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As a church family. We’re going through the Old Testament, and one of the reasons we’re doing that is many times as a as a believer in Christ, when you open up the Bible, especially for the first time, it looks like a tremendous mystery to us as to what it possesses and what it’s about. When you get to the Old Testament, it always looks like a mystery as to what it’s talking about. And the reason is, is because it’s written to a people in a particular place at a particular time, in a in a culture we can’t always relate to. And so it’s important for us to understand what the Bible is, is communicating within the context of these verses, so we can get a better grasp of of who God is and what God desires for our lives. One of the ways that we’ve encouraged you to do that was when you open up God’s Word for the first time, God’s God’s Word being written to a particular people at a particular place and a particular time, it’s important for us to have a background understanding to each book of the Bible why it was written. And the more you understand about that background and time period, the more you appreciate God’s Word and so on. Our information table, when you leave today, there’s a book that’s called Know Your Bible. It was given to us as a church family. We started the series.
If you haven’t grabbed one, just feel free to take one. And when you go home, as you open God’s Word before you dive into a particular book of the Bible, read a little bit about what the Bible is about and it’ll help you better appreciate the contents of what God’s Word expresses for us as a church family, we started from the beginning, as the book of Genesis means the book of beginnings. We’re about to jump into the book of Exodus. The Book of Exodus talks about exiting. It’s clever how God did that beginning and exiting. Right. And this, the summation of the story of the Book of Exodus, centers around Moses leading the nation of Israel out of Egypt as slaves into the Promised Land, where the where God had had given to them through Abraham in the land of Canaan. They’re exiting Egypt. Into Israel. We’ve seen together God’s calling of the nation of Israel through the man we’ve called Abraham, Father Abraham, Abraham having Isaac and Jacob. And then last week we looked at Joseph. We learned in the in the life of Joseph, what happens is Joseph brings the people of Israel into Egypt. And under the power of Egypt, he raises up a mighty nation. You might wonder at the beginning of the existence of Abraham when God gives him a promise. I’m going to make a multitude of people from you, Abraham, and through your seed all nations will be blessed.
How in the world is God going to grow a nation out of one individual, where they’re not going to be attacked by other nations feeling pressured by them? And the answer is that God hides the nation of Israel in the land of Egypt. From the time of of Joseph to the time of Moses. If you count a generation in that time of about 20 years, there’s 11 generations of people that exist within that time period from when Joseph’s married and begins his family to the time Moses comes back to the the land of Egypt to lead the nation of Israel free. Between the death of of Joseph and the birth of Moses. You’re looking at about 60 years. And from the time Moses is born to the time Moses is called to lead the nation of Israel out of the land of Egypt, you’re looking at about 80 years. Under the protection of Egypt, and with 11 generations, God grows this people group into an enormous amount of individuals. It tells us in, in, in Exodus chapter two, that that the Pharaoh at the time notices that the people of Israel are growing in numbers, and they begin to feel threatened by their presence in the land of Egypt. And so he makes them slaves. And then he tells the midwives that if a Hebrew child is is born, that if it’s a male that they are to kill it, and if it’s if it’s a female, they’re allowed to to let it live.
And, and the midwives wouldn’t participate in what the Pharaoh said. And so the pharaoh tells his army, Army go into the homes. And if there’s a male child under the age of two, you are to kill it. But if it’s a female, let it live. And and then Moses is is born and his mother, at three months old, hides him in a basket and puts him next to the Nile. The Bible tells us that in those moments, as he lay there, I’m assuming next to some pretty big crocodiles, uh, Pharaoh’s daughter daughter comes down to the water and finds Moses. It just so happens as she finds Moses, Moses’s sister, is hiding beside him, and she pops up and just says, hey, I know someone great that could help take care of this child. And she says, okay, go get him. And so the Moses’s sister goes and gets Moses’s mother, and Moses’s mother now is asked to care for her own son. And so Moses is raised in such a way that he learns in the schooling of the Egyptians, but he also is connected to his own people, the Jewish people. And so his heart rests with them. Many scholars believe that within those 11 generations, if you look in chapter two of Exodus, it continues to say that God showed favor to the nation of Israel, and they greatly increased in population.
