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[0:00] That you've provided for us your word. Most of all, we're very grateful that within that word you have provided for us salvation and eternal life.

[0:14] ! That you have done yourself. All we need to do is trust you because you paid the whole price.

[0:26] We're thankful for that. We don't grasp comprehensively your grace, but we do rejoice in it.

[0:38] And Lord, as we look into your word this morning, teach us. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Okay. Now, we left last week with gathering up the manna.

[0:52] And this week, we begin with, what, verse 31. What did God tell Moses to do with a portion of this?

[1:08] An omer of manna. Amen. Amen. Well, we're not going on if you aren't helping.

[1:33] No, that was last week. That was the Sabbath. The first mention. Okay, they're to save it.

[1:49] They don't have the ark yet, but once the ark of the covenant is built, that was only the size. All right. What does he specifically say to do with it?

[2:06] And? And? Okay, you're to save it for your descendants.

[2:23] Right. All right. I'm sorry. As? As a testimony? Well, look at verse 34.

[2:37] Would the Lord command Moses to do with that? You mentioned it. Okay.

[2:49] Now. What's this testimony? Whose testimony?

[3:07] I'm sorry? This is God's testimony. Now, what's he testifying to? Everything he says.

[3:25] Yeah. He said. In this case, specifically, this is the testimony. That you're to show to the generations to come.

[3:38] That I fed you in the wilderness. When I brought you out of Egypt. This is God's word. And he said, put it before the testimony.

[3:49] What else is the testimony at this point? What? Well, they have seen it.

[4:05] But God's testimony specifically. It's the tablets. The Ten Commandments. Well, you're right.

[4:16] They don't have them yet. I'm jumping ahead. There will be three things in there. But what else?

[4:26] Okay. And it will be Aaron's rod. Later on. You're right. It's later on. But it is the testimony of God.

[4:40] Turn to Exodus chapter 25, verse 20. First of all. We're going to jump ahead a little bit. Okay.

[4:54] What's 8? What's 8? Okay. Okay. Right.

[5:07] They're going to make an ark. They're going to make a box. All right. Now. God's going to describe exactly what it's to be made of and how it's to look and the dimensions thereof.

[5:27] He's going to tell them exactly how to build it. And. It. We hear it as usually referred to or often referred to as the ark of the covenant.

[5:44] But just as often, if not more so in the scripture, it's referred to as the ark of the testimony. Because it contains the testimony of God.

[5:58] Now. Let's look at the description given in Exodus 25, beginning with verse 20. They're to make, by the way, graven images.

[6:15] But they're not images of God. They're images of cherubim. All right. And these cherubim are to be on the lid.

[6:28] And they're to face one another. And what do they do with their wings? Yeah.

[6:38] Their wings touch. In the middle. And in the middle there. On the cherubim wings. God calls that the.

[6:51] Mercy seat. Right. And he says, that's where I'm going to meet with you. Specifically. We get that referred to as well in Hebrews as the real mercy seat.

[7:07] But what really stands out to me, I think is important to me to remember, is the mercy of God, the promise of the mercy, always rests upon the testimony of God.

[7:24] My hope of mercy from God rests upon God's word. And what he has said.

[7:36] Now. What do you remember about someone who defies the testimony of God? Do you remember where that's mentioned?

[7:50] Try Matthew chapter 12. In Matthew chapter 12. There was brought to Jesus a man possessed by an evil spirit.

[8:06] And this man was blind and dumb. And what did Jesus do? This is.

[8:17] We begin with verse 22. Matthew 12, 22. What did Jesus do with this guy? He healed him. Now.

[8:30] What was the response of the people? What? The people that saw this miracle were amazed.

[8:48] They were astounded. They said, is this not Joseph's son? All right. Now. Or the son of David, I should have said. I'm sorry. But.

[8:59] When the Pharisees heard of this. What did they say? What did they say? That's right. They said.

[9:10] He casts out the demon. By Beelzebub. The prince of the demons. Incidentally. This has nothing to do with our study.

[9:23] But. I forget the author. Who. Who had to read. Lord of the flies. When you went to. Who.

[9:36] Who's familiar with that book. As far as knowing about it. Okay. That's the. Actually. Beelzebub means Lord of the flies.

