WEBVTT 00:00:00.479 --> 00:00:03.120 Okay, so Exodus 17. 00:00:03.279 --> 00:00:04.480 Back to Exodus 17. 00:00:04.559 --> 00:00:05.519 That happens every once in a while. 00:00:05.599 --> 00:00:08.080 It's just like life, you know, things break, things happen. 00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:09.039 You roll with it. 00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:10.800 Alright, so Exodus 17. 00:00:10.880 --> 00:00:15.599 So if you remember, if you've been with us, if you haven't been with us, let me catch up a little bit. 00:00:15.919 --> 00:00:17.839 This book of Exodus, second book of the Bible. 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:20.800 It's about the story of God's people. 00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:32.719 They were enslaved for like 400 years in Egypt, and God finally heard their cries, and he definitely waited a period of time enough for them to be very, very frustrated, very uh desperate. 00:00:32.880 --> 00:00:34.560 Um finally he acts on their behalf. 00:00:34.640 --> 00:00:41.679 They had been down there in slavery, they've been making bricks, uh, brutal existence, just day after day, hour after hour of making bricks. 00:00:41.759 --> 00:00:46.640 And God raises up this unlikely guy, Moses, to lead them out of slavery. 00:00:46.719 --> 00:00:48.719 Um so they have, you have to imagine these people. 00:00:49.200 --> 00:00:56.159 They have no Bible, they have no churches, uh, they they don't have a lot of real teachings at this point. 00:00:56.240 --> 00:01:01.200 They're just a people that God is starting to lead and to take somewhere. 00:01:01.280 --> 00:01:15.920 And so they're listening and they're following and then they're uh rebelling and they're forgetting, and then they're listening and following, and then they're rebelling, and they get frustrated and they grumble, and then they have a victory, and then they celebrate, and so it's all over the place. 00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:21.280 Um, and and so all of it is this real great picture, it's a little bit a picture of our existence. 00:01:21.439 --> 00:01:26.239 And all of this, uh, these crazy stories, they're they're leading them somewhere. 00:01:26.799 --> 00:01:35.040 God is taking them out of Egypt through this wilderness, which should only take a few weeks, really, um, and it takes 40 years. 00:01:35.439 --> 00:01:37.760 And it takes 40 years just because they keep settling in. 00:01:37.840 --> 00:01:43.599 They just keep settling into different places, um, and they never they just never keep going. 00:01:43.760 --> 00:01:48.719 They just keep settling in, they get frustrated with God, or they don't obey what he says, and they settle in somewhere. 00:01:48.879 --> 00:01:52.640 And so we get this huge, long, drawn-out story. 00:01:52.879 --> 00:02:02.000 Now, that the these stories are also giving us picture after picture of where God is taking humanity, and that is ultimately to Jesus. 00:02:02.079 --> 00:02:15.919 And that's what we're seeing is in this story, week after week, picture after picture, we see how even then God is showing these snapshots, these snapshots for us to see that all of this is going somewhere. 00:02:16.080 --> 00:02:21.840 All of this is coming to the incarnation of God coming into humanity in the person of Jesus. 00:02:22.080 --> 00:02:26.800 So over and over again, these people they doubt, they're frustrated with God, and this is a real issue. 00:02:27.199 --> 00:02:30.319 Frustration is a real issue, right? 00:02:30.560 --> 00:02:33.120 Because stuff like we just experienced happens in life. 00:02:33.280 --> 00:02:36.080 Like that was a great sermon illustration, I could just build off of that. 00:02:36.240 --> 00:02:37.520 That happens, right? 00:02:37.599 --> 00:02:43.919 Everything's working smoothly, and all of a sudden your direct box or your cable or whatever, like something doesn't work. 00:02:44.479 --> 00:02:48.800 And there's frustration because God didn't do what you thought he should do. 00:02:49.039 --> 00:02:51.360 He didn't show up like you thought he should show up. 00:02:51.520 --> 00:02:55.919 Or you you have this sense of being wronged, this this loss. 00:02:56.479 --> 00:02:59.039 Like, why would why would that happen? 