WEBVTT 00:00:06.959 --> 00:00:10.640 Do you remember who was the first American to orbit the Earth? 00:00:10.640 --> 00:00:13.120 We have some history buffs in here, just shout it out. 00:00:13.120 --> 00:00:14.320 John Glenn. 00:00:14.320 --> 00:00:16.560 John Glenn was a name that I knew. 00:00:16.560 --> 00:00:20.640 I don't ever remember a time when I didn't know the name of John Glenn. 00:00:20.640 --> 00:00:23.920 John Glenn from the good old state of Ohio. 00:00:23.920 --> 00:00:45.520 Now let me ask you this, and young people, you might actually know this better than some of the older folk do, but do you know the lady that they said was largely responsible for calculating the launch and the landing trajectories of the Mercury projects, including John Glenn's launch and landing? 00:00:45.520 --> 00:00:48.240 I said kids don't answer. 00:00:48.240 --> 00:00:49.439 You guys just broke it. 00:00:49.439 --> 00:00:52.399 I knew you guys would know it. 00:00:52.399 --> 00:00:54.320 They've all seen the movie. 00:00:54.320 --> 00:00:57.439 Hidden Figures, 2016. 00:00:57.439 --> 00:01:03.439 I consider myself kind of a history person and a history buff, a history hobbyist, you would say. 00:01:03.439 --> 00:01:09.520 And I grew up reading all about things and learning various history, and I and I I loved history class. 00:01:09.520 --> 00:01:19.439 I loved reading my history books, and they're in the history books and written in the history books for Till Jesus comes will be the name of John Glenn as the first American to orbit the earth. 00:01:19.439 --> 00:01:24.319 But I never remember until that movie came out in 2016. 00:01:24.319 --> 00:01:29.439 I never remember hearing the name of Catherine Johnson. 00:01:29.439 --> 00:01:44.800 John Glenn was kind of the hero that orbited in space, but there were so many other people that made that event possible, including the brilliant Catherine Johnson. 00:01:44.800 --> 00:02:09.439 We focus in our society a lot of times on the hero, on that main name, and put their name above all the other names, not recognizing though that there are few events, there are a few moments in his history where there weren't not just the hero, but all of these other people that played a role in making that hero who they were. 00:02:09.439 --> 00:02:21.120 There are a few historical moments in the history of God's people that are more significant than the event that we refer to as the Exodus. 00:02:21.120 --> 00:02:32.319 The Exodus is when God, through Moses, as we've been taught, led the Israelites out of Egypt through the wanderings into the desert and from there into the promised land. 00:02:32.319 --> 00:02:39.039 The Exodus is the most frequently mentioned story from the Old Testament in all of Scripture. 00:02:39.039 --> 00:02:54.639 More than the creation story, more than the flood story, the story of the Exodus is mentioned over a hundred and twenty times throughout Scripture, referenced as a key story in all the Bible. 00:02:54.639 --> 00:02:57.120 Specifically, the book of Revelation. 00:02:57.120 --> 00:03:05.759 Adventists, we like to say we, Daniel and Revelation, those sister books, are books that have helped lead and guide us. 00:03:05.759 --> 00:03:11.919 The book of Revelation, there are a multitude of allusions to the book of Exodus. 00:03:11.919 --> 00:03:14.079 Even getting more, even more granular. 00:03:14.079 --> 00:03:14.560 Dr. 00:03:14.560 --> 00:03:35.120 William Shea, writing in the journal for Adventist Theological Society, wrote that that final message that we are to take to the world, the message of the three angels found there in Revelation 14, he says, is full of allusions and references to the book of Exodus and the story of Exodus. 00:03:35.120 --> 00:03:43.519 And when we think of the story of X of Exodus, which person do we most often think of? 00:03:43.519 --> 00:03:45.280 Moses. 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:55.439 Maybe once in a while we'll secondarily think of Aaron, but we almost always think of Moses. 00:03:55.439 --> 00:03:59.680 This is the way even in society we've been conditioned. 00:03:59.680 --> 00:04:04.079 A lot of the older folk, we know who John Glenn is because of the history. 00:04:04.079 --> 00:04:13.680 By the way, Heidi Wetmore, she told me after first service, she was there and watched the ship launch into space that had John Glenn on it. 00:04:13.680 --> 00:04:16.319 She was actually there in person and watch the thing. 00:04:16.319 --> 00:04:19.040 She says, sitting in their uh in their station wagon. 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:21.519 How many remember those good old station wagons? 