Failure Faith

Exodus 5

Exegetical idea: Humans despair in failure, but failure is part of the plan

Failure faith for final victory

In the Face of Disaster

This week has been rough.

Little Rylee Sweet died this week. We grieve with the Sweet family.

None of this is fodder for a sermon, by the way, just honestly where my heart has been this week. When it is kids suffering, or hurting... it breaks my heart.

Little Rylee is beyond pain and suffering now, in the arms of a God who loves her... but I was praying for and hoping for a miraculous healing here and now. And it kind of feels like failure.

It is disappointing and painful... and I am only grieving for their loss. I simply can't imagine.

When we are faced with failure, we wonder how this fits in with God's plan.

This doesn't feel like victory.

That is a very old story.

The Exodus Story

Moment of Triumph

Finally, we are at this pivotal moment of Exodus where Moses and Aaron stand before Pharaoh and say "let my people go!" Pharaoh, Pharaoh!

In Exodus 5, we pick up our journey through Exodus

5:1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.’”

Afterward...

This is after that thrilling moment of praise. The people reunited with the God of their ancestors, discovering His name, and both worshiping (Shachah!) and believing (Aman). What a triumphant moment. After that, on that wave of rising success we can hear Moses and Aaron's words: "Thus says Yahweh!"

They ask for something small first, as God commanded them, just three days vacation. Most scholars think this was Near-Eastern politeness and it was understood they were just asking to leave. Like if I said "I am going to go away for a minute." I don't really mean a minute.

So with God and all the elders and people of Israel behind them, maybe they can taste the triumph of the moment.

Pharaoh's Rejection and Punishment

But... Pharaoh can't. In fact he says "Who is this Yahweh? This LORD?" Who? Why should I give up my servants.

There is some back and forth in verses 2-5 but Pharaoh's conclusion is this: "If you have time to worship new gods and come up with crazy ideas, clearly you don't have enough to do." So Pharaoh instructs the taskmasters to stop providing the Israelites with straw to make bricks while still requiring the full quota of bricks.

Now, I did a lot of research about ancient brick making and I discovered this: apparently bricks need straw. That is the gist. It helps them dry, it gives them lateral strength, etc...

Probably Pharaoh had a whole other group dedicated to drying stalks of reeds, wheat or grass to make straw and then delivering it to the brick makers. Now, instead, the Hebrews first had to go out into harvested fields, dig out the stubby shoots, then bring enough of that back to make bricks.

In short: Pharaoh at least doubled the amount of work required from them. If they did not reach the quota, and they didn't, it was impossible, the foremen of the Israelites, the people put in a position of responsibility over the other slaves were beaten.

These foremen were, understandably, not happy. They "cried out to Pharaoh", saying, essentially, this is impossible! You set us an impossible work load and then beat us when we are unsuccessful. It is the fault of your own people, not ours, for not giving us straw.

Pharaoh sticks with his plan, saying "You are lazy, very lazy, that is why you say "let us go sacrifice to Yahweh."

The People's Despair

And as they leave, these foremen see Moses and Aaron waiting for them, possibly in support of their complaint.

And these people, the same ones who earlier were worshiping and believing, they say to Moses and Aaron "You did this!"

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.”

Now this is kind of amazing, the people apparently still trust God, they just figure Moses and Aaron messed up the plan. They did it wrong. That is why things are going badly "May God judge you for messing this all up so badly!"

And Moses, the man who stood in the presence of the Lord, the burning bush, the representative of God to his people, the one who has heard the whole plan...

He panics.

22 Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “O Lord, why have You brought harm to this people? Why did You ever send me? 23 Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done harm to this people, and You have not delivered Your people at all.”

Moses says "I didn't mess this up... but it sure seems messed up! God: you messed it all up? What the heck is this?"

You have not delivered your people at all?

This doesn't feel like victory!

Let's close in prayer.

Our Moses Prayer

We know what this feels like, I think. "God, I did what you said... or what I thought you said. Why did you ever send me? Ever since I did what you said, all I have had is trouble! You have not delivered me at all!"

This doesn't feel like victory!

There is this very old idea: God’s job is to help us obtain comfort and prosperity.

This is false, but a very old story. This was the standard approach to ancient deity: please and appease the right god or combination of gods to smooth out life. This is what the Israelites observed around them, this is what the Egyptians did.

And, in this case, Moses and the people have good reason to expect victory. God promised it. God promised to deliver them from Egypt. But how did he promise?

I remember something like "I will harden Pharaoh's heart... then he will not permit you to go except under compulsion... so I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all my miracles."

Exodus 3, back at the burning bush.

Failure was always part of the plan. God had essentially said "In this plan, you will have troubles"

Failure was always part of the plan. Trouble was part of the plan.

