WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:02.640 Welcome to the City Covenant Podcast. 00:00:02.799 --> 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. 00:00:11.839 --> 00:00:15.679 Please join us as we dive into the Word of God together. 00:00:42.880 --> 00:00:43.679 Sorry, I should say that. 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:45.679 If we haven't met, I'd love to meet you. 00:00:45.920 --> 00:00:48.000 One thing I want you to know is this. 00:00:48.159 --> 00:00:49.520 We're starting at 10. 00:00:49.679 --> 00:00:52.000 And I know for a lot of you guys you're rolling at 10.15. 00:00:52.079 --> 00:00:56.079 And I want to let you know we're shifting back to start really right at 10, you know? 00:00:56.320 --> 00:01:04.319 And um, which I appreciate those of you who get here at 10.15, but just want to let you guys know it's just starting right at 10, you know. 00:01:04.480 --> 00:01:15.519 So so some of you guys like hanging out with your friends beforehand, which means you're gonna want to get here, you know, more like 9:40, 945, so you can hang out with these people beforehand because church actually starts at 10. 00:01:15.680 --> 00:01:17.120 Okay, so that that's that. 00:01:17.280 --> 00:01:19.359 Um, I'm gonna see if I can make this work. 00:01:19.519 --> 00:01:21.120 Um, sorry about this, guys. 00:01:21.359 --> 00:01:23.680 Um, okay, so here's what we're doing. 00:01:23.760 --> 00:01:26.719 Um, we are gonna look, we're in the ninth week. 00:01:26.879 --> 00:01:28.079 Is that coming through okay, everyone? 00:01:28.239 --> 00:01:28.879 Okay, great, great. 00:01:28.959 --> 00:01:29.280 Awesome. 00:01:29.359 --> 00:01:30.480 Thanks so much for setting that up. 00:01:30.640 --> 00:01:31.760 Okay, so here's what we're doing. 00:01:31.840 --> 00:01:33.920 We're in the ninth week of this 10-week series. 00:01:34.079 --> 00:01:36.239 It's Exodus 1 through 12. 00:01:36.480 --> 00:01:47.599 I've liked, I just so you know, pastorally, like as and as a Bible reader and just somebody who like has walked with the Lord for a while, I'm just really personally, really enjoying studying through this stuff. 00:01:47.760 --> 00:01:52.319 Um, it's been really encouraging for me personally, so I hope it's been encouraging for you too. 00:01:52.480 --> 00:01:54.719 Um, we're gonna read for a second. 00:01:54.799 --> 00:01:57.519 We're reading all of Exodus 11, which is actually pretty short. 00:01:57.680 --> 00:02:00.640 So it's on page 56 of your pew Bible. 00:02:00.719 --> 00:02:02.319 If you brought a Bible from home, that's awesome. 00:02:02.480 --> 00:02:06.959 If you didn't bring a Bible from home, there's a Bible right in front of you in the pew, and you can turn to page 56. 00:02:07.200 --> 00:02:09.840 Um, so we're gonna read this for a second. 00:02:09.919 --> 00:02:13.120 We'll read it together, and then we'll pray, and then we're gonna dig into the text. 00:02:13.199 --> 00:02:15.840 Um, there's gonna be a couple things that we're gonna do, just so you know. 00:02:15.919 --> 00:02:18.319 We're gonna look, I want you to see things in this. 00:02:18.479 --> 00:02:25.840 There's a couple questions that people have that over this series that people have asked me and um that I want us to deal with a little bit today. 00:02:25.919 --> 00:02:29.599 Just you know, we're gonna look at this question of like Pharaoh's heart being hardened. 00:02:29.680 --> 00:02:35.599 We're gonna just dive into that just a little bit of asking, hey, hold on, did God harden Pharaoh's heart? 00:02:35.759 --> 00:02:37.439 Did Pharaoh harden his own heart? 00:02:37.520 --> 00:02:39.680 We're gonna talk about that because that comes up in this text once again. 00:02:39.840 --> 00:02:46.080 We're also gonna talk about another question, which is um how God relates to suffering. 00:02:46.159 --> 00:02:49.840 Um, is God the type of God who actually is okay with suffering? 