Ain Hawarah. It’s waters are notoriously salty and bitter.
“The basin is six or eight feet in diameter, and the water about two feet deep. Its taste is unpleasant, saltish, and somewhat bitter… The Arabs… consider it as the worst water in all these regions.”
- Edward Robinson, Biblical Researches in Palestine
24 And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?
The “murmuring” thing is an interesting subject.
As a general pattern, the grumblings that came before the golden calf incident are because of genuine need. The ones that follow are mainly illegitimate murmurings. It truly spiraled.
25 And he cried unto the Lord; and the Lord shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them,
26 And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee.
In verse 25, “the Lord shewed” is “to teach” or “instruct.”
Post-Egypt, Israel was going to have to learn that the instruction that they needed would come from heaven!
And God is saying, “If you’ll hear me, and let me teach you, you’re going to be blessed! And I’ll not deal with you like I did Egypt.”
And He does teach them. He shows Moses this tree to throw in the water that made the water sweet!
Here’s an interesting tidbit: Ferdinand de Lessups (who was the builder of the Suez Canal) was told by the Arab chiefs that they put a thorn bush into some types of water to make it drinkable.
Whether it was Him showing them what to do, or it was a complete miracle, God showed that He could direct their path!
Encamped by the Wells of Elim
Encamped by the Wells of Elim
27 And they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees: and they encamped there by the waters.
God didn’t just take care of the bitter water in one place… he brought them to great waters in another!
Listen…
Where there’s plenty of water, He can take His hand and hold it back.
Where there’s no water, He can make wells in your path.
And where there’s bitter water, He can make it sweet.
But if there’s a bitter spirit… no faith, no expectation, no connection, no hunger… always fixated on the negative, always critical… He won’t touch that. That’s where we have to change!
You know what my question is? All of the praisers who were at the other end of the Red Sea… where were they through the dry land? Where were they through the waters of Marah? Where were they at Elim? THE SAME PILLAR OF CLOUD AND FIRE WAS THERE!!!
Chapter 16
Chapter 16
Wilderness Murmurings
Wilderness Murmurings
1 And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt.
The “fifteenth day of the second month” was exactly one month after Israel had left Egypt (just to give some perspective on where we’re at in a timeline here).
2 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness:
3 And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.
So this time, the people are grumbling about (1) the amount of food and (2) the lack of meat.
Suddenly, Egypt seemed like roses and glamour. Comfy living! …rather than bondage and literal slave drivers. And they’re speaking very condescending using the name of the Lord here. And they pretend that they would have preferred being victims at God’s hand in Egypt to experiencing all these miracles along with hardship.
It’s interesting how we can be deceived into thinking that our past was better than our future. For that matter, we can be deceived a lot of different directions very easily. Satan is the deceiver, and he’s good at it (making things appear better than they actually are). But make no mistake, we’re good at becoming deceived all on our own.
“I’m in the will of God.” / When we’re actually trying to justify our actions.
“I’m the victim.” / When the way we’ve been living is unacceptable.
“Did you hear about them…” / When we refuse to confront ourselves.
Our flesh and pride greatly aid in deception. And the antidote to Apostolics running around deceived is to continually visit the altar and crucify the flesh and get my perspective right.
This scripture puts into perspective who we’re supposed to be:
8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; And what doth the Lord require of thee, But to do justly, and to love mercy, And to walk humbly with thy God?
“do justly” / do the right thing.
“love mercy” / be merciful and not callous and vengeful.
“walk humbly with thy God” / humble yourself. Don’t become haughty in living for God. Live with the understanding that I’m as guilty as the next person. So I’m going to display a humble spirit, doing all I can to please the Lord.
They were deceiving themselves by thinking that bondage was better.
God Instructs Moses
God Instructs Moses
4 Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.
5 And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.
God was so gracious. Here He has a people telling Him that His plan is dumb. Ungrateful, no self-awareness.
He was so gracious that He would answer the Israelites’ murmuring by raining down on them “bread from heaven.” BUT - there was to be a “test” (“prove them”) to see whether Israel would obey and trust Him.
So every day, they are going to be able to go out and there would be this “bread from heaven.” However, already the seventh day was to be set apart tot the Lord because of its establishment in the Creation ordinances. On the sixth day, the people were to gather twice the daily amount. It was not to be left or eaten in the form they gathered it. Instead, it was to be prepared by milling or baking.
