2026_03_29_Exodus

[0:00] Amen. Okay, so we are in the book of Exodus and God's commissioned Moses.

[0:29] I need to be careful, don't I? That I don't think I, yeah, Lord, I know what you say in your word, but, you know, not in my case.

[0:42] My case is different. Did God overlook my case? You know the answer to it. Did God overlook it?

[0:54] Did he not know what was going to happen? See, this is a whole pattern, and we are coming up, this is Palm Sunday, we're coming up to next week, Easter.

[1:13] We're going to celebrate a resurrection, but before the resurrection, there's going to be a crucifixion, and there's going to be a burial. Now, was that a mistake?

[1:30] Did mankind thwart God's plan? Did Satan thwart God's plan?

[1:43] See, as we study the Old Testament, we see a pattern of events that begin with Adam and Eve, and they're going to walk us through Christ, and on into the day of grace when we find out that that crucifixion was planned when?

[2:04] Before the foundation of the earth. I don't need to comprehend God, but I can trust him. And as we look at this, we're going to see, God doesn't always do things the way I want him to do.

[2:21] In fact, all too often, God's not doing things the way I want him to do it. Now, that's not God's fault.

[2:34] That would be my fault. That's a flesh talking, isn't it? So, it behooves me to remember, as I walk through the Old Testament here, and as I think about the crucifixion and the resurrection, what God had not told anybody before that, was that this plan was for the redemption of mankind by grace through faith.

[3:07] And that? Not of yourselves. It's a gift of God, not of works, and this is the point.

[3:18] Why? Lest any man should boast. God will glorify himself. It is for his glory that he saves. I may not comprehend, and I, it's okay emotionally to say, I don't understand why God saved me.

[3:37] But it's not okay to preach that as doctrine. Because I do know why God saved me. It's for his glory. I may not see how that all works out, but I'm human, and he's not.

[3:52] And he is going to take the church, as he says, and parade it, parade his grace, and his mercy, and his manifold wisdom, says God, through the apostle Paul, will be paraded before angelic beings who will glorify God because of his wonderful plan.

[4:19] And we are blessed to live in the day when that, we get to get in that plan by faith.

[4:31] That's wonderful. Okay. So, I didn't mean to go that far with it, but as we start, we'll begin with verse 22 in chapter 5.

[4:41] But just to get a running start, remember, Moses has come to the elders of Israel. He has told them everything that God told him to tell them about the plan.

[4:58] And the plan was, I'm going to take you out of bondage of Egypt and lead you to the land that I promised to your forefathers. That's what he told the elders.

[5:09] He performed for them the signs that God had told him to perform there at the bush. So, then the word of God says that the elders that Israel believed.

[5:24] They believed God. And they worshiped because God's going to take us out. So, Moses goes to Pharaoh and says, this is the word of the Lord.

[5:43] Let my people go to worship me in the desert. And what's Pharaoh say? Sure. Is that what he said?

[5:56] What did he say? Not a fat chance. He says, you're lazy. You're idle. That's why you're wanting to go worship God.

[6:10] Yeah, first of all, he says, who is the Lord? I don't know him. Why should I listen to him? God's about to show him who he is.

[6:27] Isn't he? And we're going to see some of that. But, right now, what did the elders of Israel see? See, Pharaoh said, not only are you idle, he didn't just say that.

[6:42] He said, okay, from now on, we're not going to deliver straw. You're going to make the same tail of bricks that we demanded of you before. But now, you're going to get the stubble yourself.

[6:54] Now, they see themselves in a strait. See, God had seen their affliction, he says, Exodus 3.

[7:11] He has heard their groanings. He's remembered his promise to the patriarchs. He's acknowledged Israel. He's told Moses that he will give Israel favor with the Egyptians, and they'll spoil Egypt.

[7:28] That was in chapter 2. In chapter 3, again, he said, the elders of Israel heard from Moses and Aaron. They'd seen the signs, and they had believed that God was going to deliver them, Exodus chapter 4.

