Exodus 23

Rest and remember God.

Exodus 23:10–12 ESV

10 “For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield, 11 but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the beasts of the field may eat. You shall do likewise with your vineyard, and with your olive orchard. 12 “Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant woman, and the alien, may be refreshed.

Sabbath rest - good word for mothers. They are constantly needing more rest. You can’t say “sorry kids, no food today” etc...

Sabbath isn’t just taking a break, its focusing on God.

Even in the land needed rest - what happens when you don’t get rest? they can’t be fruitful.

Establish with your kids priority - God first, marriage second,

Take a rest. take a break.

FAMily - give mom the day off today!

Exodus 23:13–17 ESV

13 “Pay attention to all that I have said to you, and make no mention of the names of other gods, nor let it be heard on your lips. 14 “Three times in the year you shall keep a feast to me. 15 You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. As I commanded you, you shall eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. None shall appear before me empty-handed. 16 You shall keep the Feast of Harvest, of the firstfruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. You shall keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor. 17 Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord God.

Feasts - extra days off for celebration. Take days off just to celebrate how God has been good to you.

They will add more in to make it 7 by the time Jesus is there.

Starting with unleavened bread - finishing with the feast of the trumpets.

Like thanksgiving - But they all had a purpose to remind

All point to Jesus????

Exodus 23:18–19 ESV

18 “You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, or let the fat of my feast remain until the morning. 19 “The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God. “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

um…ok? Happy mother’s day. haha you thought this wasn’t a mother’s day sermon! it says mother’s right there.

Ok check - haha - these were pagan practices. Many of the feasts were similar to pagan cultures - etc...

Resting reminds us that God is in charge.

Set aside time to remember God’s goodness to you.

Rest and let God fight for you.

God clears the path, if you’re actually following Him.

Exodus 23:20–22 ESV

20 “Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. 21 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. 22 “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.

Angel going before them. Buthis this more! obey his voice - not pardon your transgression, what angel can pardon sins? His name is in him? How is that possible? It is because this angel is Jessus! _ The angel of the Lrod.

Exodus 23:23–24 ESV

23 “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, 24 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.

If you obey God he will defeat your enemies. Because they were going to the place the God already called them to - this does not mean you will never face hardships, but rather it means nothing can stop you reaching what God has for you.

break their pillars to pices - those were the big temples and palaces. Completly overthrown.

Exodus 23:25–26 ESV

25 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. 26 None shall miscarry or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.

This is difficult. because we know of sickness.

Mother’s day for the barren - always a hard day. God had this in mind. I didn’t plan it.

Exodus 23:27–29 ESV

27 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. 28 And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites from before you. 29 I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild beasts multiply against you.

Hornets - maybe metaphoric, but likely literal. We just saw the plauges.

Lest the beast multiply - Man has subdued the land. This was still in the time when lions would roam and kill people. God has planned it all out to walk into the land.

Exodus 23:30–32 ESV

30 Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and possess the land. 31 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. 32 You shall make no covenant with them and their gods.

little by little - God was giving them. Not all at once, but each day.

Good word for parents. each day, God is working on your kids - not perfect day one haha bulter “how can I help you ma’ma. “

Possess the land - building plug?

300,000 miles - they only ever got 30,000.

God had more in store.

God is concerned with our journey and destination.

CONCLUSION: Hebrews 4 rest???