6 And Moses and Aaron said unto all the children of Israel, At even, then ye shall know that the Lord hath brought you out from the land of Egypt:
7 And in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of the Lord; for that he heareth your murmurings against the Lord: and what are we, that ye murmur against us?
8 And Moses said, This shall be, when the Lord shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full; for that the Lord heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him: and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against the Lord.
How swift and on point is our God? That first part of verse 8 says that Israel’s lapse of memory would be restored that very evening. When God sends them food in a way yet to be announced, then they would know that it was the Lord.
Now here’s what’s interesting about that… doesn’t that language sound familiar? “Then you shall know that that Lord...” …this is the same words God spoke when He began to send plagues to Egypt. He said He was doing it so that Egypt would know that He is the Lord.
So now… there’s a big clue here on where we’re at in this journey. Why is He now having to use this language toward Israel???
Could it be that now, after judging Egypt in such a strong way and delivering Israel… Egypt is now behind them and they’re moving on to something else… could it just be that now, within them, they are carrying some Egypt inside?
And the last part of verse 8 helps us understand that this is a real inward problem: “...your murmurings are not against us, but against the Lord.” All this murmuring is not really about your leaders. Ultimately, your complaint is against God.
There are so many situations like this. Because it’s easy to place ourselves as the victim and find a problem with everyone else. When so often the true answer is that I’ve not been right with God.
You can get mad at people.
You can get mad at leadership.
You can go through life always finding grievances with people, packing up and moving on whenever that happens.
You can fool yourself into believing that in every challenge you come to, you are on the right side, and everyone else has done wrong somewhere.
Or… you can stand up and look in the mirror. Stare into the face of your biggest challenger. Your greatest battle. And you can say, “Flesh, we’re not going that way anymore. Old man, old woman, you’re not coming back to life; I’m putting you on the altar. I may not be able to control the actions of others, but I know I can control mine! God, let me be right with you and then make me a light in this dark old world!”
Their complaint wasn’t about everybody and everything else - it was about their lack of faithfulness to God!
9 And Moses spake unto Aaron, Say unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, Come near before the Lord: for he hath heard your murmurings. 10 And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.
Did you ever tattle on your brother or sister? Reading through this, it almost felt a bit like that. You know: “Dad heard you mouthing and he said to come see him right now!” But of course, this is not that. It’s God-led.
God wanted to somewhat reveal Himself here.
Because God is Spirit, He has varied the ways in which He has shown Himself. The glory of the LORD is one of the grand theophanies (appearances of God) recorded in Exodus. God first appeared to Moses in the burning bush. We do not know exactly what the people saw in the cloud, but the sight certainly made them aware of God’s majestic and somewhat ominous presence. And it can be a presence to be feared:
2 Clouds and darkness are round about him: Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. 3 A fire goeth before him, And burneth up his enemies round about. 4 His lightnings enlightened the world: The earth saw, and trembled. 5 The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord, At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
I don’t know how much of a “fear” of the Lord that there is today.
God Sends Quail and Manna
God Sends Quail and Manna
11 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 12 I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God.
So the Lord has set the stage to dramatically prove that He is in complete control, is capable of following through with everything that He says He will do. Even though He’s done this before these people enough times we can no longer count at this point.
You know, He really is a patient God.
13 And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host.
14 And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground.
15 And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat.
So let’s start with the quail. Quail are known to be migratory. They usually fly in large numbers in the spring toward the north, returning in the fall. Wherever they were particularly headed, God hijacked the wagon train and ordered their landing here.
It actually says that the quail “came up.” Let me read to you NLT:
13 That evening vast numbers of quail flew in and covered the camp. And the next morning the area around the camp was wet with dew.
Wouldn’t it be cool if we could get the deer to just come up to the front porch here?! Hunt from your couch! “The earth is the Lord’s.” So he’s like, “Here you go. Have at it.”
And not only did the quail “come up,” but so did the dew. The dew came up around the camp. And when it evaporated, beneath it appeared “thin flakes like frost on the ground.” And this was what they called “manna.” This is literally translated, “What is this?” So the first time it was called this, it was as a question: “Manna?”
This would continually happen each and every day. All except for the sabbath, for which the day before gave a double portion. And it would continually happen this way until they crossed the border of Canaan, where there was a land flowing with milk and honey.
