WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:02.560 Welcome to the City Covenant podcast. 00:00:02.879 --> 00:00:11.599 We are a warm, welcoming church located in downtown Spokane, dedicated to practicing the way of Jesus in the heart of the city. 00:00:11.919 --> 00:00:15.679 Please join us as we dive into the Word of God together. 00:00:39.200 --> 00:00:40.960 Welcome to City Covenant. 00:00:43.520 --> 00:00:54.799 We are going to continue in worship as we worship with our minds, we worship with our hearts, as we hear the gospel proclaimed in the book of Exodus. 00:00:57.600 --> 00:01:02.159 Go ahead and if you brought a Bible, turn with me to Exodus 5. 00:01:02.240 --> 00:01:05.840 We're looking at parts of Exodus 5, 6, and 7. 00:01:06.319 --> 00:01:10.239 If you don't have a Bible with you, there's a Bible right in front of you in the pew. 00:01:10.560 --> 00:01:12.239 You can go to page 51. 00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:16.480 What we're looking at today is the ultimate question of the book of Exodus. 00:01:16.640 --> 00:01:17.519 Who is the Lord? 00:01:17.599 --> 00:01:22.000 This is the question that Pharaoh asks, and then God answers through his prophet Moses. 00:01:22.239 --> 00:01:23.120 And we're looking at this. 00:01:23.200 --> 00:01:27.120 This is the question that determines not only Pharaoh's life, but our life. 00:01:27.599 --> 00:01:30.000 This is what determines how you approach the world. 00:01:30.159 --> 00:01:33.120 It determines how you act, it determines how you feel. 00:01:33.439 --> 00:01:35.120 This question of who is the Lord. 00:01:35.680 --> 00:01:40.959 Ultimately, for us to understand our own identity, first we have to understand the Lord's identity. 00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:43.200 And so we're at in page 51. 00:01:43.359 --> 00:01:44.480 We're going to, here's what we'll do. 00:01:44.560 --> 00:01:48.959 We're going to look at this quick line in Exodus 5.2. 00:01:49.280 --> 00:01:53.519 Then we're going to go and we'll read 6.1 through verse 8. 00:01:53.599 --> 00:01:57.439 And then we'll finish at chapter 7, verses 2 through 5. 00:01:57.760 --> 00:02:01.519 Feel free to hop through there, or you know, obviously you can just listen as well. 00:02:01.680 --> 00:02:07.920 This is what we're going to do is we'll read it and then we'll pray and we'll we're going to look together at the story. 00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:10.319 This is what Exodus says. 00:02:10.639 --> 00:02:16.000 Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord that I should obey him and let Israel go? 00:02:16.159 --> 00:02:19.280 I don't know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go. 00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:24.800 And in verse chapter 6, then the Lord said to Moses, Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh. 00:02:25.120 --> 00:02:27.759 Because of my mighty hand, he will let them go. 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:31.919 Because of my mighty hand, he will drive them out of his country. 00:02:32.159 --> 00:02:34.560 God also said to Moses, I am the Lord. 00:02:34.800 --> 00:02:38.719 I appear to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty. 00:02:39.039 --> 00:02:44.080 But by my name, the Lord, I did not make myself fully known to them. 00:02:44.240 --> 00:02:49.599 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they resided as foreigners. 00:02:49.840 --> 00:02:56.240 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant. 00:02:56.479 --> 00:03:02.639 Therefore, say to the Israelites, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. 00:03:02.800 --> 00:03:09.520 I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 00:03:10.240 --> 00:03:13.759 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:26.080 Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians, and I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob. 00:03:26.319 --> 00:03:27.919 I will give it to you as a possession. 00:03:28.080 --> 00:03:28.960 I am the Lord. 00:03:29.199 --> 00:03:40.400 And then moving to chapter 7, verse 2, you are to say everything I commanded you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country. 00:03:40.560 --> 00:03:46.240 But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in Egypt, he will not listen to you. 00:03:46.400 --> 00:03:56.560 Then I will lay my hand on Egypt, and with mighty acts of judgment, I will bring out my divisions, my people, the Israelites, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord. 00:03:56.800 --> 00:04:00.960 When I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it. 00:04:01.199 --> 00:04:03.599 Friends, this is the word of the Lord. 00:04:04.479 --> 00:04:05.759 Let us pray. 00:04:06.240 --> 00:04:16.319 Father, this is a story of oppression of a people that are enslaved by Egypt, and you do not persist with this type of injustice. 