00:04:21.519 --> 00:04:27.199 With those bench seats, never had to wear seat belts, you could sleep in the back window sometimes. 00:04:27.199 --> 00:04:29.040 I mean, that was the greatest ever. 00:04:29.040 --> 00:04:31.040 Now you guys off all these safety rules. 00:04:31.040 --> 00:04:32.319 It's not any fun anymore. 00:04:32.319 --> 00:04:34.639 But but you're alive, that's good. 00:04:34.639 --> 00:04:35.599 We like that. 00:04:35.599 --> 00:04:38.560 But but she was saying they watched that happen. 00:04:38.560 --> 00:04:43.279 But you know, there was there were movies made about John Glenn, and there was documentaries made about John Glenn. 00:04:43.279 --> 00:04:46.480 Uh, a movie that I saw when I was a kid called The Right Stuff. 00:04:46.480 --> 00:04:53.279 Any of you remember that movie with John Glenn talking about John Glenn and all the NASA and the space aviators? 00:04:53.279 --> 00:04:55.680 Well, same thing with Moses. 00:04:55.680 --> 00:05:04.319 I mean, the feature, the focus person of the movies about the Exodus are Moses, Charlton Heston. 00:05:04.319 --> 00:05:06.639 You know, did you guys see the Ten Commandments? 00:05:06.639 --> 00:05:08.719 Raise your hand if you've seen the Ten Commandments. 00:05:08.719 --> 00:05:10.399 Raise your hand if you saw in theater. 00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:11.439 I'm just kidding, don't do that. 00:05:11.439 --> 00:05:15.519 I know back then you might have got on trouble for it. 00:05:15.519 --> 00:05:21.360 Thank you, William. 00:05:21.360 --> 00:05:22.959 No. 00:05:22.959 --> 00:05:32.240 Listen, there's always these heroes, and we think about that, but there are people sometimes behind them as well. 00:05:32.240 --> 00:05:35.040 And that's what we want to focus on today. 00:05:35.040 --> 00:05:43.199 That God used many people behind Moses to make that event possible, to get to that moment. 00:05:43.199 --> 00:05:59.680 And since it is Mother's Day tomorrow, and since we are uh recognizing the blessing of all the ladies in our church, I want us to take a few moments and a few minutes this Sabbath morning to consider the women behind the Exodus. 00:05:59.680 --> 00:06:09.360 There are six women, but we're going to look at three vignettes about those six women to learn some lessons that we can apply to our lives. 00:06:09.360 --> 00:06:14.560 And here's why I think these lessons are important for all of us, not just the ladies of the church, but for all of us. 00:06:14.560 --> 00:06:25.920 Because the truth is, is that most of us, in fact, probably almost all of us, are never going to be a John Glenn or a Moses. 00:06:25.920 --> 00:06:34.800 But every single one of us have a role to play in God's work here on this earth. 00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:40.319 And no one may ever make a movie about us, no one may ever remember our name. 00:06:40.319 --> 00:06:48.399 We we might just be a footnote in history, we might not even be a footnote in history, we might just be forgotten. 00:06:48.399 --> 00:06:52.319 And yet God will see the work that we have done. 00:06:52.319 --> 00:07:03.199 And so these lessons for us just for ladies, but for all of us who are in the background there of the great story that is the story of Jesus and his work in this world. 00:07:03.199 --> 00:07:04.399 So three vignettes. 00:07:04.399 --> 00:07:06.319 Open your Bibles to the book of Exodus. 00:07:06.319 --> 00:07:12.159 Exodus chapter one, and I'll begin in verse eight. 00:07:12.159 --> 00:07:14.800 Exodus chapter one, I'll begin in verse eight. 00:07:14.800 --> 00:07:23.599 Now there arose a new king over Egypt who did not know Joseph, and he said to his people, Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. 00:07:23.599 --> 00:07:26.959 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply. 00:07:26.959 --> 00:07:31.599 And if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land. 00:07:31.599 --> 00:07:35.839 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. 00:07:35.839 --> 00:07:40.079 They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithum and Ramses. 00:07:40.079 --> 00:07:46.719 But the more they oppressed, the more they multiplied, and more and the more they spread abroad. 00:07:46.719 --> 00:07:51.439 And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel. 00:07:51.439 --> 00:07:53.519 Now jumping down to verse 15. 00:07:53.519 --> 00:08:01.920 So here the people of God's people are being oppressed, they're putting being put into slavery, they're being put into bondage, and yet they're increasing in number. 