Highlights of Exodus 20-40. Do you fear God?

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Psalm 119:1-40.

Heb 4:12-16

Heb 12:18-29

Do you fear God? Do you fear Him? The Lord, the Lord, the gracious and compassionate God, who does not let the guilty go unpunished.

Exodus has shown us God, God in all his terrifying glory and holiness. He is the reality, real reality of the world we live in.

It is not our world. It is His.

God is not a figment of our imagination. He is real. All we see around us shows us his power, his glory, his majesty.
And if philosophy pretending to be science has put doubt in your mind that maybe all this just randomly happened, that design without a designer, that order came out of chaos, if you’ve been made uncertain by loudmouths with degrees talking about things they know nothing about and aren't qualified in – well, let history put your mind at rest. Because God has made himself known at various times and in various ways. Like in Exodus, in a BIG way!
When scientists run tests, they record the unusual events – the outliers, because if there are many of them, unexpected results, then it can mean their initial hypothesis is wrong. This book, the Bible is in a sense, a record of outliers, unexpected results, which prove wrong our hypothesis that there is no God.

There is a God, and this is His world. And each of us were made by him and for him. That is our purpose. That is who we are. We are made to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.

We are much more that “bags of meat, breathing, eating, and defecating”, as a leading psychologist described us. Who will you listen to? Him? Or God? What’s his track record? What is God’s?

Today as we look back over what we have seen of our awesome God through the pages of Exodus, I want to focus our attention on four big questions. These are the Highlights in Exodus

1. Who is God? The power of our God

2. How do we know Him? The wonder of his living word

3. Who are we? The sinfulness of humans

4. Can we know God? The grace of God who makes a way of salvation – but that way of salvation is his

Now, I’m not going to start at chapter 20 and go through to 40. I’m going to pick up some of the big themes throughout.

First question, then:

1. Who is God? The power of our God.

Ex 20:18–19 When the people heard the thunder and the loud blast of the ram’s horn, and when they saw the flashes of lightning and the smoke billowing from the mountain, they stood at a distance, trembling with fear. 19 And they said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen. But don’t let God speak directly to us, or we will die!”

Have you ever been so afraid of God you thought you would die? Ever been terrified to open your Bible because He will speak to you! You know, we’re so used to the happy smiley Jesus. Our brother, our friend. And he is that. But He is more than that! He is the Living God, the consuming fire.
Remember the building of the Tabernacle? How it was built in layers. Do you remember why?
Not to protect God from us but to protect us from God.
What does that tell us about God?

Exodus opens with the people of God in slavery. They are oppressed by state power. The government in Egypt was misusing its power. Everywhere they looked they saw the power of Egypt. They saw their fellow believers enslaved, beaten, mocked, by those who believed themselves superior. They saw them bowing down to their idols, their idols which had brought so much success. Oil. Trygd. Democracy. Moral superiority. Sexual freedom. Waving the rainbow flag as they rejoiced at their victory over God. Oh, sorry, I mean the gods Ra and Osiris and Hapi, the god of the Nile.

You see, Egypt, like secular Norway, set themselves up against the God of the Universe. No god would tell them what to do.

Turn to Ex 7:4 Even then Pharaoh will refuse to listen to you. So I will bring down my fist on Egypt. Then I will rescue my forces—my people, the Israelites—from the land of Egypt with great acts of judgment. 5 When I raise my powerful hand and bring out the Israelites, the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.”

The Egyptians lived in peace and security, patting themselves on the back for their own cleverness. The God of the Israelites, Yahweh – what a joke. They gave him no thought. These weak and puny slaves. These backward, sexually frustrated, women-hating, fools. Who needs their God, their Jesus? Secure in their own wisdom. Until the hammer falls.
If you’ve given no thought to God, this true story is given for your warning.
If you know God, this true story is recorded for your encouragement.

Ex 13:14–16 “And in the future, your children will ask you, ‘What does all this mean?’ Then you will tell them, ‘With the power of his mighty hand, the LORD brought us out of Egypt, the place of our slavery. 15 Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, so the LORD killed all the firstborn males throughout the land of Egypt, both people and animals. That is why I now sacrifice all the firstborn males to the LORD—except that the firstborn sons are always bought back.’ 16 This ceremony will be like a mark branded on your hand or your forehead. It is a reminder that the power of the LORD’s mighty hand brought us out of Egypt.”

Do we teach our children to fear the Lord?

Because he is mighty to save, yes, and in saving he will judge everything else. All the false gods of this world will fall before his awesome and terrifying power. He judged the gods of Egypt, they fell before Him. As we read on we see he judges the gods of Canaan and the surrounding lands. They fell before him. He will judge the gods of Norway too. And they will fall before him.

And he will judge his people. Because when He rescued them, He brought them to himself, to a fearful sight. To thunder and smoke and fire and terror.

Do you fear God? You should! He has terrifying power. Awesome power.

Who is God? Quite simply, he is One to be feared. He is immensely powerful. We forget that. The holy God. But if we fear him, then our fear is in the right place. Because he holds all things, rules over all things, controls all things. Why be afraid of anything else?

Because people are afraid of many things. Particularly death. People fear death. Psychiatrists call dealing with death “terror management theory”. Death is terrifying. And it is right to fear death. But the one who holds life and death in his hand, the one who can breathe through his nostrils and cause a hurricane. The one who, at a word can take the life of every firstborn in Egypt. He should be feared.

What are you afraid of? Think about it now.

Now think about the terror of the Holy Awesome God. What is that thing compared to him?

The second verse of “Amazing Grace” begins like this: “Twas Grace that taught my heart to fear”.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” says Proverbs.

Who is God? The one who is to be feared. And therefore we need fear nothing else!

And that brings us to our next question

2. How do we know him? Power of his word

Ex 20:1–2 Then God gave the people all these instructions: 2 “I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery.

Ex 34:5–7 Then the LORD came down in a cloud and stood there with him; and he called out his own name, Yahweh. 6 The LORD passed in front of Moses, calling out, “Yahweh! The LORD! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. 7 I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations. I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But I do not excuse the guilty. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children and grandchildren; the entire family is affected— even children in the third and fourth generations.”

Why are you at church? For a good social event? To have your worldview confirmed? To be looked after? To have your preconceptions affirmed? To not be lonely?
Now some of those are good, but none of those are why you are here. You are here for the same reason that you sit down at the dinner table every day. For without church, you die.

God’s word is our lifeline. How do we know God? We know god only through his word. He tells us who He is. “Yahweh! The LORD! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.” That’s who he is. We know God because he tells us who He is.

Imagine if He never spoke. Things just happened. No explanation. That’s the way of pagan religions. That’s the way of evolutionary psychology. Things happen and then you manufacture an explanation afterwards. “Yes, people developed compassion because the people who didn’t work together all died out.” It’s guessing in the dark, on the level of “Thunder is Thor’s hammer striking the anvil!”. If God never spoke we would still be in darkness.

Have you ever thanked God for speaking to you? That He relates to you, person to person. Remember how we read in 33:11 the people were in awe that Moses could speak to God face to face, as one would a friend. We have that same privilege!

Do we treasure that? We can know God because he speaks. And his word is powerful. His word is authoritative.

I want to show you something that I have found particularly helpful through the years. It is the four sources of authority. What is the highest authority in our lives, that everything else must defer to. Is it tradition, reason, emotion, or the Bible. We can probably identify certain church groups on this scale. But what about us. I think if we’re honest, most of us aren’t here. When God challenges us through His word the Bible how do we respond? We are lead by our feelings (that feels wrong, I won’t believe it), our mind (that’s illogical, I don’t believe it), or our traditions (that’s not what my mom said, or my pastor said, or that guy on TV). Now that’s partly good: we must think and feel and remember what others have said about the Bible – but at the end of the day who are we going to believe? God. Or our tradition? God. Or our own thoughts? God. Or our feelings.

A lot of this can be traced back to how we were saved. If you were saved through reason you are more likely to be in this box. Or through an experience – in the emotion box. But however we were saved we are all lead back to God’s word. Like the Israelites were saved dramatically through miracles and then came to Sinai where God spoke to them.
We need to train ourselves to move into the Bible box. His word is truth. True truth.

So that’s why we’re here. We go to church first, primarily, to hear God’s word. Everything else: friendships, service, compassion, affirmation, having a good time whatever – that’s all secondary, a by-product. This is central: we are here to hear from God. Because we want to know him. We’re gathered here to know GOD.
We learn that from Exodus. Because this gathering around the mountain is the first church. The word church simply means a gathering. “Let my people go, that they may worship me” was the command given to Pharaoh. And what is the worship we see? Not singing, dancing, sacrificing, doing things for God - but listening.

Church is the gathering of God’s people – but not just for anything. Church is the gathering of God’s people to hear God’s word.

Who is God? The powerful one who should be feared.
How do we know God? We know him through his powerful word.

3. Who are we? The sinfulness of humans

Ex 20:1–3 Then God gave the people all these instructions: 2 “I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. 3 “You must not have any other god but me.

Ex 33:4–6 When the people heard these stern words, they went into mourning and stopped wearing their jewellery and fine clothes. 5 For the LORD had told Moses to tell them, “You are a stubborn and rebellious people. If I were to travel with you for even a moment, I would destroy you. Remove your jewellery and fine clothes while I decide what to do with you.” 6 So from the time they left Mount Sinai, the Israelites wore no more jewellery or fine clothes.

Who are we? Well, we learn very quickly from Exodus, we are not God. Our words do not have the power to bring life. Our actions are limited. In fact, we find we are just like the Israelites. And they were slaves. Slaves physically, yes, but also in their minds. They thought like Egyptians. Moses was gone a bit long, so they made a Golden Calf. Seemed like a good idea. Logical. Something they’d seen their “betters’ doing in Egypt. Oops. And we too are slaves. Slaves to sin. And sin affects every part of us, also our mind.

There is a helpful doctrine called “total depravity”. And you need to know this about yourself: You are totally depraved! I am totally depraved.
Now that does not mean you are as evil as evil can be. But it does mean that sin has corrupted every single part of you. There is no area of you that is not corrupted by sin. Even our minds. Our thoughts are darkened. The Israelites thought the Calf was a great idea!

An example of this is when Petter went through some of the laws God gives Israel. Some of them seem barbaric, wrong. But as Petter explained and we could see how they would work out in practice, how they are given to protect the weak and uplift the poor – and then we see the kind of laws we make with our wisdom which seem to be so good but all too often end up oppressing the weak and poor. We are not as wise as we think. And it’s because we forget about sin. We are not good people altruistic going through life spreading joy, and we do not live in a world full of those people!

For example. There is an “epidemic” of loneliness now in the UK. 9 million people are lonely. They are raising funds! They have a minister of loneliness! This is the result of selfishness - sin. Your own selfishness and the selfishness of those around you. As we move further away from the gospel we see the effects. People can’t live together any more. Can’t be bothered to look after each other, bear with one another. Sin is always the problem. The root cause of all family breakups, of divorce is sin. There is no great mystery here why things go wrong. People are sinners.

