This series of sermons will cover some of the main O.T. characters. These sermons will not cover every account or incident in the lives of each person, but are selected (1) to give an overview of how God worked in their lives to accomplish his purposes; and (2) to learn important lessons about character and conduct as it relates to the people of God.
Amongst many other lessons in this series, one thing becomes abundantly clear, that the human heart does not change: it remains “deceitful above all things and desperately wicked” (Jer. 17:9). Nonetheless, God in his grace continues to reveal himself, often in remarkable ways, to finite, frail, and failing human beings whom he uses to represent him, to communicate his instructions and plans, to provide leadership to others, and, generally, to carry out his purposes as the drama of redemption unfolds through the progress of salvation history.
I hope that this series will bless you as much as it has me. It was a pleasure to preach these sermons and it is now a pleasure to share them with you in written form. May the Lord use them to encourage and inspire you as you serve him and faithfully “preach the word.”
Mother’s day is not a day of celebration for everyone. Some of you may have lost your mothers through death, divorce, or distance. Some of you may want to be mothers but for various reasons are unable.
This study is about a godly woman who is an example for all women, no matter whether you are a mother or not and whether you have a mother or not, for, no matter what your circumstances may be, all of you have an influence on someone else – men, women, and children.
You will remember well the story of Joseph. Joseph was greatly loved by his father, Jacob, but hated by his brothers, who sold him to traders, who, in turn, took him to Egypt where they sold him to Potiphar. Eventually he was raised to the highest position in the land. A famine in Egypt led to Joseph’s food storage plan. People from all over came to buy their food, including his family who were eventually reunited with him and settled in Goshen. While Joseph was Prime Minister, Egypt prospered economically and Jacob’s descendants multiplied greatly, but then a new king came into power who had not known Joseph. He was afraid of the power of the Hebrews, so he set taskmasters over them to afflict them and keep them in servitude. Suddenly, they were stripped of freedom and prosperity and plunged into forced labour and poverty, but the more they were afflicted the more they spread and grew. And as they suffered, they wished for a deliverer to relieve their distress.
In order to stop their population growth the king secretly ordered the midwives to kill all Hebrew baby boys, but the midwives feared God and disobeyed the king (Ex. 1:16-17). So, the king openly intensified his plan and commanded all the people to kill all Hebrew baby boys at birth (Ex. 1:22). The prophecy of Genesis 15:13-14 had come to pass - the Hebrews were “resident aliens… in a land that does not belong to them.” But hard times don’t erase God’s promises, harsh treatment doesn’t escape God’s notice (Heb. 4:13b), and heavy tests don’t eclipse God’s concern.
In the midst of this terror, we come to the story of Jochebed, Moses’ mother. It’s amazing how much we learn in the O.T. about people who are unnamed and silent. Neither Moses’ parents nor his sister, not even Pharaoh’s daughter, are named here. It seems that the Spirit of God keeps them in the shadow to allow the light to shine on the God of Amram and Jochebed. Jochebed is not well-known like Sarah or Rachel. Yet more than any other, she set the foundation for Moses’ faith and she did it under the most adverse circumstances in Hebrew history.
Our subject in this study is “Courageous faith.” In our passage we will see that Jochebed demonstrates the principle that God honours the courageous faith of a godly woman. In her, we see the concern of a godly woman, the love of a godly woman, the faith of a godly woman, and the reward of a godly woman.
“She conceived and bore a son” (2:2a). Perhaps Jochebed worked in the brick kilns as a Hebrew slave (cf. Ex. 1:10-14). It was a very oppressive, hateful environment. No evident miracles took place there during the day. The more bricks they made the more was demanded of them and the less straw they were given with which to make them.
The day came when Jochebed discovered that she was pregnant for the third time. Miriam had been born perhaps 7-12 years before, and Aaron about 3 years before. Then began the long wait to discover if this was a boy or a girl, and during those 9 long months she would have had many concerns.
1. She would have been concerned about the conflict in Egypt. At the time of Moses’ birth, the forces of good and evil were in open conflict in Egypt. The king was opposed to the Israelites, fearing that they might rebel against them (1:10). The midwives were opposed to the king and they defied him successfully (1:17). Now all the Egyptian people were under royal orders to oppose the Israelites by killing all the new born Hebrew baby boys (1:22).
Jochebed would have been concerned about that. And...
2. She would surely have been concerned about her pregnancy. What must she have thought during each day of her pregnancy? The threat of death hung over her like a cloud. Every pregnancy had the sentence of death hanging over the child if it was a boy. Those were not the days for renting a mobile sign and putting it on your front lawn announcing, “It’s a boy!” She would have heard the daily wails of other Hebrew mothers as they delivered their babies, only to hear the dreaded news. And she would have seen the Egyptian attendants throwing Hebrew babies into the river. The suspense of those months was broken only by the anxiety and anticipation.
Then, as the days of her pregnancy advanced...
3. She would have been concerned about the birth. Every birth carries with it certain anxieties mixed with a certain awe and wonder at the miracle of childbirth. Every birth is, after all, a miracle. Some births just defy circumstances as God exercises his providential care and control. One of my cousins was born 17 years after his parents had been married – long after they had concluded that they would not be able to have a child! Another family relative was told that her unborn baby would have Downe’s syndrome and that she should have an abortion. Today that baby is a beautiful, normal young adult!
Jochebed’s anxiety of 9 months finally gave way to the pain of childbirth, and the pain of childbirth gave way to the relief of delivery, and the relief of delivery was shattered by the shock of the news – it’s another boy! Jochebed’s concern of nearly a year had become reality. Now she would oppose the king, determined that Moses should live.
Such were the natural concerns of a caring, godly woman. But her concerns gave way to...
Upon Moses’ birth, Jochebed “saw that he was beautiful” (2:2b). Undoubtedly, every mother thinks her baby is the most beautiful in the world. But this comment about Moses is recorded 3 times in Scripture, so it evidently has more meaning than simply that the child was good looking.
This beauty was more than skin deep. This child was to his mother’s natural eyes a beautiful baby boy, but to her eyes of faith he was also a special baby before God. God had provided him and God would providentially protect him. He was “beautiful in God’s sight” (Acts 7:20). Jochebed knew that he was a special gift from God and that God had a unique role for him.
All Christian parents ought to see their children as special gifts from God, whose lives they are to shape and mould to serve God. The training that children receive in their early years sets the pattern for their lives. “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Prov. 22:6).
Nothing is more important than for parents to train their children spiritually so that they are raised for God. Someone once said: “First talk to God about your children. Then talk to your children about God.” John Wesley said: “I learned more about Christianity from my mother than from all the theologians of England.”
First, then, we see the concerns of a godly woman. Those concerns then give way to love, and that love is strengthened by…
While Jochebed loved with a mother’s heart, she also acted with the faith of a godly woman.
1. A godly woman’s faith trusts implicitly. “She hid him for three months” (2:2c). By faith, Jochebed now defies the king’s commandment. Having recognized that the <“child was beautiful in God’s sight,” Jochebed began to act in faith.
It would have been very difficult to hide a newborn baby for 3 months, but there would be more to the future of this child than just another infanticide. Even though she didn’t know what the outcome of her actions would be, she trusted God implicitly for the future.
St. Augustine’s mother agonized for her son’s salvation. She implicitly trusted God that he would save her son. During Augustine’s years of reckless living, his mother wept and prayed for him. Later Augustine would write in his Confessions: “My mother had now come to me, resolute through piety, following me over sea and land…full of confidence, she replied to me, she believed in Christ that before she departed this life, she should see me a…believer... Fountains of mercies poured she forth more copious prayers and tears, that Thou wouldest hasten Thy help and enlighten my darkness.” Reflecting on his mother’s faithfulness, Augustine wrote: “It is impossible that the son of these tears should perish.”
Even though Jochebed couldn’t have known what a great man Moses would become, it was faith that drove her to hide Moses for three months. What she did know was that a day would come when she wouldn’t be able to hide the baby any longer. And so not only does a godly woman’s faith trust implicitly, but…
2. A godly woman’s faith plans wisely. “When she could no longer hide him, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with asphalt and pitch” (2:3a). Her plan of faith defied all her motherly instincts. It defied natural affections when she put Moses in the ark. It defied reason when she placed Moses beside the river - after all, that was the very place where the babies were being drowned! (1:22). I think that Jochebed took that full three months of waiting on God to conceive this plan.
Here we see the providence of God directing her in every detail: (a) The stream that carried the ark to its appointed landing place. (b) The bulrushes that provided protection. (c) The princess taking her bath at the right time, at the right spot. (d) The princess’s curiosity which changed to compassion. She knew her father, Pharaoh’s, edict but her heart was touched not only by the baby’s cry and, perhaps also, by the extent to which a Hebrew mother would go to save the life of her child. (e) The intervention of Moses’ sister and the return of the child to his mother. And, ultimately, (f) even Pharaoh himself took Moses into his own palace.
Jochebed’s faith was accompanied by a well thought-out plan, which she carried out with great skill. Trusting God involves thinking, planning, and applying. Acting in faith includes foresight and wisdom, not simply hindsight and wishful thinking.
Notice that a godly woman’s faith not only trusts God implicitly and plans wisely, but…
3. A godly woman’s faith acts bravely. “She placed the child in it (the papyrus basket) and set it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile” (2:3b). Now Jochebed did the unthinkable - she gave up her baby. Everything within her would have screamed out against such an action but her faith was rooted in the providence of God, faith that God would work all things out according to his purposes.
She bravely faced danger when she laid the ark in the reeds beside the river. She put him into the river in a basket of bulrushes and then she waited to see what God would do. This was an act of ultimate commitment. Ironically, it complied with Pharaoh’s edict to put the babies in the river, except that this didn’t lead to death.
She bravely faced her fears by faith and she became the preserver of a boy who became one of the world’s greatest figures. She trusted God to protect and preserve her child in this most unlikely of habitats and nothing would stop her from protecting the child’s life - not a murderous king, nor a crocodile-infested river. And because of her bravery and faith, she is listed in the Hebrews Hall of Fame: “By faith Moses, after he was born, was hidden by his parents for three months, because…they didn’t fear the king’s edict” (Heb. 11:23).
God is fully trustworthy even in the face of life-threatening danger. It’s fear that holds us back from trusting Him, but faith gives birth to courage. That’s why the people of faith in Hebrews 11 were tortured, mocked and scourged, imprisoned, stoned, sawn in two, and killed with the sword (11:35-37). It was faith that spurred them on, as Paul says: “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment” (2 Tim. 1:7).
Waiting is tough but waiting in faith is tougher as we wait for God to do His work. Jochebed did everything she could, then she set that little ark by the river and waited. There was nothing more that she could do but wait. Trusting as we wait is the secret.
When a godly woman’s love is proven and her faith is tested, God responds with…
Jochebed is rewarded in that...
1. Her plan worked flawlessly. Pharaoh’s daughter took pity on the baby even though he was a Hebrew. What relief must have swept across Jochebed and Miriam when they saw Pharaoh’s daughter’s reaction. And God rewarded Jochebed by permitting her to raise Moses during his formative years - and she even got paid for it (2:9).
Perhaps Jochebed had about 5 years to pour her life and faith into her son. These were the years when he would have received his basic childhood instruction about God and about faith. No wonder Moses grew up to be the man he was with a mother like that. He practiced her implicit faith in God and he acted with her fearless courage. Jochebed and Amram were not afraid of the king (Heb. 11:23b) and Moses, later in his life, wasn’t afraid of the king either (Heb. 11:27a).
This godly woman was rewarded by God in that her plan worked flawlessly. And also in that...
2. Her children followed her faith. God honoured her love, faith, and courage. Aaron became Israel’s first high priest and founder of the Aaronic priesthood. Miriam became a gifted poetess and musician. Moses became the great leader of God’s people out of slavery and wrote the first 5 books of the Bible. From Adam to Christ none was greater than Moses.
In Moses’ life we see so many striking antitheses:
a) The child of a slave…but the son of a queen.
b) Born in a hut…and lived in a palace.
c) Inherited poverty…but enjoyed unlimited wealth.
d) Leader of armies…and keeper of flocks.
e) Mightiest of warriors… and meekest of men.
f) Educated in the wisdom of Egypt…but lived by faith.
g) Fitted for the city… but wandered in the wilderness.
h) Tempted with the pleasures of sin… but chose to suffer for righteousness.
i) Backward in speech… but talked with God.
k) Carried a shepherd’s rod… but wielded divine power.
l) A fugitive from Pharaoh… but an ambassador from heaven.
m) Giver of the law… but the forerunner of grace.
n) No one was present at his death…but God buried him.
What an example Jochebed is of a godly woman, a godly woman whose concerns were overshadowed by her love for her child and her faith in God. A godly woman who was rewarded with children who followed her faith and her God. A godly woman who demonstrated courage in the midst of danger, who trusted God without knowing the outcome. A woman who knew the truth that He who is for us is greater than all the forces of evil against us (Rom. 8:31).
And the good news is that the God of Jochebed is our God! He still preserves our children, still provides courage, and still rewards faith. Jochebed’s God is still “able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us” (Eph. 3:20).
To every woman today, whether you are a Sunday School teacher, aunt, friend, grandmother or mother, you can have the same impact on the children whom you influence in your life. And when the chips are down and you face challenges as to how to give these children good advice, how to protect them in times of danger, how to teach them in a way that will serve them well when they grow up, know this: God is still sovereign and in control of their lives.
Can you trust them to God? Do you believe that He will care for them just as Jochebed believed that God would care for the ark in that river? What relief and peace comes from resting confidently in the providence of God. God works in our children’s lives as providentially as He moved in Moses’ life, and He controls the actions and thoughts even of unbelievers to accomplish his will. When we have done all that we can in any task or situation, then we must wait and trust everything to God.
We must never deny or forget the providence of God by which He sovereignly cares for and controls all things in carrying out of his grand design. Around the cradle of bulrushes was the shield of God, just as an army of horses and chariots of fire were all around Elisha. But, like Elisha’s servant, we often fail to see it (2 Kings 6:15-17).
No matter what the circumstances or the forces that are marshalled against us, God’s sovereign purposes will be done for the God of Jochebed still lives!
Have you ever had a “head-turning” experience - one of those “you’ll-never-guess-what-I-saw” experiences? A number of years ago we took our children to Ripley’s “Believe-it-or-Not” in Niagara Falls where, amongst other things, we saw Sandy Allen, the tallest woman in the world at that time. That was certainly a head turning experience. She was 7’ 7” tall, weighed 314lbs, and wore size 22 shoes. At that time, she received her sneakers second-hand from Indiana Pacers basketball star Rick Smits.
In her first letter to Guinness World Records in 1974, she wrote: “I would like to get to know someone who is approximately my height. My social life is practically nil, and perhaps the publicity in your book may brighten my life.”
Her published request did help to bring about a reversal of fortunes for the Indiana secretary. First, came an offer from film director Federico Fellini to take a role in his film, Casanova, in 1975, and then her first date with a 7-ft. Illinois man. On July 14, 1977, she went into hospital for a pituitary gland operation to stop further growth. But finally, poor circulation and weak leg muscles made her dependent on a wheelchair.
In this article we are going to look at a “head-turning” experience in Exodus 3:1-10. Let’s start by asking whether these head-turning experiences with God are limited to Bible characters or whether we can still encounter the presence and power of God in our lives today? Can we still hear God’s voice, see his glory, feel his presence, and respond to his call on our lives?
The subject of this sermon is: “Encountering God in the everyday events of life.” In our passage, God is revealed as the God who appears to ordinary people in ordinary circumstances and reveals to them the extraordinary.
Moses’ life had been a roller-coaster ride. He had risen spectacularly from son of a Hebrew slave to the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; from an ark of bulrushes to a palace of gold; from a life of slavery to the lap of luxury (Ex. 2:1-10). And yet in a moment of time, he had fallen just as spectacularly from the pinnacle of power to the pit of poverty; from 40 years of being somebody in a palace to 40 years of being nobody in a wilderness (Ex. 2:11-25).
Moses was no stranger to the extraordinary ways of God, having been delivered from certain death at his birth, adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter into the royal family, and raised in all the wisdom of the Egyptians such that he became a great communicator and leader, one who was “mighty in words and deeds” (Acts 7:22). All this left its stamp on his life and led to a momentous decision. At 40 years old, at the peak of his career just when he seemed to have the world by the tail, he decided to turn his back on all the wealth, power, and prestige of Egypt, refusing to be called “the son of Pharaoh’s daughter” and, instead, he chose to be identified with his Hebrew people (Heb. 11:24-25).
One day he decided to go out into the brick kilns and fields to see with his own eyes the oppressive slavery under which his Hebrew people laboured and what he saw made his blood boil - one of the Hebrew slaves was being ill-treated by his Egyptian slave master. When he thought no one was looking, Moses sprang into action and killed the Egyptian slave master. The next day he went out again and saw two Hebrew slaves fighting. He tried to reconcile them and to his surprise one of them said: “Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?” (Ex. 2:14; Acts 7:27-28). At that moment his life unravelled. Anger had led to murder which led to rejection by those he tried to save. When Pharoah heard about what had happened he “sought to kill Moses” (Ex. 2:15) but Moses fled for his life to the land of Midian, where he married Jethro’s daughter (Ex. 2:21) and tended his sheep in the wilderness (Ex. 3:1).
Forty years have now passed. Instead of being Israel’s saviour, he was Jethro’s shepherd. Instead of being successor to a Pharaoh, he became son-in-law to a priest. Instead of being the leader of a nation, he was a leader of sheep. Instead of being the ruler of a dominion, he was a roamer in a desert. Instead of being married to a princess, he was married to a shepherdess.
As he lay down to sleep at night, he must have looked up at the stars a million times and wondered where God was in all this. As far as he was concerned the God he had given up everything to serve had effectively ceased to exist. He had only wanted to do what was right, to use his power to liberate God’s people from the cruelty of slavery. And just when he had put his decision into action, God seemed to abandon him.
This particular day was just another routine day - nothing to set it apart from any other day - just doing the same old thing. But it’s on routine days that everything changes when we encounter God.
God meets you in ordinary activities. “Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law” (3:1a). Moses was having just an ordinary day - no forewarning that this would be any different than any other day. There was nobody around as far as the eye could see, no signs that something spectacular was about to happen. In fact, Moses’ last 40 years had all been ordinary, routine, boring - listening to the monotonous bleat of sheep, nursing them, leading them to pasture, protecting them. But that’s exactly where God meets you. He meets you in the ordinary activities of life and…
God meets you in ordinary places. “He led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God” (3:1b). The “back of the desert” was an ordinary place - nothing special about that, nothing to write home about. That’s where we so often encounter God. He breaks into our lives on just ordinary days doing ordinary things in ordinary places, just when we least expect it.
Edmund Burke, an 18th century philosopher said: “History is full of momentous trifles.” By that he meant that experiences, which on the surface seem ordinary, can actually be extraordinary. We need to be aware of God’s presence in the ordinary. The problem is sometimes we just plain don’t have time for Him. We don’t notice when God breaks into the ordinary to reveal the extraordinary to us. Encounters with God aren’t necessarily ecstatic experiences. They can happen right in the shop where you work, at your desk in the office, at home as your looking after your children.
So, in an encounter with God, He meets you where you are. And…
God attracts you to himself by appearing in a burning bush (3:2-3). “…the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed” (3:2). In the ordinary course of this day Moses sees a bush on fire. There was nothing unusual about that. In fact, it was quite common for desert shrubs to catch fire. But this was no ordinary fire. This bush was on fire but it did not burn up. This is so totally extraordinary that Moses stops to look. “Moses said: ‘I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn’” (3:3). Moses had probably seen many desert scrub bushes on fire, but he had never seen anything like this before. This warranted further investigation. This was a “great sight” because it was a visible manifestation of the presence of God in a burning bush that was not consumed.
We all have burning bush experiences when God gets our attention in the ordinary events of life to show us the extraordinary; when he creates an uncommon event out of what would otherwise be quite common; when there’s no doubt that God is acting and speaking. How has God attracted your attention recently? Perhaps it’s the birth of a baby that generated a sense of awe and wonder in you. Or, perhaps it was a life-changing tragedy. Or, perhaps someone you shared your faith with got saved and you recognized the awesome work of God. It’s so easy to overlook a burning bush experience because at first glance it looks so ordinary. Just make sure you don’t right it off as mere coincidence. Look for God’s hand, listen for his voice, sit up and take notice, recognize his interruption in your life.
Moses could have easily concluded that this was just another instance of spontaneous combustion. Or that just another bunch of nomads had camped there the night before and failed to extinguish their camp fire properly. Or that lightning had struck again. He could have seen it out of the corner of his eye and just kept on walking. But he didn’t. He was sensitive enough to recognize that this was no ordinary bush fire.
We need to be sensitive to burning bushes that are not consumed. They happen all around us. Yet we so often fail to recognize them. Most people keep on walking. Disasters occur (planes crash, surgical operations are unsuccessful, fatal illnesses strike) and they just keep on walking. Or, unexpected victories occur (in which seemingly impossible odds are overcome) and they just keep on walking.
Do you stop to look for God in all this? Or, do you just shrug it off, pass by on the other side with no time, no feeling, and no interest. Remember that in an encounter with God, He meets you where you are (in ordinary activities and places) and He attracts you to himself. Those are the times when God says: “I have not forgotten you. I’ve been watching you. Now I’m going to use you. I’m present and powerful in your life.”
God attracts you to himself by appearing in a burning bush and God attracts you to himself by calling you by name (3:4). “So God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” (3:4). God is a personal God who relates to you individually. “Thus says the Lord who created you: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are mine” (Isa. 43:1).
I know that today God does not speak audibly to us, but He still speaks directly to our hearts, minds, consciences, and wills through his Word and his Spirit. When God calls you by name, be ready to respond. Moses was just like a school-boy responding to a role call in class: “Here I am - right where I should be.” There’s no rebellion. He didn’t say, “Where were you when I needed you back in Egypt?” He just stopped what he was doing to listen.
When God calls you, stop what you’re doing! God doesn’t want a speech in reply. He doesn’t want to read your resume or hear how good you think you are. He wants you to say, “Here I am.” He wants you to “stand still and see the salvation of the Lord,” to “be still and know that I am God” (Ex. 14:13; Ps. 46:10-11). He wants you to stop, look, listen. He speaks through his Spirit when we pray and listen. He reveals himself through his Word when you stop and think and look. Sometimes, like Samuel, we hear a voice but don’t recognize it as God’s. But at least be responsive enough to say: “Here I am.”
In an encounter with God, first God meets you where you are. Second, God attracts you to himself, and third…
He reveals that He is a holy God (3:5). “Then He said, ‘Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground’” (3:5). God’s presence cannot be defiled. That’s what shoes do. They bring in dirt from the outside. That’s why we take them off indoors.
God demands that we be holy for He is holy (Lev. 11:44). He wants us to be separated from the world to Him. Moses was on “holy ground” – already separated by and for God. All he had to do is respond by taking off his shoes so that there was nothing to defile him in God’s presence. The transcendent, holy, sovereign God of the universe can only dwell among and be approached by holy people (Lev. 11:44-45), whose bodies are washed with pure water and whose hearts are sprinkled from an evil conscience (Heb. 10:22; Tit. 3:5). This holy God is present with us, identifies with us, delights in us. The God who is “there” is the God who is “here” dwelling among us. But the condition of his dwelling among us is that we be holy just as he is holy.
In God’s presence, the ground you stand on is holy. Everything connected with God is holy because God himself is holy. He is here today. This is holy ground! Make sure you take your spiritual shoes off by removing everything from your life that defiles, everything that is contrary to God’s nature and character. Don’t think you can be “buddy-buddy” with God. God is not some sort of indulgent father who caters to your every whim. Nor is He “the guy upstairs” or the “big guy” as some say - such expressions are blasphemous. God is transcendent, wholly other than we are, beyond us. But He is also immanent, “Emmanuel, God with us.” That’s the mystery of faith, that this transcendent God whose thoughts and ways are higher than our thoughts and ways (Isa. 55:8-9) is the One who enters our lives in the person of Jesus Christ.
In an encounter with God, God reveals that He is a holy God and He reveals that He is a faithful God (3:6). “Moreover He said, ‘I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’” (3:6b). The God who revealed to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that He is faithful is the God who now reveals to Moses that He is faithful - steadfast in love, perfectly trustworthy. The God who revealed to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that He keeps his promises is the God who now reveals to Moses that He keeps his promises. The God who revealed to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that He would redeem Israel someday is the God who now reveals to Moses that He will redeem his people. The God who revealed to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that He uses ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things for Him now reveals to Moses that He will use him.
In the presence of such a great God, “Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God” (3:6c). After 40 years of silence Moses’ past all flooded before him. Perhaps, he had bad thoughts about God - questioning where God had been all these years; questioned God’s faithfulness and his promises; wondering why God had bothered to save him from the bulrushes. Undoubtedly, he felt so unworthy and useless that the very thought of being in the presence of God struck terror into his heart so that “he hid his face.” That’s what happens when you encounter God. He reveals to you that he is a holy and faithful God and you become so aware of your own sinfulness that you hide your face – you’re afraid to look on God.
But take courage, for in an encounter with God, God not only reveals that He is a holy and a faithful God, but also He reveals that He is a redeeming God (3:7-10).
First, He is a redeeming God who takes notice of his people (3:7). “And the Lord said: ‘I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows’” (3:7). God is always totally aware and in control of our situation. He “sees” our oppression. He “hears” our cries for help. He “knows” our sorrows. Contrary to what Satan wants you to believe about God, God is a redeeming God who takes notice of his people. And contrary to what you may think based on your present circumstances, God sees, hears, and knows all about you - whether you are a single mother, an unemployed father, or a depressed young person.
First, then, God is a redeeming God who takes notice of his people, and second, He is a redeeming God who delivers his people (3:7). “I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good land and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey” (3:8). God is a redeeming God who delivered his people from Egypt and who has provided complete deliverance for us too! The redemption of God’s people is now complete in Christ. If you are a Christian, you have been delivered from sin to righteousness, from bondage to liberty, from darkness to light, from hell to heaven, from time to eternity, from death to life.
In an encounter with God, He reveals that He is a redeeming God who takes notice of his people, He is a redeeming God who delivers his people, and, thirdly, He is a redeeming God who sends a Saviour for his people (3:9-10). “Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt” (3:9-10). The one whom the people rejected, God sends as their saviour. “This Moses whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the bush” (Acts 7:35).
That’s how God delivers his people - by sending a Saviour. Our Saviour and Deliverer is the Lord Jesus Christ, God’s Son. The One who was despised and rejected by men is the One whom God sent to be our Saviour so that we could be saved for eternity. That’s the most head-turning event in all of human history. That’s the story that Christians never come to the end of saying: “You’ll-never-guess-what-happened-to-me. God saved me.”
If you’re not a Christian, you can be delivered by this redeeming God too! Redeemed from Satan to God; from sin to holiness; from your addictions to freedom; from your anger to peace; from your hate to love.
I think when Moses got home that day the first thing he said was, “You’ll never guess what happened to me! I met God at a burning bush! I saw him with my own eyes. I heard him. I’m so fired up about God I feel like I’m going to explode.”
Are you on fire for God? Remember our thesis: God is the God who appears to ordinary people in ordinary circumstances and reveals to them the extraordinary. Have you encountered God in the ordinary events of your life? When did God last get your attention? How did it happen? What did he reveal to you? How did you respond?
One day Moses chose to follow God not materialism and self-interests, and his life fell apart. Forty years later, God called him and his decision was still the same – to follow God. What about you? Perhaps you’re discouraged. You wanted to serve the Lord and then He seemed to abandon you. Perhaps you’re wondering where God is and what He is doing. Let me encourage you to be ready to say: “Lord, here I am! I’m ready to serve you, just where you placed me, listening for your call, waiting for you to use me.”
My personal mission statement is this: “To utilize my gift of preaching and teaching to deepen people’s desire for God and love for his Word.” I trust that you have a deep desire for God, a desire that comes from meeting Him at burning bushes, from seeing Him in the pages of his Word, from hearing God through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, from fellowship with God in prayer and your everyday walk with Him.
I trust that you have a passion for God to encounter him wherever you are – in your kitchen, office, or the classroom. To encounter him whatever you are doing – working, playing, or going to sleep. To encounter him in worship, in your devotional times each day. Would you commit today to look for him and to burn with zeal for the God who appears to ordinary people in ordinary circumstances in order to reveal to them the extraordinary?
We noticed in the last sermon in this series (Ex. 3:1-10) that Moses encountered God in a miraculous experience at the burning bush, a bush that was on fire but which did not burn up. The theological principle that we derived from that passage was that God appears to ordinary people in ordinary circumstances and reveals to them the extraordinary.
While Moses’ encounter with God revealed God to Moses in an awe-inspiring and life-changing way, Moses’ response to God was anything but exemplary. One wonders if Moses’ experiences up to that point somehow colored his worldview. After spending 40 years in Pharaoh’s palace and another 40 years looking after sheep in the back part of the desert, perhaps he had lost hope of ever being used by God. After all, he had tried once to intervene on behalf of one of his Hebrew brothers and been utterly rejected (Ex. 2:11-15). Even though he still knew his Hebrew identity, 40 years under the influence of the royal household and Egyptian culture could easily have caused him to forget the godly example of his faithful mother and his covenant relationship with the God of Israel. And another 40 years tending sheep could certainly cause him to lose his sense of purpose and conclude that this would be his lot for the rest of his life. That would certainly be understandable, wouldn’t it?
But, though Moses seems to have forgotten God, God had not forgotten Moses. In fact, in the eternal purposes of God, God had sovereignly chosen to use Moses in a very special way in His service, and the previous 80 years were years of preparation for this moment.
The passage we are studying today is a continuation of Moses’ encounter with God at the burning bush, specifically dealing with Moses’ response to God’s call to lead His people out of their misery in Egypt to “a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey” (Ex. 3:7-8). What we are going to learn in this passage is what Moses didn’t know, that when God calls us, he equips us perfectly for the commission that He gives us. That’s the theological principle in this passage. This is an important lesson because Moses didn’t get it. In fact, he is overwhelmed with the task and the obstacles that he thought he would face. Indeed, at a human level, what God was calling Moses to do was overwhelming, exceedingly daunting, plain scary. And so, in response to God’s commission in 3:10, Moses offers a series of objections (3:11-4:12) leading up to an outright refusal, which is met with God’s gracious provision (4:13-17). Notice firstly that…
Moses presents four objections to God, four reasons why he could not accept God’s call and commission, all of which have to do with his sense of personal insufficiency.
Objection 1: His lack of confidence (3:11-12). “But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?’” (3:11). No longer is Moses the bold, strong 40 year old man in Egypt, who could kill an Egyptian slave master singlehandedly. The last 40 years in the wilderness have erased his confidence. He had suffered a serious demotion from royalty to one of Egypt’s most-wanted assassins, from a prince to pauper. So, we can understand how, after all these years of tending sheep in the desert with no prospects of any change on the horizon, Moses could have a serious sense of personal inferiority. That’s understandable, isn’t it?
But what Moses didn’t know is that God had His eye on him all the time. God had chosen him for a task greater than anything he could have imagined. Indeed, the last 40 years tending sheep were not wasted. On the contrary, they had taught him much about leadership, for sheep are renowned for (1) their crowd mentality; (2) for wandering away, completely unaware of dangers that may lurk ahead of them; and (3) for their complete dependence on the shepherd to guard them and provide nourishment for them. If he could lead sheep, then he could certainly lead people. If he could lead the sheep around the Midian desert and find them food to eat and water to drink and protect them from wild animals, then would he not be able to do the same for the Israelites? Did he not possess the leadership skills and experience to quite easily lead that vast population out of Egypt to the promised land of Canaan?
Moses’ objection sounds more like an expression of deep humility, doesn’t it? “Who am I to lead the Israelites out of Egypt? Surely there are others better qualified and more skilled than I.” But this isn’t about humility, this is about a lack of confidence, not lack of confidence in self but lack of confidence in God. After all, God had seemingly abandoned Moses just when he was intervening to use his strength and position to advance the plight of God’s people. If He had abandoned him then, could he trust Him for the future, especially a future that would be fraught with tremendous obstacles, including Pharoah himself?
Yes, Moses could trust God for the future and for everything that he needed. God replies, “I will be with you” (3:12a). That’s all Moses needed – God’s presence with him. The expression “be with you” indicates intimacy, presence, guidance, provision, protection. In other words, everything that Moses would need, God would provide. This was the same expression of encouragement that Jesus gave to his disciples just before he ascended back to heaven and before they would face tremendous tests of their newfound faith: “Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20).
Furthermore, if God’s promise of his presence was not be enough to give comfort and confidence to Moses, God grants him a further assurance and promise by way of a sign: “And this will be a sign to you that I am the one who sent you: when you bring the people out of Egypt, you will worship God at this mountain” (Ex. 3:12b). Signs in Scripture often serve to affirm the authenticity of a person and / or to confirm what God had promised. God is telling Moses that when he and the Israelites leave Egypt, they will return to this very same mountain in the Midian desert where Moses is having this conversation with God, and that will be the sign that proves beyond any doubt that (1) God has acted on their behalf and (2) that Moses’ leadership is divinely appointed. God is saying to Moses, “There, that’s a concrete promise that will prove My word is true. You can take it to the bank!”
We all have doubts from time to time about our ability to serve God or why God called us to serve him in a particular way or place. Like Moses we might well ask sometimes, “Who am I?” Indeed, I ask that myself quite frequently, not because I lack the confidence that God will enable me to do what He has called me to do, but because I am utterly dumbfounded as to why God would deign to use me in this ministry at all. Who am I? Let us constantly wonder at the grace of God in using us in any way He chooses, but let us not doubt the power and provision of God to get the job done. Serving God is not our ministry – it’s His. I love Hudson Taylor’s motto and have quoted it often: “Depend on it. God’s work done God’s way will never lack God’s supply.”
You would think God’s gracious promise would be enough to satisfy Moses’ doubts, wouldn’t you? But no, Moses has another objection…
Objection 2: His lack of knowledge of God (3:13-22). “If I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what should I tell them?” (3:13). In other words, if the Israelites challenged Moses’ authority and integrity by testing Moses’ personal knowledge of God, what was he going to say? He had to know the correct answer or his authority would be instantly in doubt. And well they might challenge him, knowing who he had been and what he had done. They would understandably be suspicious of him, given his track record. And if he didn’t answer correctly their hypothetical question as to God’s identity, they certainly would not follow him.
It seems that the hypothetical test that Moses is anticipating concerns three issues: (1) his personal knowledge of Israel’s God; (2) his authority to act as Israel’s leader; and (3) Israel’s relationship with God. As to the first issue, the question seems to be, is Moses himself a true follower of the God of Israel or had he abandoned God in favour of the pagan god’s of Egypt? In other words, exactly what God is Moses speaking on behalf of; who had authorized him for this mission and position? Was it the One true, covenant God of Israel - the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - or was it some other god that they did not know or recognize or trust?
As to the second issue, the question seems to be, was Moses usurping his authority again, just as he had when he killed the Egyptian slave master? To act in someone’s “name” is another way of saying, “Who is your authority for saying or doing this?” The answer to this question would be a critical test of Moses’ authenticity and credibility. But, in posing this hypothetical question that he may be asked by the Israelites, at least Moses recognizes that his only legitimate authority for this commission must come from God. He could not act on his own authority or self-will, as he had done previously.
As to the third issue, perhaps Moses was also concerned about the spirituality of the Israelites themselves. Perhaps, after 400 years of slavery in Egypt, they themselves had long forgotten the God of their fathers.
The sad thing is that Moses’ objection here seems to indicate that he himself did not know God, could not identify him, did not even know His name. And this after just having been told by God from the burning bush exactly who He is. “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (3:6). How much greater identification did Moses need?
To be fair to Moses, though, we too often face circumstances in which we make the excuse that we cannot speak for God because we lack sufficient knowledge of God and his Word. So, we are afraid to open our mouths lest we say the wrong thing or don’t have the right answer. Or, perhaps you are afraid to speak for God because you don’t know God.