00:08:01.920 --> 00:08:03.439 They're increasing in number. 00:08:03.439 --> 00:08:04.959 And then verse 15. 00:08:04.959 --> 00:08:21.519 Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiprah, and the other Pua, When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live. 00:08:21.519 --> 00:08:26.959 But the midwives fear God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them. 00:08:26.959 --> 00:08:29.199 But let the male children live. 00:08:29.199 --> 00:08:36.480 So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, Why have you done this and let the male children live? 00:08:36.480 --> 00:08:48.000 The midwives said to Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them. 00:08:48.000 --> 00:09:01.200 Y'all, with the actions of the midwives, Shipra and Pua, without the action of the midwives, Shipra and Pua, no Hebrew males would have lived, including Moses. 00:09:01.200 --> 00:09:02.960 It was their courage. 00:09:02.960 --> 00:09:05.280 Allowed him to continue his journey. 00:09:05.280 --> 00:09:09.600 Vignette number two from Exodus chapter two, beginning in verse one. 00:09:09.600 --> 00:09:14.080 Now a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite woman. 00:09:14.080 --> 00:09:16.320 The woman conceived and bore a son. 00:09:16.320 --> 00:09:20.720 And when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. 00:09:20.720 --> 00:09:29.440 When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes, and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. 00:09:29.440 --> 00:09:34.080 She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the riverbank. 00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:38.800 And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. 00:09:38.800 --> 00:09:43.920 Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river while her young women walked beside the river. 00:09:43.920 --> 00:09:50.800 She saw the basket among the reeds, and sent her servant woman, and she took it. 00:09:50.800 --> 00:09:55.760 When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. 00:09:55.760 --> 00:10:00.640 She took pity on him and said, This is one of the Hebrew's children. 00:10:00.640 --> 00:10:08.000 Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you? 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:10.160 And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go. 00:10:10.160 --> 00:10:12.560 So the girl went and called the child's mother. 00:10:12.560 --> 00:10:18.720 And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages. 00:10:18.720 --> 00:10:21.040 So the woman took the child and nursed him. 00:10:21.040 --> 00:10:25.040 And when the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. 00:10:25.040 --> 00:10:30.640 So she named him Moses, because she said, I drew him out of the water. 00:10:30.640 --> 00:10:43.280 Y'all, without the actions of Moses' mother, without the actions of Moses' sister, without the actions of Pharaoh's daughter, there would be no Moses. 00:10:43.280 --> 00:10:52.800 And then the last clip for Moses' life, and to give you context for this last clip, this is 80 years after those previous stories. 00:10:52.800 --> 00:10:54.879 Moses is now an 80-year-old man. 00:10:54.879 --> 00:10:57.040 He's married, he has his own children. 00:10:57.040 --> 00:11:05.440 God's come to him, and Moses, he's come to Moses, and he said, Moses, you are going to deliver my people out of Egypt. 00:11:05.440 --> 00:11:08.080 And Moses argues back and forth. 00:11:08.080 --> 00:11:10.320 If you know the story, if you don't, you can go back and read it. 00:11:10.320 --> 00:11:12.560 It's in Exodus chapter 3 and 4. 00:11:12.560 --> 00:11:17.280 Moses argues back and forth with God about going and delivering the people. 00:11:17.280 --> 00:11:21.040 And Moses finally submits and he says, Okay, I will go. 00:11:21.040 --> 00:11:24.400 I will go and deliver the people from Exodus. 00:11:24.400 --> 00:11:34.080 And then in chapter 4 and verse 20, it says, So Moses took his wife and his son and had them ride on a donkey and went back to the land of Egypt. 00:11:34.080 --> 00:11:37.120 And Moses took the staff of God in his hand. 00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:47.120 And then you jump down just a few verses, and one of the weirdest stories in the Bible happens. 00:11:47.120 --> 00:11:55.600 At a lodging place on the way, verse 24, the Lord met him, met Moses, and sought to put him to death. 00:11:55.600 --> 00:11:58.560 This was the guy that God was just saying, You're going to deliver the people. 