00:02:59.120 --> 00:03:05.360 Or you you look around and you think, man, I I've just gotten the raw, I've gotten a raw deal. 00:03:05.520 --> 00:03:07.520 I didn't get that upbringing. 00:03:07.680 --> 00:03:09.759 I didn't get that acceptance, that love. 00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:12.800 I didn't get that education or that break in my career. 00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:14.080 I didn't I didn't get that. 00:03:14.159 --> 00:03:16.240 I got a raw deal. 00:03:16.719 --> 00:03:18.319 I never received that opportunity. 00:03:18.479 --> 00:03:23.120 Or maybe maybe it's just a low hum of resentment. 00:03:23.439 --> 00:03:24.879 It's real subtle. 00:03:25.280 --> 00:03:36.879 It's just it's just underneath the surface, and it's just this thought of life has not ended up being what I thought it would be. 00:03:37.360 --> 00:03:41.199 And it's just a low hum of resentment against God. 00:03:42.879 --> 00:03:45.919 I mean, I have a need, a real need, I have a prayer. 00:03:46.879 --> 00:03:49.280 God's just not showing up to meet it. 00:03:49.599 --> 00:03:52.639 I mean, why can't God answer that? 00:03:52.879 --> 00:03:58.719 Like, I what's so hard about this prayer, my prayer? 00:03:59.039 --> 00:04:04.000 These are real questions, these are real frustrations that are inside of us. 00:04:05.120 --> 00:04:12.080 So, this place of frustration, this is where these people, the Hebrews, they they keep they keep getting to over and over. 00:04:12.479 --> 00:04:20.480 They think it's gonna be one way, and they get there, and it's harder, that they wait longer, it doesn't work out like they want it to be, and they get frustrated. 00:04:20.560 --> 00:04:22.079 And that's Exodus 17. 00:04:22.160 --> 00:04:26.720 And I'll reread some that Jill read just to kind of get us to travel through the passage. 00:04:26.879 --> 00:04:36.079 So, verses 1 and 2, all the congregation of the people of Israel, they moved on from the wilderness of sin by stages according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Referedim. 00:04:36.480 --> 00:04:39.759 But there was no water for the people to drink. 00:04:40.319 --> 00:04:44.399 Okay, so right away, like, not what I thought it would be. 00:04:44.639 --> 00:04:46.720 This is not the life I thought it would be. 00:04:46.800 --> 00:04:48.160 There's no water. 00:04:48.720 --> 00:04:52.000 Pretty basic need that I need to survive. 00:04:52.079 --> 00:05:00.560 And God, you're not providing it, and you led us here, and now you're not living up to what I think you should be in my timing, and I'm frustrated. 00:05:00.720 --> 00:05:07.680 It says, Therefore, the people quarreled with Moses, that's their leader, quarreled with Moses and said, Give us water to drink. 00:05:07.759 --> 00:05:10.240 And Moses said to them, Why do you quarrel with me? 00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:12.480 Why do you, why do you test the Lord? 00:05:12.639 --> 00:05:14.079 All right, so let's break this down a little bit. 00:05:14.319 --> 00:05:16.000 There's a lot of really good stuff in here. 00:05:16.240 --> 00:05:18.959 And when we look at this, we kind of know what's coming, right? 00:05:19.040 --> 00:05:25.920 If you've been with us the last couple months, we've been reading these Exodus stories, and the pattern is set, right? 00:05:26.160 --> 00:05:35.519 Things go well, there's like celebration, the people are happy, God leads them to the next step, and then at some point in that next step there's frustration. 00:05:35.680 --> 00:05:37.680 We know what's gonna happen, right? 00:05:37.839 --> 00:05:38.800 I mean, we know. 00:05:38.959 --> 00:05:41.839 Like, and you almost sense it like when there's a celebration going on. 00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:47.040 You know what's coming around the corner, and that there's gonna be frustration and grumbling again. 00:05:47.199 --> 00:05:51.600 I was trying to think through like that moment when I feel like, oh, that's that's coming. 00:05:51.680 --> 00:06:00.639 And I was thinking about a few weeks ago, maybe a month ago, Christy and I we went out to eat and we ate at um uh the Mexican place at Crog Market, Super Rica, yeah. 00:06:01.040 --> 00:06:02.079 You haven't a Super Rica? 00:06:02.399 --> 00:06:03.920 So to us, nice restaurant. 