00:04:16.639 --> 00:04:29.360 You're a God who remembers, you're a God who sees, you're a God who, even though you you love everyone in Egypt, you're unwilling to let this sin persist. 00:04:31.920 --> 00:04:35.759 And so, Lord, we thank you that you are a God of justice. 00:04:36.720 --> 00:04:39.360 We ask this morning, who is the Lord? 00:04:40.800 --> 00:04:42.720 God, we want to see your face. 00:04:43.120 --> 00:04:44.639 We want to know you. 00:04:45.279 --> 00:04:52.639 Lord, help us in our hearts so that we might ultimately know you because we see the face of Jesus. 00:04:52.800 --> 00:04:54.160 And it's in Christ's name we pray. 00:04:54.399 --> 00:04:54.959 Amen. 00:04:55.199 --> 00:05:00.000 Okay, so we're gonna look at this story and try to understand, right, Pharaoh's big question, right? 00:05:00.079 --> 00:05:00.800 Who is the Lord? 00:05:00.879 --> 00:05:02.079 Isn't that a wild question? 00:05:02.160 --> 00:05:10.399 By the way, just real fast, there are a couple times throughout scripture that you just look and say, uh-oh, like watch out, um, don't be like him, right? 00:05:10.560 --> 00:05:19.759 Um, one of them, you guys might remember this little moment in Genesis where Abel um asked this question, right, where God is talking to Abel and said, Abel, where's your brother Cain? 00:05:19.920 --> 00:05:23.600 And Cain asks God a question of, I don't know, am I my brother's keeper? 00:05:23.680 --> 00:05:26.319 And you're like, uh oh, time out, don't ask God questions like that. 00:05:26.399 --> 00:05:28.879 You know, this is very much like a parent moment. 00:05:29.040 --> 00:05:29.439 Uh-uh. 00:05:29.600 --> 00:05:32.160 You weren't supposed to, you, you that you said the wrong thing. 00:05:32.240 --> 00:05:33.360 Don't do that, right? 00:05:33.519 --> 00:05:35.759 This is very much Pharaoh, same deal. 00:05:35.920 --> 00:05:38.319 Where he's like, well, I don't know, who is the Lord? 00:05:38.480 --> 00:05:40.160 I'm not, I'm not obligated to follow him. 00:05:40.319 --> 00:05:44.319 Also, where you look and say, like, everyone who's around is saying, uh-oh, stay away from Pharaoh. 00:05:44.480 --> 00:05:45.279 This is a bad move. 00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:47.839 He gave the wrong, you know, he asked the wrong question. 00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:51.600 Um, so what we're gonna look at is for a minute, we're gonna we'll look at these four points. 00:05:51.759 --> 00:05:55.279 We're gonna look just for a second at Pharaoh's defiance, right? 00:05:55.519 --> 00:05:58.560 Pharaoh says, Who is the Lord that I should follow him? 00:05:58.800 --> 00:06:00.720 He doesn't, he's not in charge of me, right? 00:06:01.040 --> 00:06:04.399 And the second thing we're gonna see is God answers this question. 00:06:04.480 --> 00:06:05.920 It's God's self-revelation. 00:06:06.079 --> 00:06:07.199 God says, I am the Lord. 00:06:07.279 --> 00:06:09.279 I don't know if you noticed this when we read that. 00:06:09.439 --> 00:06:17.839 Um, in Exodus, just in Exodus six in particular, in those eight verses, five different times, God says, I am the Lord, right? 00:06:17.920 --> 00:06:20.000 He, I mean, that it's answering the question. 00:06:20.160 --> 00:06:20.959 Who is the Lord? 00:06:21.120 --> 00:06:25.199 God steps in and says, I will tell you who is the Lord, and then I'm gonna show you, right? 00:06:25.360 --> 00:06:27.759 And so we see we start at Pharaoh's defiance. 00:06:27.839 --> 00:06:30.000 We move to um Pharaoh saying, Who is the Lord? 00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:31.439 God says, I am the Lord. 00:06:31.600 --> 00:06:35.120 And and then we see these two ways we can respond, right? 00:06:35.199 --> 00:06:39.040 We can either move towards submission, right, or we can move toward resistance. 00:06:39.199 --> 00:06:44.720 And then ultimately we're gonna see that the ultimate answer of who is the Lord is found in Christ Jesus Himself. 00:06:44.879 --> 00:06:53.439 And so as we read this, um, we're we're looking at this and we see Pharaoh, right, with this ultimately bad um response, right? 00:06:53.519 --> 00:06:58.079 When he says, Who am who is the Lord that I should obey him and let Israel go? 00:06:58.240 --> 00:06:59.120 I don't know him. 00:06:59.439 --> 00:07:02.399 This is the biggest question in Exodus, right? 00:07:02.560 --> 00:07:06.079 Um We told you a little bit about it the last few weeks, right? 00:07:06.240 --> 00:07:08.959 Um, about the nature of the gods in the ancient world, right? 00:07:09.199 --> 00:07:15.680 It was the belief in the ancient world that particular gods of certain nations only had power in those localities, right? 