[7:44] But now we come to, now it's getting tougher. See, God hadn't delivered right away. It's getting tougher. And what do they think about their belief now?

[8:00] They basically say, God judge you, Moses and Aaron. Look, you've made it worse. You've made us odious in the eyes of the Egyptians and put a sword in their hands to destroy me, destroy us.

[8:19] Do you know someone, I don't want an answer to this, I just want us to think about it. Do you know someone who has said, well, I prayed, but it just got worse?

[8:34] And therefore, I'm going to turn my back on the Lord. Because I asked for this, God, God didn't listen to me.

[8:47] He didn't give me what I wanted. Well, I wouldn't say that. I, of course, would word it more like, he didn't give me what I needed. Where was God when this happened?

[9:01] The same place he was all the time. what I need to be remembering, especially at this time of year where we try to hone our focus in, that God's love is not dependent upon my ease of life, it's dependent upon what he did there on the cross.

[9:27] God so loved, or in this fashion, loved the world, that he gave his own son in my place. For while I was yet a sinner, what?

[9:41] Christ died for me. I was his enemy. He didn't die for me because I was so great. He died for me because I couldn't do anything about it.

[9:53] And he's going to. And he's going to glorify himself through that great grace. Okay, let's begin. with verse 22. So, of chapter 5.

[10:09] After the Israelite officers had accused Moses, he prays. You see that? He's talking to God.

[10:22] What are the four points of Moses' prayer? God's prayer? What's the first one?

[10:39] Wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? Now, wait a minute. Who's getting blamed here? Right here.

[10:50] what did Adam say when God accosted him about eating of the forbidden fruit? The woman you gave me.

[11:07] Satan always tries to turn me against the Lord, doesn't he? the problem is I don't need that much help. Okay, so, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people?

[11:25] What's the next point? Why did you send me? See, if you had sent somebody else, the result would have been different, right?

[11:40] Martha and Mary, when Jesus came to Lazarus, Jesus waited on purpose so that Lazarus would die. Well, that doesn't sit so well with me, does it?

[11:57] So, what does both of them said the same thing? Martha was first. Martha meets Jesus as he's coming, and what does she say? If you had been here, he wouldn't have died.

[12:16] This is similar to it, isn't it? If you had sent somebody else, this would work better. What's his third point? The third point is attached to the second point.

[12:35] I'm sorry? Right. Since I came to speak to him, it's been nothing but bad. Nothing but bad has come of this, Lord.

[12:50] And his last point, and you haven't done anything at all. Yeah, you haven't done what you promised.

[13:07] By the way, does God promise me an ease in this life? Think about the apostle Paul, through whom came the revelation of the mystery that was there to fore not proclaimed.

[13:22] And that is that Gentiles who are apart from God can be brought in by grace through faith plus nothing.

[13:34] Okay, so you would think that he'd have it pretty well because he's doing what God told him to do.

[13:46] God even took him to heaven and showed him things that he wasn't allowed to say here on earth. So how did Paul describe his life? Well, these are the blessings of the apostle.

[14:02] I've been adrift in the ocean for three times, once for three days. I've been naked. I've been cold.

[14:13] I've been hungry. I've been stoned once and beaten several times. Well, thanks for that. No. Yeah.

[14:26] And who gives the power to do that? And then Paul's going to say, well, we'll get to one of the things that Paul says. Anyhow, here's my lesson for myself.

[14:42] God didn't say that everything would be easy or that I'd get everything I wanted. it. But he did say I am secure. See, the long, when I'm in the middle of the mud, it's pretty hard to see the end of the road, isn't it?

[15:03] Because I'm kind of down here wallowing in the mud. But God reminds me that the end of the road is eternity with him. It's not the temporal stuff here.

[15:17] nevertheless, do I ever find myself praying a prayer similar to what Moses just prayed?

[15:32] In the midst of suffering, in the midst of suffering, do I ever hear these words of God as though they are just platitudes? there hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man, and God will not allow, and that temptation isn't temptation to sin necessarily, it's any temptation, it's any testing, but God will with that testing give you what?

