Exodus summer sermon

CROSSING OVER

Historian Daniel Boorstin tells us about an interesting shift that occurred in the 19^th century: we stopped calling people who went on trips travelers and started calling them tourists.

            A “traveler” literally means “one who travails.” He labors, suffers and endures. A traveler is someone who went through great difficulties to get somewhere important. He would immerse himself in the new culture, learn the language of the place he was in, and eat what’s set before him. He may never go back to where he came from.

            A “tourist,” on the other hand, is “one who goes in circles.” He is taking an exotic detour on the way home. He is only passing through so he samples food but does not adopt it. He may pick up a few phrases of the language but doesn’t need to immerse himself in it. He is, after all, only visiting.

            Mark Buchanan says we have made a similar shift in the church. At some point we stopped calling Christians disciples and started calling them believers. A disciple is one who follows and imitates Jesus. She loses her life in order to find it. She learns the language and culture of Christ until she resembles her Lord and is shaped by his values. She is not the same person she was before and her friends barely recognize her.

            A believer is not so radical. She holds certain beliefs, but how deep these go depends on her mood. She wonders if her faith has made any difference in her life. She feels alone and disappointed at times, maybe a little afraid. Friends would say she has not changed much.

            If you are a disciple you are a believer, but you can be a believer without being a disciple. You can hold membership in a church, say the right things, do the right things, and still not follow Jesus.

            Buchanan says that the kingdom of God is made up of travailers but the church is largely populated with tourists. The kingdom is full of disciples, but the church with believers. No wonder we feel like we are going in circles.[i]

            The children of Israel were acting like tourists in the narrative of Exodus 14. When you grow tired or anxious about the journey a tourist can always go back. They definitely wanted to go back home, even to Egypt. But the Lord had called them to be travelers, to leave behind one life and receive another.

            As in all journeys there were obstacles. The greatest obstacle to reaching the new destination was themselves.

            **Note: this sermon is not the usual exegetical style but rather takes a theme that was prominent in my heart as I read the text.

1. Leaving the Land of Hard Hearts

Part of going on a journey of this magnitude is sacrifice. You have to leave the past behind, leave the “old man” at home and journey forward.

            For Israel, leaving Egypt and the life of slavery was more than walking out the door free and clear. They also had to leave behind the attitude of slavery. Physically they were free; mentally they were still in chains to old thinking.

            They lived in a land of hard hearts. The Egyptians did not believe in Yahweh, and when you live in a culture that is resistant to God, that attitude of unbelief wears on you. It is extremely difficult to fight that influence. When you are outnumbered by unbelievers we tend to keep quiet about faith.

            In our text we read that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart and that Pharaoh hardened his own heart. What does it mean to have a hard heart? And does God do the hardening or do we?

a) The process of hardening the heart – If we study the concordance we will see that the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart occurs 14 times in Exodus. Six times it says that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart; three times he hardened his own heart; and five times it is indefinite. One thing is clear: the hardening of one’s heart is a process. Pharaoh’s heart was not hardened once but repeatedly.

b) The origin of the hard heart – A hard heart is a heart that has become calloused and unreceptive to the presence and command of God. We say that God hardens the heart, and he does, but when God hardens a person’s heart he does not cause the person to think and do other than what that person is inclined to do. God doesn’t make us sin. Pharaoh never wanted to let the Israelites go, and God hardened his heart so that he would pursue the Israelites after he released them. Pharaoh was already predisposed to do that; God just gave him a nudge.

            We see this in verses 4-5: the Lord said, “And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them…” and then when the king of Egypt discovered they had left “Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds.” So people harden their hearts which results in sin, but they also sin which results in a hardened heart.

c) Hard hearts are blind hearts – A hard heart actually dulls the senses and clouds judgment. One of the peculiar scenes of our text is that the Egyptian army went headlong after the Israelites into the divided sea. The only explanation that is given for this foolhardy charge is the Lord saying he will harden their hearts so that they will go in after them (14:17). When you see the God of your enemy doing a marvelous thing like holding back millions of liters of water so that they can go through a sea on dry ground you probably would think twice about chasing them. But the minds of the Egyptians were blinded by hard-heartedness so that reason took a holiday.

            This is how people become trapped in their sins. A hard heart will not see the danger of repeated visits to a forbidden website. Uncontrolled rage can blind us to its consequences. Hearts harden; sin blinds.

d) Hard-heartedness can be contagious – It doesn’t say this anywhere in the narrative. To have a hard heart towards God is human nature. I believe that it is also contagious in the sense that when a group of people resist the Lord repeatedly and agree together on a godless course of action that many others will be affected. I think that the Israelites learned to be a little Egyptian in their hearts having lived with them for 400 years. And it would take time for them to shake that attitude and be transformed in their minds to be a people of God.

            We see the evidence of Israel’s hard hearts later in Exodus. Psalm 95 warned God’s people not to harden their hearts as they did at Meribah, a reference to an incident when the people rebelled against God. Why did they rebel? Because of unbelief and lack of trust in the God who delivered them. The poison of hard-heartedness spread to everyone, and everyone rebelled against God.

e) God can use hard hearts – Even when a person hardens their heart God finds a way to use that heart. The Lord said, “And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen” (14:17b). God had three purposes in hardening the hearts of Pharaoh and his men. One was the release of Israel from Egypt; Two, that God would be glorified through these events; and Three, that Egypt and the world would know that God is LORD.[ii]

            While I was researching for this sermon I ran across an amateur archaeologist who claimed to have found the actual crossing site at the Red Sea. There were photos of chariot wheels covered in coral and scientific data to show why this was the exact site. I was pumped to show this stuff to you. Then I ran across websites that called all of this a hoax.

