Deliverance

We are continuing our survey of the Bible this morning. I mentioned when we started that through this series my prayer is that we will learn more about God. We don’t need more information. We’ve got plenty of information. What we need is an encounter with the living God. We need to know God: who he is and what he is like. But my goal is that we will better understand the story as well. Because the Bible is made up of sixty-six books it is easy to think of it as lots of disconnected stories when in actuality it is one continuous story told by three dozen different authors in three different languages across more than a thousand years. Yet despite the differences in time, language, and geographical location, the authors all point to God and his plan to deliver us from our sins. If you want to explain to some one what the Bible is about, that’s it. It is the story of how God created the world, and when it fell because of disobedience, God revealed his plan to save us through Jesus who died for our sins, rose from the dead, and will return one day.

Today, we come to the story of the Exodus, a picture of that deliverance from sin. When we think about the Exodus, it’s hard for many of us not to picture Charlton Heston in “The Commandments.” The movie, which first aired seventy years ago, was on TV again this year. It still draws large audiences and I don’t think it’s because of the great special effects. I watched it this past Easter. It’s not the special effects that gets everyone’s attention. No, it’s because of the great story of God’s deliverance. God called Moses to lead the Israelites from Egyptian bondage and through him, God did great things.

You may remember the old sermon illustration about a man praying for God to rescue him as flood waters started rising around his house. A neighbor came by in a pickup truck and said, “The water is rising. Get in! I'll take you to safety.” The man replied, “No, thank you. God is going to save me.” The neighbor drove away. The water continued to rise. Soon the man was on the second floor of his house when a rescue boat came by. “Get in! We'll take you to safety!” Again, the man refused. “Thank you, but I have faith that God will save me.” The boat moved on. Eventually, the water reached the roof. The man climbed onto the top of his house and continued praying: “God, please save me!” Then a helicopter flew overhead. The rescuers lowered a ladder and shouted: “Grab the ladder! We'll get you out!” But the man waved them away. “No, thank you! God will save me!” The helicopter left.

Eventually, the flood swept over the house, and the man drowned. When he arrived in heaven, he asked God: “God, I trusted you. I prayed for you to save me. Why didn't you save me?” And God answered: “I sent you a pickup truck, a boat, and a helicopter. What more did you want me to do?”

God had provided for the man over and over again. The problem wasn’t God’s lack of provision, it was the man unwillingness to listen and obey the plan God had for him. The man complained because God wasn’t doing it the way he thought God should do it. We see that same theme play out numerous times in our passage today as well. God has a plan to deliver his people but they are going to do a lot of complaining because they don’t like the way God is doing it.

You’ll remember that the story ended last week with Jacob moving his family from Canaan to Egypt. After a few years of famine had left them with nothing to eat, Jacob’s son Joseph, who had risen to power in Egypt, encouraged them to move there for safety. There would still be a few more years of famine and Joseph would be able to provide for them in Egypt. However, as time went by and no one remembered Jospeh, the situation changed.

6 Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, 7 but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them. 8 Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. 9 “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. 10 Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.” (Exodus 1:6-10)

Joseph’s plan to protect his family turned into slavery for his family years after he had died. However, we need to remember that it’s exactly what God had told Abraham would happen. God told Abraham that for four hundred years his descendants would be enslaved in foreign land. It was difficult, but it was God’s plan. God used that time in Egypt to protect and strengthen them.

How about us? What plans does God have for our lives? What does God want to do through us? What is God’s will for your life? Here are some lessons I think we can learn from our passage this week about following God’s plan, especially when we don’t like it.

First, focus on God’s power and not your weakness.

After four hundred years of slavery, God called Moses to lead them. That God’s hand was on Moses was evident from the start. Moses was born during a time when the pharaoh had ordered all Israelite boys been thrown into the Nile when they were born. But God saved Moses from the very river that was supposed to be his grave. Moses was adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter and raised in Pharaoh’s house. When Moses was forty, he sensed an opportunity to protect his people, but he did it the wrong way and ended up killing an Egyptian guard. As a result, he had to run to the wilderness for safety. It would take forty years taking care of sheep for God to prepare him to lead the right way. And what did Moses say when called him? “Who, me?”