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:07.040 I know it's not like the nicest restaurant in Atlanta or anything, but to us, like big deal. 00:06:07.120 --> 00:06:09.360 Like we get to go to Super Rica, we're pretty excited. 00:06:09.519 --> 00:06:12.639 Nice restaurant, nice night out for just Christy and I. 00:06:12.720 --> 00:06:18.240 And so we we get there and we get our table and we get our drinks, and then we get, and I don't know, food. 00:06:18.319 --> 00:06:18.879 What did we have? 00:06:19.360 --> 00:06:20.079 Ceviche? 00:06:20.480 --> 00:06:20.959 Ceviche. 00:06:21.279 --> 00:06:21.759 Ceviche? 00:06:22.399 --> 00:06:22.720 Ceviche. 00:06:23.040 --> 00:06:23.600 Ceviche? 00:06:24.240 --> 00:06:26.720 I heard a little like there's some groans when I said it. 00:06:26.800 --> 00:06:28.639 Is that like a like you've had this? 00:06:29.199 --> 00:06:30.160 I'd never had it. 00:06:30.240 --> 00:06:33.839 I mean, I can't even say it, I don't know much about it, but it was really good. 00:06:33.920 --> 00:06:36.160 And so we're we have our drinks and we're eating this. 00:06:36.319 --> 00:06:41.279 And then in comes to the table next to us, mind you, not across the restaurant. 00:06:41.360 --> 00:06:42.319 That would have been fine. 00:06:42.639 --> 00:06:49.920 Next to us, lovely couple, and a little five-year-old girl and little three-year-old girl. 00:06:50.399 --> 00:06:53.920 We have little girls, we don't mind little girls, we're not thinking too much about it. 00:06:54.000 --> 00:06:54.720 This isn't too bad. 00:06:54.800 --> 00:06:58.160 They're not our kids, we don't have to pay too much attention to them or deal with them, right? 00:06:58.240 --> 00:07:00.879 I mean, it's gonna work out, but you know what's coming. 00:07:01.120 --> 00:07:02.800 It's a nice restaurant. 00:07:03.120 --> 00:07:05.279 Like they they prepare your food and cook it. 00:07:05.439 --> 00:07:07.199 Like they actually cook it, don't just warm it up. 00:07:07.279 --> 00:07:11.040 They actually cook your food, and so you have to wait for it. 00:07:11.279 --> 00:07:16.879 And so you know where this is going, and we're over there, we're having a good time with our little ceviche or ceviche or whatever it's called. 00:07:16.959 --> 00:07:26.079 We're eating that, and we have our drinks, and we're having a good time, and we know what's going on at this table for these poor, poor people because you're like, man, should have gone to Chick-fil-A. 00:07:26.399 --> 00:07:27.839 Like, should have gone. 00:07:28.639 --> 00:07:30.800 They bring your food to your table there, too. 00:07:31.040 --> 00:07:44.639 And so we're watching this and they do the coloring sheet, you know, and they order the food, and the water's not coming quick enough, and the food's not coming quick enough, and nothing is coming quick enough for a five-year-old and a three-year-old. 00:07:44.800 --> 00:07:50.480 Now, the parents, you know, besides dealing with their kids, they understand. 00:07:50.959 --> 00:07:59.839 Like, oh, we're a nice restaurant, the food's nicer, the food's better, it's better for us, it's gonna be well cooked, it's gonna be good food, like I can wait, I'm you know, I can handle this. 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:04.480 And the kids, it's just frustration is mounting and mounting and mounting because they have to wait and they don't understand it. 00:08:04.560 --> 00:08:06.879 They're five and they're three, they don't understand it. 00:08:07.279 --> 00:08:16.160 And so we see them go through the coloring sheets, and then we see them go through the iPad, and then we see them like under the table, we see them like all they're all over, right? 00:08:16.240 --> 00:08:19.360 And you just see it coming, you know it's coming. 00:08:19.920 --> 00:08:27.360 And I mean these loving little cute children just become little horrible nuisances by the end of this thing, and they're all over the place, right? 00:08:27.519 --> 00:08:29.120 And it's a silly story, right? 00:08:29.199 --> 00:08:29.920 But here's my point. 00:08:30.079 --> 00:08:37.600 Like you'll probably kind of see it coming, is that's what, this is what life and the wilderness of this world is like. 00:08:37.759 --> 00:08:46.559 And sadly, when it comes to understanding how everything works, we're not the adults, we're the children. 