00:07:15.759 --> 00:07:16.959 And we'll we'll keep talking about that. 00:07:17.040 --> 00:07:18.079 We'll talk about it more. 00:07:18.160 --> 00:07:24.079 Um we see, for instance, if you think about it throughout other Bible stories that you probably have read before, right? 00:07:24.240 --> 00:07:26.240 Remember, you have people like Rahab. 00:07:26.399 --> 00:07:40.000 Rahab understands um that somehow the God of Israel is very powerful, and that um in that Rahab in Jericho decides, hey, I should actually submit to the God of Israel, right? 00:07:40.160 --> 00:07:47.519 Um we see other people, like in the story of Jonah, and we're going through this in our small group at our house on Tuesday nights right now. 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:50.240 And we have this group of people as we're studying the book of Jonah. 00:07:50.399 --> 00:07:53.360 What's interesting is in the book of Jonah, you have these sailors, right? 00:07:53.439 --> 00:07:58.560 Remember when Jonah gets thrown off the boat and um and then gets eaten by a whale and all that, you know that story. 00:07:58.720 --> 00:08:05.360 Anyway, what's fascinating is before Jonah gets thrown off the boat, you have these other folks that are not Israelites. 00:08:05.439 --> 00:08:07.120 They are very spiritually sensitive. 00:08:07.199 --> 00:08:10.399 They know somehow the God of Israel must be very powerful, right? 00:08:10.480 --> 00:08:13.040 He's the maker and sustainer of all things, right? 00:08:13.199 --> 00:08:15.360 Um, same thing, the Ninevehites. 00:08:15.600 --> 00:08:22.560 God, uh, the God of Israel, people in Nineveh are like, boy, that God must um have power here too. 00:08:22.720 --> 00:08:32.159 I tell you all that because there are some people that are spiritually sensitive and spiritually aware that say, this is the like the real God of the universe, this God of Israel. 00:08:32.320 --> 00:08:33.200 He's really something. 00:08:33.360 --> 00:08:35.759 I need to listen, I need to pay attention, right? 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:39.279 Other people resist, other people dismiss him, right? 00:08:39.440 --> 00:08:40.960 Pharaoh's one of them. 00:08:41.440 --> 00:08:41.919 Right? 00:08:42.159 --> 00:08:44.159 So who is the Lord? 00:08:45.039 --> 00:08:48.159 Um, well, God is the Lord, right? 00:08:48.320 --> 00:08:57.440 If if God is the Lord, even Pharaoh knows that um if Pharaoh knows that, then Pharaoh would need to obey him, right? 00:08:57.600 --> 00:09:06.000 So here's the thing, there's no such thing, guys, just you know, throughout all of scripture, there's um this idea of listening in Hebrew is the same as obeying. 00:09:06.159 --> 00:09:09.519 There's actually get this, there's no word in Hebrew for obey. 00:09:09.679 --> 00:09:10.480 You know why? 00:09:10.639 --> 00:09:12.159 Um it's simply listen. 00:09:12.320 --> 00:09:19.120 If you hear God's voice, the expectation, I know this sounds crazy, you've read it in the Old Testament, and you it says obey. 00:09:19.279 --> 00:09:22.240 No, it's actually because it's connected to listen and hearing God's voice. 00:09:22.399 --> 00:09:30.000 The expectation in in Hebrew, like in the Old Testament, is that if you hear God's voice, uh, of course you would obey. 00:09:30.399 --> 00:09:35.919 So when God says hear me, listen to me, uh, we translate it into English as obey God. 00:09:36.159 --> 00:09:36.799 You know why? 00:09:37.039 --> 00:09:38.480 Because of course you would. 00:09:38.639 --> 00:09:43.600 If you hear him, if you listen to him, the only logical thing you could do, he is the Lord. 00:09:43.759 --> 00:09:45.200 You have to submit to him, right? 00:09:45.919 --> 00:09:47.840 Pharaoh says no. 00:09:48.559 --> 00:09:48.960 Right? 00:09:49.200 --> 00:09:54.159 So there is no such thing, right, as a as a Lord who you don't listen to, right? 00:09:54.240 --> 00:10:04.000 It's why we when we say Jesus is my Lord and Savior, you can't be like, Jesus is my Lord and Savior and go out doing all these bad things and still say Jesus is my Lord and Savior, right? 00:10:04.080 --> 00:10:06.639 Because we would look and say that'd be some form of cheap grace, right? 00:10:06.720 --> 00:10:13.200 If you look and say, Jesus is my Lord, but I don't actually obey him, you would look and say, Oh, well, friends, it's very simple. 00:10:13.360 --> 00:10:14.720 Then Jesus isn't your Lord. 00:10:14.879 --> 00:10:18.480 You have some type of intellectual ascent of maybe about the actions that he did. 00:10:18.559 --> 00:10:21.600 You have some type of intellectual ascent about the cross and the resurrection. 00:10:21.679 --> 00:10:26.639 You have an intellectual ascent about the miracles, you have an intellectual ascent about the virgin birth. 00:10:26.960 --> 00:10:33.679 But if you don't obey him, even though you look and say, he might be the Lord of heaven and earth, he's not actually your Lord, right? 