10 Moses said to the LORD, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” (Exodus 4:10)

What was Moses doing? He was focusing on his weaknesses. Have you ever done that? Have you ever known what God was wanting you to do but could only focus on what you couldn’t do and not on what God could do through you? I know I have. I’m pretty good at telling God about my shortcomings. But the Bible consistently teaches that God prepares those he calls. He calls us to do something only he can do through us so that he will receive the glory. That’s how God works with us and it is how God worked with Moses.

11 The LORD said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the LORD? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” 13 But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.” (Exodus 4:11-13)

God doesn’t just call those with great strengths and abilities to serve him, he also uses those with weaknesses and shortcomings to do great things. So, the next time you sense God calling you to talk to a neighbor or coworker, don’t focus on what you can’t do but on what God can do through you. Focus on God’s power.

Focus on God’s presence and not your discomfort.

We tend to focus on our weaknesses but we also tend to focus on our comfort. We assume that everything should come easily. That’s what the Israelites did. When Moses demanded Pharaoh to let’s his people go, Pharaoh understandably said no. He’s wasn’t about the release his free slave labor just because Moses said God told him to. Pharaoh had never heard of this God Moses was talking about. Then, to emphasize the point, Pharaoh made the Israelites labor even harder. His men would no longer provide the supplies necessary to make the bricks. The Israelites would have to do that too. Then the people turned on Moses.

19 The Israelite overseers realized they were in trouble when they were told, “You are not to reduce the number of bricks required of you for each day.” 20 When they left Pharaoh, they found Moses and Aaron waiting to meet them, 21 and they said, “May the LORD look on you and judge you! You have made us obnoxious to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.” (Exodus 5:19-21)

Since they weren’t immediately set free, they surmised that God hadn’t really spoken Moses. Even though Moses had heard God at the burning bush and even though God had promised to be with Moses, Moses began to question if this was really what God wanted.

22 Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me? 23 Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.” (Exodus 5:22-23)

Since leaving Egypt didn’t prove to be easy, it must not have been God’s plan for them. Why do we do that? When we encounter a difficulty, we assume God must not want us to do this. Jesus called us to take his yoke upon us. A yoke is an instrument for difficult labor. Jesus calls us to hard things, but he also promises to be with us and give us strength to do them. Focus on God’s presence with you during times of discomfort.

Third, focus on God’s plan and not your fear.

When the day finally came that Pharaoh had enough of the plagues and released the Israelites, God led them in a direction that confused not only them, but the Egyptians. Instead on going northeast towards the Promised Land, which was the shortest route, God led them southeast. This allowed Pharaoh time to change his mind and he began to wonder why he’d agreed to letting the Israelites go. Getting his army ready, Pharaoh chased the Israelites down. By this time, God had led the Israelites to what looked like a dead end at the Dead Sea. With the water before them and Pharaoh’s army behind them, the people cried out in fear.

10 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the LORD. 11 They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” (Exodus 14:10-12)

They had witnessed the plagues first hand. They knew God had sent plagues on Egyptians and not them. And with the death of the first-born sons, they saw how God spared them and not the Egyptians when they had trusted God and placed the blood of a lamb of the doorposts of their houses. God still had a plan to rescue them but they were overcome with fear.

Fear can be a powerful motivator but it be an even more powerful paralyzer, preventing us from acting when we should. Instead of complaining, they should have called out to God in prayer and trusted his plan.

13 Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” (Exodus 14:13-14)

And that’s what happened. God parted the sea and the people walked across on dry ground. God didn’t just push some water back and make it possible to wade across the sea, God turned the sea in front of them into dry ground. Where there had been water, now there was dust. And when the Israelites had made it across, God allowed the Egyptian army to follow them. But before the Egyptians could get across God released the wall of water on either side and drowned the Egyptian army. That was God’s plan so that they would never have to face Pharoah or his army again. Don’t focus on your fear, focus on God’s plan.