            I guess I wanted to bring the Red Sea Crossing to life for you and prove that it was real. That’s why I got excited initially about this material. Then I thought, why do I have to prove this story was fact? Did I not believe it myself? I realized that my heart was hard to the truth of this crossing and that God would actually part a vast body of water for his people.

            The biblical record is right here. I don’t have to prove that it was real. It was an historical event that took place. What is required of us is to believe, to have soft hearts that receive what God can do.

            Hard-heartedness has trouble accepting this truth. It is also unwilling to apologize or confess sin; it is unwilling to see another’s point of view; it is unwilling to forgive; and it is unwilling to obey God’s clear commands.

2. Standing Clueless before God

I suppose we should not be too hard on ourselves. After all, the Israelites had a lot to learn about having believing hearts too.

            When Pharaoh decided to give chase and round up two million straying people with only 600 chariots, he caught them between a rock and a hard place. To the east was the sea, to the south and west were the mountains, and the north was blocked by Pharaoh’s army.

            Israel’s reaction to seeing battle chariots drawing down on them was to be expected. “They were terrified and cried out to the LORD” (10b). Then they turned on Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?” (14:11).

            There’s the tourist. When Israel left Egypt they were ecstatic to leave slavery and become a nation. They were loaded with booty from Egyptians just wanting to get rid of them. They were “on top of the world” giddy. God is good. Then they find themselves trapped in an insurmountable situation and anything they believed or learned about God disappeared in a cloud of fear.

            Moses, to his credit, offers good counsel. “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still” (13-14).

            Wow what inspiring words. Don’t be afraid. Stand still. Look for God’s deliverance. Moses is looking out at the army of Pharaoh and thinking God is going to rain fire on them or something. Either way, God will fight for you. So just wait, he says.

            Moses is still learning. Israel is still learning. Hey, we are still learning too.

            God says, “MOVE!” The LORD says to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground” (14:15-16).

            Let’s take a moment to review this. Moses knew that God had led them to a place where they were boxed in and trapped as it were. The pillar of fire and the cloud of God’s glory had led the way. God told Moses he was going to glorify himself with Pharaoh’s army and lead them to Canaan. Moses also knew that God had given him power in his staff. Therefore, Moses should have known that the only way out was through the sea – the direction of Canaan.

            God loves when we use our heads and reason things out. Moses should have done that – reasoned out the situation – and figured out what God wanted him to do without asking for guidance. But isn’t that what we do often? We ask God for guidance when it is plainly obvious what we should be doing.

            This is the reaction of a tough heart – not hard necessarily – and a dull mind. We pray when we should move. We ask God to speak into our friend’s heart when he wants us to speak into our friend’s heart about him. Move! As you move God softens your heart to the things of God. But you got to move.

3. Following the Lord where he leads

We love to be in control. If any of us had a choice of being a passenger in the car or a driver, most of us would choose to be a driver. This is especially true if you know where you are going and the driver does not.

            Look at the “driving” of God. In 13:17-22, God does not take the short route, he does not want them to face war with the Philistines, but leads them through the desert. Then after going south, God leads them back up north and pins them against the sea (14:2). Clearly God does not have a map.

            We question the Driver don’t we? What are you doing God? Where are you leading me?

            But look, God’s direction and plan may not make sense to us in the present moment but it will. The LORD told Moses, “Pharaoh will think, ‘The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert” (14:3). Pharaoh then sets out to trap Israel and falls into God’s trap instead.

            One thing I have learned from our study of Exodus this summer is that the LORD is very involved in this narrative. The LORD is not absent, or sitting on his throne way up in heaven. The LORD is not deaf or dull to the plight of his people. The LORD is not impotent or unwilling or unable to fight for his people. On the contrary, the LORD has his hands all over this journey.

            Moses is told to stretch his hand over the sea and the LORD sends an east wind to open up the water and turn it into dry land (21). The LORD throws the Egyptians into confusion; he makes the wheels come off the chariots; he creates terror in their hearts so that they know it is the LORD fighting against them (24-25). Then the LORD sweeps the Egyptians away into the sea and drowns them, none surviving (26-28).

            Egyptians lay dead all over the shore, no longer able to terrify the Israelites, no longer able to bring them back into slavery, and no longer a threat to their hopes and dreams. They are dead. “And when the Israelites saw the great power the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant” (4:31). The great thaw has begun; the hardened heart is softening.

            God may lead us in strange paths, uncomfortable ways, even into painful experiences, but he is still leading us. He knows the way through the wilderness, all we have to do is follow. “The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing…” (Psalm 23).

Conclusion

This summer we have rehearsed the story of Moses and the Exodus. Three events stand out for me this morning: Passover – the sacrifice of the lamb with the blood smeared over the door to protect the firstborn from the angel of death; the Red Sea Crossing – passing through the water which meant both life and death depending on whose side you were on; and the Journey to the Promised Land – we haven’t studied this yet (maybe next summer) but freedom comes with a cost as we will see.

            Can you see the metaphor?

            First we have the lamb that was slain, and the Lamb that was slain for us in the person of Jesus Christ. This is our salvation, our deliverance from the slavery to our sins and hard heartedness.