00:10:33.759 --> 00:10:37.600 I I know that sounds like a hard start to this sermon, but stick with me, okay? 00:10:37.679 --> 00:10:38.559 It gets nice. 00:10:38.799 --> 00:10:40.960 Um here's what happens. 00:10:41.120 --> 00:10:42.879 I mean, I think about a story like this. 00:10:43.120 --> 00:10:51.759 Because the reason you obey God, the reason God is the Lord, is because he is the Lord of heaven and earth, because he's the maker of heaven and earth. 00:10:51.919 --> 00:10:53.679 He knows how these things are supposed to work. 00:10:53.840 --> 00:10:54.960 That's why you can trust him. 00:10:55.279 --> 00:10:58.639 He says, I created, I engineered this whole setup, right? 00:10:58.720 --> 00:11:02.080 And because I created heaven and earth, I know how they're built to function. 00:11:02.240 --> 00:11:07.919 And so you should trust me and follow me because when you live in my ways, actually it's going to go better for you. 00:11:08.080 --> 00:11:08.320 Amen? 00:11:08.559 --> 00:11:08.720 Right? 00:11:08.799 --> 00:11:10.399 I mean, this is actually, in some ways, it's kind of simple. 00:11:10.559 --> 00:11:11.919 So I think about it like this. 00:11:12.080 --> 00:11:16.480 Um, some of you guys have heard me talk, there's this like magical area. 00:11:16.720 --> 00:11:20.480 If you go to the far western section of Montana, it's hard to get to. 00:11:20.559 --> 00:11:25.039 But if you go to Glacier National Park, okay, anyone have been to Glacier before? 00:11:25.200 --> 00:11:31.600 There's a spot that I think might be like the most remote part of like the lower 48 states. 00:11:31.679 --> 00:11:33.120 And here's how you get there. 00:11:33.360 --> 00:11:36.159 And it don't worry, it'll still be remote even if all of us go. 00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:37.039 Okay, so you can go. 00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:42.000 I'm not, I'm not, you this isn't like me telling you about the Chinkaterra in Italy and now it's ruined, right? 00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:42.559 Okay. 00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:56.720 So um what you do is this you go to the base of Glacier National Park, and rather than going into West Glacier, you hang a left, and you go on a dirt road for 30 miles, and there's no electricity, and their car is going to be very, very dusty. 00:11:56.879 --> 00:12:06.320 And you get to this area called Pole Bridge, Montana, and Pole Bridge is 30 miles from electricity, um, and it's it's this far entrance to Glacier National Park. 00:12:06.559 --> 00:12:09.360 Okay, so I just want, and it's this beautiful, amazing area. 00:12:09.440 --> 00:12:11.200 You can see the mountains so well. 00:12:11.360 --> 00:12:14.000 Um, they're, you know, it's dead silent, it's amazing. 00:12:14.080 --> 00:12:18.320 And there's a place you can get an Elkburger, which is if you're not a vegan, it's really gonna be something, right? 00:12:18.480 --> 00:12:20.639 So, okay, but I just want you to imagine for yourself. 00:12:20.799 --> 00:12:22.159 I just want you to imagine for a second. 00:12:22.240 --> 00:12:27.120 You're in Polebridge, Montana, it's incredibly remote, and you and your friends go hiking, right? 00:12:27.200 --> 00:12:32.799 And you're hiking and hiking and hiking, and you're going further and further into the wilderness, the most remote part of the lower 48. 00:12:32.879 --> 00:12:33.600 And something happens. 00:12:33.679 --> 00:12:37.600 You stumble upon this area deep in the wilderness. 00:12:37.759 --> 00:12:44.159 And as you're in this area, in the deep wilderness, all of a sudden you start seeing things, and you can tell you're no longer in the wilderness. 00:12:44.399 --> 00:12:48.159 And and you start seeing, let's say, you see some grape vines, right? 00:12:48.320 --> 00:12:51.039 And then you see some um some fruit trees, right? 00:12:51.200 --> 00:12:53.279 And then you see vegetables growing on the ground. 00:12:53.440 --> 00:12:57.759 And then as you keep walking, you look and you realize, oh my goodness, there's a small cabin. 00:12:57.919 --> 00:12:58.879 There's a small cabin. 00:12:58.960 --> 00:13:00.000 And the doors open. 00:13:00.159 --> 00:13:05.519 And you walk into the door, into the cabin, and you meet the host, and the host is very hospitable. 00:13:06.159 --> 00:13:15.279 And and he welcomes you in, and you find out he's he's planted all this, he's manicured all of it, he made it all, he built the cabin himself with his own hands. 00:13:15.360 --> 00:13:20.559 And then you look and you say, Oh my gosh, we've been hiking for a week, and I'm so incredibly dirty. 00:13:20.720 --> 00:13:22.720 Look, there's a sink, there must be running water. 00:13:22.879 --> 00:13:26.399 And you walk over to the sink, and he says, No, hold on, hold on. 00:13:26.559 --> 00:13:28.639 There's a a way that you don't know about. 