“This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat.” And it’s provided every single day.
Sounds a lot like the prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread.” But that prayer, many years later, was prayed with the complete understanding that He is the only one who can be Jireh, our provider.
These people did not have that cemented within them. They had been in a slave situation, where times were hard and they had been content to receive their food from whoever and keep their head down. They’ve been used to “going along to get along.”
And there is something in that about our walk with God. If you’re just “making it” and holding things together in life on your own accord, and you’ve not tapped into “daily bread” living, you’re not really walking with God.
Listen: spiritually, when I get up in the morning, the dew comes up, and there is daily bread for me.
I don’t have to go and spiritually starve. I don’t have to try to nourish myself by my own means. I don’t have to go spiritually hunt or spiritually starve - THE BREAD IS RIGHT THERE, IF I’LL GO TO IT DAILY!
STOP WALKING RIGHT PAST THE MANNA. STOP STARVING YOUR SPIRITUAL SELF.
You don’t have to just keep “getting by!” Let God provide for you and spiritually sustain you and it’ll flow to the other parts of your life!
“How do I do what you’re talking about preacher?”
The Word of God is our manna! Dig into it!
Talk to Him - He is the Word made flesh!
Go and gather manna daily! Give Him the firstfruits of your day!
Make this commitment: I will control and direct the first and last thoughts of my day. No one else will. And I’m directing them toward God!
Gather an Omer
Gather an Omer
So we have this quail that has come down miraculously to them. And there’s also this “manna” (“what is this?”) that is a miraculous provision. It cannot be explained away by any other phenomena in on the planet. It is a miraculously created substance for a special purpose, much like your Bible! Much like the Holy Ghost!
And it’s a daily provision. Then we come to verse 16.
16 This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents.
17 And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less.
18 And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating.
So just to explain this here… there would always be (every morning) enough manna for each person. Some people ate more, some less. But there was always going to be enough for each person’s appetite. So… no one was supposed to take more than he or she needed.
Thanksgiving is going to be here in just a few days. Don’t act like ya’ll ain’t ready to CLEAN… YO’… PLATE!
I’m here for it!
I got *beans, greens, potatoes, tomatoes...*
I’m about a certain kind of turkey. I like smoked. And I like fried!
But you know what the strange thing about it is. In my opinion, the best thing on the table is something nobody puts any effort into, but I eat it like it’s my last meal: cranberry sauce!
I come up there… I’ll let everybody else go first. That’s fine. But when I go through… you done had your turn, my brother. And I didn’t come to let it go to waste!
And sometimes… your eyes are bigger than your stomach!
And so God is like: Don’t be trying to hoard all of this miraculous bread. God’s provided enough for what you need, AND enough for what your neighbor needs.
Now… if the bread is a type of the Word of God (“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God”), then that means that there is enough WORD in this Book to sustain me, and sustain all those around me!
What this comes back to is… I cannot only live in the mode of a SPIRITUAL CONSUMER.
SOMEBODY ELSE HAS GOT TO EAT.
I can come in here and get spiritually fat. And there’s people I’m around that need some help. So I cannot afford to only CONSUME! God has ordained it such that I can lead someone to where there is ENOUGH FOR THEM, TOO!!!
19 And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning.
20 Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them.
21 And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted.
The Sixth Day’s Gathering
The Sixth Day’s Gathering
22 And so it was, on the sixth day, that they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. And all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses.
23 Then he said to them, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Tomorrow is a Sabbath rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you will bake today, and boil what you will boil; and lay up for yourselves all that remains, to be kept until morning.’ ”
24 So they laid it up till morning, as Moses commanded; and it did not stink, nor were there any worms in it.
25 Then Moses said, “Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field.
26 Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none.”
So, it seems as though every thing is going according to what the Lord has required…
Rest on the Seventh Day
Rest on the Seventh Day
27 Now it happened that some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, but they found none.
28 And the Lord said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws?
You know, it’s really easy to look at these people and say, “What is their problem?!”
“What’s so hard about going outside and there is your food every day, just gather it the way He asked you to every time, and keep the sabbath.”
But here’s the reality: How many times have we disobeyed His word? Truly. It’s not as open/shut as we might think. We all have sinned and fallen short of His glory. We all mess up. But something has to get in us that is like a relentless pursuit of obedience to God! An unconditional adherence to where the Spirit leads us and nudges us!