[16:06] A way out that you can bear up under it. sometimes that rings hollow, doesn't it, when you're wallowing in the suffering, but does my thinking that it rings hollow make it hollow?

[16:26] What? No. is it the truth of God irrespective of how I feel about it?

[16:37] Yes, and I need to remember that, because that will stand me in better stead than being tossed about here and there all the time. How about this one?

[16:51] We faint not, but though our outward man perisheth, yet the tendered man is renewed daily, or day by day.

[17:03] And here, the next verse is the tough one. For our light affliction, I don't ever think it's light, do I?

[17:16] For our light affliction, which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Sometimes those feel hollow to me, don't they, in the suffering?

[17:32] But I need to remember the word of God does not fail. He says, no word drops from him idly, but will.

[17:46] Every word that proceeds from God will accomplish that where to I send it. So I need to remember that.

[17:59] We know that all things to them that love God, to them that are the called according to his purpose. We brought nothing into this world.

[18:11] It's certain we carry nothing out. Having food and raiment, let us therewith be content. These are not platitudes. Though he slay me, yet will I trust him.

[18:31] And though this body be eaten by worms, yet and God gives him a prophecy here. See, you've heard, sometimes we'll say that the Old Testament never had anything about eternity or resurrection.

[18:50] But Job says, though this body be eaten by worms, yet I know this, in my flesh I shall see God.

[19:04] So, yeah, we might bring up Job here in a bit. Anyway, so, keep going here I guess.

[19:21] So, Moses has voiced his frustration in prayer. How does God answer him? We're at verse, or chapter six now, verse one. Yeah, he says, you are about to see what I shall do to Pharaoh.

[19:50] This is God working his plan. He's working his plan. And he goes on to say, with a strong hand, he's going to let them go.

[20:02] That means with God's strong hand. And with a mighty hand, what? He's going to drive you out. Okay?

[20:15] Then God goes on to tell Moses what he will do, that is, what the Lord will do, and he also will tell him something about what he is to say.

[20:30] That is what Moses is to say. So, what does God say that he's going to do? Or what he has done?

[20:42] Let's start there. First of all, he begins it with, I am the Lord. You see that?

[20:52] I am the Lord. And he tells him something that he has done. What is it? Okay, I appeared to your forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as what?

[21:11] Under the name of God Almighty. Okay? That's who, that's how they, but by my name Jehovah, I was not known to them.

[21:25] that is, I revealed that to you, Moses. Now, verse four, what else does God say he has done?

[21:39] I established a covenant. What? Okay, to give them the land of Canaan. I established a covenant with them.

[21:50] And actually, that covenant was a one-way covenant, remember? What happened when God told Abraham to cut the covenant and lay the pieces?

[22:05] What did he do with Abraham? He made Abraham sleepy. It says a deep terror of sleep, actually.

[22:17] So, he put Abraham to sleep, and what? God went through alone. That's important for me to remember too.

[22:29] Because the promises of God, we read, are without revocation or repentance. When God made the promise, it was the promise always.

[22:44] And he's going to make good on it. So, that's what he has done. one more thing he has done.

[22:56] I have heard. Okay, so, I have heard, God says, the groaning of the children of Israel, and I have remembered my covenant.

[23:12] Now, did God ever forget his covenant? No. That's an anthropomorphic expression. it's giving God a human attribute to make it a little more palatable to me, a little more understandable for my small mind.

[23:34] God never forgot it. Now, to mankind, it seems like he has. How long has it been since God told Jacob?

[23:48] it's been about 400 years since he sent Joseph into Egypt. Okay, so, now he's going to tell Moses what he's to say.

[24:05] So, what's Moses to say? Specifically to the children of Israel. What's the first thing?

[24:15] I am the Lord. Go on. I will what? I'm going to bring you out of Egypt.

[24:29] I'm going to bring you out from under the burden. Okay. I will how? This is important.

[24:42] You're going to remember what we just read. You're going to see what I'm going to do to Pharaoh. With an outstretched arm.