00:13:28.720 --> 00:13:36.879 The way I've engineered this, the way I've designed this, the sink doesn't turn on like you would expect because I had to use different materials out here in the wilderness in Polebridge, Montana. 00:13:37.039 --> 00:13:43.200 And you say, No, I've got it from here, trust me, I know about sinks, I don't need your help. 00:13:43.519 --> 00:13:46.000 You have, you're at a crossroads of sorts. 00:13:46.240 --> 00:13:53.679 You can either trust the person who is the maker and now sustains this little land in this cabin and this sink. 00:13:53.919 --> 00:13:58.320 Or you can say, no, I've got it from here, I know how sinks work. 00:13:58.480 --> 00:14:09.840 The problem is, if the sink is designed in such a way that the water doesn't turn on in the way that you'd expect it to, if you keep doing the things that you do, the water will never turn on. 00:14:10.399 --> 00:14:14.720 The challenge with Pharaoh is Pharaoh thinks this is his cabin. 00:14:14.960 --> 00:14:17.200 He really thinks he's in charge of it. 00:14:17.279 --> 00:14:30.639 And Pharaoh lives under this false delusion in a way, almost not only that Yahweh is not the maker of this whole thing, somehow Pharaoh has deluded himself into believing he's really been the maker of it. 00:14:30.720 --> 00:14:32.639 He's the one who's in charge of it, right? 00:14:32.799 --> 00:14:35.440 And so he's the one that everyone should listen to, right? 00:14:35.600 --> 00:14:40.639 So Pharaoh is defiant as he says, Who is the Lord? 00:14:40.960 --> 00:14:41.200 Right? 00:14:41.360 --> 00:14:45.759 Because he says, it certainly is not this God of Israel. 00:14:46.480 --> 00:15:01.200 Even though the God of Israel is not just the God of Israel, in the words of Jonah, he's the one who made, you know, made the sea and the dry land of the whole earth, right? 00:15:01.360 --> 00:15:06.960 And so you have to, so you listen to him because he's the Lord, because he's the Maker. 00:15:07.440 --> 00:15:09.519 So why doesn't Pharaoh listen to the Lord? 00:15:09.679 --> 00:15:11.840 He doesn't listen because he thinks he's the Lord. 00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:13.840 He thinks that he's in charge. 00:15:14.720 --> 00:15:19.919 So with all that, God says, then I will tell you about myself. 00:15:20.399 --> 00:15:24.000 See, God is a God of self-revelation, just so you know. 00:15:24.240 --> 00:15:30.240 As Christians, we don't believe that Christian theology starts from a point of creativity. 00:15:30.639 --> 00:15:35.039 We believe that Christian theology starts from a point of revelation, right? 00:15:35.440 --> 00:15:40.960 We believe that how we understand God is because God reveals God's self to us. 00:15:41.120 --> 00:15:42.480 That's how we understand Him. 00:15:42.720 --> 00:15:48.399 We believe that God ultimately shows Himself in Jesus Christ, the person. 00:15:48.799 --> 00:15:49.120 Right? 00:15:49.200 --> 00:15:52.320 That when we see the face of Jesus, we see the face of God. 00:15:52.480 --> 00:15:58.879 So when we ask, who is the Lord, our question, our starting point isn't wondering, it's not groping around in the dark. 00:15:59.120 --> 00:16:05.200 Ours is from a starting point that says, everything we understand about God is because God has told us this. 00:16:05.360 --> 00:16:09.039 God has acted certain ways and that we can discern who He is. 00:16:09.519 --> 00:16:13.519 God says, I will show you my power, I will show you my authority. 00:16:13.679 --> 00:16:16.559 Look at what he says in verses six, five through eight. 00:16:16.639 --> 00:16:18.080 He says, I will bring you out. 00:16:18.159 --> 00:16:20.320 He has all these actions that he's gonna do. 00:16:20.480 --> 00:16:30.720 I will bring you out, I will free you, I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, I will take you as my own people, I will, I will be your God, and I will bring you to the land. 00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:36.960 These statements, if you follow along from five through eight, what you see, guys, this is the whole story of Revelation. 00:16:37.120 --> 00:16:44.320 God has just summarized in his actions the way he functions in the world and the way he's telling the story of all of Exodus. 00:16:44.480 --> 00:16:44.720 Right? 00:16:44.799 --> 00:16:51.039 This whole story of Exodus is not simply just, hey, some people were slaves, we got to get them out of there, help them be free. 00:16:51.200 --> 00:16:55.039 No, the story of Exodus is a story of deliverance, right? 00:16:55.120 --> 00:16:59.840 It's a story of covenant, it's a story of a land of promise and hope, right? 00:16:59.919 --> 00:17:02.720 And of abundance that God's bringing them to. 00:17:03.279 --> 00:17:10.160 But just as we learned last week, they can't hear all of this hope because they're so despondent, right? 00:17:10.319 --> 00:17:12.240 Just like Mickey's prayer request, right? 