These people, like many today, have not gotten that made up mind.
28 And the Lord said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws?
29 See! For the Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. Let every man remain in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.”
30 So the people rested on the seventh day.
31 And the house of Israel called its name Manna. And it was like white coriander seed, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.
WHITE CORIANDER SEED - used mainly for seasoning. This is not manna, it was what manna was compared to.
Manna Kept as a Testimony
Manna Kept as a Testimony
32 And Moses said, This is the thing which the Lord commandeth, Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations; that they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt.
33 And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the Lord, to be kept for your generations.
So follow me for just a second here…
The manna would rot and become wormy if too much was taken. But if they kept it as a memorial to the generations, it lasted and never went bad!
In the same way, if someone stays in the will of God and doesn’t depart from what He desires for their life, their testimony will never go bad! They will be able to tell their kids of how following God faithfully will keep you through the years.
A testimony doesn’t turn bad!
Even so, for the ones who have departed from His will - if they will return to God - the scripture says in Joel 2:25 (just before prophecy of the coming of the Holy Ghost) “...I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten...”
25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, The cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, My great army which I sent among you.
God can restore to you a testimony!
34 As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.
35 And the children of Israel ate manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land; they ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.
36 Now an omer is one-tenth of an ephah.
Chapter 17
Chapter 17
Murmurings for Water
Murmurings for Water
1 Then all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sin, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink.
2 Therefore the people contended with Moses, and said, “Give us water, that we may drink.” So Moses said to them, “Why do you contend with me? Why do you tempt the Lord?”
3 And the people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses, and said, “Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”
4 So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me!”
The people still do not get the fact that God has been consistently testing them. And instead of submitting to the tests of God, Israel began to test the Lord. And what we find throughout the Old Testament is that people “tempt” or “test” the Lord when they distrust his kindness and care of them and they start grumbling against him and/or his leaders.
Moses would later warn that men were not to put God to the test as they did here.
16 Ye shall not tempt the Lord your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.
And yet again, in one of Moses’ greatest abilities, he took all this issue to God. And you can just hear the exhaustion in his words.
Moses Smites the Rock of Horeb
Moses Smites the Rock of Horeb
5 And the Lord said to Moses, “Go on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel. Also take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river, and go.
6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
7 So he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contention of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
And what a ridiculous statement, when the pillar of cloud/fire was right there with them!
Massah = “test”
Meribah = “arguing”
This is all demonstrating a people who God is near them, but they are not near to God.
You know that’s possible, right? You can be around God. Acquainted with His power. Witnessing often the anointed power of God. In the area of His operation. Seeing Him work in lives. But be far from Him.
It’s almost like the man who lived on a hill during the gold rush years. He sat in his rocking chair every day, watching people down below panning for gold. He watched person after person, day after day.
Lot’s of people in town were skeptical that anything would be found.
And then it hit. Then, his days watching people from his rocking chair became days watching people strike gold from his rocking chair. Day after day after day, he watched them leave that land down below to go home and live a changed life.
Finally, he decided that watching, witnessing, and the comfort of a rocking chair… wasn’t going to change his life. So he did the only thing that would… he went down to where the action was at and committed to being there from now on.
You’ve got to settle something in your spirit: I AM DONE BEING A SPECTATOR!
Israelites Battle Amalek
Israelites Battle Amalek
8 Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim.
9 And Moses said to Joshua, “Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.”
So Amalek became the “first among the nations” (Num. 24:20) to attack Israel in their journey. And this assault on Israel angered the Lord on two counts:
They failed to recognize the hand and plan of God in Israel’s life and destiny.
And, their method of attack was dishonorable. Deuteronomy 25:17-19 tells us that their first targets were the sick, the aged, and the tired of Israel who were lagging behind in the line of their travel.
So he turns to one Joshua here, and instructs him to go and get together an army to fight them while he takes the staff in his hand and goes up to the top of a nearby hill that overlooked all of this. This is the setup for how they were going to battle the Amalekites.
And you’ve got to see this here - it’s so important. There were two elements in operation:
the sword in Joshua’s hand and
the staff (symbol of divine intervention) in Moses’ hand.