00:11:58.560 --> 00:12:01.120 You're going to, and Moses was like, No, no, no. 00:12:01.120 --> 00:12:06.480 And now Moses is on his way, and God comes along and says, You gotta stop. 00:12:06.480 --> 00:12:11.040 And it says that he was going to put him to death. 00:12:11.040 --> 00:12:23.680 Then Sepporah, Moses' wife, took a flint and cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses' feet with it and said, Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me. 00:12:23.680 --> 00:12:26.400 So he let Moses alone. 00:12:26.400 --> 00:12:32.560 It was then that she said, A bridegroom of blood, because of the circumcision. 00:12:32.560 --> 00:12:50.720 There's all kinds of things we could analyze about this story, and we won't get into all of it, but simply to say this: without Zipporah taking that flint knife and circumcised circumcising her son, there is no Moses. 00:12:50.720 --> 00:12:53.520 Now, let's understand something, of course. 00:12:53.520 --> 00:13:00.480 God wasn't dependent on Moses to get out the Exodus, get the people out of Egypt. 00:13:00.480 --> 00:13:02.640 God chose to use Moses. 00:13:02.640 --> 00:13:08.879 And God wasn't necessarily dependent upon these women, but but God would have never used Moses. 00:13:08.879 --> 00:13:18.320 Moses would have never even made it to this place if God had not led and these ladies had not responded to God's leading in their life. 00:13:18.320 --> 00:13:25.280 This is not one of those things behind every great man there is a what is it, a better woman. 00:13:25.280 --> 00:13:27.120 Is that how the saying goes? 00:13:27.120 --> 00:13:54.640 This is a story that behind every great moment and every great movement in history and every act of God, there are people that we think about who are the heroes, maybe, or who get the most attention and the most credit, but there are also many more that faithfully acted for God, who we rarely or never see, but are just as important to the movement of God. 00:13:54.640 --> 00:14:05.040 Ellen White writing in the book Testimonies, Volume 5, she talks about individuals like this who are who are unseen and yet serve an important role. 00:14:05.040 --> 00:14:13.680 She said this in that in the daytime we look toward heaven, but do not see the stars, but they are there. 00:14:13.680 --> 00:14:23.840 She's saying that's like the people who are working and serving and doing things for the Lord, and we may not ever see them, we may not ever know their names, we may not ever give them credit. 00:14:23.840 --> 00:14:35.280 They might just be uh a little side note to someone else's story, but the God of heaven sees them as the stars that are still there, even if we do not recognize them. 00:14:35.280 --> 00:14:38.320 That is what this story is about. 00:14:38.320 --> 00:14:56.400 And we can learn lessons from each of these ladies, and so I want to give us some of those lessons and takeaways for today, and then we'll do our one prayer, one word, and one act, and then we'll finish today's message and we'll get to hear these young people again. 00:14:56.400 --> 00:15:00.320 So let's start with the midwives, Shipra and Pua. 00:15:00.320 --> 00:15:15.280 The lesson that I get from Shipra and Pua that I would encourage you to consider is this fear of God is the only fear that frees you from every other fear in life. 00:15:15.280 --> 00:15:21.840 Fear of God is the only fear that frees you from every other fear in life. 00:15:21.840 --> 00:15:30.640 These women feared God more than Pharaoh, and that settled the question on how they were going to handle this situation. 00:15:30.640 --> 00:15:32.480 This it settled the question. 00:15:32.480 --> 00:15:36.400 They were not going to submit to Pharaoh. 00:15:36.400 --> 00:15:43.360 Some like to use this story as a testimony of in all circumstances we should practice civil disobedience. 00:15:43.360 --> 00:15:45.280 I don't know that that is the question. 00:15:45.280 --> 00:15:56.080 The lesson to me is this that when you know who's holds ultimate authority, lesser authorities lose their power to terrorize you. 00:15:56.080 --> 00:16:02.480 There are people in our world that are that are so worried about the various powers in our world. 00:16:02.480 --> 00:16:12.800 And I'm not saying that there aren't things that we should be mindful of and keeping watch on and and and and and speaking up for and out against. 00:16:12.800 --> 00:16:20.800 But but the thing is, is some of us, even Christians, are are terrorized by these people and fearful of these people. 00:16:20.800 --> 00:16:25.200 And I love this lesson from Shipra and Pu'ah. 00:16:25.200 --> 00:16:33.200 That when you know who holds ultimate authority, lesser authorities lose their power to terrorize you. 00:16:33.200 --> 00:16:35.760 That's the lesson from Shibra and Pua. 00:16:35.760 --> 00:16:38.160 And their step with God. 00:16:38.160 --> 00:16:50.320 The lesson that I get from her is that faith isn't passive. 