Exodus 17
1. Testing the Lord (Who will be God?)
Well, Exodus has been quite a roller-coaster ride hasn’t it? Imagine you were an Israelite in those days. From slavery without hope, to a great and dramatic rescue, to being trapped at the Red Sea, to being miraculously given a way out, and the most powerful army of the day being destroyed – to then, a few days later, moaning to the Lord for food and water. “I want an ice cream” indeed! (If that reference makes no sense, download last week’s sermon and listen to it!)
If we were under any illusions that God saved the Israelites because they were somehow better, more holy, than anyone else – chapters 15 and 16, and now 17, today’s chapter, soon show us otherwise. What a bunch of faithless, ungrateful, whiny windbags. I mean just LOOK at the end of verse 7 the people of Israel argued with Moses and tested the LORD by saying, “Is the LORD here with us or not?”
Is the LORD – Yahweh – here with us or not?
Are you INSANE? What has just happened? 10 plagues. Huge rescue of millions of slaves. Pharaoah’s army utterly destroyed. Sheep and cattle and goats, gold and silver, fine clothes provided by the Egyptians. And not to mention the very waters of the sea parting in front of your eyes! Is God with us? Yes! There he is! See, the cloud in front of us. The pillar of fire by night. How can you miss it? Oh, yes, not to mention the bitter water which turned sweet, and the manna you go out and pick up EVERY DAY. Is the LORD with us? Really?
But how often are we like the Israelites. A tiny little problem appears, a bit of pain, a bit of sickness, a bit of heartache. And suddenly our world comes crashing down. Our faith flies out the window and we say “Is the Lord with me”?
I know a number of people in this church are suffering at the moment. Some with chronic illness, which stops them from being who they are. Others with potential serious, life-threatening issues. Others with deep psychological scars. Others have lost loved ones or beloved pets.
And those things can cause us to wobble. Like the Israelites we murmur. We forget the Lord. We forget what he has done for us. All we feel is the PAIN we feel now. WHY, O LORD! Have you forgotten me? Do you not care? Don’t you exist?
Like the Israelites, who only felt their thirst, we cry out like v3 But tormented by thirst, they continued to argue with Moses. “Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Are you trying to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst?”
Lord, do you really care about me?
How quickly we forget his past mercies to us. How quickly we forget how we were slaves to our sinful natures. How we were children of wrath. How our lives lacked purpose and direction. How we walked in darkness. And then the Lord saved us. He broke in. He opened our eyes. He flooded our lives with light and life! He gave us a new hope and a new purpose. He is with us, right with us! His Spirit lives inside of us – how much more intimate can you get? We are free! We are loved! We have a hope and a future! Praise the Lord.
And then “thirst” hits. Sickness. Heartache. Financial difficulties. What is it that you are struggling with now? Last week we wrote it on our hands as a symbolic message and gave it to the Lord. Did you give it to him? Or did you take it back, worrying over it? Do you really trust the Lord? Do you have faith?
The answer is sometimes no, we don’t have faith. Sometimes we let the problem fill our minds – become so big we can’t see anything else. The solution, of course, is what Exodus 13 told us to do: Remember the Lord. Remember what he has done. Remember his salvation, his love, how he has rescued ou. Remember how he has blessed you so abundantly in the past. Remember the Lord. Then you will not be swayed to despair, disbelief, and ultimately disobediently testing the Lord. Remember what he has done.
Sounds easy enough. But there’s a problem. And the problem is me. My own heart. But often I don’t want to remember. Because actually I WANT to have a greiveance against God. I want to play the victim, to manipulate Him into doing what I want, when I want!
In short, I want to be God. I want an excuse to go back to my old life, to justify some sinful behaviour. Haven’t you done that? Or is it just me? Oh God, I’m suffering now, I deserve to indulge in this... I know it’s a bit wrong, but you understand, right. Just a little sin....
Oh, because “Egypt” is so tempting. Our old life often seems easier. Or a different life, where I can just do what I want when I want it. Sin and selfishness is soooo tempting sometimes isn’t it. What did they say last week 16:3 “There we sat around pots filled with meat and ate all the bread we wanted” What a lie! What a total fabrication! Egypt was where they were beaten, forced to work hard labour. But in their minds it has become paradise. Pots filled with meat.