There has been a real shift here. With Egypt, God pretty much wiped them out Himself. That was their salvation. But now that they’re saved from that, and they’ve been delivered, God wants them to learn how to WORK WITH HIM.
If I get the idea that I can just sit here and God will intervene and heal and move and revival will come and such, I AM MISSING IT.
If the will of God is going to be carried out in and around my life, it’s most certainly going to take His divine involvement AND my human responsibility and cooperation! Listen to me: THERE IS NO OTHER WAY! He has designed it this way.
The gold is out there, and He’ll help you find it… but you’ve got to get out of the spiritual rocking chair and pursue it!
Can I put it plainly?!
PRAY WITH PURPOSE. (Some of us God’s got other nations that are waiting on us to get a depth of prayer that we’ll be able and willing to intercede for them.)
LET LOOSE YOUR WORSHIP.
HELP SOMEONE ELSE GROW.
BE THE FIRST DOWN TO THE ALTAR, AND DON’T COME DOWN HERE JUST TO RETREAT! (The platform doesn’t have some contagious disease! We’re not Olympic swimmers who swim down and back!) We’re going to get this one - some already have! COME DOWN WITH PURPOSE!
COME TO CHURCH WITH PURPOSE!
WAKE UP MONDAY WITH SPIRITUAL PURPOSE!
PENETRATE THE CULTURE!
BRING YOUR BIBLE TO WORK! WORK IT INTO THE CONVERSATION!
TOUCH SOMEONE’S LIFE WITH THIS!
Or… sit comfortably in the rocking chair and live a boring, miserable, faithless, passionless life. Watch others attain.
“That’s kind of heavy and harsh.”
No it’s not. I’m trying to release you out of the numbness of blindly going through the motions of religion into the pursuit of the passion of the Apostles!
If you’re going to see God’s will, it DOES NOT COME without His divine rod, and Joshua’s sword. It necessitates our involvement.
10 So Joshua did as Moses said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
11 And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
12 But Moses’ hands became heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.
13 So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
This is the first mention of Joshua, who would succeed Moses as the leader much later.
We see that Aaron and Hur go up with Moses to the top of the Hill. A few notes about these men:
AARON - the brother of Moses and Miriam. Has remained at Moses’s right hand this entire time, confronting Pharaoh in Egypt. We can see him as holding a the highest place of leadership after Moses himself.
HUR - mentioned here for the first time. All we truly know about him is that he was a companion and assistant of Moses and Aaron. He would help serve in leadership in other places along the way. There are some who contend that he was extended family.
Nonetheless, we have the closest in Moses’s circle going with him up to the vantage point.
So they’re up here on the hill… and Joshua has his men fighting below… and it tells us that Moses began to lift up his hand. And whenever he did, Israel pulled ahead with the upper hand in battle. But whenever his hand came down, Amalek began to come ahead.
Now, there’s nothing to suggest that this was just for some psychological effect to inspire troops every time they glanced up the hill (come on - that’s just not practical!).
There’s another theory that is often told that Moses was praying aloud while his hands were raised. That sort of misrepresents this, because the scriptures never actually say that.
From all that I can tell here, is that really, Moses’ outstretched arms primarily symbolized his appeal to God. God had commanded Moses on previous occasions, “Stretch out your hand” with the staff. And that rod was there in his hand, evidently. Verse 9 seems to imply that.
Now, we need to understand that this staff was no magic wand. Like other objects in the Old Testament, it was of absolutely no value unless:
it was divinely appointed and
the obedient use of it was accompanied by an internal faith in the heart and spirit of a man.
And so we have this prophetic-symbolic action of the constantly upraised hands. And what I truly believe is that it signalled the fervent prayers in the heart of Moses as he watched the battle.
There was this weariness that came on him. We don’t know how long the battle lasted. But hold your hands up and see how long they can stay there. With a staff, no less. And with the prayer in the heart, appealing to God… the weariness is understandable.
There is some application here:
We need to be there to hold up those who are intercessors. Or those who are fasting or are praying deeply with the Lord. (If you’ve never prayed to the point you became weary, it’s a depth of prayer we ought to come to. It’s not about getting to a weary place for weariness’ sake. It’s about the difference made by intercession! “When Zion travails, she brings forth children!”
We also need to be there to uphold spiritual authority in our lives.
And we need to support those who are wrestling with God or salvation or times of struggle.