If you mathematically figure it out at about three three kids per family, I’m assuming in those days they started a little bit younger at having kids, and they were a little bit better at it than what we are. And so larger families may have existed, but if everyone had on average, a little over three kids, it would become easy for the nation of Israel to multiply into millions of individuals by the time Moses sets them free. Some people estimate that size to be somewhere about 2.5 million individuals that would have exited out of the land of Egypt into the nation of Israel and to the land of Canaan. And it’s on the the back of the growth of this nation as God has protected them on the protection of of Israel, that that God leads this man, Moses, to call them out of slavery and into their relationship with God as they go into the land of Canaan. We said at the very beginning that the book of Genesis Moses writes the first five books of the Bible, and the book of Genesis is a book of beginnings. It’s a book that’s written to a people who have been slave for for decades, trying to reshape their identity and who they are in God. God created you in his image. God made you to know him and to live for him for all eternity. Moses is the man that God comes to in order to give new direction into his life.
I can imagine if you read the life of the story of Moses. Moses is raised until he’s in his 40s under Egyptian care, ruling in Pharaoh’s household. The Bible tells us that one day he’s on a trip out to see how how the the Jewish people are doing. And as he’s walking around, he sees one of the Egyptians being angered and coming towards one of the Jewish people. And and he starts attacking that Jewish person. And Moses steps in and the Bible tells us that he he kills the Egyptian. He knows that that secret comes out and and Pharaoh is going to find out. And now Pharaoh is going to hunt Moses. And so the Bible tells us that Moses flees to the land of Midian, and he’s there for 40 years. And when Moses is 80 years old, God comes to him. 80 years old. I can imagine at my point in life, I may not be quite asking for a new direction for God to give me, but in this situation, Moses, in the place that he’s in, in his life, God comes to him and offers. Direction. Moses. I’m not finished with you. Matter of fact, Moses, what I’ve called you to is ahead of you is far greater than anything that you’ve done for me thus far. Moses have prepared you for this? It tells us in Exodus chapter three.
In verse seven it says, the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters masters, for I am aware of their sufferings. Now think in the life of Moses, all of us have been in this place. Moses isn’t in a position of slavery, but he’s left and he’s an alien in a foreign land. And the nation of Israel in these moments, are thinking about the persecution that they’re under and the slavery that they’re having to endure. And Moses thinking how he just stood up for his people now it’s left him all alone. He hasn’t for 40 years been able to to see his family. And he’s praying before God about what he’s had to endure, thinking about his family, who’s under that slavery, and the people of Israel trapped under the slavery of Egypt. And I can’t help but maybe relate a little bit to this moment. Not in the sense of slavery, but the thinking in the midst of the trials that I face in my life. Does God really care? And this got here. Bible tells us in Exodus three seven. I’ve surely seen the affliction of my people, and I’ve given heed to their cry because of the taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings. God hears their prayers. God sees their sufferings. And God remembers. When it comes to the idea of prayer.
Sometimes within our lives we feel as if prayers are hitting the ceiling. But the encouragement from the story as it begins is don’t stop pouring your heart before God. Psalm 34 and 17 says this the righteous cry, and the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. May our may. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of all of them. The Lord hears. And as God hears, he does something just bizarre. I got to tell you this morning when you read the Bible, the first five books of the Bible are what’s called the Pentateuch. They include narrative stories. The next 12 books of the Bible are narrative or history books. And when you read history books as God reveals himself, just because God reveals himself in a particular way doesn’t mean God is always going to reveal himself that way. Right? But, but I would say that the story of Moses happens like this. There’s a burning bush. And I want to tell you as a as a church family, if if you’re ever in your backyard and you know, a burning bush pops up, I would call the fire department, okay, but but if you think it’s from the Lord, Moses lived at a time where there’s no tweets, texts, and Facebook, let me know, okay, I want to come over and participate in that, in that with you.
But the story goes like this, this strange encounter with God. It says, now Moses was pastoring the flock of Jethro, his father in law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the West side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush. And he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. And so Moses said, I must turn aside now and see the marvelous sight. Why the bush is not burned up. When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, here I am. Then he said, do not come near here. Remove your sandals from your feet. For the place on which you are standing is holy ground. He said also, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. Then God said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings. So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from the land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey.
And so the story goes like this. God is. God went green, right? He burned something without burning something. He’s not interested in burning a bush, but he appears in a consuming fire. And then? Then something odd happens off that he’s. He asks Moses to take off his shoes. And if. If we’re not careful here, God’s going to demonstrate himself as some sort of hippie, right? In this situation, it’s like at any moment God might say, get into warrior pose. Moses, right? But God tells Moses something unique in this situation. He tells. He tells Moses as he’s lighting this bush, God, God’s going to recognize for himself an identity in which he is going to present himself to the nation of Israel for years to come. Moses is going to be the one who builds the tabernacle. Moses is going to be the one who leads the nation of Israel through the wilderness, wandering for 40 years. And the Bible tells us, when the nation of Israel is wandering, that that by fire at night they have something to follow, and by cloud through the day they’re looking to God. God directs them. And in the moments before this bush that’s setting on fire, God is showing Moses as he calls him.