00:02:50.159 --> 00:02:57.120 Um, this is uh an apologetic question that almost every one of you has either asked or been asked. 00:02:57.280 --> 00:03:12.319 Um so we're gonna look at those two things because both of those come up in this text, and then ultimately we're gonna look at the way that um God, in God's movement, he he calls a people toward himself out of his own grace and mercy, um, so for a specific purpose. 00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:14.000 And so we're gonna look at those three things. 00:03:14.159 --> 00:03:19.360 Um and so let's go ahead and read this text, um, and we're gonna pray and we'll get into it. 00:03:19.599 --> 00:03:26.240 Now the Lord had said to Moses, I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. 00:03:26.479 --> 00:03:32.400 After that, he will let you go from here, and when he does, he will drive you out completely. 00:03:32.719 --> 00:03:39.680 Tell the people that men and women alike are to ask their neighbors for articles of silver and gold. 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:42.159 And then there's this little parenthetical thought, right? 00:03:42.319 --> 00:03:52.159 The Lord made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and Moses himself was highly regarded in Egypt by Pharaoh's officials and by the people. 00:03:52.639 --> 00:03:58.080 So Moses said, This is what the Lord says, about midnight, I will go throughout Egypt. 00:03:58.319 --> 00:04:09.840 Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the female slave who is at her handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well. 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:16.160 There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt, worse than there has ever been or ever will be again. 00:04:16.319 --> 00:04:21.439 But amongst the Israelites, not a dog will bark at any person or animal. 00:04:21.680 --> 00:04:27.360 Then you will know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. 00:04:28.160 --> 00:04:35.680 All these officials of yours will come to me, bowing down before me and saying, Go, you and all the people who follow you. 00:04:35.920 --> 00:04:37.360 After that I will leave. 00:04:37.839 --> 00:04:41.439 Then Moses, hot with anger, left Pharaoh. 00:04:42.480 --> 00:04:49.600 The Lord had said to Moses, Pharaoh will refuse to listen to you, so that my wonders may be multiplied in Egypt. 00:04:50.160 --> 00:05:00.399 Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let the Israelites go out of his country. 00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:02.879 Hey, guys, did this thing slip down? 00:05:03.120 --> 00:05:03.839 Yeah, sorry. 00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:07.040 I just realized, boy, this thing feels like it's gonna get further and further. 00:05:07.199 --> 00:05:07.839 Sorry. 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:10.240 Um yeah, there we go. 00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:10.800 Sorry. 00:05:10.959 --> 00:05:14.720 Uh, there was a part of me who literally, as I'm reading this, was like, is it getting quieter? 00:05:14.959 --> 00:05:16.959 But it sounds different to me than it does to you. 00:05:17.120 --> 00:05:18.240 So, okay, great, great, great. 00:05:18.319 --> 00:05:19.040 Sorry about that. 00:05:19.199 --> 00:05:23.680 Um, sorry, I'm taking some new ADD medication, but it's not working. 00:05:23.920 --> 00:05:25.920 Um let's pray. 00:05:26.160 --> 00:05:27.519 Father in heaven, we love you. 00:05:27.680 --> 00:05:30.480 God, thank you for all of your kindness to us, your grace, your mercy. 00:05:30.639 --> 00:05:33.199 Your goodness to us is everlasting. 00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:35.920 Lord, every morning your mercies are new for us. 00:05:36.160 --> 00:05:37.680 Lord, help us know you better. 