It seems that God replies to Moses, “Don’t worry about asking me who you are (3:11), Moses, you just need to know who I am - ‘I AM WHO I AM’”(3:14). There is no higher or greater authority than the LORD himself. The one true God cannot be compared to anyone else. He is the uncreated One. The incomprehensible One. The incomparable One. The inexplicable One. The unchangeable One. He is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. He is not shaped by outside forces or circumstances. He is not influenced by, nor dependent on, nor obligated to anything or anybody. He is self-existing, self-dependent, and self-determined. He is the great I AM – the One with no beginning and no ending, the eternal One, the ever-present One, the One who was and is and is to come. This, then, is the One in whose name Moses would approach and lead the Israelites. “So, tell them that, Moses.” And “Say this to the Israelites: The LORD, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name forever; this is how I am to be remembered in every generation” (Ex. 3:15).
Thus, not only could Moses respond appropriately to the Israelites’ question, but he could add a wonderful promise from God - “I have promised that I will bring you up from the misery of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites…a land flowing with milk and honey” (3:17). In the name of the God of Israel, Moses could hold out to them the promise of deliverance from slavery in Egypt. That surely would persuade them to follow and trust Moses. No one else could possibly offer them that hope.
So, two objections dealt with – his lack of confidence (3:11-12) and his lack of knowledge of God (3:13-22). Surely that is sufficient to give Moses the confidence and the knowledge he needs to face the Israelites. But no, he has another objection…
Objection 3: His lack of credibility with the people (4:1-9). “What if they don’t believe me and will not obey me but say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?” (4:1). Now it’s not a matter of the Israelites questioning who had sent him, but whether they would believe him and obey him. Now it’s a matter of personal credibility. Well, he certainly had cause to wonder if they would believe him. Again, his track record wasn’t that great. Yes, he had attempted to protect the Hebrew slave who was being mistreated by the slave master, but then he had disappeared for 40 years. Where had he been? Who was he now? Would he abandon them again?
This time, God graciously gives him three miraculous signs by which he could prove his credibility and convince them that he had been sent to them by God. First, his miraculous rod - when he threw it to the ground, it became a serpent and when he took hold of it again it became a rod again (4:2-5). Second, his hand - when he put it into his cloak, it became leprous and when he put it into his cloak again it was restored to perfect health (4:6-7). Third, water from the river Nile - when he poured it on dry land it would become blood (4:9).
Amazingly, even these miraculous signs were not enough to assuage Moses’ doubts and fears and objections. There was one more…
Objection 4. His lack of oral ability (4:10-12). “But Moses replied to the Lord, ‘Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent - either in the past or recently or since you have been speaking to your servant – because my mouth and my tongue are sluggish’” (4:10). This is everyone’s biggest fear, I think, when called upon to speak publicly for God. Public speaking is, after all, a daunting task at the best of times. How much more so when called upon to speak to a multitude as vas t as the Israelites and to Pharoah, the very man who had hunted for Moses to kill him and from whom Moses had fled so many years ago. But, once more, God graciously and patiently provides comfort and assurance, saying, “11 Who placed a mouth on humans? Who makes a person mute or deaf, seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now go! I will help you speak and I will teach you what to say” (4:11-12). The Creator himself is surely able to empower us to speak for him and to give us the right words to say at the right time (cf. Lk. 12:12). This is God’s promise and assurance to Moses.
So, our objections do not obstruct God’s purposes. And notice secondly…
By this time, you would think that Moses would have been convinced by God’s grace and patience, and by God’s provision for his weaknesses and fears in response to his objections. But did all of that satisfy Moses? Did it give him the courage and confidence he needed? Did he willingly submit and say, “Here am I, send me?” No! If you can believe it, after all God’s gracious assurances, promises, and miraculous signs, Moses said, “Please, Lord, send someone else” (4:13). After all his objections and God’s responses, Moses refused to go and be used by God. He says, “Send someone else. I’m not going.”
I wonder how often we, perhaps unwittingly, refuse God’s call on our lives. God wants to use us and assures us of his presence and power for his service, and yet we refuse. Now it’s not about fears or doubts or excuses. Now it’s about outright refusal. This is not an emotional response when faced with a frightening prospect. No, this is a volitional response, an emphatic refusal to obey God. But notice that…
When we refuse God’s call to serve, He provides us with assistance. “Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses” (4:14a). Even though God is, understandably, angry with Moses for all his objections (3:11-4:12), yet He still offers Moses a way to overcome his fourth objection concerning his lack of oral ability: “14b Isn’t Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, he is on his way now to meet you. He will rejoice when he sees you. 15 You will speak with him and tell him what to say. I will help both you and him to speak and will teach you both what to do. 16 He will speak to the people for you. He will serve as a mouth for you, and you will serve as God to him” (4:14-16).
Though we may overstep the mark, we can never overstep God’s grace. When Moses objects to serving God because he lacks oral ability, then God graciously provides Aaron to act as Moses’ spokesperson. Moses would receive God’s word, pass it on to his brother Aaron, and Aaron would communicate it to the Israelites. God has responded to all Moses’ objections and he has swept aside Moses’ refusal. Now he must go and the staff in his hand would be a reminder and assurance of God’s presence with him and that God can and will do miraculous things through him.
When we refuse God’s call to serve, He provides us with assistance. And…
When we refuse God’s call to serve, He provides us with confidence. God says to Moses: “And take this staff in your hand that you will perform the signs with” (4:17). Moses would have two sources of comfort and confidence as he takes on this huge task that God has assigned to him. First, he has his brothers would will be his spokesperson (4:14-16). Second, he has his staff (rod) which will be his source of power (4:17). He felt inadequate and weak, as we all do from time to time, but God is greater than our fears. Indeed, it is in those very times when God emboldens us for His service.
Don’t you just marvel sometimes at the amazing grace of God? Isn’t it just thoroughly astounding how God meets our needs and responds to our weaknesses in order that we can have the inestimable privilege of serving Him? Don’t you just wonder sometimes why? Why would God bother with me? Have you ever wondered why God would not just choose someone else rather than put up with your fears and refusals? Well, it’s because God has chosen to use imperfect vessels to achieve his purposes. As the apostle Paul says, “Now we have treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us” (1 Cor. 4:7). Through frail, failing, feeble, and finite human beings, God brings glory to himself.
You see, God does not call us to serve him without first teaching us our weakness and then equipping us appropriately for the task. The apostle Paul was acutely aware of his own weakness: “But he (the Lord) said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.’” (2 Cor. 12:9a). This promise and assurance renewed Paul’s courage to press on and to be content with his situation: “9b Therefore I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me. 10 So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:9b-10). That is a wonderful state to be in – content in our circumstances and strong in our weakness.
There were many other servants of God who were empowered by God to serve him despite feeling their own weakness. David, who, after defeating the giant Goliath, was driven out of the royal household, hunted like an animal by Saul, and lived in exile before being elevated to become king of Israel. Elijah also experienced utter weakness when he had to drink water from a brook and was fed by ravens, all before God used him mightily.
I suppose when we are called by God to serve him, a feeling of weakness and inability is natural and even necessary, asking like Moses, “Who am I?” Or, as the apostle Paul asked, “Who is adequate for these things?” (2 Cor. 2:16). But it doesn’t stop there. Our feeling of inadequacy is not an excuse. Rather, we need to rest in God’s comfort, be confident in God’s assurance, and move forward in God’s power, understanding that the issue is not about who I am, but about who God is, the great “I AM.” Again as the apostle Paul put it, “It is not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God” (2 Cor. 3:5). That’s the point!
Is it not true, that we are, in so many ways, like Moses. We have the same weakness of faith. We have the same fears about serving the Lord. We have the same objections and excuses for not responding to God’s call. We have the sae questions about God’s commission. Like Moses, we are prone to settle for far less than God calls us to. It seems that Moses would have preferred to stay as a shepherd of sheep rather than a shepherd of God’s people. I suppose in many ways that would have been a simpler life. I can understand why Moses was fearful of God’s call to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, from the known to the unknown. But what a blessing he would have missed if he had refused to obey God. Think of all the wonderful manifestations of God’s power Moses would have missed – the plagues, the Red Sea crossing, the manna in the wilderness, the water from the rock, the brazen serpent.
When God calls us He often pushes us out of our comfort zone into new places, new activities, new responsibilities. By nature we shrink back from such radical changes in our lives, preferring instead to stay in familiar places, with familiar activities, and familiar responsibilities. It’s a bit like taking a new job, isn’t it? Those first few weeks can be so threatening, so uncomfortable that we often feel like turning back. But as with Moses, so with us, God never fails to give us all that we need – courage, material resources, wisdom, discernment, vision, helpers, confidence in Him rather than ourselves, and even the words we need to say at just the right time.
I have experienced this many times in my life. For example, in 2012 I was teaching pastors in Burkina Faso, West Africa. My colleague there showed me a piece of land on which he believed God wanted him to build a Christian school. When I saw it I couldn’t believe that it was possible or would ever come to anything because it was in a rural area with no houses in sight. And besides, why and how would God use me for such a project. My ministry is teaching pastors, most of whom have not had the opportunity to get formal theological education. So, when my colleague first suggested this project to me, I pulled back. I didn’t see how starting a Christian school had anything to do with my teaching pastors. In addition, I didn’t know how to raise the funds for such a project. Anyway, somewhat reluctantly, I agreed to come back to Canada, make his vision known, and see where it would go. Frankly, I didn’t expect it to go anywhere. I thought that my colleague’s idea was good but not one that I could participate in.
Well, that was then and this is now. Through the encouragement of others and the prompting of the Holy Spirit I came to the conclusion that my colleague’s vision and my partnership with him in it were from the Lord. The result today is the Gampela Christian Education Centre that includes a school with about 400 students, a preschool with over 300 students, a church, a medical clinic, a vocational training school for young adults, and a pastoral training centre!
Through this ministry opportunity I have witnessed God work in marvelous ways, all of which I would have missed if I had not been prompted by God and encouraged by friends to help with that ministry. Perhaps you have had the same experience. When God first opened a door of opportunity for you to serve Him, you couldn’t see any future in it, or you felt inadequate or just plain scared. But when you began the journey, you experienced God’s incontrovertible activity, leading you, providing for you, achieving His purposes that you couldn’t see before.
It seems that God does not unfold to us his intentions in five year plans. We need to learn to “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). I have been trying to learn that lesson throughout my adult life and probably will continue to learn it to the end, when our faith will be replaced by sight and earth exchanged for heaven. “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror” writes the apostle Paul, “but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, as I am fully known” (1 Cor. 13:12).
Finally, let us take courage that despite our past failures, weaknesses, and lack of faith, God prepares us for future service that is beyond anything we could ask or think. That might mean time in the desert tending sheep, but that isn’t wasted time. That is the time when our prior hurts, rejection, self-will, and failures recede from view, and we receive training for what is needed for the future. Tending sheep in the desert might not seem like training for leading God’s people out of Egypt, but it surely was. Moses learned from sheep how to move them along from place to place, what food and water they needed and where to find it, how to respond to their animal objections, how to stop them from going astray, and how to protect them from harm and danger. And after 40 years of training, God called Moses to a task that was humanly impossible, but perfectly possible by God. May we learn these lessons and trust God for anything He calls us to.
Since our last sermon in this series, Moses has now returned to Egypt (4:18-28), having been fully informed by God that persuading Pharaoh to let the Israelites go would not be easy (4:21). Additionally, on the way back to Egypt, Aaron came out to meet him (4:27-28), just as God had previously told Moses (4:14), and Aaron began to act as Moses’ mouthpiece in communicating with the Israelites (4:29-30). Despite Moses’ fears as to how the Israelites would react to him and the questions they might ask, the “people believed, and when they heard that the Lord had paid attention to them and that He had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshipped” (4:31). What a wonderful response! How that must have encouraged Moses to take the leadership as God had commissioned him to do.
At their first meeting with Pharoah Moses and Aaron said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival for me in the wilderness” (5:1). To this Pharoah replied, “Who is the Lord that I should obey him by letting Israel go? I don’t know the Lord, and besides, I will not let Israel go” (5:2). Pharoah’s arrogant response echoes Moses’ question to God in 3:13, except that Moses’ question to God has to do with who God is, whereas Pharaoh’s question is not generated by any desire to know God or even to know his name. Indeed, Pharoah’s question seems to be rendered with cynicism, ridicule, and scorn. He did not know God and did not want to know God. Furthermore, as God had warned, Pharoah would not let Israel go because God had hardened his heart (4:21).
This issue of God hardening Pharoah’s heart needs to be addressed since it raises the question of why God would do that and then turn around and punish Pharaoh and the Egyptians. We need to understand at the outset that Pharaoh was a wicked and ungodly ruler. He and his predecessors had kept the Israelites in brutal slavery for 400 years. You remember that when Moses was born, the Pharoah had ordered that all Israelite babies were to be killed at birth (Ex. 1:16). Indeed, it would have been perfectly just for God to have destroyed the entire nation of Egypt for being a wicked regime in opposition to God and His chosen people.
And so this hardening of Pharoah’s heart was a bilateral act – Pharoah hardened his own heart (Ex. 8:15, 32) and God hardened his heart (Ex. 9:12). Remember that God, in his grace, gave Pharaoh repeated warnings of judgement, despite which Pharoah chose to pursue his hard-hearted, cruel course of action. So, we must conclude that Pharoah brought judgement on himself.
Let this be a warning to us. If you choose to harden your heart, God may harden it even further, even as He waits in grace for you to comply with His demands. Pharoah received what he deserved and, in the process, God did what He said He would do, so that “The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the Israelites from among them” (Ex. 7:5; cf. 14:18). By so doing, God brought glory to himself, as the apostle Paul reminds us, “ 17 For the Scripture tells Pharaoh, I raised you up for this reason so that I may display my power in you and that my name may be proclaimed in the whole earth. 18 So then, he has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy and he hardens whom he wants to harden” (Rom. 9:17-18). Remember, this is God’s sovereign right. He has no obligation to us to act or not act in any particular way.
Pharoah’s response to Moses was to accuse the Israelite slaves of laziness – that’s why they wanted to go out into the wilderness to sacrifice to their God (5:5, 8b). As a result, Pharoah placed an even heavier burden on the Israelites than before, demanding that they make more bricks without providing them with any raw materials - they would have to gather their own straw now (5:6-9). This, of course, brought a swift reaction by the Israelites against Moses and Aaron (5:20-21) and a negative reaction by Moses to God, accusing Him of not delivering his people as He had promised (5:22-23).
How often do we, like the Israelites, react to circumstances even though we don’t know what God is doing or going to do? How often do we, like Moses, blame God for not keeping his word, even though present circumstances are all part of God’s plan?
In his grace, God reminds Moses, “I am the LORD” (6:2), and, interestingly, He tells Moses that He had revealed to him something that He had not told even Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob. To them He had revealed himself as God Almighty, “but I did not make my name the LORD known to them” (6:3). In other words, Moses knew God as the covenant-keeping God of Israel, a revelation that his forefathers did not know and which ought to give Moses far more faith than could be expected of them. Further, God reminded Moses, “I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land they lived in as foreigners” (Ex. 6:4), a covenant which, despite appearances, God was about to fulfill. This message Moses was commissioned by God to tell to the people (6:6-8). “But they did not listen to him because of their broken spirit and hard labor” (6:9).
Nevertheless, despite their harsh response to Moses, God was about to work on their behalf in a way that had not been experienced ever before, a work that would radically and permanently change their onerous circumstances.
Thus begins the extraordinary saga of God’s deliverance of his people by the ten plagues. The theological principle that we learn from this episode is that sometimes God exercises his power in creation to display and demonstrate that He is the LORD. We find this principle summarized in Ex. 7:3-5: “ 3 I will harden Pharaoh’s heart and multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. 4 Pharaoh will not listen to you, but I will put my hand on Egypt and bring the ranks of my people the Israelites, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. 5 The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt, and bring out the Israelites from among them” (cf. also Ex. 9:16; 8:19).
Therefore, through the ten plagues in Egypt, God did indeed accomplish his purposes: (1) to execute judgement on Pharaoh and the Egyptians (Ex. 3:19-20); (2) to redeem his people, Israel, from slavery (Ex. 3:7-10; 6:6-8); and (3) to demonstrate unequivocally that He is the supreme One (Ex. 6:7; 7:5, 17; 8:22; 10:2; 12:12; 14:4 etc.).
As we examine these judgements on Egypt, consider how they may be a forerunner of the even more devastating judgements that God will execute on the earth at the end of this age. I will cover the tenth plague on its own in the next sermon in this series. For this sermon, let’s briefly review the first nine plagues…
Taking his staff in hand, Moses was instructed by God to meet Pharaoh at the mighty river Nile, where evidently Pharaoh bathed or carried out some sort of ritual each morning. There, Moses was instructed by God to confront Pharaoh with his disobedience and to advise him that, through his staff (that Moses had previously turned into a serpent), God would judge the land by turning the waters to blood, such that the fish would die and the water would be unusable: “ There will be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in wooded and stone containers” (7:19b).
All of this was to be done upon Moses’ order, by Aaron extending the staff over the waters of Egypt, which he did and “20b all the water in the Nile turned to blood. 21 The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink water from it. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt”(7:20b-21).
Three things to notice. First, despite his previous claims to not be able to speak well, Moses is clearly God’s spokesperson and Aaron is his helper. Second, the very river in which the Egyptians drowned the Hebrew babies is the river which God curses by turning to blood such that, instead of being the source of life-giving water for the Egyptians, it became the source of death. Clearly, this was God’s retributive justice on the Egyptians.
You would think that such miraculous action would have produced an immediate response of submission by Pharaoh, but such was not the case. In fact, strangely, Pharaoh’s magicians duplicated this act “22b by their occult practices. So Pharaoh’s heart hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said. 23 Pharaoh turned around, went into his palace, and didn’t take even this to heart” (7:22-23), despite the effect on all the Egyptians, who had to dig alongside the Nile to get drinking water for seven long days (7:24-25).
So, what’s going on here with the magicians of Egypt? How is it that they could duplicate God’s miraculous action? In fact, they had already done so before when, Moses and Aaron first requested permission from Pharaoh to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, failing which God would “bring out the ranks of my people the Israelites, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment” (7:4). In response to Pharaoh’s demand to prove such a claim, as God had instructed them they cast down their staff and it became a serpent. And, lo and behold, the magicians of Egypt did the same (7:11)! Now, they do it again, turning water into blood. This happens three times in total (the staff turned into a serpent, the water to blood, and the plague of frogs) before they lost their power.
How do we explain this? Some try to explain it by saying that it was a sleight of hand, or somehow the magicians coloured the Nile with red dye. This is far-fetched and lacks biblical support. Others argue that they only did this to a small amount of water, as the Nile itself was already turned to blood. But this does not adequately explain what happened. The way the text reads does not necessarily imply that the magicians entirely duplicated Moses’ miracle either in its extent or its means. But whatever they did certainly convinced Pharaoh that their powers were equal to Moses’ (and, by implication, to God’s), but at that point Pharoah probably didn’t need much persuasion.
Whatever the magicians’ power enabled them to do, the plain, natural reading of the text is that they turned water to blood. The most plausible explanation, therefore, is that they derived their power from Satan (cf. 2 Thess. 2:9; Mk. 13:21-22; Matt. 7:22; Matt. 24:24; Rev. 13:13; Rev. 16:14; Eph. 6:12). For this reason, because Satan’s power is limited and can only be used to the extent that God permits, (1) the magicians could not reverse their actions; (2) they did not perform their feat in the same way as Moses (i.e. by stretching out a staff over the waters); and (3) they were only able to duplicate the first two plagues after which their powers ceased (8:18). Let us not underestimate the power of Satan. Remember that, with God’s permission, Satan caused Job’s suffering, but let us also remember that God places limits on Satan’s power - He only lets Satan go so far.
Following Pharaoh’s refusal to let the Israelites go after the first plague, God gives him a second chance to comply (8:1). Pharoah’s second refusal is met by the plague of frogs, which would swarm into and throughout every household. Again, as we noted above, the Egyptian magicians duplicated this plague by their occult powers (8:7). In response to the first plague, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened. Apparently the effect of the waters being turned to blood was not sufficient for him to comply with Moses’ request. But this time, Pharaoh requested that the Lord remove the plague and he would let the Israelites go to worship the Lord (8:8). Apparently Pharoah didn’t care about the first plague’s impact on the lives of the people, but this time the plague directly affected him.
In order to demonstrate to Pharaoh that the Lord was completely in control of this situation and that the removal of the frogs was not a coincidence, Moses gave Pharaoh the option of specifying when the removal of the frogs should occur. “Tomorrow, he answered” (8:10). And so it was that the next day, the Lord removed the frogs from everywhere except the Nile where they belonged. “But when Pharoah saw there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the Lord had said” (8:15).
This time, Pharaoh is not consulted or given any opportunity to let the Israelites go. Once more God tells Moses to have Aaron stretch out his rod, this time over the dust of the earth, the result of which is the plague of insects – sometimes called lice, gnats, mosquitoes, or fleas – that filled the land. If the invasion of frogs into every household was not enough to convince Pharoah to let the Israelites go, then perhaps an invasion of fleas into every aspect of Egyptian life would – into their clothing, homes, and bodies, both human and animal. They would itch and scratch day and night.
Unlike the previous two plagues, the Egyptian magicians were not able to duplicate this plague. At least the magicians have the honesty and insight to admit to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God… But Pharoah’s heart hardened and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said” (8:19).
Pharaoh’s hardness of heart continues despite three plagues. This fourth plague introduces the provision that the plague would affect all of Egypt but not the land of Goshen where the Israelites lived – “22 But on that day I will give special treatment to the land of Goshen, where my people are living; no flies will be there. This way you will know that I, the Lord, am in the land. 23 I will make a distinction between my people and your people. This sign will take place tomorrow” (8:22-23). This would demonstrate to Pharaoh that God was in control of this phenomenon; it was not a coincidence.
And just as the Lord had said, so the swarm of flies came. “Thick swarms of flies went into Pharaoh’s palace and his officials’ houses. Throughout Egypt the land was ruined because of the swarms of flies” (8:24). In response Pharaoh, for the first time, grants permission for the Israelites to worship God as long as they stay within the boundaries of Egypt, a condition which is not acceptable to Moses, saying, “We must go a distance of three days into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God as he instructs us” (8:27). Pharaoh concedes to their request, adding “but don’t go very far” and “make an appeal for me” (8:28) - presumably an appeal for God to remove the swarms of flies. Moses agrees to this arrangement but warns Pharaoh not to change his mind (8:29). Moses keeps his part of the bargain but Pharaoh did not keep his. Instead he “hardened his heart this time also and did not let the people go” (8:32).
These interactions with Pharoah are clearly showing that for Pharaoh this is a power struggle motivated by pride – who is the supreme ruler, Pharaoh or God? Pharaoh cannot appear weak to his people or he would lose their respect and subservience. Isn’t this altogether so common with us as well? Oh, we don’t manifest it in quite this way, but we are so reluctant to cede control of our lives to God. We have our own plans for our lives, which often do not comport with God’s plans for us. But ultimately, God always wins. Let us never forget that, because we could save ourselves a lot of heart ache if we willingly and quickly submit to God’s purposes for our lives.
This is described as “a severe plague” (9:3). Again, Moses predicts two aspects of this plague which should surely convince Pharaoh that this is from God. First, as with the previous plague, this plague would only affect the animals owned by the Egyptians, not those of the Israelites (9:4). And, second, this plague would occur specifically on the following day (9:5). Both of these conditions were designed to show that God was the author of this plague, not nature or any other force.
The plague took place exactly as Moses had said. “But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not let the people go” (9:7).
In the presence of Pharaoh, Moses, in obedience to God’s instructions, threw ashes into the air and it became fine dust that settled over the land of Egypt, causing boils to break out on humans and animals throughout all the land of Egypt. This time, not only are the Egyptian magicians unable to duplicate it, they themselves are afflicted by it to the extent that they could not stand before Moses because of the boils. Perhaps also the magicians could not stand before Moses because they were ashamed of their impotence and because they knew that Moses’ power came from God alone. Once before they had confessed to Pharaoh that the plagues were “the finger of God” (8:19). Armed with this renewed conviction, they now evidently appeal to Pharaoh for him to withdraw from this battle, which he could not win. “But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had told Moses” (9:12).
Hardness of heart surely causes people to press ahead in defiance of logic and evidence, in open rebellion against God’s authority.
Now we see that not only is God bringing these plagues upon Egypt (1) to secure the release of his people from slavery in Egypt, (2) so that they can worship him in the wilderness, (3) to reveal to them that “I am the Lord” (cf. 7:17; 8:22), the sovereign Lord, the supreme, all-powerful Creator and Ruler of the universe, but also (4) that they “will know there is no one like me on the whole earth” (9:14). Pharaoh and his magicians cannot withstand the power of God. And no matter how many times Pharaoh continues to rebel against God with a hardened heart, ultimately God will achieve his purposes and Pharaoh will have to acknowledge and bow to the sovereign power of God and to acknowledge the utter uniqueness of God, that there is no one like him “on the whole earth.”
Such is the severity and destruction of this plague of hail that Pharaoh, in his desperation, seems to be softening in his attitude, confessing to Moses: “I have sinned this time. The Lord is the righteous one and I and my people are the guilty ones” (9:27). Further, he agrees to release the Israelites: “I will let you go; you do not need to stay any longer” (9:28). But we have seen this before - an appeal to God in order to stop the plagues, but then another hardening of his heart against God. Will this be any different? No! Despite the fact that Moses always does what he says he will do and appeals to God to withdraw the plague, nonetheless, as Moses warns Pharaoh, “as for you and your officials, I know that you still do not fear the LORD God” (9:30).
And, sure enough once again, “34 When Pharaoh saw that the rain, hail, and thunder had ceased, he sinned again and hardened his heart, he and his officials. 35 So Pharaoh’s heart hardened, and he did not let the Israelites go, as the Lord had said through Moses” (9:34-35).
One wonders at this point how hard the human heart can be. Without submission to God’s rule, the human heart can act in ways that defy logic and evidence. But more than that, I think what is going on here is not only the demonstration of the wickedness of the human heart, but the sovereign purposes of God, which are being revealed and carried out in spite of the opposition and rebellion against God of, probably, the most powerful ruler on earth at that time. These prolonged and repeated plagues and Pharaoh’s utter rebellion against God are all designed by God to manifest His supreme power, repeatedly and clearly. That surely is the overriding purpose here.
Now God’s overriding purpose in the plagues is stated overtly: “ 1I have hardened his (Pharoah’s) heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may do these miraculous signs of mine among them, 2and so that you may tell your son and grandson how severely I dealt with the Egyptians and performed miraculous signs among them, and you will know that I am the LORD” (10:1-2). If the plague of hail was devastating, then the plague of locusts would be even more so. Indeed, Moses told Pharaoh: “ 5They will eat the remainder left to you that escaped the hail; they will eat every tree you have growing in your fields. 6They will fill your houses, all your officials’ houses, and the houses of all the Egyptians – something your fathers and ancestors never saw since the time they occupied the land until today” (10:5-6). To this dire warning, Pharaoh’s officials react in abject fear, saying to Pharaoh: “How long must this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, so that they may worship the LORD their God. Don’t you realize yet that Egypt is devastated?” (10:7).
So, Pharaoh tries to make a compromise with Moses. He will grant limited permission – the Israelite men only may go and worship the Lord but not the women and children (10:10-11). I suppose that Pharoah’s scheme was that if he could keep the women and children there, then the men would be sure to come back. But Moses was having nothing of it. No compromise! No negotiations! It was God’s way only. Not only did Moses demand that men, women, and children go, but also their flocks and herds (10:9). Remarkably, once again, Pharaoh drives Moses and Aaron from his presence – the conversation is at an end. And the plague of locusts begins. “Never before had there been such a large number of locusts, and there never will be again” (10:14). They covered the entire land of Egypt such that the land was black and by the time they were finished, “they consumed all the plants on the ground and all the fruit on the trees that the hail had left. Nothing green was left on the trees or the plants in the field throughout the land of Egypt” (10:15).
Once more, Pharaoh confesses his sin against the Lord and against Moses. He pleads for forgiveness and for Moses to intercede for him before the Lord to “take this death away from me” (10:17). Notice that he does not request that it be taken away from “us,” but “from me.” The only person Pharoah cares about is himself. Let the people suffer, but let him be protected. Graciously, the Lord causes the removal of the locusts by a strong west wind, blowing them into the Red Sea. “Not a single locust was left in all the territory of Egypt. But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he did not let the Israelites go” (10:19-20).
This time, there was no warning issued to Pharaoh. Surely, the plague of darkness was not only physical but also reflected the spiritual darkness that was over all the land of Egypt, “a darkness that can be felt” (10:21-22). For three days, no one could see their hand in front of their face. So thick was the darkness that they could not move from where they were. “Yet all the Israelites had light where they lived” (10:23).
Wouldn’t you think that, by now, the intensity and scope of the plagues, together with the clear demarcation between their effects on the Egyptians and the Israelites, should have awakened Pharaoh to the reality of what God was doing? But no, he again tries to negotiate with Moses. “Go, worship the Lord. Even your families may go with you; only your flocks and your herds must stay behind” (10:24). But again, Moses would hear nothing of it. It was all or nothing. They needed their herds and flocks to offer burnt offerings to the Lord and they would “not know what we will use to worship the LORD until we get there” (10:26).
But one more time, “the Lord hardened Pharoah’s heart and he was unwilling to let them go” (10:27). In fact, Pharoah become even more resolute, threatening Moses with death if he ever saw his face again (10:28). I love Moses’ reply: “As you have said…I will never see your face again” (10:29). Little did Pharaoh know how true and how utterly devastating that statement would turn out to be.
So, nine plagues of increasing intensity fail to subdue Pharaoh’s hard heart. He will not relinquish control. This seems to be the root issue – control, power and pride. This is a standoff between Pharaoh, a finite human being, and God himself, the infinite, sovereign ruler of the universe. Remember our thesis that sometimes God exercises his power in creation to display and demonstrate that He is the LORD. He certainly demonstrated His supremacy through these plagues in response to, and in spite of, Pharaoh’s rebellion and hardness of heart, and He will do so again at the end of this age.
From our vantage point, we wonder what Pharaoh was thinking. But when you stop and think about it, Pharaoh is just manifesting the wickedness that lies in every human heart – independence from God and rebellion against God. This has been the story of the human race from the beginning. It was human rebellion against God’s authority and the insistence on human independence that caused sin to enter the world in the first place. In direct defiance of God’s command that “You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Gen. 2:17), Adam and Eve ate of it anyway. This was the very first demonstration of the self-will and rebellion of the human heart.
We may well ask, “Why?” Why would Adam and Eve do that, when God had given them a perfect paradise to live in and enjoy? When there was only one restriction placed on them? And here we must consider two reasons. First, God created human beings with the freedom to choose whether to obey him or disobey him. This was necessary in order for God to have a people to voluntarily and freely love him. Second, Satan entered the scene with his wicked deception, promising Adam and Eve greater enjoyment and greater powers if they disobeyed God – “When you eat it (the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden) your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:5). Ever since that fateful day when Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, the human race has suffered the consequences of separation from God and a rebellious spirit against God.
So, let this be a lesson to us, to be on our guard against hardness of heart. Remember the admonition of the apostle Paul to “no longer walk as the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their thoughts. They are darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them and because of the hardness of their hearts” (Eph. 4:17-18). Remember what Jeremiah said: “The heart is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable—who can understand it?” (Jer. 17:9). And let us adhere to the warning of the writer to the Hebrews who quotes David in Psalm 95:7-8, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts” (Heb. 4:7).
In the last article in this series, I covered the first nine plagues (Ex. 7:14-20:29). In each case, Moses has acted as the spokesperson for God to Pharaoh, despite his earlier protestations of not being able to speak in public.
Three observations stand out that we need to notice:
1. After each plague, God graciously gave Pharoah the opportunity to relent from the hardness of his heart and escape His continuing acts of judgement by granting Moses’ request to lead the Israelites out of Egypt into the wilderness to worship the Lord. This is ample evidence that “the Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and full of faithful love” (Ps. 103:8; cf. Ex. 34:6; Num. 14:18).
2. You would think, after experiencing nine plagues of increasing intensity and scope, that by now Pharaoh would have willingly confessed and submitted to God’s supremacy and power. But Pharaoh was governed by a hardened heart, such that despite the evidence and despite the widespread suffering he stubbornly continued to rebel against God. Evidence, you see, is not enough to convince unbelievers of the reality of who God is. There has to also be submission of the will and repentance of the heart.
3. God keeps his word and sovereignly achieves his purposes. The deliverance that God promised to Moses (Ex. 3:7-10) he will carry out. No earthly power can withstand or withhold him. He will demonstrate to the Egyptians as well as the Israelites that He is the LORD (Ex. 6:6; 7:5), even though, in His grace, the timing may be prolonged for ten long and destructive plagues.
So now we come to the tenth and last plague that caused the midnight cry “throughout Egypt because there wasn’t a house without someone dead” (Ex. 12:30; cf. 11:6).
The overall truth that we are going to discover in this study is that Despite the opposition of the strongest earthly powers, God is supreme above all. He always keeps his word and accomplishes his purposes.
The Prediction of the Midnight Cry. Moses said to Pharaoh: “ 4 This is what the Lord says: About midnight I will go throughout Egypt, 5 and every firstborn male in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne to the firstborn of the servant girl who is at the grindstones, as well as every firstborn of the livestock” (11:4-5). The death of the firstborn was the ultimate judgement because it would effectively end the entire social structure of succession, as it was practiced in the ancient world. So devastating would it be that “Then there will be a great cry of anguish through all the land of Egypt such as never was before or ever will be again” (11:6).
The Israelites’ anguished cry for mercy and deliverance, as they suffered for the past 400 years under the relentless and unmerciful hand of their Egyptian slave masters, would now be replaced by the anguished cry of the Egyptians themselves. God did not forget the cry of His people, nor did He turn a blind eye to the wickedness of the Egyptians. Punishment for sin is inevitable, even though God graciously gives ample opportunity to repent, “not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9).
The Preservation of the Israelites. To further underscore that God is the author of such an horrific judgement, there would yet again be a distinction between the Egyptians and the Israelites for “against all the Israelites, whether people or animals, not even a dog will snarl, so that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel” (11:7). This is a discriminating judgement in which God will show that the Israelites are his chosen people by protecting them from the devastation that will befall the Egyptians. How dare Pharaoh not recognize this and submit!
And God will once more at the end of this age inflict discriminate judgement. God clearly and decisively separates all human beings into the saved and the lost. At the final resurrection, “those who have done good things” (i.e. those who have repented of their sins and placed their faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior) will be raised to eternal life, while “those who have done wicked things (i.e. rejected Jesus Christ) to the resurrection of condemnation” (Jn. 5:29).
Remember that God “has set a day when he is going to judge the world in righteousness by the man he has appointed. He has provided proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:31). The same Man whom wicked people crucified is the One who will judge the world. So, don’t ever confuse or conflate God’s grace and God’s judgement. It is only God’s grace that holds back his judgement. But one day, the day which God has already set, the Man whom he has appointed as judge of all the world, Jesus Christ, will sit on his judgement throne and every person who has rejected him will be cast eternally into the lake of fire. Then they will hear those awful words, “depart from me, I never knew you” (Matt. 7:23). This is the sovereign right of our Creator who said, “I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion” (Rom. 9:15). God has the sovereign right but not the obligation to do or not do anything for or to anyone.
The Persistence of Pharaoh’s Resistance. Despite Moses’ tenth warning, Pharaoh “would not let the Israelites go out of his land” (11:10). Little did Pharoah know that, this time, he would have no further opportunity to comply with God’s demands. Perhaps he had convinced himself that God would never do what He said, that God’s word was just one big threat. Perhaps Pharoah thought that if he could only hang on long enough God would give up and go away. Or, perhaps Pharaoh thought that, in the end, he would be victorious - his tenacity and stubbornness would outlast God’s persistence and ability. Little did Pharoah know that preparations were being put in place for the last plague – the plague of death.