Moses knew that: but he panicked.

Maybe the people knew that, hopefully Moses and Aaron shared that part of the plan with them.

But in the face of failure, they reacted with blame and anger.

Failure Faith

I get that. I identify with that.

We could take a condescending view of this reaction... because we see the end. We see the resolution, but they are sitting in the tension.

I considered this phrase: "at the first sign of failure, Moses and the people panicked."

But this isn't really the first sign of failure for them, it is only the latest. They have been living 80+ years of servitude and slavery. They have been actively and purposefully persecuted. They have been targeted for racial depopulation.

This isn't the first sign of failure, only the latest!

Better to say "At the last straw, Israel and Moses despaired"

Beaten for not accomplishing the impossible. I have failed to accomplish the impossible plenty of times, but I have never been beaten for it. Been beaten and only expecting to be beaten again the next day. I might get a little mad about that! More likely, punch me in the nose and I'll just cry. So we hear the pain of an oppressed people, and Moses, speaking on their behalf, representing the people to God even as he represents God to the people:

"God, you haven't delivered your people at all!"

And yet... we know, and Moses knew, that trouble was a part of the plan.

Pastor Rod used this phrase a few weeks ago, and I love it. Failure faith.

It is completely understandable and almost inevitable when confronted with pain and suffering in this world to turn to God and ask why. Or even: "you haven't delivered us at all." "Why did you ever send me?"

That is tremendously human.

Faith sees beyond the failure to the victory

That is actually a little bit beyond human. That kind of faith... well, it only comes from the author of faith. It comes from the Promiser: the one who promises victory.

It doesn't necessarily understand what that victory is, or how it can possibly be, or when it is coming... but it trusts that ultimate victory. We don't comprehend; we apprehend, we hold on to the promise we have.

Moses had his promise that, even though failure was part of the plan, this story ended in salvation for God's people.

What is our promise?

How about this one:

John 16:33

33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. 

In this world you will have trouble. 

But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

You will have trouble: trouble is part of the plan.

Perhaps we would rather say: trouble is part of this world. It is broken and evil and sinful. It is filled with people who are broken and evil and sinful. We are affected by that.

The world is broken right down to our genetic structure: disease and cancer.

The earth is broken: earthquakes and hurricanes.

And our Spirit knows that death and destruction is simply not right. It rebels against it. There is no reason in nature or science why that should be: that is the way it has always been! Death and sorrow and loss is the way of this world.

But our Spirit rebels against it and knows that this is not right. This is not the way it is supposed to go. This is not victory. It doesn't feel like victory.

And Jesus says, you will have trouble. That is in the world, that is the world, that is why the world is in need of saving and why you are in need of saving.

Trouble and failure are part of the plan not because God enjoys suffering and sorrow but because that is precisely what He is rescuing us from.

Take heart, I have overcome the world.

There is a final victory.

They eyes of faith see past the very real failure to the very real final victory.

I Don't Know... I Hold ON

But when I say that they "see it" maybe that metaphor can be damaging. It isn't like I know. I don't know why God allows such pain and suffering.

This is all very well from a distance, but when the pain is yours, or you see someone just being beaten down... the pain is all you really see. That may be all you know.

So even when faith does not see, does not know, does not understand, does not comprehend... it holds on.

When the promise seems empty, hold on to the Promiser

Moses didn't "see" the answer, didn't know how Pharaoh's severe punishment fit in. He had a glimpse, but he didn't get it.

If Moses didn't get it, I get a pass, right? You get a pass. We don't have to understand... and we should be real careful about explaining just how "everything works out for the best" to those who are presently being beaten and whipped by a Pharaoh.

And, what Moses does it not reject God. He doesn't follow Pharaoh "Who is this Yahweh?" He turns to God... because he still knows, it is from God that victory is going to come. It is only to God we can look for salvation.

Even when it feels like failure, faith holds on to the Victor.

We simply hold on for the victory.

Trouble is part of the plan, but it is a plan for victory.

Take heart, Jesus says, I have overcome the world. I have overcome your Pharaoh and your straw. I have overcome absolutely anything the world can throw at you.

We simply hold on to that. As a church, as a family, we help each other do that. We hold on to victory, and we hold on to each other through the failure, through the trouble.

If holding on is too much for you for awhile, I will hold on to Him and to you.

There is victory enough. There is joy enough to come. There is life and life abundant and eternal. There is healing and rest. There is a Great Reunion.

We are in the first chapter, the very start of the movie. This is all the Call to Adventure, and the whole story is one of tremendous Exodus: from slavery into Promise.

Hold on for the victory, He has overcome the world