How often do we look back with longing at sin. Oh, it’ll be so good (or it was so good). Forgetting what it was actually like when we were in the grip of it. Thinking about lying because it seems the easy way out. Just change a few words here and there on an insurance form or on a tax form. Leave this or that out. Or even talking ourselves out of an opportunity to share the gospel! I’ve been there. We all have. “We sat around pots of meat”, we say. “It was so good to live in Egypt” we lie to ourselves.
But we know in our heart of heart that it’s not true. We’re just angry. We are frustrated with our circumstances and so we lash out at God. Why aren’t you doing things my way?
This is not unexpected. You see, the root of sin is selfishness, it is the desire to be God. What did Satan say to Adam and Eve? “Take this fruit and you will be like God”. We want to be God in our lives. We want everything to go our own way. We are just like little children, just that we’re cleverer at covering up our tantrums and are able to make our demands sound reasonable and cultured. But when you strip all that away we’re saying “boo I’m thirsty” “I’m hungry” “I want an ice cream!” “I want” I demand that you, God, do what I want right now.
And so we test the Lord’s patience. It is amazingly rude. We question his goodness. We question his love. Is the Lord with me?
How do we get through this? How do we stop wallowing in self-delusion and self-pity? How do we put God back on the throne? Well, we follow Moses.
2. Let God be God
4 Then Moses cried out to the LORD, “What should I do with these people? They are ready to stone me!”
Moses was under tremendous pressures. In today’s passage the people are ready to stone him! That’s job pressure! “Give us water or we’ll kill you” says the angry mob. Good grief.
But Moses does not sit down in despair. He does not look longingly back to a dream world of life back in Egypt (even though he actually DID have a good life in Egypt in Pharaoh’s palace). No. He goes straight to the Lord. Your problem big guy!
This is a habit for Moses. This is what he always does. It is part of his character. When we first met Moses he was a hothead, and did things his way, in his time. Which ended up with him murdering an Egyptian, fleeing the palace, and hiding in the desert! Moses has learnt obedience, learnt that God’s man needs to be GOD’S man before he can be useful to God (and others).
4 Moses cried out to the Lord
My Dad has a phrase which he uses a lot “Bow yourself out and bow God in”. It means deliberately acknowledging your own weakness, your own need, and asking God to intervene, to take over. It is the very opposite of sin (I am God) – it is saying to God: “Please would you be God here in this situation”.
And then you listen to Him.
5 The LORD said to Moses, “Walk out in front of the people. Take your staff, the one you used when you struck the water of the Nile, and call some of the elders of Israel to join you. 6 I will stand before you on the rock at Mount Sinai. Strike the rock, and water will come gushing out. Then the people will be able to drink.” So Moses struck the rock as he was told, and water gushed out as the elders looked on.
Moses cried out to God “I can’t do this”. And God answered him. Come to me, he says. Walk to the rock where I am standing, and strike it. Now it’s unclear if everyone could see the Lord or just Moses. It may have been the pillar of cloud – in fact it probably was. In which case everyone would see that it was the Lord who provided them with water.
He provides. The situation was too big for Moses. He realised it was beyond him. And so he asked God to be God.
What areas to you try to be God? One area might be suffering and evil. Do you ever get weighed down by it? Well, bow yourself out and bow God in! DO not despair. YOU see no solution – but you are not God. He has it in hand. Leave it in his hands. Let Him be the solution. Let water gush out of the rock.
Ah, but what if you disagree with his solution? Moses could have said “bang the rock? No God, that’s dumb. I’ll look like a complete idiot, smacking a rock in a dry river bed. No.”
God’s solution, God’s way, is the only way. If you find yourself telling God that his plan basically sucks...then repent, stop trying to be God. How arrogant can you be, thinking that your solution is better? Who are you, O man, to question God? Were you there when the foundations of the world were laid? And so on.
It’s like when a toddler is going to decide what to do. We had Jon Espen and Colleen visiting on Friday. Jon Espen with his 18 months of wisdom was determined to touch the fireplace. Colleen patiently said “no, hot!” every time he went near. A bit like how God provided the Israelites with food and water every time. A bit like how God blesses us, provides for us, cares for us, forgives us, every time.
Jon Espen is thinking “WHY can’t I go near the fire. It is warm. It is inviting. This is what I WANT. Mom is such a killjoy. Mom hates me.” Actually, Mom loves him. Loves him very much. And so she says “No”. Jon Espen needs to trust, to have faith in Colleen. And the more he grows and matures, the more he knows that his Mom does love him, and does have his best interest at heart. Mum knows best.