00:17:12.400 --> 00:17:15.920 They have this type of depression over them, right? 00:17:16.160 --> 00:17:21.119 Where things have felt so hopeless that they can't see hope any longer. 00:17:22.079 --> 00:17:22.319 Right? 00:17:22.480 --> 00:17:23.920 Their spirits were broken. 00:17:25.119 --> 00:17:30.559 And so they no longer have the ability to hear the truth of who God is and what God's gonna do. 00:17:30.799 --> 00:17:32.640 I'll tell you though, you have to know this. 00:17:33.119 --> 00:17:35.359 It was true for Israel and it's true for us. 00:17:37.119 --> 00:17:42.240 Even if they didn't believe it, even if their hearts can't rise up to that level of hope. 00:17:42.880 --> 00:17:45.440 God is still who God says He is. 00:17:46.240 --> 00:17:51.279 God is still true and good, whether you can perceive it in this very moment or not. 00:17:51.519 --> 00:17:52.079 Amen. 00:17:52.480 --> 00:17:52.799 Right? 00:17:52.880 --> 00:17:54.000 Because this is the thing. 00:17:54.160 --> 00:17:56.480 Our feelings actually often are fickle, right? 00:17:56.559 --> 00:17:57.359 They actually come and go. 00:17:57.519 --> 00:18:00.319 Sometimes we have eyes to see, sometimes we don't. 00:18:01.039 --> 00:18:06.480 God is still the same yesterday, today, and forever, regardless of how we presently feel. 00:18:06.640 --> 00:18:19.759 This is really, really important for us to know as Christians, when you know, when you take an honest look at life and you read the Psalms, for instance, you read the Psalms, and some of the Psalms are like incredible, like happy, wonderful like times, right? 00:18:19.839 --> 00:18:21.440 We're like, God, you're amazing. 00:18:21.599 --> 00:18:24.319 You know, all the sorry, this is why I don't write poetry, right? 00:18:24.400 --> 00:18:28.240 It's very right, I would say it's very, I would say overly simple things. 00:18:28.400 --> 00:18:33.039 I would just, right, if I wrote the Psalms, um, all I would say is, God, you're nice and I like you, right? 00:18:33.279 --> 00:18:39.039 And the what's amazing about reading other people's poetry, about reading other people's songs, is it gives you better words, right? 00:18:39.200 --> 00:18:45.519 And so in the Psalms, we have all of these incredible songs of praise, but then we have all these incredible songs of lament. 00:18:45.759 --> 00:18:46.160 Why? 00:18:46.400 --> 00:18:50.160 Because sometimes life is really brutally difficult, right? 00:18:50.319 --> 00:18:55.200 So some of you guys right now are in a moment where you say life is brutally difficult. 00:18:55.359 --> 00:19:00.160 Some of you are in a time in your life where praise is really easy, right? 00:19:00.400 --> 00:19:03.440 Both these things are part of the human experience. 00:19:03.599 --> 00:19:08.960 And as Christians, what's incredible is God welcomes you in with both and more. 00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:10.000 Amen? 00:19:10.319 --> 00:19:10.640 Right? 00:19:10.799 --> 00:19:16.079 And so you are, we we're not somehow asked as Christians to check lament at the door. 00:19:16.240 --> 00:19:16.480 Right? 00:19:16.799 --> 00:19:20.000 So Israel is in this moment of lament, right? 00:19:20.559 --> 00:19:26.799 And they they are so brokenhearted, they might not even be able to say when they're asking that when they're asking the question of who is the Lord? 00:19:26.960 --> 00:19:31.839 They might look and say, boy, it doesn't even feel like God is the Lord, yet he still is. 00:19:32.079 --> 00:19:32.319 Right? 00:19:32.480 --> 00:19:38.000 So some of us today, even, you look and say, boy, you need to hear, yet he still is, right? 00:19:38.160 --> 00:19:38.960 In your own life. 00:19:39.119 --> 00:19:40.000 So who is God? 00:19:40.160 --> 00:19:40.720 What's he like? 00:19:40.880 --> 00:19:42.000 What's God say about himself? 00:19:42.319 --> 00:19:46.319 Well, one of these things, you know what he says, he says, I'm the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. 00:19:46.480 --> 00:19:47.519 You know what that means? 00:19:47.759 --> 00:19:53.119 If God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that means God is a God who is long suffering. 00:19:53.680 --> 00:19:54.640 And here's why. 00:19:54.880 --> 00:20:00.480 Because he's dealt with these same people who keep making the same type of mistakes over and over and over. 00:20:00.559 --> 00:20:08.160 And God doesn't leave because he's a God of long suffering, that's a God of covenant, he's a God of commitment, he's a God who is faithful, right? 00:20:08.319 --> 00:20:19.680 He's a God who says his relationship with his people don't primarily depend on their response to him as much as it depends on his own covenant faithfulness toward them. 00:20:19.839 --> 00:20:20.240 Why? 00:20:20.480 --> 00:20:24.160 Because his people, including us, are often unfaithful to him. 00:20:24.319 --> 00:20:25.599 And what happens? 