00:08:47.360 --> 00:08:59.120 And so we're at this table, and across the table is the creator of our souls, the sovereign being of the universe, and he understands it, and he's fine, and he's got it, and he's working, he knows how everything's working, and in the right timing, it's all gonna come. 00:08:59.279 --> 00:09:02.000 But in the meantime, we are frustrated. 00:09:02.159 --> 00:09:05.440 We're frustrated with what's going on, we're frustrated that we're waiting, we don't understand it. 00:09:05.519 --> 00:09:09.759 You can explain even when you explain it to us, we don't get it because we want what we want, and we want it when we want it. 00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:13.279 And so there's all this frustration, there's all this grumbling. 00:09:14.320 --> 00:09:16.399 And we can call it fragility or brokenness. 00:09:16.559 --> 00:09:18.000 The Bible calls it sin. 00:09:19.039 --> 00:09:24.399 I mean, sin isn't just all the bad things you've done, it's that, it is that, but it but it's it's deeper than that. 00:09:24.480 --> 00:09:31.279 It's the position of the heart that thinks, God, you're just not cutting it. 00:09:33.279 --> 00:09:34.879 I could do better than you. 00:09:36.639 --> 00:09:38.639 You're really not doing that great of a job. 00:09:40.159 --> 00:09:42.480 Okay, so a few points to give us some structure here. 00:09:42.559 --> 00:09:44.320 Uh, point number one, I already mentioned it. 00:09:44.480 --> 00:09:47.759 Number one, our lives are a wilderness. 00:09:48.720 --> 00:09:49.919 Our lives are a wilderness. 00:09:50.080 --> 00:09:51.759 Like, I so I love the world news. 00:09:51.840 --> 00:09:54.399 I watch the world news uh pretty much every single night. 00:09:54.559 --> 00:09:57.279 Let me fill you in, just in case you don't, I'll fill you in. 00:09:57.440 --> 00:10:01.279 ISIS is awful, Syria's a mess, there's another evil shooting in California. 00:10:01.440 --> 00:10:03.759 Things just aren't good. 00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:05.679 Okay? 00:10:06.639 --> 00:10:07.679 Pretty much you don't have to watch. 00:10:07.919 --> 00:10:08.960 I'll just keep telling you that. 00:10:09.120 --> 00:10:11.120 Things just aren't good, and there you have the news. 00:10:11.200 --> 00:10:12.559 There's the world news for you. 00:10:12.720 --> 00:10:16.799 There are wars, there are people hurting, there are refugees that need help. 00:10:17.279 --> 00:10:19.519 And then you have our lives. 00:10:20.720 --> 00:10:21.039 Right? 00:10:21.120 --> 00:10:25.279 I mean, I mean this week we're we're down at um the the Marietta Square. 00:10:25.440 --> 00:10:41.200 There's cute little kids and families everywhere, and kids are singing on the stage, and Santa comes in on a sleigh, and the tree gets lit up, and pretty much everybody there goes home to their comfortable houses with plenty of food, plenty of clothes. 00:10:42.399 --> 00:10:45.919 And yet somehow we still find a way to be unhappy. 00:10:47.440 --> 00:10:48.960 Like, how do we do this? 00:10:49.120 --> 00:10:51.039 Like, how is this possible? 00:10:52.159 --> 00:10:57.519 Like, all of this blessing, and still we find a way to be unhappy. 00:10:57.759 --> 00:10:58.559 What is this? 00:10:58.720 --> 00:10:59.600 What is this? 00:10:59.919 --> 00:11:01.759 Well, it's the it's the wilderness of the world. 00:11:01.919 --> 00:11:02.960 See, it doesn't matter. 00:11:03.120 --> 00:11:08.320 It doesn't matter the house, it doesn't matter the car, the school, the friends, or even what president works out coming up. 00:11:08.480 --> 00:11:09.919 It doesn't matter. 00:11:10.159 --> 00:11:12.720 It will still be a journey of suffering. 00:11:12.960 --> 00:11:15.759 The wilderness will always be there. 00:11:16.159 --> 00:11:22.799 And now sometimes we feel it like really heavy, like crushing, like you can barely breathe. 00:11:22.879 --> 00:11:25.600 You're just trying to get through the next hour. 00:11:25.759 --> 00:11:28.240 And then sometimes life is great. 00:11:29.679 --> 00:11:31.519 Or maybe it's that low hum. 00:11:32.159 --> 00:11:38.639 Life is great, but still there might be a low hum, a subtle hum of resentment. 