The Purpose of the Passover. The Passover was God’s provision for the identity of the Israelites and their security from His judgement. Just as God provided safety for Noah and his family from the flood judgement, so now God provides the blood of a lamb for the safety of the Israelites. All they had to do was “select an animal from the flock according to their fathers’ households, one animal per household…You must have an unblemished animal, a year old male; you may take it from the sheep or the goats” (12:3-5). Then, at twilight, they were to kill the animal and apply some of its blood to the two doorposts and the lintel of their houses (12:7; 22). That night they were to roast its meat over a fire and eat it in its entirety, all the while being dressed and ready to depart in a hurry (12:8-11).
Notice that this ritual included and protected all members of a household. One lamb was sufficient to cover the entire home (12:3, 21) but there was a provision that if the household was too small for a whole animal, they could share it with a neighbour (12:4). Notice that there is no thought of the lamb being to small for the household, but of a household possibly being too small for a lamb. Furthermore, the stipulation was that the animal must be “unblemished” (12:5). The sacrificial lamb must be perfect in every respect
Those were their instructions, a very simple and yet profound ritual. And this is what God said would happen. “12 I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night and strike every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, both people and animals. I am the Lord; I will execute judgments against all the gods of Egypt. 13 The blood on the houses where you are staying will be a distinguishing mark for you; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will be among you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt” (Ex. 12:12-13). The sprinkled blood on the two doorposts and lintel of their houses was the sign that protected them from the death of their firstborn that night.
This was the night of nights, the moment of deliverance for which the Israelites had hoped and cried out in prayer for so long. The Lord had heard their cries and he had come to deliver them (Ex. 2:23-24; 3:7-10). The devastating judgement which God is about to inflict on Egypt would not touch the Israelites – they were safe and secure under the blood of the lamb. “When I see the blood, I will pass over you.”
The Passover is a remarkable preview and type of the gospel and the scene that would transpire some 1500 years later at the cross of Calvary, when the Lamb of God shed his precious blood to wash away our sins. Do the qualifications for the perfect sacrificial animal and the instructions regarding the application of its blood to their houses remind you of the perfect sacrifice of the Lamb of God and the efficacy of his blood which was shed on the cross? Leviticus 17:11 says, “For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have appointed it to you to make atonement on the altar for your lives, since it is the lifeblood that makes atonement.” In the N.T., Hebrews 9:22 says, “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” The apostle Peter puts it this way: “For you know that you were not redeemed, from your empty way of life inherited from the fathers, with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish” (1 Pet. 1:18-19).
The Lord Jesus Christ was the only perfect sacrifice who was acceptable to God and who could, once and for all, make the one and final sacrifice, which would forever fulfill God’s holy requirements for sin and eternally redeem those who put their faith in Him. For the Israelites, their sacrifices could never permanently wash away their sins. Their sacrifices had to be repeated year after year, “for it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Heb. 10:1-4). But through the “offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all” we have been”sanctified” (Heb. 10:10). Unlike the priests who stood day after day offering repeated sacrifices “which can never take away sins… this man, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God” (Heb. 10:11-12).
Isn’t that the most wonderful good news? His sacrifice never had to be repeated because it was perfect and it was final. And as a result, when we find shelter under His shed blood through repentance and faith, we are forever cleansed from our sins, made right with God, and eternally secure in Christ.
The Significance of the Passover for the Israelites. The very simple yet profound Passover ritual provided for the Israelites unfathomable benefits:
1. It marked the beginning of a whole new life, a new era (12:1). The Passover celebration in the years ahead would mark “the beginning of months for you; it is the first month of your year” (12:2).
2. It distinguished them from the Egyptians (11:7; 12:13a). They were God’s chosen, special, separated people. Their houses were marked by the blood of the lamb.
3. It protected them from God’s judgement on Egypt. God said to Moses, “When I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will be among you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt” (12:13b). And Moses told the Israelites, “When the Lord passes through to strike Egypt and sees the blood on the lintel and the two doorposts, He will pass over the door and not let the destroyer enter your houses to strike you” (12:23).
4. It was to be a permanent memorial throughout their generations of their deliverance from slavery in Egypt (12:14-20; 24-27). This miraculous event would be enshrined not only in their history but also in their entire future, as they remember and recount to subsequent generations that momentous night in Egypt, the night of their redemption from slavery.
5. It was to be imbibed into their innermost being by eating the sacrificial lamb, thus signifying that they made it their own, they identified personally with the sacrifice.
While the Israelite Passover experience and ritual provided for them unquestionably tremendous benefits and blessings, one overwhelming aspect that they did not know or enter into was the permanent removal of their sins. That is a truth that Christians can claim exclusively, as I have demonstrated from Scripture above.
The Significance of the Passover for Christians. When we look at this from our N.T., Christian perspective, the lamb speaks of Christ - “Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us” (1 Cor. 5:7). The Passover pointed forward to the perfect Lamb of God (Jn. 1:29), whose substitutionary sacrifice on the cross fulfilled and brought to an end all the Passover sacrifices of the Israelites. Notice the following Christian truths in comparison and contrast to those I have listed above for the Israelites:
1. Upon expressing our faith in Him, Christ’s death is the beginning of a whole new life (2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 2:20), the demarcation between the old life and the new (Eph. 4:24; Rom. 6:4).
2. Our identity with Christ separates and distinguishes us from the world – we are God’s special people, set apart for him exclusively (1 Pet. 2:9-10; Eph. 5:11; 2 Cor. 6:14).
3. Christ’s sacrifice on the cross is our protection. His shed blood is the means of our cleansing from sin (Lev. 17:11; Heb. 9:22; 1 Jn. 1:7-9), by which we are protected from the coming judgement of God.
4. The memorial feast speaks of the Lord’s table of remembrance (Lk. 22:19; 1 Cor. 11:24).
5. Christians are those who have imbibed Jesus into their innermost being by, spiritually, eating his flesh and drinking his blood (Jn. 6:53-56), thus signifying that his life is our life, we have made him our own, we are identified personally with him and his sacrifice.
What a wonderful preview in the Passover of what was to come! What types and illustrations God has given throughout his word of that one final sacrifice of our Lord, a sacrifice that would never be repeated and that would appease (propitiate) God’s wrath on account of our sins (1 Jn. 2:2; Heb. 9:26).
Let me ask you, is your house, like the Israelites’ houses, marked by the blood of the Lamb who was slain for you? Do you speak and act as one who has been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ (1 Pet. 1:18-19)? Do others recognize that you are different, in your attitudes, relationships, morality, values, priorities? How has your faith in Christ set you apart for His exclusive use and service? Is your life committed to serving him with the gifts he has given you? May the blood of Christ be a distinguishing mark for every believer. Oh, I know that the blood of Christ is not a popular topic, especially not in the world. In fact, they probably think we are a bit weird to speak of blood in this way. But the imagery is simply that the blood speaks of Christ’s life poured out for us. Just as blood is the fluid that cleanses our body of toxins and delivers life-giving nutrients to our vital organs, so the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin (1 Jn. 1:7). His blood is our distinguishing mark.
When you look back on your Christian life, surely you must be so thankful that there came that moment when you were delivered from your old life and brought into the new life in Christ. I sometimes wonder, where would I be if Christ was not the Lord of my life. If there had not come that time when I knelt by my bed as a boy and expressed my repentance for sin and my faith in Christ, where would I be today? What hope would I have? What kind of life would I be living? But the reality is that those questions are rendered irrelevant because God had chosen me before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4). He loved me, not because of any merit in me, but purely because he loved me (Deut. 7:7-8). That’s God’s sovereign grace.
The Midnight Judgement Executed. Just as Moses had warned Pharaoh earlier (11:4-8), so now his warning comes true (12:29). “Now at midnight the Lord struck every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the prisoner who was in the dungeon, and every firstborn of the livestock” (12:29). God had given Pharaoh and the Egyptians nine opportunities to obey him, but they had refused God’s grace. Now, His judgement in Egypt is swift and certain.
Today, there are many who doubt and mock the notion that Jesus is coming again and that He will execute a universal and final judgement. As Peter tell us, “ 3 Scoffers will come in the last days scoffing and following their own evil desires, 4 saying, ‘Where is his coming that he promised? Ever since our ancestors fell asleep, all things continue as they have been since the beginning of creation’” (2 Pet. 3:3-4). We are living in the last days (i.e. the time between Christ’s first and second coming) and we are witnessing a significant increase in the intensity and extent of those who scoff at the second coming of Christ. They just don’t think it is true or even that it might happen, despite previous historical experiences. “ 5 They deliberately overlook this: By the word of God the heavens came into being long ago and the earth was brought about from water and through water. 6 Through these the world of that time perished when it was flooded. 7 By the same word, the present heavens and earth are stored up for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly” (2 Pet. 3:5-6). That’s the truth. Just as the ancient world was warned by God through Noah for many years that judgement was coming, and just as the people back then refused Noah’s warning and mocked his message, so now God has been warning people through the gospel for 2,000 years since the death of Christ and people generally still refuse to heed the warning and mock those who preach it.
“Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a person sows he will also reap” (Gal. 6:7). If you “sow” mockery against God’s word and His servants, be prepared to “reap” the consequences, which are clearly spelled out in Scripture. The apostle John puts it this way: “ 11 Then I saw a great white throne and one seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from his presence, and no place was found for them. 12 I also saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works by what was written in the books. 13 Then the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them; each one was judged according to their works. 14 Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:11-15). The consequence of mocking God and refusing to heed His warning of coming judgement is consignment to the lake of fire, forever. What an horrific prospect! And all because they refused to believe and obey God’s word.
Listen to Jesus’ words of warning: “ 24 Truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life. 25 Truly I tell you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26 For just as the Father has life in himself, so also he has granted to the Son to have life in himself. 27 And he has granted him the right to pass judgment, because he is the Son of Man. 28 Do not be amazed at this, because a time is coming when all who are in the graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done good things, to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked things, to the resurrection of condemnation” (Jn. 5:24-29).
It’s all a question of hearing Jesus’ voice and believing. It seems so simple and yet, like Pharaoh, man’s heart is so hard and man’s will is so stubborn. As with the Israelites who applied the blood to their houses, so all that is required now is to apply the blood of Christ to your life and be protected from coming judgement. Remember, God has “set a day when he is going to judge the world in righteousness by the man he has appointed. He has provided proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:31). Imagine that - the Lamb of God who was slain for the sins of the world will one day be its Judge.
The Wail of Death. In his righteous judgement, God struck every firstborn male in the land who was not covered by the blood - both human and animal, both rich and poor, powerful and weak, rulers and subjects, those in palaces and those in prisons. “During the night Pharaoh got up, he along with all his officials and all the Egyptians, and there was a loud wailing throughout Egypt because there wasn’t a house without someone dead” (12:30). That cry was so loud and so pervasive that it woke everyone from sleep, for every household had been struck with the death of their firstborn – everyone, that is, except the Israelites, for they were covered by the blood of the lamb and God was faithful to his promise to “not let the destroyer enter your houses to strike you” (12:23).
Pharaoh Relents. This time, Pharoah paid attention. Summoning Moses and Aaron during the night he told them to take the Israelites and their flocks and herds and “leave my people… and go, worship the Lord as you have asked, and leave, and this will also be a blessing to me” (12:31-32). Such is the fear that they were all going to die that the Egyptians couldn’t get rid of the Israelites fast enough (12:33-34). In fact, in response to their request, the Egyptians gave the Israelites their silver and gold jewelry and clothing. “In this way they plundered the Egyptians” (12:35-36). Those who had been plundered by the Egyptians for the entire time of their slavery were now the plunderers, as God had promised Moses (cf. 3:21-22). As the secular saying goes, “What goes around comes around.” God is a God of retributive justice and restitution.
A Mixed Crowd Leaves Egypt. The details concerning the exodus route, the people, and animals included in this vast crowd of migrants are interesting and informative (12:37-42). Of note is the expression “an ethnically diverse (i.e. “a mixed”) crowd also went up with them” (12:28). It seems that a crowd of non-Israelite people took advantage of the opportunity to leave Egypt. The reason is not given but we hear about them again described (lit.) as a “rabble, riffraff” (Numbers 11:4,) and again as “foreigners” (Deut. 29:11 ). Perhaps they had suffered so badly under the adverse conditions of the plagues that they saw this as their opportunity to escape. Or, perhaps they, like the Israelites, were foreigners who had been held in slavery in Egypt and were only too glad to get out of the country. But since they are described as a “rabble,” it is most likely that they were simply a conglomeration of discontented people, similar to those who joined David in his exile (1 Sam. 22:2). What is pertinent about this description is that they were non-Israelites, who evidently thought they could benefit from the Israelites and their God but who soon proved to be a thorn in Moses’ side, a greedy, discontented group of hangers-on. For, hardly had they been in the desert for long and they “craved” (hankered after, lusted intensely for) the food they had been used to in Egypt (Num. 11:4).
As is often the case, people with this kind of attitude always seem to infect the rest – people who don’t belong there but are going along for ride; people who don’t have the same faith, the same goals, or the same values as the rest; people who are not believers in the one true God but who are “mixed” in with those who are; people who only want personal benefit without personal cost; people who seem to always drag others down to their level. Once this factious group started complaining, it soon spread to the Israelites as well. “ 4 The riffraff among them had a strong craving for other food. The Israelites wept again and said, “Who will feed us meat? 5 We remember the free fish we ate in Egypt, along with the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. 6 But now our appetite is gone; there’s nothing to look at but this manna!” (Num. 11:4-6).
Rankling among a fringe crowd burdens the others down, especially the leader, dragging everyone else down to their spiritual level. Their spiritual condition comes out under pressure and quickly taints the believers around them. When their hopes are not immediately satisfied, they turn on you. They are always comparing their present circumstances with the “good old days.” The present, for them, is never as good as the past. Funny, isn’t it, that such good old days should produce a people with such bad attitudes toward present circumstances.
In this case, the complaint was about the food. Egyptian food now never looked or tasted so good to them. They wanted the variety and taste of the old food, not this bland, repetitive food in the desert (Num. 11:7-8). Then Moses heard the people actually crying at the entrance to their tents, standing around complaining to one another, and he was provoked and “the Lord was very angry” (Num. 11:10).
Do we not see the same in evangelical churches? – a mixed crowd of believers and unbelievers; those who are sincere about their faith and others who are merely religious; some who genuinely desire to worship God and grow in their faith and others who want the benefits of a church community without embracing its spirituality. Of course, we want unbelievers to come to our churches, in the hope that they will be saved. But we need to be careful that we don’t let unbelievers mix in so secretly and pervasively that we lose sight of who is real and who is not. That’s when churches suddenly find themselves, unwittingly perhaps, admitting non-believers into membership and the whole tenor and structure and doctrinal beliefs of the church begin to be compromised.
A Night of Praise to God. Well, it’s only appropriate that this section concludes with a note of praise to God, reflecting on the Israelites’ history of slavery and their miraculous escape. “ 40 The time that the Israelites lived in Egypt was 430 years. 41 At the end of 430 years, on that same day, all the Lord’s military divisions went out from the land of Egypt. 42 It was a night of vigil in honor of the Lord, because he would bring them out of the land of Egypt. This same night is in honor of the Lord, a night vigil for all the Israelites throughout their generations” (12:40-42).
The journey that we have taken in this study, and the previous study, has truly been extraordinary. I think we become so familiar with the Exodus story that we often lose sight of the magnitude of God’s sovereign power that is at work here. God’s statement to Moses when he commissioned him to lead his people out of slavery has come true (Ex. 3:7-10), despite all the opposition of the greatest power on earth. No one can withstand Him. By this demonstration of His great power, the Israelites now knew that “I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, so that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God” (Ex. 29:46) and that “there is no God but me” (Isa. 45:5-6; cf. 43:11).
Remember my thesis at the beginning of this study: Despite the opposition of the strongest earthly powers, God is supreme above all. He always keeps his word and accomplishes his purposes.
Though God is a God of grace and mercy, “not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9), there is a limit to His patience. We see that here in this final judgement in Egypt. And we will see it again at the end of this church age, when the Lord Jesus Christ will complete the redemption of his people by translating them from earth to heaven (Jn. 14:3; 1 Thess. 4:14-18) and unbelievers will remain to face his wrath and final judgement (Jn. 3:16-18, 36; Rev. 20:11-15).
Then, God’s awesome power and supreme authority will be confessed by all, for in that day “every knee will bow - of those who are in heaven and on the earth and under the earth - and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:10-11).
We come to the final episode in the escape of the Israelites from the stubborn clutches of Pharaoh and slavery in Egypt. In my last article in this series, we noticed the typical significance of the Passover both for the Israelites and for us Christians. Just to review the main five points of comparison:
1. The significance of the Passover for the Israelites:
a) It marked the beginning of a whole new life (12:1).
b) It distinguished them from the Egyptians (11:7; 12:13a).
c) It protected them from God’s judgement on Egypt (12:13b, 23).
d) It was to be a permanent memorial of their redemption from slavery in Egypt (12:14-20; 24-27).
e) It was to be imbibed into their innermost being by eating the sacrificial lamb (12:8-11, 14).
2. The Significance of the Passover for Christians:
a) Christ’s death is the beginning of a whole new life (2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 2:20), the demarcation between the old life and the new (Eph. 4:24; Rom. 6:4).
b) Our identity with Christ separates and distinguishes us from the world (1 Pet. 2:9-10; Eph. 5:11; 2 Cor. 6:14).
c) Christ’s sacrifice on the cross is our protection from God’s judgement (Lev. 17:11; Heb. 9:22; 1 Jn. 1:7-9).
d) Our memorial feast is Lord’s table of remembrance (Lk. 22:19; 1 Cor. 11:24).
e) Christians are those who have spiritually imbibed Christ into their innermost being by eating his flesh and drinking his blood (Jn. 6:53-56).
With those comparisons and contrasts in mind, we turn to the study of the Red Sea crossing, which similarly has great typical significance both for the Israelites and Christians, as we shall see. The primary theological truth we discover in this episode is that with God, dead ends can turn into through streets. First notice that…
1. God has special purposes in “dead ends” (13:17-20). God’s road map for our lives is not always what we would choose. God does not always take us on the shortest or easiest route. Why didn’t God take the Israelites directly to Canaan? We can find four answers to that question in the book of Exodus…
First, because the most direct route from Egypt to the Promised Land would have taken the Israelites along the Mediterranean coastline, which would have required them to pass through the land of their enemies, the Philistines. Knowing how fickle they were and prone to complaints and doubts, God, in his grace, spared them from facing the possibility of war, which might have discouraged them to the point of causing them to “change their minds and return to Egypt” (13:17). And so, God directed them southeast “toward the Red Sea along the road of the wilderness” (13:18), thus avoiding enemy territory.
Second, because crossing the Red Sea was the most direct route to Mount Horeb, “the mountain of God” (3:1). Mount Horeb (otherwise known as Mount Sinai in Arabia) was the place where Moses had first encountered God, the very place to which God had promised to bring him back: “This will be the sign to you that I have sent you: when you bring the people out of Egypt, you will all worship God at this mountain” (3:12). Now is the time when God’s promise to Moses would come true.
Third, though the text does not tell us this specifically, taking this route is evidence of God’s care and guidance in that it took them through territory with which Moses probably would have been familiar, having spent 40 years in the wilderness of Midian tending his father-in-law’s sheep.
Fourth, because God had one more miracle to perform for the Egyptians and the Israelites, a miracle that would stop the harassment of Pharaoh once and for all, a miracle that would show them that “I am the LORD” (14:4), which, by the way, is the constant refrain and focus of the book of Exodus.
In this we see that God’s hand is always displayed in the details. The precision and fulfillment of these little details is remarkable, isn’t it? Just like the next detail: “Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the Israelites swear a solemn oath saying, ‘God will certainly come to your aid; then you must take my bones with you from this place’” (13:19). Undoubtedly, Joseph knew the covenant that God had made with Abraham, Isaac, and his father Jacob, that the land of Canaan would be their permanent homeland, and he fully believed that God would keep his promise even though it would not take place in his lifetime. Egypt was the place through which he and the Israelites were passing as pilgrims and strangers. The prospect of Israel’s permanent home in Canaan lay ahead and that’s where Joseph wanted to be buried (see Gen. 50:25 and Josh. 24:32), for their home was his home, their resting place was his resting place. And so in this verse (13:19) we see not only the faithfulness of Moses to keep the covenant Joseph had made with the sons of Israel (even though it was long after Joseph’s death), but also the faithfulness of God to keep his promise going all the way back to Abraham (Gen. 12:1-7), Isaac (Gen. 26:2-4), and Jacob (Gen. 28:15).
2. God has special means in the “dead ends” (13:21-14:10a). In this case, the means God used were the fire and a cloud. The Israelites were not left alone to wander aimlessly, trying to find their way out of Egypt. He did not deliver them from Egypt only to leave them to their own devices as to which way to go, how to get there, and to face all the obstacles and dangers on their own. No, God himself was present with them in their journey. In fact, “The LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to lead them on their way during the day and in a pillar of fire to give them light at night, so that they could travel day or night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night never left its place in front of the people” (13:21-22). The pillar of cloud led them during the day, guiding them and sheltering them from the burning heat, and the pillar of fire accompanied them at night, giving them light and warmth. Both the cloud and the fire were a constant reminder that God was with them to guide them and protect them throughout the entirety of their wilderness journey, which would turn out to be much longer than necessary because of their own sinfulness.
God and the pillars of cloud and fire are seen as one. The pillar was in fact a type of theophany – it was God’s presence in front of them and behind them. These were God’s means to lead them into the “dead end.” Wouldn’t it be nice to have God lead us in this way? How often do we long for such clarity. We pray for guidance and sometimes nothing seems to happen. That’s when we would like to look up and follow the cloud or a pillar of fire, leaving us with no judgement calls about what to do, no agonizing over what decision to make, no need for advice from others, no questions or doubts about God’s leading. No doubts? Well, maybe. Certainly we are going to find out that the Israelites still had massive doubts.
Here's the principle: God’s faithfulness to keep his word and safeguard his people is guaranteed. This principle is so important for us today. We so easily feel abandoned by God, left to our own resources to figure out solutions to problems and obstacles. But God never abandons us, just as he never abandoned the Israelites throughout their entire history. They were his chosen and beloved people. And so are we! The God of Moses who led them through the wilderness is our God. Let us never forget that. His power and care and provision for us have not changed. Oh, I know God does not manifest himself in quite the same ways that he did back then. We don’t see him visibly in a pillar of cloud or fire and he doesn’t speak to us audibly. But that doesn’t mean that he is less involved in our lives or less able to guide, protect, and provide for us. In fact, we have the indwelling Holy Spirit with us every moment of every day. And we are surrounded by his holy angels, those “ministering spirits sent out to serve those who are going to inherit salvation” (Heb. 1:14).
The problem, you see, is not with God. The problem is with us. So often, we do not live in a daily state of constant communion with him. We forget about him. We forget that he cares for us more than we could ever know (cf. Matt. 23:37-39; Isa. 41:10; 43:2; 49:15; Ps. 23:1-3; 1 Pet. 5:6-7; Heb. 13:5). We have God’s word and we can count on it. Just as “the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night never left its place in front of the people” (13:22), so we can count on his presence with us and his power and provision for us every moment of every day.
Indeed, now, as we continue this story, we see God’s hand in another detail of the Israelites’ journey. Knowing that Pharaoh’s heart was still hard and rebellious and that he would once again reverse his earlier decision to let the Israelites go by chasing after them, God instructed Moses to “tell the Israelites to turn back and camp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea; you must camp in front of Baal-zephon, facing it by the sea” (14:2).
The Egyptians must have been surprised when they saw the Israelites turn south to Pi-hahiroth. They must have thought that the Israelites didn’t know where they were going, such that “Pharaoh will say of the Israelites: They are wandering around in the land in confusion; the wilderness has boxed them in” (14:3).
In addition to the Egyptians’ surprise, the Israelites must have been confused about why they were taking this route, about where they were going, and about how this would all end because by changing direction they were trapped geographically and militarily – Pharoah’s troops were behind them, the waters of the Red Sea were in front of them, and mountainous and wilderness terrain was all around them. But exactly who was trapped? The Israelites or the Egyptians? And who has trapped whom? Have the Egyptians trapped the Israelites? Or, has God trapped the Egyptians, not the Israelites?
Remember, God is always in control. Despite all that had happened in Egypt with the ten plagues, Pharaoh still thought he was in control, that he could outsmart God. But we know from Scripture that God was in control of everything, including Pharaoh’s heart and actions: “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he will pursue them. Then I will receive glory by means of Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord” (14:4). God’s ultimate purpose is to glorify himself and he does this by revealing himself so powerfully and evidently that all people will know and must acknowledge that He is the Lord (Hab. 2:14). No one will ever be able to claim that they didn’t know.
People with hard hearts continually act in defiance against God. And sure enough, Pharoah fell for the bait just as God had told Moses, “When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about the people and said, ‘What have we done? We have released Israel from serving us’” (14:5). To Pharaoh, pursuing the Israelites into the dead end at the Red Sea seemed like shooting fish in a barrel – made them an easy target, totally exposed, vulnerable, and defenseless. The Israelites were sitting ducks. They couldn’t escape and, to any casual observer, they were unprepared, unarmed, untrained, overpowered and outmaneuvered by Pharoah’s troops. Even ten plagues did not cause Pharaoh to consider that maybe, just maybe, he was about to enter a trap. It’s hard to imagine how stubborn and stupid Pharoah was after the devastation that he had caused and experienced by not letting Israel go much earlier. But then, such is the blindness that power and money and unbelief have over the human heart.
Pharaoh’s primary concern was not knowing God, or much less submitting to God; rather, his concern was to keep the Israelites in slavery. Undoubtedly, releasing them would cause serious economic harm to Egypt. Who else would do for him what they had done for hundreds of years? “ 6 So he got his chariot ready and took his troops with him; 7 he took six hundred of the best chariots and all the rest of the chariots of Egypt, with officers in each one. 8 The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the Israelites, who were going out defiantly. 9 The Egyptians—all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, his horsemen, and his army—chased after them and caught up with them as they camped by the sea beside Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon” (14:6-9).
Well, know this - while following God may lead to a dead end…
It appeared that the tenth plague was the final test that broke Pharaoh’s obstinate opposition to God and the Israelites, resulting in his permission to let them go. But no, there is still one more demonstration of the hardness of Pharaoh’s heart at the Red Sea. Not only has Pharaoh not learned the lesson that God is the LORD, but the Israelites also had not learned the lesson either for, when they saw Pharaoh and the Egyptians pursuing them, they panicked. Let me ask you, if you were trapped as the Israelites were, how would you react – with panic or with trust?
1. Panic is based on illogical emotion (14:10b-12). The Israelites panicked and in their panic, trust immediately changed to fear. “The Israelites were terrified” (14:10a). At first, they “cried out to the Lord for help” (14:10b) but they didn’t even wait for a reply. As reality set in, they were overcome by fear.
Fear is generally our response (1) to circumstances (whether real or imagined), and (2) to uncertainty about the future. At its root, fear is generated by lack of trust. That’s what we see here in the Israelites. So great is their fear, that their response to their situation is thoroughly irrational (based on their previous experience of God and Moses in Egypt) and thoroughly driven by their emotions and imaginations. How much better would it have been if they had said, “Moses, you have been thoroughly trustworthy throughout the plagues and our exodus, and God has shown himself all-powerful in our deliverance from slavery. We don’t know how we are going to get out of this dilemma, but we trust God and you now for this.”
In their panic, fear quickly evolved into blame. “They said to Moses, ‘Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?’” (14:11). Panic leads to wrong thinking and wrong attitudes. Wrong thinking changes trust to fear and wrong attitudes turn fear to blame. No sooner had they cried out to the Lord than they cried out against Moses. Why did they conjure up such wild imaginations about dying in the wilderness? This is a clear indication of the fickleness of the human heart, with its constant distrust and complaints. This behavior was expressed repeatedly throughout the wilderness journey, a constant fluctuation in attitude, mostly given to discontent, despair, ingratitude, mistrust, suspicion, false accusations, complaints, and disobedience.
Blame is an awfully powerful emotion that can lead to all kinds of aberrant behavior. It’s irrational, unsupportable, and cruel. When things don’t turn out as you expected, you want to blame someone for it. That’s human nature. That’s what happened when God confronted Adam and Eve with their sin - Eve blamed the serpent and Adam blamed Eve.
In their panic, blame erupted into animosity. “Isn’t this what we told you in Egypt: Leave us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness” (14:12). This is what animosity can do – distort reality. Their complaint falls into two categories. First, they accused Moses of the ulterior motive of bringing them out into the desert, not to worship God as he had said, but so that they could die there, supposedly because there were insufficient grave sites in Egypt (14:11). Really? How do people come up with such fanciful accusations? Second, they claimed that they had told Moses before that they wanted to stay in Egypt as slaves, asserting now that serving the Egyptians would be much preferred to dying in the wilderness. This is an outright lie. They had not told Moses to leave them in Egypt to serve the Egyptians at all. In fact, they were only too glad to get out of there. How quickly they had forgotten the relief of their escape. And, anyway, who said they were going to die in the wilderness?
This is what happens when panic evolves from fear to blame, and when blame erupts into animosity. Animosity changes the way you think and distorts the truth. The Israelites here were suffering from selective memory – things back in Egypt suddenly looked really good in the face of danger. Evidently, even after repeated demonstrations of God’s power in the plagues, His people (the Israelites) still did not know God and now they distrusted God’s servant, Moses, as well.
Notice that the awful conditions in which they subsisted all those years in Egypt, all of a sudden, were much preferred by them than their present circumstances. And notice the deceit of this accusation and the irrational response to their current situation. It’s one thing to be terrified under the circumstances (we can understand that from a strictly human point of view), but it’s another thing (1) to mistrust God after all He had done in delivering them from slavery, and (2) to make these false accusations against Moses after all that he had already done for them as their mediator. After all, they were only too glad to follow Moses’ instructions to apply the blood of a Passover lamb to their doorposts and lintels for protection against the death of their firstborn. They were only too glad to follow Moses’ instructions to pack up and leave after the Passover night. And they were only too glad to take from the Egyptians silver and gold and anything else they asked for (12:32-36).
Now they responded by hankering for the familiar and the routine – the “good old days” - despite the burden that it had placed on them previously. To them, anything was better than this. So, what happened to them? Why the change? How had they forgotten so quickly the awesome power of God and their deliverance from their Egyptian slave masters? How could they ignore their history - 400 years of suffering under the egregious usurpation of power by the Egyptians?
But instead of condemning them, let us look at our own hearts which often reflect the same attitudes, despite the N. T. teaching that we should (1) be content with what we have, (2) rejoice in hope, (3) be thankful for God’s daily mercies and provision, (4) trust in the Lord at all times, (5) guard our tongues, and (6) be obedient. How would you have reacted to these circumstance? And how would you have reacted to these complaints and false accusations if you had been their leader?
So, panic is based on illogical emotion, but…
2. Trust is based on godly confidence (14:13-14). Graciously, Moses responded, “Don’t be afraid” (14:13a). Moses trusted God. What a contrast to the mass confusion of the Israelites. Here is godly, confident leadership on display. How much had Moses progressed since the burning bush, where he had no confidence and was full of excuses. Moses was so confident now that he responds to their anger with absolute grace. He shows no malice, no anger, no sarcasm, gives no lecture, no rebuke. Instead he gives them words of comfort and assurance.
“Don’t be afraid” has to be one of the most comforting expressions anyone could hear, especially in this situation. I mean, they were, naturally speaking, trapped – surrounded by desert, water (the Gulf of Suez to the west of them, the Gulf of Aqaba to the east of them), and the Egyptian army chasing them. They had no room to move in any direction, so they thought. No way to escape, so they thought. How could they not be afraid?
So, what would you do if you were facing a similar dilemma? – employment problems looming ahead of you, debts piling up behind you, personal relationships in turmoil, disobedient children around you, false accusations made against you? When we are surrounded by seemingly impossible circumstances, we might react the same way as the Israelites did by complaining, longing for the good old days, or accusing others.
It’s natural in dangerous situations to be afraid, isn’t it? Fear, after all, is a God-given emotion that protects us and energizes us with a “flight” or “fight” response to danger,. So, it goes against our nature to not be afraid when obvious danger is lurking.
Moses words of comfort are followed by words of assurance. “Stand firm and see the Lord’s salvation that he will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you must just be quiet” (14:13b-14). They didn’t need to do anything. Indeed, they must not do anything. Instead, they must simply stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.
When confronted with danger, it’s hard to “stand firm.” When we are trapped at the end of a dead end street, we become confused, we question God’s character, and our trust changes to fear and blame and animosity. But that’s exactly when we need to watch God act. That’s when we see the character of God displayed. The Lord is our Comforter (“don’t be afraid”) and the Lord is our Savior (“salvation is of the Lord”). That is when we need to have absolute trust in God. As Moses said, “After today, you won’t see the Egyptians anymore. God will do what He said.”
This phrase “don’t be afraid” (14:13a) has to do with not fearing what lies ahead, confident that God will intervene on our behalf, for this is the very time when doubts arise. Doubts and fears often go together, don’t they? To “stand firm” also infers patience, waiting on God. If you are like me, patience is not your greatest virtue. For many of us, waiting just isn’t in our nature. We want to do something, fix the problem, overcome the obstacles, search for a solution on our own. Sometimes it’s virtually impossible for us to imagine that God alone (without our help) will resolve the conflict, overcome the dilemma, and vanquish everything and everybody who is against us. But those are the very times we need to trust God and relinquish control to him. It’s not just a matter of waiting, but, as our text says, of standing firm – not being moved in our faith in God. One of my favorite verses is 1 Cor. 15:58, “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” That’s what it is to “stand firm” – not be moved by circumstances, doubts, or fears, but to be immovable in faith.
If we depend on our own resources, then we have every reason to be afraid. But when we know that God is on our side and that he will wage the battle for us, then that changes everything. The Israelites’ comfort and assurance was that “The Lord will fight for you” (14:14). We sometimes find ourselves in situations that we know are beyond our capability to handle, don’t we? When that occurs, we often go to other people to seek counsel and help in such circumstances. And that’s right and proper, so long as we consult the right people. But how much better, to take it to the Lord and to receive his assurance that He will “fight” for us. He will defend us and deliver us from our enemies. He will show us the way out of those circumstances that we don’t know how to handle. “God is faithful; he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to bear it” (1 Cor. 10:13).
So, first, following God may lead to a dead end. Second, sometimes God uses dead ends to test our faith. And third…
The Israelites thought they couldn’t go forward or backward, but they didn’t know that this was a divine encounter. What seemed impossible to them was possible for God. Remember our thesis for this study: With God, dead ends can turn into through streets. When all we can do is stand and watch, God begins to intervene on our behalf.
After Moses’ words of comfort, encouragement, and exhortation to the Israelites, God gives instructions to Moses (1) for the Israelites (14:15), (2) for Moses individually (14:16), and then (3) He declares what He alone is going to do (14:17).
1. There is a time to obey God courageously. As for the Israelites, it was time for them to go forward. “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to break camp’” (14:15). Despite the dangers behind them and obstacles in front of them, the Israelites, on God’s command, were to “break camp,” to move on.
Standing firm in our faith does not mean that we never move. There is a time to stand still, to wait on God, but there is also a time to move forward. Prayer and action always go together. In the case of the Israelites, on God’s command now was the time for them to “break camp,” to move ahead. If they had moved earlier, they would have undoubtedly gone in the wrong direction. And if they had delayed and moved later, they would have undoubtedly faced catastrophic consequences.
That was God’s instruction for the Israelites as a whole. This is followed by God’s instructions for Moses individually…
2. There is a time to act for God confidently. As for Moses himself, he was to use his trusty rod once more. “As for you, lift up your staff, stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground” (14:16). There was divine power in that rod. Moses had used it before when he had thrown it down before Pharaoh (7:10), when he had used it to turn water into blood (7:14-20), and when he had used it to produce a plague of frogs (8:1-15). Now, he would use it again to divide the waters of the Red Sea, allowing the Israelites to go through on dry ground. Wow! The rod that had worked miracles in Egypt now would work another miracle in deliverance of the people from their otherwise inescapable position.
I doubt that anyone in that company had thought that this would happen! Do you see how all our plans can be so quickly set aside by God when He acts on our behalf? Do you see how all our fears suddenly disappear when God acts? Solutions to our dilemmas that we never thought possible suddenly make all our fears and doubts subside.
