The Beginning
Pentateuch - Exodus • Sermon • Submitted
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Notes
Transcript
11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation)
12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.
13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh,
14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
Prayer
Introduction
I am excited that we are moving to Exodus this morning in our study through the Pentateuch. Exodus, of course, is the second book of the Bible, and has had an enduring ability to capture the imagination. Think for just a moment about how many movies and shows are based on some portion of mean, when I get to Heaven, if Moses doesn’t look exactly like Charlton Heston, I’m going to be shocked, I tell you! Obviously, they probably won’t look like twins, but I think you get my point. The book of Exodus has captured the imagination of believers and the wider culture alike.
Scripture
Our passage this morning will be . We will consider other passages, but we will read together now. If you are able, please stand for the reading of God’s Word. We do this to show appreciation to God for His Word and in recognition that these are among the most important words we could possibly hope to hear today. says,
23 During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God.
24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
25 God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.
1 Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
2 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.
3 And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.”
4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”
5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”
6 And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
Thank you, you may be seated.
Thank you, you may be seated.
Sermon
The sermon title this morning is “The Beginning”, obviously, this is not the beginning of the Bible, not the beginning of creation; we already looked at Genesis, after all. Exodus chronicles the beginning of a new nation. A people who would be set apart and sanctified. A people created by God for the glory of God.
So, let’s consider a little bit of preliminary information before we dive into Exodus. Like the rest of the Pentateuch, Moses primarily wrote the book likely during the 40 years of wilderness wandering which the Israelites had to endure because of their unfaithfulness and unwillingness to enter the promised land. At the beginning of the book of Exodus, we are told that the people of Israel have been enslaved in Egypt. In fact, says,
11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses.
12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel.
13 So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves
14 and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves.
Really, this should not come as a surprise, since God had already told Abraham that this exact thing would happen. That Abrahams descendants would be slaves in a foreign land for 400 years and God would eventually deliver them from their slavery.
Really, this should not come as a surprise, since God had already told Abraham that this exact thing would happen. That Abrahams descendants would be slaves in a foreign land for 400 years and God would eventually deliver them from their slavery.
The Israelites had multiplied, and the Egyptians had forgotten about Joseph and were afraid that the Israelites would prove to be a military security issue. So, the Egyptians were not only ruthless in their slavery, but also sought to curb the population of the Israelites by demanding that all the males born should be killed. This is, of course, where Moses comes into the story. His parents hid him and eventually put him in the Nile river in a basket where he was found by the daughter of Pharaoh. But you know that story. After all, you’ve seen all the movies.
And this is one of the things I want to address early in our study of Exodus and often in our study of Exodus. Because of all of the movies and stories and reimaginings of Exodus, we tend to think of Moses as the hero of the story. And Moses is a great example of obedience and faithfulness, but Moses is not the hero of the story of Exodus. Or put another way, Exodus is not about Moses. It isn’t even really about Israel. Exodus is ultimately about God and what God is doing. Moses and Israel are characters in the drama, but God is the one who the story is ultimately about.
So, what is God doing in Exodus? What is Exodus about? The theme that I want us to see throughout our study is the transition from slavery to service. What God is doing is taking Israel as slaves, redeeming them, delivering them, and shaping them into worshipers of God. So when I say, “from slavery to service”, the type of service I have in mind is religious service. God is taking the Israelites - who are slaves to Pharaoh - and through the course of the book, God shapes them into servants of Yahweh – a people who worship God rightly. Or another way to say that, God is bringing Israel from bondage to bonding. Where they go from being a group of slaves to being a covenant people – bonded to their God.
That’s the big picture that we need to keep before our eyes as we study Exodus. God is the main character, and He is working to bring about this end. Our study, then will focus more on what God is doing than we will on the other minor characters like Moses, Aaron, or the rest of the people of Israel. So, now that we have the preliminary matter out of the way, let’s look at what God does in Exodus.
One of the first things we read is that God hears. We read in ,
23 During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God.
24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
“During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning”
God hears His people when they cry out to Him. This may seem obvious to us in our age, or maybe it doesn’t seem obvious to us. Maybe like Israel, you’ve been crying out for deliverance and it doesn’t seem like God has heard you. Maybe you’ve been crying out for what feels like 400 years, and for those first 399, it feels like god has been deaf to you.
If you feel that way, here is one of the great truths about God – taught throughout Scripture, but especially here. The truth that God hears His people. He hears them when things are going well, that’s true, but more significantly, God hears His people when things are bad.
But it goes beyond merely hearing. God is not sitting in Heaven, hearing our cries, but ignoring us. Look again at – God heard their groaning and remembered his covenant. That is to say, God not only hears the cries of His people, but He remembers His promises to them.
24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
A couple quick points here: when Scripture talks about God remembering His covenant, that doesn’t mean that God had somehow forgotten something or stopped being all-knowing for a little while. Let me quote one commentator who phrases it well in explaining what that means. He says,
“It may be useful for the modern reader to realize that the term, “remember,” is idiomatic for covenant application rather than recollection. In other words, to say “God remembered his covenant” is to say “God decided to honor the terms of his covenant at this time. Thus the idiom never implies that anything was in fact forgotten or pushed to the back of God’s mind.”[1]
I think that is helpful to keep in mind. Another quick point is that God honors His promises – this is absolutely true, but God does not honor misrepresentation of His promises. What I mean by that is simply that not everything that people say God has promised – God has actually promised. You see this often in the false “prosperity Gospel”. God has promised that you don’t have to be sick, or God wants you to be rich or happy, or whatever. Has God really made those promises, or are you just wanting comfort because of a love for the things of this world?