There is a way that seems right to a man. It builds a Golden Calf. We laugh. We read chapter after chapter about the Tabernacle, its layers, its altar for sacrifices, the barriers, the washing, the blood, oh goodness, the blood! And it all seems a bit much! It’s illogical – wrong - to our minds. It feels like overkill. Why? Because we don’t really believe we’re all that bad. We don’t actually believe we’re sinners.

Four areas of authority. Which one do you trust? ACTUALLY.

Do you realise your heart and mind is corrupt, broken, in darkness?

For if we had no sin, why would blood sacrifice be necessary. If we had no sin, why would the Son Himself come out of Heaven, subject himself to becoming man, be scorned, mocked, beaten and crucified, and then to die. Look to the Cross, and believe.

Who is God? The one to be feared, yes.
How do we know Him? Through his powerful living word.
Who are we? Sinners. Corrupt and foolish
But, can we know God? Yes. Remember his words.
Ex 20:2 “I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery.

He is mighty, powerful, the God to be feared. “Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace that fear relieved”. Because He is also the God who saves sinners. He is the God who comes to live with his people! Not just in a tent! But he became one of us. Fully human. Fully God. In Jesus Christ our Lord. And Jesus is our mediator. Moses was playing his role when he ran to the Lord to plead for the Israelites after their sin. And Jesus is now pleading for us to the Father, our high priest who has offered the perfect sacrifice on the Cross. His death means that we can be free.

God is terrifying. But to fear him drives us to him, and we find that fear relieved. There is a way to be made right with God, and his name is Jesus.

So let us draw near to our great God. Let us not fear any frightening thing, because what is that next to God? Let us throw aside any other voice and trust his word because there is power. And let us love one another with his love. No loneliness epidemic here. God does not just bring individuals to him, but forms communities. The gathering at Sinai was the first church. The way we love and care for each other is a witness that will shine all the stronger. Because our relationships are based on God’s love. Not our selfishness.

Who is God? Awesome. Powerful. Terrifying. Wonderful. Love.

Don’t be afraid of anything. Don’t listen to anything above him. He is the Ultimate Reality.

Isaiah 6:1-8 Who is God

Isaiah 6:1-8

Who is God? If you could stand before Him now, what would you see?

And who are you? How would God react to you?

These are not questions that people often ask. But they are probably the only questions worth asking. They are the only ones that matter. Who is God, and what does he think about me?

The answer to that question will change your life.

Isaiah got the answer to that question in today's passage. He got a vision of God. He saw God – and he saw himself. And it changed his life.

I mean, it takes some serious courage to say what Isaiah has said over these last few chapters – pointing out the sin of Israel. Especially the last chapter. Hey what should I do with this vineyard of bitter grapes. “tear it up!” say the people. “That's right, I'll tear it up” says God. You can imagine the shock when they hear God’s next words (in 5:7) when he says my vineyard... is YOU.

God is going to judge his people. His people, his vineyard, have failed to produce sweet fruit of righteousness, goodness – but instead the disappointing bitter fruit of sinful, selfish lives, greedy, false religion.

Why? Because they had a wrong view of God. Their god was small and dumb. A god who could be fooled by the outward show of religious duty while you ignore him the rest of life.

And because they had a wrong view of God, they had a wrong view of themselves. They thought God was pleased with them. They thought they were good. See, their God was like them. Maybe slightly better. He was not the God of the Bible, the holy and exalted God, perfectly good, full of power and might.

1. This is the God we worship! Holy, holy, holy God!

Is 6 (NLT) It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. 2 Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3 They were calling out to each other, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies! The whole earth is filled with his glory!” 4 Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke. 5 Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”

What did you see in your mind’s eye when you heard that read? An old man in a beard with a bright light behind him? Perhaps with a couple of pasty-looking effeminate angels in a white dress, strumming a harp saying “glooory, glooory”. That's our culture's view of “God” isn't it? Maybe a bit of gold thrown in there.

But that's not what Isaiah sees. Look at Isaiah’s reaction – deathly fear! v5 Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed! It’s the reaction you have when a lion turns towards you and suddenly lets out a powerful roar. Even though he was over a 1000 metres away and behind two fences – I thought for a moment I was going to die. The power of the roar was overwhelming. The power of the roar said he could do anything – and I was powerless to stop him. And that’s just a lion. Isaiah saw the Lord almighty: Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

What is the most frightening experience in your life?
My Dad once had a elephant charge at him. It came rushing forward knocking down trees in its path. That’s power. That’s fear.

That’s the kind of fear Isaiah experienced – but much much more. This is not some lion that’s miles away. This is not an elephant that you can get away from by being calm under pressure and reversing very fast.

This is the LORD! The creator of the world. Holy God. Mighty. Power unbelievable! This is the glorious God. And the angels that serve him, the seraphim there in v2: oh, they are not thin, weedy, droopy men in white shirts strumming a harp looking about as frightening as the local vicar in a nightie. No! These are seraphim, angelic beings whose name means literally “holy fire”. These are massive creatures, burning with a holy fire. They're like the Hulk, or a wrestler or gigantic body-builder. Massive, powerful. Their voice is so powerful it shakes the room like an earthquake. The Temple was a huge stone building – great blocks of stone – and they shake so the dust rises when the seraphim speak. Holy, holy, holy Lord.
They have six wings – faces and feet covered as a mark of respect to God on the throne. They may be creatures of holy fire – but for them to look upon the Lord Almighty… – even they cover their face, cover their feet. The seraphim would not even look upon the Lord because of his glory and holiness.
You can understand Isaiah's fear when he says I am doomed...I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”

I mean, can you picture it? The LORD, Yahweh, the God of Israel, the one who spoke all things into existence; the one who judged the world in the great Flood - but rescued Noah; the one who called his people out of Egypt with a mighty hand, punishing Pharaoh and the Egyptians but rescuing his people. This God! There he sits on his throne. The train of his robe – that’s not a choo-choo train, but it is the long piece of material on the royal robe that trails along the ground. The longer the train, the more important you were. It showed your wealth – you could pay for expensive material just to drag on the ground. And the Lord’s train – well, that FILLED THE TEMPLE. It’s just like all over the place. He has unimaginable wealth. There is nothing anyone can offer him that he does not already have.

So his throne is high and lifted up, his train is everywhere, and his servants, his attendant, are angels of fire – and they are singing his praises: v3 “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies! The whole earth is filled with his glory!”

You know, we will not stand before the Lord and argue with him. We will not negotiate with God. “Hey my friend I got a deal for you”. “I’ll give you a million krone”. “I’ve got this sweet cabin in Kragerø”.
We will not say “But God is a God of love, he’ll like me” “it’s because I’m worth it”
We will not walk in there saying “I’m a pretty good person”. Every one of us will fall horrified to our knees in fear as we see who God really is.

This God will not be impressed with our foolish attempts to please him with our religious activities. Are you really going to stand before God with your church attendance card or baptismal certificate - din 4-åringsbok, dåpsbevis eller konfirmasjonsbevis – are we going to stand before this God with that. The seraphim would laugh and all our pathetic religion would just burst into flame the moment they came close – and they’re not even God himself, just his servants.

When we catch a vision of God we understand, like Isaiah, Our religion is worth nothing. Our money is worth nothing. Our goodness is worth nothing. Our family connections are worth nothing. There is nothing we have that is of any value when we come before the Lord God Almighty. Nothing. What was it the apostle Paul said “I count all things as rubbish (garbage) compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ our Lord” (Phil 3:8)
We are wretched, naked, ridiculous in front of this awesome God.

Brothers, let us see the Lord in all his glory. Holy is he.
Holy means: other, set apart, different. He is not like us. He is something magnitudes greater. He is holy, holy, holy Lord. Holy Father. Holy Son. Holy Spirit.

You know, if we could just see, really see, understand, who God is. Then we see ourselves as we really are, we see others as they really are. We understand the world – everything comes in to focus. As it did for Isaiah. This moment changed his entire life. From this moment on, he was a different man. He was the prophet of God. And no-one could make him stop telling everyone about this God. The Word of God was on his lips throughout his life.

It was the same with the disciples. What does John say? We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life

They had a visions of God. They met Him. Saw him with their own eyes. Touched him. But Jesus was not on throne surrounded by flaming angels. So how did they know he was God? Well, he was powerful, yes. But they recognised him as God because he was full of mercy.

You see, the most amazing thing in this passage is not the greatness of God. It is the mercy of God. Mercy which allows a sinner like Isaiah, like you and me, to know this God, to stand in his presence, to serve him, to partner with him in his work on this earth. How incredible is that.

2. The mercy of the holy God

Isaiah is struck down with fear by meeting the holy God. Seeing God’s holiness, his perfection, his glory, Isaiah is suddenly aware of his own unholiness, imperfection, sin.

It’s like going through a dark, muddy cave – and when you come out into the light – whoa! You’re filthy! Covered in dirt. But when you’re in the cave, in the darkness, you can’t see the dirt.

That’s what it was like of Isaiah. Merrily going along thinking he’s a pretty good guy – check my holiness, it’s up to here. I go to church, I pay my taxes, I help my landlady take out her garbage.
And then Isaiah wakes up in the real world – confronted by God – God as he truly is.

5 Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”

I had a similar experience to Isaiah. I was going along my merry little life. I gave God a bit of worship every day, just enough to you know keep him satisfied. And then got on with MY LIFE.
I’d confused God with a pet. Pat him, give him a bit of food. Then one day, he took hold of me. He grabbed by the scruff of my neck and marched me down to church, where he and I had a little chat. Yes Lord. Sorry Lord. Yes Lord, I will obey you. Yes Lord, I am yours.

And from that day, my life has never been the same again. It was like the sun came up and flooded my life with light. I had deep joy. I had seen the Lord – and I was not destroyed, but lifted up.

What mercy God has to sinners like us. Look at what happens to Isaiah.

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. 7 He touched my lips with it and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.”

Isn’t that incredible? Isn’t that mind-blowing? Isaiah has no place there. He is not glorious. He is not an angelic being of fire. He is not holy. He should be thrown out. Or simply blasted into nothingness – burnt up like the unholy rubbish he is.

As the seraphim approached him – burning coal at the end of a pair of tongs held by a mighty burning creature whose voice shakes the huge stone Temple – I wonder if Isaiah thought “this is it! One touch and I’m dead”. You can imagine the great burning hand reaching out and crushing Isaiah like paper, consuming him in holy fire until nothing remains except ash to be blown on the wind.

But instead the mighty voice which shakes the room says Isaiah your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.

It's like the paralysed man on the mat in front of Jesus: son your sins are forgiven. What? Could it be true? Or the sinful woman washing his feet with her tears. Or Zacchaeus the short tax collector. Or Legion, filled with demons. Your sins are forgiven.
One touch of the coal from the altar and Isaiah is made holy. He can stand in the presence of God!
The altar was the place where sacrifices for sin were made. It was on the altar that blood was shed to pay the price for sin. It was on the altar where the guilt of the person’s sin was placed on the sacrifice - there was a swap. The sacrifice was treated as if it had sinned, the person was treated as if they were innocent. Isaiah’s guilt was transferred from him to the sacrifice. And he was declared innocent. His guilt was removed. His sins were forgiven.