He guides him through this fire. And then God tells him to take off his shoes. If you’re at church today, take off your shoes. No, I’m just kidding. Don’t do that. Why is God saying to Moses, take off your shoes? You know, one of the interesting things that God’s doing in this passage of Scripture is he’s identifying himself in a way that has not been done. This is the first time in the Bible that God tells Moses that he is holy. It’s the first time that the attribute of God and holiness is being revealed to a person. And as God is saying this to Moses, he’s telling Moses to take off his shoes to distinguish from Moses the difference between creature and creator. You remember way back in the beginning of Genesis when God made man? It tells us that he formed us from the dirt of the earth. And what God is asking of Moses and the demonstration of his holiness is to say, Moses, I am so set apart, I am I am so inspiring. I am so powerful. I’m so mighty before your eyes that I want you to take off your shoes in this moment of me presenting my holiness as a way to demonstrate not only to you, but to the nation of Israel. I’m so far beyond you that I. I am creator and you are just creature created from the dirt. God is holy.
The indication for us is this when we lower God to our level. We tend as people to underappreciate his power and authority. See what God is about to call Moses to do is to lead millions of people out of a land before a Pharaoh, who is the world power. When you talk about the most powerful nation at the time, Pharaoh would have been first on your list. In order to even began to believe that this was a possibility for God to do through Moses. The first thing that Moses needed to recognize is the authority of the one who is calling him to do it. And you think in the beginning of this verse, when you hear the prayers of the nation of Israel and God answering that, and Moses coming before God and just thinking about this moment, and God is saying to Moses, Moses, I’m about to prove to you that I have the authority to do what I’m calling you to do. Because I’m holy. Now before God leads us anywhere in this world. Before God does anything with us for a new direction in our lives. We’ve got to get to a place where we understand his authority reigning above us. Come before him as creature. Before creator. Moses saw this moment as so impactful in his life that after he leads the nation of Israel out of the land of Egypt, he says this in Exodus 15, who among the gods is like you, O Lord? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders.
Moses is demonstrating to the people that it’s by the authority and the holiness of God as he presented it to him, that that the that this was even possible for his people. And in that he rejoices. Oh, God, how wonderful you are among the gods. How beautiful you are to be praised, Lord. Bible tells us as Moses has this encounter with God. He then goes on to ask a very simplistic question. Growing up in the nation of Egypt, as Moses was raised under Egyptian rule, he would have discovered that the people of Egypt worshiped many gods. In fact, the ten plagues that we often hear about, you know, let my people go. You know that part, right? And then the plagues happen. I don’t know, that’s off some movie somewhere, but but the plagues that devastate the land of of Egypt are all directed toward a false deity or a false idol that that the, the, the people of Egypt had been worshiping is as if God is saying to the land of of Egypt and to the people of Israel, this God is so holy that he defeats the false gods of the world. And and so Moses comes before God and he asks a very specific question. He says, therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring my people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.
But Moses said to God, who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt? And he said, certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that that it is I who have sent you. When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain. Then Moses said to God, behold, I am going to the sons of Israel. And what will I say to them? The God of your fathers has sent me to you. Now they may say to me, what is his name? And what shall I say to them? And God said to Moses, I am who I am. And he said, thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, I am has sent me to you. God furthermore said to Moses, thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, the Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob has sent me to you. This is my name forever, and this is the memorial of my name to all generations. God in these moments is identifying himself in a specific way. As a matter of fact, it tells us. Just a few chapters later in Exodus six, God spoke further to Moses and said to him, I am the Lord.
