Sermon Tone Analysis

I just love Springtime… Don’t you?

Everything turns green… the weather warms up, but it’s not really hot yet.

I love everything about Spring… except for two things.

Allergies… which seem to be over for me already… which is nice.

And grass mowing.

One of my favorite things about fall and winter is that I don’t have to mow grass!

And actually… it’s not really mowing that I mind… mowing is not all that bad.

But what happens is… and these past two weeks have been a perfect example of this.

It seems like every time I have a chance to mow… it’s raining.

And every time the rain stops long enough to make mowing possible… my schedule doesn’t allow me to mow!

This happens to me all Spring long, it seems.

And honestly… I could even deal with that… except every single neighbor around me will mow their grass… and here’s me, right in the middle of all these nice, pretty, manicured lawns… and my grass is a foot tall.

And I don’t know why… but it bugs me when everyone else has a pretty lawn, and I don’t.

I even told a couple of my neighbors last Spring to settle down on mowing so much… that they were making me look bad.

So… I come home… everyone around me has their grass mowed… and my lawn is just mocking me.

And I don’t, like, think about it all the time or anything… but that thought… I really need to mow… it’s a nuisance… it’s a thought in the back of my mind that just gnaws at me and weighs on me until I get it done.

You ever have a life problem like that?

It’s just in background… gnawing at you… weighing on your mind as you go to work… or go to the gym… as you go about life… there’s just that problem in the back of your mind.

Maybe it’s a financial debt that’s just lingering… or a broken relationship in your family.

Your still able to function and go about with your life… but that issue is there in the background… weighing you down.

And you want it taken care of… You’ve asked God to intervene… BUT… He seems silent.

You want God to speak into your situation… but He seems silent… He seems distant.

Perhaps there’s nothing at all wrong in your life… but you still feel like God is distant… you wish He was more vocal about the things that He’s doing in your life.

This is a question that I’ve gotten many times as a pastor.

What do you do during those times?

So let me ask you… If someone came to you and said… God just seems so distant right now… What should I do?

How would you answer them?

My answer today is different from my answer 9 years ago.

9 years ago, I really began studying the book of Exodus for the first time, and I realized, the answer I had been giving… may not have necessarily been the right answer.

Used to… I would say… Well, you just need to read your Bible more… You need to pray more… And if there’s anything your hanging on to that God wants you to get rid of… You need to get rid of it!

Now look… Yes… We could all use more Scripture… More prayer in our lives.

Amen?

And for heaven’s to betsy… if you’re harboring something in your life that you shouldn’t be… get rid of it!

But that blanket answer, honestly, doesn’t cover all situations.

If you have your Bible this morning, and I hope that you do, turn with me to Exodus chapter 2. We’ll be continuing our series through Exodus this morning… so let’s, very quickly, remind ourselves of what we talked about last week.

Last week, we saw the law of undulation in the life of Israel.

They’ve experienced a lot of highs… and in Exodus 1, they experience the lowest of lows.

A new Pharaoh comes to power in Egypt… and God is multiplying the people of Israel at such as fast rate, that this new Pharoah feels threatened by them… So, Egypt enslaves Israel.

Not just that… but Pharaoh orders that all newborn baby boys are to be killed.

He’s determined to stop this exponential growth.

But God uses two midwives… they disobey Pharaoh and let the boys live.

And so, Israel continues to grow.

God is faithful to the promise that He made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob… that their descendants would be numbered like the stars in the sky!

That’s where we left off.

Pharoah is not happy about this… and so, he makes a new order.

This is verse 22 of chapter 1…

Now… All Hebrew boys… Even if it’s already born… is to be executed by drowning.

Just when it seemed that things couldn’t look any worse… they get worse.

What is God going to do to protect His people now?

He’s been faithful to His people so far… What’s He going to do now?

Let’s pick up in chapter 2… but as we read… understanding that this is lowest of lows for Israel… I want you to count how many times God is mentioned.

Ok?

As we read… count with me… Exodus chapter 2…

In this lowest of low points… How many times was God mentioned in the story of Moses?

Not even once.

It seems like in the midst of the frustration of Israel’s slavery… and now with the killing of every Hebrew boy… this is really where God would show up with some super awesome miracles… right?

But put yourself in their shoes for a moment… It doesn’t seem like God is doing anything.

But I want us to look again… and look a little closer this time.

We won’t read all ten verses again… let’s just point a few things out.

Verse 2…

Moms in the room… let me see your hands!

How many of you, when you gave birth, and your baby was placed in your arms… looked at them and said… Oh… I thought they’d be better looking than this… I wonder if someone else wants this kid?

I need to try again!

Find a better looking husband or something!

No! That didn’t happen… Your baby… no matter how much goo they were covered in, was absolutely beautiful… right?!?!

So why this statement?…

That she hid this child because she saw that he was a FINE child.

There’s a very specific Hebrew word here that translates to the word fine.

It’s the same word that was used all throughout Genesis 1 as God creates the Earth and all that is in it.

At the end of creating each day, He steps back and says… it is… say it with me… it is… GOOD.

The Hebrew word that God used to describe His work in creation is the same word used for Moses here.

Exodus 2 is reminding us that in this child… in Moses, God’s creative purpose is at work.

He’s not just a good-looking baby… in Moses, God is at work in a cosmic way.

*DON’T READ* Exodus 2:3

This comes up again in verse 3 when the Bible says that his mother put him in a basket.

But guess what… the actual Hebrew word for “basket” is not the word that’s used here.

The word that is used here is only used 25 times in the Old Testament.

Twice, it’s used here… 23 times in a different story.

I want to, very quickly, read the very first instance of this word in the other story… and see if you can make the connection.

The word basket here is actually the word… ARK.

Why?

This basket that Moses is in God’s provision… God’s salvation for His people.

With just two small little words, we are reminded of God’s creative purpose and His salvation.

Although God’s is never mentioned… although He seems to be doing nothing… God is at work just as He was in creation… and just as He was during the flood.

After those two words… I think God just throws in some irony for fun.

Look… Understand that Pharoah is trying to wipe out Israel.

He’s afraid of how numerous they’re becoming… so he orders the drowning of all the boys in the Nile river… and turns the rest of them into slaves until the race is wiped out.

Right.

Pharoah is at war with God.

What river is Moses and his ark placed into?

The Nile.

The place of destruction for Israel now becomes the place of salvation.

Who finds Moses?

Pharaoh’s daughter.

Who else could get away with disobeying his order?

Who gets to raise Moses for the first couple years of his life?

Moses’ mom.

And not only that… Pharoah’s daughter pays her to raise him.

Pharoah is at war with God… and He’s losing the war before it even gets started… and he’s none the wiser.

Not only do we see God’s creative purpose… Fine/Good… Not only do we see God’s salvation… Ark.