Isaiah did not know how that could happen. How could one coal take away his sin? But we do. In John 12:41 we read Isaiah.. saw Jesus’ glory and spoke of him.
Isaiah saw Jesus’ glory when he saw the glory of God. He saw Jesus’ glory and later spoke of it: the suffering servant whose sacrifice took away the sins of the world. He saw and experienced Jesus’ glory when the coal touched his lips and he knew that he was no longer a sinner, under judgement, but now a holy one, like the seraphim, able to stand in the throne-room of God.

For each of us who belong to Christ, the same has happened. One touch from his sacrifice on the cross, his altar, and our sins are dealt with. Our guilt was placed on his shoulders – we are guilty no more. Through his death our sins are forgiven.

And so we have moved – from unholiness to holiness. From those who will be thrown out of the presence of God – to those who stand before the Almighty. By His grace, we belong now to him. There is now no fear, no fear even of the seraphim, no fear of his awesome power and might. We are his. In fact, even further than that, because we can call this almighty God, Father. Daddy.
Because that is how Jesus knows him. Jesus, the son of God, swaps places with us and gives us his life, so that we too can be called children of God. Isn’t that incredible?

3. The result of grace: service

What happens as soon as Isaiah is purified, made clean?

The Lord has a task for him. 8 Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?”

There’s only one man there. Lots of angels, only one man – one man whose lips have just been made clean.
Who will speak for God? Who will be the Word of God among the people. It’s kind of clear who's supposed to respond… and he does.

V8 “Here I am. Send me.”

See the confidence he has in the grace of God. He is now ready to serve God. No more “I am doomed”. How much we can learn from Isaiah!

I love the interplay here between God’s sovereignty and human choice. It is quite clear that God has called Isaiah to be his prophet. It is quite clear that that is going to happen. God is sovereign, in control.
But it is equally clear that when Isaiah says “Here I am. Send me” that it was his choice. He was not a robot. God was not forcing the words out of his mouth. The angels were not threatening him. Isaiah looks at himself, his new self, his forgiven, guiltless self and says “yes, I can do that”. I can carry the word of God to the people.

That's what Ephesians 2:10 means when it says For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

What we are to do, the good we are to do has been prepared by God. But we are not unwillingly forced along this path – we want to do it! We are created in Chrsit Jesus, a new creation, a new man that wants to walk the path God has prepared – and chooses to walk that path.

This world uses a show of power to force a response – you will obey.
But God here forgives, declares right, stands Isaiah up on his feet. Then he asks “Who will go?”. Not “YOU WILL GO!” but “Who will go?”. And Isaiah answers not from compulsion, not from fear – but from love. God's perfect love drives out fear (1 John 4:18). Oooh, me! Send me! He wants to do this for God because he loves God.

So too with us. We don’t want to sin anymore. We want to please our Lord. Not out of fear for the consequences - because we have already been declared righteous. Our guilt is gone. There is no fear. But respond out of love. Our hearts have been swapped out – from hearts of stone to hearts of flesh – from hearts that hate God and always choose to disobey him, to ignore him, to avoid him – to hearts that love him, and want to obey, want to be with him.

As Christians we are fundamentally changed. We have new nature, a new DNA. The DNA of Christ. The heart… of Christ.

Who is God, and what does he think about me?
He is powerful, He is awesome beyond belief. He is terrifyingly holy. To see him is to be doomed – and we all will see him one day. And all of our goodness and religion will be laughable before him – exposed as dirty faces and unclean hands. Unholy!
But one touch from the altar, one drop of the blood of Christ, and we are made holy. Each of us who belong to Christ are holy, able to be with God. To call him our Dad. Without being afraid. Without being burned up.

Brothers, when we're battling sin, let us remember who we are. Remember who He is. And remember that we are loved.

1 Timothy 3:16-4:5 True Truth

1 Timothy 3:16-4:5

What we believe affects us deeply. It affects how we see and evaluate ourselves, how we see and evaluate others, and how we see and evaluate all that happens in the world. If we believe this is a dog eat dog world where only the cruel survive – that will lead to a certain kind of lifestyle. If we believe that there is a God in heaven to who we are accountable, if we believe that all people are valuable, created in God’s image, if we believe that we are utterly sinful – but amazingly forgiven and loved – that will lead to a certain kind of lifestyle.

That’s why the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write v14 and 15 “14 I am writing these things to you now, even though I hope to be with you soon, 15 so that if I am delayed, you will know how people must conduct themselves in the household of God. This is the church of the living God, which is the pillar and foundation of the truth”.

We looked at this two weeks ago, the key verses of this letter to Timothy, and saw how we need to know the truth, see the truth, and live the truth. But what is the truth?

1. Jesus is the Truth

What is the truth? The truth is the gospel of Christ Jesus as explained in chapter 1: the truth that we are sinners, we have broken God’s good law - but equally that we are forgiven “Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners” (1:11). That is, indeed, a trustworthy saying!
Those are the two dimensions of the gospel: sin, and forgiveness – and we need both to see in 3D, to see the full picture.
If we only have one: forgiveness but not sin, or sin but not forgiveness – it’s like watching a 3D movie with only one eye. You’re not getting the full picture! Forgiveness but not sin is no gospel – people hear “Jesus loves you”, and they think of course he does, why wouldn’t he? There is no repentance, no acceptance of Jesus as Lord, and that leads to many who say “Lord lord”, and Jesus will respond “I do not know you”.
Sin without forgiveness leads to harsh religion – the wagging finger, the great burden you’ve got to carry to earn your salvation. And either leads to Pharisee who think they’re right with God, but aren’t, or depression, because you can’t do it.
You need both eyes – see in 3D: sin PLUS forgiveness. Then we will see that the gospel is not about us oooh I’nm so loveable or I can do it – but about Jesus, the Christ. 16 Without question, this is the great mystery of our faith: Christ. (Christ means anointed one – he is the promised rescuer, the redeemer).

Verse 16 seems to be a quote from a hymn that was sung in the early church, and its focus is simply Jesus. He is the mystery of our faith. Not words, not ideas, but him.

The false teachers come with empty words – in chapter 1 we saw power through genealogies, being linked with powerful ancestors. And here we see strict rules to follow to make you acceptable to God. Do not marry. Do not eat. Then you will be acceptable to God. That is teachings from demons says 4:1. False philosophies and empty ideas from the pit of hell.
But the true Gospel is not empty ideas, not power through genealogies, not mere words, it’s not following rules – but a Person, the Living God revealed in the flesh, seen in both heaven and earth.

16 Without question, this is the great mystery of our faith: Christ was revealed in a human body and vindicated by the Spirit. He was seen by angels and announced to the nations. He was believed in throughout the world and taken to heaven in glory.

16 Christ was revealed in a human body is the miracle of the incarnation, that is, God becoming man. To look at Jesus was to see God himself. As Jesus said to Philip the apostle: if you have seen me, Philip, you have seen the Father. (John 14:9).
Do not be fooled by teachings from demons like that peddled by the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Iglesia ni Christo, who claim that Jesus is not God and that he must not be worshipped. That is not what the Bible says.
Jesus was seen by angels, not the “other” angels, but angels – and therefore he’s not an angel. But he’s not just a man – because he was “revealed” in a human body… greater than man but not an angel – there is only God.
And when we see that Jesus is now in heaven in glory, something that is never spoken of of angels, and when we see that the mystery of our faith is not that Christ reveals “Jehovah” the God behind Jesus, but that he himself is the mystery of our faith, and when the hymn calls us to believe not in Jehovah or the Father or God but in Jesus – I think we can safely say that the apostles, the early church, tell us that Jesus was God revealed in the flesh. That is a mystery indeed! Hallelujah! What a God we serve!

The Apostle John writes in 1 John 4:3 (ESV) ...[E]very spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist.
Our faith is focussed on Jesus. He is our good confession. He is the centre of our faith. Jesus is not a conduit (a pipe through which we flow to the real God). He is not a messenger. He IS the message. Jesus did not just bring the gospel, or just tell us about the gospel – he IS the gospel. Our confession is Jesus, not Jesus said, or even Jesus did. Our confession is Jesus. That’s why this hymn, this confession of faith, is solely focussed on him. He is the mystery of faith.

16 Christ was revealed in a human body and vindicated by the Spirit. The word vindicated means “to be shown to be right”.
When was Jesus shown to be right? When was all his words and actions vindicated? When was the seeming failure of the Cross revealed to be a great victory over death and salvation for all? That’s right, when he rose from the dead.
His resurrection was his vindication. When suddenly all saw that here was indeed the son of God, the King, the Holy One of Israel. He was indeed the promised Messiah (Christ).

His resurrection changed everything.
It certainly changed the apostles! They were all depressed, huddled in a room in Jerusalem. Other followers were walking home to Emmaus, faces sad, their hopes dashed. “We thought he was the Messiah”, they said in Luke 24. And the women, well, they went to the tomb with burial spices to anoint his body. All of them thought he was dead. None of them expected him to rise from the dead.

But he did. And showed himself to them. And that was the explosive truth that spread so rapidly around the world that within a few years it had reached Rome and within around 25 years was so large, so well-known, and so hated that in 64AD the Emperor himself, Nero, burned parts of Rome to the ground and blamed it on the Christians. It was a world-wide religion, reaching even to the Emperor of Rome, within about 20 years! That is the power of the resurrection life!

Not surprising that the hymn continues that Jesus was announced to the nations and ... believed in throughout the world. It is amazing to think that when 1 Timothy was written, in about 62AD, the gospel had already spread across the whole world. So much so, that singing about Jesus being announced to the nations and believed in throughout the world was a perfectly normal part of church. That is the power of Jesus. As he said in Acts 1:8 (Mia?) “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Jesus is the gospel. Jesus empowers the gospel. And finally, Jesus is seated now in glory, overseeing the gospel.

V16 ends, having taken us through the incarnation, the resurrection, and the spread of the gospel, to lift up our eyes to heaven where Jesus now sits enthroned in glory. He was taken to heaven in glory.

That’s what we’ve just celebrated: Ascension Day (Kristi Himmelfart). After saying “you will be my witnesses” the next verse in Acts continues: After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him. 10 As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!”

This is the glorious saviour we love and serve. Jesus is the gospel. He who knew no sin became sin for us. What love is this when God himself comes to bear our sins, pay the price we deserve, break the power of sin and death over us and set us free. Praise Him! And now to give us His Spirit so that we can share His joy, his forgiveness, this great Gospel with everyone around us.

Now, when you have such a glorious truth to share – why would you settle for anything less?

2. Satanic lies (anything other than Jesus is not the truth)

4:1 Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. 2 These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead.

What does the Apostle Paul mean by writing that the Holy Spirit tells us that people will turn away? How does He tell us?

Well maybe it is a direct revelation from the Holy Spirit, but it’s probably because Paul knows his Bible! That’s where the Spirit’s voice is heard clearly, authoritatively, objectively.
The Holy Spirit reveals quite clearly what the leaders of God’s people are like in the history of Israel. You don’t really have to know the Old Testament that well to be able to say “the Holy Spirit warns us that people will turn away from the true faith”.