And I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty. But my name, Lord, I did not make myself known to them. It’s like. It’s as if Moses is asking God, okay, out of all the gods, who do I tell them that you are? That makes you so special. And God gives this response. My, my name is Lord. I am the I am, I am who I am, he says. The phrase literally is Yahweh. And the I am is haiya. It sounds like a karate chop, right? Haiya is the root from which Yahweh derives its name. For the first time, God is defining himself. Have you ever tried that define God? If I said that this morning, how would you explain God? Uh, right. That’s how. I don’t know what Webster say, but. But God in this passage defines himself. And the idea of what Yahweh carries is this I am the self-existent, self-sufficient, eternally present one, the I am the Haya, the one who is present here with you, Moses. And when you go before him, tell them that Yahweh has sent you. Never before has God revealed himself this way. When the Jewish people originally wrote the name of the Lord, they they didn’t have vowels in their language. Do you imagine that would be cool? I could spell so much better, right? No vowels I before e, and I don’t forget it. I’m Jewish. Right? But when they spelled the name, they write it down in the consonant form y h w h.
Today. We we refer to it in two ways. I’ll tell you how in a moment, but we could either say Yahweh or Jehovah. As a matter of fact, in some translations of Exodus six, if you read it in your translation in the Bible, it might have the word Jehovah there. But Yahweh was his name, and the nation of Israel didn’t have any vows to pronounce it. So in order to pronounce his name correctly, they were dependent upon the oral traditions of history to pronounce the name Yahweh. And here’s here’s what happened. When Israel got to the name Yahweh in Scripture, they considered it so sacred that they wouldn’t utter it. They would simply write it down. The way that, you know, when Yahweh is written in your Bible is when you come to the word Lord in the Bible, if it’s all caps, Lord. All capital letters, that’s Yahweh. If it’s in a lower case Lord, it means Adonai, which is a similar name. The Hebrew people as they would write this name Lord or Yahweh. For us in the Bible they would write it, but they would never utter the name Yahweh. They considered it so sacred that they were afraid of blasphemy before God. And so tradition is taught throughout the ages, since they were afraid to speak of the name Yahweh, that through time they lost the ability to to accurately pronounce it.
So today when we say the word Yahweh, it’s the best assumption as to how God would have pronounced his name. Yahweh. It’s taught that in the Bible God had other names Adonai, Elohim, and. And for us to understand this name of God best that they inserted those vowels into the name of Yahweh to give us that pronunciation. And so the A for Adam and I and the E for Elohim. And so it became the name Yahweh. If you try to put any other vowel in there, it comes up with a similar sound. Yahweh, what happened in in through the the history is that as the Bible was translated, one of the largest translations that came into was the was in Latin. And names that have a Latin tradition tend to turn the y into a j and the w into a V, and so throughout time, as time progressed through the Latin translation and languages that have the root in the Latin form, and about the 1500s, the name Yahweh was transposed. When the y was replaced with a g and the V with a w to Jehovah. And so when we call God Yahweh, or we call God Jehovah, it’s in reference to the same person. Jehovah is Yahweh. And Yahweh is Jehovah. And some of you may be thinking this morning, oh man, we don’t even know the name of God like we got Yahweh.
That’s not may not even be it. And I would say, well, Israel didn’t really even pronounce it because they considered it so sacred. They just looked at it and admired. Right, and wrote it down and admired. And Jehovah isn’t necessarily the, the correct beginning of, of the word, but Yahweh more accurately is. But I would say this, if that concerns you this morning, you do the same thing with Jesus. Jesus’s name isn’t pronounced Jesus. That’s the that’s the like the white country bumpkin name, right? Jesus, right. Here’s some Jesus. It’s more accurate. Yeshua. The Y is a J. His name Yeshua means salvation. Another identity of what God would fulfill for us. And so when Moses comes before God, he refers to himself as the great I am Yahweh, the self-existent, self-sufficient, eternally present one. This became so important to the nation of Israel that it identified them as a monotheistic belief in God. There is only one God. That’s all there ever will be. And they came up with the great Shema, which Israel would recite to themselves every morning and every night in honor of this Yahweh. And it says this hear, O Israel, the Lord Yahweh is our God. The Lord Yahweh is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, and with all of your soul, and with all of your mind. I mean, if you want to understand what life is about Israel and why we were called from the land of Egypt to to pursue God, it begins with loving God with all that you are.
When Moses says this, hear, O Israel! It reads like this. The Yahweh is our Elohim. The Yahweh is a God. Which which literally means to us the Lord. The eternally present one is Elohim. And during the time of Moses, Elohim could have referred to a ruler, it could have referred to gods, or it could have referred to God in the singular. And what what Moses is saying in this passage, that God is one and God is this Elohim that people think that they’re after, and this Lord, this, this Yahweh, this Elohim. He says in the end, is one. When you translate the word one in the Hebrew language, it literally means a plurality of one, a singularity of one in the plural. And you can use this to identify the Trinitarian teaching from the the Old Testament. This singular God manifests himself in the plurality of one, both father, son, and spirit. God is one Yahweh. This became so important in the Old Testament through through God’s showing himself in this bush to Moses. Moses declaring the singularity of God in Deuteronomy that in the New Testament, when Jesus is asked, what’s the greatest commandment? Jesus quotes the Shema. He said to him, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.