            Then we have the Red Sea which symbolizes our baptism into the death and life of Christ. We have passed through leaving the old life behind where we resisted God and have come through as new people, a people of God who follow after Jesus.

            Finally, we have the journey ahead of us and we press on through the wilderness of life to lay hold of God’s promises.

            People, because you are sitting here today I am assuming you are “saved.” You have crossed over. The question I pose to you as you go away from this sanctuary this morning is this: Are you a traveler or a tourist? Are you immersing yourself in the language of Christ, the character and customs of our Lord, and the transforming power of his presence? Are you taste testing or are you gorging on the bread of life and digesting him into your life? Are you a believer in Jesus or are you a disciple of Christ?

            If you have crossed over, been baptized in the water and the blood, then you will be different. If you are not different then may I suggest that your heart is hard and resistant to what the Holy Spirit wants to do in you and where God wants to lead you.

            But you don’t have to remain hard hearted. The first step is admitting your resistance to Jesus; the second is to truly cross over, to leave the old life behind and welcome the new life in Christ. “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Cor 5:17).

            To the hard hearted God has said, “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh” (Ezek 11:19).

            Leave your heart with God today and walk out of here with the joy of the Lord.

                                                            AMEN

           

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[i] Mark Buchanan, Your Church is too Safe, Zondervan, pp. 59-60

[ii] Bob Deffinbaugh, adapted from his sermon The Red Sea: Israel’s Deliverance and Egypt’s Defeat (Exodus 13:17-14:31)

Exodus Sermon Aug 5

NOT BY SIGHT

“We live by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor 5:7).

I’ve been reading a book this last week called Transforming Worldviews in prep for a course I am taking. This book suggests that modern thought has been dominated by science and reason for the last 300 years. While science and reason are responsible for great advancements in technology and healthy living, they have also contributed to a decrease in faith.

            When science and reason dominate our thinking we tend to see everything as explainable. We observe and come up with rational arguments for a how a thing came to be. If something cannot be proved by science then logically it does not exist. This becomes problematic when we apply science to the work of God. If a miracle, as we call it, cannot be tested according to our scientific observations and if there is no precedent in recent history to compare it to, reason calls this a myth or a legend. Red Sea crossings and feeding the 5000 become “nice” stories but do we really believe them?

            I am not saying we should reject science and reason. We need both faith and reason in our worship of God, but we have tended to lean too heavily on reason when faith is what is required.

            We live by faith, not by sight. This is a great challenge for our day. To live by faith in God who does not always act in an observable manner which can be subjected to scientific analysis.

            As we study Exodus 5-6 this morning I would like to highlight the weakness of man’s reason and the greatness of God’s actions.

Context

To begin with we need to set the stage of this event by giving a context for what takes place.

            Moses is born to Israelite parents and due to peculiar circumstances is adopted by an Egyptian princess. He is privileged to grow up, study and live in the palace for the first 40 years of his life. Caught between being a Hebrew and an Egyptian, he kills an Egyptian to save a Hebrew, and then runs away.

            For the next 40 years he lives in exile in the wilderness until he discovers a burning bush that talks. God speaks to Moses out of the burning bush and tells him he is going to use Moses to deliver his people from slavery to the Egyptians. Moses hedges and is reluctant to accept this command but God assures him of his presence and gives him a partner to help him – his brother Aaron.

           

1. From Great Heights to Crushing Lows

What happens next is encouraging for these servants of God. Moses and Aaron are well-received by the Israelite elders (4:29-31). They tell the elders that the LORD has spoken and he is going to set the Israelites free from bondage. They even perform signs in front of the people and they believe. In response to this news and the signs confirming the LORD’s promise, the people bow down and worship.

            This is fantastic. Moses who was so unsure of his own abilities to lead is here encouraged to see a thrilling acceptance of his mission among the people. Maybe the next step will be easier than he thought.

            Moses and Aaron go to Pharaoh and declare “Let my people go” (5:1-5). You can just see them walking up boldly, chests a little higher than usual, and all they have to do is blurt out the words. And Pharaoh says, “Why would I do that?” In fact he says, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD and I will not let Israel go” (5:2). And why would Pharaoh let cheap labor just walk off the job? He is building a city on the backs and the blood of the Hebrews. Let them go and the projects stall. Egyptians aren’t going to want to step in and haul bricks. With Pharaoh’s rejection, the air goes out of Moses’ chest and his confidence is a little shaken.

            As a consequence of this little encounter, Pharaoh decides to make life tougher for the Israelites (5:6-18). In short, he takes away the supply of straw to make bricks but demands the same production of bricks from the slaves. They have to scrounge for miles to find stubble to give the bricks consistency but it is difficult. If they don’t make enough bricks the foremen get whipped.

            So the same amount of bricks is required and the Israelites realize they are in trouble. Moses and Aaron come to meet with the Israelite foremen and find rejection and dejection (5:19-21). Basically they get cursed out for making life so hard for the Israelites. “May the LORD look upon you and judge you! You have made us a stench to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us” (5:21).

            You can see in this short summary how Moses and Aaron went from heroes to zeroes very quickly. First they are cheered and, you could say, a revival broke out. They think nothing can stop them and discover it’s not so easy with Pharaoh. The king increases the workload and Moses is cursed for his shortsightedness.

            Crushing setbacks like this will suck our energies and reduce our faith to a shambles. It is tough to keep going forward when we get discouraged. We can go from great highs in spiritual experience and believe that the LORD will always be with us, but then the next day we get a phone call with the worst news. Perhaps our spiritual high is busted by critical words from another Christian. We can go from exquisite faith in God to feeling lower than dirt in a matter of moments. That’s life, we say.