[9:47] Just. Warning. Well it shows the. It's a.

[9:58] It's a. A dark book. Yes. Okay. So. He casts out. This. Jesus. Isn't casting out.

[10:09] The demons. By God's hand. He's casting out the demons. By. Beelzebub's hand. That's what they're saying.

[10:21] All right. Now. Jesus didn't know it. Right. Okay. He didn't have to hear it.

[10:31] Okay. In fact. He didn't have to hear it. What does it say specifically? Jesus knew their thought.

[10:46] Does Jesus know my thought? I'm just seeing if we're awake yet. Does Jesus know my thought? When? Before I think it.

[10:59] There is no one who surprises God. That's. I can trust him.

[11:11] Because he knows. Jesus. That's. Now. Jesus then responds to them. And he responds to them with the.

[11:23] With the. A famous quote. You know. A house divided against itself cannot stand. And if. And so forth. But then he.

[11:33] He pointedly. Says to them. You say this. Basically. That's implied. He said.

[11:44] However. If I cast out. The demons. By the hand of God. Then the kingdom. What? The kingdom of heaven is what?

[11:57] Come upon you. This is important. Because this is where Jesus. Is. Acknowledging. His messiahship.

[12:09] If I cast these. Demons out. By the power of God. This is God's witness. That the.

[12:20] Kingdom is upon you. Now. Then he goes on to say. Verse 31. What does he.

[12:33] Tell them. I'm going to tell you.

[12:43] That all manner of sin. Can be forgiven men. Except what? Against. God.

[12:56] The Holy Ghost. That. What he's saying is. If you. If you. Blaspheme. Or you.

[13:07] Deny. The testimony. Of God. You have no hope.

[13:17] That's what he tells them. They saw. The miracle. People. And they said. It's not God. It's. It's the devil.

[13:29] By the way. He'll. He also. Will ask them. If. You say this. Then by whom. Do. Do. Your people. Cast out the devils. You know.

[13:39] How. How does. That happen. So. The testimony. Of God. Is important.

[13:52] Because it's God's word. And. I can't.

[14:15] Go. I will say this. If people. Die. In their unbelief. Yes. If they die.

[14:26] In their unbelief. They are without hope. There. There's not going to be. A salvation. For the dead. At least.

[14:39] The scripture. Doesn't indicate that. Yes. Right. In this case. I.

[14:50] My personal view. Is. That only. These Pharisees. Could have committed. The. What we call. The unpardonable sin. Because they saw it.

[15:01] And he said. If you blaspheme. Against the Holy Ghost. There is no forgiveness. Now. Nor in the age to come. Yeah. I'm. Of the opinion. That. The only. Unforgivable sin.

[15:13] Is. During the tribulation. That you take. The mark. Of the. Yeah. At that point. You can't. You can't. You can't. Yeah.

[15:25] It. I don't think that dispensation. Is revealed here. At this point. In. In the gospel. In the gospel. But. What Jesus revealed.

[15:38] To them. Was the blasphemy. Against the Holy Spirit. Saying that. This work. Is. Satan's work.

[15:48] It's not God's work. So. Let's move on. How long did Israel eat the manna? 40 years.

[16:06] See. It. It's not just an overnight. A couple of week. Kind of thing. This is. 40 years.

[16:16] Of the wonder bread. By the way. An interesting thing. They were to save up some manna.

[16:28] And put it in the ark. Did it breed worms. And stink. No. Another mark. Of God's work. Because all the others.

[16:40] If they tried to save it. If I tried to save it. Sunday through. Friday. What happened?

[16:53] It got wormy. And it stunk. If I had. If I save double. On Friday. Saturday. I could use it on Saturday.

[17:08] I could bake it up. And it was fine. Here. They're going to keep it for. 40. More than 40 years. And it's going to be fine.

[17:19] Another mark. Of God's work. Now. And then he goes on. And he says. An omer is a tenth part of an ephah.

[17:32] So. Your translation. Joyce says. Couple of quarts. Right. Two quarts.

[17:46] 20.87. Quart. That's a lot. Yeah.