00:11:41.759 --> 00:11:44.720 This suffering, it could have humbled the Hebrews. 00:11:44.960 --> 00:11:51.360 You know, like get there and there's no water, and you just you break, and you're like, Lord, I need you, and you are in control and you're sovereign. 00:11:51.440 --> 00:11:53.200 You've proven yourself over and over again. 00:11:53.279 --> 00:12:00.960 You rescued us from the Red Sea, you brought us out of the suffering of slavery, you provided manna in the desert, like you've done all this, you can do it again. 00:12:01.039 --> 00:12:02.559 But they don't do that at all. 00:12:02.960 --> 00:12:05.200 Like there's no humbling and the breaking here. 00:12:05.279 --> 00:12:10.720 Instead, they're pride of you're not living up to a God, I could do better. 00:12:11.039 --> 00:12:12.000 That's what comes up. 00:12:12.080 --> 00:12:23.120 And so what we see here is we see that that really in response to the wilderness of the world, we see that we can have open-handed cries, or we can have closed-handed demands. 00:12:23.360 --> 00:12:34.879 And so an open-handed cry is just that, that you're crying out to God in humility, waiting, uh wanting an answer, but waiting in submission that you're not in complete control. 00:12:36.879 --> 00:12:53.200 And they are legitimate cries of frustration, maybe even anger, but your hands are open to say, I'm angry, I'm frustrated, and yet I still know you are sovereign, you are good, and you have been faithful. 00:12:54.480 --> 00:13:05.519 Then there's the Hebrews, there's often what we are, often, and that's those close-handed demands, you're frustrated, you demand an answer, and you're saying, God, you owe me. 00:13:05.919 --> 00:13:07.039 You owe me. 00:13:07.919 --> 00:13:10.159 And it's a position of pride. 00:13:11.360 --> 00:13:15.840 It is the core of what sin is underneath behaviors and actions. 00:13:15.919 --> 00:13:21.279 It's the core of a heart that opposes God's rule over your life. 00:13:21.519 --> 00:13:24.799 So, verse number two, this is really interesting how this breaks down in the passage. 00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:26.799 Verse number two, the people quarreled with Moses. 00:13:27.039 --> 00:13:32.080 Now, the Hebrew word here for quarrel means to bring someone up on charges. 00:13:32.320 --> 00:13:34.240 So it's not like the people are upset. 00:13:34.639 --> 00:13:44.240 It's the people are upset and they're accusing him most likely of treason against the people of Israel, against their nation. 00:13:44.559 --> 00:13:53.279 And so what they're saying when they say, where they're gonna quarrel with him, is they're saying, hey, we're bringing you up on charges, and we're gonna kill you. 00:13:54.559 --> 00:13:55.759 We're gonna stone you. 00:13:55.919 --> 00:14:00.720 We're gonna have a trial, and if you're found guilty, we're gonna stone you. 00:14:01.039 --> 00:14:04.240 And so it's interesting Moses in response says, Why do you quarrel with me? 00:14:04.320 --> 00:14:04.960 Why do you do this? 00:14:05.039 --> 00:14:05.919 Why would you do this? 00:14:06.080 --> 00:14:09.919 And then he says, like in the same breath, why do you test the Lord? 00:14:10.159 --> 00:14:14.320 So they're putting Moses on trial, but Moses sees what's really going on. 00:14:14.480 --> 00:14:18.399 See, they're putting Moses on trial, but really they're putting God on trial. 00:14:18.559 --> 00:14:22.080 See, they're close-handed in demand, and in that, right? 00:14:22.240 --> 00:14:32.000 I mean, you try to hold on to this, in that they're becoming bitter and more exhausted, or they could have become broken and dare to let go. 00:14:32.159 --> 00:14:36.799 Like trying to trying to control everything is just so exhausting. 00:14:37.120 --> 00:14:40.080 Trying to be God is so exhausting. 00:14:41.919 --> 00:14:52.399 Verses 3 and 4, but the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, Why did you bring us out of Egypt to kill us and our children, our livestock with thirst? 00:14:53.840 --> 00:14:56.559 So Moses cried to the Lord, What shall I do with these people? 00:14:57.519 --> 00:14:59.360 They are almost ready to stone me. 00:14:59.519 --> 00:15:00.960 It's like he knows what's coming. 00:15:01.120 --> 00:15:06.000 He he knows there's a trial coming, and if he's guilty, they're gonna stone me. 