            Where do you turn when you are faced with hurts, disappointments and setbacks? To whom do you vent when someone pops your bubble? Who do you complain to?

2. Moses questions the LORD’s plan

Moses went to God with his beefs.

            However, Moses went with an accusation. He felt abandoned at the critical moment and could not understand how God could leave him in the lurch. Look at the words Moses uses to blast the LORD, “O LORD, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all” (5:23).

            Here is the critical question: Why did God set Moses up to fail? Or did he? Did Moses fail? Did God’s plan A fall apart before the might of Pharaoh? Why did God allow this?

            First of all we need to recognize Moses’ part in this supposed failure. You see, Moses did not listen to God’s instructions very carefully. Compare what happened in 5:1 with what God instructed him to do in 3:18:

            God said to take the elders with him when he went to the king of Egypt; Moses only took Aaron with him.

            God said to tell the king that Moses had met with God; Moses went blustering in and declared, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says…” The difference is terminology. Speaking the language of the culture, saying “he met with him” is code for “I had a vision of God” which Egyptians would have respected.

            God said to ask the king to “let us take a 3 day journey to worship God”; Moses demanded immediate emancipation for his people.

            You know, despite the human element that ultimately messes up God’s plans, the LORD still accomplishes his purposes. Moses was nervous, misspoke, fumbled the ball…however you want to put it, but it didn’t matter. From a scientific perspective this experiment was a failure. From a faith perspective God was just getting started. You can’t see that from human reasoning.

            What about God’s perspective? God knew that Pharaoh would turn down the request for a religious holiday. That’s exactly what he wanted. Asking for time to worship their God was a legitimate request that any nation would respect. In denying this request, Pharaoh reveals his injustice and gives God full justification in taking action against him.

            God knew that Pharaoh would take this attitude. In 4:21 God said he would harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he would not let the people go. Why would God allow this to happen?

            We can only see this in hindsight, but consider this: Without the increased struggle from forced labor, do you think that the people would want to leave Egypt and go into the wilderness? They would have said “forget it.” And without the increased difficulties in winning their freedom, do you think Moses and Aaron would have learned to depend on God? And without these trials, how would God have demonstrated his superior power and character as Almighty God to the Egyptians and to the world?

            Egypt was the United States of its time and context. So if God revealed himself in a powerful way to this nation, the whole world was sure to know of it, because all eyes were on Egypt at that time. God’s plan was going perfectly…

3. God answers Moses with his Names

In order to assure Moses of God’s ability, the LORD reminds Moses who he is through his names.

a) What we need to know about God’s might – What Moses needed to remember is that God is powerful. The LORD said, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country” (6:1).

                There are three things we need to know about God’s mighty power: 1) Nothing can stop God from doing what he wants to do. If God is God then nothing will keep him from accomplishing his purposes. If someone like Pharaoh can upset God’s plans then he is not really God. Daniel 4:35 says, “He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand…”

            2) God does whatever he pleases. As it says in Psalm 115:3, “Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him.” If God wills that something will happen, it will happen. Ultimately the only thing that determines what God will accomplish and what he won’t is his own will.

            3) No power on earth, or anywhere in the universe, is greater than God’s power. His is a superior power to all other powers. Every morning when the sun rises we see a minor display of his wonder and majesty as this blazing orb 865, 000 miles thick, and 1.3 million times heavier than the earth and one million degrees centigrade emerges to warm our planet. Every morning we awaken to the thrilling power and glory of God as he shows us a new day filling us with hope that one day we will enter a land where the greatest beauties of this earth will seem like blurry copies of the clear magnificence of God. Whatever you have experienced in terms of awe, you haven’t’ seen nothing yet.

b) From El Shaddai…God is powerful and his hand is mighty. That’s what his name means. God gives Moses a brief history lesson of his name. He reminds him that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob only knew God as God Almighty, or El Shaddai (El = God; Shaddai = Mighty).

            Shaddai is translated in our Bibles as “Almighty” but it could mean something like “the God who is sufficient for our personal inadequacies.” He is the God who is sufficient when his people are at their weakest point.

            It was El Shaddai who appeared to establish a covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. El Shaddai, God Almighty, promised them that they would have the land of Canaan to call their own. El Shaddai made them his people, and as it says in 6:5, he heard their groaning, the groaning of his own people.

            Now why does God tell Moses this? How does this encourage Moses that his efforts were not wasted and that God will deliver his people?

            God was saying something like this: “The name Yahweh is a greater name than the name God Almighty.” He did not reveal himself as Yahweh to the patriarchs, but the name God Almighty was special to them and they believed in what God said. That was a name they could be confident in: God Almighty. Now how much more should Moses trust in God with a name like Yahweh?

c) …to Yahweh – Remember Yahweh? When Moses asked what the name of God was so he could tell Israel who sent him, God answered saying, “I AM WHO I AM.” Yahweh. In your Bibles LORD – all capitals. This is the fullest revelation of God, the supreme name of God. So if El Shaddai is a name to be trusted as the promise-giver, Yahweh can be trusted as the Deliverer. Listen to what YAHWEH says he will do for Israel in 6:6-8:

1) I will bring you out from under the yoke.

2) I will free you from being slaves.

3) I will redeem you (purchase you from your owner).

4) I will take you as my own people.