Jesus says, this is the greatest commandment. How important does this I am become for us as as people that when you get to the New Testament, Jesus says this about himself. He says, Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am. If there’s any doubt about what Jesus is trying to say, he’s going back to the book of Exodus and he’s saying to the Jewish people, remember, remember in the bush when God showed up to Moses and he declared himself as the great I am Yahweh, who who is Elohim? Do you remember that? That’s me. And the Jewish people understood it. Because the very next verse says this. Therefore they picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. The Jewish people were about to kill Jesus for blasphemy. They knew exactly what Jesus was saying in this moment. Jesus, you are God. You are the one that has set the nation of Israel free. That’s that’s what you’re saying. God calls all of us to this place to embrace it or reject it. Nation of Israel chose to reject it in those moments. God reveals himself as the great I am. And what God is saying in this passage of Scripture, the the same God that showed up to Moses at the bush is the same God who is showing up to interfere into your life and to mine.
Just as Moses experienced his presence, so can you. Matter of fact, I think the book of Second Corinthians in chapter three at the end of the chapter says to us that Moses saw God from behind a veil, but we with unveiled faces may gaze upon his glory. I think that relationship has become heightened in what we can experience in Christ. Before God calls you anywhere in this world. It requires us to experience and encounter the great I am to come before him as creature, before creator, to be mesmerized by the power of his might and not our own. Bible goes on and tells us that as Jesus did this, he continued to identify himself as the I am. As a matter of fact, the Book of John centers around the thoughts of the I am. He says in John six, I am the bread of life. In John eight I am the light of the world. In John ten I am the door. In John ten again I am the good Shepherd. I am the resurrection in the life. I am the way, the truth in the life. I am the true vine. Meaning when you were created by this great I am. You were never intended to find life apart from him, but rather life in him. God designed you for the purpose of creature coming before creator and settling yourself in his power apart from your own.
Is the I am. I like Moses’s response to all of this. I don’t know if I tend to think maybe more highly of myself. If God comes talking to me in a bush, I’m doing whatever he says, right? But Moses has some hesitancy in his life. I can imagine going to the nation of Israel. It might tell me to put me in a place where I second guess what God might be calling leading Israel, convincing them of God’s calling and out of Egypt. Moses in the Bible tells us in Exodus four that he challenged what God said. Bible even tells us that Moses was afraid to go because Moses was a little tongue tied in his life. He had some sort of speech impediment that he felt would limit him in what God desired to do. And what God called him to was continuing to trust in him. Bible says in Exodus 410 Then Moses said to the Lord, please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since you have spoken to your servant. For I am slow of speech and slow of tongue. And the Lord said to him, who has made man’s mouth, or who has made him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now then, go, and I, even I will be with your mouth, and teach you what you are to say.
Um. It’s incredible. I know the Super Bowl is coming up here, and, uh, it’s amazing to me when you get people the right instruments, what they’re capable of. I mean, if I give a I give a football to me and it’s worth about 25 bucks, I give it to Tom Brady and it’s worth about 25 million. Uh, you give me a baseball and it’s worth about five bucks. You give it to Roger Clemens and you’re going to the World Series, right? But that same thing applies. Applies with the Lord. In the story. The Bible tells us in Exodus four that God tells Moses, take that staff. They’ll throw that staff on the ground. The Bible tells us that when it happens that the staff turns into a snake and he says, use this to convince people of my message. Now take your hand and put it in your cloak. Use this to convince people of my message. When you think throughout the Bible, God takes a slingshot, which is just a kid’s toy in my hand, and he uses the nation of Israel free. God. God takes. He takes two fish and five loaves, which would just be lunch for me. And he feeds thousands of people. God takes nails, which for me I maybe could build a decent birdhouse, but for him he brings salvation to the world. If God just has one willing individual who comes before creator as creature and just says, here I am.