God’s instructions for the Israelites as a whole are followed by God’s instructions to Moses individually, and then God declares what He alone is going to do…
3. There is a time to watch God work providentially. Notice four critical ways in which God worked providentially. First, God hardened Pharaoh’s heart for the last time. “As for me, I am going to harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them, and I will receive glory by means of Pharaoh, all his army, and his chariots and horsemen” (14:17). God would continue to do what he had done before – “harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them” (14:17). Do you see now, how God’s work of sometimes hardening people’s hearts works out for the blessing of his people and His ultimate glory? God still had not revealed to Moses and the people how he would be glorified in this situation, but we know from our vantage point that he would be glorified by Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots and his horsemen being drowned in the sea. This would be God’s ultimate act of victory, by which “the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I receive glory through Pharaoh, his chariots, and horsemen” (14:18).
Second, the angel of God guarded their backs. At this critical moment, when they were apparently trapped and about to be taken captive again by Pharaoh and his army, “The angel of God, who was going in front of the Israelite forces, moved behind them. The pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and stood behind them. It came between the Egyptian and Israelite forces. There was cloud and darkness, it lip up the night, and neither group came near the other all night long” (14:19-20). What had earlier been their guide going before them (13:21), now became their shield, coming behind them. Now, the pillar of cloud and fire was the separation between them and the Egyptians, such that “neither group came near the other all night long.” Once more, as on the Passover night, there was darkness all night for the Egyptians but light for Israel. So, the Egyptians could not see what or who was ahead of them - it actually made them oblivious to the danger ahead. And the Israelites could not see what or who was behind them, thus calming their fears.
Only God could do that! Could the Israelites ever doubt that this was God’s doing and marvelous in their eyes (Ps. 118:23)? Could they ever have doubted that the pillar of cloud and fire was God himself? Would this act alone not have dispelled all their earlier fears?
Third, God parted the Red Sea. Moses did what God had told him by extending his rod over the sea, and “the Lord drove the sea back with a powerful east wind all that night and turned the sea into dry land. So the waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with the waters like a wall to them on their right and their left” (14:21-22). The east wind not only parted the waters but also dried out the sea bed to make a dry road. The Israelites moved forward with the massive sea walls on either side and the Egyptians followed right behind them, marching right into the trap.
I think we become so familiar with this miracle, that we fail to understand the impact and extent of it. Can you imagine what it must have been like for perhaps 2 million Israelites to walk between such massive walls of water on either side? There is some convincing archeological evidence that the Israelites crossed the Gulf of Aqaba (a tributary of the Red Sea) at Nuweiba Beach, on the eastern part of the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReTJUL2cGro&ab_channel=DoUPray2%3F). If this evidence is correct, then the Israelites crossed over at the very point where there is an underwater, flat, wide ridge (in the midst of otherwise very deep waters), which spans the full 16 km from the western side in Egypt to the eastern side in Saudi Arabia. In any event, whether that was the case or not, the vast multitude of Israelites (with all their possessions and animals) were able to enter and cross, apparently with relative ease and speed, before the Egyptians “went into the sea after them” (14:23). Doesn’t it amaze you how perfectly God attends to the most minute details? Nothing escapes his gaze or evades his plans.
Of course, we know the rest of the story. Naively, the Egyptians followed the Israelites into the gap between the walls of water (14:23). Did they not think (1) that a divided ocean was not normal? (2) That perhaps the massive sea walls on either side posed a bit of a threat? (3) That they had seen things like this before – like frogs all over the place, locusts that ate all their shrubbery, and water turned to blood?
But this is how powerful unbelief is. People can be so blinded to the truth of the gospel by the god of this world that they can’t see their spiritual hand in front of their unbelieving face. The Egyptians were so confident in themselves that all reason was thrown out of the window. But God had already told Moses that “the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD (14:4, 18), that there is none greater than He, that he is the sovereign Lord who will accomplish his purposes no matter what, and all the earth will know it. “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord’s glory, as the water covers the sea” (Hab. 2:14).
Fourth, God confused the Egyptians. “24 During the morning watch, the Lord looked down at the Egyptian forces from the pillar of fire and cloud, and threw the Egyptian forces into confusion. 25 He caused their chariot wheels to swerve and made them drive with difficulty. ‘Let’s get away from Israel, the Egyptians said, because the Lord is fighting for them against Egypt’” (14:24-25). Before they knew what was happening, God caused their chariot wheels to swerve or fall off, making it difficult for them to drive. At this point, the Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from Israel.” So, who is afraid of whom now? Who is panicking now? “The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt (14:25; cf. 14:14). What a confession! What a realization that they were actually fighting against Yahweh himself! Pharoah’s magicians had told Pharoah that before (8:19; 10:7), but he didn’t listen to them then and now it is too late. For “then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the water may come back on the Egyptians, on their chariots and horsemen’” (14:26). And that’s what happened.
As daylight dawned, all the panic of the previous day had cleared. “The Lord threw (the Egyptians) into the sea… not even one of them survived” (14:27-28) but not a drop of water touched the Israelites, who “walked through the sea on dry ground, with the waters like a wall to them on their right and their left” (14:29). Not one Egyptians soldier lived to tell the tale and not one Israelite died, despite their accusation that Moses had brought them out to die in the wilderness. Instead, they “saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore” (14:30).
What a day that was in Israelite history. There was no doubt about it – God had done it all! God fought for his people that day. Salvation truly is of the Lord. This was a divine encounter. No wonder the author concludes this episode with this marvelous statement: “When Israel saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and believed in him and in his servant Moses” (14:31). I guess so! This was the only appropriate response. What grace God displayed to the Israelites! After all their complaining against God and his servants, God still extended his grace to them. They were his chosen people and his covenantal love for them never failed.
Throughout this remarkable and significant event in the life of Moses and the Israelites, we notice the overriding principle that with God, dead ends can turn into through streets. In this study we have noticed some very significant applications and implications for our own lives…
1. God’s road map for our lives is not always what we would choose. God does not always direct our lives in the shortest or easiest route. He often takes us on journeys that seem, to us, longer and more difficult but which, sometimes without our perception, avoid other dangers and discouragement along the way.
2. God’s hand is always displayed in the details. Often we do not pay attention to the details – either we are unaware of them or we write them off as being coincidence or inconsequential. But when we look back on our lives, we can see that in those little details, God was at work, ordering all things for our good and blessing.
3. God’s faithfulness to keep his word and safeguard his people is guaranteed. What he has promised he delivers. What he says is true and trustworthy. God keeps his word, guaranteed.
4. People with hard hearts continually act in defiance against God. The human heart can be so hard toward God - even to the point of defying God after ten devastating, nation-wide plagues! Don’t we see that revealed still today? Nations suffer extraordinary hardship, and yet the leaders do not turn (or even urge the people to turn) to God in repentance. And this is not just true of nations; it’s true in our own personal lives. Is it not true, that God sometimes permits us to go through times of suffering and hardship, not necessarily for our own personal sins, but in order to draw us closer to him? What becomes clear in such circumstances is that the people of God do not know God and they distrust God’s servants. It’s sad, isn’t it, when the people of God claim to know God but in reality they do not know him – they have not bowed to his sovereignty nor do they trust his word. In addition, they do not trust his servants. We hear this all the time in churches, where the members complain against, and openly express distrust of, the pastor and elders. It’s shocking and needs to stop (unless, of course, there are justifiable, biblical reasons). Oh, I know that it’s hard to “stand firm” when confronted with danger. It’s hard under such circumstances to trust God and others to lead us safely through. But God does not change and when he sees our fear and distrust, he says, “Don’t be afraid.”
5. God delivers his people from danger and judges their enemies. Such deliverance may not be by miraculous means, like parting the Red Sea, but He nonetheless acts on our behalf, protecting and delivering us from danger and opposition. In those times we need to “stand firm.” But standing firm in our faith does not mean that we never move. There is a time to stand still, to wait on God, but there is also a time to move forward. And we can move forward with confidence because behind it all, God is still providentially at work. Remember, God always has the final say. On His word we can place our trust for eternity. He is in control of all circumstances, working out his purposes in our lives so that (1) unbelievers (e.g. the Egyptians) will know that “I am the LORD” (4:14) and that (2) believers will “fear the Lord and believe in him” (14:31). The ultimate deliverance of believers and final fulfillment of God’s word will not come, of course, until we are raptured and transformed into His perfect likeness.
So, let us live in the good of the apostle John’s assurance: “2 Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when he appears, we will be like him because we will see him as he is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure” (1 Jn. 3:2-3). May we be prepared and ready for that glorious moment, when the heavens will part and we shall see him as He is. “16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel’s voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are still alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words” (1 Thess. 4:16-18).
None of us likes tests. I remember in school the dread that struck my heart whenever a teacher would enter the classroom and announce that we were having a test. Unscheduled tests really reveal whether you have been paying attention or not. Though we do not like them, is it not true that life is full of tests, not just academic tests but physical tests and experiential tests? Every time we make a decision, we face a test of sorts - what car to buy, who to marry, what college program to take.
Tests actually strengthen us. If you don’t push yourself to exercise, you’ll never develop muscles. If little babies don’t fall, they will never learn how to walk. If children don’t jump from a high wall, they will never learn to trust tehri dads to catch them. If you don’t sweat over the books, you will never pass exams. Tests enable us to deal with life’s pressures and to mature in our outlook and relationships. In other words, test mature us.
That’s the way it is with spiritual tests as well. That’s why God passes s through deep waters sometimes, so that our faith grows under the stress, so that our trust in God becomes strong, so that we learn much abut our selves and about God.
Throughout their wilderness journey, the Israelites faced many tests. In this passage, we will see the Israelites quickly transition from the triumph of the Red Sea to the tests of thirst and hunger. These tests go right the heart of basic human existence – food and water. The primary lesson that we learn from this significant event is that if we fail the test, God still responds with grace and faithfulness. Notice first…
Hardly had the Israelites departed from Egypt, after God had secured their freedom from slavery in Egypt by the ten plagues, culminating in the death of the firstborn at the Passover, than the people began to grumble. Looking behind them they saw the Egyptians pursuing them and they were terrified (14:10). On the one hand they cried out to the Lord for help, but on the other hand they complained to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?” (14:11). Any thankfulness they may have had to God for His deliverance or to Moses for his leadership was gone. Thus began a 40 year cycle of their complaints, Moses’ intervention on their behalf, and God’s gracious provision.
Hardly had they experienced a further demonstration of God’s power and faithfulness in the crossing of the Red Sea (14:15-31), which they celebrated by worshipping God with great enthusiasm (15:1-21), than three days later, as they journeyed in the wilderness without finding water (15:22), “they came to Marah, but they could not drink the water at Marah because it was bitter” (15:23). That’s how quickly life’s circumstances can change. Joseph experienced this when his brothers sold him to Midianite traders who, in turn, sold him to Potiphar in Egypt. One day Joseph was the favorite, preeminent son of his father, made evident in his royal clothing, and the next he was sold like a chattel and reduced to slavery.
How do you explain this? Why would God miraculously deliver the Israelites one day at the Red Sea, and three days later, when they desperately needed water, bring them to a place of bitter water that they could not drink? Is God cruel and malevolent? Would He tempt the Israelites with exuberance one day and desperation the next? No! Of course not. That would be contrary to God’s nature and character.
So, how do you explain this? Often we can’t - our theological system fails to adequately address this mysterious issue of how God works in the world. The great hymn writer, William Cowper, faced this dilemma in his own life, at one time being confined to an insane asylum, struggling with intense depression for much of his life, even trying repeatedly to end his own life. Yet, he was also a deep theological thinker, expressing his thoughts about the vicissitudes of life most succinctly in the hymn, “God moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform.”
While there are many experiences in life that we cannot adequately explain, one thing we do know with absolute certainty is that God is good, gracious, and kind at all times. Everything He does and that He causes us to experience is for our ultimate good and blessing (Rom. 8:28). It may not seem that way at the time, but later we can look back and see how God used those circumstances for our good.
1. God blesses us with refreshment for our spirit (15:23-25a). First there was no water at all (15:22); then “they came to Marah” (15:23). They must have breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the water at Marah. But their relief soon changed to frustration when they discovered that the water was bitter. How bad is that! – to be desperately thirsty in the desert and when you finally find water, you discover that it is undrinkable. If there is one thing you need in the desert, it is water. I have spent quite a bit of time in Burkina Faso in west Africa, teaching pastors and helping to establish a Christian education centre there. Burkina is sub-Saharan, basically desert, with sometimes unbearable heat and blowing dust. One of the first thing you have to get used to there is to carry water with you wherever you go.
The intuitive human response to tests is to complain. Finding that the water was undrinkable, the Israelites “grumbled to Moses, ‘What are we going to drink?’” (15:24). Their victory song had suddenly changed to a bitter complaint. I think we can understand that, from a human perspective, thirst in the desert would have been a life-threatening obstacle. But one wonders why or how they could have so soon forgotten God’s great power, of which they had so recently been the blessed recipients. Did they not remember how just three days earlier on the shores of the Red Sea, they had openly and jubilantly praised God, the God who had drowned Pharaoh’s chariots and army in the sea, the God who was their strength, their song their salvation, the God who they confessed was a warrior, whose right hand shattered the enemy etc. (15:1-4)? And could not such a God as this also provide water to quench their thirst?
But, such is the fickleness of the human heart. How quickly we forget God’s wonderful provision and grace in days gone by! That was then and this is now. And the “now” always seems to take precedence over, and obscure, the “then.” Effectively, our hearts seem to mirror the bitterness of Marah’s water. Indeed, is that not what was displayed at the cross? When Jesus cried out on the cross, “I’m thirsty,” those who were nearby “fixed a sponge full of sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it up to his mouth” (Jn. 19:28-29). What cruelty, to offer a dying man sour wine to quench his thirst! And yet the bitterness of the sour wine was a reflection of the bitterness of their wicked hearts.
I suppose too, the Israelites’ experience here at Marah is not unlike many of our own experiences. We benefit from God’s boundless grace and mercy and forgiveness every day, and yet when we come to a Marah in our lives, we so quickly forget God’s power and goodness to us, instead becoming consumed with the bitterness of the moment. And many of life’s experiences are bitter, we would not deny that. Such is the consequence of living in a sinful, fallen world. But should we not turn immediately to the God of our salvation, the God who has provided for us all along the way, the God who has delivered us over and over again “with a strong hand and an outstretched arm” (Ps. 136:12)? Is He not sufficient for the bitter Marah experiences just as He is for the mighty Red Sea victories?
But notice that, despite our complaints, God extends his grace toward us. He doesn’t say, “When they stop complaining I’ll do something. Look what I just did for you! How much more do you want?” No! At Marah he hears our cry and refreshes our spirits. “So (Moses) cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he threw it into the water, the water became drinkable. The Lord made a statute and ordinance for them at Marah, and he tested them there” (Ex. 15:25). God often uses the most unlikely instruments to accomplish his purposes. Moses’ rod was a most unlikely instrument for parting the waters of the Red Sea. And now, instead of his rod, it’s a tree which, when Moses threw it into the water, it became sweet.
There is a divine purpose in tests. God uses tests to prove the genuineness of our faith and, ultimately, to bring glory and honour to the name of Christ. God tests our faith to see if we truly love and trust him in any and all circumstances. That’s why he tested Abraham’s faith in commanding him to sacrifice Isaac, the son of promise. Effectively, through tests God asks us, “Do you love me more than anything or anyone else?” as he asked Simon Peter (Jn. 21:15). The big question is: Do we love God only in the good times, or at all times? Do we trust him only after a Red Sea victory, or also at the bitter waters of Marah?
When gold is refined by fire and the dross is removed, only what is pure remains. That’s the point of tests, it seems to me. “6 In this (i.e. salvation) you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” ( 1 Pet. 1:6-7).
I think the problem is that we misunderstand the nature of the Christian life. We expect that our lives as Christians should be one continuous mountaintop experience, free from troubles and trials. After all, has not God said, “I will never leave you or abandon you” (Heb. 13:5; Deut. 31:6)? Does the Bible not say that “My God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19)? Yes, but Jesus also warned “you will have suffering in this world” (Jn. 16:33). What we want is the conquering, not the suffering. And I understand that, but it’s not reality. In fact, in my experience, we face more defeat and hardship than we do victory and success. So what is our encouragement under such circumstances? How do we deal with life and especially when we fail the test. Well, we have Jesus’ own encouragement: “Be courageous! I have conquered the world” (Jn. 16:33). Furthermore we have the assurance that if we may fail the test, God still responds with grace and faithfulness.
The key, it seems to me, is to turn the bitterness of Marah into the beauty of Jesus, not by complaining against Him, but by drawing close to Him, by “spreading the aroma of the knowledge of him in every place” (2 Cor. 2:14f.). During my ongoing struggle with the long-term effects of Lyme disease (28 years and counting as of this writing), I have found that I have learned more about God and his goodness in the dark days than I could have ever learned in the light. In fact, on one of those dark days, I wrote this poem to express my innermost feelings:
“In Quietness And Confidence” (Isa. 30:15; Psalm 23)
You make my way perfect, as you guide me with your eye;
You whisper, “Come this way and in green pastures lie.”
You help me climb to heights that men have never trod;
You draw me to your presence to feel the heart of God.
As I rest in you, Lord, I know that you are there;
As I wait upon you, Lord, I know your tender care;
For it’s only when I’m quiet, peaceful, and still,
That I learn the truth about you and your perfect will.
Lord, I want to know you more dearly every day,
To be more like you as I tread this earthly way.
Lord, I want to serve you with vigor and with grace,
Then hear your sweet “Well done” and see your blessed face.
Then, free from all the troubles of this present place,
I’ll revel in the sweetness of your strong embrace.
I’ll praise you, precious Saviour, in your home above;
I’ll rest from all my labor and glory in your love.
You see, the truth is that God does not leave us alone in the darkness of life’s experiences nor in the bitterness of Marah, but, in the midst of those circumstances, he draws near to us and reminds us that he has not changed, his promises are true, so that in the midst of trials we can say with the Psalmist, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Ps. 16:11). Remember, that God himself experienced unimaginable sorrow when he gave his one and only Son to be our Savior. And the Lord Jesus Christ himself endured incomprehensible suffering at the cross. In the words of the prophet Jeremiah, He said, “Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look and see! Is there any pain like mine, which was dealt out to me, which the Lord made me suffer on the day of his burning anger?” (Lamentations 1:12). Again, in the words of the Psalmist, “All your waves and billows have swept over me” (Ps. 42:7).
Well, not only does God bless us with refreshment for our spirits, but also…
2. God blesses us with a promise for our journey (15:25b-26). “25b The Lord made a statute and ordinance for them at Marah, and he tested them there. 26 He said, ‘If you will carefully obey the Lord your God, do what is right in his sight, pay attention to his commands, and keep all his statutes, I will not inflict any illnesses on you that I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you’” (Ex. 15:25b-26). Having made the bitter water sweet, God declares to the Israelites the purpose of this test at the waters of Marah. He wants their undivided obedience and loyalty, no matter what their circumstances may be. In return he promises the Israelites that he will protect them from the plagues that he had inflicted on the Egyptians.
What a promise for the journey. “If you are obedient and if you trust me, I will not exempt you from tests, but I promise you this, you will experience none of the diseases which I brought on the Egyptians.” Why? “Because I am the Lord who heals you.” “I’ll heal your thirst. I’ll heal your ailments. You will not die out here in the wilderness.” Far better to be in the wilderness with a gracious, all-powerful God than in Egypt with Pharaoh’s task-masters. But to experience the abundant blessing of God, the Israelites would have to trust Him.
Similarly, should we face bitter disappointments or unexpected challenges, God will faithfully lead us through them to the other side. But he demands our unswerving obedience and loyalty all the way through. Notice that the covenant is conditional. If you…then I.” Don’t think that you are entitled to God’s blessings. Don’t think that because you’re a Christian, God will automatically intervene on your behalf. Don’t presume on God’s grace. God wants us to trust him before he blesses us. He wants us to demonstrate our love and obedience. This faith-life is not a one-way street. This isn’t an all-benefits insurance policy. The life of faith is one that demands our fidelity to God based on his word, his grace, and his faithfulness.
In fact, the circumstances we face in life are often the very means by which God tests our obedience and loyalty. Do you see how sickness, sorrow, disappointments, economic downturns, career interruptions, relationship tensions etc. are all used by God to test the reality of our faith, which is manifest either in complaining or obeying? We only enjoy the Lord’s promises to the extent that we obey him, trust him, and love him, no matter what. That’s when we experience and realize afresh that “I am the Lord who heals you.” He “heals” us of our “bitter waters” - sicknesses, sadness, separations, setbacks, defeats, despair, and disappointments - by pouring the healing balm of his Holy Spirit into our lives. If you want to receive the Lord’s blessing, then you need first to obey him. In this passage we learn that “just as obedience is the proper expression of faith so also faith makes obedience possible” (J. A. Motyer, “The Message of Exodus,” 183).
So, first, God blesses is with refreshment for our spirit. Second, He blesses is with a promise for our journey. And third…
3. God blesses is with an oasis in our desert (15:27). After journeying for three days in the wilderness they found no water until they came to Marah, where the water was bitter and the people complained. But God made the bitter water sweet and he made an ordinance and a statute for them there (15:22-26). That was a big test, which is now followed by a big blessing. “Then they came to Elim where there were twelve springs and seventy date palms, and they camped there by the water” (15:27). Healing the bitter water of Marah was good. But how much better were the twelve wells of Elim! One well would have been good enough, but the abundant grace of God supplies twelve – one for each tribe. The wilderness thirst could kill you, but the water is life-giving. The blazing sun was exhausting, but the seventy palm tress shaded them from the heat. This was an oasis in the desert.
Isn’t it true that after our times of testing, God grants us oases in the desert? After the darkness comes God’s glorious light. After the tears comes God’s gracious comfort. “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning” (Ps. 30:5). After the worry comes God’s wonderful relief. After the doubt and confusion comes God’s abiding truth. After the temptation comes God’s powerful deliverance. God was true to his word. His provision was abundant. Truly, with the Psalmist we can say: “ 1 The Lord is my shepherd; I have what I need. 2 He lets me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside quiet waters. 3 He renews my life; he leads me along the right paths for his name’s sake” (Ps. 23:1-3).
Well, the test of bitter waters reminds us that if we fail the test, God still responds with grace and faithfulness. First, then, there is the test of thirst at the bitter waters where God responds to our bitter complaints with his sweet blessings. Then, second, there is the test of hunger where…
From the bitterness of Marah to the blessing of abundance of Elim’s oasis (15:27), the Israelites now move on to the barrenness of the wilderness of Sin (16:1). Thus, the vicissitudes of wilderness life continue, that never-ending cycle of ups and downs and the accompanying responses. “1 The entire Israelite community departed from Elim and came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left the land of Egypt. 2 The entire Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3 The Israelites said to them, ‘If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by pots of meat and ate all the bread we wanted. Instead, you brought us into this wilderness to make this whole assembly die of hunger!’” (Ex. 16:1-3).
Only a month and a half after they had left Egypt and things aren’t looking good for the Israelites. Despite the great victories that they had seen God accomplish on their behalf, they fail to trust him when faced with thirst and now with hunger. Isn’t it peculiar that our intuitive response when things don’t go our way is to wish for the good old days? The Israelites actually wished that they had died with their stomachs full in Egypt under Pharaoh, rather than face hunger in the wilderness with God. Suddenly, Egypt never looked so good. The years of cruelty were so soon forgotten. Present circumstances quickly overshadowed their previous misery and suffering in Egypt and their cries for deliverance from their Egyptian oppressors. Evidently, the Israelites still did not trust God. Though God had proved himself absolutely trustworthy, they proved themselves consistently untrusting. The Red Sea deliverance was just a distant memory now.
It’s so easy to fall into the trap of viewing life through the “if only” lens. If only I had done this or that. If only so-and-so had not treated me like that. An “if only” life is full of regrets rather than thankfulness. Oh, I don’t deny that life has a way of dealing us some hard knocks. And I don’t doubt that there are things we all have done or said that we wished otherwise. That’s not what I am talking about. There is a place for regret, but regret must be dealt with by repentance and reconciliation. If you live your life always looking through the rearview mirror, you can so easily become paralyzed by resentment and revenge. Instead, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” ( 1 Jn. 1:9), thus enabling us to live with freedom and joy.
“If only” can soon lead to false accusations against those we think have wronged us. “You brought us into this wilderness to make this whole assembly die of hunger” (16:3b). But despite our false accusations, God still responds with his constant and gracious provision. In so doing, He again tests their faith. Notice two characteristics of God’s provision…
1. God tests their faith in the trustworthiness of his word (16:4-18). “ Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘I am going to rain bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day… On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on other days” (16:4-5). In response to their complaint, God acts with grace, promising to provide enough food to satisfy each person’s hunger every day. Food would literally rain down from heaven each day. Just enough - no more and no less.
“This way I will test them to see whether or not they will follow my instructions” (16:4b). This test of faith had to do with the quantity of food and the regularity of the food supply. Would God provide enough food for each person? And would he supply it every day? Their faith in this regard would be tested as to whether they would follow God’s instructions to gather only enough food for that day and to gather only enough for each person. The test really is would they hoard some food, just in case there wasn’t enough or just in case it didn’t come very day? It is easy to see how they could wonder whether there would be enough for everyone every day. It certainly would raise the question as to how God was planning on supplying this food, out there in the wilderness every single day? You can see how some might decide that they would get there before everyone else, just to be sure that they got enough for themselves. And you can see how some might take more than they needed, just to be sure if the supply failed to come every day.
So, Moses and Aaron assured Israel that God would provide. In fact that very evening “‘you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and in the morning you will see the Lord’s glory because he has heard your complaints about him...’ Moses continued, ‘The Lord will give you meat to eat this evening and all the bread you want in the morning, for he has heard the complaints that you are raising against him’” (16:6-8). It seems that all these tests of faith relate back to the Lord’s deliverance of them out of Egypt. The question seems to still linger: Did their exodus convince them once and for all that the Lord is God? It seems that over and over again Moses has to assure them, and God has to prove to them, that their exodus was orchestrated and carried out by God – no one else. In fact, their exodus was designed to convince them of who God is.
But apparently the exodus itself was not enough. They needed to be reminded over and over. And so God says, “At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will eat bread until you are full. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God” (16:12). Surely, that would convince them. Of course, God kept his word. That evening quail covered the camp and the next morning there were fine flakes on the desert surface which, Moses explained, “‘is the bread the Lord has given you to eat’” (16:13-15). So each person gathered what they needed, two quarts per person (16:16-18).
So, despite their fickle and, often, false accusation and complaints, God graciously provides for their needs. He keeps his word. The question is whether they would believe it and obey it. Hence, first, God tests of their faith as to the trustworthiness of his word. Second…
2. God tests their faith as to the nature of his provision (16:18-30). Only enough for each person for each day was provided - they were not to store it up (16:19) for two reasons: (1) To prove whether they trusted God to provide; and (2) To prove their obedience as to the nature of the food he provided. Of course, God kept his word and provided for each person’s need, so much so that “the person who gathered a lot had no surplus, and the person who gathered a little had no shortage. Each gathered as much as he needed to eat” (16:18). But there remained the fact that this food could not be stored up. It had to be gathered every day. “Moses said to them, ‘No one is to let any of it remains until the morning’” (16:19).
I know what I would be tempted to do and so do you – gather as much as you could because this abundance might not last. We’re so prone to skepticism and distrust, even when God has proven himself over and over to be faithful. “We’ve seen this before,” you would say, “What’s here today is gone tomorrow. The land of Goshen looked oh so good to Jacob – but it didn't last. So set some food in storage while the going is good. Make hay while the sun shines.” Or, you might say: “OK, we’ll just do what the Lord said and only gather enough for one day, but we’re going to ration it so it will last longer just in case the supply gets cut off – after all, you never know, this might not last forever.”
And that’s exactly what they did. They were commanded to eat everything in the day they gathered it – not to leave any of it until the morning, “But some people left part of it until the morning of them left part of it until the morning and it bred worms and stank (16:20). They had never seen quail before, nor had they ever eaten manna, so I suppose it never occurred to them that it had to be stored in a fridge - except, when they gathered double the amount on Fridays to last them through Saturday. In that case, Moses told them how to prevent it from spoiling. On Friday, they were to bake the bread they needed for Saturday and “bake what you want to bake, and boil what you want to boil, and set aside everything left over to be kept until morning” (16:23). And guess what? When they did that, it didn’t breed worms or stink (16:24).
So, the question is: Will they trust God every day? Some of them did not, so they went out looking for food on Saturday, the day of rest, but they didn’t find any (16:27). There seems to be always this underlying distrust of God, a “we-know-better-than-God” attitude. They probably thought: “This food might not keep coming so here’s our chance to get ahead of the game. Let’s go out and gather food on Saturday, even though we shouldn’t and even though we don't need it!” And that brought a sharp rebuke from the Lord: “‘ 28 How long will you refuse to keep my commands and instructions? 29 Understand that the Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he will give you two days’ worth of bread. Each of you stay where you are; no one is to leave his place on the seventh day.’ 30 So the people rested on the seventh day” (16:28-30). Notice that this no ordinary bread. It was like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey (16:31) – “angel” food (Ps 78).
How good is God’s constant provision! Not just to supply food consistently and abundantly, but tasty food. And they ate it every day for 40 years until they reached Canaan. They didn't have to work for it – it was delivered to their doorstep every day. I remember when I was a boy, milk and bread was delivered to the door every day. So, this was the first fast food home delivery program. They didn’t have to grind it, knead it, or bake it. It was the best fast food ever known.
But despite God’s constant provision, they hated the food. First they grumbled because they were hungry. Then they grumbled because it was always the same – they wanted the variety of Egyptian food - cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic (see Num. 11:5-6).
Talk about self-centeredness! They don’t thank God for his faithful, unfailing, abundant supply. Instead they said, “We just don't like it! It’s yukky!” Doesn’t this just show us our own hearts, so often? God graciously and faithfully and abundantly provides for our needs and we fail to acknowledge his provision. Sometimes we even grumble about it! This really challenges my own heart. Do I really recognize that “every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows (James 1:17)? Do I really appreciate the common grace of God that sends the rain on the just and the unjust, so that I can have food to eat and water to drink?
First, then, the test of faith at Marah: God responds to our bitter complaints with his sweet blessings. Then, the test of faith in the Wilderness of Sin: God responds to our fickle accusations with his constant provision. Finally, the test of faith at Rephidim...
Previously they had water at Marah, but it was bitter – they complained and God made it sweet. Now, at Rephidim they have no water at all. Ironically, Rephidim means “resting place,” but what God intended as a place of rest became for them a place of angry rebellion. Their complaints have escalated to angry demands – “Give us water to drink (17:2). They were so angry that they were ready to stone Moses (17:4). But, as Moses rightly pointed out, they’re complaint to him was actually “testing the Lord” (17:2b). They were doubting God, not Moses. Moses was only God’s appointed leader, who spoke to the people for God.
To test God is serious. They were challenging God as to his goodness and his power. “Give us water to drink,” they angrily demanded. So rebellious had they become that Moses feared for his life (17:4). And God responded to their angry demands by manifesting his abundant grace (17:5-7). In producing water from the rock…
1. God manifested grace through his divine power (17:5). Again, God uses Moses’ rod as the instrument to perform this miracle and in so doing to manifest his power. “5 The Lord answered Moses, ‘Go on ahead of the people and take some of the elders of Israel with you. Take the staff you struck the Nile with in your hand and go.”
If it is hard to make bitter water sweet, how much harder is it to produce water from a rock? Rock is the most unlikely place to find water. But the God who produced plagues in Egypt and parted the Red Sea is the God who can produce water from a rock. What greater manifestation of divine power could there be than this?
If the people didn’t trust God, Moses did, for he immediately and fully obeyed what God commanded, even though it must have seemed impossible.
2. God manifested his grace in his divine presence (17:6a). “6 I am going to stand there in front of you on the rock at Horeb.” God did not send Moses alone. Perhaps this was His grace to Moses, given the anger of the people - God himself would stand there in front of Moses. In God’s power and with God’s presence Moses would be the instrument of divine intervention on their behalf, an intervention which they did not deserve, but which God graciously provided.
3. God manifested his grace by his divine protection (17:6b). “…when you hit the rock, water will come out of it and the people will drink.” Instead of God striking the Israelites for their unbelief and rebellion, God instructed Moses to strike the rock, out of which God graciously produced life-giving water. The rock, in this sense, acted as their substitute.
The apostle Paul relates this incident to the cross where God struck Christ, “the Rock” of our redemption (1 Cor. 10:4), thus protecting us by the rod of His judgement falling on Christ instead of on us. At the cross, Christ took our place as our Substitute, so that we would not have to bear God’s just punishment for our sins. At the cross, blow after blow of God’s wrath was poured out upon Christ instead of on us. Christ protected us from the penalty of our sins when he took the punishment of God that we deserved, dying the death due to us. Consequently, from our Rock flowed the life-giving spiritual water of redemption. From Him poured out a fountain of living water, which if a person drinks of it, he / she will never thirst again, for it will spring up into eternal life (Jn. 4:14). That’s why Jesus could cry out: “37 If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38 The one who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him” (Jn. 7:37-38). This is God’s gracious protection and deliverance of us through Christ.
Moses “named the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites complained, and because they tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?” (17:7). Massah means “tempted” or “testing” and Meribah means “protest” or “contention.” Here the Israelites complained to Moses, which, by inference, was a protest against God.
The Israelites’ spiritual blindness and rebellion are shocking. “Is the Lord among us or not?” They actually doubted God’s presence among them, even though it had been manifested to them over and over again. This was a direct insult to God by denying the obvious and inferring that what God had done was not good enough. They thought they deserved better.
Could they not remember? Or was it that they thought God could save them once but not now? Perhaps they were like those who don’t believe in the eternal security of the believer. They believe that God can save us but he does not preserve us, that somehow God acts for our redemption but later changes his mind and lets us go. What an indictment to have Moses permanently name this place after their doubt and rebellion against God, a permanent epitaph to their unbelief – testing followed by contention.
These then are the principles we learn from this passage…
I. God Responds To Our Bitter Complaints With Sweetness (Ex. 15:22-27)
II. God Responds To Our False Accusations With Faithfulness (Ex. 16:1-36)
III. God Responds To Our Angry Demands With Grace (Ex. 17:1-7)
Tests assail us all in our Christian life. You may be going through serious testing right now - tests in your marriage, tests in your attitudes, tests in your habits, tests in your employment or schooling, and you want to hang on to things as they were before. But that’s not how it works. We have to move on from Egypt to the Red Sea to Marah to Elim, to the wilderness of Sin, to Mt. Sinai and, ultimately, to Canaan. The grace and power of God that he demonstrates on our behalf to deliver us from Egypt are sufficient and available to carry us through this journey. That’s our comfort and source of courage for the tests that come our way as we travel home to heaven.
More often than not we react to God’s tests like Israel with bitter complaints, false accusations, and angry demands. That’s the course we take when we fail the test - complaints lead to accusations which lead to rebellion against God. And we repeat this cycle over and over. Like Israel, we don't seem to learn the lesson.
It’s one thing to know God and his truth; it’s another thing to put it into practice. You can say, “Yes, I trust God for everything in my life.” But do we? That takes strong faith. Like Israel, we cry to God for deliverance from taskmasters but then we complain and rebel over a much lesser test. You would think that thirst and hunger would be insignificant for Israel compared to their beatings in Egypt. But when put to the test, they hanker for Egypt.
Tests are meant to prove whether we believe or not, whether we truly trust God or not, whether we truly love God or not. This was God’s purpose for the tests of the Israelites in the wilderness, as Moses reminded them: “Remember that the Lord your God led you on the entire journey these forty years in the wilderness, so that he might humble you and test you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commands. He humbled you by letting you go hungry; then he gave you manna to eat…so that you might learn that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Deut. 8:2-3).
So often we are like them, aren’t we? All of a sudden, our previous circumstances look good and we want to go back to the diet of Egypt. When we get out into the wilderness, our previous circumstances begin to look so attractive. If we don't learn from our wilderness tests, then God will repeat them until we get it. Thank God that he is not fickle and failing as we are, but even if we fail the test, He still responds with grace and faithfulness.