[18:09] Well. Verse. Well. 33. What does. 33 say. In your. Translation. 16.33. Exodus.

[18:22] 16.33. No.

[18:38] 16. 16. 16. I'm sorry.

[18:52] I'm sorry. Yeah, I'm back. That is.

[19:12] So your translation says that an omer is about two quarts. Yours says 20. Ephah or whatever word that is.

[19:28] Yours is new century. Yeah.

[19:45] Yeah. Yeah. And if it's 20, if an ephah is 20 quarts and an omer is a tenth of that, it's a couple of quarts.

[19:56] Mine says, my notes say an ephah is a pop. I don't remember that one.

[20:12] About. It's 20 quarts about a bush. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. You take about that much and put it in the, before the testimony.

[20:30] They're going to eat this for 40 years. Now, we are ready for 17. Exodus chapter 17.

[20:43] Now, the people left the wilderness of sin to camp at Rephidim.

[20:53] Why did they do that? Yes. Back up. They were measured.

[21:12] Some are measured in quarts. In fact, in, when the law is given, the grain will be measured in volume.

[21:28] And the gold and silver and iron will be measured by weight. And liquid measures have another volume.

[21:40] But just because we measure dry goods by weight now doesn't mean they did then. There it is a volume.

[21:59] That's an estimate. Because nobody has an ephah or an omer. That's their estimate. That, that, I don't think that measurement is ever used anymore.

[22:14] That's an estimate. I'm trying to think. If you, you broke up with a, you were going to be a lot of space in there that wasn't so good.

[22:25] Well, in the, okay. In the description of the manna, it looks like a wafer. It's round. It's small. The size of a whorefrost.

[22:37] It would be much closer to grain than it would be to leavened bread. It's the size of a whorefrost. Whorefrost. Whorefrost. The frost that you got on the ground in November morning.

[23:02] The size of it, I don't think changes anything about the point of the word. Yeah.

[23:16] It wasn't, the, the manna that was stored in the ark, I, we, we need to remember as a testimony, was exemplary.

[23:27] It wasn't to feed the people anymore. It's not going to feed a person. It was there to show this is what we ate in the wilderness.

[23:39] This is what we baked into bread. They didn't just eat it as the wafer, apparently, because they were told to bake it up.

[23:52] So, be that as it may, as the testimony it was.

[24:05] Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

[24:18] Yeah, he was, oh, he was very detailed about the building of the tabernacle. And he was very detailed. Lord willing, we will get there.

[24:30] He was very detailed about the procedures. And he's going to be pretty severe with those who do not follow the procedure.

[24:45] I'm glad I'm in the day of grace. Okay. Chapter 17, beginning with verse 1, why did they move from the wilderness of sin to Rephidim?

[25:11] Exactly. Exactly. That's exactly what he said. And that's important because that's a reiterating thing. And it's important for me not to lose track. They didn't just get up one day and Moses and Aaron and the elders say, I think we ought to go this direction.

[25:28] God said, get up and move. Now, did God know where they were going? Yeah, he commanded it. Did God know what they were going to find there?

[25:41] Okay. Just checking. Did he know what was going to happen with it?

[25:52] Okay. What did they find at Rephidim? I don't know that I'm pronouncing that correctly. Yeah. That was, I'm glad you said that.

[26:06] What they did not find. What did they not find? Water. Now, did God know where they were going? Did the God who created and sustained the universe know there wasn't water there?

[26:24] Okay. Okay. No surprises. No surprises. No plan B. So, what did the people do predictably?

[26:44] Yeah. They chided with Moses, it says. Or they complained vehemently. And what did they say?

[26:55] They're going to try and die to their motherly. Okay. What did Moses reply to them?

[27:12] This will be in verse two. Why are you yelling at me? What? Why are you testing God?

[27:25] Okay. Okay. Now, and then you mentioned what the people said. You brought us out here to die of thirst. Now, when I was with them and the Egyptians were coming down the pass, I said, weren't there enough graves in Egypt?

[27:46] You brought us out here? You brought us out here to be killed. And after I crossed and I got to Marah, I'm thirsty. And then, I wish God had killed me in Egypt where I had plenty to eat and drink.