Weariness is real, and we need someone with faith to come alongside the weary among us! Especially when Satan himself wishes to “wear out the saints of the most High” (Daniel 7:25).
Then it says that his hands were made steady to the setting of the sun, and Joshua and his ment won the battle!
Now, as you may recall, I mentioned that God and Israel regarded this attack as egregious in nature because:
It was unprovoked and disregarded the hand of God on Israel
It was particularly evil and cruel in that they attacked from the back, getting the hurt, old, and sickly first. Quite cowardly, in fact.
Well, here’s where the Lord expresses His view of it:
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.”
Moses Builds an Altar
Moses Builds an Altar
15 And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi:
16 For he said, Because the Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.
“Jehovah-nissi” or “Yahweh Nissi” is literally “the Lord is my Banner.” And the word for “banner” is “to be high,” “raised,” or “conspicuous.” And so you can just see it referring to this moment of lifting up the staff as a standard and a testimony to his power.
And so it is literally being said and understood here, that the victory was the Lord’s!
Can I take a moment and relate this to us???
Lifted hands… they are as if Moses is lifting the battle up to the Lord to become involved in. “God, we’re going to do what we know is right from our end! But, I thought it’d only be right, if I formally invited you to try YOUR HAND! Here… let me lift this thing up to you!”
What all have you been lifting up to the Lord?
What all have you NOT been lifting up to the Lord?
When we hold back from God, we short-circuit our prayers. Sometimes we live our Christian life only partially surrendered to Him. We will give Him just so much—ten percent of our money, an hour or two on Sunday, a prayer every day, and a nod to Him every so often as if we’d just encountered an acquaintance on the street. Such surrender isn’t surrender at all. Give up all to Him. Become totally dependent on God. By giving, you get. By keeping, you lose.
For true power in prayer, hold nothing back. Be surrendered to Christ. Go all out for Him. Forsake all to follow the Savior. The type of devotion that crowns Christ Lord of all is the kind that He loves to honor!
Listen: we like to go it alone.
We like to go it alone on our feelings.
We like to go it alone on our emotions.
Some of us haven’t shed a tear in prayer or the altar in God knows how long.
We like to go it alone on our jobs.
We like to go it alone on our finances.
We like to go it alone on our relationships.
We like to go it alone on our sin.
That’s why depression is such a powerful hold on people: because it draws every negative emotion and though inwardly, when what needs to happen so badly is an outward expression to get all of that out… and an outward expression of inviting God in!
HOW LONG DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING TO MAKE IT GOING ALONE? HOW HARD DO YOU WANT TO FIGHT AND DO THE LONE RANGER THING AND WASTE TIME BEFORE YOU INVITE THE LORD JESUS CHRIST INTO IT?
Why do you think we come down to the altar?!
Why do you think we preach prayer until we’re blue in the face?!
You know what you’ve got to do?! You’ve got to grab up all of that stuff and lift up your hands… “I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting!” …YOU’VE GOT TO LIFT UP YOUR HANDS AND GIVE IT TO JESUS!!!
And you know what He’s going to do??? He’s going to come right to where you’re at and make up the difference!
STARTING POINT
Chapter 18
Chapter 18
The Visit by Jethro
The Visit by Jethro
1 And Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel His people—that the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt.
2 Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her back,
3 with her two sons, of whom the name of one was Gershom (for he said, “I have been a stranger in a foreign land”)
4 and the name of the other was Eliezer (for he said, “The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh”);
5 and Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness, where he was encamped at the mountain of God.
6 Now he had said to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her.”
God wanted the salvation of Israel out of Egypt to be heard throughout the world. And the word of their deliverance had reached the remote dwelling place of Jethro, the priest of Midian. And he came all the way to the place that they were!
I picked up this news story a while back: “Americans No Longer Want to Move for Work and Better Affordability. Here’s Why.”
Essentially, it said that whereas “affordability” is the buzzword right now, and everyone is harping on it (justifiably), some of the loudest ones are groups of people who live in the most expensive large cities and refuse to move elsewhere. And as it turns out, moving to find better work or cost-of-living areas was much, much more common before 2000. As a matter of fact, the percentages of people or families who move due to better pay or lower costs today are less than half the amount it was before 2000. “Americans used to move frequently and in massive numbers to wherever housing and living were cheaper.”
We could probably toss around a lot of stories here today. Something that I hear so much about the past is the route between here and Rockford, Illinois. All had to do with work!