Let’s learn to enjoy what God gives us. If it’s manna, then let’s accept it from him with thanks. If it’s quail, then let’s accept it from him with thanks. Let us never forget that everything we have and are comes from Him, as Moses taught the Israelites: “When you eat and are full, and build beautiful houses to live in, and your herds and flocks grow large, and your silver and gold multiply, and everything else you have increases, be careful that your heart doesn’t become proud and you forget the Lord your God…You may say to yourself, ‘My power and my own ability have gained this wealth for me,’ but remember that the Lord your God gives you the power to gain wealth” (Deut. 8:11-20).
This point in the journey of the Israelites is the climax of the book of Exodus because here the special relationship between God and his people is established. All that came before was just a warm-up for this meeting with God at Mt. Sinai. And everything that happens after this is the report card of how they did. In general, their report card is a failure – they disobeyed God’s Law and rejected God’s leaders and prophets, which led to God’s judgement for their disobedience - 70 years of exile and domination by foreign powers.
Nonetheless, they were and remained God’s chosen people. God never abandoned them - He remained faithful to his unilateral covenant with Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3; 15:18). In addition, to them were given the oracles of God - through them the Holy Scriptures were written. They were the first to believe the gospel (Eph. 1:12), which was “to the Jew first and then to the Gentiles” (Rom. 1:16). From them came the Saviour. By them and through them the gospel was preached to the world.
So, here they are – this rag-tag band of ex-slaves - united under Moses after being delivered from Egypt by God’s powerful intervention. And now they are about to meet God, not face-to-face of course, but nonetheless through a visible and verbal manifestation of God.
By now, they had been 3 months on the road from Egypt to Canaan. After leaving Rephidim (17:1) they “came to the Wilderness of Sinai” (19:1). God had told Moses at the time he called him to lead his people that after bringing “the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain” (3:12). The purpose for leaving Egypt was to worship God, and here it is about to take place.
That’s the subject of this message: A 40 Meeting with God. The lesson we learn from this passage is that when God’s people meet with Him they have to be prepared and ready. Before Moses ever received the 10 commandments during his 40 day meeting with God he made 7 trips up and down Mt. Sinai, receiving God’s instructions for the people’s preparation.
The first thing that happened is...
The covenant establishes the relationship between them. Notice that…
1. The basis of the covenant is God’s salvation (19:4). Before calling them to covenantal obedience, God reminds them of his saving deeds in the past: “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself (19:4). He reminds them of what he did to the Egyptians (presumably in the plagues and the Red Sea), and how he carried them “on eagles wings,” ultimately bringing them to himself here at Mt. Sinai.
Here the “eagle” is not seen as a bird of prey but a bird of strength, soaring to heights beyond the reach of enemies. Israel had been carried up by God’s mighty power beyond the reach of the Egyptians and safely delivered into God’s presence here at Sinai. They had seen the “Eagle” snatch them out of harm’s way (1) at the Red Sea where God divided the waters, (2) at Marah (15:22ff.) where the bitter waters were made sweet, (3) at Elim (15:27) with its 12 wells of water and 70 palm trees, (4) in the Wilderness of Sin (16:1-36) where God provided manna and quail morning and evening, and (5) at Meribah (17:1-7) where God produced water from a rock.
Isn't it true in our own experiences that we need to constantly reflect on what God has done for us? We need to be constantly reminded of the goodness and power of God for us, that we serve a redeeming God who never changes in his fidelity toward us. How often have we seen God deliver us by snatching us from the enemy’s grasp in the mighty “Eagle’s” talons and by carrying us aloft beyond danger. We have seen God deliver us from sin to salvation, from death to life, from spiritual darkness to his marvelous light. We have experienced God’s strength and deliverance from temptation, rescuing us as brands from the burning.
You can probably think right now of instances in your own life when you thank God for his deliverance and you wonder where you would ever be if God had not plucked you out of spiritual and physical danger and carried you on eagles’ wings. Surely, that should cause us to want to obey him and keep his commandments. God saved you for this moment and for this purpose, to bring you to himself to worship him.
The basis of God’s covenant with his people is his salvation. And…
2. The condition of the covenant is obedience (19:5a). “If you will carefully listen to me and keep my covenant…” (19:5a). In order to maintain their relationship with God, they had obligations to meet. God calls his people to obedience, to keep his covenant. This is at the root of their relationship with Him – keeping God’s Law, His commandments.
And this is true in our own relationship with God. Don’t think you can be saved and live any way you want. There are conditions to maintaining our relationship with God. He has called us to obedience.
So, the basis of the covenant was God’s salvation. The condition of the covenant was obedience. And...
3. The result of the covenant is a special relationship (19:5b-6). Based on what they had seen God do and how He had delivered them and brought them to himself (4), “you will be my own possession out of all the peoples, although the whole earth is mine” (19:5b). This is the climax of all that God has been doing for them – to bring them to himself out here at Mt. Sinai and to enter into a special relationship with them, a relationship distinct from all other people of the earth.
It’s a wonderful thing to know you’re special to someone, like when someone asks you to marry them, when you know you are loved by your spouse above anyone else. As God’s dear children, we have a very special relationship with Him. Do you ever stop to think whether your lifestyle and commitment to God are consistent with what He has done for you? Do you live as someone in a special relationship with God?
You may ask, “Is it right that God should select one nation to be his own special possession above all other people”? The answer is “Yes,” “because all the whole earth is mine.” As the apostle Paul says, “Who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? Will what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” (Rom. 9:20). God says. “I am sovereign. I can choose whomever I wish and no one can say, ‘Why have you done that?’” That’s the essence of sovereignty – no obligation to anyone to act or not act in a certain way. And because God sovereignly and unilaterally chose the Israelites as his “own possession,” they cannot boast of their relationship with God for it is solely God’s initiative. Indeed, as Moses told them, “The Lord set his heart on you and chose you, not because you were more numerous than all peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But because the Lord loved you and kept the oath that he swore to your ancestors” (Deut. 7:7-8).
God’s choice of them was all of his grace. “If you will carefully listen to me and keep my covenant, then you will be my own possession out of all the peoples…and you will be my kingdom of priests and my holy nation” (Ex. 19:6). This is who God’s people are to be…
1. A kingdom of priests - those who stand in the gap between the people and God; those who intercede on behalf of others to God.
2. A holy nation – people separated to God, separated from Egypt, and different from the Canaanite nations around them.
So, God covenants with his people. The basis of the covenant is his salvation, the condition of the covenant is their obedience, the result of the covenant is a special relationship. And...
4. The response to the covenant is their commitment (19:7-8). “After Moses came back, he summoned the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him” (19:7). And their response was: “We will do all that the Lord has spoken” (19:8). God called them to obedience and they responded with whole-hearted commitment. Their commitment to do God’s will was only possible because God had chosen them. God did not choose them because they had been obedient – anything but - but obedience was the primary condition of their special relationship with him. For them to continue in relationship with God as a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation,” they would have to keep “all that the Lord has spoken.”
God did not want a relationship with people who would disregard or disobey what He said. If the Israelites were obedient to the God who had powerfully and miraculously delivered them from Egypt, then, of all the people on earth, they would be God’s own special possession, a people with a unique relationship to him.
So, first, God covenants with his people. And, second...
You can’t just meet with God any way you want – you have to be ready, prepared. God has set the standard he expects of us. Here, there are three pre-requisites for meeting with God…
1. To meet with God we must be attentive (19:9). “I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear when I speak with you and will always believe you” (19:9). God himself would not be visible. He would be hidden in a thick cloud - there is a separation between God and his people. But He would be audible - the people would hear God speaking with Moses. How awesome is that! God wanted the people to be attentive, alert when He spoke. God does not reveal himself to people who are not willing to listen and obey.
To meet with God we must be attentive. And...
2. To meet with God we must be holy (19:10-14). The symbolic act of washing their clothes (19:10) indicated that they were spiritually clean internally and ceremonially clean externally.
You cannot meet with God until you are clean and pure – outside and inside. To be externally clean refers to your practice, what you do. To be internally clean refers to your heart - who you are, what you think, your desires and motives. God is holy and so must we be holy to meet with him. We cannot approach God with sin in our lives. “If we say, ‘We have fellowship with him,’ and yet we walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth” (1 Jn. 1:6).
We must be holy internally and externally to meet with God. As the Psalmist says: “3 Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? 4 The one who has clean hands and a pure heart” (Ps. 24:3-4; cf. Ps. 15:1-3). We seem to have lost the sense of fear in meeting with a holy God, the sense that we need to rid ourselves of all uncleanness in order to come before the One who has redeemed us from sin.
To meet with God we must be attentive, we must be holy, and...
3. To meet with God we must be reverent (19:12-13). “Put boundaries for the people all around the mountain and say: ‘Be careful that you don’t go up on the mountain or touch its base. Anyone who touches the mountain must be put to death’” (19:12). Just as the ground on which Moses stood at the burning bush was holy, so also the mountain here is holy ground.
God is to be approached in reverence, not familiarity. His presence is of such a holy nature that the people could not come too near – boundaries were to be erected to prevent them from coming too close. Only those whom God authorized were allowed to climb the mountain. All others were to stay at a stated distance. They were to have such respect for God that they weren’t even allowed to “touch” the mountain. God would allow Moses to come up and He would utter His words to Moses so that indirectly the people would hear God’s words. Anyone who breached this requirement would be put to death (19:12-13).
These three pre-requisites for meeting with God show us how utterly “other” than us God is. We must approach him in holy awe – not too near; not too far. And yet so many Christians today think they can be familiar with God, buddy-buddy. Some even irreverently call him “the man upstairs.” They come to meet God like they’re going to a backyard BBQ, with coffee in one hand and a donut in the other. Human beings always want to bring God down to our level, to make him more human, even a bit fallible and changeable just like us. They want God to be more like us and less like he really is. They cheapen God – trivialize Him, diminish His universal sovereignty.
But here we find that God insists on retaining his exalted, glorious, awesome position and keeps us within certain predetermined constraints. Make no doubt about it we are the lesser and He is the greater; we are the creature and He is the Creator; we are the sinner and He is the Saviour; we are the fallible and He is the infallible; we are the finite and He is the infinite.
Surely the same pre-requisites apply today. When we meet with God, whether in our private devotional times each day or our collective worship times as a church, we need to be attentive, holy, and reverent. We are, after all, in the presence of God! So, when we come together to worship God, let’s conduct ourselves with the reverence and awe that is due to the God of the universe. If you were ushered into the presence of some high dignitary, I don't think you would conduct yourselves the way some do when they come to worship God. We do not come to church primarily for social reasons, but we come specifically to worship God. And, when we do, God himself draws near to us.
So, let us examine ourselves before we enter His presence. Let’s ask ourselves: “Is my heart right with God? Are there thoughts and hidden motives and desires that I need to confess before God? Do I recognize and respect his awesome presence? Am I excited about meeting with God? Does this privilege fill me with wonder and awe?”
As we come to worship God, let us be focused solely on God. He is the audience, watching and listening to all that goes on. He is the purpose of our coming together – to exalt his name, express our love for him, and celebrate his mighty works on our behalf, most fully expressed in the death and resurrection of his Son, our Saviour.
This awesome reverence for God is described beautifully for us in the hymn: “Immortal, invisible, God only wise...”. It’s described in the apostle Paul’s doxology “15 He is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords, 16 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see, to him be honor and eternal power. Amen.” (1 Tim. 6:15-16). This is reverence. This is dignified worship. That’s what we seem to lack so much today - dignity in our worship, a consciousness that we are in the presence of God, a sense that we fall under his all-seeing eye and are accountable to him for all that we say and do. If we try to unseat God from his lofty throne and bring him down to our level we will never have a true appreciation for the magnitude of his person or the scope of his salvation. Cheapen God and you cheapen your spiritual life. But hold God in awe and you deepen your spiritual life.
So much of Christianity seems superficial today, doesn’t it? I can certainly appreciate why unbelievers are so skeptical of church and Christianity. The reverence for God that the Puritans had is long gone. The “fear” of God is little known and practiced. Spiritual shallowness has replaced spiritual depth. Atheistic evolutionary principles are being embraced, thus reducing God to a force or process rather than the fiat Creator. Postmodern thinking is infiltrating the church, so that absolute, God-given truth is watered down to ever-changing, cultural relevance. “Thus saith the Lord” is now “perhaps the Lord said.” The 10 commandments are now the 10 suggestions. Preaching was once definitive and authoritative, marked by periods and exclamation marks, but now (as Fred Craddock puts it) those periods have curled up into commas and the exclamation marks have slumped into question marks (Fred B. Craddock, As One Having Authority, cited by R. Albert Mohler in The Master’s Seminary Journal vol. 22, no. 1, 91).
Nothing is certain anymore because the time has come when people “have an itch to hear what they want to hear” ( 2 Tim. 4:3). They want to be scratched where they itch, so they turn to preachers or counsellors who do just that. So, instead of the holiness of God, they only want to hear about the love of God. Instead of hearing that the righteous will go to heaven and the unrighteous to hell, they want to hear preachers who say that somehow, in some way, God is going to eventually save everyone or that hell is only temporary.
I sometimes go to churches where people bow their heads when they sit down and in that way immediately engage with God and acknowledge that the worship of God is why they came. When Isaiah came into the presence of God and saw him high and lifted up, he said, “Woe is me for I am ruined because I am a man of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips, and because my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts” (Isa. 6:5). Ezekiel couldn’t express his vision of God in words and ended up just trying to describe what he saw in unearthly terms. Job repented in dust and ashes (Job 42:6). Peter fell at Jesus feet, crying out, “Depart from me because I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Luke 5:8). That’s what a true vision of God ought to cause us to do – see our unworthiness in the light of his holy presence and fall on our faces before him.
Today God is reduced to a genie in Aladdin’s lamp, a wish when you blow out the candles, a servant who does our every bidding, a Disney World fictional character so that “When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are, anything your heart desires will come to you. If your heart is in your dream, no request is too extreme. When you wish upon a star as dreamers do.”
But the reality is, it’s the other way round. We bow to him; not he to us. We worship him; he does not serve us. We obey his command; he doesn't answer to us.
First, then, God covenants with his people. Second, God prepares his people. Then third...
When God meets with his people...
1. God manifests his glory in power (19:16-20a). When the people are prepared and ready to meet God, God’s presence is announced with powerful phenomena: “thunder and lightening, a thick cloud on the mountain, and a very loud blast from a ram’s horn, so that all the people in the camp shuddered… Mount Sinai was completely enveloped in smoke because the Lord came down on it in fire. Its smoke went up like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain shook violently” (19:16-18). This was the heavenly announcement that God was coming down and all the people in the camp trembled with fear, as well they might. The physical manifestation reflected the awesome power and glory of God’s presence, the like of which had never been seen before. This was the glory of God in a form that was designed to leave an indelible impression on the people as to the power of God. And the people “stood at the foot of the mountain” (19:17). The instructions that Moses had given them were followed exactly. They were not to come too close, not to touch the mountain, but to stand back in awe and wonder and fear. So terrifying was this sight that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear” (Heb. 12:21).
So awesome was this that at the end of his life Moses was still talking about it: “33 Has a people heard God’s voice speaking from the fire as you have, and lived?... 36 He let you hear his voice from heaven to instruct you. He showed you his great fire on earth, and you heard his words from the fire” (Deut. 4:33, 36).
Well, in contrast, we “have not come to the mountain that could be touched...” (Heb. 12:18-21). No, we have “come to Mt. Zion, to the city of the living God (Heb. 12:22) into whose presence we can draw near through the blood of Christ (Heb. 12:24). What a difference the work of Christ has made. We do not tremble with fear, but we boldly approach the throne of grace because of the blood of Christ.
What an introduction to such an historic, unprecedented meeting! Moses had met with God before at the burning bush which was not consumed by the fire. At that time, Moses heard God’s call. That was historic and unprecedented. It certainly got Moses’ attention. His days of caring for sheep in the Midian desert were over. God was calling him, not to lead sheep but to lead his people, a nation. Now, Moses has done exactly that – led the people out of Egypt and God meets with him again at Mt. Sinai.
At the burning bush Moses heard God’s call. This time, at Mt. Sinai, Moses hears God’s law. God is now giving instructions to Moses about how His people were to live in relation to Him and to each other throughout their wilderness journey. This was the very first written word of God, a word that has been preserved for us!
And later Moses will hear about God’s tabernacle. This would be the place where God would dwell among them. God gave them His word for them to obey and his tabernacle for him to dwell among them. This was the very first time God would dwell among his people since the Garden of Eden.
So, when God meets with his people, He manifests his glory in power. And when God meets with his people...
2. God warns his people in grace (19:20b-25). Only when God summons him does Moses go “to the top of the mountain” (19:20b). Sometimes perhaps we are too forward with God. We think we can set the time and place and the agenda. It’s our meeting not God’s and again we expect him to respond to our bidding, our list of wants and demands. Perhaps we need to be more attentive to God’s voice inviting us to meet with him and then go up to the top of the mountain.
So, why would God immediately send Moses back down the mountain? (19:21). Because in his grace and in his thorough knowledge of the human heart, he wanted the people to be safe from judgement. Lest they be tempted to break through the boundary in order to try and “see the Lord (19:21), God sent Moses down to give them another warning. For if they broke through the boundary at the base of the mountain, they would “die” (19:21).
God knows our heart. He knows our disobedience and self-will. He knows our precociousness to do what we want not what he has commanded, to go where he has forbidden us to go, to tread on holy ground for which we are not prepared.
Moses did not know what God knew. Moses said, “The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, since you warned us: ‘Put a boundary around the mountain and consecrate it’” (Ex. 19:23). But God insists that Moses give them this second warning (19:24). “so Moses went down to the people and told them” (19:25). Only Aaron could come up with him - the priests and the people had to remain at a distance. God knew what would happen later in the story. What an expression of God’s grace this is, not willing that any should perish.
Remember the thesis of this message and Scripture passage: When God’s people meet with Him they have to be prepared and ready. Perhaps you’re saying, “I’m ready. I know him as my Saviour. I’ve been through the ‘Red Sea’ of redemption. I’ve been separated to him in the wilderness. What more do I need?”
You need to meet with God regularly in your own personal quiet time with God every day. Some time ago my wife received a phone call from someone who wanted to contact one of my wife’s aunts, because some 40 or so years earlier in Sunday School this aunt had taught her about daily Bible reading and prayer. Ever since that time she had only missed two days and she wanted to tell her what an impact she had had on her life.
1. Your daily meeting with God needs a place and a time. A place of separation from hustle and bustle, a place of uninterrupted solitude, a place where everyone in your household knows that this is your place for meeting with God, this is the time you meet with God. You need a place and time because this is not a casual meeting. It’s not a casual chat on the sofa. This is a preplanned appointment with God every day.
2. Your daily meeting with God needs you to be prepared. You need to be aware that you are in the presence of God. You need to be prepared. This isn't a meeting where you can “wing it.” No! It’s much too important for that. You need to be prepared in the same way God instructed the Israelites – (a) Your will needs to be obedient and submissive; (b) your mind needs to be attentive, alert, listening to God as he speaks from his word; (c) your heart needs to be clean, having confessed all known sin; (d) your attitude needs to be reverent, to remember whose company you are in.
In order to be prepared, you’ll need your Bible – read it systematically, read it for your personal development not study - and your prayer journal, an organized list of prayer items. You might also use a hymn book or a devotional book with daily readings.
This takes great self-discipline but yields great rewards. It will keep you in daily touch with God. It will develop your understanding of Scripture. It will keep you from temptation and sin. It will keep your Christian life on track spiritually. If you ask Christians who fall into sin about their daily devotional life in most cases they would have to admit they don’t have one. So, determine right now to begin a daily devotional time with God and keep it up for the rest of your life.
Our last study in this series was titled, “A 40 Day Meeting with God” (Ex. 19:1-25). At that meeting Moses received from God the ten commandments and additional laws (Ex. 21-23) that would regulate the life of the nation of Israel.
Then, “Moses came and told the people all the commands of the Lord and all the ordinances. Then all the people responded with a single voice, ‘We will do everything that the Lord has commanded’” (Ex. 24:3). Notice the emphasis here on “all.” There was full disclosure, full agreement, full commitment, and full unity. And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord and built an altar at the foot of the mountain (24:4). Young men offered burnt offerings and peace offerings there and Moses sprinkled half the blood on the altar and put half the blood in basins (24:5-6). Moses then read from the Book of the Covenant and, again, the people affirmed their obedience to the covenant (24:7). Then, Moses took the blood from the basins and sprinkled it on the people (24:8). They were a holy people set apart for God.
But notice how quickly everything changes, from unity and commitment to rebellion and idolatry. Our subject is “The sin of idolatry.” And the overriding message that we learn from this passage (Ex. 32:1-14) is this: We are so prone to forget God and turn to new gods of our own making. But God does not change – his grace remains. Notice firstly that…
Moses’ meeting with God lasted a long time, close to 6 weeks (ch. 24-32) and the people got impatient. At last they gave up hope of ever seeing Moses again (32:16). They didn’t believe he was coming back. Clearly, they mistrusted Moses as their leader. They thought that he had abandoned them: “We don’t know what has happened to him” (32:1). Moses’ lengthy absence probably confirmed in their mind what they had accused him of all along, that he had brought them out into the desert to die. So, their allegiance to Moses and Moses’ God was abandoned. “Let’s start over,” they probably said. “This is a new day.”
That’s when they turned to Aaron. They wanted a new leader and they wanted a new god. That’s how fickle people are. If their leader is absent for an extended period of time, they soon give him up and all that he stood for, and they soon turn to someone else to lead them. They give up their leader and their leader’s God. All that Moses had done for them – gone. All that Moses taught them – gone. All their commitments to keep God’s covenant – gone. How soon people forget and turn after other leaders and other gods. We are so prone to forget God and turn to new gods of our own making.
Perhaps Aaron became proud that they had turned to him. Maybe his popularity went to his head, after all this was a big position over so many people and we know from the rest of the story that both he and his sister, Miriam, resented Moses’ leadership position. Perhaps Aaron reasoned: “I am as good as my brother anyway, so why not take over? The people are right – Moses isn’t coming back. We just have to get on with our lives – we’ve waited long enough.” So, they appoint Aaron as their new leader with a new god.
At the top of the mountain Moses was receiving God’s instructions about the design and construction of a tabernacle where they would worship the one, true living God. While at the foot of the mountain, the Israelites and Aaron were discussing the construction of a new, inanimate god of gold. This was a direct violation of the commandment that they had just received (Ex. 20:3-5, 23). And this was a direct violation of the covenant which they had just made – namely, “We will do everything that the Lord has commanded us” (Ex. 24:3).
There’s no more talk or thought of the God of the mountain, the God whom they could not see, the God whom they could not approach on top of a mountain which they could not even touch. No, they wanted a god they could see and touch. So they reduced God to an idol of their own creation, just like the idols of the pagan Canaanites all around them. Idolatry quickly and easily overtook them when they turned away from God and God’s leader.
This sudden reversal comes as such a shock to us. The reversal of Israel’s covenant with God, rejecting God and turning to idolatry. And the reversal of Aaron’s loyalty to Moses without so much as even a hesitation about becoming their new leader and providing their new god. This sudden reversal came less than 40 days after they had initially made their covenant with God. Moses had barely gone back up the mountain than (1) Israel turned their back on him and adopted a new leader and (2) Israel turned their back on God and adopted a new god. Evidently, the absence of godly leadership was the primary factor in Israel’s practice of idolatry. When Moses was present, he kept them connected to God, for he was the mediator between them. Any previous talk of abandoning God and going back to Egypt had been counteracted by Moses. But not so with Aaron. He made no attempt to restrain them.
So, the opportunity to apostatize was there. Moses was absent and the opportunity and motivation for rebellion and idolatry were present. Perhaps the volatility and violence of the people scared Aaron into doing what they wanted. This was, after all, a protest movement as the people “gathered around Aaron” (32:1). This was like a mob scene, an “Occupy Sinai!” movement, a riot.
Israel’s sudden rebellion against God should not amaze us. Such a sudden reversal in their relationship to God springs from what is common to man – viz. human depravity. Human depravity is rooted and manifested in disobedience, self-will, rebellion. And that’s the problem to this day. We don't want to submit either to God or to God’s leaders. We want our own way.
The sudden fall of the Israelites can be true of us. As our thesis states: We are so prone to forget God and turn to new gods of our own making. Just give Satan a moment’s advantage through your sinful flesh and you’ll find out how suddenly your relationship with God can change. It’s not a long process. It’s not necessarily the end of a long path pursued - it can happen so quickly. That’s how it is when our sinful flesh is allowed to be active.
So, “whoever thinks he stands must be careful not to fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). You can utter such spiritual talk and be so devoted today and yet utterly fail God tomorrow. I’ve seen it. The human heart is “more deceitful than anything else, and incurable—who can understand it?” (Jer. 17:9). We must understand and acknowledge that. So, don't trust yourself but stay close to God, for, as Moses told the Israelites, “the Lord your God is the one who will go with you; he will not leave you or abandon you” (Deut. 31:6).
So, the opportunity to apostatize was there and Aaron capitulates. He did exactly what they wanted. He capitulates to the invitation to be their leader and he capitulates to their demand for a new god: “Come, make gods for us” (32:1), they said. Aaron would be a replacement for Moses and the new idol would be a replacement for God. This was to be their new mascot. Moses had “brought them up from the land of Egypt” (32:1) but from here forward the new idol would lead them to conquer and populate the new land of Canaan. This was to be their new life! Forget about Egypt and Pharaoh and the Red Sea. “Let’s live the good life with food and drink, play and religion. That’s what life’s about!” or so they thought.
Idolatry always seems to lie latent in the human heart, ready to spring up at any moment and take control. It was so in the history of Israel (cf. Josh. 24:14; Amos 5:25-26; 1 Sam. 8:8). Lack of faithfulness to God was always just beneath the surface and could be triggered by the slightest provocation. And isn’t it just the same with us?
Aaron now leads them in the new direction that they demanded. “Take off the gold rings that a are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters and bring them to me” (32:2). There’s no evidence of any thought given to this, no consideration of the consequences. This is not wise, godly, thoughtful leadership. The idea of a calf was Aaron’s, the mode of making it was Aaron’s, the actual fabrication of it was Aaron’s. So, they willingly donated all their earrings and Aaron melted them down and carved it into a golden, molded calf.
And they said the most heinous, blasphemous, rebellious words you can imagine: “Israel, this is your god that brought you up from the land of Egypt” (32:4). No longer was it Moses and Moses’ God who brought them up from Egypt, but this graven idol has completely taken their place. Aaron solemnized the whole occasion by building an altar of sacrifice, just as Moses had done for God in Ex. 24:4. And Aaron proclaimed a solemn “festival to the Lord” (32:5), just as Moses had done in Ex. 24:11. Can you imagine!
The people are so excited, that “early the next morning they arose, offered burnt offerings, and presented fellowship offerings” (32:6), just as they had done in Ex. 24:5. But this is not godly, reverent worship like that in ch. 24. Now, “the people sat down to eat and drink and got up to party” (32:6). The outward appearance of a worship service degenerated into a disorderly party, perhaps even an orgy with illicit sexual activity and drunkenness (that is certainly the implication).
Sometimes, religious gatherings can have the appearance of worship but underneath be blatantly evil. You can have a form of godliness but deny its power. You can make your external behavior look ever so good but when the heart is unrestrained, when there are no godly leaders to give orderly oversight, then the evil of the human heart soon manifests itself in all its unvarnished ugliness.
The Israelites here were really no different from the ungodly Canaanites whose land they would inhabit. Their pagan behavior was identical to the pagan Canaanites. We need to take heed of this, that we don't take pride in our form of gathering while abandoning in our hearts the One to whom we are gathered, that we don’t parade the external trappings of religiosity while nurturing internal spiritual rottenness.
Picture the scene that is painted for us here. At the top of the mountain - the fire of God’s glory, the object of worship is the living God, a solemn meeting concerning the law of God written in stone, and the plans for the tabernacle where God would dwell among his people. While at the foot of the mountain, a fire for melting their gold, the object of worship is a dead idol, and the meeting is one of an undignified frenzy of uncontrolled people.
This is idolatry. Idolatry is the replacement of God with something else to which you bow down as though it were God, the replacement of the invisible God with a visible substitute. So, who or what are you following? Are you devoted to following God no matter what? Are you following the faith of godly leaders? Or, have you abandoned the old paths for something new? If you do not remain true to God, idolatry will overtake you. And…
The all-seeing eye of our omnipresent, omniscient God knew all that was going on at the base of the mountain. There is nothing hidden from God’s eyes. You may think God can’t see you, but he can. “No creature is hidden from him, but all things are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account” (Heb. 4:13).
Israel had forgotten God and his great deliverance, but He had not forgotten them. God knew that they had turned away from him to an idol. “‘Go down at once! For your people you brought up from the land of Egypt have acted corruptly’” (32:7) God said to Moses. They are not a holy nation anymore; they are a corrupt people. “They have quickly turned from the way I commanded them” (32:8a). They had turned away from God, abandoned Him.
Sin quickly manifests itself in disobedience. Sin quickly turns us away from God, for God and sin cannot coexist. Sin blinds our minds such that God’s grace is so quickly forgotten, God’s redemption is so quickly forgotten, the joy of God’s salvation is so quickly forgotten.
They had replaced God with an idol. “They have made for themselves an image of a calf. They have bowed down to it, sacrificed to it, and said, ‘Israel, this is your god, who brought you up from the land of Egypt’” (32:8b). How quickly the living God is replaced by a dead idol! How quickly the miraculous works of God are attributed to a golden calf!
Remember: We are so prone to forget God and turn to new gods of our own making. This is all due to the sinful condition of their hearts. “They are indeed a stiff-necked people” (32:9). This is the root cause of the trouble. God has put his finger on the problem - the will. This is not only the Israelites’ problem - it has been the problem of the entire human race beginning with the fall. Disobedience! Rebellion! Debauchery! Idolatry! They all go together. This is the sin of self-will. What they were doing manifested who they truly were. This wasn’t something new or startling to God. He had seen and heard their attitudes ever since he brought them out of Egypt.
God knew they had turned away from him to an idol and He became angry with jealousy. The consequences of the sin of idolatry are (1) separation from God - they are no longer God’s people, but Moses’ people (32:7) – and (2) the judgement of God, because God is a jealous God who brooks no evil, tolerates no divided loyalty. God in effect said, “That’s it, Moses. I’ve seen enough of this stiff-necked, stubborn, rebellious, thankless, idolatrous people. “Now leave me alone, so that my anger can burn against them and I can destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation” (32:10). This is what God threatens to do – to destroy them, wipe them out and start over again, promising to Moses what he had originally promised to Abraham to “make of you a great nation” (32:10). Was this just? Yes it was! Did God do it? Not immediately.
Why did God not do it immediately? Evidently because he did not intend to or else he would not have told Moses about it and then tell him to go down to them. This is like a warning shot across the bow, which in God’s grace gave them opportunity to repent. “Leave me alone, so that my anger can burn against them and I can destroy them” (32:10). But Moses didn't leave God alone and as a result God’s anger did not reach boiling point and the people were not destroyed – at least not right away. God gave opportunity to Moses to intercede for Israel based on which God’s anger was assuaged, for now.
First, if you lose sight of God, idolatry can quickly overtake you. Second, if idolatry overtakes you, you will incur God’s anger. Third...
Now we read in 32:11-14 the words of a great leader, an intercessor, an advocate at God’s right hand. Notice, Moses makes no appeal to the recently ratified covenant. He didn't remind the people of the covenant they had just signed, nor does he express amazement at how quickly they had abrogated the agreement, nor does he remind them of the covenant’s terms and conditions, all of which were clearly spelled out. Why? Because the covenant would only condemn them - they would never be able to keep it.
Moses’ only appeal was to the character and grace of God. That’s the only place we can fly to when we sin – not seeking to be justified by works but by faith in Jesus Christ (Gal. 2:16). We cannot possibly live up to God’s standard; the law will always eventually condemn us. We can only cling to the saving grace of God in Jesus Christ revealed most fully at the cross. Remember our thesis: We are so prone to forget God and turn to new gods of our own making. But God does not change – his grace remains.
Now listen to one of the greatest speeches ever made. Moses pleads with God on behalf of the people not to destroy them (32:11-14). He advocates on their behalf, acts in their defense. He says, “They are your people, God (not mine). You brought them out of Egypt (not me) with great power and a mighty hand.”
Moses’ Argument #1: “If you abandon them now, what will the Egyptians say? They’ll say that you brought them out of Egypt to do them harm, to kill them, in fact, in the mountains. They’ll say that you delivered them from Egypt to wipe them off the face of the earth” (32:12).
Moses unspoken aside is: But that’s not what you said to Pharaoh, is it? That’s not why you brought them out at all, is it? You brought them out of Egypt so that they could be your exclusive people, one nation under God, who could worship you in the desert. So, God, please turn from your fierce anger and relent concerning this disaster planned for your people” (32:12).
Moses’ Argument #2: “What about your promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? ‘You swore to them by yourself and declared, ‘I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and will give your offspring all this land that I have promised, and they will inherit it forever’ (32:13). What about that, God?”
Moses’ intercession is based on the character of God. God would not fail to keep his covenant with Israel, even if they failed. God would not let his character be ridiculed by the Egyptians. God would not fail to keep his promises to the patriarchs. God would not wipe them out because the Messiah could not come through Moses - he was of the tribe of Levi and the Messiah would come through Judah (cf. Ex. 2:1-2 vs Gen. 49:10), so God would not wipe them out.
God delights to relent from his judgement in response to an intercessor, a mediator. Just as Jesus interceded before God as our Mediator, so did Moses on behalf of Israel. God responds to our Kinsman Redeemer.
This teaches us something about intercessory prayer. When we recount the facts to God, make the arguments to God, and plead with God to “turn” (32:12). Then, God responds to the effective fervent prayer of a righteous person (James 5:16). Thus, Moses’ intimate knowledge of God enabled him to present a powerful argument to God and thus to mediate God’s forgiveness and the people’s restoration. This just shows the value and power of knowing God!
Moses knew full well that God would not destroy the people he just saved, despite their disobedience and idolatry. God would not abort the work he began – he will complete what he begins. He will lead them victoriously into Canaan. He cannot deny himself.
And so God relented. A powerful argument by a powerful advocate is followed by a powerful response from an all-powerful God. “So the Lord relented concerning the disaster he had said he would bring on his people” (32:14). Don’t ask me how this works - how God’s man can intercede on behalf of God’s people and God himself relents – but that’s what happened. That’s the efficacy of intercessory prayer.
Remember my sermon-in-a-sentence that I stated at the beginning: We are so prone to forget God and turn to new gods of our own making. But God does not change – his grace remains. If you take your eyes off God, you can easily fall into idolatry. Don’t think that the Israelites’ sudden transfer of loyalties from God to idols couldn’t happen to you, because it could. Don’t think that the Israelites’ debauchery and party behavior couldn’t happen to you, because it could.
In fact, perhaps there are idols already in your life. They might not be physical idols of wood or stone but idols that you have set up in your heart. Anything that comes between us and God is an idol. Anything that prevents God from having first place in our life is an idol. That makes this passage a bit more personal doesn’t it?
Perhaps we all need to examine our hearts in order to identify anything that has priority over God in our lives - be it our money, our jobs, our ambitions, our leisure, our recreation, our attitude - and we need to judge it before the Lord and get rid of it. We serve a jealous God who does not brook divided affections. We serve a jealous God who does not tolerate lukewarmness. The Thessalonian believers “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God” (1 Thess. 1:9). Let’s make sure that we do not turn from God to serve dead idols.
Praise God we serve a God who is “gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and great in faithful love” (Ps. 145:8), a God who is “4 rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us,” a God who “5 made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses” (Eph. 2:4-5). Thank God that “where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even more” (Rom. 5:20). Thank God that “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn. 1:9).
This is a continuation from the last message titled, “Sinners in the hands of an angry God.” Last time we covered part 1 (Ex. 32:1-14), the overall teaching of which I summarized as follows: We are so prone to forget God and turn to new gods of our own making. But God does not change – his grace remains.