5) I will be your God.

6) I will bring you to the Land.

7) I will give it to you as a possession.

            Take note of who does what. What does Moses do? Nothing really. What does YAHWEH do? He says, “I will…I will.”

            And if you study this closely you will find that these seven statements are an exact reflection of the covenant that El Shaddai makes with Abraham in Genesis17:3-8. In brief, he tells Abraham he will make him a great nation, he will be his God and give him a special land. What God promises he will do. More than five hundred years had passed but God was going to keep his promise to Abraham and the people of Israel.

            At the beginning of verse 6 and at the end of verse 8, like bookends, God says “I am the LORD.” I AM WHO I AM. His name is solid and trustworthy. In the culture and times of Genghis Khan, the great warrior of the eastern plains would make promises saying, “My name is iron.” Iron was the strongest thing he could think of to indicate the strength of his word. The LORD’s name surpasses all strength and power and assures us He will deliver his people.

            Fifteen hundred years after Moses a man came walking amongst the people teaching the word of the LORD with great authority. When questioned about his origins and his right to speak, he answered, “I tell you the truth…before Abraham was born, I am!” (John 8:58). When the Jews heard this they picked up stones to stone Jesus, because he said this to them: “I AM WHO I AM.” This man, whom they could touch and argue with, claimed to be Yahweh. And they could not believe what they heard.

            Jesus is Yahweh. Consider the mission of Jesus in terms of Exodus 6:6-8:

1) I will bring you out from under the yoke, the oppression of your sinful life.

2) I will free you from slavery to sin.

3) I will redeem you, I will purchase you with my blood.

4) I will take you as my own people.

5) I will be your God.

6) I will bring you to the Land – everlasting life with Jesus.

7) I will give it to you for your very own possession.

            Jesus came to deliver us in the most powerful action the world has ever known, the weakness of the cross. Even though he is all-powerful he did not turn away from the cross but endured all its agony to reveal that even in trial and suffering God is omnipotent

The omnipotence of God means eternal, unshakeable refuge in the everlasting glory of God no matter what happens on this earth. It means that in all things God is working even if we do not see the evidence of his hand with all our powers of observation.

            If even Pharaoh fulfilled God’s plan without his knowledge of ever doing so, what else has God planned that we have not yet comprehended? When we go forth in confidence and expect a “yes” and receive a “no” even though we trusted the Lord, does that mean that God deserted us? Or could it mean that something bigger is on the horizon?

            Even Christians can become disillusioned wondering if God is involved with their lives. Sometimes it feels as though God has wound up the world like a clock and let it go until it winds down. That is the false teaching of dualism that says God is in heaven, we are on earth, and never the two shall intermingle until Christ comes again.

            I can’t believe that and I declare to you today that I won’t believe that. The story of Exodus reveals Yahweh, I AM WHO I AM, as one who is involved with his people in ways that they don’t even realize.

            By faith I encourage you to believe that in the mundane moments of your life, God is at work. When your experience disappointment or setback, consider what greater things God might have in store for you than you previously imagined.

            We live by faith and not by sight. Pray that God might give you vision to see in the ordinary and daily trials his Almighty hand.

                                                            AMEN

           

Messenger Article July 2012

Reconciling our Faith and Heritage

Castigated, exiled and now humbled in their return to a once proud city, the people gathered in the shadow of their restored walls and temple. For seventy years the site of the city had been desolate, barren, rubble hardly worth calling a village. Now by the grace of God this people had been allowed to come home and rebuild and rededicate the Holy place. There would be a sense of restrained celebration; more so there would be a call to repentance and confession before God.

This was the scene in Nehemiah 9 following centuries of rebellion in the face of a faithful God. Here was a people of a proud spiritual heritage clinging to their advantages in the faith: children of Abraham, descendents of the Patriarchs, possessing the Law of Moses and the words of the Prophets, and bearing the physical markings of circumcision that set them apart.

They did celebrate the return of God’s people. But first they rehearsed in prayer the long sad story of God’s calling and their wickedness, of God’s many acts of deliverance and their swift amnesia concerning God’s marvels on their behalf. “But they, our forefathers, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and did not obey your commands,” they prayed (Neh. 9:16).

Celebrating a heritage of faith in honesty and humility will not allow only the highlights, if Nehemiah is to be considered, it will also admit the sins of our past. For what is the focus of our celebration: our accomplishments or God’s faithfulness?

Indeed, as the returning exiles recalled their spiritual heritage they remembered that God called Abram, finding his heart faithful to Him and making a covenant with him, then keeping His promise all these centuries (9:7-8). God saw the suffering of Abraham’s descendents in Egypt, heard their cry, He sent them signs and delivered them from slavery (9:9-12). As the litany continues it persistently focuses on what God has done and how the people failed. In this way it underlines the gracious action of God on behalf of His people. Even their return to Israel from the faraway land of Persia was itself an act of extreme grace, though God is faithful and always keeps His promises.

What do we celebrate in this anniversary of 200 years of the EMC? Klaas Reimer’s courageous, albeit personally heartbreaking decision to leave the Grosse Gemeinde (Large Church) in search of holiness? Or God’s mercy in permitting these sojourners to find their own way in faith? Or God’s grace in blessing the spiritual journey of these few who, though misguided in earlier times, eventually came to see the importance of sharing the treasures of their faith with non-Mennonites? In any case we must see the flaw of human effort and the power of God to take our feeble attempts and build his kingdom.