Even though prices have shot up, Arkansas remains one of the cheaper places to live compared to the rest of the country. You can include Tennessee and Texas. The people that are moving are often moving to these places.
But still yet, that number of people is shrinking. People don’t want to move, even when it can greatly benefit their situation.
Question: what possesses a person… to leave everything they’ve ever known… all of the comfort of life as it had been going in Midian… and go to a place waaay out in the wilderness, where the people of God are, at the mount of God?!
I’m going to tell you what causes that to happen! It’s all wrapped up in verse one:
1 When Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father in law, heard of all that God had done for Moses, and for Israel his people, and that the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt;
When he HEARD of the DELIVERANCE and how they were BROUGHT OUT… that’s when he left behind whatever he was priest of in Midian and said, “I WANT WHAT YOU’VE GOT!”
Listen… IF WE WANT THEM TO COME, THEN THEY HAVE TO HEAR!!!
I feel a little “Go Tell It On the Mountain” spirit on me right now!
14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?
15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!”
IT’S GOING TO HAVE TO BE TOLD, AND IT’S GOING TO HAVE TO BE LIVED!
THEY NEED TO HEAR, AND THEY NEED TO SEE!
Our job is to make Jesus tangible for people! We have to bring HIM to THEM!
We have to be like John the Baptist - we have to become good at presenting the Savior to people who are searching! “I know I’m not much and my life isn’t the most pleasant thing to look at… (I’ve got a locust of my struggles in my beard and some honey of my human nature)… but there is One - mightier than I! Whose shoes I am unworthy to stoop down and unloose! I WANT TO PRESENT TO YOU JESUS! Let me tell you what He’s done in me!”
THAT is what causes people to shift things in their life!
...
But if I present Jesus as if He’s not worth living for… THAT DOESN’T MOVE ANYBODY!
So I’ve got to be carrying the glory of God with me (like they were!). I can’t merely leave the mountain of Sunday morning/Wednesday night with a glow about my face - although that’s there and that’s needed… I have to have the glory with me on Friday!
As a matter of fact let me submit this to you...
We often call the place we worship “the sanctuary.” There’s a reason for that. It is to be a sanctuary to people. People are going to come in who are going through a lot. You’re going to come in sometimes while going through a lot. You need the sanctuary and you need to bind with others and gain strength.
However… pretty early on in our walk with God, coming in on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday… the need for our fire to be found and our passion for the things of God to be reignited should become the exception and not the rule.
There are going to be TIMES like that... but what our default needs to become is: “I’m bringing the fire when I walk in the door! I’m ready to seek God with my brothers and sisters! I’m going to hit pre-service prayer! I’m going to lead worship! I’m gonna be a front-row-praiser!”
I’m not just here to receive! I’m gonna give!!!
God’s Deliverance
God’s Deliverance
Here’s what happens… here’s what God wants to do for your family!
7 So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, bowed down, and kissed him. And they asked each other about their well-being, and they went into the tent.
8 And Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had come upon them on the way, and how the Lord had delivered them.
9 Then Jethro rejoiced for all the good which the Lord had done for Israel, whom He had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians.
10 And Jethro said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh, and who has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians.
11 Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods; for in the very thing in which they behaved proudly, He was above them.”
12 Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took a burnt offering and other sacrifices to offer to God. And Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.
God is going to help to give them revelation: all these things in life that I have made gods… they are nothing… HE IS EVERYTHING!
One translation of verse 11 says, “Excelling them [the gods] in the very things to which they laid claims [Egypt].”
In other words… what the world had everyone fooled into thinking it had a monopoly on (truth, what is good, what is right, what is lovely, what is happiness, what is powerful...) ...God came along and decisively proved OTHERWISE.
And this is what we want to see in people! Scales are on the eyes now, but at some point, God comes along while we were yet comfortable, and effectively knocks us off of our horse and puts us on a path to seeing again!
The tragedy that took place three months ago in which Charlie Kirk was assassinated… that moment shook a lot of people. The types of global war and rumors of war have done the same.
In the wake of these sorts of end-time events, people have searched Google for “salvation” and Biblical and religious questions far more than usual.
That’s just a broad sense of how some have been “knocked off their horse” if you will. The personal struggles that inevitably arise in life will be there, too. And while they may be like Jethro, and be in a great position in their life materially, these things are going to come.