[24:52] Now, when God says that he's stretching, God doesn't have an arm like I have an arm. When God says he's stretching out his hand or he's stretching out his arm, he means in might and in power.

[25:06] In an omnipotent sense. Okay. With an outstretched arm and with great judgment. And then I'm going to take you for a people.

[25:22] Keep going. I'm going to be your God. You shall know that I am the Lord your God who brought you out.

[25:36] And then verse 8, I'm not going to stop there. I'm going to bring you into that land that I promised. Remember? I'm going to bring you into that land and I'm going to give it to you as your heritage.

[25:55] Okay. So, he reiterates what he's going to do. So, once again, we saw what Moses was to say to Israel, right?

[26:06] That's what Moses, by the way, in verses 2 through 8, how many times does God say, I am the Lord?

[26:20] A bunch. Let's get more specific. Yeah, well, in these, just in these verses, how many times does he say it?

[26:36] Okay, verse 2, and verse 6, and verse 7, and verse 8.

[26:51] Four times in these verses. He says, I am the Lord. By the way, that phrase, not just the idea, just that phrase, I am the Lord.

[27:06] appears 162 times in the Old Testament. 162 times.

[27:17] God is proclaiming himself, and it's pretty important. It's pretty important. Just a few for samples.

[27:29] Isaiah 42. It's verse 8. I am the Lord, that is my name, and my glory I will not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.

[27:47] Who gets glory? God. Who else? No one. My glory I do not share, he says.

[27:59] Isaiah 44. Thus saith the Lord thy Redeemer, he that hath, by the way, that hath formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that maketh all things, that stretched forth the heavens alone, that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself.

[28:21] Who helped God in creation? Now, the God head, okay? The triune God. Who helped him? Who counseled God as to how the universe should be ordered?

[28:38] Who counseled God as to how humans should be? I'm not asking him, I'm asking us.

[28:49] asking us. Who counseled God? No one.

[29:02] In fact, Job, when he begins his complaint about I didn't deserve this, I'm glad I never would do that. Job, when he begins his complaint, God responds, well, Job, let me tell you, this is the reason why.

[29:22] Is that what he said? No, he says, Job, where were you? Where were you when I organized the universe? Where were you when I created this by myself?

[29:36] Where were you, and he uses engineering terms here, when I set the square against the earth, said, okay, this is the way the planets are going to work.

[29:47] Where were you? And by the way, Job, where were you when I told the wild animals, when they were going to calve? Where were you, Job, when I shut up the winds and released them?

[30:02] Where were you when I formed the storehouses of the snow, he calls it? Very picturesque. But the idea is, Job, who is it that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?

[30:24] I'm glad for God's grace, because sometimes I counsel God with words without knowledge, don't I? So, that's just, Ezekiel, he says, thus I will magnify myself, this is in end times prophecy, and sanctify myself and I will be known in the eyes of many nations and they shall know that I am the Lord.

[30:55] Malachi, he's talking to Israel, who is going to be punished, who has been and is going to be, but in Malachi he says, I am the Lord, I change not, therefore, you sons of Jacob are not consumed.

[31:19] The reason you're not destroyed, you sons of Jacob, is because I'm the Lord, and I don't change. I made a promise, I'm going to keep it.

[31:32] So, I find great comfort in that, by the way. what does God say?

[31:43] Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou be saved. So, by trusting in what Jesus Christ did upon the cross, God says what?

[31:58] You're saved. It's a whole lot one-sided and I'm grateful for that. Does he say, you aren't going to be saved I'm going to change my mind?

[32:13] I'm thankful that God is not a man that he should repent nor the son of man that he should change his mind. I'm thankful for that because when God says it, it's done.

[32:29] Okay. Pardon me, please. So, Moses spoke to Israel what God commanded him.

[32:40] We're at verse 9 now. And what is Israel's response? They didn't listen. They're still wallowing in the mud, right?

[32:52] It's fallen on deaf ears right now because they were in anguish of spirit. And the bondage was cruel.

