When Obedience Gets Difficult

Intro

[Thank worship team]

Good morning Bethel Church, and good morning to our network of rural churches that are joining us live on YouTube. And if you are new here, I want to extend a special welcome to you. If you would, there are “Connect” cards in the seat in front of you. If you would fill that out there or at the Welcome Center outside of the sanctuary. We even have a free gift for you if you are new to Bethel. We would love to get in touch with you and discuss how to get connected to our church family.

Announcements:

[Announcement 1]

[Announcement 2]

TRANS: Pray

Opening Hook

When God calls, it must start to get better… right?

We are on the heels of the story where God calls Moses to go back to Egypt to tell the Pharaoh to let God’s people out of slavery. God promised to be with Moses, to resource him, to accompany the message with signs and miracles.

So it was easy… right?

As we shall see, and is the title of today’s message, Moses’ obedience to God would going to get difficult. God did not call Moses to do something easy, he called Moses to do something that was *impossible* apart from God’s intervention. And it was going to get worse before it gets better.

We often have the same gap of expectation. We assume that if God calls us to do something, there shouldn’t be struggle, it should immediately get better. Sometimes it does, but sometimes it doesn’t. But life on the narrow road that does not lead to destruction is not free from danger…

The Expectation Gap

The narrow road can still get rough.

When following God, life often gets worse before it gets better. Have you ever found this to be true? When this happens, we become filled with thoughts of…

Giving up

Looking for someone to blame

Questioning God

And today’s passage is no different.

TRANS: Today we will be continuing our study of the book of Exodus called, “Forward, Trusting God in the Unknown.” If you are reading out of the Bibles in front of you, our passage can be found on page 48. If you do not have a Bible, please stop by the Welcome Center and take one. It is our gift to you.

Exodus 5:1–9 ESV

1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’ ” 2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.” 3 Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.” 4 But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your burdens.” 5 And Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens!” 6 The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen, 7 “You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 But the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on them, you shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words.”

The Story Unfolds

The plan seems to backfire.

Exodus 5:1-9

“Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go?”

Pharaoh’s request, when seen in the context of Egyptian polytheism,67 is understandable, for there were many gods to which one might pay honor. The god of an enslaved people was not one of them, and although he probably assumed that these slaves served a god, he was not going to give any respect or honor to such a god.1

67 T. G. H. James, An Introduction to Ancient Egypt (Rockville, MD: Wildside Press, 1991), 128–49.

1 Eugene Carpenter, Exodus, vol. 1, Evangelical Exegetical Commentary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016), 317.

And this is where it gets worse.

Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters to stop providing straw for brick-making. I had shared a few weeks ago that they could have been required to create hundreds of bricks per day for their quota. Now they not only had to continue the quota, whatever it was, but with the added time-consuming task of gathering their own straw. Why was this important?

Victor Mathews makes this observation…

straw for bricks. Straw serves as a bonding agent in the brick as it is heated. Without sufficient straw or with poor-quality stubble, the bricks would not form as easily and a higher proportion would fall apart, thus making the quota harder to achieve.1

1 Victor Harold Matthews, Mark W. Chavalas, and John H. Walton, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament, electronic ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), Ex 5:6–14.

TRANS: The harsh slavery of the God’s people was getting worse, and obedience to God’s plan seemed to have backfired.

Exodus 5:10–23 ESV

10 So the taskmasters and the foremen of the people went out and said to the people, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I will not give you straw. 11 Go and get your straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced in the least.’ ” 12 So the people were scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. 13 The taskmasters were urgent, saying, “Complete your work, your daily task each day, as when there was straw.” 14 And the foremen of the people of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, “Why have you not done all your task of making bricks today and yesterday, as in the past?” 15 Then the foremen of the people of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, “Why do you treat your servants like this? 16 No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people.” 17 But he said, “You are idle, you are idle; that is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ 18 Go now and work. No straw will be given you, but you must still deliver the same number of bricks.” 19 The foremen of the people of Israel saw that they were in trouble when they said, “You shall by no means reduce your number of bricks, your daily task each day.” 20 They met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them, as they came out from Pharaoh; 21 and they said to them, “The Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.” 22 Then Moses turned to the Lord and said, “O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? 23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.”

God’s people suffer, and Moses questions God.

Exodus 5:10-23

This part of the story is called, “everyone’s back is against the wall.”

The Egyptian taskmasters were passing down instructions to the Jewish foremen, and the foremen were receiving punishment when the impossible quota was not met.

So the jewish foremen appealed to Pharaoh, but what does he say? “you are idle, you are idle!” In other words, you guys are just lazy.

Now watch this scene in verse 20. Notice what happens. Moses and Aaron were outside waiting for the foremen. And what do the foremen do? They chew out Moses and Aaron. And what does Moses then do? He seems to put blame on God. “Why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me?” (Exodus 5:22)

Blame

As suffering increases, and questions arise, blame results. It is human nature to attribute blame.

We blame because we need to process our suffering. We try to identify its source. Our minds are wired to look for causes so we can avoid pain in the future.

I want you to hear something today. I think we do a disservice to ourselves when we do not allow space to process. Moses is called a man of faith in Hebrews 11, well, it sure doesn’t look like it here! I think that should tell us something: it is normal to question when we suffer.

TRANS: But what God was about to say in response would not be an “answer,” but a comfort.

Exodus 6:1–13 ESV

1 But the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.” 2 God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them. 4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. 5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. 6 Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. 7 I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.’ ” 9 Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery. 10 So the Lord said to Moses, 11 “Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the people of Israel go out of his land.” 12 But Moses said to the Lord, “Behold, the people of Israel have not listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, for I am of uncircumcised lips?” 13 But the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge about the people of Israel and about Pharaoh king of Egypt: to bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

God’s promises remain.