Today we are going to cover part 2 (Ex. 32:15-34:9). Our subject again is: “The sin of idolatry.” The summary of this message is: If we sin, there is a process for restoration.
The theological principles that we noticed in part 1 were:
I. If You Lose Sight of God, Idolatry Can Easily Overtake You (32:1-6).
II. If Idolatry Overtakes You, You Will Incur God’s Anger (32:7-10).
III. If You Incur God’s Anger, Your Only Recourse Is To Plead For God’s Grace (32:11-14).
Now notice principles IV, V, and VI...
“Then Moses turned and went down the mountain” (32:15). There is no record that God told Moses what to do, so what’s Moses going to do or say? How can he restrain these people who were in a state of uncontrolled frenzy?
Moses has been on the mountain with God for some 40 days. While there, he has received (1) God’s law written on tablets of stone by God himself, and (2) God’s plans for the tabernacle, God’s house. During that short period of time, the Israelites have (1) turned from the living God to worship a new god of gold; (2) turned from Moses their leader to Moses’ assistant, Aaron; and (3) turned from crediting God with bringing them out of Egypt to crediting their new god with bringing them out.
Now Moses displays the true power of his leadership. He already knew what had happened even before he saw it with his own eyes because God had told him on the mountain. Evidently, Joshua (whom we have not heard about since Ex. 24:13) was either with Moses on the mountain or had met Moses part way up the mountain, because now he accompanies Moses down. Before they ever see anything, they hear the noise of the frenzied party below, and Joshua says to Moses: “There is a sound of war in the camp” (32:17). Joshua seems incredulous: “Whatever could that noise be? It must be war.” And Moses says: “It’s not the sound of a victory cry and not the sound of a cry of defeat; I hear the sound of singing!” (32:18).
When they come close enough, Moses sees what’s happening. He saw the golden calf and the people dancing, the orgy, the unrestrained behavior, acting like pagans. Just as God’s anger grew hot, so now does Moses’ anger (32:19-20). He throws down the precious tablets of stone, the only copy of the written word of God they had, breaking them in pieces. They had broken their covenant with God, literally and symbolically – literally, in the way they behaved, and now symbolically, in the breaking of the stone tablets. Their relationship with God was shattered just like the two tablets.
Moses’ anger here is a reflection of God’s righteous anger. He tears down the golden calf, throws it into the fire, and pulverizes it into powder, just as God had said they should do to the Canaanite idols (Ex. 23:24). Destroying the idol was an act of total abhorrence. Grinding it into powder prevented them from ever remaking it again. Then, he mixes the powder with water and makes the people drink it (32:20), just as some mothers used to punish their child by washing out the child’s mouth with soap if they said something bad. Making the Israelites drink the contaminated water gave them a taste of the bitterness of their sin, as the bitter liquid passed through their bodies.
Moses chides Aaron (32:21): “What did these people do to you that you have led them into such a grave sin?” (Ex. 32:21). “How did they get you to do this? Why did you give in to them?” The truth was they had done nothing to Aaron. He had easily and quickly capitulated.
Then, Aaron tries to pacify Moses with excuses (32:22-24). Just as Moses once made excuses to God (that he could not speak properly), so here is Aaron’s excuse to Moses: “Don't get mad with me. You know what these people are like – rotten sinners that they are. They’re impossible, set on doing evil.”
That was true, but it was no excuse for his actions. Just because others want to act sinfully is no reason you should concede to it or condone it. Rather, a godly leader will resist the people’s sin, expose it for what it is, and lead them in a right direction.
How hypocritical is Aaron’s response? “They are the sinners, not me. They talked me into making this golden calf because you were gone so long. They didn't know what happened to you. I just did what they demanded. And anyway, I merely threw the gold into the fire and, bam, out came this calf. How bizarre is that, Moses!” (32:22-23).
Aaron is the antithesis of a godly leader. He doesn't oppose the people, doesn't chastise them, doesn't intercede for them. He obviously couldn’t care less about them – just took the easy way out. Just did what they wanted. Didn’t care if they died under God’s judgement.
What a contrast between Aaron and Moses. Aaron’s words of defense and his actions condemn him. Aaron, the public speaker, responds pathetically; the great assistant becomes so weak. But Moses, the meek man, becomes so powerful and decisive; the inarticulate man becomes so eloquent.
There is no limit to how far sin will go. No limit to how far sexual lust and lewdness and nakedness and drunkenness will go if you start down that path. It’s so easy to get caught up in the emotion and frenzy of a larger group. Loss of spiritual control leads to loss of physical and emotional control.
This kind of behavior is satanic. If you are under the control of the Spirit of God, your behavior will be marked by self-control, self-discipline, God-honoring behavior. We are called to be disciplined people and to do all things decently and in order.
Moses sees that the people were “out of control” (32:25a). Even worse, Israel’s unrestrained partying “made them a laughing stock to their enemies (Ex. 32:25b). Now. they were no different than the Canaanites. It appears that they were still carrying on with their indecent behavior even after the drink of gold powder. If so, the degree to which they were out-of-control is even more shocking.
Is it any wonder why, when the world sees Christians engage in sinful behavior, they say of us, “They’re no different than we are. They drink like us, curse like us, divorce like us, fight like us, watch movies like us. So why bother being a Christian?” When the world sees sinful behavior among the people of God, dishonor is brought on the Lord’s name, derision and shame are heaped on Him.
Moses challenges them to make a decision (32:26). He now does what Aaron should have done. Aaron’s failure to restrain the people contrasts with Moses’ call to commitment: “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me” (32:26). Everyone in the camp could have come and been spared judgement, but only the sons of Levi responded to the call. And Moses sent them throughout the camp carrying out the death sentence on brothers, friends, and neighbors – no favoritism. This was God’s command: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says (32:27). Three thousand men had to die before order was restored and God’s name was cleared (32:28). Only then did they realize the seriousness of what they had done and stop the debauchery. That’s what it took!
That’s what it took then and that’s what it takes now sometimes – the severity of God’s judgement. That’s what it took at Corinth where some died under God’s judgement (1 Cor. 11:30). And that still happens today. Back in the late 1950’s the pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in New York had to deal with a race issue in the church, where 85% of the members were against the integration of whites and blacks in the church. After months of teaching on the subject, all but eleven members agreed with him that blacks could and should be equal members of the church with whites. Of those eleven members, seven said they would still support him even though they were against integration. The remaining four opposers all died and were buried by the pastor buried within six months. That’s the judgement of God!
Once the discipline had been carried out, only then did Moses talk about God’s blessing. “Today you have been dedicated to the Lord, since each man went against his son and his brother. Therefore you have brought a blessing on yourselves today” (32:29).
Ironically, there’s a blessing for carrying out God’s discipline. There are times in the life of the church when discipline is necessary to honour the holiness of God, to protect the credibility of the testimony of the church, to cleanse the church of sin, to warn others of the dangers of sin, and to maintain the purity of the Lord’s table.
So, the provision of God’s grace does not exempt you from the consequences of sin (32:15-29). And…
Remember our thesis: If we sin, there is a process for restoration. Carrying out discipline is right and necessary, but the people still have to get right with God, have to be restored to a right relationship with him. Notice the order that Moses deals with this.
First, Moses confronts the people with their sin. “30 You have committed a grave sin. Now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I will be able to atone for your sin. 31 So Moses returned to the Lord” (32:30-31). Now, he acts as their priest before God. What must the people have thought as they saw Moses go one more time up the mountain? Would God grant his forgiveness? Could their relationship with God ever be restored? Their only hope was that Moses was their mediator and that God would be gracious. Here we see true intercession. First Moses confronts the people with their sin...
Then, Moses confesses their sin before the Lord: “Oh, these people have committed a grave sin; they have made a god of gold for themselves” (32:31). Notice that true confession of sin involves naming the sin specifically.
After confronting them with their sin and confessing their sin before the Lord, Moses asks for forgiveness for their sin: “Now if you would only forgive their sin” (32:32a). This request for forgiveness is based on sovereign grace alone. There was nothing they could do to earn it. If God does not grant forgiveness, then Moses offers to be their substitute: “But if not, please erase me from the book you have written” (32:32b). This is the heart of a godly leader: “Take me as a substitute for them if someone has to die.”
And God responds: “33 The Lord replied to Moses, ‘Whoever has sinned against me I will erase from my book. 34 Now go, lead the people to the place I told you about; see, my angel will go before you. But on the day I settle accounts, I will hold them accountable for their sin’” (32:33-34). Everyone is responsible for their own sin - there’s no such thing as a group sin - and the penalty for sin is death (Rom. 6:23; Ezek. 18:4).
But notice that God’s judgement is not carried out immediately. Although Aaron had not restrained the people, God’s grace restrained his sentence of death. His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob needed to be fulfilled first. So, God’s angel will go before them, they will reach Canaan, but when the punishment is carried out, they will die for their sin. “And the Lord inflicted a plague on the people for what they did with the calf Aaron had made” (32:35). In the interim, they suffered from the consequences of their sin and subsequently they died because of what they did. That entire generation died in the wilderness and a brand new generation went into Canaan.
We must take sin seriously, the same way God does. Don't try to downplay it or excuse it or deny it. We must deal decisively and lovingly with those who sin and we must quickly judge sin in our own lives.
We must hate sin, just as God does. This applies to our families and the discipline of our children. You do not love your children if you tolerate their sin. And this applies to the church as well. God’s judgement may be delayed but it will come. It will come on sinning believers who do not confess their sin. And it will come on unbelievers who do not turn to him in faith. These Israelites sinned over and over again during the next 40 years. Many of them were not believers and they died, but this didn’t prevent God from fulfilling his promises.
Thank God that we, as Christians, have a Saviour who has died to wash us from our sins, so that we do not live under the cloud of coming judgement - we have the assurance of eternal life. Thank God we live under a new and better covenant. We know that our sins are forgiven – past, present, and future. We do not face the wrath of God, for that has been dealt with at the cross by our Saviour. He has atoned for our sins. We have been declared righteous because of his righteousness.
Thank God we have a great High Priest, the sinless Son of God. Our high priest is not a sinner like Aaron, who would become Israel’s first high priest and offer annual sacrifices of atonement for his own sins and the sins of the people, annual sacrifices which never did or could atone for their sins. Those sacrifices only cleansed them ceremonially until the next time. Those sacrifices only delayed the judgement of God for another year. But our high priest is not a sinner like Aaron. Our High Priest is the sinless Son of God, the once-for-all substitute for us, the perfect sacrifice for our sins, a sacrifice that never had to be repeated, a sacrifice of infinite and eternal value.
So, the provision of God’s grace does not exempt you from the consequences of sin. The only relief from sin is confession and forgiveness. And then…
If ever Moses needed assurance from God, it was now. The people he had led out of Egypt were in a shambles; they had turned from God to idols (contrast Thess. 1:9). Moses must have felt isolated and alone. The job of leadership was getting harder with time, not easier. Moses had offered to give his life for the Israelites and God had temporarily delayed his judgement on them, but what now? What he needed now was assurance from God, that God’s grace still rested upon him. Well, God “remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself” (2 Tim. 2:13). His angel would still go before them (32:34), and the proof of that would be the manifestation to Moses of God’s way and God’s glory. If he could see the ways of God and the glory of God, then he would know that God’s favor rested on him and this would give him renewed courage and perseverance.
Moses is the consummate intercessor. Moses’ first intercession in 32:11-14 is why God should not destroy the people. His second intercession in 32:31-35 is his plea for God’s forgiveness of the people’s sin or else take Moses’ life.
Now we come to his third intercession with God (33:11-17). Here is recorded one of the most fascinating conversations in the Bible between God and his servant-leader, Moses. The people have repented and shown the reality of their repentance in removing their ornaments (33:4-5), those symbols and reminders of their former pagan gods. Now Moses meets God outside the camp at a special tent of meeting. “The Lord would speak with Moses face to face, just as a man speaks with his friend” (33:11), with intimacy, warmth, trust, confidence, transparency.
Moses’ intercessory appeal for assurance has two parts. First, Moses asks God for the manifestation of God’s ways. “Now if I have indeed found favor with you, please teach me your ways, and I will know you, so that I may find favor with you. Now consider that this nation is your people” (33:13). The concrete evidence that Moses had favor with God would be for God to show him His “ways,” show him God’s standards, purposes, methods, plans. Moses says, “For the sake of this nation, your covenant people, show me your ways, so that your people will know that you are still faithful to your promises, so that I can enter into a deeper relationship with you and understanding of you, so that I can be reassured of my standing before you – that I have found grace in your sight.”
And God replied graciously and reassuringly, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest” (33:14). That’s all Moses needed – the assurance of the Lord’s presence with him as it had been from the beginning.
To know the Lord’s ways is to have the Lord’s presence. That’s how it had been throughout the wilderness journey. The presence of the Lord went with Moses and showed him the way in a pillar of fire by night and a cloud by day. We cannot know the ways of God without the presence of God. The Lord’s “presence” implies not only accountability and guidance but also security and “rest.” “I will give you rest,” the Lord says. Rest is the necessary result of the Lord’s presence. The Lord’s presence grants rest, for when we take his yoke on us we find rest for our souls (Matt. 11:29).
Don’t you find yourself crying out for a renewed assurance and experience of the Lord’s presence? Are there not times in your life when you feel you are dry spiritually and you hunger for more of God? What we desperately need is a renewed experience of God’s presence, just as Moses cries for here. As D.A. Carson puts it, “What any people must have is the presence of the living God. It is not enough in any church simply to have the right rituals and the right sermons and the right kind of music. If God does not manifest himself in some way; if he is not present, then what is the point of the whole exercise?...There’s no point in merely being different because we have rules. We must have God. (D. A. Carson, The God Who Is There, 67).
When we gather as the body of Christ, do we “have God”? Or, do you sense that God is not there. Do you ever get the sense that church worship has become so routine, you’ve done this for so long, that you no longer expect to meet God there? Or, have you allowed things into your private life that have robbed you of the manifest presence of God? What we need more than anything else is the presence of the living God among us, active and powerful, changing us, shaping us, drawing us to himself, filling us with awe and wonder and adoration.
We don't come together to maintain religious form or because that’s what Christians do or just to make it look good to our neighbors. We come together to experience the presence of God and when we experience the presence of God, we find rest and peace and forgiveness and reconciliation and hope.
“ If your presence does not go,” Moses responded to him, “don’t make us go up from here” (33:15). In other words, “there’s no point in taking one step more toward the promised land if you are not with us. That’s the only way that the Canaanites will know that we are your favored people. That’s what makes us different from all the people on the face of the earth” (33:16).
“The Lord answered Moses, ‘I will do this very thing you have asked, for you have found favor with me, and I know you by name’” (33;17). God says to Moses, “I will do exactly what you ask. My presence will go with you for you have found grace in my sight and everyone will know it by my manifest presence with you exclusively.” To “find favor in (God’s) sight” is to know the grace of God experientially, to have concrete proof of it. For God to know you “by name” is to have personal intimacy, relationship, and fellowship with God.
First, then, Moses asks for the manifestation of God’s ways. Second, Moses asks for the manifestation of God’s glory (33:18-23). “Then Moses said, “Please, let me see your glory” (33:18). This is ultimate boldness. Surely God’s presence and rest and favor should be enough. Clearly Moses was desperate for renewed assurance. After all, perhaps the idolatry of the people had permanently severed their relationship with God. Perhaps they had permanently lost the marvel and experience of God’s glory. Perhaps “Ichabod” was written over the people of Israel. Perhaps God’s glory had departed from them. Could God’s wrath be yet assuaged? Or, was all hope of reconciliation gone?
That’s why Moses wanted a further manifestation of God. Yes, God had shown himself powerfully at the Red Sea and Sinai. But was all that for nothing? Had it all been squandered by this rebellious and stiff-necked people? Moses needed to know God in the most intimate, powerful way possible by seeing his glory. And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim the name ‘the Lord’ before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion” (33:19). God’s goodness is God’s glory – it’s the overpowering aspect of who God is. He is good and He is sovereign. In his sovereignty God expresses His grace and compassion to whomever He wishes. God says to Moses, “I will do what you ask, Moses. I will grant your request. But remember, that no matter how much you see and know of me, no matter how much of myself I disclose to you, no matter how close we are, always remember that I am the sovereign Lord. “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” In other words, “You cannot bargain with me, Moses, nor force me to do anything. Remember, I don't need you, but you need me.”
“But (the Lord) added, ‘ 20 You cannot see my face, for humans cannot see me and live.’ 21 The Lord said, ‘Here is a place near me. You are to stand on the rock, 22 and when my glory passes by, I will put you in the crevice of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will take my hand away, and you will see my back, but my face will not be seen’” (33:20-23). God says, “It’s one thing to converse with me, Moses, as a man converses with his friend, but it’s quite another to see my glory, for no one can see me and live. You will see my back, Moses, but not my face.” Moses had pushed God to the absolute limit of his self-revelation. Moses would see all that can be seen of God’s glory. Remember, God is the sovereign, supreme One. He alone determines who will receive his grace and compassion (33:19). He alone determines how much he will reveal of himself.
So, how and where will this manifestation of God’s glory take place? Here are the Lord’s instructions (34:1-9). First, “Cut two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke” (34:1). Sometimes in shops that sell breakable items you see a sign: “Break it and you’ve bought it.” That’s not how God dealt with the broken stones. In his grace, God gives Moses a new set.
Second, “Be prepared by morning. Come up Mount Sinai in the morning and stand before me on the mountaintop” (34:2). No one else could come with him nor even be in sight (33:3). So, “Moses cut two stone tablets like the first ones. He got up early in the morning, and taking the two stone tablets in his hand, he climbed Mount Sinai, just as the Lord had commanded him” (34:4). And once again, “The Lord came down in a cloud, stood with him there, and proclaimed his name, ‘the Lord’” (34:5). Moses was in the crevice of the rock and the Lord passed by him (34:6a).
Though Moses’ sight of God is limited, what he hears is an incredible self-declaration as to the character of God (34:6-7). This is who God is: “The Lord—the Lord is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth” (34:6b). That’s who God is. What God is revealing to Moses in word is far more than in sight. God tells Moses who he is and what he is like. This is awesome! This is more than had ever been directly revealed by God and about God before - not in the 10 plagues, not in the vanquishing of Pharaoh’s army in the Red Sea, nor at the first Mt. Sinai experience.
And then, this is what God does: “…maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But he will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation” (34:7). Moses received more than he had bargained for. He didn't just see a partial manifestation of God’s glory, he heard a full revelation of God’s character – a character that would one day be seen in Jesus.
On the one hand, God is love. He is a God of compassion and grace. He is merciful, gracious, longsuffering, forgiving. On the other hand, God is holy. He is a God of justice and truth – “He will not leave the guilty unpunished,” even to the point of “bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children and grandchildren” if they continue in their fathers’ sins and do not repent. God will not turn away from pursuing and judging sin. Those who are guilty and do not repent will be judged and punished by the God who is absolute holiness.
You can’t defend yourself with: “But I was born this way.” Or, “It runs in the family - my father lived like this and his father as well.” No, you will have to do with God. So, how will you meet God? Will you meet him as your Saviour – the God who is love. Or will you meet him as your judge – the God who is holy. What we need is mercy, not justice. According to God’s justice he could condemn us all to hell, but according to his mercy he has provided a way of escape.
And Moses responds: “(He) made haste and bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped (34:8). That’s what worship is – our response to who God is. And Moses said, “My Lord, if I have indeed found favor with you, my Lord, please go with us (even though this is a stiff-necked people), forgive our iniquity and our sin, and accept us as your own possession” (34:9). Whoever said there is no grace in the O.T.! What a prayer of intercession this is! Moses identifies himself completely with his people and pleads on their collective behalf. May that prayer be ours also!
What a contrast between the godly leadership of Moses and that of Aaron. Notice these ten contrasts in their leadership styles:
(1) Moses represented God; Aaron represented the people.
(2) Moses told the people God’s message; Aaron told the people what they wanted to hear.
(3) Moses led the people; Aaron capitulated to the people.
(4) Moses led on principle; Aaron led on pragmatism (by what worked).
(5) Moses called the people to obedience; Aaron aided the people’s disobedience.
(6) Moses kept the people under control; Aaron was controlled by the people.
(7) Moses called the people to act for God; Aaron permitted the people to do what they wanted.
(8) Moses worked with the minority; Aaron wanted the approval of the majority.
(9) Moses trusted the word of God; Aaron was swayed by the words of the people.
(10) Moses trusted the power of God; Aaron succumbed to the power of the people.
Remember our thesis for this passage: If we sin, there is a process for restoration. We need to confess our sins and receive God’s forgiveness and then walk in the assurance of God’s presence. It’s simple but so often we don't want to follow it. If you need to get right with God, why not do it now and rest in the sweetness of his presence and the confidence of his ways?
We continue our study of the Israelites’ wilderness journey. We have already studied their journey from Egypt to Mount Sinai. Now we follow them from Mount Sinai to the land of Canaan, the promised land. During this extensive journey, they would have been exposed to the significant dangers of the wilderness, such as the nature of the terrain and climate, wild animals, enemy tribes, food and water, and the many other day-to-day practical realities associated with such a vast crowd of people traversing such a barren land.
In spiritual terms, as we wander through the spiritual wilderness of this world, we are exposed to danger as well – danger from outside our company of fellow-travelers and danger from inside. Externally, we are vulnerable to the attacks of our arch enemy, Satan, who takes particular aim at those who are seeking to make a difference for God. The more your life is like the world, the less Satan is interested in you because you already have one foot in his camp – you’re no threat to his agenda. But the more your life is a reflection of Christ, then Satan has you as a target to attack (cf. 1 Pet. 5:8-9).
Internally, we are vulnerable to attack, particularly those of us who are engaged in the leadership of God’s people. Wilderness journeys are not easy and our fellow-travelers can and do, from time to time, become weary and unsatisfied. When that happens, we face disputes within our congregations, families, friends etc. and even outright opposition against us personally (cf. 2 Tim. 3:12; 2 Cor. 11; Phil. 1:28; 2 Cor. 7:5).
The subject of this study is: “Responding to personal opposition.” The primary theological principle that we learn from this study is that the right response to personal attacks is humility, while trusting God to vindicate you.
Specifically, this experience in the wilderness deals with attacks that originate from opposition within the ranks. Opposition can be burdensome for us all, especially for leaders and especially when that opposition comes from inside the people of God. The first theological principle that we learn from this passage is…
Complaints in the ranks can become so discouraging. The Israelites had been at Sinai just over a year. Hardly, had they received the law of God, hardly had they fabricated the tabernacle of God, hardly had they packed up to move on from Sinai, hardly were they on the way for 3 days with the cloud of the Lord over them by day, than the people “began complaining openly before the Lord about hardship” and, in response, God “consumed” some of them with fire (11:1). Only through Moses’ intercession was the fire extinguished and the rest spared (11:2-3).
Among the Israelites was “a mixed multitude” (11:4), literally “a rabble, riffraff,” non-Israelites (presumably Egyptians) who accompanied the Israelites out of Egypt. Perhaps they too had suffered under the Pharaoh in Egypt and, when the Israelites made their escape, they took the opportunity to escape with them, perhaps hoping for a better future. These were unbelievers, who thought they would benefit from the Israelites and their God. They soon proved to be a constant thorn in Moses’ side, a greedy, discontented group of hangers-on.
Hardly had they been in the desert for long and they “had a strong craving for other food” (11:4). They lusted intensely for the food they had been used to in Egypt. These kinds of people always infect the rest - people who don’t belong there but are going along for the ride. People who don’t have the same faith, the same goals and values. People who, often, aren’t believers at all – they are “mixed” in. People who only want personal benefit without any personal cost. People who seem to always drag others down to their level. Once this factious group started complaining of course it soon spread to the Israelites, who also wept again and said: “Who will feed us meat? We remember the fish we ate freely in Egypt, along with the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. But now our appetite is gone; there’s nothing to look at but this manna” (11:4-6).
When a leader faces a group of complainers long enough, you can get discouraged. Rankling among the fringe crowd, the ragtag group, burdens you down and drags everyone else down to their spiritual level. Their spiritual condition comes out under pressure. Some aren’t believers at all and they drag true believers down with them. When their hopes are not immediately satisfied, they turn on you. They’re always comparing their present circumstances with “the good old days.” The present for them is never as good as the past. Funny that such good old days should produce a people with such bad attitudes toward the present circumstances, isn’t it?
The issue here was over the food that God had provided for them, “the manna” (11:7). They “ground it on a pair of grinding stones or crushed it in a mortar; then boiled it in a cooking pot and shaped it into cakes. It tasted like a pastry cooked with the finest oil” (11:8). They prepared and cooked it the same way and it always tasted the same. “Moses heard the people, family after family, weeping at the entrance of their tents” (11:10a), standing around complaining to each other and “the Lord was very angry; Moses was also provoked” (11:10b). The scene was a disgrace among God’s people who should have been so thankful for God’s redemption and provision. Instead, they were grumbling, standing around in private, family groups, bemoaning their fate. Rebellious factions were agitating for action. Eventually, this can wear a leader down.
Moses wanted his people to rise to the occasion, to know the God he had encountered at the burning bush and at the top of Mt. Sinai, to rejoice in God’s provision of the manna and the quail, to thank God for his protection and guidance by the cloud and the fire, to grow in their relationship to and understanding of God. But instead these people weren’t getting it. They didn’t get the vision. They hadn’t bought into the experience. As soon as things got a bit tough, they wanted out. So, we can understand how Moses felt and reacted (11:11-15). He was about as low as it gets - the complaints were weighing him down. The more he tried to inspire them, instruct them, and direct them the more they became a burden to him.
School teachers can relate to this. You pour yourself into your students only to be dragged down by a few who don’t want to learn, don't want to obey. Church leaders can relate to this. They give themselves day after day to the service of the church, often going beyond the call of duty, only to suffer, sometimes, vicious complaints and accusations.
There always seems to be a rebellious, rabble crowd in every group of any significant size. They’re in your office and in your school. They’re in our churches, Bible colleges, mission agencies. All of us at some point have to decide how to deal with the rabble. Will we join their complaints and rebellious attitude, or will we stand firm for what we believe? Every church has a mixed crowd of believers and unbelievers, of complainers and workers, of happy people and despondent people, of cooperative people and uncooperative people, people with a positive outlook and people with a negative outlook.
I’ve had to decide sometimes what to do about the rabble. And I’ve found that unless it involves a genuine cause (e.g. a doctrinal matter or matter of morality) you’re best to separate yourself from the complainers or else you might soon find yourself becoming like them, complaining and whining. It’s so easy to let the opposers get the best of you.
Moses expressed his feelings in an earnest petition to the Lord. He had become discouraged to the point that, in his view, the Lord had brought this “trouble” on him, the Lord was “angry” with him, the Lord had laid these people on him as a “burden” (11:11). He questioned God, as though it was God’s fault (11:12-15). “Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth so you should tell me, ‘Carry them at your breast, as a nursing mother carries a baby, to the land that you swore to give their ancestors?’” (11:12). In desperation he pleads: “Where can I get meat to give all these people?...I can’t carry all these people by myself. They are too much for me. If you’re going to treat me like this, please kill me right now if I have found favor with you, and don’t let me see my misery anymore” (11:13-15). Just as the people were disenchanted with Moses and God, so now Moses was disenchanted with the people. You can hear the pain in Moses’ words. You can understand what he must have been thinking: “Dealing with Pharaoh was a piece of cake compared to these people. The Red Sea was nothing compared to these people.”
And God responded to Moses plea (11:16-20). Moses complained that the people were a burden and God relieved the burden by appointing 70 elders and officers to help him (11:16-17). Of course he couldn’t bear this burden alone. He needed a leadership team of elders who could assist him. “They will help you bear the burden of the people, so that you do not have to bear it by yourself” (11:17).
Furthermore, in response to the people’s complaint about the food, God promised them meat the next day, which they would eat for an entire month “‘not for one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, but for a whole month until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes nauseating to you – because you have rejected the Lord who is among you, and wept before him, ‘Why did we ever leave Egypt?’” (11:18-20). To despise God’s leader by moaning and complaining is to despise the Lord himself, just as Paul’s persecution of the church was persecution against the Lord himself (Acts 9:4).
Moses is in disbelief (11:21-22). “I’ve got 600,000 men here and you’re going to feed them with meat? What are you going to do? Are you going to slaughter flocks and herds for them? Or, will all the fish in the sea be gathered together for them? How is that possible? Like, it’s hard enough as it is without these over-the-top promises.”
Then God answers with resounding assurance. “Is the Lord’s arm weak? (11:23a). In other words, “Do you think that I can’t do this, Moses? Do you doubt me? Now you will see whether what I say will happen to you or not (11:23b).” Moses and the people needed to remember that He is the God of the 10 plagues, He is the God of the exodus, He is the God of the Red Sea, He is the God of Sinai.
And the Lord sent quail as far as the eye could see - one day’s journey each way and about one meter deep (11:31). And “while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the Lord’s anger burned against the people, and the Lord struck them with a very severe plague” (11:33). And there, Moses buried the rebels, the people who had complained to God and doubted God and His leader, all for the sake of some meat to eat (11:34).
There are times when God will give you “what you asked for but send leanness into your soul” (Ps. 106:15). There are situations which arise where God provides a way out but there are consequences, as we saw last time.
Personal attacks can cause us heavy burdens as we journey through this wilderness. Often those attacks come from within. We’ve already seen, first, that opposition from within can easily cause discouragement. Now second…
I don't know why or when Moses married an Ethiopian woman. Maybe Zipporah had died. In any event, it gave occasion for Moses’ older brother and sister to “speak against him” (12:1), to start a behind-the-back campaign to tear him down. This was Aaron’s and Miriam’s opportunity to lower Moses and exalt themselves. God had said that the Israelites were not to intermarry with the Canaanites; they were not to enter into spiritual unequal yokes, for how can a follower of the one true God marry a worshipper of idols? But God did not prohibit them from marrying people of other nationalities, like Zipporah who was a Cushite (an Ethiopian).
It turns out that Aaron’s and Miriam’s complaint had nothing to do with who Moses had married. That was just an excuse to launch a smear campaign so that they could try to seize control of the leadership. This was politics at its dirtiest – betrayal from within. It seems that if you want to get ahead in politics, one way to do so is to tear down your opponents. That’s what Aaron and Miriam attempted to do to Moses – tear him down.
Aaron’s and Miriam’s rationale was that they could speak for God just as much as Moses could. Their word, they reasoned, was just as authoritative as Moses’. “Does the Lord speak only through Moses? Does He not also speak through us?” (12:2a). The inference is: “Who does Moses think he is? He doesn’t have exclusive rights to God. God has spoken through us just as much as through him. We’re just as entitled to tell the people what to do as he is.”
What was God’s reaction? “… and the Lord heard it” (12:2b). When you read that comment by the narrator it has a distinctly ominous overtone. They were speaking against God’s man and God is a loyal God. He hears what we say against others and against his leaders. Perhaps Aaron and Miriam felt snubbed because Moses had married this woman without consulting them. They may have reasoned: “We are his older siblings. Surely he should have consulted us before he got married. After all, we have more experience about life than he does” Regardless of their rationale, they reacted with a degree of hostility. They weren’t going to stand by and let this happen without taking some sort of corrective action. Pride raised its ugly head and said: “We can do what Moses does. We are going to give him a run for his money. We’ll have a crack at the leadership of this crowd. If this is the way he makes decisions – arbitrarily and without consultation with us - these people need new leaders, and who better than us?”
The author now gives us a bit of inside information: “Moses was a very humble man, more so than anyone on the face of the earth” (12:3). Remember our thesis: The right response to personal attacks is humility, while trusting God to vindicate you. What a contrast between Moses’ attitude and that of Aaron and Miriam! You wouldn’t even think they were related.
Now God vindicates Moses. “Suddenly the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, ‘You three come out to the tent of meeting’” (12:4). God summoned them to meet with him at the entrance to the tabernacle, just like children are sometimes summoned to the principal’s office at school. That was alright with Moses. He was used to meeting with God. He delighted in meeting with God. This posed no threat or fear for him. But it must have sent chills up Aaron’s and Miriam’s spines.
God tells Aaron and Miriam to step forward: “Listen to what I say. If there is a prophet among you from the Lord, I make myself known to him in a vision; I speak to him in a dream” (12:6). God explains first that anyone through whom God speaks to the people (i.e. a prophet) will see Him (i.e. through a vision) and hear Him (i.e. through a dream). “That’s how it works,” God says. “I establish those who are authorized to speak on my behalf. They don't decide to set themselves up as my spokesperson. I do that. And I let them know very clearly that such is the case.” But, “not so with my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my household. I speak with him directly, openly, and not in riddles; he sees the form of the Lord” (12:7-8a). “It’s my house and Moses serves me faithfully there,” God says. “I can trust him. And when I speak with him it’s not through a vision or dream. Oh, no! My relationship with him is much closer than that. I speak with him face to face. He even sees my form.”
So, God’s question to Aaron and Miriam is this: “Why were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” (12:8b). He says, “The relationship that I have with Moses is never going to be usurped by anyone – certainly not you. He is my servant and you’re not going to take his place. Doesn’t that just scare you to death, to even hint at a criticism of my servant, Moses?”
And God’s judgement falls. “The Lord’s anger burned against them, and he left” (12:9). And as the Lord departed, he made his point loud and clear. “Miriam’s skin suddenly became diseased, resembling snow” (12:10). When Aaron turned and saw what had happened to his sister, he got it. They had overstepped the mark. And he did the only right thing in that situation - he confessed their sin and their foolishness (12:11). “What were we thinking?” he says. He begs for Miriam’s healing. “Please don't let her be like a dead baby whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes out of his mother’s womb” (12:12).
Once more Moses is the gracious intercessor. Moses did what you would expect the humblest man on earth to do. He interceded before God for his sister’s healing (12:13). Despite being betrayed by his own flesh and blood, despite being slandered by his own brother and sister, he pleaded with God to heal his sister. And once more, God responds to Moses intercession. Justice and holiness said: “She will bear the consequences of her sin and shame by being set apart in solitary confinement outside the camp in disgrace for seven days.” But grace and mercy said: “After that she may be brought back in again” (12:14-15). And all Israel remained in that place until the 7 days were up. Her shame was public – everyone knew it.
As we noticed last time, (1) God’s grace does not exempt you from the consequences of your sin (Ex. 32:15-29); (2) The only relief from sin is confession and forgiveness (Ex. 32:30-35); (3) After confession and forgiveness, we receive God’s assurance (Ex. 33:11-34:9). Such is the case here with Aaron and Miriam. Thank God that He is gracious and, though there are consequences to our sins, he forgives us when we confess and repent.
Sometimes public, congregational discipline is necessary. Sometimes sin is of such a nature that church discipline has to be carried out publicly. Everyone needs to know that acts of willful, unconfessed sin incur God’s judgement. God will not let you get away indefinitely with open defiance or defaming His servants.
There’s a good lesson for godly leaders here too. Godly leaders don't try to defend themselves – they leave that to God. He defends them: “Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord” (Rom. 12:19). The action of a godly leader is to follow the example of Jesus who “when he was insulted, he did not insult in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten but entrusted himself to the one who judges justly (1 Pet. 2:23).
Let’s beware of betraying a godly leader. God may step in, particularly if your betrayal or criticism is false, and if it is you’ll fall flat on your face. Leaders aren’t perfect but be careful about accusing them. If you do know something about a leader’s life that needs to be investigated, let such an accusation be done only with the corroboration of 2 or 3 witnesses (1 Tim. 5:19). And, those of us who are leaders, let’s not make a federal case out of everything you hear said about you. Wherever possible, leave it with the Lord, unless, of course, it is something that is true or that detracts from your ability to lead.
This passage shows us: (1) Opposition from within can easily produce discouragement, and (2) Opposition from within sometimes involves betrayal. The practical application of this for us is that the right response to personal attacks is humility, while trusting God to vindicate you.
Now, let’s draw some concluding principles concerning leadership…
1. Godly leadership isn't easy – nobody said it would be. You’ll face rebellion, opposition, criticism, betrayal, and outright rejection. You’ll be the object of attack, not just from outside but, even worse, from inside. Beware of inside jobs – they come out of left field.