00:20:25.920 --> 00:20:30.720 God responds to our unfaithfulness with even more of his faithfulness. 00:20:30.880 --> 00:20:31.200 Right? 00:20:31.359 --> 00:20:33.759 That's how the covenant keeps going, right? 00:20:33.839 --> 00:20:38.079 It's because God is the one who sustains the covenant. 00:20:38.400 --> 00:20:38.880 Right? 00:20:39.119 --> 00:20:43.759 He says at the end of 6.5, it says, God says he remembers. 00:20:43.920 --> 00:20:45.680 He remembers Israel. 00:20:45.920 --> 00:20:50.960 Think about these little moments throughout the Old Testament when God remembers, right? 00:20:51.359 --> 00:20:55.359 Um, God remembers Noah in Genesis. 00:20:55.519 --> 00:21:00.160 And what happens when God remembers Noah, the waters recede, right? 00:21:00.480 --> 00:21:04.000 God remembers Hannah in the book of Samuel, and you know what happens? 00:21:04.240 --> 00:21:05.359 Life begins. 00:21:05.599 --> 00:21:06.000 Right? 00:21:06.319 --> 00:21:10.319 God remembers Israel here, and liberation comes. 00:21:10.799 --> 00:21:13.839 Human beings, we constantly, right, we constantly forget. 00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:18.319 We have a very short attention span and a very bad memory. 00:21:19.279 --> 00:21:20.640 But God doesn't. 00:21:21.359 --> 00:21:21.759 Right? 00:21:21.839 --> 00:21:22.960 We forget who we are. 00:21:23.119 --> 00:21:25.359 We forget God's faithfulness, right? 00:21:25.519 --> 00:21:29.279 We forget that suffering is not the end of the story. 00:21:29.599 --> 00:21:30.960 But God remembers. 00:21:40.559 --> 00:21:40.880 Right? 00:21:41.039 --> 00:21:47.599 He was God then, and he's still present, and he's still unchanging, and he will keep being our God forever. 00:21:48.240 --> 00:21:59.200 Oh, and there's one thing you need to know for the book of Exodus God is the type of God who is unwilling to let injustice persist. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:02.720 That's this one little piece that you must know. 00:22:03.519 --> 00:22:15.119 Because it animates all of the actions in the book of Exodus, where God says that Israel is his firstborn son, in the same way that we will later see that ultimately Jesus is his true firstborn son, right? 00:22:15.680 --> 00:22:17.680 Jesus is the ultimate Israel. 00:22:18.640 --> 00:22:30.559 And God says, I'm so faithful to my children that it will not let them suffer forever here in Egypt. 00:22:30.720 --> 00:22:34.240 That I will deliver them out of captive slavery. 00:22:35.359 --> 00:22:39.279 Friends, you have to know this about the God of the Bible. 00:22:39.519 --> 00:22:42.559 The God of the Bible is not neutral. 00:22:43.599 --> 00:22:44.000 Right? 00:22:44.240 --> 00:22:48.000 This is challenging, and at least it should be challenging for us. 00:22:48.319 --> 00:22:51.920 Because, on a very simple level, you have to acknowledge this about yourself. 00:22:52.079 --> 00:23:03.200 Is as much as God is the God of justice, and God is the one who is not just advocating for those that are brokenhearted, but he is the one who is rescuing them. 00:23:03.680 --> 00:23:05.440 Who is he rescuing them from? 00:23:05.599 --> 00:23:08.559 He's rescuing them from people who are doing wrong to them. 00:23:08.720 --> 00:23:09.839 Well, guess what? 00:23:10.319 --> 00:23:13.440 Sometimes we're the ones doing wrong. 00:23:14.480 --> 00:23:16.640 Well, then we better be careful. 00:23:17.279 --> 00:23:17.920 Right? 00:23:18.319 --> 00:23:24.160 Where we start asking, we we rather than starting just to think always about God, is that God's on our side. 00:23:24.319 --> 00:23:28.319 Instead, we have to line ourselves up and say, asking the question, am I on God's side? 00:23:28.559 --> 00:23:29.200 Right? 00:23:29.440 --> 00:23:32.000 And so because God is a God of justice. 00:23:32.160 --> 00:23:34.000 So there's two responses. 00:23:34.319 --> 00:23:39.359 The two responses you can now make if we're following along in this, right? 00:23:39.680 --> 00:23:42.160 Because first Pharaoh asks, who is the Lord? 00:23:42.319 --> 00:23:43.920 God says, I'll tell you who's the Lord. 00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:44.480 I'm the Lord. 00:23:44.640 --> 00:23:47.680 He says it five times in Exodus 6. 00:23:48.000 --> 00:23:49.440 And then what's the expectation? 00:23:49.680 --> 00:23:54.079 The expectation is Pharaoh will now respond correctly. 00:23:54.480 --> 00:23:54.880 Right? 00:23:55.039 --> 00:24:02.799 Is the expectation is Pharaoh would essentially put on sackcloth and ashes and say, oh my goodness, I cannot believe how wrong I was. 00:24:02.960 --> 00:24:05.599 I can't believe what I did to you, God. 00:24:07.519 --> 00:24:08.400 That's what he could do. 00:24:08.559 --> 00:24:10.799 He's have humble contrition, right? 00:24:11.039 --> 00:24:12.160 Humble submission. 