00:05:37.759 --> 00:05:40.319 Help us to see the face of Jesus in this. 00:05:40.879 --> 00:05:45.199 Lord, help us to know all of your all of your goodness, Lord. 00:05:45.600 --> 00:05:55.680 And and help us um not only to grow intellectually, Lord, but in our hearts, create in our our hearts uh even a larger space for you, God. 00:05:55.920 --> 00:05:57.600 In Christ's name we pray, amen. 00:05:57.759 --> 00:05:59.040 Okay, so let's do this. 00:05:59.199 --> 00:06:01.040 What we're gonna do is we're gonna go a little bit backwards. 00:06:01.120 --> 00:06:03.600 We're gonna ask this first question about Pharaoh's hard heart, okay? 00:06:03.680 --> 00:06:05.360 We're looking at Pharaoh's hard heart. 00:06:05.519 --> 00:06:08.079 Um, that's what you see, that little bit from verse 10. 00:06:08.240 --> 00:06:13.279 Then we're gonna look um at this the beginning of this like kind of Passover preview. 00:06:13.519 --> 00:06:18.480 Um the you're right, it's it we're not seeing the Passover happen yet, that's next week. 00:06:18.560 --> 00:06:24.399 Um, but in many ways, this is this two-week um sermon um for today and next week. 00:06:24.560 --> 00:06:40.399 And then then what we'll also do is then we're gonna look at this one word I want you to notice, this one little phrase in verse 7, um, when it says, But not a god, not a dog shall growl against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. 00:06:40.560 --> 00:06:54.000 So we'll finish up on that, and I will tell you, um just wait, because I think this is gonna be really, really helpful to a lot of us, and you're gonna see um you're gonna see this narrative arc reach its completion in this word distinction. 00:06:54.160 --> 00:07:00.399 I know that sounds like a lot, these are big promises, but you're gonna want to stick around um for point three, okay? 00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:09.839 Um if you are thinking, you know, if somehow you're new here or whatever, or if you're just thinking about going and watching soccer, um listen, stick, don't leave early, stick for three. 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:12.639 Okay, so let's talk about Pharaoh's hard heart, can we? 00:07:12.879 --> 00:07:14.720 Um I have to tell you something. 00:07:14.800 --> 00:07:17.360 Um, there's a guy that I really like named Bruce Waltke. 00:07:17.439 --> 00:07:18.879 Some of you guys have heard me talk about him. 00:07:19.040 --> 00:07:21.680 Some of you have read his stuff, some of you guys have maybe met him. 00:07:21.839 --> 00:07:24.639 Here's um, he talks about Pharaoh a fair amount. 00:07:24.800 --> 00:07:29.839 You can read Waltke's stuff um in his book on Old Testament Theology. 00:07:30.079 --> 00:07:31.839 Waltke is really, really good. 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:35.759 Um here's why I like Bruce so much is some of you guys know this. 00:07:35.839 --> 00:07:40.879 That in on Labor Day of 2002, I lived in Vancouver, BC. 00:07:40.959 --> 00:07:46.079 I had moved there on Saturday, and on Monday, it was the first day of school at Regent College. 00:07:46.240 --> 00:07:49.199 Um, they don't take off school for Labor Day. 00:07:49.279 --> 00:07:51.120 I guess Canadians don't care about labor. 00:07:51.360 --> 00:07:55.680 But um anyway, I don't know why they don't go take off Labor Day, but they don't, okay? 00:07:55.759 --> 00:07:56.800 So it's first day of school. 00:07:56.879 --> 00:08:00.160 I'd moved up there, I bought a scooter, and I'm gonna make this brief. 00:08:00.319 --> 00:08:01.839 Some of you guys have heard the long story. 00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:19.839 But on Monday afternoon of Labor Day, um, I was driving my scooter home, I got hit by a car, it was very painful, um, ambulance came and got me, and then fast forward, um, my friend Suzanne Giannini called her dad and said, Dad and mom, will you go? 00:08:19.920 --> 00:08:24.079 We have this guy from our church in Seattle who's up there with you in Vancouver. 