As the prophet Jeremiah warns us in Jer 17:9 The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked.
And so because of greed, lust for power, a desire to be God, these men have been lured away from the truth by Satanic lies, and now they peddle those same lies. And their method is always the same: appear to be godly, be impressive, have lots of pomp and ceremony around you – maybe flashy clothes and white suits, or big religious hats, collars, cloaks, and a large silver cross – all things that say “I am a representative of God”. And then speak words that seem true, but aren’t.
“Brothers and sisters, we must obey God. He has wiped our past sins away, but now we must earn his trust by obeying his law.” To some of you that will be very familiar – you’ve heard your teachers saying those very same words – words from Satan. We were saved, but now we have to earn our salvation. They are evil words, for they deny the sovereignty of God in salvation, and make our salvation dependant not on the finished work of Christ – but on our own efforts.
It is evil because it’s close to the truth, but it is not true truth. We are called to obey, but our salvation is not dependant on our obedience. It is dependant on Christ’s obedience. We do not obey to be saved – we obey because we are saved,

Satan always wants to tear down Christ from his position of honour. Beware of any teaching which puts man at the centre, and shifts Jesus away to the side. Because that is not the Gospel. Jesus is the gospel – not you, not me, not our efforts, not the church, not even the good of mankind – Jesus. To him be the glory, and no other!

But these men are not satisfied with just taking the focus off Jesus – oh no, they need the focus on them. So then they start making up silly, unbiblical rules – not only saying “you need to follow the law”, but, just like the Pharisees, adding to the law. Do not marry, they say. Do not eat certain foods, they say. That is how you impress God.
Ugh.

They did not care about the gospel. They did not see the church as the pillar and foundation of the truth. They did not care about the lost. All they cared about was themselves, their own power, their prestige. How many leaders in the church today are like that? Twisting the Scriptures to enhance their own popularity...
For example. Have you heard this “Brothers and sisters, the law of God is love. Same sex marriage is an expression of love. Love is not a sin. Same sex marriage is not a sin.” Hooray. I’m sure the fact that homosexuality now so accepted in our society has nothing to do with their change of heart. In fact, I’m sure all the bishops were championing this form of “God’s love” 20 years ago.
What, they weren’t. Oh. How strange.

If I replace the word with adultery we’ll see how deceptive it is. “Brothers and sisters, the law of God is love. Adultery is an expression of love. Love is not a sin. Adultery is not a sin.”
Both adultery (sex with someone other than your spouse) and homosexual sex (sex with someone of the same sex) are sin, just like lying, murder, gossip, and all the other things we do which God would not do!
May I just point out that being attracted to members of the same sex is not sinful. That’s often not something we can control. I’m deeply attracted to my wife – but I can’t stop myself finding certain other women attractive as well – because they are - just like a homosexual man will find certain men attractive – because they are. It becomes a sin when I act on that attraction – either in my head or by actually doing it. When I give in to the attraction.
There are many godly men and women with same-sex attraction serving the Lord. If you need help thinking through this issue, have a chat with me after the service. A website www.livingout.org is a great resource. However, the real problem in the church today is not homosexuality – it is our attitude to God and to his Word.

We are saying yes to things God said no to, and saying no to things God says yes to. And it matters because we are sending people to hell. The church is the pillar of the truth – not a hotbed of lies.

3 They will say it is wrong to be married and wrong to eat certain foods. But God created those foods to be eaten with thanks by faithful people who know the truth. 4 Since everything God created is good, we should not reject any of it but receive it with thanks. 5 For we know it is made acceptable by the word of God and prayer.

Where do we say that “in order to be a real Christian you need to accept Christ and... stop smoking, wear the right clothes, not eat meat with blood in it, not get a tattoo, not dance on Sundays, not read Harry Potter, not close your curtains.” The list goes on and on of stupid rules we can make up. And we need to repent.

There is freedom in Christ. Eat your food with thanksgiving. Enjoy life with praise. Ascetism (denying yourself things to impress God) is ungodly. Only Christ impresses God. Trying to impress God without Christ or outside of Christ is trying to impress God with sins!

Dear friends, Jesus is all that matters. Do we proclaim Jesus in the way that we live, eat, entertain, do church? Or do we proclaim Satanic lies? Where have we been guilty of saying to people “you need to do this and that and then Jesus will accept you” – perhaps not with our words but just with our actions. Is our church open to everyone?
Where do we put ourselves in the centre – our own efforts - instead of Jesus? It’s easy to slip into a DIY Christianity, where we’re judging our salvation by our performance, and comparing ourselves to others.

This is the mystery of our faith: Christ was revealed in a human body and vindicated by the Spirit. He was seen by angels and announced to the nations. He was believed in throughout the world and taken to heaven in glory.

Exodus 10 The Light that burns the darkness

Exodus 10

When I say the word “God” – what comes to mind?

If I say “Jesus” what comes to mind?

You know, reading the Bible is really annoying because it keeps messing with our pictures of God. Whatever picture you have, you’re probably pretty ok with it. And I guarantee you that there are some things in this passage that you did not like. That you kind of slid over and said “nah” and effectively ignored.

These are the ideas that we probably have of God that this passage challenges:

1. God is fair. He would never harden someone’s hard then judge them for having a hard heart – would he? That sounds unfair, and my God would never do that. He’s fair.

2. God does not cause suffering. God would never send a swarm of locusts to destroy the land, would he? My God would never do that.

3. God will, in the end, accept everyone. My God is a God of love. He would never condemn anyone.

1. God is not fair (Divine sovereignty and human responsibility)

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Return to Pharaoh and make your demands again. I have made him and his officials stubborn so I can display my miraculous signs among them. 2 I’ve also done it so you can tell your children and grandchildren about how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and about the signs I displayed among them—and so you will know that I am the LORD.”

Whew. Not easy reading is it. This is no small god with a limited power. This is no god who sits wringing his hands hoping that someone will choose him. This is no god who does not know what is going to happen, either because he is not powerful enough, or because he’s limited his power to a small keyhole-like view of the future. Those are all views of God’s sovereignty you’ll find floating around. And none of them are Biblical.

The Bible reveals to us a God who is terrifyingly sovereign. He is the one who can reach in to the very heartland of Egypt – right into the spiritual stronghold of the palace – and turn the heart of the king any which way he wishes. I have made him and his officials stubborn. Why? So I can display my signs – and that you may know I am the LORD.

This is a God who is sovereign, and who uses his sovereignty to glorify himself. If you missed last week’s sermon – read chapters 7 and 8, download the sermon, and listen to it.

It seems so unfair. He allows Pharaoh to rebel, he even hardens Pharaoh’s heart so he can rebel – so that he can display his power now so that v2 you can tell your children and grandchildren about how I made a mockery of the Egyptians. This whole event is orchestrated (arranged) by God to reveal to us his sovereign power, his grace at rescuing a despised and enslaved people, and his (eventual) terrifying judgement on those who oppose him.

The Bible reveals a God who is patient, and loving, and kind, showing mercy and grace to thousands – but when he rouses himself in anger, we are lost. There is no withstanding him. 4 If you refuse, watch out! For tomorrow I will bring a swarm of locusts on your country. 5 They will cover the land so that you won’t be able to see the ground. They will devour what little is left of your crops after the hailstorm, including all the trees growing in the fields. 6 They will overrun your palaces and the homes of your officials and all the houses in Egypt. Never in the history of Egypt have your ancestors seen a plague like this one!”

But, but we might say, that’s not fair. How can he punish Pharaoh for his hard heart when He was the one who made it hard?

Or to put it more generally, more personally – because that’s what we really care about - how does this affect ME: if God is sovereign, how can I be free. And if I’m not free, then how can God judge me for my actions.

This has often been used as an argument against God’s sovereignty, or to try to reduce it. And so we end up trying to make God small or limit his power or say he chooses to not see things- none of which match up to what we read in the Bible. So, either the Bible is wrong and God doesn’t know what He’s talking about when it comes to himself... or we’ve got a problem of understanding!

We misunderstand because we think “logically” that the two are mutually exclusive. That God can not be both fully sovereign, and that we have real choice – real responsibility. But that is EXACTLY what the Bible teaches. How that works out, I’m not quite sure. But since when is reality logical?

God created light. Light is both a stream of photons, like a stream of bullets da-da-da-da AND it’s a waveform swish. Both. At the same time. Which is not possible.

Flash memory in cameras, phones, etc. is equally impossible. Whenever you take a picture with your digital camera you do the impossible. There is a barrier in your memory card to stop the information on it simply “floating” away. But that barrier also means you can’t change what’s on the card. Except, you can. If you do some funky sciency stuff on the quantum level you can make information move onto the card, through the barrier, without actually going through the barrier. It’s like Star Trek, when they “beam” from the ship to the planet. It’s impossible – but it works.

Reality is not logical, and there are many contradictions in nature – is it such a surprise that there should be when we come to the Bible and the relationship of Creator and created? God is sovereign, and we have real choice.

Is that unfair? Well, does Pharaoh want to obey God? No. No he does not. His whole attitude is one of arrogant hostility. He does not care for God. And God, terrifyingly, respects his decision. Pharaoh chooses to rebel against God. And God is fair. He hardens Pharaoh’s hard heart so that Pharaoh will never repent. Even when faced with God’s awesome power, he will not repent, even when it is completely obvious that he should. 7 Pharaoh’s officials now came to Pharaoh and appealed to him. “How long will you let this man hold us hostage? Let the men go to worship the LORD their God! Don’t you realize that Egypt lies in ruins?”

You know, there comes a time when God hardens the hearts of those who are opposed to him. When God gives them what they want. We are not automatons, and it is not unfair. Pharaoh did not want to obey God. And God gives him what he wants: God has his enemy.

God is... fair. But not in the way we like it. We want him to be fair in the way that we are fair with our children, playing fair when it suits them, but tilting the scales in their favour when it doesn’t. But sometimes God says grow up, dress like a man and be assessed. And terrifyingly he gives us exactly what we choose: God, I am your enemy.

God is not fair? No he is fair. He is just. And his justice is frightening.

2. God causes suffering (God the judge)

12 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Raise your hand over the land of Egypt to bring on the locusts. Let them cover the land and devour every plant that survived the hailstorm.” 13 So Moses raised his staff over Egypt, and the LORD caused an east wind to blow over the land all that day and through the night. When morning arrived, the east wind had brought the locusts…..15 Not a single leaf was left on the trees and plants throughout the land of Egypt. 16 Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron. “I have sinned against the LORD your God and against you,” he confessed. .. 19 The LORD responded by shifting the wind, and the strong west wind blew the locusts into the Red Sea. Not a single locust remained in all the land of Egypt. 20 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart again, so he refused to let the people go. 21 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Lift your hand toward heaven, and the land of Egypt will be covered with a darkness so thick you can feel it.

Who is the prime mover, the driver of all this? The LORD. Yahweh is his name. God Almighty. He says to Moses. He causes the wind to blow to bring the locusts. He takes them away again. He hardens Pharaoh’s heart. He brings the darkness. The LORD is his name!

This is not some tame God who you can fob off with a bit of confession or a bit of Bible reading. He’s not fooled by a few good works lobbed in his direction – oh, I helped my friend at work, or I washed the dishes for my wife. We can’t get him off our back by saying a few “Hail Mary’s” or taking communion. He’s not impressed with sacrifices offered to idols or prayer five times a day towards mecca or anywhere else. This is the LORD. He will be obeyed. COMPLETELY.