[33:08] Verse 10. Now, now we get into the signs, but we're taking, before we get to the sign, he's going to tell us about who it is that's going to go with Moses and confront Pharaoh.

[33:27] So, let's begin. What tribes are identified that you see there in verses 14 through 25?

[33:44] I'll start it off with the easy one. Reuben. We see the sons of Reuben. What's the next one? Simeon.

[33:56] We see the mention from Simeon. Who's next? Well, of the fathers of the tribes.

[34:07] Levi. Now, Levi is of a specialty here because several of his lineage are going to be named.

[34:21] His descendants. But, Levi is the next one that is mentioned. So, those four are mentioned. Is it four or three?

[34:33] Three. Those three are mentioned as specifically. Now, let's look at Levi's descendants just for a moment.

[34:44] and we're going to have a pop quiz that we have not come to yet. Okay? So, we've come thus far, but it's going to be a quiz way, one way back.

[35:02] Look at Levi's descendants. He goes from him through Kohath, and from Kohath to Amram, and from Amram to Jacobed, verse 20.

[35:14] And he gives ages for them, by the way. And who's the descendant of him?

[35:27] Aaron and Moses. Now, what do we know about the descendants of Aaron? What, what, uh, there are four sons listed in verse 23.

[35:48] What do we know about them? By the way, we'll go, we'll go through this. Nabab, Nadab, I'm sorry, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

[36:03] Those are the four sons that are listed. What do we know about those four sons? Here comes a pop quiz, a time machine quiz. What do you remember about them?

[36:18] Why? Okay, okay, that one was going to come last, but we, we got that.

[36:31] All of them were priests. They, because the tribe of Levi is going to be, not every descendant of Levi, Levi, some of the Levites are going to serve in the temple and carry tabernacle parts and things like that, but a certain lineage, specifically Aaron's lineage, are going to be priests.

[36:59] Okay, so all four of these are ordained as priests by whom? God. Now, does God know what's going to happen?

[37:13] Yes. Did it stop him? Let's look at something. We're, we're approaching, we're approaching what some call the Passion Week, right?

[37:27] So, how is it that Jesus got arrested? Let's go quickly, we only have four minutes. Judas.

[37:40] Who was Judas? One of the twelve disciples. Who chose Judas? Now, wait a minute.

[37:56] Wait a minute. Jesus said to them, you did not choose me, I chose you, yet one of you is a devil, he said.

[38:12] Whoa. Who chose Judas? Yeah.

[38:25] Did he know? Yes. Nevertheless, he says, it must be this way.

[38:38] I'm glad for, I find great comfort there. He hasn't made a mistake. So, all four are sanctified as priests.

[38:52] Now, look at Exodus 24. This is big deal because no one's mentioned this yet. In Exodus chapter 24, beginning with verse 9, especially, God's going to say to Moses, you bring these people, you bring the heads of the tribes up the mountain.

[39:26] Among them are Nadab and Abihu, priests of the Lord. They are going up the mountain.

[39:37] What are they going to see there? What are they going to do? Somebody read it please.

[39:50] what do they see and they ate and they drank with him on the mount that's a pretty big deal the rest of the people were not to touch the mountain if even a sheep got on the mountain what was to happen they were to kill it so they saw God as it were in glory and then we'll come back and a little later on they will offer strange fire before the Lord they will put in their censers incense that was not the prescribed incense

[41:04] God told them very specifically what kind of incense they were allowed to burn and it was never to be used any other place but him now what is God teaching him or teaching his people and teaching me it's about his holiness he is completely and utterly separate separate God did not create a creation wherein he is confined he is he acts truly in his creation but he is not confined thereby he is holy he so it is a non non an illogical statement to say that can God create a stone too large for him to lift and the answer is that's an impossibility because he's separate from creation he is not confined by it that is those things by the way are are taught because we want to mankind kind of wants to restrict

[42:29] God put him in a little more manageable position it's kind of the create God in man's image rather than man created in God's so that's what we know about them and I'm going to have to quit because you took too long no so we will begin God willing next week with chapter 6 verse 28 and have a wonderful blessed week