00:08:24.240 --> 00:08:26.240 Would you go look on look after him? 00:08:26.480 --> 00:08:33.519 And um, so what I didn't know was that Suzanne, my friend in Seattle, had a very famous dad in the world of theology. 00:08:33.759 --> 00:08:36.000 And um, I just never connected the dots. 00:08:36.159 --> 00:08:38.320 And so Bruce came over and helped me. 00:08:38.480 --> 00:08:45.840 And and Bruce brought me dinner, and Bruce's wife helped me, and then Bruce gave me, um uh brought me back down to the United States. 00:08:45.919 --> 00:08:47.519 He was this really amazing person. 00:08:47.759 --> 00:08:50.720 Um, so I I pay attention to Bruce, and here's why. 00:08:50.960 --> 00:08:57.600 Because the way Bruce lived out the Christian life and continues to live it out says to me, hey, he's trustworthy, right? 00:08:57.759 --> 00:09:02.639 The way he he doesn't see this as just you know abstract ideas, he really lives it out. 00:09:02.720 --> 00:09:19.039 Okay, so here's what you have to know um, like the way Bruce would describe this is the way Bruce would describe what's happening here in the story of Exodus with Pharaoh is that what's happening is that God does not somehow create evil inside of an innocent heart. 00:09:19.120 --> 00:09:28.080 And so that's what you have to know first and foremost, is that when you look and see Moses, right, that God is hardened in Pharaoh's heart, this is not coming out of a vacuum, right? 00:09:28.240 --> 00:09:36.399 That it it rather what happens is that God confirms sinners like Pharaoh on the path that they've already chosen. 00:09:36.720 --> 00:09:37.039 Right? 00:09:37.519 --> 00:09:43.120 That what we see on one hand is um actually Pharaoh has human agency here. 00:09:43.279 --> 00:09:44.159 He's making decisions. 00:09:44.320 --> 00:09:47.360 This is not something that's happening actually just to him, right? 00:09:47.440 --> 00:09:56.240 By by the time we hit Exodus 1, what do we already know about Pharaoh before we see anything about language from Moses of like God hardening Pharaoh's heart? 00:09:56.320 --> 00:09:57.679 What do we know about Pharaoh? 00:09:57.919 --> 00:10:02.879 Pharaoh is already proud, he's violent, he's self-defying, right? 00:10:02.960 --> 00:10:04.159 He thinks he's a God. 00:10:04.399 --> 00:10:11.120 This is way before all he's doing all that before we see any language in Exodus about God hardening Pharaoh's heart. 00:10:11.200 --> 00:10:12.320 So that's what you have to know. 00:10:12.480 --> 00:10:13.840 So what's happening here? 00:10:14.080 --> 00:10:18.559 I think in some ways what we're seeing happen is this is like Romans 1. 00:10:18.799 --> 00:10:23.279 So Paul says in Romans 1 that God will actually give us over to our sin, right? 00:10:23.440 --> 00:10:29.440 That if we keep going and going and going, ultimately God will say to us, if that is what you want, you can have it. 00:10:29.519 --> 00:10:31.919 And you can have everything that comes with it. 00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:32.720 Right? 00:10:32.879 --> 00:10:33.519 So C.S. 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:36.960 Lewis will even say that ultimately we'll see God face to face. 00:10:37.120 --> 00:10:44.960 And when we see God face to face, we will either bend our knee and say to him, Thy will be done. 00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:48.320 You are king and master over everything. 00:10:48.480 --> 00:10:50.320 I submit to you, Lord. 00:10:50.639 --> 00:10:58.720 Or if we do not say to God, Thy will be done, God will say to us, Thy will be done. 00:10:59.600 --> 00:11:04.799 All of the sin that you wanted to live in, you still can. 00:11:05.600 --> 00:11:10.399 And you will receive everything that that sin creates. 00:11:11.039 --> 00:11:11.440 Right? 00:11:11.679 --> 00:11:13.840 You want life to be all about you? 00:11:14.240 --> 00:11:17.279 Will it it will be all about you? 00:11:17.600 --> 00:11:22.879 And you'll you'll step further and further and further away from the goodness of God. 00:11:23.279 --> 00:11:23.600 Right? 