And if we disobey him, he will judge us. He will punish us, because that is just and fair. Is it not right for the criminal to be sentenced? The judge who lets the criminal off is a bad judge. The good judge is the one who sees justice done. The good judge is the one who punishes the unjust.

I’ve been listening to the book of Psalms, and I have been struck about how many of them have to do with suffering – suffering because of the judgement of God. Lord, how long? Lord, how heavy your hand is upon me. Lord. Lord.

It seems the Psalmists knew something we have forgotten: that suffering comes from the hand of the Lord. He commands famine and he commands winds. He sends armies to destroy and he strikes down kings and governors. Nothing happens without his command.

We see this in Revelation as the Lord commands the seals to be opened and the trumpets to be blown and the bowls of wrath to be poured out. All things we see now. The Lord’s judgement is heavy upon us.

Let me stop there and ask a question: what is it that makes punishment punishment as opposed to bullying or torture? Is it not the guilt or innocence of the person being punished? And the intention of the punisher?

We, like Pharaoh, are guilty before the holy God, and our punishment is just. I am a sinner before him. And so are you. We have let our hearts guide us, instead of listening to him, seeking our own comfort and glory instead of doing what we were created to do: to bring him praise and glory!

And so God causes suffering. And in many cases allows suffering. Because, if we’re honest, most of our suffering is not the famine, wind, and storm variety – most is the interpersonal struggles of other people’s sin and our own sin: selfishness, bitter words, betrayal, disloyalty, lies, deceit, violence, gossiping, back-stabbing, cruelty, abuse and so on. And that God does not cause, but allows to happen. As Romans 1 says God in his judgement “gives us over” to our sin. But not all our sin – otherwise this world would be unliveable. Our hearts are like a wellspring of sin, rebellion against God. New ways of sinning come so easily to us – it’s like we have a fountain of sin at our hearts. God does not need to cause us to sin, we do that – what he does is regulate how much we are allowed to express our sin! Most of which he keeps in check. I mean, here we are, still alive, in one of the most pleasant countries in the world to live. God is certainly keeping our sin at bay!

God allows just enough of our sin out to reveal our sinfulness. God sends just enough disasters to remind us that we are not in control, that we are not God. So that we will turn to him. In Revelation we see that God only allows a “third” or a “portion”. All the sin and evil we see on display today is only a small part of what we’re really capable of. That should cause us to fall to our knees and cry out to God “save us!”

You see, that’s something else you read in the Psalms. All their cries are directed…to the LORD. We need to GO TO HIM, like the Psalmists. Where else would we go? The purpose of suffering is to drive us to God. That’s where Pharaoh should have gone.

So, yes, God does cause suffering, on occasion. And God does allow suffering. And it is all to drive us to him, to seek him out. We are in the darkness, and we are to seek out the light.

3. God does not accept everyone (Darkness or light)

21 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Lift your hand toward heaven, and the land of Egypt will be covered with a darkness so thick you can feel it.” 22 So Moses lifted his hand to the sky, and a deep darkness covered the entire land of Egypt for three days. 23 During all that time the people could not see each other, and no one moved. But there was light as usual where the people of Israel lived.

The contrast is stark. The land of Egypt was in darkness, under judgement. But Goshen where God’s people lived – there, there was light! It’s a contrast that’s been going on since the plague of flies in 8:22. There is a way out. There is a place free of judgement, a place of safety, a place where there is no suffering, where the Lord’s hand is not against you.

The message is obvious. That’s where you want to be. Under the Lord’s favour. How do you get there? How do you get God’s favour? It’s a desperately important question, particularly given how terrifyingly awesome God is.

Well, we’ve got Pharaoh to show us how not to do it. Pharaoh had a tiny view of God – an idol view of God. Pharaoh tried to placate him – to send him a few gifts, a bit of obedience. Even some repentance with some real, genuine tears. 16 Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron. “I have sinned against the LORD your God and against you,” he confessed. And God smashes his pretence. He sees right through to the hard heart of Pharaoh and his hand of judgement weighs heavy: a blanket of darkness covers the land.

Pharaoh does not fear the Lord, does he? He is not afraid of his power, his might, his glory, his holiness. And, to be honest, all to often, neither am I. I try to impress God with my little works of holiness. I try to show God how good I am and that he really owes me because I go to church and read my Bible and pray and confess my sins and take communion and am a Nice Man – all of which are good things – but completely worthless in impressing a holy God. Because all those things are done by a sinful man, a man who’s heart of heart is turned towards self. My glory. My comfort. My honour. Instead of towards God. His glory. His honour. His praise.

Don’t you see? The God of the Bible is not some puppet, some small god that we can boss around or placate. He is vast and unapproachable and frightening. He terrifies us in his anger and frightens us in his wrath. His voice makes us cover our ears. He is the Holy God, fierce in his beauty and majesty, the one who dwells in unapproachable light. What are we but dust? We are nothing, chaff to be burnt up in his presence, an insect to be flicked off.

What are we compared to the Almighty. What is our holiness compared to his?

We are in darkness. We think we are light – but compared to the Lord we are a smouldering wick in the fierce sun – the kind of sun you get in the desert in the Sudan. Bright and powerful and all-consuming! Compared to him even our “light” (our goodness) is shadows and darkness - and the light will burn the darkness – and eventually destroy it. Where the sun blazes, there is no darkness. It is destroyed. So it is with us who try to walk with God.

Do we not see therefore how amazing, how great, how necessary the incarnation was and is? The Incarnation: God becoming man and walking amongst us. That he came in the person of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Not just wearing a person suit – but actually becoming a human being. Being born as one of us, a baby in a manger, growing up as a child, experiencing pain and hunger and love and emotions – one of us, completely. And then he – the Holy One - took our sin upon his shoulders, and took our place on the cross. Behold the Light of the world! And the world became dark as he was judged. Jesus suffered. Jesus went through the frightening justice of God. He took the full blow of punishment our sins deserved. Why?

Because this was the only way for darkness to become light. It was the only way for unrighteous sinners like us to be made righteous. How stupid we are when we think we can earn our salvation. Match the holiness of this God? It is preposterous, ludicrous, idiotic. That’s why we needed his righteousness.

Why are the people of Israel in the light? Because two thousand years later Jesus died for them. He was in darkness in order to bring them light.

Why did God hear the cries of the Psalmists? Because Jesus suffered in their place.

And why does God hear our cry for mercy? Because Jesus has taken our sins upon him.

God is fair, and that is terrifying, because our choices matter. So God sends suffering and allows our sin in order to drive us to him. Lord, have mercy. In utter helplessness we must come to him, not trying to manipulate him or impress him – we simply stand, hands empty, and plead for mercy. Please, I am in darkness. Transform me into the light of your son, the Lord Jesus.

Because if we do not, we will remain in darkness, and a day will come when God will say 29 “Very well,” Moses replied. “I will never see your face again.”

Exodus 8:20 – 9:35 To God be the glory

Exodus 8:20 – 9:35

I have spared you for this purpose: to show you my power and spread my fame throughout the earth.

That’s chapter 9:16.
It’s probably the key verse in Exodus because it explains what God is doing... and why.

And it’s a verse we really struggle with.

Because we crash into the central truth of the Bible: God is God, and I am not. God is the centre of the universe, not me. These verses hit us like a hammer blow. How can God do this? How can he say this? What about Pharaoh? Is he just a puppet? Am I just a puppet? How can God allow all the suffering of the Egyptians? Just for his glory? Isn’t that rather self-centred. I think God should do… this.

Oh, isn’t it revealing. I find myself standing in judgement over God. I find myself questioning his right to do what he wants with his creation. I, a mere creature, a rebel against God at that!, dare raise my puny moral code against him and say “I don’t like it”. Why? Because I’m a sinner. And the essence of sin is “I am God” “I will decide what is right and wrong”. And you are a sinner too, and so will have the same reactions.

So it is important that we allow the hammer to fall and we really grasp these verse. Let us lay aside our sinners reaction and try to understand this central truth of the Bible: That God’s plan is to glorify God. That is indeed, my first point. This is where we are going:

1. God’s plan is to glorify God

2. If we do not glorify God, God will still be glorified

3. If we obey God, God will be glorified

4. God WILL be glorified. How will you glorify God?

1. God’s plan is to glorify God

Let’s read those verses again where God reveals why he’s allowing Pharaoh to stand against him. 9:12 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and just as the Lord had predicted to Moses, Pharaoh refused to listen. 13 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh. Tell him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so they can worship me. 14 If you don’t, I will send more plagues on you and your officials and your people. Then you will know that there is no one like me in all the earth. 15 By now I could have lifted my hand and struck you and your people with a plague to wipe you off the face of the earth. 16 But I have spared you for a purpose—to show you my power and to spread my fame throughout the earth.

Ah, the sovereignty of God. We think we’re fine with it, until we come to verses like this.

Why does God harden Pharaoh’s heart, as in 9:12? Why does God allow Pharaoh to harden his own heart, as in 8:32, 9:7, and 9:34?
The answer is: For his own glory. For God’s glory.
Why the plagues and the sin and rebellion and Pharaoh’s rudeness and suffering and rescue and joy for the Israelites and raising Moses and Aaron up? It’s all for God’s glory.

Why is the world the way it is? Ultimately, it will serve God’s glory. Oh it’s more complicated than that – but at the end of the day it is all about him. Can we get it, can we grasp it? We are so good at making God small. So skilled at reducing him to a manageable size.
That’s why we have to keep coming to his Word and reading what is there. Being overawed by who He is. By what he can do.

Just look at what he does to Egypt, an area of 1 million square kilometres, a vast superpower in those days, a population of maybe 2 million people. 8:24 And the Lord did just as he had said. A thick swarm of flies filled Pharaoh’s palace and the houses of his officials. The whole land of Egypt was thrown into chaos by the flies.
9: 6 And the Lord did just as he had said. The next morning all the livestock of the Egyptians died, but the Israelites didn’t lose a single animal.
10 So they took soot from a brick kiln and went and stood before Pharaoh. As Pharaoh watched, Moses threw the soot into the air, and boils broke out on people and animals alike. 11 Even the magicians were unable to stand before Moses, because the boils had broken out on them and all the Egyptians.
23 So Moses lifted his staff toward the sky, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and lightning flashed toward the earth. The Lord sent a tremendous hailstorm against all the land of Egypt.

Can you feel the POWER? Do you get a sense of the vastness of God? That we are as powerful as an ant compared to him – even less? That at any moment he could simply flick us off? That our rebellion against him is laughable?

Like I said last week, Pharaoh was getting ready to go a few rounds in the boxing ring to determine who was going to be the champion – but he didn’t realise that he was hopelessly – hilariously – ridiculously outclassed. I said it was a bit like me vs. Sylvester Stallone. Actually, it’s a bit like me versus a 50 tonne freight train…

God is God. He spoke and everything was. He has more power in his little finger than all the power of the sun for all eternity. Why does he bother with us? What is man that you are mindful of him?

The fact is that we exist and go about our business at his pleasure. The universe exists for him. Remember Colossians 1:16 He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him.
I’m not sure we really grasp that – until it we see it displayed like here in Exodus. If we’re good Christians we’re theoretically all happy with the fact that God is in control and that God’s plan is to glorify himself and that he is the most important person in the universe.