Exodus 6:1-13

It is not Moses, it is not Israel, it is not Pharaoh who has the authority to bring deliverance. Only Yahweh has that authority, as is now, at long last, about to be made irrevocably clear.1

1 John I. Durham, Exodus, vol. 3, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1987), 63.

The narrow road will get bumpy, but the destination will make the journey worth it.

We must be prepared to face discouragement, but a focus on the destination can sustain us

Human Experience: Remember when we were young, heading out with the family on a road trip? Maybe it was to Disney World or the Grand Canyon or some other gem in the Americana treasure trove. There was the excitement of rising early, loading up the car, and setting out. Usually, however, at some point, the reality sank in: between our starting point and destination there is a long, hard journey. Numb knees. Bored stares out the window. Occasional war with a sibling. Way too many stops at way too many gas stations. A focus on the destination made the discouragements of a long car ride worth it. The journey to our heavenly destination, the new Jerusalem, can also be long and hard, but if we keep our focus on where we are headed, we will realize that the end result of the journey is worth the hardships along the way.1

1 T. Desmond Alexander, Exodus, ed. John H. Walton, Teach the Text Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books: A Division of Baker Publishing Group, 2016), 38.

God invited Moses to keep his eyes to the outcome, the promises. God cannot lie. He is sovereign and good. The suffering that Moses and God’s people would endure would be worth it. Getting out from under slavery would be painful, but not more painful than keeping them in slavery.

TRANS: God’s freedom often comes with a cost.

Application

Walking with God may cost you before it comforts you.

Matthew 7:13–14

Matthew 7:13–14 ESV

13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

When we follow God, we must be prepared for discouragement. The Lord is faithful and good to walk with us through discouraging times, but they will come nonetheless. The followers of Jesus also faced…

Discouragement

Heartbreak

Setbacks

Persecution

But they also had something that no amount of suffering could take away: hope.

Since Jesus left, he has given us the gift of the Holy Spirit (God - the third person of the Trinity) who speaks to our hearts in times of trouble. He helps us, strengthens us, and walks with us.

Yet though that help is offered, following Jesus may feel costly before we are comforted. But like the Israelites in Egypt, being freed from slavery comes at a cost. It is painful. Some of you need freedom from varied kinds of slavery to sin. But the process of setting free involves pain, it involves cost.

In our instant gratification world, we struggle with the news that “The gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life.” Why is it hard? Because it involves cost.

Here’s my challenge to you: Pick your “hard.”

It will be hard to follow Christ at times, because he requires obedience to Him as a show of your loving and believing loyalty. Sometimes we do not “feel” like obeying, yet we must.

What’s the alternative? To pick the wide road, the road that leads to destruction. Destruction can be two things:

The consequences of reckless and careless living.

Eternal separation from God in hell.

Pick your hard. Everyone must choose.

TRANS: Yet some of us are unable to hear this today. Some of us are so focused on the pain that we cannot hear God’s voice calling to us into the narrow road that leads to life. Why? Because…

A broken spirit can become a closed ear.

In Exodus 6:9, the word “spirit” is your disposition. It comes with the picture of breath or wind. You could say “ the wind was out of the Israelite’s sails.”

Exodus 6:9 ESV

9 Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.

10 Symptoms of a Broken Spirit:

You cannot remember the last time you felt God’s presence

The garden of your heart feels dry

You feel like prayer does not do anything

You believe the future will be worse than the present

You’ve emotionally isolated yourself from others

You may even still be social, but no one knows what is really going on

You could be involved in church groups, but you never share your heart

You feel like God’s promises must not apply to you

You find that most of the time you are either withdrawn or angry

You repeat your painful circumstances in your mind

What used to be reminders of God’s love for you now feel numb

You’ve become unable to trust that God or others have your best in mind

It’s no wonder that it has become difficult to hear God’s voice, and therefore, obedience is difficult.

The process of healing:

Recognize the hurt

Reject false beliefs

Receive God’s encouragement

John 16:33 ESV

33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

But what? “Take heart.” Often times, God does not change our circumstances, he gives us the courage and strength to face it with His help.

John Prayer and Understanding (16:23–33)

Discipleship is about learning how to discover peace when surrounded by threat, how to possess tranquillity despite those hostile to your faith. The solution is “courage” (Gk. tharseo, 16:33b; NIV “take heart!”). This word occurs only here in John but is used in the Synoptics to describe the attitude Jesus sought in the disciples during the Galilee storm (

Open your ear today. Do not allow the painful circumstances of life to drown out the voice of God! Rather, listen for His voice as you walk through this dark world until the Day draws near. There is one hope in this life. Cling to Him. Cling to Christ and find rest for your weary soul.

Conclusion: Sometimes obedience gets difficult. Perhaps you feel like Moses and life is getting worse before it gets better. But cling to God’s promises, for He is Good.

Pray

*INVITE CONGREGATION TO RECEIVE PRAYER*

Come to the front of the sanctuary where there will be people who can pray with you.

Talk About It/Think About It

Why do we often assume that doing the right thing should make life easier right away? (See Matthew 7:13–14)

What stands out to you about Pharaoh’s response to Moses and Aaron? (Exodus 5:1–9)

What do we learn from the fact that Moses brings his confusion and frustration directly to God?

How can God’s promises steady us when our circumstances are still painful? (Exodus 6:1–13)

How might this story help someone stay faithful in a season of suffering or disappointment?

How can pain or discouragement make it harder to hear and trust God’s word?

Talk about the process of healing: Recognize the hurt, Reject false beliefs, Receive God’s encouragement. What do you need most right now?