00:16:50.320 --> 00:16:56.960 It is courageous and it includes action. 00:16:56.960 --> 00:17:02.720 There are times that sometimes we as Christians can get like, well, there's nothing I can do about it. 00:17:02.720 --> 00:17:05.119 I'm just gonna, I mean, God's gonna take care of it. 00:17:05.119 --> 00:17:09.759 I'm just gonna throw up my hands and kind of I have faith and God's gonna. 00:17:09.759 --> 00:17:41.119 The faith wasn't just that they believed that God could take care of things and that God could could work things out. 00:17:41.119 --> 00:17:47.919 It was their action accompanied with their faith that is a testimony throughout history. 00:17:47.919 --> 00:17:52.960 Their action along with it, they didn't just sit back and say, well, we hope nothing happens to our kid. 00:17:52.960 --> 00:17:58.079 No, they took intentional action to accompany their faith. 00:17:58.079 --> 00:18:06.079 God has given each of us a mind to reason with, He's given us a book to guide us, He's given the Holy Spirit to speak to us. 00:18:06.079 --> 00:18:08.480 And God is always communicating with us. 00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:18.879 And when we come into these seasons and these phases of life and we're coming against challenges, God doesn't say, Oh, well, just throw up your hands and say, Well, uh, nothing I can do about it. 00:18:18.879 --> 00:18:27.519 God no, God calls us to reason with Him and to have action in that. 00:18:27.519 --> 00:18:36.879 And then another thing that's amazing to me about this Jacobed moment is that she has the action of protecting her child in the home, that faith. 00:18:36.879 --> 00:18:44.159 But to me, the greater action of faith is that when she puts that baby into the river. 00:18:44.159 --> 00:18:52.319 Parents, you some of you understand this even now as your children are preparing to leave home or have already left home. 00:18:52.319 --> 00:18:57.599 When you're a young parent, you have kids in your house, you know, it takes faith. 00:18:57.599 --> 00:18:59.919 You're you're worried, am I making the right decisions? 00:18:59.919 --> 00:19:02.399 Am I doing the right things for these kids? 00:19:02.399 --> 00:19:07.759 But let me ask you, parents, what takes more faith when they're in your home and under your control? 00:19:07.759 --> 00:19:15.359 Or that moment that you send them out and have to say, okay, I'm sending you into the river, I'm sending you off. 00:19:15.359 --> 00:19:16.879 That takes that moment of faith. 00:19:16.879 --> 00:19:26.799 My oldest son, Dayton, is has been driving for a little bit, but I have never thought about someone driving more than him since he got his license. 00:19:26.799 --> 00:19:38.079 I mean, he the other night, just last night, they went to this social thing, whatever, this uh this worship social last night, and he wasn't home yet. 00:19:38.079 --> 00:19:43.679 And I and I texted him, and I really hope it's his brother who texted me back because I think they were driving. 00:19:43.679 --> 00:19:45.679 It was his brother, I'm just kidding. 00:19:45.679 --> 00:19:46.639 I already asked. 00:19:46.639 --> 00:19:50.799 But he texted me back, hey, we ran another kid home. 00:19:50.799 --> 00:19:53.279 But I I I was anxious. 00:19:53.279 --> 00:19:56.799 I never thought about anybody in their driving before, except my own. 00:19:56.799 --> 00:20:03.039 But these things, this releasing them into the world takes an action of faith, but we have to do it. 00:20:03.039 --> 00:20:06.720 We have to be willing to let our kids go and trust them into the Lord's hands. 00:20:06.720 --> 00:20:19.519 The lesson, the third individual, the third lady, or the fourth lady actually, Miriam, the sister, the lesson from her that I see is stay ready because you never know when God's gonna need you in the moment. 00:20:19.519 --> 00:20:25.039 The people God uses aren't always the loudest or the most powerful. 00:20:25.039 --> 00:20:38.319 Sometimes they're just the ones who are there paying attention, who stay close enough, long enough, ready enough, that when God opens the door, they are already standing there next to it, ready to serve in some way. 00:20:38.319 --> 00:20:41.519 I love how quick Miriam is to act. 00:20:41.519 --> 00:20:44.399 Maybe she had rehearses with her mother, I don't know. 00:20:44.399 --> 00:20:55.200 What we do know is that it took a lot of courage for a young girl to approach Pharaoh's daughter and to give her a suggestion on how she should handle the situation. 