But I often think we’re happy that God is in control simply because we think he’ll do what WE want. That we’re happy to obey God as long as God is asking us to do what we already want to do!

I know that’s me! I’m all for the sovereignty of God when God is blessing me, doing things my way – but when he decides to do something different, call me to obey in an area I don’t want to, highlight some sin in my life that I happen to like thank you very much. Then suddenly I’m not so happy about the sovereignty of God. Sound familiar?

What does that reveal about us? That we’re still trying to be God. In my heart of hearts I think I know best how the world should work, and particularly how my life should go. It is when we are called to the hard paths, when we suffer, when we are put under pressure, that we see whether we really bow the knee before God, when we see who really is on the throne. When all is stripped away and we see whether we love God because we love HIM, glorious HIM – or whether we love him for what we get from him.

Because if we just love God for what we get from him, we don’t really love Him, do we? We love ourselves. We exist to glorify ourselves – and our “love” for Jesus, our “religion” will be, on the last day, revealed as a sham, a fake.

God’s plan is to glorify God.

2. If we do not glorify God, God will still be glorified

8:20 Then the Lord told Moses, “Get up early in the morning and stand in Pharaoh’s way as he goes down to the river. Say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so they can worship me. 21 If you refuse, then I will send swarms of flies on you, your officials, your people, and all the houses. The Egyptian homes will be filled with flies, and the ground will be covered with them. 22 But this time I will spare the region of Goshen, where my people live. No flies will be found there. Then you will know that I am the Lord and that I am present even in the heart of your land.

Pharaoh was warned. IF you refuse, THEN this will happen. Three times in this passage Pharaoh is given a IF…THEN warning:
8:21 which I just read;
9:2 IF you continue to hold them and refuse to let them go, 3 (THEN) the hand of the Lord will strike all your livestock;
9:14 IF you don’t, (THEN) I will send more plagues on you…;

Pharaoh will not give God glory. He will not. He is on the throne. I used the example last week of the steward upon the throne – when he heard that the rightful king was returning to claim the throne he said “I will not bow the knee to this “king”. The rule of my kingdom is MINE, and no other.” That’s Pharaoh. That’s all too often us. “The rule of my life is mine – and no other”.

And that is a dangerous place to be. Because God’s plan is to glorify God – and Pharaoh has set himself up against that. God had promised his people that they would be set free. He had promised Abraham a land, a people, and great blessing. Pharaoh was standing in the way of that promise. What a fool.

For what happens to thieves and rebels when the rightful king returns?

If you do this, THEN this will happen. If you rebel against God, you will eventually find yourself unable to repent, and cast out into the utter darkness. Into Hell. Hell is described as fire and torment because imagine spending all eternity cut off from God. It is terrifying. We are eternal creatures, with an eternal soul. And there are only two ways to live – either with God, or without him, for all eternity.

Then you will know that I am the Lord.

There are many today who glory in their rebellion against God. Who mock him, and angrily resist his rule. When he returns, or when they die, whichever comes sooner – they will know that He is the LORD. There are many who claim to love him, but are seated firmly on the throne. Who “obey” like Pharaoh does in 8:25 Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron. “All right! Go ahead and offer sacrifices to your God,” he said. And in 9:27 Then Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron. “This time I have sinned,” he confessed. “The Lord is the righteous one, and my people and I are wrong. 28 Please beg the Lord to end this terrifying thunder and hail. We’ve had enough. I will let you go; you don’t need to stay any longer.”
We “obey” the Lord until we can get him off our backs and get back to what WE want to do. Just the bare minimum so that hopefully he will go away, or give us what we want. That’s not obedience – that’s rebellion. And there are many people like that sitting in churches across this country. Lord, please reveal our hearts if that is us. Please let us see our rebellion.

Because even our rebellion does not take away from God’s glory. Pharaoh cannot stop God being glorified. Did you notice how God is using Pharoah’s rebellion to glorify himself even more? 15 By now I could have lifted my hand and struck you and your people with a plague to wipe you off the face of the earth. 16 But I have spared you for a purpose—to show you my power and to spread my fame throughout the earth.

God allows Pharaoh to remain, to rebel, in order to show his great power, and so that his name, the LORD, Yahweh, is known throughout the earth.

Jesus allowed Judas to betray him, allowed Pilate to sentence him to death, allowed the priests to rebel against him – all so that he could go to the cross and achieve a great and glorious rescue that his name, Jesus, would be known throughout the earth.

God will glorify himself, and if we refuse to give him glory – he will still be glorified, even as we are judged and condemned.

God will be glorified.

3. If we obey God, God will be glorified

A short point, but an important one. Moses and Aaron obey God and are part of God’s huge salvation plan.

God is moving to glorify himself, to show all the world his power, and that he keeps his promises. So why does he need Moses and Aaron? He could have spoken to Pharaoh in a dream. Or appeared in a pillar of fire as he does later on. Or whatever!
But he chooses to call Moses and Aaron. And they get to be part of the greatest rescue the world has seen before the Cross of Christ. Remarkable.

God does not need them! This is only something you notice when you’re preparing for a sermon, reading the passage very carefully, but did you notice WHO is doing the bringing of the plagues? At first he tells Moses to tell Aaron to raise his staff and say… blood, frogs, gnats; then the next two, the flies and the plague of livestock, just happen. God says it will happen and then it happens. No human being is waving a staff or speaking words.
God doesn’t need Moses or Aaron. But he chooses to use them.
For the next plagues it’s then Moses who gets to do the actions: throwing soot for the boils, lifting his staff to the sky for the hail, raising his hand for the locusts and the darkness. But the final judgement, the judgement of death, that is the Lord who does it, by his word.

The point is, is that God will do what He will do – but if you or I are obedient and willing, like Moses and Aaron, we can be part of his saving work (and judging work) in the world. We can glorify God in our obedience.

Mia was sharing the other night about how all the patients in the ward were asking for her to come and help them with this or that – they wanted her. Why? Because something about her, about the way she saw them and treated them was different. She was exhausted, overworked – but something of Christ was still rubbing off. She was glorifying God in her work.

If we obey God, God will be glorified.

4. God WILL be glorified: how will you glorify him?

God is mighty, glorious, wild, powerful beyond measure – infinitely dangerous to those who oppose him – and infinitely safe for those whom he loves.

In the end, there are only two ways to live. One ends in death and destruction. The other, eternal life.

Because along with divine sovereignty (God’s authority) the Bible also teaches human responisibility. That our choices matter. That frighteningly, our lives echo into eternity. We are not mere puppets but human beings made in God’s image. And somehow our choices and God’s sovereignty work together to achieve His purposes.

So what are you going to do with God?

One way is Pharaoh’s way. He rebelled, he manipulated, he did not fear the word of the Lord. He set himself up in opposition to God, and God allowed Pharaoh to oppose him – for a time. Until he had served his purpose in glorifying God – and then darkness and death overtook him, and his rebellion was crushed, giving glory to God and salvation to the Israelites. Praise the Lord!

That’s one way to live.

The other is to accept the lordship of God. Accept that he is the ruler of the whole universe, including over me. It is to fear the word of the Lord – to listen to him, obey him. And to listen to God is not just intellectual assent “yes, I believe in God”: it will involve a change in lifestyle. It will be visible, something we seem to want to avoid. Think about those Egyptian officials who ran out to bring in their livestock and servants before the hailstorm. It was quite clear that they had listened to God. Their belief led to a changed lifestyle. And you can imagine the dirty looks they would have got from their fellow Egyptians. “Hmm listening to the slaves’ god, eh? Are you going to become a slave too?” Or think about Moses and Aaron being sent before Pharaoh “Go and tell Pharaoh…” seriously? Knees probably knocking – but they went – and are praised as saviours of God’s people, being caught up into God’s glory for all eternity.

See him! See his glory and his power! See his beauty and his majesty! And lay aside your rule, get off your throne, and say Lord take your place in my life. You are my king. I will follow you through whatever path you choose, through darkness and through light, through suffering and joy, because you are the Lord, you are my God, you are my saviour and my life. I love you because you are the Lord God Almighty, and through Christ I can call you my Father. Abba, Father. Daddy.

There are only two ways to live... and God will be glorified.

Exodus 7:8 to 8:19 Who will be God?

Exodus 7:8 to 8:19

In the book The Lord of the Rings there is a character called Denethor, the Steward of Gondor. The steward and his family have been given authority to rule in place of the King, until the King returns. After many generations, with the Steward’s family on the throne, they suddenly receive word that the King’s son is returning to Gondor.

And what is the Steward’s response to the news. “I have seen more than you know. With your left hand you would use me as a shield, and with your right you would seek to replace me. I know who rides to this city. Word has reached my ears of this “king” and I tell you now, I will not bow to this Ranger from the North, last of a ragged house long bereft of lordship!

The rule of Gondor is mine! And no other's!”

That’s Pharaoh’s attitude, isn’t it? He is challenged with God’s authority over his life and he says “No. The rule of Egypt is mine, and no other’s.”

But Pharaoh’s not the only one, is he? Every single one of us reacts like these men when God intrudes into our little world. I am the king of my life. How dare you come and claim authority over me. “The rule of my life is mine, and no other’s.”

And so we ignore him – pretend he isn’t there. Shut our eyes to the evidence. Or we build little idols – I’ll worship that, instead. So many religions. So many ways to turn our back on the real God.

We even make up new versions of Jesus, and worship him instead. There is a reason so few “Christians” read their Bible… they (we?) don’t want to be reminded of the REAL God – he messes up our fake one! All ways that we rebel against God: we turn our back on him, we try to manipulate him, we do everything we can to avoid saying “You are God, You are the rightful king over my life. I will obey you.”

That’s our problem – and that was Pharaoh’s problem. So let’s turn to the passage and see what happens when you refuse to bow to the returning King.

1. Who’s the real God in Egypt?

This passage is like a battle between two warriors. Like two boxers, shaping up for a fight, trading blows. And here they come, the boxers, ready to enter the ring, and fight for the rule of Egypt…

In the red corner, the current champion, wearing the red, black and white (colours of Egypt’s flag), representing Egypt, and the human race: Pharaoooooh! His word is law, his cruelty is well know, his power immense.

In the blue corner, the challenger, wearing a white robe dipped in blood, his name written upon his thigh, many crowns upon his head, and a sharp sword coming from his mouth. Are his words powerful? We shall see. He claims to be the Master of the Universe. Let’s find out…

Let’s get ready to ruuuumble!

The fight starts in v10 Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent!

Power!

But Pharaoh has his guard up, and he sends in his magicians to do the same. “Huh, you think you’re powerful – I have the same power”. It’s like two fighters testing their strength. At least that’s what Pharaoh thinks. 11 Then Pharaoh called in his own wise men and sorcerers, and these Egyptian magicians did the same thing with their magic. 12 They threw down their staffs, which also became serpents!

What he doesn’t notice is what happens next. But then Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. Or maybe he did notice, and he chose to ignore it. 13 Pharaoh’s heart, however, remained hard. He still refused to listen, just as the Lord had predicted.