2. Godly leadership has its perils and burdens. You’ll sometimes wonder why you agreed to be a leader. You might even be so desperate as to ask God to take your life. You’ll face repeated discouragement.
3. Godly leaders are a prime object of Satan’s attack. Satan will attack you through the grumblings and disloyalty of those you try to lead. And it will irritate you like a thorn in your side (cf. 2 Cor. 12:7-9). This is true spiritual warfare. It’s real and it can be deadly. But in all of this…
4. Godly leaders can count on God to sustain them. He will vindicate you and he will defend you. When people say things that are untrue, when they complain and grumble, when those you thought you could count on betray you, God is your shield and defender.
Perhaps God uses these times, as he did with Paul, to keep us humble and dependent. Thank God that He is faithful and will vindicate us at the right time.
As we journey with Moses and the Israelites through the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land, we are learning some great lessons about leadership and about our own hearts that sometimes complain against God and against his leaders.
Last time we covered Numbers 11-12, “Opposition in the wilderness, Pt. 1,” and now I would like to continue on with “Opposition in the Wilderness, Pt. 2, in Numbers 13-14. Here, the Israelites were camped at Kadesh-Barnea in the Wilderness of Paran, from where Moses sends out the 12 spies to scout out the land of Canaan and bring back a report. This turns out to be a watershed event as we shall see.
The subject of this study is: “The consequences of unbelief.” We have summarized the primary theological teaching in these two messages as follows: The right response to personal attacks is humility, while trusting God to vindicate you.
The Israelites were now at the border of the land of Canaan. God had told them many times what Canaan was like, what nations were there, how he would defeat their enemies and give them their promised inheritance. Now, just as they are about to enter and take possession of it, God instructed Moses to send spies into the land to bring back a report (13:1-3).
In Numbers 11 and 12 we noticed that:
I. Opposition from within can easily produces discouragement (Num. 11).
II. Opposition from within sometimes involves betrayal (Num. 12).
In this study of chapters 13 and 14, we will see the third theological principle…
These chapters and this experience of the Israelites are full of instructions for us…
1. It’s good to know your enemy’s territory before you attack (13:18-25). It’s good to know whether the people are strong or weak, few or many (13:18), whether the land is good or bad (13:19), whether the cities are like camps or fortified strongholds (13:19), whether the land is fertile or barren (13:20), whether there are forests to contend with (20), and to bring back samples of the fruit of the land (13:20).
So, the 12 spies carried out their mission (13:21-25). They cut down a branch of grapes from the valley of Eschol that was so big they had to carry it between 2 men on a pole (13:23a). They collected pomegranates and figs (13:23b), and, 40 days later, they brought back their report (13:25).
2. It’s always good to receive a full, honest, and unanimous report (13:26-29). All the spies agreed that there was good news and bad news. The good news was that the land was fruitful as the luscious and plentiful samples proved. It obviously was exactly as God had described it, a land “flowing with milk and honey” (13:27) – it was fertile, bursting with good, natural food. But the bad news was that the people were strong and the cities were fortified and very large (13:28). Worst of all, the descendants of Anak were there and they were giants. It’s always good to receive a unanimous report, but...
3. It’s complicated when there are conflicting recommendations (13:30-33). The twelve spies all saw the same thing and all reported the same observations, but their recommendations as to the next step were polar opposites. Caleb and Joshua recommended attacking and possessing the land (13:30). “Let’s go up now and take possession of the land because we can certainly conquer it” (13:30). These two men were characterized by faith and courage. They saw victory, milk and honey, grapes, pomegranates and figs. What they saw was exactly what God had told them. They believed God, that what He had promised he would enable them to accomplish. They weren’t deterred at all by what they saw and found. Caleb said, “We can certainly conquer it” (13:30). So, two of the spies recommended attacking and possessing the land, but…
The other ten spies recommended retreating (13:31-33). “It’s a good land, but…” they said. “But” is usually a sign of unbelief and it certainly was here. These 10 spies were paralyzed by unbelief. Instead of believing God, they saw only danger, defeat, giants, fortified cities, and enemies (Amalekites etc.). Their recommendation was based on fear rather than faith. They said, “We can’t attack the people because they are stronger than we are!...The land that we passed through to explore is one that devours its inhabitants and all the people we saw in it are men of great size” (13:31-32). They were concerned about what they could do. They saw their own weakness but failed to see God’s power. They described it as a land devours its inhabitants. All the people they saw in it were giants (13:32), so big that “to ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers and we must have seemed the same to them” (13:33). This would not be the last time they would have to deal with giants. There would come a time when Israel would face another giant in the Valley of Elah, and once more they would cower in fear.
So, why the two different recommendations? They all saw the same land, the same people, the same fruit. They all had the same instructions from Moses, just as he had received them from God. They all had God’s promise to give them the land. They all came from the same ethnic background and culture. They all had the same experiences and history. Why the difference in attitude and outlook? The difference was that two of them believed God and the other ten did not. Joshua and Caleb believed God, but the rest didn’t trust God’s power, God’s goodness, or God’s promises.
The attitude of the ten is typical of so many Christians. They know the gospel, they can explain Christian doctrines, they know the good things of Christianity (the “milk and honey”), but they are overwhelmed with the dangers, problems, and the possibility of defeat - the giants of the Christian life. Their eyes are on the obstacles, not on God. Instead of seeing the blessing, they see the difficulties. As Warren Wiersbe says: “Unbelief always sees the obstacles… Faith always sees the opportunities.” Instead of trusting Christ for every need, doubting Christians see the problems and obstacles. Doubting God is like refusing to enter the land. Many Christians fail to enter into the benefits and blessings of their spiritual blessings in heavenly places (Eph. 1:3) because they doubt God.
Giants and fortified cities are real obstacles. They were real in Canaan. No sense pretending they weren’t. The question is, how do you deal with them? When there is good news and bad news, what do you do? Do you turn back in doubt and rebellion, or do you press on in faith and confidence?
4. Conflicting recommendations can cause rebellion (14:1-6). After receiving the conflicting reports, the people were confused and demoralized. They heard one report with two different recommendations and they instinctively believed the bad report, not the good one. “The whole community broke into loud cries and the people wept that night” (14:1). They wept out of despair, hopelessness, and confusion. What should they do? Behind them was the wilderness, in front of them the fortified cities and giants.
There is a time for weeping but this wasn’t it. This was the time for bold action, courage, excitement. They were on the verge of accomplishing the objective for which God had brought them out of Egypt. They were about to enter the land of promise, the land of milk and honey. Instead, they were demoralized and responded by opposing Moses.
Opposition from within sometimes manifests unbelief. Unbelief can cause you to draw back from something that should fuel your adrenaline, and, as a result, discouragement can set in. Unbelief leads to all kinds of consequences…
a) Discouragement. Discouragement is a very powerful tool of Satan. It attacks all ages and destroys thousands. It robs Christians of their joy. It makes mountains out of molehills.
b) Emotional turmoil. Discouragement plays havoc with your emotions. And your emotional responses produce all kinds of side effects like bitterness, anger, depression, rebellion. That’s what happened here.
Demoralized people tend to rebel against God and God’s leaders. “All the Israelites complained about Moses and Aaron, and the whole community told them, ‘If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us into this land to die by the sword? Our wives and children will become plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?’ So they said to one another, ‘Let’s appoint a leader and go back to Egypt.’” (14:2-4).
The “if only” crowd exists in every church, group, or family. “If only things were different.” “If only we hadn’t...” Or, “If only we had...” A negative opinion or report always seems to sway the majority. The “if only” people only ever see the down side. They abandon trust in God as soon as a bad report is heard. In fact, they think, God has become downright mean.
We see that here. They blamed God for their situation. “It’s all very well that God helped us cross the Red Sea and drowned Pharaoh’s armies and all that, but for what? To bring us out here to be killed, not by thirst or the desert heat but by the sword? And what about our poor innocent wives and children? We thought this move out of Egypt would be good for them, give them a new future, new hope, better education, better prospects, better living conditions. But oh, no! Now they’re victims of a subtle scheme by this God of ours. Let’s get out of here! Let’s find a new leader and return to Egypt.”
It’s easy to fall into the trap of blaming God, isn’t it? We see the problems and obstacles and difficulties and we so easily begin to blame God. We would rather blame God than trust him for the future. We see only the obstacles and not the opportunities. We see only the defeat and not the victory. We see only our weakness and not God’s power. And that’s when we begin to hanker for the “good old days.”
Blame can so easily lead to outright rebellion as it did here with the Israelites. We don’t stop at assigning blame to God – we go further and renounce God’s headship and follow someone else. “Egypt” always seems better than present circumstances. Forgotten are the bull whips of the task masters. Forgotten is the cruelty of having to make more bricks without a supply of straw (Ex. 5:7). Forgotten are the living conditions, the back-breaking work, the slavery. Forgotten is their cry to God for deliverance (Ex. 3:7). Forgotten are the mothers’ cries when their baby boys were drowned in the river by the Egyptians (Ex. 1:22). All of that is forgotten and Egypt now is looking very good. Such is the deceit of unbelief and rebellion.
5. Only those who trust God act with confidence (14:7-10). Only Joshua and Caleb trusted God. Remember our thesis: The right response to personal attacks is humility, while trusting God to vindicate you. Joshua and Caleb saw the vision, the beautiful country and its delicious fruit. And they concluded: “The land we passed through and explored is an extremely good land” (14:7). And they remembered their great God, their God who is greater than any giant. “If the Lord is pleased with us, he will bring us into this land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and give it to us. Only do not rebel against the Lord, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land” (14:8-9a). They gave three reasons for this confident assertion:
a) “We will devour them” (14:9a). “We will eat their lunch. They’re done like dinner.” This is the confident and courageous response of Joshua and Caleb to the negative report of the other ten spies that “the land we passed through to explore is one that devours its inhabitants” (13:32). No, say Joshua and Caleb, on the contrary, “we will devour them.”
b) “Their protection has been removed from them” (14:9b).
c) “The Lord is with us. Don’t be afraid of them.” (14:9c).
Joshua and Caleb’s report and recommendation were clear, confident, and concise. As to the land itself, they said, it was “an extremely good land” (14:7). The food was plentiful and tasty, the proof of which was the grapes, the pomegranates and figs. As to the Lord, they said, he “is pleased with us” (14:8a). He will keep his promise. He “will bring us into this land… and give it to us (14:8b). So, “don’t rebel against the Lord” (14:9a). They said, in effect, “Don't bite the hand that feeds you. We have a great and good God. As to the people of the land, ‘don’t be afraid of them’ (14:9b). We may be small compared to them, but their protection is gone. They are helpless.”
Do you know how the people responded? They wanted to stone Joshua and Caleb to death (14:10)! So they rejected the promised land, they despised God, and they rebelled against God’s leaders. Rather than face a few giants, they wanted to turn back.
Giants can do that to us – cause us to cower in fear, cause us to run away, cause us to distrust God. Sometimes, it seems easier to run away from giants than to believe what God says. When God’s people rebel...
6. Ultimately, God steps in (14:11-25). “How long will this people despise me? How long will they not trust in me despite all the signs I have performed among them?” (14:11). To reject God’s leader is to reject God himself, just as Saul of Tarsus was actually persecuting God when he persecuted God’s people. Remember: The right response to personal attacks is humility, while trusting God to vindicate you. And now God steps in and says, “I will strike them with a plague and destroy them. Then I will make you into a greater and mightier nation than they are” (14:12).
Does this remind you of an earlier scene? Didn’t God say this once before in Ex. 32:10? But Moses didn’t say a word – no anger, no rebuke, no argument, no revenge. He didn't jump at the Lord’s proposal to get rid of these stiff-necked people once and for all. No, just like before…
Moses interceded for the people (14:13-19). He said to God: “If you do that the Egyptians will hear about it and they’ll tell the Canaanites. Your reputation and character are at stake here. They have heard that you are among these people, that you are seen face to face, that your cloud of protection is over them, that you lead them by the cloud by day and the fire by night. If you kill them, the nations will despise you and say that the Lord wasn’t powerful enough to finish the job. He couldn’t bring them into the land - that’s why he killed them in the wilderness. So, I pray, let the power of my Lord be great. Let your longsuffering and mercy be seen, forgiving iniquity and transgression. Certainly don't compromise your holiness and justice - you do not clear the guilty; you bring the consequences of continuing sin even on the 3rd and 4th generation. But please, pardon the sin of this people according to the greatness of your mercy, just as you have forgiven this people from Egypt even until now” (14:13-19).
What a plea! What humility! What grace! This is the plea of a faithful leader who responds to personal attacks with humility, while trusting God to vindicate him. No revenge. No rancor. No malice. No resentment. But pure grace and compassion. What a big man Moses was!
God responds to Moses intercession (14:20-25). God says: “You’re right Moses. You have passed the test of your leadership with flying colors. I have already pardoned them according to your word. But you are right – there will be consequences, just like the last time at Sinai after the golden calf incident. And so all these men who have seen my power and glory in Egypt and in the wilderness and who have tested me these 10 times, they will not enter the land except for Caleb – he’s different; he has a different spirit than the others; he has followed me fully – he will enter the promised land and his descendants shall inherit it” (14:20-24).
The consequence of unbelief and rebellion is that...
7. God’s judgement falls on the rebels (14:26-45). The discipline of God led to death (14:26-38). All those who were morally responsible (20 years old and up) were barred from entering the promised land (14:30). They would die in the wilderness (14:29, 32-33) and their sons would be consigned to wander in the wilderness for 40 years – one year for every day they spied out the land (14:34).
The only exceptions were Caleb and Joshua (14:30) and the little ones (14:31). And the 10 spies who brought the bad report (14:36-37), who persuaded the people not to enter the land, and who induced the people’s complaints, they died immediately by the plague (14:37).
The discipline of God led to death, and the unbelief of the people led to defeat (14:39-45). Chastened by the death of the 10 spies, the people were desperate to reverse their earlier decision and gain back God’s favor (14:40), so they vowed to “go to the place the Lord promised, for we were wrong” (14:40). They ignored God’s earlier warning not to enter the land because the Amalekites and Canaanites were there (14:25). They ignored Moses warning that they would fail (14:41-43) by transgressing God’s command (14:25). Nonetheless, they tried to enter the land (14:44-45) with a pseudo self-confidence and a false bravado, and they were resoundingly defeated by the Amalekites and Canaanites (14:45).
The events that took place at Kadesh-Barnea are not limited to the Israelites. We all face similar decision-making, watershed moments when we have to make decisions in the face of conflicting reports. Who do you believe? What should you do?
There are always those who see the negative side of things and who recommend not moving forward. Often it seems that the nay-sayers form the majority and speak the loudest. It was that way among the Israelites. In this case, ten against two – ten negative reports and recommendations against two positive. And the rest of the Israelites fell under the influence of the ten negative, ignoring the two positive.
Perhaps you have noticed this phenomenon in your church or among your Christian friends. The majority so often seems to prefer to turn back to Egypt, ignoring God’s instructions and assurances, rather than go forward into Canaan, trusting God’s promises and obeying his commands. So many people seem to find their comfort and confidence in the crowd – for them, there is safety in numbers. But our comfort and confidence are in God, regardless of the number who join with us. Our safety and security are in Him. “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are protected (Prov. 18:10; cf. Prov. 3:26; Isa. 41:10).
Walking with God is the path of blessing and security, but it can be a lonely one and certainly a challenge to our faith. God calls us to trust him when we are unable to see the end result of the decision we make today, and that can be disconcerting. But that is the life of faith. Remember, “we walk by faith, not by sight” ( 2 Cor. 5:7). Just as salvation is an individual decision, not collective, so also is the life of faith. If you follow the crowd in the matter of the salvation of your soul, you will be lost. You have to decide individually to follow Christ, regardless of what your friends or family might think or do. Jesus said, “34 If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me and the gospel will save it (Mk. 8:34-35).
Caleb and Joshua stood alone against the crowd at Kadesh-Barnea. They were like the apostle Paul who said to Timothy, “At my first defense, no one stood by me, but everyone deserted me” (2 Tim. 4:16). They were strong for God, only two men (together with Moses and Aaron) out of thousands. Isn’t that often how it is? Just a few faithful men. That’s all God’s needs to carry out his purposes, a few good men, men who can stand tall and strong in faith even in the face of murderous threats and rebellious opposition, men who embody the thesis of this message that the right response to personal attacks is humility, while trusting God to vindicate you. And God resoundingly vindicated them on this occasion.
The consequence, of course, for the majority who sided with the ten spies, rebelled against God and rejected His gracious and bountiful provision in Canaan, was devastating. In response to Moses’ intercession on behalf of the people (14:13-19) the Lord said to Moses, “21 As I live and as the whole earth is filled with the Lord’s glory, 22 none of the men who have seen my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tested me these ten times and did not obey me, 23 will ever see the land I swore to give their ancestors. None of those who have despised me will see it…29 Your corpses will fall in this wilderness—all of you who were registered in the census, the entire number of you twenty years old or more—because you have complained about me. 30 I swear that none of you will enter the land I promised to settle you in, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun” (Num. 14:21-23).
God held the adult men (20 years old and up) responsible for the rebellion. His judgement on these rebels at Kadesh-Barnea was to make them wander in the wilderness for 38 more years (40 years in total from the time they left Egypt), during which they would die and never enter the Promised Land. And the ten spies who influenced the rest against Caleb and Joshua “were stuck down by the Lord” (14:36-37). They died on the spot!
There are severe consequences for rebelling against the commandments and promises of God. God had blessed the Israelites beyond comprehension. He had demonstrated his sovereign power in the 10 plagues, the exodus out of Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea, the provision of food and water, protection from the sun, the provision of heat at night, and guidance by the cloud by day. They had every reason to trust God to take them safely to Canaan, give them victory over the Canaanites, and grant them possession of the land. But they rejected God, disobeyed his commandments, and hankered for Egypt, its customs, food, and culture.
How much better is it to trust the Lord! Yes, it might be hard. Yes, it might mean standing alone against the crowd. But in return, you enter into the blessing of God’s promises, ultimately culminating in the enjoyment of his presence forever.
How much better is it to be one who bears the criticism and mockery and opposition of the crowd in order to be true to God. Remember, the right response to personal attacks is humility, while trusting God to vindicate you. The vindication of God is our great reward when we hear him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master’s joy” (Matt. 25:21). How much better to be one whom God vindicates. Not someone who is always fighting for your rights, defending yourself, but someone who is content to let God fight for you, to let God defend you.
If you were in this situation, would you respond in faith like Caleb, Joshua, and Moses, trusting God for the outcome of whatever your circumstances might be? Or, do you see yourself sometimes like the ten spies, who only see the obstacles and not God’s opportunities, who couldn’t see the vision, couldn’t see God’s promises, didn’t believe God?
How would you characterize yourself? A man or woman of faith, who is willing to stand against the tide of public opinion even when the prospects humanly speaking look dim. Or, a man or woman of unbelief, who turns tail when the going gets tough, who rebels against God when the way ahead is hard and the outcome unclear.
May we be men and women of faith today, who respond to personal attacks and opposition with humility, while trusting God to vindicate us.
Before we leave this significant episode in the life of Moses, let’s review what we have studied thus far in previous editions of this series and then draw out some principles concerning the causes, characteristics, and consequences of “The Giant of Discouragement.”
1. The Task (13:1-3; 17-20). The 12 spies who were sent into the land of Canaan (the promised land) were given the task of searching out the land and bringing back a report. God had told them many times what Canaan was like, what nations were there, how he would defeat their enemies and give them their promised inheritance.
Note that the request for a search and report came from the people, not from God. “20 I (Moses) said to you (Israel): ‘You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us. 21 See, the Lord your God has set the land before you. Go up and take possession of it as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has told you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.’ 22 Then all of you approached me and said, ‘Let’s send men ahead of us, so that they may explore the land for us and bring us back a report about the route we should go up and the cities we will come to.’ 23 The plan seemed good to me, so I selected twelve men from among you, one man for each tribe” (Deut. 1:20-23). Perhaps God permitted this search in order to reveal what their hearts were really like.
Accordingly, the spies brought back some of the wonderful fruit of the land, but they also brought back mixed reports.
2. The Reports (13:26-33). The two spies (Caleb and Joshua) brought back a good report. “Caleb quieted the people in the presence of Moses and said, “Let’s go up now and take possession of the land because we can certainly conquer it!” (13:30). They saw victory, they saw milk and honey, grapes, pomegranates and figs. These 2 spies were characterized by courage and confidence in God.
But the ten spies brought back a bad report. They admitted that it was a good land but they saw danger and defeat. They said, “It’s a good land – it flows with milk and honey - but…” (13:27-29). “But” is usually a sign of unbelief. They saw giants, fortified cities, and all the “-ites” (Amalekites etc.). Their conclusion? “We will be soundly defeated” (13:31-33). These 10 spies were paralyzed by fear.
3. The Attitude. All 12 spies saw the same land and the same people. They all had the same instructions from Moses. They all came from the same ethnic background and culture. They all had the same experiences and history. So, why the difference in attitude and outlook? The difference was because of their confidence in God. Joshua, Caleb, and Moses believed God but the rest didn’t believe that God would keep His promises.
The attitude of the 10 is typical of so many Christians. They have the assurance of salvation; they know all the Christian doctrines; they know the good things of Christianity (the “milk and honey”), but they are overwhelmed with dangers, problems, and the possibility of defeat - i.e. the giants of the Christian life. Their eyes are on the obstacles, not on God. Instead of seeing the blessing, they see the difficulties. Warren Wiersbe writes: “Unbelief always sees the obstacles… Faith always sees the opportunities.”
The refusal to enter the land is a type of the believer’s refusal to claim his or her blessings in Christ. Instead of trusting Him, doubting Christians are filled with fear. Instead of believing His promises, doubting Christians are overcome by the potential problems.
Make no doubt about it, giants are real. They were real in Canaan - no sense pretending they aren’t. The question is: How do we deal with them?
4. The Result. A night of complete discouragement followed, resulting in (a) open rebellion against God (14:1-3), (b) a proposal to elect a new leader (14:4), and (c) the cry to return to Egypt (14:4).
Discouragement is a very powerful tool of Satan. It attacks all ages, destroys thousands, robs Christians of their joy, and makes mountains out of molehills. Discouragement causes all kinds of side effects - bitterness; anger; depression etc. So, what was the cause of their discouragement?
1. Dependence on men, not God. God had said He was giving the land of Canaan to them (13:2), but they neglected God’s promise and listened to men. All their trust was in the 10 men, not God.
Take the example of David. Goliath paraded his bravado before the children of Israel morning and evening. “When Saul and all Israel heard these words from the Philistine, they lost their courage and were terrified” (1 Sam. 17:11). But to David, Goliath was merely an “uncircumcised Philistine” (1 Sam. 17:26). To him Goliath was defying the “armies of the living God” (1 Sam. 17:36). God, through the means of nothing but a stone and a sling, was who he trusted despite the doubts of his brothers and King Saul. He was the epitome of courage when everyone around him cowered with fear.
So, the cause of their discouragement was, first, their dependence on men not God. Second…
2. Listening to the many, not the few. The report of the ten spies was accepted but the report of the two was rejected. The ten spies discouraged the people from going forward in faith. The two spies urged the people to trust God - taking Canaan, for them, was not a problem (13:30).
There are so many voices in the world (1 Cor. 14:10). The temptation is to be drawn in by those who are the most persuasive, or by those who are the most popular, or by those who seem to offer us the most benefit. The question is: Whose voice will we listen to? The voice of God, which gives courage and leads to victory, or the voice of the people, which instills fear and leads to failure?
3. Heeding the bad news, not the good. There were four pieces of bad news and three pieces of good news. The bad news was:
a) The strength of their army. “The people living in the land are strong…stronger than we are” (13:28a, 31b). The implication? “We are too weak.”
b) The size of their cities. “The cities are large and fortified.” The implication? “We can’t penetrate them or overcome them.”
c) The ferocious cannibals. “The land we passed through to explore is one that devours its inhabitants (13:32a). The implication? “They’ll eat us alive.”
d) The size and strength of the men. “We also saw the descendants of Anak there… All the people we saw in it are men of great size. We even saw the Nephilim there—the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim! To ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and we must have seemed the same to them” (13:28b, 32b, 33). The implication? “We are puny, small, like grasshoppers in comparison.”
All the bad news had to do with size and strength, but there was also good news:
a) The land was rich and nourishing. “It is flowing with milk and honey” (13:27). The implication? “What God had said was true. “
b) They could take the land. “Let’s go up now and take possession of the land because we can certainly conquer it!” (13:30). The implication? “God is able to give us victory in spite of what things look like.”
c) Their diet would change. “They cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes, which was carried on a pole by two men. They also took some pomegranates and figs” (13:23). The implication? “We will have a wonderful diet after only having quails and manna for so long. This land is plentiful, full of sweetness and nourishment. No more nasty tasting leeks, onions, and garlic as in Egypt, but sweet tasting fruit.”
Bad news always seems to outshine good news. Often we get drawn in to listening to it as these people did. You can have lots of good news and only one piece of bad news and guess what dominates your thinking, your mood, your outlook? The bad news! Pessimism always seems to overshadow optimism. Potential always seems to eclipse opportunity.
It’s not that we should be foolhardy. We need to be realistic and responsible. But let’s not allow the “naysayers” to rob us of our confidence in the Lord.
So, the cause of their discouragement was (1) dependence on men not God; (2) listening to the many not the few; (3) heeding the bad news not the good. And four…
4. Responding with fear, not courage. Moses had said: “Be courageous” (13:20). But fear gripped their hearts. They were afraid of the giants and the walled cities. They had to make a choice – “fight or flight.” Courage said: “Fight.” Fear said: “Flight.”
Elijah was faced with the same choice. God had answered his prayers and the rain stopped (1 Kgs 17). God fed him by ravens bringing him bread and meat. He had performed miracles by the power of God. The widow’s barrel of flour and jar of oil never ran out (1 Kgs 17:8-16). He had raised the widow’s son from the dead (1 Kgs 17:17-24). He had called fire down from heaven to consume the water-soaked sacrifice (1 Kgs 18:20-40). But when Jezebel threatened his life, fear struck his heart (1 Kgs 19:1-4)) and discouragement set in. He became so discouraged that he wanted to die. He did the worst thing he could do – isolated himself. He thought he was the only one left who served God (1 Kings 19:10). He engaged in this pity-party, this “poor me” attitude: “I’m the only one left. Things are really bad. There’s no hope for me. I can’t do this on my own.”
Have there been times in your life when you have experienced great fear and discouragement? What are some of the factors that seem to generate discouragement? Often, self pity and loneliness foster discouragement. Elijah thought he was all alone in serving the Lord. “I’m the only faithful one. Everyone else has given up. Nobody cares about me. Nobody knows the troubles I’ve had.” But God still had 7000 faithful to Him.
Often, discouragement comes right at the time of a spiritual high. It doesn’t back off because we read our Bible and pray. In fact, it may even get worse as Satan ramps up his attack. Satan loves to harass us when we are discouraged – he takes full advantage of our moments of weakness.
The final cause of the Israelites’ discouragement was fifthly…
5. Walking by sight, not faith. They saw the walled cities, the giants, and the cannibals. They weighed their options and decided that the cards were stacked against them. Things were not the way they had first appeared or that they expected.
We see an example of this in Cleopas and the other disciple (Lk. 24:13-35). The crucifixion was over, the news of the empty tomb was out but the disciples did not remember Jesus’ promise of resurrection. Things hadn’t turn out the way they were supposed to. They expected Jesus to be reigning as king, not crucified like a common criminal. Their hopes and expectations were shattered. Discouraged, Cleopas and the other disciple were on their way out of Jerusalem on the road to Emmaus. They were going away from the centre of blessing. They were trusting their own resources, not trusting the Savior’s promise. Then, Jesus revealed himself to them, their hearts burned, and their eyes were opened.
Living by sight puts the burden on you, but living by faith roles the burden onto God. Trusting in circumstances is risky at best and disastrous at worst. People of God must walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7).
Those, then, were the causes of discouragement. Now let’s look at…
1. Weeping. “Then the whole community broke into loud cries, and the people wept that night” (14:1). Weeping can come from many sources. Sometimes people weep for joy. Sometimes people weep from anger. Emotional circumstances can cause weeping, like the death of a loved one. The children of Israel were weeping here because of hopelessness, despair. They had nowhere to turn - behind them was the wilderness, in front of them the walled cities and giants. They felt trapped, hopeless and they wept from despair. What could they do?
Unbelievers are “without hope and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12). They have nowhere to turn. Believers, on the other hand (a) “do not grieve like the rest, who have no hope” (1 Thess. 4:13); (b) “boast in the hope of the glory of God” (Rom. 5:2); (c) trust in “the God of hope” (Rom. 15:13); (d) have “hope in Christ” Cor, 15:19); (e) have the “the hope of salvation” (1 Thess. 5:8). (f) rejoice in the “hope of eternal life” (Titus 1:2; 3:7); (g) are waiting for “the blessed hope” (Titus 2:13).
So, weeping is often a first characteristic of discouragement. Second is…
2. Complaining. “All the Israelites complained about Moses and Aaron” (Num. 14:2). Complaining had become their way of life in the wilderness. They grumbled about being thirsty (Ex. 15:24; Ex. 17:3) and God gave them water. They grumbled about being hungry (Ex. 16:2) and God gave them manna. Then they grumbled about the manna (Num. 11:4-6) and God gave them quails. They grumbled that God had brought them out to die (Deut 1:27) and repeatedly God protected them, delivered them, provided for them.
“The whole community told them, ‘If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this wilderness!’” (14:2). Did they really think that death in Egypt would be better? How soon their memories of bondage in Egypt had faded. They had lived for 400 years in abject slavery, surrounded by death, abuse, and hatred. And now they are complaining?
How often we look upon grumbling as a little sin. But what seems like a little sin soon gets possession of us. Grumbling and complaining quickly affect your outlook on the whole of life – it becomes part of your personality. But Christians should be known for our thankfulness, for all the blessings God showers upon us. Do you know how blessed we really are? What blessings come to mind right now? We should be the most thankful people.
Christians should be the most positive-thinking people. We have everything to be positive about. What should we be positive about? We know who we are, why we’re here, and where we’re going. We have everything to live for in hope and security.
If we become infected with the sin of grumbling, it can come back at any time and for the slightest of reasons. It soon becomes the standard way we respond to any negative circumstance – we can’t see beyond it.
Eve’s heart-problem was a secret complaint. Her underlying attitude seems to have been a secret grumble as evidenced in her misquote of what God said: “You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die” (Gen. 3:3). Her secret grumble soon got out of control. Urged on by Satan she said in her heart: “Why shouldn’t we eat of this tree anyway. God isn’t the good God we thought. He’s depriving us of a benefit that is rightly ours.” This is how easily a secret complaint can become outright rebellion and then blame: “The serpent deceived me and I ate” (Gen. 3:13). Just so with the Israelites. There was weeping and complaining, and then…
3. Blaming. “Why is the Lord bringing us into this land to die by the sword? Our wives and children will become plunder” (14:3). Blame is the core of most negative emotions. It is the reason why we get angry, jealous, envious. We don’t want to take responsibility for our own actions.
Blame is holding someone else responsible for hurting us, depriving us of something, cheating us etc. “God is responsible for this problem at the edge of Canaan. He brought us out here - we didn’t want to come at all. We’re victims of a mean trick!”
Blame never affirms but criticizes. Never builds up, but destroys. Never defends, but attacks. Never forgets, but remembers. Never forgives, but accuses. Never restores, but wounds. Never smiles, but frowns. Never solves, but complicates. Never unites, but separates.
For several years my wife and I volunteered in the chaplaincy program at a prison. All the men in that prison were there because they had done something wrong, but they always had an excuse. It was their parents’ fault or, they hit hard times, or the judicial system isn’t fair. They constantly had to justify themselves by blaming someone else.
We must take responsibility for our own actions. The lawyer in Lk. 10:29 didn’t want to take responsibility so he attempted to justify himself. Jesus never tried to justify himself - even when he was wrongfully accused (cf. Luke 4:30; Luke 23:9; 1 Pet. 2:22-24).
We should practice self-examination not self-justification. Psalm 139:23-24 says, “Search me, O God” and 1 Cor. 11:28, “Let a man examine himself…”
Instead of the works of the flesh (like hate and blame), we should produce the fruit of the Spirit – “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control.” (Gal. 5:22).
Weeping, complaining, blaming all led to…
4. Rebellion. “So they said to one another, ‘Let’s appoint a leader and go back to Egypt’” (Num. 14:4). God and Moses are out of the picture now. “Let us…” They were saying: “It’s all up to us now. Let’s take control – self-government is what we need.” This was out-and-out rebellion. The Israelites never judged their rebellious spirit even after this experience. Eventually, they provoked Moses, causing him to lash out in anger against them - “Listen, you rebels!” (Num. 20:10) - as a result of which he was barred from entering the promised land.
Rebellion is the overthrow of authority, resistance to government. Rebellion reveals underlying attitudes like insubordination, disobedience, distrust, anger, cynicism.
Jesus was never rebellious. Isaiah prophesied of Jesus, “I was not rebellious…” (Isa. 50:5). Peter says, “When he was insulted, he did not insult in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten but entrusted himself to the one who judges justly” (1 Pet. 2:23).
Weeping, complaining, blaming, rebellion. Then…
5. Murder. “The whole community threatened to stone them” (14:10). Anger goes all the way from mild irritation, indignation, to wrath, fury, and to uncontrolled rage. When fully expressed, anger produces murder. That’s what Jesus said, “From the heart come evil thoughts, murders…” (Matt. 15:19).
What is the biblical teaching about anger? “Be angry and do not sin” (Eph. 4:26). Anger is a God-given emotion but anger must not be sinful. It’s a question of controlling it, not letting it dominate you or be improperly expressed. Jesus expressed anger sometimes but he was only ever angry for the right reasons and with complete control (e.g. with the money changers, religious hypocrites).
Anger must have safeguards. Don’t prolong anger – “Don’t let the sun go down on your anger (Eph. 4:26b), Anger needs to be curtailed or it will turn into bitterness and sin. “Don’t give the devil an opportunity” (Eph. 4:27). Don’t let your anger be expressed in such a way that you are weakened and the devil reproduces his character in you. Sustained, uncontrolled anger gives the devil an open door. When it gets beyond your control, you know this is not righteous anger. When you act in a way that fails to express the nature and character of Christ, you know this is not righteous anger. When your anger reflects badly on your testimony and the character of God, you know this is not righteous anger. Sadly, there are many angry people in our churches.
We’ve seen the causes of discouragement (13:26-33); the characteristics of discouragement (14:1-10). Now…
Unabated discouragement can lead to rebellion and even murderous intent. There are consequences for uncontrolled fleshly activity, for unabated discouragement. There is the consequence of…
1. Forfeiting God’s blessings. The Israelites were barred from the land and wandered 40 years. They missed out on God’s blessings - the very best that God had in store for them – and they didn’t even know it. What a tragedy of epic proportions! Here they were, on the verge of entering into all the glorious provision and promises of God and they lost it!
I wonder, sometimes, how many times we fail to enter into the wonderful provision and promises of God because of rebellion and uncontrolled anger, even murderous thoughts and intentions? How many times do we miss out on God’s blessings because of the unjudged activity of our flesh?
One consequence of unabated discouragement is forfeiting God’s blessings. There is also the consequence of…
2. God’s discipline that leads to death. The ten spies died (14:36-37) because they complained against Moses and caused the people to sin. God chastises his children as a faithful Father - “Whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son…” (Heb 12:6). If we persist in this way of thinking and living, we may come under God’s discipline. Sometimes, God’s discipline ends in death – e.g. if Christians do not judge their own sinful behavior (1 Cor. 11:30).
The consequence for unabated discouragement in this story is the discipline of God – forfeiting God’s blessing and even death itself, the most extreme form of God’s judgment.
There is the consequence of missing out on God’s blessings, the consequence of God’s discipline, and there is also the consequence of…
3. Disobedience that leads to defeat (14:25, 39-45). Disobedience may lead to defeat. Chastened by the death of the 10 spies, the people now tried to go into the land in their own strength and they suffered enormous defeat. Their confidence was in themselves, not God. As a result, they were defeated by the Amalekites (14:45).