00:20:55.200 --> 00:20:58.079 I mean, that's pretty, that's pretty intense. 00:20:58.079 --> 00:21:05.599 But she was ready there in the moment with a solution, ready to act when God presented her an opportunity. 00:21:05.599 --> 00:21:07.359 She was ready to act. 00:21:07.359 --> 00:21:13.839 Are you, in every aspect of your life, are you ready to act when God presents you an opportunity? 00:21:13.839 --> 00:21:15.519 Are you ready to respond? 00:21:15.519 --> 00:21:20.079 Are you ready, ready to give a reason for the hope that you have in Christ Jesus? 00:21:20.079 --> 00:21:22.559 Are you ready immediately? 00:21:22.559 --> 00:21:25.279 Then there was Pharaoh's daughter. 00:21:25.279 --> 00:21:34.240 The lesson from Pharaoh's daughter to me is simply this do the right thing, do the human thing. 00:21:34.240 --> 00:21:38.159 She didn't have a theology that we would agree with. 00:21:38.159 --> 00:21:41.359 She wasn't one of the chosen people of God. 00:21:41.359 --> 00:21:45.359 She had a crying baby and a choice in front of her. 00:21:45.359 --> 00:21:50.639 And Pharaoh's daughter does what her father explicitly ordered against. 00:21:50.639 --> 00:21:58.240 She sees the child, she knows he is Hebrew, and she chooses compassion over compliance. 00:21:58.240 --> 00:22:00.319 She does the human thing. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:02.720 We could use some of that in our world right now. 00:22:02.720 --> 00:22:04.480 Doing the human thing. 00:22:04.480 --> 00:22:06.000 She adopts Moses. 00:22:06.000 --> 00:22:09.200 This pays his own mother to nurse him and gives him a name. 00:22:09.200 --> 00:22:19.039 Here's the thing: this single act of just doing the right thing, that singular thing in front of you, changed the course of history for so many people. 00:22:19.039 --> 00:22:22.559 She never knew what she set in motion. 00:22:22.559 --> 00:22:26.000 She went home that day thinking that she adopted a Hebrew child. 00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:31.839 She had no idea that she had just saved the deliverer of God's people. 00:22:31.839 --> 00:22:38.559 You don't have to see the whole story, folks, to play your part in God's story. 00:22:38.559 --> 00:22:41.519 Just do the right thing right in front of you. 00:22:41.519 --> 00:22:44.720 Do the human thing right in front of you. 00:22:44.720 --> 00:22:52.879 Sometimes the most important thing you will do won't feel important at all. 00:22:52.879 --> 00:22:56.000 But it will be the human thing. 00:22:56.000 --> 00:23:00.879 And that simple act could change the course of many things. 00:23:00.879 --> 00:23:02.799 Do that thing. 00:23:02.799 --> 00:23:11.439 I want to go back to a lesson for Jacobed, and this is more specifically to parents, particularly moms. 00:23:11.439 --> 00:23:16.159 I didn't lose my place, but I'm coming back to Jacobed because the baby goes back. 00:23:16.159 --> 00:23:18.240 Moses goes back to Jacobed. 00:23:18.240 --> 00:23:23.599 And this lesson is for all of those of you that still have children in your home. 00:23:23.599 --> 00:23:25.439 I would just say this to you. 00:23:25.439 --> 00:23:28.799 You only have them for a little while. 00:23:28.799 --> 00:23:30.799 Make it count. 00:23:30.799 --> 00:23:33.119 Make it count. 00:23:33.119 --> 00:23:36.399 Ellen White beautifully writes about Jacobed. 00:23:36.399 --> 00:23:39.039 Jacobed was a woman and a slave. 00:23:39.039 --> 00:23:41.279 This was the banner over her life. 00:23:41.279 --> 00:23:44.799 Her lot in life was humble, her burden heavy. 00:23:44.799 --> 00:23:46.240 But then listen to these words. 00:23:46.240 --> 00:23:47.439 They're so beautiful. 00:23:47.439 --> 00:23:55.439 But through no other woman save Mary of Nazareth has the world received a greater blessing. 00:23:55.439 --> 00:24:07.679 She continues, knowing that her child must soon pass beyond her care to the guardianship of those who knew not God, she the more earnestly endeavored to link his soul with heaven. 00:24:07.679 --> 00:24:14.000 She sought to implant in his heart love and loyalty to God, and faithfully was the work accomplished. 00:24:14.000 --> 00:24:23.439 Those principles of truth that were the burden of his mother's teaching and the lesson of her life, no after influence could induce Moses to renounce. 00:24:23.439 --> 00:24:28.799 Moms, teachers, grandmas, aunts, and yes, us dads too. 00:24:28.799 --> 00:24:32.720 You only have them for a little while. 00:24:32.720 --> 00:24:34.319 Make it count. 