But back to the point. God is faithful to do what He has said He will do. Did God promise you would never get sick? No, but He did promise to never leave or forsake you and that His grace would be sufficient for you. God was not surprised by Israel’s captivity – again, he had told Abraham it would happen – and likewise, God is not surprised by your needs, hurts, or brokenness either.
In Exodus, we see that God hears and remembers. And that this is not a distant hearing or a merely mental recalling of facts. God is interested in the plight of His people, so He speaks to Moses out of the burning bush. This is another important concept in Scripture.
Over and over again, we are told that God is a living God. A God who speaks; not like the idols and false gods of the surrounding peoples. poetically expresses this point wonderfully when it says,
18 “What profit is an idol when its maker has shaped it, a metal image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation when he makes speechless idols!
19 Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, Awake; to a silent stone, Arise! Can this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in it.
20 But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.”
“What profit is an idol when its maker has shaped it, a metal image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation when he makes speechless idols! Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, Awake; to a silent stone, Arise! Can this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in it. But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.”
The God who hears and remembers Israel in their slavery is not powerless to save them. As the story of Moses builds, so does the picture of God that it paints. God calls out to Moses from a burning bush which is not consumed. God patiently talks with Moses and has a conversation. God lays out His plan to save the people and give them a land. These are not mere internal impressions where we say, “I think God is telling me to do this thing or that thing.” No, the God of Scripture speaks plainly and clearly. Moses fully understands what God wants Him to do, and even tries to argue with Him about it.
Likewise for us, today. God has spoken clearly. We know God’s plan for the universe, and we know God’s plan for us, that he will make us into a holy people who are servants of the Most High. No, we should not expect to hear the voice of God from a burning bush, but we have God’s very Words. God has spoken, but sadly, we are much like Moses, arguing with God about His plan.
Connected to God’s speech, is that God sends. God sends Moses back to Egypt from which he had fled. Let’s look at which says,
10 Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”
11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”
12 He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”
“Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”
These verses teach an important point as well. By His Word, God sends Moses, but Moses is not sent alone. God promises to be with him. Likewise, God’s has sent us out by His Word and has promised to be with us always.
Now I want to be really careful here. Throughout this sermon, I have come dangerously close (in my opinion) of making us the heroes of the story. God hears your prayer, God remembers your anguish, God speaks to you, and God is always with you. If that is how you heard this sermon, I humbly submit that you’ve misunderstood my intent. My hope is that you see how God does act, will act, has acted based on His perfect nature. And I hope that you see how that applies to you and brings hope in strength in your day to day life. But, I don’t, not for one second, want you to think about yourself as the hero of your story. Moses isn’t the hero of Exodus, and I’m not the hero of my life. Jesus is.
Our Scripture reading this morning was from , but I want to look at just verse 14 for a second.
14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
That last phrase: to serve the living God. Our ability to serve the living God comes only through Jesus. It comes only through the blood of Christ. So, who is the hero of the story who breaks the chains of slavery and bondage and brings us into worshipful relationship? God, in Christ, is the hero of the story!
11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation)
12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.
13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh,
14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
“How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”
That last phrase: to serve the living God. Our ability to serve the living God comes only through Jesus. It comes only through the blood of Christ. So, who is the hero of the story who breaks the chains of slavery and bondage and brings us into worshipful relationship? God, in Christ, is the hero of the story!
God hears us because Jesus always lives to make intercession for us before the throne of His Father. God remembers us because of the covenant He made with His beloved Son and we are united in Christ and therefore under that covenantal care. God speaks to us by the Living Word made flesh, Jesus Christ our Lord who perfectly reveals the Father. And we are sent out in the name of Jesus, empowered by the Spirit of Jesus to proclaim freedom to the captives – which we once were.
The story of the Exodus is quite amazing but let us be careful not to lose sight of who the story is about. It isn’t about you or me, or even Israel or Moses. It is about the living God who calls us out of our slavery into worshipful service.
Conclusion
In a moment we will have a time of worship through response. We call it that because we believe that any time a person hears the Word of God, they respond either in rebellion or in worship. It is my prayer that you will respond to the call of God in worshipful service. During that time, we will sing a song together and I will be on the front row worshipping with you. If you need to talk with someone or would like me to pray with you, I’d be delighted to do that, just come up and talk to me. I will also stick around after the service if you’d like to talk then instead. I have just a few closing thoughts.
If you are here and you are not trusting in Christ, then you should know that all those promises that God will hear and remember and speak and send – those promises are not yours. You cannot appropriate them yourself because they are appropriated by Christ. If you are not united to Christ in faith, you are not a servant of the living God and those promises do not apply. But, if you will repent of your sin, turn from your rebellion, and trust in Christ alone, you will be saved. God will rescue you from the futile slavery of sin and will shape you into a servant – a true worshipper of God. Repent and believe and you will be saved.
Fellow believers, I hope that you leave this morning encouraged by what God has done and is doing. I hope that you leave with a renewed appreciation for your union with Christ from which all blessings flow. I also hope that you leave this morning recognizing who the true hero of the story is. Because of our sinful nature, we often get the story twisted and place ourselves as the heroes of our stories, and our culture encourages that. Brothers and sisters, let us be intentional about taking ourselves off of the pedestal, let us be intentional about exalting God and minimizing ourselves. And let us be intentional about repenting of that sin when we don’t.
Let’s pray.
[1] Douglas K. Stuart, Exodus, vol. 2, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2006), 103.