But when Jethro (Moses’s lost family) witnesses the power of God working in the life of Moses and all the people… HE IS MOVED.
There is this declaration of faith - powerful. But then after that, if you look at that last verse, you see Jethro bringing an offering and sacrifice and worship to God. And although he is the priest of Midian, he is not leading this worship today… we see Jethro, Moses, and Aaron… FAMILY… worshipping the one true God together!
I believe it to be one of the more overlooked and powerful parts of the book of Exodus!
Good Advice from Jethro
Good Advice from Jethro
13 And so it was, on the next day, that Moses sat to judge the people; and the people stood before Moses from morning until evening.
14 So when Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he did for the people, he said, “What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit, and all the people stand before you from morning until evening?”
15 And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God.
16 When they have a difficulty, they come to me, and I judge between one and another; and I make known the statutes of God and His laws.”
So what we see here is that the people are coming to Moses as a sort of judge and spiritual discerner. He would give them instruction and make judicial settlements when the issues would arise.
And what we’re going to see is that Jethro (older and perhaps wiser in some ways) is depicted as an efficiency expert.
17 So Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you do is not good.
18 Both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out. For this thing is too much for you; you are not able to perform it by yourself.
Here’s where we have to remember that it is estimated that the number of people Moses is presiding over is very possibly in the MILLIONS.
Let’s put this into perspective: it’s estimated that a little over 14,000 people live in Clay County, AR. We’ve got a whole court with a judge and county staff to deal with all the disputes that come there. Those issues are not ALL of the issues that arise in the county. And even then, the issues that are received have a thorough process of being dealt with.
Moses is ONE GUY. With a population that tops out in the millions.
And Jethro is observing it and seeing that his son-in-law is BURNING OUT.
Burnout.
Anybody ever been burnt out???
Here’s the reality: often, when someone asks us how we’ve been, we’ll say, “Busy, busy!” ...as if it’s some badge of honor. Busy about the right things can be good, but certainly not if we’re burning out.
Moses may have thought he was doing well and doing right - getting a lot done. But it took a man who only recently had started a relationship with God to tell the MAN OF GOD, “Hey, you’re burning out, my friend.”
Very often, we allow these types of situations to arise. That’s what had taken place with Moses. “I can handle all this. It’s time consuming, but I can handle it.” Maybe you can, but there’ll be nothing left of you, sir.
We allow many things to come in and get a choke-hold.
Workaholic nature
More hobbies than perhaps we need
Entertainment/social media
Commitments that do not align with what God has created us for
And what do these sorts of things get a choke-hold on? What suffers?
Our relationship with God
Our relationship with our family
Our physical and mental health
If you don’t think that’s exactly where Moses was… he was dealing with the exact sort of burnout position we recognize.
So Jethro offered a very practical solution: cut it out. Delegate.
I’m going to offer some very practical solutions:
First of all, everyone needs to be able to get some vacation time in.
We plan - each year - at least one time we can get away. Look, I’m Mr. Come-to-church. When I think about COVID, I get aggravated. And if you bring your reason not to come to church or not to go to work to me, I bet, in most cases, I can talk you out of it in under two minutes.
But as settled in my spirit as I am on my faithfulness… we are going to get away at some point.
And I’m telling you… even if it’s not some elaborate thing… you need to do that.
You need to disconnect
We only have so much bandwidth, if you will. And we’re zapping it faster than you can possibly imagine.
It’s hard to settle your brain into a time of sweet fellowship with God when you’ve doom-scrolled your mind into a mess.
Move out unnecessary things that take away from your rest and time with God and family.
If it doesn’t help any of these things, it may well be taking away from them.
Be ruthless with it. There is nothing more important that your relationship with God and your family.
Say “no” to the wrong things. Say “yes” to the right things.
So Jethro has a solution.
Teach the people in front of them. Let them know how to live.
Hear their difficulties. Bring those to God.
And then there’s this:
21 Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
22 And let them judge the people at all times. Then it will be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they themselves shall judge. So it will be easier for you, for they will bear the burden with you.
23 If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all this people will also go to their place in peace.”
24 So Moses heeded the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said.
25 And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people: rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
26 So they judged the people at all times; the hard cases they brought to Moses, but they judged every small case themselves.
27 Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went his way to his own land.