[28:04] And now, you brought us out here. And now, you brought us out here to kill us with thirst. There's a chorus going on here. Now, and Moses calls this testing the Lord.

[28:21] Moses cries out to God. He said, what am I going to do?

[28:32] These people are ready to stone me to death. So, what does God tell Moses to do? Well, yeah, but let's get the whole plan here.

[28:48] He tells him some specifics. Okay, there's the important part. He said, okay, I want you to go out in front of the people.

[29:01] I want you to take with you the elders. This would be the chiefs of the tribes. So, we know at least 10 men went with him.

[29:15] Or 12, I mean. At least 12 men went with him. Because they're going to witness what God's going to do. Now, what else does God tell him?

[29:27] Take the rod with you. And?

[29:44] All right. Now, look at verse 6. What does he say in the first part of that verse? Wow. I don't know if this is a Christophany or not.

[30:03] But God says to Moses, I'm going to stand on the rock before you. And then I want you to strike that rock. And what will happen?

[30:14] I will bring forth water. All right. So, who's going to witness this?

[30:27] The elders. Now, they better be talking to the people, right? That's kind of their job. So, what does, what did Israel say in their chiding that showed that they were testing God?

[31:02] Is the Lord here or isn't he? Now, you know someone who has said something along the line that if God was in this, it would be successful, but because, because the going is hard, God's not in it.

[31:29] I wonder what the apostles thought. Did the going ever get hard for the apostles? How about the, almost every prophet under the law?

[31:49] Did the going ever get hard for them? And he says, you're testing God by saying, is God among us or not?

[32:03] Now, for the Christian, is God among us or not? When? Always. Even in those bitter times.

[32:18] Even in the bitter times. You know, the apostle Paul is going to mention this to one of the churches.

[32:29] Well, to all the churches. Through one of the churches. Do you remember? Well, this tempting of God business, it's going to become part of the law that is given at Mount Sinai a little later.

[32:52] And, you shall not tempt the Lord your God as you tempted him at Massa. That's, that's going to be part of the law that comes down. Now, give us a scenario where you heard something about the tempting of God.

[33:12] Everybody knows it. So, after his baptism, Jesus went, it says he was driven by the Spirit.

[33:27] He was driven into the wilderness by the Spirit. Fasting. and Satan, Satan says, hey, look at the city.

[33:46] Look at Jerusalem from the pinnacle of the temple. I'll tell you what you do, Jesus. If you are the Son of God, what do you do? Jump.

[33:59] Why? Why? Well, he actually gives a scripture that is a prophecy of Messiah. The angels of heaven will bear thee up lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

[34:18] And, Jesus' reply is what? You shall not put the Lord your God to the test. did God say it?

[34:32] Yes. Am I to test that? Look at that, that was in Matthew, look at Corinthians chapter 10, 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verses 9 through 11, and Paul says to the church, he's in a, he's in a, he's telling them why they study the, the writings.

[35:06] Why do you study the Old Testament, he says? Well, so that you learn not to do what they did. And amongst those, he says, neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted and were destroyed.

[35:24] Not, neither murmur, as some, as some of them did, and they were destroyed. Now, all things happen, verse 11, to them for examples, and they are written for our ammunition upon whom the ends of the age have come.

[35:44] So, these things are written to the church, for our, or, for the church, so that we will learn good behavior with the Lord, really, so that I don't do this stuff.

[36:04] I don't murmur. I don't try to put God to the test. There is one verse, there is one verse in the Old Testament where Israel was told to test God.

[36:22] Now, the ex-Baptists know this verse. Do you remember where it is? Malachi.

[36:36] Malachi. test me in this and see if I will not open the storehouse of heaven.

[36:48] He said, bring my tithes into the storehouse. Now you remember, you've heard this. It's in Malachi, and that's the only place that I could find where God told Israel to test him at all.

[37:09] All the rest of the times they're not to. Now, that there, you remember it, bring the tithes into the storehouse that there may be food in my house.

[37:27] Okay. I think I'm going to stop. So we're getting ready for verse eight, and we're getting ready for our first fight.

[37:42] So we'll think about this one this week. Have a wonderful week. God bless you this week.

[37:54] Thank you.