00:11:23.759 --> 00:11:27.360 So Paul says in Romans 1 that God will actually hand us over to our sin. 00:11:27.519 --> 00:11:40.080 So I used to think that like the way like punishment worked, right, from God, is you do something bad over here, and then you know, let's say you do something, um, you're, you know, you you're you kick a kitten or something, right? 00:11:40.240 --> 00:11:48.000 And then because you kick a kitten, you know, God, you know, does some punishment over here, like he makes you not get a the job that you want, right? 00:11:48.159 --> 00:11:50.559 No, I I don't think it works quite like that, okay? 00:11:50.720 --> 00:11:56.320 So here's what I think happens is um the punishment for sin is more like natural consequences. 00:11:56.559 --> 00:12:00.320 Um you want to live a life, for instance, of total sexual autonomy, right? 00:12:00.399 --> 00:12:03.519 And move from partner to partner to partner for 80 years. 00:12:03.679 --> 00:12:04.399 Well, guess what? 00:12:04.559 --> 00:12:08.320 You will probably receive um the natural consequences of that. 00:12:08.559 --> 00:12:18.000 You will be, rather than sex being something that is like intimate and and breeds relationship and children and all that, instead it will lead to um deathly isolation, right? 00:12:18.080 --> 00:12:22.080 And you'll just be an 80-year-old who is very alone and probably has a lot of diseases too, right? 00:12:22.320 --> 00:12:24.000 And so that's it. 00:12:24.080 --> 00:12:25.360 That's what happens, right? 00:12:25.440 --> 00:12:28.159 Is there's natural consequences, right, to our sin. 00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:29.840 So I think that's what's happening. 00:12:29.919 --> 00:12:38.480 So the natural consequences for Pharaoh here is that if you resist God again and again and again, man, your heart gets hard. 00:12:38.799 --> 00:12:39.120 Right? 00:12:39.279 --> 00:12:41.440 So the way, my friend, some of you guys, I don't see him. 00:12:41.519 --> 00:12:42.559 Maybe you're here somewhere, Greg. 00:12:42.639 --> 00:12:44.480 Greg, Luce, and I were talking about it this week. 00:12:44.559 --> 00:12:51.440 Of kind of like, in some ways, when you dig your heels in so deep, eventually you're you kind of get stuck in the mud. 00:12:51.679 --> 00:12:52.000 Right? 00:12:52.159 --> 00:12:55.759 And you're you're just locked in, and it's really hard to change after that, right? 00:12:55.919 --> 00:12:57.440 So that's that's this question. 00:12:57.519 --> 00:13:01.360 I so I want you to think about that when we ask this question, right? 00:13:01.440 --> 00:13:06.720 Because a lot of us ask this question of almost like, is it even fairer for God to harden Pharaoh's heart? 00:13:06.799 --> 00:13:06.960 Right? 00:13:07.039 --> 00:13:09.279 So that that's the one question I've gotten. 00:13:09.360 --> 00:13:10.480 And then there's the second question. 00:13:10.639 --> 00:13:18.320 And the second question um has to do with uh what um a lot of theologians and philosophers would call like theophany. 00:13:18.399 --> 00:13:20.000 It's about the goodness of God, right? 00:13:20.159 --> 00:13:28.799 Why would, and you guys have asked this question, you've heard this question, why would a good God allow bad things to happen to good people? 00:13:29.039 --> 00:13:30.240 You guys ever asked this question? 00:13:30.559 --> 00:13:32.000 Anyone ever asked you that question? 00:13:32.240 --> 00:13:32.559 Right? 00:13:32.720 --> 00:13:36.480 Now, there's the this this is I'm only gonna look at it from one angle today, okay? 00:13:36.559 --> 00:13:38.000 Just you know, we're not doing the whole thing. 00:13:38.080 --> 00:13:41.279 Um that people write like whole dissertations on this, just so you know. 00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:53.440 So um, if I'm not gonna, if I miss anything that you really feel like should have been covered during the next nine minutes of this section, just be aware, you know, I'm I'm only covering a little bit here, okay? 00:13:53.679 --> 00:13:55.519 So here's here's the question. 