What he’s capable of doing for you. Moses subjects in these moments. But as God tells him in Exodus that he is with him. Moses finds the strength to go back to the land of Egypt, to see his people set free. You know, one of the beautiful things, if you follow this theme through the book of Exodus, is this time that Moses spends on the mountain of Horeb before God. Isn’t the last time that Moses wants to go before God and spend time. As a matter of fact, when you read throughout the book of Exodus, you continue to see that theme. Bible tells us in Exodus 19 and Exodus 24, and in Exodus 32 that Moses goes up on the mountain and he spends time with God. Matter of fact, in chapter 24 and verse 12 it says, this, says this. Now the Lord said to Moses, come up to me on the mountain, and remain there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law, which is where the Ten Commandments came. The. The Hebrew text has this idea that when God says this to Moses, he sang to Moses, Moses, come up and just be in my presence for a while. Was this just set here? Knows this before I direct you anywhere, you need to be with me. You need to understand my holiness as creator before creature. You need to take your shoes off again.
You need to just sit with me and listen. Before God calls you to do anything in this world. You’ve got to set before him. Before God directs your life. You’ve got to come before his presence. I think in our society today that becomes so important. Rather than make God the tagline, we make them the focus. Well, I’m too busy or God, if I get to it, right? Moses is teaching the lesson in his life that it wasn’t just about the one time that I went before this bush, it was about the perpetual movement that I had towards God and just seeking his face and just being there in his presence. You should follow the theme of God coming before Moses and telling Moses, come up in the mountain and pray. Every time God did that, it was just before God did something amazing through Moses in the land of Israel and the people of Israel. I would say within our lives, if we have these expectations of God doing great things, but we’re not spending time before the great I am, we’re limiting ourselves for what God can do in us and through us. God is asking for more than just us to get excited on a Sunday. But to know him on Monday. Moses’s father in law was with him on a portion of this journey, and it says to him, as he’s leading the nation of Israel out, Moses’s father in law comes in and he gives him some words of advice as well.
Says Moses’s father in law said to him, the thing that you are doing is not good. You will surely wear out both yourself and these people who are with you, for the task is too heavy for you. You cannot do it alone. Now listen to me. I will give you counsel and God will be with you. Continue to go on the mountain, Moses. Furthermore, you shall select out of all the people able men who fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain. So it will be easier for you and they will bear the burden with you. If you do this thing and God so commands it, then you will be able to endure. Never been there. And the pressure on your life feels so difficult that you don’t think that you can endure. Can I tell you why? That’s because you were never created to. God made you to connect to him. God made you to find your strength in him. God breathed His Spirit into you, that you may live for him in this world. This world apart from him will wear you out. And Moses is saying in this passage, listen, Moses, or excuse me, Jethro was saying in this passage to Moses, Moses, it’s important that you continue to go on the mountain. But but in addition to that, Moses, God has given you so much more.
You need to join with people who are on this journey with you. God never called you to do it alone. That not only did God call you to do it with him, but God has called us to do it together. You think from the beginning of creation, God, being a triune God, has always existed in community. God creating us. The first thing that God does is he says it’s not good for man to be what? Alone. God created you for community. God, in the very first thing he creates is is female and says it’s it’s very good, right? And God say amen to that. And when when he created female, he creates community through that. And God creates the church. The church is community. God never created you to do it alone. He created you for him. And it created the family to join in with you together. Men and women who do not like dishonest game. Who fear God and desire truth. In our hearts. The stories reminder to all of us to just redirect it to the mountains. To look to the place in our lives where we can come and know him and sing his. As Moses said in Exodus chapter 15, who among the gods is like you, O Lord? Who is like your majestic in holiness, awesome and glory and working and wonders? God, may we find the time to come with you on the mountain.
To not enjoy or seek to find the pleasure of this life apart from you, God, but to find it through you. And some of you come to this passage and you say, and that’s what I need. That is what I’ve been missing. When I think about the time I’ve just given to God, it is nothing in comparison to what he deserves. And some of us will come to this passage and say, yeah, that’s exactly what I see in my life, and I’m doing this in my life. And I would just say to us as people that the nation of Israel recognize how important it is. But when you read the New Testament, the frequency of their life was to walk away from this moment. God, we know that we need you in overtime. Just forget the significance of him in their lives. And so my cry back would be this. Always go to the mountain. Our spiritual life has a tendency to go in cycles. But God’s desire is that you always be present with him. And so my encouragement that I leave for you today. As creature. Crave to come before creator. Seek His Holiness above all things. Know that the great I am of the Old Testament is the great I am of the New Testament more than capable of fulfilling what he’s promised to you. That he transforms you. As you follow him. Go to the mountain.