I just want to make a little note here, where I think the NLT has chosen a weak word “predicted”. I’m not sure why they used it, since the Hebrew simply says “said” “just as the Lord had said”. It has an overtone of control, kingship, which I think is missing from “predicted”.

You see, Pharaoh is way out of his depth in this fight. It’s like me going up against Sylvester Stallone. Oh we might go a few rounds if he chose to, but the moment he decided the fight should end… this fight is that kind of mismatch.
Pharaoh, however, has deluded himself into thinking this is an equal fight. In fact, he thinks he is stronger. After all, look at the power he has over the Israelites, look how he’s been treating them. And this God, Yahweh (LORD), claims to be their god. The God of slaves. Look there in v16 The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to tell you, “Let my people go,”

Seriously – whose gods are more powerful? The God of the slaves? Or the gods of the masters?

For Pharaoh refuses to notice Aaron’s serpent eating up the other serpents. He simply ignores the Nile turning to blood, as his magicians could do the same thing. Look at v23 Pharaoh returned to his palace and put the whole thing out of his mind.

His people, however, are suffering. V24 24 Then all the Egyptians dug along the riverbank to find drinking water, for they couldn’t drink the water from the Nile. 25 Seven days passed from the time the Lord struck the Nile.

Seven days. Seven days – and Pharaoh does nothing. Just pretends life is normal. He’s outmatched. Outclassed. But he’s not going to admit it. It’s like the challengers first stunning blow, which rocks the title-holder and he realises this fight is much, much harder than he first thought, and that he might just lose this. But he shakes it off, and tries to forget it. Puts it out of his mind. I am the champion. I am the king of Egypt. I am a god.

After seven days of blood, the Lord speaks. The sword of the Lord flashes out of his mouth: 8:1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go back to Pharaoh and announce to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so they can worship me. 2 If you refuse to let them go, I will send a plague of frogs across your entire land. 3 The Nile River will swarm with frogs. They will come up out of the river and into your palace, even into your bedroom and onto your bed! They will enter the houses of your officials and your people. They will even jump into your ovens and your kneading bowls. 4 Frogs will jump on you, your people, and all your officials.’ ”

The next blow lands: Frogs! Frogs everywhere! But Pharaoh hits back – boom! The frogs are no more, but they’re crawling over Moses and Aaron – in their hair, in their beards, in their clothes – no. That’s not what happens, is it? Pharaoh’s defence is again “well, we can do the same thing” .

How did the magicians do it? The text doesn’t say, and therefore it’s not really important, is it. Black magic, demonic power, illusion, whatever. They certainly seemed to have some power – but they were outmatched – and, they couldn’t make the situation better, only worse. With snakes, they made more snakes. With blood, more blood. With frogs, more frogs. Satan’s power is a poor imitation of a small amount of God’s power. The world may promise solutions but they’re kind of like more frogs. What we need is someone to deal with the problem once and for all. And the problem is sin. Sin is why our marriages fall apart. Why our children are neglected. Why we lock our doors at night. Why we need to have money to motivate us to go to work – no-one works for the good of our fellow man. Sin is why we have police and prisons and child welfare. Sin is why we hurt each other so deeply, and are hurt by those who should love us.

And there is no solution to the problem of sin. Except God. He sent his son to deal once and for all with the problem of sin- and that’s where this series of plagues is heading. It is all leading up to plague number 10: the death of the firstborn, and the Passover rescue – and that points forward to the death of the firstborn of the Universe, the very Son of God, as he becomes our Passover rescue.
And all this is to show us what we are like. To show Pharaoh and us our need for a saviour. Because we don’t believe it. We cling to our lies and harden our hearts. Frogs are everywhere, but we won’t give in.

I’m sure you’ve seen that attitude in your friends, family, husbands, wives, parents – particularly when the gospel starts to hit home. They go into “battle mode” the defences come up, and they may even lash out. You may have experienced extremely hurtful reactions, maybe even been cut off from your family for confronting them with the truth of the Lordship of Christ.

Remember, their reaction is not against you – but against Christ. They feel the Truth of his Lordship, they hear his voice of command – and they want to run away, to fight, to shut it up. That is the heart of man. We want to be God, and we cannot bear it when the real God shows up and embarrasses us! So have compassion on them. Remember the insults and abuse Christ experienced here on earth and remember that He is right there with you. And remember how you reacted when Christ first called you. Remember that sting of pride as your realised you couldn’t save yourself, but had to bow the knee to the Almighty. For some of us that sting was bigger than others.

And remember that we still struggle with it. For as we read on through the Bible (and as we have read), Pharaoh is not the only one who struggles with God, and it’s not so much the “enemies” of God who struggle – but the people of God. We struggle with God. Our sin rears up time and time again – and we try to justify it. How often are we like Pharaoh – and we know the Lord.
How often do we cling to our pride? How often do we consider ourselves equal to God – even when our life is crumbling around us. How often do we justify our sin, even when our sin is ruining our life! The rule of my life is MINE, and no other.

Oh Lord, save us from ourselves! Humble us, Lord, in your mercy! Open our eyes to our rebellion and save us!

Who is the real God in Egypt? Not Pharaoh, but the Lord, Yahweh.

Who is the real God in Norway, in your life, in my life? Not me, not you, but the Lord, Jesus, the Christ.

Even Pharaoh begins to realise he is outmatched – that God is more powerful. So he does what most of us then do in that situation: we try to manipulate God to do what we want. He might be more powerful, but maybe we can turn that to our advantage….?

2. Manipulating God

Because Pharaoh seems to give in, doesn’t he? Look at v8 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and begged, “Plead with the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people. I will let your people go, so they can offer sacrifices to the Lord.”

Hallelujah, haaalelujah!

But he was still on the throne. 15 But when Pharaoh saw that relief had come, he became stubborn. He refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.

He wasn’t interested in obeying the Lord, but only interested in serving the Lord as long as he got what he wanted.

But no. It was just a manipulative ploy. Another favourite trick of ours. When we realise that God is more powerful we start to wheel and deal with him. You give me this, I give you that. We manipulate God. And we certainly do it as Christians. I’ll pray the prayer of Jabez for 40 days and God will surely bless me. I’ll go to Bethel to get the blessing. I’ll do this or that or say this prayer in this way Jeeeee-susss, or light this candle or pray to a saint , or Jesus’ mother – because surely he’ll listen to her, and we try being very, very good – but in our heart of hearts we are trying to get God to serve US. We put on a nice front. But that’s all it is. And there are many sitting in churches, who are seated on the throne, “manipulating” God. You may have met them, you may even have been one of them (I was). Maybe you still are. Norwegian has a great word to describe us when we’re like that: “skinnhellig” – skin deep holy – but under …. Squeeze them and you see what comes out, and it’s not Christ. I was a good Christian boy – and lived utterly selfishly. Pharaoh listened to God “I will let your people go”

Is it a good idea to resist the Lord? It will only end one way: badly. 16 So the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Raise your staff and strike the ground. The dust will turn into swarms of gnats throughout the land of Egypt.’ ”

And this time, Pharaoah’s defence fails: the magicians cannot do the same trick. God’s power is beyond them, and they exclaim v19“This is the finger of God!”

They realise they are outmatched. But Pharaoh – he refuses to listen to reason, and Pharaoh’s heart remained hard. He wouldn’t listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

The Egyptians have seen the power of God. Their water turned to blood, covered with frogs, and now swarms of gnats. The magicians are outmatched and realise that this is real power. The Lord, Yahweh, he is the real God. But Pharoah – he will not bow the knee. Such a small thing. And yet the hardest thing in the world.

It is such a small thing to acknowledge that God is God and that you are not. So easy. Yet so hard. Because that is sin: pretending that you are God, that “I am God”. And we all do it. It is our default. We think only of ourselves and our own glory. Let us instead repent – cry out to God that we need him, because he is merciful. Let us stop trying to manipulate God, and siply accept the glorious salvation offered to us – for free. We don’t need to manipulate – we can just accept!

3. The God of the poor and downtrodden

Because this passage is about the fight between God and Pharaoh, but it also reveals to us the character of God. Our God is a God is is not ashamed to be associated with the weak and downtrodden. Look at 7:16 The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to tell you, “Let my people go”. Think about that, as a Hebrew, locked in slavery, without hope – that God says “My people, the Hebrews”. He is… with us?

God is with us. He showed that supremely 1500 years later when he identified completely with us, being born a human being, poor, unexalted, downtrodden. He lived among us as one of us: he is our God, and we his people. And, living among us as Jesus of Nazareth he showed us his power, the same power present in the Exodus: power over evil spirits (he cast them out with a word), power over creation (calming the storm, walking on water), power to heal, power even over death.

And just like in the Exodus, that power is used to rescue. We are slaves to our sin, so he broke the power of sin over us by dying in our place. We might be like Pharaoh – the rule is MINE – but Jesus broke the power of sin over us as he broke his body for us on the cross. His blood was shed and covered over our sin and rebellion – and we are set free, set free from our rebellious and hard hearts and we can follow our King, the true King, the true God, and learn to love him and obey him all of our lives.

A repeated phrase in Exodus is 7:17 “I will show you that I am the LORD”, 8:10 “Then you will know there is no-one like the LORD our God”, 8:22 “Then you will know I am the LORD”. The Exodus judgement and rescue reveals our God to us. He is utterly powerful, utterly in control. Pharaoh can no more stand against him than a feather stand against a hurricane. And yet he is the God who rescues the humble, the broken, the downtrodden. All who call upon the name of the LORD will be saved.

Who is the real God? Not me, but God.
Can I manipulate God? You can try. But it will end badly, like it did for Pharaoh. A hopeless end.
What can I do? Turn to the God of the poor and downtrodden, a God who became one of us in order to rescue us, and accept the salvation he offers. An endless hope.

Exodus 1:11-2:25 Slavery…and a saviour

Exodus 1:11-2:25

In the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes there is a character called Mo. He is the biggest boy in Calvin’s class at school, and is a bully. He pushes Calvin off the swing, takes his lunch money, shoves him in the dirt, etc. Calvin is powerless against Mo – he’s so much bigger and stronger. Help!
Calvin needs someone bigger than Mo to protect him against Mo. He needs someone to rescue him from Mo.

The Israelites need someone to rescue them from their bully, the Pharaoh (ruler) of Egypt.

And we need someone to rescue us. You see, we are just like the Israelites: enslaved. We are enslaved to sin. We cannot stop rebelling against God, and that rebellion is seen in our lives. It is seen every time we lie. Every time we sin sexually. Every time we gossip or are ungrateful or say hurtful things to those we love. Every time we are impatient or selfish or mean or arrogant. And every time we kill our unborn children, every time we steal, every time we murder and rape and destroy.

To be a sinner living in a sinful world is to suffer. Watch the news. We are enslaved to sin. We need a saviour.

And thankfully we have a God who keeps his promises. A God who is the saviour of the world.

1. God keeps his promises despite opposition (1:11-22)

Israel is in trouble. The Egyptians have turned against them, and the Pharaoh (king) of Egypt sees them as a threat.