00:24:34.319 --> 00:24:35.759 What does Ellen White say? 00:24:35.759 --> 00:24:44.720 She said she knew that she only had them for a while, and then she was going to be sending them into a world in which none of the things that they believed were being encouraged or taught. 00:24:44.720 --> 00:24:47.759 Folks, that's your kids in your home right now. 00:24:47.759 --> 00:24:49.439 Don't waste a moment. 00:24:49.439 --> 00:24:57.359 The things of this world, the world is going to try to teach your kids the exact opposite of this book. 00:24:57.359 --> 00:25:00.319 You only have this time. 00:25:00.319 --> 00:25:02.159 Make it count. 00:25:02.159 --> 00:25:04.240 At the end of the day, they're gonna have to make their choices. 00:25:04.240 --> 00:25:06.879 You all are gonna have to make your own choices. 00:25:06.879 --> 00:25:14.079 But we want to put them in the best position to say yes to Jesus for themselves. 00:25:14.079 --> 00:25:16.480 Make it count. 00:25:16.480 --> 00:25:21.439 And then Zipporah, the wife, the lesson from her. 00:25:21.439 --> 00:25:26.399 Sometimes you have to stand in the gap for others. 00:25:26.399 --> 00:25:31.039 This passage is one of the strangest to me in all of scripture. 00:25:31.039 --> 00:25:32.879 They're on the way to Egypt. 00:25:32.879 --> 00:25:37.599 God's just really impressed upon Moses again and again that he was the chosen one. 00:25:37.599 --> 00:25:39.439 He's commissioned to go. 00:25:39.439 --> 00:25:44.639 The story begins with Moses getting his staff and getting his family, and it sounds like it's good. 00:25:44.639 --> 00:25:49.039 And God's telling Moses, now when you go to Egypt, say this to Pharaoh, reminding him again. 00:25:49.039 --> 00:25:54.799 And then all of a sudden, the Bible takes this total kind of seemingly tangent. 00:25:54.799 --> 00:25:59.039 Some of you have teased me about the tangents that I take in my sermons. 00:25:59.039 --> 00:26:03.039 It's biblical, the Bible takes tangents too. 00:26:03.039 --> 00:26:13.759 The Bible takes this tangent all of a sudden, and it goes from, hey, I'm taking my staff, I'm going with my family, okay, talk to them about this, and then boom, now I'm gonna kill you. 00:26:13.759 --> 00:26:21.200 I mean, it's just this random tangent, and then it comes back to the story just as quickly with very little explanation. 00:26:21.200 --> 00:26:23.119 What's going on here? 00:26:23.119 --> 00:26:33.679 The thing was that there was an area of Moses' life that he was not being faithful to God to, the covenant of circumcision that had been given to Abraham. 00:26:33.679 --> 00:26:47.759 And Moses was not just going to lead the people out of Egypt as in the country, but God was calling Moses to also lead the people out of the culture and out of the false teachings that they had learned. 00:26:47.759 --> 00:26:51.919 And so Moses had to be standing on that truth. 00:26:51.919 --> 00:26:56.960 But but he's now sick, he's now physically unable maybe to do what needs to be done. 00:26:56.960 --> 00:27:01.839 And the Bible says, so Zipporah takes control of things. 00:27:01.839 --> 00:27:05.679 She stands between her husband and death. 00:27:05.679 --> 00:27:15.519 And whatever the full theological weight of this text, what is clear is that Moses would not have reached Egypt without her. 00:27:15.519 --> 00:27:19.439 These are the lessons from these six ladies. 00:27:19.439 --> 00:27:24.319 We need to fear God and God alone above all others. 00:27:24.319 --> 00:27:32.480 We need to be faithful, to be ready, to do the right thing, to do the human thing in this world. 00:27:32.480 --> 00:27:38.639 We need to take the moments that we have, whether it's with our kids or with others, and make those moments count. 00:27:38.639 --> 00:27:43.519 We need to stand in the gap for someone and help them take that next step. 00:27:43.519 --> 00:27:50.240 Maybe, maybe help them get to the right thing when they're unable to do it for themselves. 00:27:50.240 --> 00:27:54.079 Which of these lessons is yours? 00:27:54.079 --> 00:28:00.000 Which of these lessons from these women apply to your life? 00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:04.720 Here's an overarching lesson I would say for all of us. 00:28:04.720 --> 00:28:12.159 God does not wait and does not work with just the powerful leader. 00:28:12.159 --> 00:28:18.720 He works through the faithfulness of every single moment of your life. 00:28:18.720 --> 00:28:20.960 Wherever you're at. 00:28:20.960 --> 00:28:27.519 When Shipra and Pua made a decision, they did not know that it would lead to a Moses. 