00:13:55.679 --> 00:14:08.240 This is this question of um that I've heard, I've heard dear friends who just look and say, there's no way I can even believe in a God who would allow suffering to persist in the world. 00:14:08.399 --> 00:14:12.000 If God existed, he would take suffering more seriously. 00:14:12.159 --> 00:14:14.240 He would end it, he would stop it, right? 00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:18.799 He wouldn't let oppressors keep oppressing um vulnerable people. 00:14:19.039 --> 00:14:20.799 I think that's like here's the thing, guys. 00:14:20.960 --> 00:14:24.639 As a Christian, that's not actually an unreasonable perspective to hold. 00:14:25.039 --> 00:14:27.600 And I think the Bible answers it, just so you know. 00:14:27.840 --> 00:14:33.120 So I think what um my friends who would say that, oftentimes, will say two things. 00:14:33.279 --> 00:14:38.000 On one hand, they'll say, I can't believe in a God who would allow people to suffer. 00:14:38.240 --> 00:14:43.840 Also, I don't like the idea of a God who would, let's say, do really mean things to Pharaoh. 00:14:44.559 --> 00:14:53.360 So the question is this if there is a God, which, you know, we're at church, so by and large, most of us would say, I'm already there, I think there's God, right? 00:14:53.840 --> 00:15:03.759 If there is a God who cares, like who desperately cares about the plight of the vulnerable, what would you allow him to do in your mind? 00:15:03.840 --> 00:15:04.720 What would be righteous? 00:15:04.799 --> 00:15:05.759 What would be just? 00:15:05.919 --> 00:15:12.159 What would be allowable for this God to do to end the suffering that we've talked about? 00:15:12.320 --> 00:15:12.559 Right? 00:15:12.720 --> 00:15:20.559 If you look and say, I don't believe a good God should allow suffering to persist, what would you allow him to do in your head, right? 00:15:20.720 --> 00:15:21.919 Just as a little thought experiment. 00:15:22.080 --> 00:15:25.200 What would be okay for God to do to end the suffering? 00:15:25.919 --> 00:15:27.679 How far can God go? 00:15:31.360 --> 00:15:31.919 Right? 00:15:32.480 --> 00:15:47.120 I think this question is would we would we give God the benefit of the doubt in the story of Exodus to say that what God is doing here in Exodus is God is stopping suffering. 00:15:47.600 --> 00:15:56.399 So we've said, I I can't, if you've said, I can't believe in a God who would allow for suffering to keep going, you look and say, that's what God's doing. 00:15:56.559 --> 00:15:58.480 He's in the process of ending it. 00:15:59.200 --> 00:16:02.320 Because God takes human society very seriously. 00:16:02.799 --> 00:16:07.360 And so He He works within systems and He works within real life. 00:16:07.840 --> 00:16:08.159 Right? 00:16:08.320 --> 00:16:13.759 He doesn't just like use lasers and you know UFOs to like move people around. 00:16:14.080 --> 00:16:14.399 Right? 00:16:14.559 --> 00:16:17.440 What God does is he actually functions in human systems. 00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:20.000 Right? 00:16:20.639 --> 00:16:21.840 This is the challenge. 00:16:24.240 --> 00:16:24.480 Right? 00:16:24.639 --> 00:16:27.759 You look and say, modern nation states, you look and say, where's the hand of God? 00:16:27.919 --> 00:16:29.039 Sometimes that's murky. 00:16:29.360 --> 00:16:35.039 Here in Exodus, you look and say, Egypt, Pharaoh, Israel, Yahweh, clearer. 00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:44.559 And here God is judging the nation of Egypt for their complicity in the slavery of his people, Israel. 00:16:47.759 --> 00:16:49.919 Here's the thing he's judging them. 00:16:50.080 --> 00:16:53.919 And for some of us, we look and say, I don't want a God who's judgmental. 