What sins need confessing if we were to follow the example of Nehemiah’s celebratory/confessional prayer? Allow me to suggest three sins:

We sin when we focus on too heavily on our Low German roots. This exclusivity is not as overt as it once was but its undertones are still evident in our circles. Who one is related to in the EMC was at one time a significant identifier and contributed to the “family” atmosphere of the conference. With the welcome influx of non-cultural Mennonites the genealogical connection tends to sideline newcomers and put them on the fringe of life in the EMC. Though less pervasive it remains important to some who your parents are and what connection you can make to other EMCers. Many whose names are not Penner, Friesen, Koop or Plett feel alienated by such terminology and classification.

We sin when we focus on cultural markers. Low German conversations have long been held over those of other backgrounds. Our great-grandparents, having immigrated to Canada for religious freedom, refused to speak English as if it were some heathen language. With subtle levity and a hint of sincere intention, many Mennonites quipped that God spoke German. After all did not the Holy Scriptures declare, “Und Gott sprach: Es werde Licht” (And God said, “Let there be light”) (Genesis 1:3)? While the German culture is a part of our past, after six generations is it not time to adopt a more inclusive conversation, especially in the church? If we are to truly be evangelical in an English-dominated nation we must repent of “lingual superiority.”

We sin when we allow Theological Triumphalism to trump our attitudes. This attitude has on various occasions hurt the testimony of the EMC. Though not taught overtly it was apparent to some of us growing up in the EMC that we had the correct faith over and above others.  Other denominations, even Mennonite denominations, were a few points short of the position we had attained. Those of mainline traditions were especially suspect. We were taught in the home that Catholics were errant in their traditions. Though we are many branches of the olive tree we are all of the same root of faith. When Jesus said that the world would know his disciples by their love for each other he did not allow for denominational prejudice.

Shall we then throw out the DGR heritage altogether? No, of course not. Rather, we need to be sensitive to the fact that not all EMC members eat farmer sausage and joke in Low German. In fact, those cultural markers really have nothing to do with the principles that make our conference Evangelical Mennonite. Adult-believers’ baptism, the “Way of Love,” discipleship, Christ-centered and Bible-believing is what makes us EMC.

When the Apostle Paul wrote to the Philippian church he wrestled with the issue of heritage and faith. He said, “If anyone thinks he has reason to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:4-8).

In Greek class we were taught not to translate “rubbish” in its true vernacular. Suffice to say that when Paul compared his spiritual heritage with knowing Christ he considered his pedigree excrement in comparison to exalting Jesus. If anything gets in the way of people of all walks and ethnicities coming to know Jesus let us consider it waste compared to boasting in Christ and his Cross. If in our heritage we have something worth sharing let us do so in humility and with a careful attitude in its impact on others.

We rejoice in the faithfulness of our spiritual forefathers and the faith they have handed down to us. It is a worthy inheritance. Celebrate the enduring name of Christ which will survive all tribes and tongues and crown Him Lord of all.

If you celebrate with perogies and borscht, remember, we stole those from the Ukrainians.

Exodus 1

IT’S ALWAYS DARKEST BEFORE THE DAWN

The English Theologian Thomas Fuller (1608-1661) is credited with having said, “It’s always darkest before the dawn.”

            Taken literally this is simply not true. Someone on the internet went to great lengths to prove scientifically that night is darkest at 12:00 midnight. To be more precise, it is the midpoint between dusk and dawn. Or, if you prefer, it is darkest when you are exactly opposite on the earth from where the sun is shining.

            I distinctly remember getting up before sunrise to go and stand in line at the driver testing office (twice) and watching the sun come up. If anything made those days dark it was the examiners who checked off the mistakes you made while driving.

            What Fuller intended to say was meant to be taken poetically and not scientifically. “It is always darkest before the dawn” was a pithy saying spoken to bring hope. Just when things seem their worst is when help will come. Hang on! Deliverance is on the way; rescue is imminent.

            Dawn did not come for the children of Israel for 400 years. If someone had quoted Fuller to a Hebrew in the midst of his toil, blood, sweat and tears, he would have been stoned. The days, years, and centuries were quite dark for Israel living in slavery to Egypt, and they only seemed to get darker.

            Where was God in the midst of their misery? How and in what way was God in their midst? If you were a Hebrew living in that time you would, from your perspective, say that God is silent.

            Job and many a Psalmist have cried out, “Where are you God?” I am sure you have experienced some sort of adversity, or you will, when God seems conspicuously absent. Those are dark days. And while you may not be rescued in the way you expect, I want to assure that God is at work. As we will see, perhaps Fuller was right, darkness resists the light of dawn, but no power of darkness can stop the dawn.

1. When God is silent

a) The Link: Genesis to Exodus - Exodus 1 deliberately links all the conclusion of the book of Genesis with what happens next. The writer (we assume Moses) begins this narrative (or story) with a rehearsal of the names of Jacob’s sons as mentioned in Genesis. These two books were intended to be understood in relationship to each other.

            Genesis tells us how the sons of Jacob ended up in Egypt. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, sent to Egypt, rose to power and became second only to Pharaoh. When a famine hit the whole world, Joseph was able to save his family from annihilation. This is important for two reasons: One is that Joseph showed incredible grace to the brothers who essentially wanted him dead. Two is that it is through this family that the Messiah, Jesus, was prophesied to come into the world for the salvation of sinners.