1. Conquering giants requires great skill and discipline. It requires expertise and self-control to throw a sling shot at giants. Ultimately, only God can defeat the giant, only he can win the victory.
2. Winning the battle over spiritual giants isn’t won with a sword. It’s won with the “shield of faith” (Eph. 6:16), which preserves us from enemy attacks, keeps us free from fear, protects us from the shouts of threats, gives us confidence in the midst of battle - confidence in God.
Billy Graham once said…
“Today many people are living in the bondage of fear. In a recent study, a psychiatrist said that the greatest problem facing his patients was fear. Afraid of going insane, committing suicide, being alone, or afraid of heart disease, cancer, disaster, or death. We are becoming a nation of fearful people. Down through the centuries in times of trouble, temptation, trial, bereavement, and crisis, God has brought courage to the hearts of those who love Him. The Bible is crowded with assurances of God’s help and comfort in every kind of trouble which might cause fears to arise in the human heart. Today, the Christian can come to the Scriptures with full assurance that God is going to deliver the person who puts his trust and confidence in God. Christians can look into the future with promise, hope, and joy, and without fear, discouragement, or despondency.”
3. The antidote for discouragement is courage (14:6-9). The 10 spies were frozen with fear. The 2 spies were motivated by courage - brave, fearless, unswerving in their faith in God. Remember: “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment” (2 Tim. 1:7).
4. The giant of discouragement can be overcome through intercessory prayer (14:13-19). God offered to destroy the entire nation and make a new nation through Moses’ descendants (14:11-12). But Moses, in grace and mercy, interceded on behalf of the people (14:13-19). Such is the great value of intercessory prayer.
The wilderness wanderings of the Israelites is about to end. God’s judgement against the first generation of Israelites to come out of Egypt is over. After 40 years, they are back at Kadesh and they are about to enter the promised land. This is the place of judgement for this was the place where their wilderness wanderings began under the judgement of God. This is the place where God resumes his work, where God’s plans were temporarily interrupted due to Israel’s unbelief and rebellion, where God shows that his purposes and plans never fail. This is the place of departure where God’s judgement was pronounced and to which God’s people must always return in order to start afresh with God.
Sin cannot be swept under the carpet. It must always be dealt with openly and honestly. A new, fresh walk with God always starts at the point of departure. Continuance in the journey to the Promised Land begins at the place where it fell apart. God had been faithful to His character of holiness and justice. The question now is: Would the next generation (a) sanctify the Lord God in their hearts, and (b) demonstrate that commitment by faith and obedience? - the two characteristics that God demands and that were absent from the previous generation.
This is a place of sorrow and joy - sorrow at what had caused the demise of their fathers and God’s judgement on them; joy that they served a merciful God who is fully trustworthy and will complete his promise.
The subject of this study is “Accountability to God.” The theological principle that we learn in this passage is that God holds us accountable - you cannot presume on the grace of God.
This is a sad chapter by all accounts because we immediately run into another dispute over water at Kadesh, a dispute that is framed by (a) the death of Miriam at the beginning, (b) the death of Aaron at the end, and (c) the prevention of Moses from entering the land in the middle.
In spite of God’s faithfulness, we see that...
Other than Joshua and Caleb, only Moses, Aaron, and Miriam remained from the previous generation and now Miriam, Moses’ sister, has just died (20:1). She is the one who had intervened and cared for Moses at his birth and who, in a sense, risked her life for Moses back then (Ex. 2:4-9). Miriam is the one who, at the beginning of their desert wanderings, led their victory song of thanksgiving after crossing the Red Sea (Ex. 15). Now, at the end of their wilderness wanderings, Miriam is dead. Moses had loved his sister deeply, so much so that he had interceded for her to be healed when God struck her with leprosy after challenging Moses’ authority (Num. 12:1-13). Moses’ precious sister is dead and buried in this place.
Undoubtedly this detail is recorded here as a prelude to Moses’ downfall in this chapter. The writer wants us to connect Moses’ grief over the death of his sister to the complaints of the people that follow and then with his subsequent action. Barely has his sister been laid in the grave than it says, “There was no water for the community, so they assembled against Moses and Aaron” (20:2).
Now only Moses and Aaron are left to lead a new generation, who needed to experience and know Yahweh – his nature, his character, his demands of obedience and faith. This generation had only heard about God’s miraculous deliverance from Egypt – they had not experienced it themselves. What they had experienced was God’s acts of judgement as their fathers died in the wilderness. And we see now that they had not learned from their experiences - their hearts and attitudes were no different from the previous generation.
The question is: Would they now experience the same demise as their fathers? Would they see the future as hopeless as their fathers had? Perhaps so, for they contended with Moses saying, “If only we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord” (20:3). That’s incredible! They were actually calling for God’s judgement to fall on them. They would rather be killed by God because of an apparent lack of water than experience the power of God in supplying all their needs. “4 Why have you brought the Lord’s assembly into this wilderness for us and our livestock to die here? 5 Why have you led us up from Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It’s not a place of grain, figs, vines, and pomegranates, and there is no water to drink!” (20:4-5). They were actually invoking divine judgement. They were saying that it would have been better to have died when the others did.
To prefer death over life is utter despair. To describe as “evil” the place to which God had brought them is blasphemy. To prefer God’s judgement over liberty is outright rejection. To infer that Moses’ intent was to kill them is total distrust. To blame Moses and Aaron for their circumstances is rebellion. This is heartlessness at its worst, utter callousness. Apparently this second generation is no different than the first generation who had just died in the wilderness. They are just like their parents who grumbled about the lack of water (cf. Ex. 15:23-26; 17:1-7). These are people whose sole focus in life was themselves - their needs, their wants superseded anything or anyone else. It didn’t matter to them that Moses and Aaron had just lost their sister and were consumed with grief as they mourned her death. That didn’t hinder the people complaining. They were so insensitive, so self-centred, so concerned with themselves.
Discontent seems to be an incurable disease. It’s contagious – spreads like wild fire through a group of people. Whiners only think of themselves. They don't consider the needs or feelings of others.
Complaining and murmuring against others is a spiritual problem. It’s a lack of submission. It’s arrogance (“I know best - my wants are the priority”). It’s the absence of basic Christian love. How inappropriate was this whining against Moses and Aaron. But when people are out of fellowship with God and focused on self, this is what happens. They act rudely and insensitively. They trample on others and cause untold hurt.
Spiritually, the Israelites were far from God and living according to the flesh. Complainers never seem to take self-responsibility. They never suggest solutions, but only voice complaints. They never take initiative, but always expect others to look after them. Complaining against God’s leaders is to complain against God.
This is, at its root, spiritual rebellion. And rebellion, at its root, is unbelief displayed in anger. These people didn’t trust God to provide for their needs. They make no mention of God’s grace in withholding judgement, God’s provision of food and water, God’s protection from the heat and their enemies. How long is it going to take for them to “get it”? When will they begin to trust God? Do they even know God at all?
Everything that God had done so far in their journey had proved conclusively that God is totally faithful and fully trustworthy, God is all-powerful and all-knowing. God is gracious, long suffering, patient, forgiving. Yet, despite all that they had experienced about God, they were still unbelieving. They still didn’t trust God or God’s leaders. They were still cynical that Moses had brought them out here to die (20:3-4). The wilderness, in their estimation, was now an “evil place” (20:5), a place with no grain, no figs, no vines, no pomegranates and, most importantly, no water. Isn’t it ironic, that the fruits they claimed were missing (figs, vines, and pomegranates) were the very fruits the spies had brought back from Canaan 40 years before (13:23)?
Some people’s hearts never seem to change. So, what do we do when faced with this attitude?
What were Moses and Aaron to do? What resource did they have? They did the only right and proper thing to do – they turned to God and entreated him at “the doorway of the tent of meeting” (20:6a) where they fell on their faces before God. In other words, they prostrated themselves before God. They were at the end of their tether. And when you’re at the end of your tether there’s only one place to go – to God. To prostrate oneself is an indication of dependence, humility, servanthood, the lesser bowing before the greater. As someone else has said, “Humility and servanthood are the prerequisites for the manifestation of God’s presence and blessing” (R. Dennis Cole, NAC, Numbers, 326).
“And the glory of the Lord appeared to them (20:6b). It doesn’t say what this looked like or how God revealed his glory to them. Evidently, there was some visible demonstration of God’s presence – perhaps the fire and the cloud. And God graciously responded (20:7-8) by giving Moses and Aaron three simple instructions.
1. Moses was to “take the rod” (20:8a). This was no ordinary rod – it was “the” rod. This was the rod that he had obediently stretched out over the waters of the Red Sea. This was the rod with which he had obediently struck the rock before (Ex. 17:2-6).
2. Moses and Aaron were to “assemble the community” (20:8b). Moses the prophet and Aaron the priest were to gather the people in front of the rock. They were God’s agents to perform God’s miracle.
3. Moses was to “speak to the rock while they watch, and it will yield its water” (20:8c). The rod that had parted the death-threatening waters at the Red Sea now produces life-giving water from a dead rock. Since when could rocks yield water? Apparently this rock could. God said, “You will bring out water for them from the rock and provide drink for the community and their livestock” (20:8d). This was a “water-producing” rock. There was already water in this rock ready to come out.
This is pure, boundless grace. This is grace for the rebellious. This is the undeserved favor of God, His unmerited goodness. As one commentator puts it, “this was water for the thirsty, bread for the hungry, a home for the homeless, rest for the weary, pardon for the sinful” (James Philip, Mastering the O.T., Numbers, 224). I would say this is the good news of the gospel, salvation for sinners, redemption for rebels, restoration for the fallen, reconciliation for the broken, reassurance for the fearful, hope for the despondent, forgiveness for the sinful, mercy for the offenders, pardon for the guilty.
Some people’s hearts, then, never seem to change. Knowing how to respond takes dependence on God. At step #1, Moses’ response was perfectly obedient – he took the rod. So also at step #2 – he gathered the people together. But at step #3, we see that...
This was the perfect storm. The people’s rebellion against their leaders incited their leaders’ rebellion against them. You can understand Moses’ frustration, can’t you? After all these years, the people’s hearts had not changed. Unbelief and rebellion could again prevent them from entering the land. When would they stop? When would they learn? When would they change and submit?
Now, Moses loses it in what he said and what he did. This is where it’s so easy for leaders in the heat of the moment to go wrong. As soon as he began to speak, Moses’ deep-seated anger and resentment and bitterness flooded out in a torrent. The build-up of the last 40 years came pouring out. Instead of speaking to the rock, he railed against the people. He took the rod, just as God had commanded him, he and Aaron gathered the people together in front of the rock, just as God had commanded him, and Moses said, “Listen, you rebels!” (20:10a).
Were they in fact rebels? Yes, indeed they were. But now, so was Moses. His words show utter defiance against God, utter insubordination. Jesus said: “The mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart” (Matt. 12:34). Jesus said that, “from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, slander” (Matt. 15:19). James tells us that the tongue is the most difficult member of the body to control and often the tongue expresses the anger that is inside (James 3:5-8). Anger is an emotion that is so hard to suppress sometimes. And it is so often displayed in what we say and what we do.
“Listen, you rebels, must we bring water out of this rock for you?”(20:10). Moses refers to himself and Aaron (we) as though they had the power to perform a miracle. He did not attribute this provision of water to God at all but took the responsibility and credit for themselves. Moses now is no different from the pagan magicians of Canaan, claiming miraculous power, taking the place of God. Moses changed God’s instructions in order to take the opportunity to vent his anger.
So, Moses lost it. First he lost it in what he said - he did not speak to the rock but railed against the people. And then he lost it in what he did - instead of speaking to the rock he struck it with the rod, not once but twice. “Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff (20:11a).
To strike the rock was, symbolically, to strike God. The rock was a symbol of God’s provision and favor. The apostle Paul makes the connection: “That rock was Christ” (1 Cor. 10:4). At that moment, Moses lost communion with God. In Ex. 17, Moses was instructed to strike the rock because there it was a picture of the Lord Jesus, smitten on the cross. But now, Moses was to speak to the rock because here it is a picture that Jesus’ death was “once-for-all” – no need to repeat it, no more offering for sin.
Moses now had the same rebellious attitude as the people. In his anger he acted no differently than they did. The root problem was the same – unbelief. The people looked at Moses and not God. Moses looked at the people and not God. This was a failure to do what’s right no matter what.
We respond this way sometimes don’t we? We fail to trust God and instead give in to feelings of resentment, anger, failure, frustration. I wonder what situations are the most likely to cause you to act this way? This was rebellion, disobedience, distrust of God and for that there would be dire consequences; Moses would pay dearly. What a tragedy that the meekest man who ever lived failed in his meekness, just like Peter, a bold man who failed because of fear.
Sometimes we respond emotionally and disobey God. And...
There were two responses from God - the response of grace and the response of judgement.
1. God responded to the people in grace. “Abundant water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank” (20:11b). In spite of the people’s complaints and in spite of Moses’ behavior, God poured out his grace. Who but God could produce water from a rock? Who but God in his grace would provide water for rebellious, ungrateful people? Who but God in his grace would abundantly supply their needs? What experiences have you had where God has graciously provided for your needs even though you have been disobedient?
This is our God. He is benevolent even when we are ungrateful. He provides for our needs even when we don’t give him the credit. He does not retaliate even when we attack him. Our sinfulness does not prevent God pouring out his grace. But beware of this - God’s grace does not cover over his holiness nor does it withhold his discipline. God responded to his people in grace, and...
2. God responded to his leaders in judgement. “But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Because you did not trust me to demonstrate my holiness in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this assembly into the land I have given them’” (20:12). Remember our thesis: God holds us accountable - you cannot presume on the grace of God.
Moses and Aaron were examples to the people. They were God’s mouthpiece to the people. They were God’s agents in carrying out his instructions. They were commissioned to teach the people about God – his ways, his purposes, his character, his nature.
When we don’t trust God, we fail Him. Moses and Aaron had not trusted God’s word nor been obedient to God’s instruction. If they had, they would have demonstrated their faith. If they had, they would have given glory to God. At its root, Moses’ sin here was not that he struck the rock rather than speaking to it. Surely Moses did not think that striking the rock would be any more successful in bringing water from the rock than speaking to it! No, God points out the root problem, “You did not trust me to demonstrate my holiness in the sight the Israelites (20:12).
Moses acted with uncontrolled anger, striking rather than speaking, because he did not trust God. And because he did not trust God he did not cause the people to reverence God, “to regard Christ the Lord as holy” (1 Pet. 3:15).
So, rebellion and unbelief were manifested by the people in their rebellion against Moses and by Moses in not teaching them who God is and how he acts. Now, after all these years of mediating faithfully between God and the people (interceding for them, pleading for them, offering his life for them), he now fails through rebellion and unbelief himself. Moses had seen their unbelief and rebellion over and over again. Instead of trusting the power and word and character of God, perhaps he concluded that entrance into the promised land would never happen.
What wonder and pathos occurs here at Kadesh. Once before, the Israelites contended with Moses about the lack of water at Rephidim (Ex.17:7) and those waters were called Meribah (which means “contention”). That time, God instructed Moses to strike the rock and God graciously produced water. Now, 40 years later, the new generation of Israelites were evidently no different than their predecessors. Now once more they complain about the lack of water and again the place is called “the waters of Meribah” not because they contended with Moses, but this time because “the Israelites quarreled (contended) with the Lord, and he demonstrated his holiness to them” (20:13). Once more God shows himself to be both gracious and holy.
Disobedience and rebellion bring God’s judgement. Previously (Ex. 17:2-6) Moses obeyed God and struck the rock. But now, he was to speak to the rock and instead he struck it. It’s so easy to think that what you did before is alright to do again, that what God instructed you to do the first time is what he wants you to do the next time, that if it was alright to strike the rock the first time, why not now? Perhaps that’s how Moses justified his action now.
It’s so easy to move from humility (v. 6) to haughtiness (v.11), from dependence to independence, from utter faithfulness to utter rebellion, from consummate meekness to outright brashness, to fall from intimacy with God to defamation of God.
It’s so easy! And it can happen just that quickly, as it did for Moses. Now God’s great prophet and priest will experience the same judgement as the rebellious first generation. Neither Moses nor Aaron will not enter the land. Having failed as their mediator, Moses forfeited his office. Someone else would have the privilege of leading the people into the land. For one moment Moses went wrong and for that he would not live to see God fulfill his promise. He would not complete his leadership mission. He would not enter the promised land. He would miss the climax of all that he had lived for during the past 40 years. He would miss the parade, the celebration, the graduation, the victory for which he had worked so hard and so patiently.
I always think that’s so sad, such a sad end for such a great leader. And yet is it so sad? In one sense “yes” – he missed the grand finale. But in another sense, “no” – the time had come for a change of leadership and God had Joshua waiting in the wings. Joshua would lead the next generation into the land, the people that Moses and Aaron considered rebels, the people that Moses and Aaron resented so deeply. They would enter the land but Moses and Aaron would not. As Alfred Edersheim eloquently puts it: “Moses and Aaron (had become) aged pilgrims, worn with the long way through the wilderness, and footsore with its roughness and stones, whose strength momentarily failed when the weary journey was once more resumed, and who in their weariness stumbled at the rock of offence” (Edersheim’s Bible History, Vol. II, 188).
Moses would only see the land from a distance and Aaron would not even get a glimpse of it. What a sad end to such an illustrious servant. We see this in other great servants of God, don’t we? Like Elijah, who despaired and was removed from office and replaced by Elisha. Like John the Baptist, who despaired of Jesus’ power and person, doubted that Jesus was the Messiah, questioned how Jesus was using his power, thought that he was mistaken as to who Jesus was (Matt. 11:1-3), and he too was removed from office.
1. You cannot presume on the grace of God. Remember: God holds us accountable - don’t take the grace of God for granted. God’s grace does not justify or overlook our disobedience. Rebellion in any form and to any degree is never glossed over by God. There are always consequences to our actions. There were consequences for the Israelites – all the men over the age of 20 died in the wilderness (14:22-23, 29) - and there were consequences for Moses and Aaron.
2. When we sin willfully, we may lose our usefulness for God. He may not be able to use us to accomplish his purposes. You can’t act contrary to God’s word and God’s will and still think you can walk in God’s way. “Can a man embrace fire and his clothes not be burned?” (Prov. 6:27). No! If you play with fire, you’ll get burned. It’s like our mothers used to say: “Don’t play with matches!”
3. None of us is exempt from the works of the flesh. The apostle Paul wrote, “I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think” (Rom. 12:3). “Do not be arrogant, but beware” (Rom. 11:20).
Well, we have much to learn from these wonderful O.T. accounts of the patriarchs, men and women who served God faithfully, whose lives are recorded in holy Scripture. “For whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that we may have hope through endurance and through the encouragement from the Scriptures” (Rom. 15:4).
4. Your legacy in life isn’t how you started – it’s how you finish. Those of us in the last lap of life need to strive to finish well. Remember, we are accountable to God.
Does anyone here like snakes? I don’t, that’s for sure. Many people think that Africa is full of snakes but the truth is that, in all my trips to Africa, I have never seen one there. In 2009 I was in Lusaka, Zambia, at the home of some missionaries from Canada. When I was leaving their house to walk back to my room in the mission guest house, they said, “Be sure to walk in the middle of the laneway away from the bushes on either side. A few days ago we killed a cobra in our backyard!” That’s the closest I have come to a snake in Africa.
One time I was going to lead a team from our church on a short-term missions trip to Burkina Faso, West Africa. At one of the preparatory meetings with the team, one of the questions that was asked a couple of times was: “Are there snakes there?”
Some years ago, a young woman at our church encountered a snake in her apartment here in Canada. She came out of the shower and discovered a snake in her bedroom - that’s too close for comfort!
Well, in our passage today, the Israelites also encountered deadly snakes. The subject of our study is: “Faith – the cure for sin.” The theological principle that we learn from this passage is that salvation is by the grace of God alone through faith in Jesus Christ.
Consider the background to this story for a moment. Just before the Israelites were about to enter the promised land, Aaron had died because of his rebellion against God at the waters of Meribah (20:24) and the Israelites had been mourning his death for 30 days. Then they continued their journey toward Canaan and, as had happened many times before, “the people became impatient because of the journey” (21:4).
Impatience often causes us to complain against God. Complaints against God are the expression of discontent with God. Sometimes we might not even be aware of what we are doing, but...
The Israelites frequently expressed their discontent and complained against God. From a human perspective you can understand why. How would you feel if you had traipsed for 40 years in the scorching heat of a barren wilderness, if you had eaten the same food day after day, if your fathers and uncles etc. had all died along the way and you were left all alone to face the unknown future, if you didn't know where your next meal was coming from, if you were thirsty and there was no water in sight, and now one of your beloved leaders was dead?
But for all these years, God had proven himself faithful. Surely, they knew by now that he would bring them through, that he would provide for them and protect them. Even though this generation had not seen the Red Sea miracle, they had seen God’s faithful day-after-day provision for the last 20 years at least. How much more evidence did they need? Why did they still not trust him? I think the answer is because of discontent and discouragement.
So, once again the people spoke against God and against Moses. “Why have you led us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread or water, and we detest this wretched food!” (21:5). It seems like this has become their “wilderness refrain.” In fact, they had used these or similar words of complaint at least nine times by now. “Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die here? ... We wish we had stayed in Egypt... There’s no food or water... We hate this detestable bread – it’s worthless and contemptible.”
These were direct accusations against God’s gracious provision all these years. They threw God’s grace and goodness back in his face. In fact, their complaint was completely untrue and their discontent was thoroughly unwarranted. They complained that they had “no water,” when in fact God had provided them with water over and over again. They complained that they had “no bread,” when in fact God had faithfully provided food every day.
Their real complaint was that they did not like the food – “this worthless bread” is how they described it. They considered God’s provision to be “worthless.” I wonder sometimes how often we consider God’s provision for us to be worthless. Oh, we may not actually use that word but in our attitudes and ingratitude isn’t that what we say to God? I sometimes wonder how often our complaints are unwittingly complaints directly against God. You may not mean it that way but ultimately that’s who you are complaining against, for “every good and perfect gift is from above” (James 1:17). And yet, often we don't appreciate what God has given us, do we?
Like the Israelites, we think it should be better - not just bread but meat and all the trimmings; not just water but good, tasty drinks; not just a 3 bedroom home in the suburbs but an estate in the country; not just a middle management job but an executive position; not just able to meet the monthly rent but able to take exotic trips once in a while.
It’s so easy to become discontented with our lot in life. We seem to have very short memories when it comes to God’s provision, protection, and power. We seem to operate on such a short time line that, not long after one manifestation of God’s provision or protection, we expect another display of his power. And if that doesn’t happen, we become discouraged and discontented and start thinking bad thoughts about God. There’s no knowing how critical of God we can be when our hearts are filled with rebellion and discontent. And the root of discontent and rebellion is unbelief.
A critical spirit spreads like gangrene so that even God’s grace in Christ comes under attack. Nothing can satisfy the human heart until you are reconciled to God, until you have an intimate, saving relationship with God through Jesus Christ. And even then, we have to watch our hearts. Negativity, disunity, complaining, and accusations spring from our hearts so easily and so quickly. If you allow a root of bitterness to spring up (Heb. 12:15), it can destroy you. Only God in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit can fully and eternally satisfy our hearts. And yet, so many people are complaining and critical. Why is that? Because of rebellion which is rooted in self-centeredness and, ultimately, in distrust of God.
If you don’t maintain an intimate, vibrant relationship with God through Jesus Christ, you will never be satisfied - you’ll always want more or something different. As St. Augustine said: “Our hearts are restless until we find our rest in Thee.” Or, as King Solomon observed, everything under the sun is futility without God. He tried to find satisfaction in wine, women, wealth, and music. “All that my eyes desired, I did not deny them… When I considered all that I had accomplished and what I had labored to achieve, I found everything to be futile and a pursuit of the wind. Here is nothing to be gained under the sun” (Eccl. 2:10ff.) He continues, “I observed all the work of God and concluded that a person is unable to discover the work that is done under the sun. Even though a person labors hard to explore it, he cannot find it; even if a wise person claims to know it, he is unable to discover it” (Eccl. 8:17). What then was Solomon’s conclusion? “13 When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this: fear God and keep his commands, because this is for all humanity. 14 For God will bring every act to judgment, including every hidden thing, whether good or evil” (Eccl. 12:13-14).
Only when your heart is right with God and you live with an eternal perspective will you be fully satisfied. On previous occasions when the Israelites had complained, God had responded in grace and provided what they wanted. But this time, God did not provide them with what they wanted. Enough is enough. The time had come for punishment for their sin - their constant sinful words, actions, and attitudes; their constant complaining and discontent.
There comes a time when...
“Then the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and they bit them so that many Israelites died” (21:6). This time, God did not respond to their complaints with the provision of food and water but with immediate judgement in the form of poisonous snake bites. This would certainly get your attention, wouldn’t it? Deadly snake bites.
The black mamba is one of the world’s deadliest snakes. It is the longest species of venomous snakes in Africa. It is the second longest venomous snake in the world after the King Cobra. It is also one of the fastest moving snakes on earth, if not the fastest. The venom of the black mamba is one of the most rapid-acting. In severe cases, a bite from a black mamba can kill an adult human in as little as 20 minutes. In fact, a black mamba can kill an elephant.
Some time ago, my wife and I heard a missionary tell his life story. He grew up as a missionary kid in a remote village of Ivory Coast where they had deadly snakes. One day, when he and his little friends were out playing, one of the boys was bitten by a deadly snake. Being 100 miles from a hospital, there was nothing they could do. He told how he held his little seven year old friend in his arms, how the little boy’s arm, where he had been bitten, swelled up so much that the skin of his arm split. The pain was excruciating and all he could tell his little friend was, “It’s alright. Soon the pain will be over and you will be in heaven with Jesus.” He held him until he died and then he and his friends had to bury him. A deadly snake bite for which they had no cure.
Death is the last enemy for which we have no cure. But one day even death will be destroyed by Jesus Christ. When he returns in power and glory, death will be swallowed up in victory.
None of us knows when we will die. None of the passengers on Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on July 17, 2014, knew that it would be shot down over eastern Ukraine and that all 283 passengers and 15 crew would be killed that day. None of the passengers on TransAsia Airways flight 222, flying from Taiwan to Penhu Island on July 23, 2014, knew that the plane would crash during the approach to land in bad weather at Magong Airport and that, of the 58 people on board, only 10 would survive. None of the passengers on Algerian Airlines flight 5017, flying from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, to Algiers, Algeria, on July 24, 2014, knew that it would crash near Gossi, Mali and that all 110 passengers and 6 crew would die that day.
None of us knows when we will die and none of us wants to die, do we? But all of us will die in due course, unless the Lord Jesus comes in our lifetime. That’s the Christian hope - the coming of the Lord while we are alive. Satan doesn’t want us to have hope in Christ. He doesn’t want anyone to trust Christ for salvation. Nor does He want Christians to have the joy of their salvation. He wants us to abandon our faith in Christ or, at the very least, to rob us of the joy of our salvation in Christ. And one of his primary methods of doing this is through discontent and discouragement.
Snake bites, then, are a picture of God’s judgement for sin. And the only recourse when we recognize that we have sinned is to repent and cast ourselves on the mercy of God.
How quickly the Israelites recanted and confessed their sin. When they recognized that God was judging them, how quickly they changed their tune from complaining and discontent to repentance and confession. “The people then came to Moses and said, ‘We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Intercede with the Lord so that he will take the snakes away from us” (21:7). The Israelites recognized that this was God’s judgement on them for their sinful complaints and discontent. The prospect of dying certainly got their attention.
God’s judgement can only be assuaged by repentance. That’s why the people responded as they did. They knew that they had sinned and needed to get right with God. The only cure for “snake bites” is repentance and confession of sin, which is exactly what the people did. They said, “We have sinned,” and they named the sin - “speaking against the Lord and against you (Moses) (21:7a). And they begged Moses to intercede for them with God again to “take the snakes away from us. So Moses interceded for the people” (21:7b). We don't know what Moses said, but we do know that...
Once more, God responded in grace. God’s gracious response was to provide a substitute in the form of a brass serpent on a pole. “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a snake image and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will recover” (21:8).
Why did it have to be set up on a pole? Because it was a sign for everyone to see and because it was available for everyone. All they had to do was look at it and they would be healed. Anyone who looked at it with understanding and belief (that’s the connotation) would live and not die. “So Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole. Whenever someone was bitten, and he looked at the bronze snake, he recovered” (21:9).
The cure for “snake bites” is a look of faith. The cause of death becomes the source of life. This was not some sort of mid-eastern magic or ritual. This was a test of faith. Were they willing to look at a symbol of the cause of their death in order to have healing, forgiveness, and life? This could only be a look of faith for it would take faith to look at a brass serpent in the expectation that they would be healed, wouldn’t it? Just as the sacrifice of innocent animals in the O.T. was sufficient for sinful people to live, so here, those who were dying because of snake bites could be restored to life by looking at the image of a dead snake. The only pre-requisite was that they must identify with the substitute. In the case of an innocent animal, they identified with it by a touch of faith - laying their hand on the animal’s head. Here they must identify with the brass snake by a look of faith.
The question is: How would the Israelites have viewed this remedy? How would they have understood it? Would they intuitively connect it with the garden of Eden, where sin came through the “bite” of the serpent and death through sin? Would they have understand that the brass serpent was symbolic of what they were and what they deserved? Would they understand that, instead of killing them, a look of faith at the brass serpent would heal them? Would they understand that when the brass serpent was raised up on a pole, its activity was dead, its bite was impossible, its poison impotent, and that they were free from its tyranny?
The question is: Would the Israelites see in the symbol a reflection of the reality to which the symbol pointed? That either they would die or a substitute must take their place, that what was causing their death must itself be put to death in order for them to live, that death was the consequence of their sin - unless God provided a way of escape. The way of escape was through God’s provision of a substitute sacrifice that atoned for their sin, and their acceptance of that substitute sacrifice indicated by a look of faith, without which they would die.
So, the gospel of God’s grace to them was that the death of their sin must be put on public display and they must trust in God’s word that their look of faith would give them life. To look in faith at the symbol of what was causing their death is a “paradoxical act of faith in a God who controls all power over life or death” (R. Dennis Cole, Numbers, 350). This, of course, is an illustration of the death of Christ by which people who are dying spiritually can be saved, healed by the death of a Substitute on the cross. This brass serpent looks forward to the one final sacrificial Substitute in the death of Jesus Christ.
God said that “the wages of sin is death” but God also said that “the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). Jesus took on himself our sin and died our death to satisfy the holy demands of God against our sin, so that by faith in him we would not have to die eternally, but have the present possession of eternal life. In fact, in speaking with Nicodemus, Jesus himself refers to this passage in Num. 21 as analogous to his own death. He said, “ 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. 19 This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil” (Jn. 3:14-19).
In explaining the nature and necessity of new birth, Jesus reminds Nicodemus of the O.T. experience of the brass serpent. The analogy is as follows...
1. Sin is like a venomous snake bite - it will kill you. It courses through your entire body so that no part of it escapes the deadly venom. We are tainted by sin in every part of our being. Of course, the analogy of the snake bite goes back even further to Genesis 3, where sin was introduced to our original parents by Satan through the serpent. And thus, the disease of sin spread through the entire human race – i.e. sin permanently corrupted all the human race; it was permanently engraved on our spiritual DNA. Thus, like the Israelites, we need healing from the disease of sin. As with the venomous snake bite, there is no time to be wasted to save your life. Thus, God, at just the right time, provided his Son to be our Saviour, so that by his death we can live.
So first, the analogy is that sin is like a venomous snake bite. Second, the analogy is that...
2. Sin demands God’s punishment. Because the Israelites sinned by complaining against God, they were punished. God does not overlook or excuse or water down sin. Sin is sin and God is holy – he cannot tolerate sin. God said, “The person who sins is the one who will die” (Ezek. 18:20). Sin is rebellion against God, disobedience. Sin blinds us and binds us so that we cannot please God, cannot accept the truth of God about ourselves. Sin separates us from God. This was true of Nicodemus, who approached Jesus at night - a reflection of the darkness of his soul. He needed new birth. He needed his spiritual eyes opened.
The analogy then is, first, that sin is like a venomous snake bite; second, that sin demands God’s punishment. And third...
3. God has provided a way of escape. In our place, God offered his Son, the only perfect substitute, the sinless One who died for sinners like us. By looking to Christ by faith, we can be cleansed from sin, just as the Israelites could be healed by looking at the brass serpent. Jesus also said, “‘ 32 As for me, if I am lifted up from the earth I will draw all people to myself.’ 33 He said this to indicate what kind of death he was about to die” (Jn.12:32-33).
Remember our thesis: Salvation is by the grace of God alone through faith in Jesus Christ. Our sin was laid on Jesus. He bore our sins in his own body on the cross. He took our curse and bore the punishment of God for our sins in our place. He died our death so that we could live his life. And by identifying with him on the cross (i.e. by analogously looking at the brass serpent on the pole), we are healed! This is incredibly good news.
And yet for some it is so hard to accept. They ask…
(a) How could someone else pay the penalty for my sin?
(b) Isn't that cruel of God to hold a sinless person responsible for other people’s sins?
(c) How can I trust Christ’s atoning sacrifice for my eternal salvation? Can’t I earn God’s favor for myself? How do I know it’s true?
Here are the answers...
(a) Our substitute had to be perfectly acceptable to God. Obviously, God could not accept a sinner to substitute for other sinners – that would be like a murderer on death row substituting for another murderer on death row. Each must pay his own penalty. But there was one person who was suitable and acceptable as our substitute – Jesus, God’s holy, sinless Son.
(b) God did not cruelly lay our sins on Jesus. Rather, Jesus willingly agreed to take them and pay the penalty for them. He and his Father were in eternal agreement as to his taking our place on the cross.
(c) Trusting God’s provision for our salvation is so hard for people to accept. But that’s the nature of faith - not blind, unthinking faith but faith in the God who has revealed himself to us in creation, in our conscience, in history, in the person of his Son, and in his Word. When you consider all that God has revealed to us about himself, is it really that hard to trust him?
Two things set this event in our passage apart. First, the very quick response of the people, whose unqualified repentance was accompanied by an unqualified confession. Second, the means of their salvation: (a) It was a simple remedy - to look in faith – which anyone of any age or condition could do. (b) It had an immediate effect. (c) It was a complete remedy - nothing to add, no other conditions, nothing else to do, the only and all-sufficient remedy.
And so it was, that “whenever someone was bitten, and he looked at the bronze snake, he recovered (21:9). God always keeps his word. God does what he says. If you don't look to Christ in faith, you will die in eternal separation from God. If you do look to Christ in faith, you will live in eternal fellowship with God in heaven.
In this event, we see a picture of our salvation, that in the death of Christ...
1. “He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross” (Col. 2:14).
2. “What the law could not do since it was weakened by the flesh, God did. He condemned sin in the flesh by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh as a sin offering” (Rom. 8:3).
3. “(God) made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21).
4. “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree; so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Pet. 2:24).
Remember the primary theological principle of our study: Salvation is by the grace of God alone through faith in Jesus Christ alone. And your faith can be expressed in something as simple and easy as a look to Him. Will you do that today? As the old hymn says:
There is life for a look at the Crucified One,
There is life at this moment for thee;
Then look, sinner, look unto Him and be saved,
Unto Him who was nailed to the tree.
Look! look! look and live!
There is life for a look at the Crucified One,
There is life at this moment for thee.
Oh, why was He there as the Bearer of sin,
If on Jesus thy guilt was not laid?
Oh, why from His side flowed the sin-cleansing blood,
If His dying thy debt has not paid?
It is not thy tears of repentance or prayers,
But the blood, that atones for the soul;
On Him, then, who shed it, thou mayest at once
Thy weight of iniquities roll.
Then doubt not thy welcome, since God has declared
There remaineth no more to be done;
That once in the end of the world He appeared,
And completed the work He begun.
Then take with rejoicing from Jesus at once
The life everlasting He gives;
And know with assurance, thou never canst die
Since Jesus, thy Righteousness, lives.