00:24:12.400 --> 00:24:17.279 Or he could have what he does, which is essentially hardened resistance, right? 00:24:17.519 --> 00:24:20.240 You know in mere Christianity, you know, C.S. 00:24:20.319 --> 00:24:30.559 Lewis says, he says that every time you make a choice, you are turning the central part of you into something a little different from what it was before. 00:24:30.880 --> 00:24:41.200 And all your life long, you are slowly turning the central thing either into a heavenly creature or a hellish creature. 00:24:42.400 --> 00:24:42.720 Right? 00:24:42.880 --> 00:24:51.599 The thing is with Pharaoh, is Pharaoh, the central thing of him is becoming more and more hellish. 00:24:51.759 --> 00:24:52.079 Right? 00:24:52.799 --> 00:24:58.079 Pharaoh becomes incapable of surrender to God because he worships power. 00:24:59.119 --> 00:24:59.519 Right? 00:24:59.759 --> 00:25:14.240 And this, here's the thing, you have to recognize, this all matters to us today, thousands of years later, this story does, because modern people, we often imagine freedom as absolute self-determination, right? 00:25:14.400 --> 00:25:19.440 Rather than freedom being that we're we have freedom, so now we are built to worship. 00:25:19.759 --> 00:25:20.160 Right? 00:25:20.319 --> 00:25:23.359 Scripture says we become what we worship, right? 00:25:23.599 --> 00:25:26.000 If we worship power like Pharaoh, what happens? 00:25:26.240 --> 00:25:27.759 Our hearts become hard. 00:25:28.000 --> 00:25:31.839 If we worship consumption, we actually become empty, right? 00:25:32.000 --> 00:25:34.640 If we worship image, we become anxious. 00:25:34.799 --> 00:25:37.599 If we worship control, we become fearful. 00:25:38.079 --> 00:25:40.799 Whatever we worship forms us. 00:25:41.359 --> 00:25:41.680 Right? 00:25:41.759 --> 00:25:48.480 It's why it, it's so incredible that we get to come together every week as Christians and worship the Lord. 00:25:50.400 --> 00:25:54.720 You know, and some of you guys have heard me say this before, but I'm just gonna, I'm going off my notes for just a second. 00:25:54.799 --> 00:25:59.920 I'm gonna tell you my base level ecclesiology, and it's made me love church even more. 00:26:00.160 --> 00:26:05.680 Here's what it is is you come together to worship every week in a church in a Christian church. 00:26:05.920 --> 00:26:06.960 And you know what's funny? 00:26:07.039 --> 00:26:10.880 And for some of you guys, you this is your first time you've ever been at City Covenant. 00:26:11.119 --> 00:26:11.440 Right? 00:26:11.519 --> 00:26:22.799 But here's what's amazing about church you show up at a church, and by and large, most churches, you're gonna come in, and there's gonna be people, some of them are gonna be kind of friendly, some of them won't, right? 00:26:23.200 --> 00:26:25.359 And you you grab a seat, right? 00:26:25.519 --> 00:26:27.440 You hear some music done, right? 00:26:27.519 --> 00:26:31.519 And dependent on the week, sometimes it's really good, sometimes it's not that good, right? 00:26:31.599 --> 00:26:33.279 That's just that's church, right? 00:26:33.440 --> 00:26:38.559 Then you you get up there and you hear this person, you know, this gal or this guy talk. 00:26:38.720 --> 00:26:43.200 And by and large, most of these people cannot, would never be able to give a TED talk, right? 00:26:43.279 --> 00:26:47.200 These are not folks that you're subscribing to like on YouTube or podcasts, right? 00:26:47.279 --> 00:26:52.319 They're just normal people, and they're doing their best to like point you back toward Jesus, right? 00:26:52.480 --> 00:26:57.200 So what you you listen talk, that's okay, the music's okay, and the people might not even be that nice. 00:26:57.359 --> 00:27:03.680 And then sometimes we do this prayer with the people thing, and then as we're doing the prayers with the people, you know what happens? 00:27:03.839 --> 00:27:08.799 Is somebody inevitably raises their hand and says, Hey, I need to pray for my neighbor's dog, you know, tripod. 00:27:08.880 --> 00:27:13.920 It only has three legs, and now they need to cut off another one of its legs, and we could just we could pray for the dog, you know. 00:27:14.079 --> 00:27:15.519 And and this is church. 00:27:15.680 --> 00:27:17.759 And you look and say, that's not what I signed up for. 00:27:17.920 --> 00:27:19.200 I thought it was gonna be incredible. 00:27:19.359 --> 00:27:32.960 But you know what's amazing about church is this seems to be the institution, the means of grace that God has used, that He slowly, slowly, slowly transforms individual lives, He transforms families, He transforms communities, right? 00:27:33.119 --> 00:27:34.559 He transforms cities, right? 00:27:34.640 --> 00:27:37.920 He transforms countries, and he transforms the whole world. 00:27:38.160 --> 00:27:39.440 Slowly, slowly, slowly. 00:27:39.759 --> 00:27:40.640 This is what happens. 00:27:40.799 --> 00:27:46.960