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:09.120 It's crazy, right? 00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:20.000 I mean, the Hebrews are saying to Moses, you've committed treason against us, leaning us out here, and things are going well, but really what's going on here is the people are committing treason against God. 00:15:20.159 --> 00:15:26.639 And so the people are putting Moses on trial when really the people should be on trial are the people. 00:15:27.279 --> 00:15:29.600 Because they're committing treason against God. 00:15:31.759 --> 00:15:38.000 Because like us, they think, and it may be under that subtle surface, we think, God, God, I know I know how to run my life. 00:15:38.320 --> 00:15:44.720 I could I could orchestrate the well-being of my loved ones better than you. 00:15:47.120 --> 00:15:49.919 I could orchestrate the well-being of this church better than you. 00:15:50.080 --> 00:15:53.600 Or I watch the world news, I'm pretty sure I could figure out Syria. 00:15:54.960 --> 00:15:58.000 I'm pretty sure I could feed the hungry in Africa. 00:15:58.080 --> 00:15:59.679 I'm pretty sure about that one. 00:16:01.519 --> 00:16:04.320 Like, how dare McGuardy fire Mark Rick? 00:16:04.480 --> 00:16:05.200 He's a Christian, right? 00:16:05.279 --> 00:16:08.320 Like, how dare him be embarrassed in the media, right? 00:16:08.399 --> 00:16:09.360 Like, how dare you? 00:16:09.440 --> 00:16:12.799 Like, I could handle all of this so much better. 00:16:12.960 --> 00:16:19.440 And all this is just like this under-the-surface sort of resentment, self-defication. 00:16:19.759 --> 00:16:22.799 I could do better than you. 00:16:24.559 --> 00:16:34.399 And intellectually, I'll nod along at church that you are in control, but in my heart, when I'm alone in my car or my head's on my pillow, God, you don't have it handled. 00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:42.639 So I am subtly under the surface, under my religious actions, I'm suing you. 00:16:44.559 --> 00:16:46.240 I'm putting you on trial. 00:16:49.120 --> 00:16:54.000 And here's the point where you think that God would stick it to them. 00:16:54.720 --> 00:16:56.480 Like you think, oh, this is it. 00:16:56.559 --> 00:16:59.519 Like, I mean, his patience has got to be worn down at this point. 00:16:59.679 --> 00:17:00.559 We get verse 5. 00:17:00.720 --> 00:17:14.000 And the Lord said to Moses, Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, so people who would be making the decision for the trial, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile and go. 00:17:14.160 --> 00:17:18.640 So that staff has everything to do with the symbol of authority, God's authority. 00:17:18.799 --> 00:17:21.119 So somebody's gonna get it. 00:17:21.920 --> 00:17:23.119 And then something happens. 00:17:23.279 --> 00:17:27.359 Verse 6 Behold, I will stand before you. 00:17:28.880 --> 00:17:30.960 There on the rock at Horeb. 00:17:31.519 --> 00:17:35.200 And now maybe you could read right through that, we could blow right through that, and I mean think about it. 00:17:35.279 --> 00:17:39.519 But the language here is the language of a servant standing before their master. 00:17:39.680 --> 00:17:44.240 So God is saying, I'll stand there like I'm your servant. 00:17:44.640 --> 00:17:49.599 You're the one committing treason, and yet I'll stand before you as your servant. 00:17:54.160 --> 00:17:55.359 I'll take the hit. 00:17:55.599 --> 00:17:56.160 Hit me. 00:17:56.400 --> 00:17:57.200 That's what he says. 00:17:57.359 --> 00:18:00.240 He says, Hit the rock on which I stand. 00:18:00.480 --> 00:18:01.039 You hit me. 00:18:01.200 --> 00:18:02.240 You've committed treason. 00:18:02.400 --> 00:18:04.480 Instead of you taking the hit, I'll take the hit. 00:18:04.799 --> 00:18:05.599 Hit me. 00:18:08.319 --> 00:18:14.880 Second part of verse six, and you shall strike the rock, and the water shall come out of it, and the people would drink. 00:18:15.039 --> 00:18:18.240 And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 00:18:18.480 --> 00:18:22.000 So point number two, number one, our world's wilderness. 00:18:22.160 --> 00:18:28.799 Number two, the good news, back to good news, there is a fountain for us in the wilderness. 00:18:29.839 --> 00:18:33.039 A fountain of joy, life, relief, acceptance. 