And fourth, focus on God’s provision and not your desire.

When the Israelites had made it safely across the Red Sea and saw what God had done to Pharaoh’s army, they rejoiced and praised God. But three days later they were grumbling. They came to some water, which is important if you’re going to travel through the desert, but the water was bitter and they couldn’t drink it. So, they complained and Moses prayed. God showed Moses a stick and directed him to throw the stick into the water. When he did, the water became fit to drink.

But a month later, the people began to complain again. Now, they were running out of food.

2 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.” (Exodus 16:2-3)

Do you think that’s what it was really like in Egypt? Were actually sitting around pots of meat eating all they wanted? They make it sound like they ate like kings. I don’t think so. There may have been just a little exaggeration going on. Do you think God knew they needed to eat? Do you think God had a plan to feed them? But the Israelites worried they would not have enough and they’d run out of food.

6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you will know that it was the LORD who brought you out of Egypt, 7 and in the morning you will see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?” 8 Moses also said, “You will know that it was the LORD when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the LORD.” (Exodus 16:6-8)

The people were reminded that when they complained the complaints were not really against Moses and Aaron but against the LORD. They were focusing on their wants and desires and not on the plan God had to provide for them.

What do you worry about? You probably don’t fear an approaching army threatening to take your life. Your fears are probably more mundane like what you will eat or wear, how you will pay your bills, or deal with a medical issue. Jesus tells us not to worry or be afraid, but to seek God and his kingdom and that God will provide just as God provided for the Israelites. Somehow, God made sure they had enough food.

When we are serving God, do we make it about our wants, our comfort, and our will or do we make it about God’s plan for our lives?

I want you to think about something, did the Israelites faced difficulty? Yes! Trying to make bricks without supplies was not easy. It almost doubled their workload overnight. When they reached the Red Sea, the were between a rock and a hard place with nowhere to turn. They were running out of water and food out there in the wilderness, there was no Food City or Wal-Mart just over the next sand dune. However, each time they faced an obstacle they assumed it was because God wasn’t with them. In fact, they were there facing that issue because God had placed them there. That means that even in the middle of a problem they were right in the middle of God’s plan for them. Don’t allow difficulties to cause you to doubt God’s plan for your life. God has a plan for our lives to deliver us from sin and then to use us to help deliver others. And God wants to form us into the image of his Son.

Don’t focus on your weaknesses, discomfort, fear, or desires. Focus on God’s power, his presence, his plan, and provisions.

You may be familiar with Michelangelo’s carvings of Moses and David. When asked how he was able to make the sculpture of David, Michelangelo reportedly said:

It is easy. You just chip away the stone that doesn’t look like David.

That’s not a bad description of what God is doing in our lives either. He’s chipping away those parts that don’t look like Jesus.

You may not be as familiar with Michelangelo’s last carving. The story says that Michelangelo worked on his final project for ten years and wasn’t able to complete it. A contemporary of Michelangelo, wrote that Michelangelo “ended up breaking the block [for this sculpture], probably because [it] was full of impurities and so hard that sparks flew from under his chisel.” The sculpture was rescued by a servant and survives to this day. It bears the marks of Michelangelo's chisel, but none of the beauty of his earlier works. What happened? One sculptor suggested that the stone was just too difficult to work with. He said, “The stone wants to be stone; the artist wants it to be art.”

The same problem exists for those of us who are the work of God's hands. In an attempt to free the image of Christ that’s within us, God begins chipping away everything that doesn’t look like Jesus. We either submit to the chipping or we resist. If we submit, then features of the Savior begin to emerge from our life. If, however, we resist God’s plan and continue to resist, there will come a day when God will let the stone be stone.

C. S. Lewis said as much when he stated:

There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, in the end, “Thy will be done.”

If we refuse to submit to God’s plan, he’ll eventually give up and move on. Who plan do we really want: ours or God’s? I can tell you whose plan is best. It’s God’s!