            The link between Genesis and Exodus is plain to see. Even more amazing is the link between Exodus and the gospel of Matthew. There are four parallels that emerge from the themes of the two books: 1) Israel is called God’s firstborn son (Ex 4:22); God declares Jesus to be his Son (Mt. 3:17). 2) Israel left Egypt through the Red Sea (Ex 14); Jesus returns from Egypt and is later baptized in the Jordan (Mt 2:19-23). 3) Israel emerges from the Red Sea and enters the wilderness (Ex 15:22); Jesus emerges from baptism and goes into the wilderness (Mt 4:1). 4) Exodus is the story of God’s sons who stand in need of salvation, failing at every point; Matthew is the story of the Son of God who brings salvation and is perfect and righteous at every point, circumstance and test.

            So the story of Exodus is significant in so many ways and foundational to the ministry of Jesus.

            In the life of Israel, Exodus is foundational in describing how a clan of 70 enters Egypt and emerges 400 years later as a nation.

b) 400 years of Silence – Joseph and all his brothers, everyone of his generation, succumbed to the passing of time: they died. Next we read, “…but the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them” (1:7).

            Curiously this verse covers a 400 year period where nothing is written and we know little about it. Even more curious is the seeming absence of God in this time. Was God silent?

            There have been other periods of silence in the history of the world. Between the last OT prophet (Malachi) and the coming of Jesus there was 400 years of silence. God did not speak through prophet or seer or priest over that whole time. We might also observe that God has not spoken since the close of the NT (Revelation) till our time either.

            What are we to understand from such periods of silence? Was God truly silent? Did he remove himself from the activities of the world as if to go on holiday? Did he not care about those periods of time? Does God’s silence suggest he is uninvolved with his creation, with his people?

            I think we can agree that there are times when God is silent. That does not mean that he is not here. I believe God is at work, but that he is not, at that moment in time, telling us what he is doing. It may not be public and his purposes and power may not be easily seen, but he is at work bringing his purposes to pass.

            God does not leave us without clues as to what is happening. He specifically told Abraham about this 400 year period of darkness. “Then the LORD said to him, ‘Know for certain that your descendents will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions’” (Gen. 15:13-14).

            Likewise in our times of suffering we are not without a “heads-up.”  Jesus told us the world would hate us because it hated him first (John 15:18-19). And Peter told his readers not to be surprised at the suffering they were experiencing (1 Pet 4:12ff). Suffering for Christ is normal; suffering in this world is part of the Fall of humankind through sin.

            But just because God is silent doesn’t mean he is not at work on our behalf.

2. Reading between the lines of suffering

a) A new king rises up – Now the story really begins. “Then a new king, who did not know Joseph, came to power in Egypt” (1:8). What follows is a reaction of fear to the growing number of Israelites within the nation.

            Why didn’t the new king know Joseph? Have you ever wondered that?

            He is a new king and the suggestion is that this was a new dynasty. It is said that an Asiatic people of Semitic origin (related to Hebrews) migrated into Egypt and gained control of the government during a time of unrest and vulnerability. These people were known as the Hyksos, and they ruled for 150 years, specifically during Israel’s time in Egypt. The Hyksos king was not Egyptian, was quite literally “new” to rulership, and had a reason to be hostile.[i]

            John J. Davis suggests verse 10 be read as, “Come on, let us (Hyksos) deal wisely with them (Israelites), lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when war occurs, they join also unto our enemies (the Egyptians), and fight against us (Hyksos), and so get them up out of the land.”[ii]

            Now we know why the new king of Egypt did not know Joseph and why he thought they were such a threat. Israel was growing too numerous to handle and would make a formidable army if they joined with the nationals to take their country back.

b) The principle of persecution and multiplication – Out of fear, the king invokes a program of persecution and oppression. To weaken the numbers and exert dominance, the king enslaves the Israelites and forces them to build cities with brick and mortar. Brickwork is an exacting occupation – ask Rob Wiebe. It was brutal labor.

            When the Itaipu Dam in Paraguay was designed, an estimate was calculated as to how many deaths would occur. This was not an “if” but a “when” scenario. When a laborer fell from his position into the cement being poured, orders were to keep pouring.

            The labor enforced on the Israelites was meant to cause such death, to cull the herd to extinction. Though there are very human reasons for this brutality there were also supernatural forces at work. Satan does everything he can to interfere with God’s plans. This was a deliberate attempt to eliminate God’s people.

            But here is a principle that God has embedded in the life of the believer: The more God’s people are persecuted, the stronger his church grows. It is not explainable except from a divine perspective. When we suffer and endure in faith, God is glorified and people flock to the Lord.

            Hitler tried to eliminate the Jews too. Three years after the annihilation of six million Jews, followed by Hitler’s own suicide, the modern nation of Israel was born (1948). So too with Christians, as churches are attacked, the faith grows.

c) The Promise – Again, it is no surprise that despite the attempted genocide of the Jews, they multiplied. This was what God promised Jacob at Beersheba in a vision. God told Jacob, “I am God, the God of your father…Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you and I will surely bring you back again” (Gen 46:3-4).

            God told Jacob not to be afraid. He must have thought of what God said to his grandfather Abraham about the 400 years. Of course he would have some fear and apprehension. But he also had the promise of God that it would be alright. Within that promise was the very great assurance that God would go with them. Their struggle would not last forever, there was an end to it, and God would bring them back.

            In a very real sense this was like a gestation period. God had sent the seed of Jacob into Egypt (the womb) to grow and become a great nation. Then when the time was right there would be deliverance.