God is our Father. He is a good father. Trust him. Remember what he has done in the past. Remember how he has saved you, rescued you, provided for you, grown you carried you. And trust him.
Who will be God? Let God be God.
Of course, we tend to be a bit dull, so the rest of the chapter just repeats the message. You are not God. God is God. Let God be God.
3. Let God be God
Verse 8 introduces a new problem, a new test for the Israelites: 8 While the people of Israel were still at Rephidim, the warriors of Amalek attacked them.
In Duet 25:17 we find that the Amalekites attacked the weak and weary who were lagging behind the main group of Israelites. It was a cowardly and unprovoked attack. God, do you care? Is the Lord with us? Different problem. Same question. Lord, do you see our suffering. Are you with us?
We say to the Lord: Lord, we are sick. Lord we are grieving. Lord, we are in need. Lord, we are lonely. Lord we are under pressure. Lord, are you with us in Rock International Church? Are you with your people?
And the answer is an overwhelming YES! Because God takes it personally! Just look at verse 14 After the victory, the LORD instructed Moses, “Write this down on a scroll as a permanent reminder, and read it aloud to Joshua: I will erase the memory of Amalek from under heaven.”
It reminds me of Jesus’ words to Saul (later Paul) when he was attacking Christians. “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me”. The Lord is with his people. The Lord is with his people. Be comforted. He is with us.
And during the battle the people of Israel got a big visual aid. If they tried to do things their own way – that is, when Moses’ hands were not raised in obedience to God’s command – they would lose. But if Moses’ hands were raised in obedience to God’s word – they would win. It was clear that the battle was the LORD’s. That just like at the Red Sea, the LORD would fight for them (Ex 14:14). They had to “be still”. That is, close their mouths, stop their moaning, and trust him for the rescue. Bow themselves out, and bow God in.
Oh yes, they had to fight the battle. But they fought it not trusting in their own strength and their skill with the sword. They fought it trusting in the Lord. Moses’ hands raised: they win. Moses hands fall: they lose. It’s quite a strong visual picture isn’t it?
And so when the battle is won, 15 Moses built an altar there and named it Yahweh-nissi (which means “the LORD is my banner”). This victory over the Amalekites belongs to the Lord. He has won the battle. It is his banner over the battlefield. The battle is the Lord’s.
Only God can be God. I cannot be God. I cannot win the battle. I cannot make water gush from the rock. I cannot make manna appear every day. I cannot provide for myself – my provision comes from the Lord. And I cannot save myself from slavery and death.
And, unless you’re Jesus of Nazareth, neither can you!
Only God can be God. Why oh why do we struggle so much with that. So often we try to take the reigns. SO often we forget the Lord, and struggle along in our own strength. I’m going to end by sharing my own story – a time when the Lord tested me like he tested the Israelites. And I did about as well as they did!
And it was about food and water. God’s provision. Did I really trust that my daily bead comes from the Lord?
At work a few years back I was pressured, squeezed into a dishonest situation. My boss asked me to keep things secret from his boss – and his boss in turn was asking me to keep things secret from my boss. And people were being hurt, and things were nasty. The thing is, I allowed myself to be pressured because I didn’t want to lose my job. I needed my salary. I needed to earn it. It was something I did, I provided. Kind of like an Israelite going out and saing “look at all this manna I gathered” or going to the water gushing out of the rock – look at this water I am collecting. Duh!
Until one day the Lord showed me that “my” salary came from his hand, not from the company. That my salary was a gift from him, not a result of my great efforts. He is my Father. He is my Provider. And I was suddenly set free from fear, and the pressure to keep silent. And so I immediately confronted my boss, told him to repent and shared the gospel with him. True story! I’d love to tell you he repented with tears of joy... but he didn’t. I did actually keep my job in the end, but even if I hadn’t the Lord would have provided.
When we moved here to Norway we had to have in faith that He would provide. He called us, he must provide. It’s his problem. Lord I can’t do this, bow myself out, bow God in: you are the provider and protector of my family. You are the Father and Husband no.1. I just follow behind. You see, Daniel can’t be God. Only God can be God.
So whatever it is you are facing – if it feels overwhelming – if you cannot cope. Good. You have a very strong indication that the problem is not something you can handle so hint, hint, take it to the Lord. It is His problem to deal with. Let God be God.
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