00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:36.079 It's difficult, it's hard, the wilderness doesn't go away. 00:18:36.240 --> 00:18:38.640 But within the wilderness, there is a fountain. 00:18:38.880 --> 00:18:50.240 There is a love that says to you, you don't always have your act together, and you often commit treason against God, but he says to you, I'll stand before you. 00:18:50.559 --> 00:18:51.839 I'll take the hit. 00:18:52.079 --> 00:18:54.319 You deserve the hit, but I'll take the hit. 00:18:55.039 --> 00:19:01.039 And number three, that leads us straight into point number three so we can understand this just a little bit more, what this how this works itself out. 00:19:01.200 --> 00:19:05.119 Number three, we know this fountain because he knew our trial. 00:19:05.599 --> 00:19:09.839 Paul cleans it up for us in the beginning of 1 Corinthians chapter 10. 00:19:09.920 --> 00:19:12.799 Listen, I mean, this is direct, directly coming from this story. 00:19:12.960 --> 00:19:41.200 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, if you remember that in early Exodus, and all passed through the sea, hello, Red Sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, that's the manna, and all drank the same spiritual drink, so all the hunger and the thirst we've had going on, for they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. 00:19:43.920 --> 00:19:47.359 So maybe I need to I'll make it a little even clearer. 00:19:47.839 --> 00:20:01.839 Because God humbled himself into our wilderness in his own incarnation and the person of Jesus, and he took the brokenness, and he took the sin, he took the shame upon himself, gives to us his righteousness. 00:20:02.480 --> 00:20:05.519 Because of this, we're forever accepted by him. 00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:07.599 We are forever beloved. 00:20:08.559 --> 00:20:12.160 This is why the cross is a place of hope for those who understand it. 00:20:13.759 --> 00:20:21.039 So I I'm a I'm a list guy, you know, like I'm just this is one of my notepads here. 00:20:21.200 --> 00:20:27.119 I mean, there's just lists, and and I just make a list, turn the page, and and I l I keep one in my truck. 00:20:27.279 --> 00:20:29.839 I have one of these in my truck, one on my desk. 00:20:30.079 --> 00:20:32.799 Usually there's a list on the kitchen counter. 00:20:33.279 --> 00:20:34.000 List people? 00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:34.640 Anybody? 00:20:34.799 --> 00:20:36.160 Can we just join together? 00:20:36.400 --> 00:20:38.160 You're like, yes, I know that. 00:20:38.319 --> 00:20:41.200 Now, uh there's different kinds of list people, I think. 00:20:41.279 --> 00:20:44.960 I think you have um what I am is like multiple lists. 00:20:45.440 --> 00:20:45.920 Right? 00:20:46.240 --> 00:20:48.000 Anybody multiple lists all over? 00:20:48.160 --> 00:20:50.160 Is anybody still consolidated to the one? 00:20:50.319 --> 00:20:51.440 Just like one list. 00:20:51.680 --> 00:20:52.480 Yeah, okay. 00:20:52.640 --> 00:20:56.799 That we want the multiple lists want to be you, but we keep leaving lists in different ways. 00:20:56.880 --> 00:20:57.519 Then we have to have a list. 00:20:57.599 --> 00:21:00.319 Like I'm not, oh, I need to form a list of where I keep my lists. 00:21:00.480 --> 00:21:02.000 And that's kind of how that works out. 00:21:02.079 --> 00:21:03.440 So we do lists for anything, right? 00:21:03.519 --> 00:21:05.759 I mean you do Christmas lists, hello, yeah. 00:21:05.839 --> 00:21:07.119 I still keep a Christmas list. 00:21:07.200 --> 00:21:08.160 I'm still that guy. 00:21:08.319 --> 00:21:20.880 And so lists for anything, lists for what I need to do around the house, lists for errands, lists for what I need to do tomorrow for work, lists for uh where places I want to take my kids. 00:21:20.960 --> 00:21:21.920 I'll make a list for anything. 00:21:22.000 --> 00:21:24.880 Like if I'm thinking it, let's just make a list, and I like that. 00:21:25.119 --> 00:21:26.799 That makes me feel very in control. 