            Often our troubles and trials are like pregnancy. We go through times of weariness wondering when this will end, when we will be delivered. Suffering and groaning become so commonplace that we think this is normal. But God is using this time to refine us and grow our faith. When the time is right he will show us what this was all about.

3. God’s help from unexpected sources

a) Selective Abortion – When it appeared that slavery and forced labor did not decrease the Hebrew population, in fact it multiplied it, the king turned to a dastardly solution: Kill the Israelite boys as they are born. In a stroke of cowardice or convenience the king orders the midwives to do this deed.

            The NIV translates the order, “…if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live” (1:16). Older translations put it into a more poignant light: “…if it is a son, kill him; if it is a daughter, let her live.” These are not just animals to be slaughtered; they are sons and daughters.

            Unfortunately we live in an age when determining the sex of an unborn child is technologically possible. In China and India it is preferable to have boys; in North America it is a matter of choice whether you want a boy or a girl. How were the midwives to determine if the unborn child was a son or a daughter? The midwives actually had to wait until they were born and then…what? Make it look like an accident? Who would call on a midwife to help birth a child when all the babies die at the hands of this woman? We see here a poorly conceived plan. It is in fact, inconceivable.

            Sound familiar? The slaughter of Israelite boys? When Herod the Great felt his rule and authority threatened by another Israelite child he ordered the massacre of all boys under two in the town of Bethlehem. Matthew 2:18 declares this a fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy: “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” Rachel’s boys are dead. Who’s Rachel? Jacob’s wife.

b) The Scheme backfires – The two midwives who are told to abort these children refuse because they fear God more than Pharaoh. When asked why they let these children live, they reply that the Hebrew women are not soft and pampered like Egyptian women; they give birth before the midwife arrives. This suggests that somehow a pre-birth abortion was ordered.

            Did the midwives lie? Did they bend the truth? Or did the Hebrew women actually give birth before they could get there? Whatever the facts are, God used it and foiled Pharaoh’s plans.

            The schemes of Pharaoh/Satan backfired three times in this story: First, the king of Egypt used forced labor to make life for the Israelites bitter. But the more they oppressed them, the more they multiplied. Second, in the order to kill the sons and let the daughters live, it was the daughters who saved the day. Women are used repeatedly in Exodus to do God’s work: The midwives, Moses’ mother and sister, and even the daughter of Pharaoh. It turns out that women are just as dangerous and equally capable of foiling Pharaoh/Satan as any boy.

            And when the king of Egypt realized that the first plan failed, he called on the public to rid Egypt of this Israelite vermin. How? By cold-blooded murder throwing baby boys into the Nile River. Egyptians believed that the Nile River was god and thus the babies would be a sacrifice to their god. When Moses’ mother puts him in a basket and slipped him into the river, he was rescued by Pharaoh’s daughter. The significance of this is that Moses was delivered from the Nile River god by the Almighty God of Israel, Yahweh.

c) You know their names – By the way, what’s the name of the king of Egypt? Tutankhamen? Ramses? Rudy?

            What are the names of the midwives who feared God and refused to obey Pharaoh? Shiphrah and Puah. What does that say about two common ordinary midwives? That because they feared God and saved the sons and daughters of Israel God honored them above some nameless king who is forever forgotten. God remembers those who fear him and trust in his name.

            The second blessing they received was that God gave them families of their own. Midwives normally were barren women who could not have children and so assisted others in their birthing. Here we find that Shiphrah and Puah were able to have children of their own, another evidence of God’s working in the midst of suffering.

Application

What I find so utterly soul-stirring in this narrative are the parallels to Matthew’s gospel of Jesus. We have mentioned a few but there are more than I have shown you. Jesus is all over this book we call Exodus. Moses was born to deliver his people out of the bondage of slavery to Egypt and bring them to a new and Promised Land. Jesus was born to deliver his people out of the bondage of slavery to sin and death and deliver us into the New Kingdom of God.

            Behind the scenes of this familiar story in Exodus 1, however, we see two opponents battling on the human stage. On the one side is Satan seeking to upset the purposes of God by using the rulers of this world to do his bidding. He is the old crafty Serpent of Genesis 3 using his bag of tricks to foil the seed of God, but being foiled himself.

            On the other side, Yahweh goes about quietly accomplishing his purposes and promises through seemingly insignificant actors in the drama. He uses Shiphrah and Puah in this case; he will use Jochebed, his mother, and Miriam, his sister in the next episode. We can see that God uses ordinary people to fulfill his promises. Our prayers are often for a visible manifestation of God’s hand so that we know for sure this is of God. In more dramatic and inclusive fashion God uses the person next to you to answer your prayers.

            We may ask, “Is this common gift from my neighbor a blessing from God?” How about a simple word of encouragement from an acquaintance? After reading Exodus 1 and 2 how can we ignore that God acts quietly through those around us? He is at work. He may be silent in your darkness but he is working. And even when we are not aware of it, God’s purposes are being fulfilled. In those times we live by faith and the promises of his Word which are obviously true. It is equally true that God works in the darkness or suffering more than in times of comfort.

            With this in mind, we can say with Thomas Fuller, it is always darkest before the dawn, and believe that Jesus is near with his rescue and deliverance.

                                                            AMEN

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[i] Bob Deffinbaugh, sermon Pharaoh’s Fears and Israel’s Faith

[ii] John J. Davis, Moses and the Gods of Egypt (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1971), p. 46.