00:28:27.519 --> 00:28:37.519 When Jacobed and Miriam made their decision, they did not understand that their son, that their brother, was going to be their deliverer as well. 00:28:37.519 --> 00:28:43.359 When Pharaoh's daughter just did the right thing before her, she just did the human thing. 00:28:43.359 --> 00:28:51.919 Even though it went against her father's rules, even though it went against the laws of the land, she just did the human thing. 00:28:51.919 --> 00:28:56.720 She did not know that she was saving God's people. 00:28:56.720 --> 00:28:58.480 She had no idea. 00:28:58.480 --> 00:29:12.079 And when Zipporah acted on behalf of Moses, she didn't know. 00:29:12.079 --> 00:29:18.639 It was because he needed the integrity to be the leader that God had called him to be. 00:29:18.639 --> 00:29:31.039 God's been working throughout history with a multitude of people to achieve his goals and his mission in this world. 00:29:31.039 --> 00:29:37.359 He was doing it in Bible history, and he's doing it still to this day. 00:29:37.359 --> 00:29:50.480 And you as a person, as an individual, may never be recognized, may never be acknowledged, may never be even affirmed for the star that you are. 00:29:50.480 --> 00:30:00.879 And even though it may be like daytime to us and we can't see all the stars, the God of heaven sees, and the God of heaven is using you. 00:30:00.879 --> 00:30:08.639 So one prayer, one word, and one act, and then we'll be done. 00:30:08.639 --> 00:30:10.399 One prayer. 00:30:10.399 --> 00:30:15.839 Lord, make me faithful in the moment I'm in. 00:30:15.839 --> 00:30:20.079 Make me faithful in the situations of my life right now. 00:30:20.079 --> 00:30:26.079 Whether anyone sees it or not, whether anyone cares or not, make me faithful in those moments. 00:30:26.079 --> 00:30:28.960 You don't know how they'll play out in history, folks. 00:30:28.960 --> 00:30:30.639 You have no idea. 00:30:30.639 --> 00:30:32.960 One word. 00:30:32.960 --> 00:30:34.960 Faithfulness. 00:30:34.960 --> 00:30:37.359 Faithfulness. 00:30:37.359 --> 00:30:46.159 Choose to be faithful, not just kind of as a concept, but choose to be faithful in every second and every moment of your day. 00:30:46.159 --> 00:31:05.119 Ask God to give you a heart of faithfulness, that you're ready to respond in any situation, whether someone's looking over your shoulder and seeing what you're doing, or no one's around, but you're faithful because that moment may be life-changing for you or for someone else. 00:31:05.119 --> 00:31:07.200 And then the one act. 00:31:07.200 --> 00:31:22.960 I want to encourage you all to take some time, men and women, to spend some time in this Exodus story for yourselves and reading about some of these other characters of the Exodus story and saying, God, what lesson applies to me? 00:31:22.960 --> 00:31:29.439 Maybe it could be something here, but the most important thing is that you study the Bible for yourself and you understand the Bible for yourself. 00:31:29.439 --> 00:31:35.200 The Bible says all scripture is God breathing, is useful for us to instruct us, to guide us, to teach us. 00:31:35.200 --> 00:31:39.519 And these stories that we hear, like today, the Exodus story, they're so familiar to us. 00:31:39.519 --> 00:31:44.960 And sometimes we read them to our kids out of children's books, and we just become so familiar that we just kind of pass over them. 00:31:44.960 --> 00:31:47.519 But in each of those stories, there are lessons for us. 00:31:47.519 --> 00:32:02.399 So I want to encourage you this week, maybe go back to these stories and look at these secondary characters, we may say, these secondary individuals that we don't often think about and say, what is the lesson for me that I can take with me? 00:32:02.399 --> 00:32:09.759 That I can play a small role in some way in the great movement that is God. 00:32:09.759 --> 00:32:26.000 And when we do that, folks, at the end of the day, John Glenn isn't the hero, Moses isn't the hero, Catherine Johnson isn't the hero, the six ladies aren't the hero, you're not the hero, I'm not the hero. 00:32:26.000 --> 00:32:46.559 When we live faithfully like that each day, and find those lessons, those snuggets in scripture each day, say, I will live by that, the hero becomes Jesus, who is able to change all lives and transform the hearts of you and me, and transform the hearts of all those you know and love. 00:32:46.559 --> 00:32:49.439 So let us be faithful right now. 00:32:49.439 --> 00:32:52.559 Lord Jesus, we thank you for your grace, for your mercy. 00:32:52.559 --> 00:32:57.359 We thank you for the lessons of Scripture that teach us so many things about Jesus. 00:32:57.359 --> 00:32:59.279 In your name I pray. 00:32:59.279 --> 00:33:00.079 Amen.