The Conquest Promised | Ex 23:20-33
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· 10 viewsSeries: You Are My People
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Introduction
Introduction
Open your Bibles to Exodus 23
If you don’t have a bible of your own, please take the bible in front of you in the pews home. It’s our gift to you because we want the powerful, life changing word of God in your life.
As we open up to Exodus 23, we remember that God has delivered Israel out of their slavery in Egypt. He is now shepherding them through the wilderness as they make their way into the land which He promised to give them.
God has spent the last few chapters giving Israel His laws and commandments, so that they would live the best lives for themselves and others, and so that The rest of the world will see how good their God is through the way they lived.
And now, as God is describing to them the process of He will give them the promised land in the near future. A land that He promised to their ancestor Abraham long ago.
Text
Text
“Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression, for my name is in him. “But if you carefully obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.
who is the angel?
We’ve met this angel of the Lord before in the burning bush.
Angel is the greek word for messenger.
When He speaks, God speaks.
God’s name is in Him.
He is distinct from God and yet the same as God.
It is God the Son, before He became man. This is Jesus.
I and the Father are one.”
It says here he will not pardon sin. Which doesn’t sound like Jesus.
But this could very well mean that disobedience has consequences and punishments, not that God will give up on them.
But think for a moment what a blessing this angel is.
Imagine how scary it must have been to go into a land that you don’t know, inhabited by multiple groups of people who are hostile to you.
But God promises them, that the land they are going into is worth going to. And on top of that, that He will go before them. He will lead them, He will be their strength, and He will make the outcome of this conquest certain! He will led them to this land and they alone shall dwell in it!
“When my angel goes before you and brings you to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, and I blot them out, you shall not bow down to their gods nor serve them, nor do as they do, but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their pillars in pieces.
What is blotting out and why?
Why these people?
God said to Abraham: who blesses you i will bless and who curses you I will curse
It seems cruel to do this, but we have to remember, that all these groups are people who rejected God. They split off and worshipped idols, eve though they were told many times that it would result in their death and curse their people for generations.
Whether to bless or to punish, God does not forget.
Well, eventually, the time would come when God would fulfill His promises to Abraham and His promise against these groups of people.
In addition, Israel is always tempted and convinced to worship Idols. there shall be no idol worship. keeping these people among them would surely be a stumbling block.
And I know it must feel odd to see Him here, because we’re talking about the total destruction of people.
We don’t like to think of Jesus that way, but we always have to remember that Jesus is not only the savior of the world, but also the judge of the world.
And we still believe that He will come again to save and judge the living and the dead.
Jesus is the God of the Old Testament. There is only one God.
You shall serve the Lord your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you. None shall miscarry or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.
And as Israel goes and takes this land, will al other peoples removed, with all idols purged, they will worship and serve Yahweh alone, because He is the only God.
And as they do this, God will continue to bless them and provide all they need. He will give them land, food, drink, children, and happy and healthy lives.
I will send my terror before you and will throw into confusion all the people against whom you shall come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites from before you. I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild beasts multiply against you. Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and possess the land.
What is this terror that God is sending?
it’s the news of what God did to Egypt. His mighty works, His wonders. The way He deals with those who are against Him and His people.
The hornets are likely not literal hornets, but another metaphor for the destruction that is about to come to them.
But God is not going to conquer all the people in the land in one fell swoop.
If he did, the israelites wouldn’t have enough people to inhabit and cultivate the land. So it would become desolate and wild animals, bears, lions, ad more, would take over the land.
So He is going to conquer the land for them one bit at a time as they multiply.
And I will set your border from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates, for I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you.
And Here are the boundaries of the land. Tthey are very generous.
Take a look at this map.
Here are the boundaries. Look at how much coast they get, how much land, how much fresh water. This is a big, beautiful, abundant land.
it has access to the ocean, it is bordered by seas, it is fertile, it is protected. It’s prime real estate!
But their wellbeing and success in this land is all dependent on how they live:
You shall make no covenant with them and their gods. They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”
And are you starting to see the pattern here over the weeks?
Do you see how serious God is about having no idols? How insistent He is that He is the only God there is. that He alone is to be worshipped?
God has freed these people, made them His own, given them land, and promised to protect them.
And their only response needs to be obedience and worship.
And these other people worship idols and make sacrifices and have rituals that distract and lead away from God. They all end in death. present and eternal.
and, again, the temptations will be there. Plenty of opportunities. God is warning them ahead of time so they are not caught off guard.
They are to be true to God so that the conquest is completed successfully and so that they will always be a shining, true, and uncompromised light to the world.
Application
Application
Christ still goes before us
we are sent out into a world as a shining light of God’s love to the people. We are sent into a world that worships other gods, at times persecutes us, and pulls us away from God.
It is scary to fulfill the great commission. Jesus even said it would be difficult and scary.
“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues,
and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles.
But we have to remember that this is not our mission or our work, and that our lives are not in our own hands.
God is the one leading us and going before us. He will fight our battles for us.
But instead of conquering the world with swords and spears and guns, He is going to do it through sacrifice, gentleness, through love and forgiveness.
But one thing is sure, we are never alone.
And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
He even tells us, that as he sends us out, He is with us!
When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour.
For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
So, while the road ahead looks hostile and uncertain, our future does not. God is leading us, and calling the people of this world, to the true promised land. A new creation, where all sin, pain, and death is erased. A True Home that God is not only leading us toward, but is assuring our victory and life in it.
A land that He tells us about here:
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
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Reading
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Confession
Confession