11 So the Egyptians made the Israelites their slaves. They appointed brutal slave drivers over them, hoping to wear them down with crushing labour.
13 So the Egyptians worked the people of Israel without mercy. 14 They made their lives bitter, forcing them to mix mortar and make bricks and do all the work in the fields. They were ruthless in all their demands.
16 “When you help the Hebrew women as they give birth, watch as they deliver. If the baby is a boy, kill him; if it is a girl, let her live.”
22 Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Throw every newborn Hebrew boy into the Nile River. But you may let the girls live.”

The Pharaoh was a wicked and cruel king. He was wicked and cruel because he was afraid. And the more his plans failed, the more wicked and cruel he became. 9 He said to his people, “Look, the people of Israel now outnumber us and are stronger than we are. 10 We must make a plan to keep them from growing even more. If we don’t, and if war breaks out, they will join our enemies and fight against us. Then they will escape from the country.”

So he first attempts to work them into the ground. When that fails, he tries to get the midwives to kill them. When that fails he gets the whole county involved in his evil plan.

But we know that his plan to wipe out the Israelites will fail. Why? Because, as we were reminded last week, God keeps his promises. Gen 12:1–3 The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. 3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”

No matter what Pharaoh does, he cannot stop the promises of God. Did you notice the irony, as the narrator basically makes fun of Pharaoh’s impotence in the face of God’s majestic power. 12 But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more the Israelites multiplied and spread, and the more alarmed the Egyptians became.
The more he multiplies the oppression, the more the Israelites multiply!
17 But because the midwives feared God, they refused to obey the king’s orders. They allowed the boys to live, too.
Pharaoah’s subjects do not obey him – he has no real power - and so 20 So God was good to the midwives, and the Israelites continued to multiply, growing more and more powerful.

So Pharaoh says “Drown the baby boys in the river!”. And what happens? His own daughter finds a baby boy in the river, and promptly drowns him, in obedience to her father. No! 2:6 When the princess opened it, she saw the baby. The little boy was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This must be one of the Hebrew children,” she said. 7 Then the baby’s sister approached the princess. “Should I go and find one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?” she asked. 8 “Yes, do!” the princess replied.

Deep irony. Even within his own family, Pharaoh cannot stop God from keeping his promises. Pharaoh will fail. His wickedness will end in his own destruction. No matter what he does, he cannot stop the promises of God. Because it is God who guarantees his promises.

This is the message of Exodus, indeed the whole Bible. God is powerful enough to keep his promises and faithful to keep his promises. His word is trustworthy.

Whether we are an Israelite in exile in Babylon, a Jew living in the 1^st century, or a Christian in 21^st century Norway – this story reminds us that God keeps his promises.

And so no matter how much Pharaoh tries to destroy the Israelites he will not succeed. And no matter what the world does, the Church keeps on going. Its death has been predicted many times. We have almost destroyed it from the inside out, but each time it is reformed, renewed.
The church in Norway is in a huge mess. Maybe 2% go regularly to church, and most of what they are being taught is not the gospel but moralistic niceness. But even in this mess people still become true Christians. New churches are planted. There is still hope because the Spirit of Christ is active. As Jesus says “I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.” (Matt 16:18)

God keeps his promises.

2. God protects his chosen saviour against opposition

So, we know God will save his people. The question is not “If”, but How? How will God save his people?

2:1 About this time, a man and woman from the tribe of Levi got married. 2 The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son.

This boy was Moses, the future saviour of Israel. But we know that his life is under threat. This “special” baby’s life is threatened. He is to be killed by the law of Pharaoh.

His mother manages to keep him hidden – but babies, as those of us who are parents know, are not quiet little things (particularly at 3 am!). And Moses is no different. In desperation, Moses’ mother hatches a cunning plan. She will obey Pharaoh’s decree to throw the baby in the river – she’ll just build him a little boat!

Interestingly the word for boat there is ark, like Noah’s ark. To rescue him from the judgement of the water, Moses is placed in the ark. The future rescuer is rescued.

This seems to be working well – Moses is floating happily in the river, and his sister is watching over him. But then, horror of horrors, Pharaoh’s daughter approaches.

Think of the tension. Oh no. They are walking here! Why here? Oh no, they are getting closer – what if they see him or hear him? Oh no she’s SEEN the basket.
Can you imagine the despair? The princess has seen the basket. This is the end. It certainly looks like the end for God’s promises, doesn’t it. His chosen deliverer is threatened with destruction.

But for no reason whatsoever, she has compassion on the baby. She disobeys her father’s command. And not only that, she decides to ADOPT the baby as her own son. And in a wonderful little picture of the grace of God, Moses’ mother gets him back (and even gets paid to look after him).

9 “Take this baby and nurse him for me,” the princess told the baby’s mother. “I will pay you for your help.” So the woman took her baby home and nursed him. 10 Later, when the boy was older, his mother brought him back to Pharaoh’s daughter, who adopted him as her own son. The princess named him Moses, for she explained, “I lifted him out of the water.”

The stage is set. The people need a saviour. The saviour has been born. God has protected his chosen saviour: he was rescued, raised as a Prince of Egypt – he has been prepared for leadership, for power.

Israel, here is your saviour! Or is he?

3. God is the only true saviour, not Moses (11-22)

11 Many years later, when Moses had grown up, he went out to visit his own people, the Hebrews, and he saw how hard they were forced to work.

Many years later Moses goes to visit his people. According to Acts 7:23 he was 40 years old. What was he doing for 40 years? Living it up in the palace? I wonder what his people thought of him. I’m sure he carried the hopes of the people – one of ours is in the “White House”! He will bring the government around. “More straw less bricks.”
But it appears that Moses is a disappointment. 40 years of silence. 40 years of nothing, as Moses, the saviour, doesn’t save.

Until finally he “goes to visit his people”.
And what he sees appals him. Seeing the brutality of the “Egyptian” slave driver he suddenly becomes all patriotic towards his own people and decides to rescue this Israelite from the evil Egyptian. During his visit, he saw an Egyptian beating one of his fellow Hebrews. 12 After looking in all directions to make sure no one was watching, Moses killed the Egyptian and hid the body in the sand.
His rescue is sneaky (he looks around to see if no-one else is watching), and brutal. He murders the Egyptian without warning, and literally tries to bury the evidence.

Is this the great rescuer of God’s people? At best he is a vigilante. At worst, a murderous sneak.
And what’s he going to do? Kill the Egyptian slave drivers one by one? It’s laughable. It’s so small, so pathetic.

And things don’t get better the day after. Buoyed up by his show of patriotism, he visits his people again. As one commentary put it “The champion of the oppressed and underdogs went forth the next day—this time to settle a dispute between two of his own people. Expecting to be heralded as a leader he is shocked – shocked! - when his people, the people he is born to lead (or so he thinks), totally ignore him. V14 Who appointed you to be our prince and judge?
Who, indeed. It seems Moses is self-appointed. Moses has not spoken to the Lord. Moses is not following his commands. Moses is doing his thing, his way. I’ll do it my waaaaay! Sings Moses.

But his song is brought short by the next sentence that comes out of the man’s mouth “Are you going to kill me as you killed that Egyptian yesterday?”

Uh-oh. His crime has been discovered. Then Moses was afraid, thinking, “Everyone knows what I did.” 15 And sure enough, Pharaoh heard what had happened, and he tried to kill Moses.

So Moses’ rescue attempt is short-lived. He runs away, away to the land of Midian. There he rescues seven girls from the shepherds – Moses really did see himself as a rescuer, didn’t he? – but irony of ironies, they recognise him as… an Egyptian. 19 “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds,” they answered. “And then he drew water for us and watered our flocks.”

Poor Moses. He tries to hide his murder – but EVERYONE knew about it. It was the front page of the Egyptian Telen!
He was born to be the leader and ruler of his people – but he is immediately rejected by his people ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us?’.
And as he’s running for his life from the Egyptians because he finally accepted that “I am a Hebrew, a Jew” and tried to set his people free – he’s recognized as…an Egyptian

Moses is hated by the Egyptians, rejected by his own people, an exile in a foreign land.
Moses names his son v22 Gershom, for he explained, “I have been a foreigner in a foreign land.”

Moses is a picture of his people – they are foreigners in a foreign land. Yes, they are multiplying, yes they are a people – but God’s promise of land is not fulfilled. They are not home. They are away.

Ironically enough it is Moses, the foreigner, the leader rejected by his people, who would be their saviour, their deliverer, their rescuer. Who appointed you leader and judge – well, in time, the answer to that question will be Yahweh, God Almighty! But Moses must first learn humility and patience.
He is the rescuer of God’s people, yes, but in God’s way, under God’s authority, and in God’s time.

Because Moses is not actually the saviour of God’s people. God is.

4. God, and only God, is the true saviour of his people (v23-25)

23 Years passed, and the king of Egypt died. But the Israelites continued to groan under their burden of slavery. They cried out for help, and their cry rose up to God. 24 God heard their groaning, and he remembered his covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 25 He looked down on the people of Israel and knew it was time to act.

God keeps his promises. His word is trustworthy. As persecution multiplies, blessing multiplied all the more. His people were being preserved. A rescuer was born! And he was protected – raised indeed in the very palace of Pharaoh. But when Moses tried to rescue his people in his own strength… well that ended badly: murder, rejection, utter failure and exile.
Moses was not the one to rescue his people.

God is the true saviour. He is the one who will rescue his people and bring them safely through the desert to the Promised Land. He is the one who will keep his promises. He is the one who is strong enough to save his people and protect them.

And he is strong enough to save Moses. Because Moses needs a saviour. The one born to save is not good enough. He is weak, he is sinful. He ignores God and does things his way – that’s sin. And because he is a sinner, ignoring God, he sins in his actions too, and ends up murdering a man. Moses needs a saviour.
Moses’ failure forces us to look forward to the day when a perfect saviour will be born. A saviour who, like Moses, was threatened at birth, as Herod tried to destroy him by murdering the baby boys of Israel in Bethlehem. A saviour who, like Moses, was protected by the Lord God, not by an ark in the reeds, but by an angel telling his father Joseph to “Get up and flee!”. A saviour who, like Moses was rejected by his people: a crucified Messiah – yaaa, as they jeered and spat at him.
But a saviour who, unlike Moses, never failed, never faltered. He never went beyond his Father’s will. At each stage he prayed, waiting on His Father’s word. He obeyed perfectly. He had no sin to cover up. He did not need to run away from justice. He was innocent. And yet he took our punishment in order to rescue us.

Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, the Son of God.

Maybe you are feeling like Moses. Alone. A foreigner in a foreign land. Maybe you’ve really messed things up. You were destined for greatness, but now…. you are a reject, unacceptable, exiled.

Take comfort. God rescues the broken, the unacceptable, the foreigner in a foreign land. He keeps his promises. You can come to him, just as you are.

Maybe you are feeling like the Israelites. Under the whip. Enslaved. Can’t get free. You need a rescuer.

Don’t be a fool like Moses and try to rescue yourself. You know, self-help books. Yoga. Meditation. Religious practices. Fitness. Life coaches. Going on a trip to “find yourself”. None of these work. Even Christianity does not work - unless you come to CHRIST. Otherwise you’re just like Moses, rushing out with half the picture, “I’m the saviour” until you trip and fall flat on your face.
There is one Lord and one Saviour, and his name is Jesus.

Run to him. Cry out to him. Take comfort in him. For he keeps his promises. And he is powerful to save.