00:21:26.960 --> 00:21:27.680 So I love that. 00:21:27.839 --> 00:21:29.119 Just make a list. 00:21:29.279 --> 00:21:34.880 Now, there's a different kind of list that we often we often keep. 00:21:35.839 --> 00:21:45.359 And and this is this is sort of the list where we we take a notepad and we just kind of keep all the all the ways God's just sort of let us down. 00:21:48.559 --> 00:21:50.400 Like he didn't show up for that. 00:21:51.839 --> 00:21:53.599 Still waiting on that. 00:21:55.200 --> 00:21:59.759 That time I was hungry, that time I was thirsty, that thing I've been trying. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:02.319 To understand, and I still don't understand it. 00:22:02.400 --> 00:22:06.480 I think I'm waiting for, I'm still waiting, I'm still alone. 00:22:06.880 --> 00:22:08.559 I'm alone again. 00:22:10.400 --> 00:22:13.200 I'm still hurting, I'm not any better. 00:22:13.680 --> 00:22:22.319 And we keep this kind of list, and what we can think is, and it's so easy, we can think that when we do this, that it's as light as paper. 00:22:22.960 --> 00:22:27.119 But when we do this, it we're not making a list and carrying around a piece of paper. 00:22:27.279 --> 00:22:28.799 You know it's heavier than that, right? 00:22:28.880 --> 00:22:30.720 Like it is, it's a brick. 00:22:31.599 --> 00:22:34.559 We're not making lists on paper when we keep that kind of list with God. 00:22:34.640 --> 00:22:40.240 We're not keeping lists, we're keeping it, it's like we're making lists on bricks and carrying around the bricks. 00:22:40.319 --> 00:22:45.039 And the reason why is because when you play the list game with God, it doesn't work. 00:22:46.559 --> 00:22:49.839 Because what about the good things in the wilderness? 00:22:50.880 --> 00:22:52.880 Are you gonna consider those? 00:22:53.200 --> 00:22:57.200 And if you're making God pay, which when you keep a list on him, is what you're doing. 00:22:57.279 --> 00:22:58.400 You're saying, like, you owe me. 00:22:58.559 --> 00:23:02.720 If you're making God pay for the bad things, then do you have to pay him for the good things? 00:23:02.880 --> 00:23:04.720 And how are you gonna score that? 00:23:07.839 --> 00:23:09.039 How much do you owe him? 00:23:09.119 --> 00:23:10.480 How do you pay him back? 00:23:10.720 --> 00:23:14.799 See, thinking of God as Santa Claus, receiving your list is not healthy. 00:23:14.960 --> 00:23:16.319 It doesn't work. 00:23:16.559 --> 00:23:23.920 And even thinking of God as Google, like enter the term and enter the question, and I can read as much as I want, and I'm gonna get up the full understanding, that doesn't work. 00:23:25.440 --> 00:23:45.359 But thinking of God as a sovereign being of justice and love, of which you will never fully understand, that goes before you, even into the difficulty, in anticipatory providence for you, that anticipates your need of a savior from the trial that's due your treason. 00:23:46.799 --> 00:23:49.920 Understanding that, that that works wonderfully. 00:23:51.839 --> 00:24:01.119 So, my brothers and sisters, out of great love for you, he took the trial and he took the hit for you. 00:24:02.960 --> 00:24:15.119 So that water would spill out for you, so that you can drink from the deep well of his sufficiency and his love that is in the person of Jesus. 00:24:16.079 --> 00:24:18.000 We may never understand everything. 00:24:18.240 --> 00:24:26.240 We may always be frustrated, but we don't approach him with fists, we approach him with open hands as we wait. 00:24:26.480 --> 00:24:28.000 Let's pray together. 00:24:33.519 --> 00:24:58.480 God, thank you for your love to us that in our frustration and our pride, as we think we could run things better, you do not make us earn our way back into relationship with you, but you stand before us. 00:25:00.240 --> 00:25:01.920 And you took the trial. 00:25:02.880 --> 00:25:19.680 What a great picture this morning is of whether we whether we feel it or not, whether we hear a word of love or not this morning, and our emotions that you've already spoken the word of love into this world. 00:25:22.079 --> 00:25:24.720 That the person of Jesus is the ultimate word. 00:25:26.000 --> 00:25:37.119 Took the trial, took the hit, took all of our sin and gave us all the righteousness we'll ever need to be fully and forever your beloved. 00:25:39.839 --> 00:25:43.359 Give us faith and trust as we lack it so often. 00:25:43.599 --> 00:25:45.119 In Jesus' name we pray. 00:25:45.359 --> 00:25:46.000 Amen.