00:16:54.080 --> 00:16:55.360 I don't want a God who's a judge. 00:16:55.440 --> 00:16:57.919 I want a God who's just merciful, nice, kind. 00:16:58.000 --> 00:17:02.320 He only I only want the part of God who does the good stuff, the nice stuff, the stuff I like. 00:17:02.399 --> 00:17:07.119 The challenge is you actually need a God who's a judge. 00:17:07.599 --> 00:17:13.599 You actually need a God who cares enough about the vulnerable that he'll do something to help them. 00:17:14.319 --> 00:17:27.119 The challenge is of this, the reason you need a God who's a judge so much is because if you don't believe that in the God of the Bible who is a judge, the challenge is you'll have to be the judge. 00:17:27.279 --> 00:17:32.720 Because somewhere in the story that you inhabit, you believe there needs to be a judge. 00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:40.160 And so either there's a God who will make wrongs right, or you look and say, well, somebody's got to do it. 00:17:40.480 --> 00:17:41.599 You know who's gonna do it? 00:17:41.920 --> 00:17:42.240 You. 00:17:43.200 --> 00:17:46.000 That sounds really nice for a second. 00:17:46.720 --> 00:17:48.400 Until you become a vigilante. 00:17:49.680 --> 00:17:50.079 Right? 00:17:50.240 --> 00:17:54.160 Until you become the one who, it turns out, doesn't know all the information. 00:17:54.319 --> 00:18:00.799 You're not nearly as equipped, to say the least, as the God of the universe to execute judgment. 00:18:01.279 --> 00:18:01.599 Right? 00:18:01.759 --> 00:18:10.559 So actually what happens is if you look and believe there is a God who will execute justice in the world, then good news, I don't have to be that person. 00:18:11.119 --> 00:18:21.519 So it turns out, if that's the case, we can understand our role then as being God's agents of mercy in and salvation in the world. 00:18:21.759 --> 00:18:22.000 Right? 00:18:22.240 --> 00:18:30.720 Because we know God is taking care, we don't need to worry about the issue of you know what's happening and and making all these wrongs right it. 00:18:30.799 --> 00:18:32.960 God's gonna deal with that, and he is dealing with that, right? 00:18:33.039 --> 00:18:41.119 And and ultimately what we see, and this is always our in a way, is the answer at church God did deal with it on the cross. 00:18:41.519 --> 00:18:41.920 Right? 00:18:42.240 --> 00:18:46.400 God fundamentally dealt with the issue of justice, right? 00:18:46.559 --> 00:18:52.319 Because he righted all wrongs on the cross by taking on the punishment for all these people. 00:18:52.559 --> 00:18:55.680 So you look and say, how far is too far? 00:18:55.920 --> 00:19:00.960 What is it that God could do to stop this injustice? 00:19:01.200 --> 00:19:01.519 Right? 00:19:01.599 --> 00:19:06.240 We look, we we all know the story of 1930s Germany. 00:19:06.480 --> 00:19:12.559 We know the story of millions of Jews being killed, right? 00:19:12.640 --> 00:19:15.440 We know the story uh of gypsies being killed, right? 00:19:15.599 --> 00:19:17.599 We know the story of homosexuals being killed, right? 00:19:17.680 --> 00:19:23.039 We know the story of non-compliant Christians who didn't go along with the Fuhrer being killed. 00:19:23.359 --> 00:19:28.160 And you look and say, um, what was God doing in the midst of that? 00:19:28.400 --> 00:19:30.640 I have a friend who served in World War II. 00:19:30.720 --> 00:19:32.319 He's gonna be to be with the Lord now. 00:19:32.480 --> 00:19:33.759 He served in World War II. 00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:40.160 You look, I will tell you, and I'm gonna, I'm not making a theological, like, for sure statement for a second, okay? 00:19:40.960 --> 00:19:52.720 I will tell you, you look at the soldiers from World War II that stopped Germany in the West, stopped Japan in the East, and you look and say, to me, it feels like they saved the world. 00:19:52.799 --> 00:19:56.720 It feels like these were like God's agents of mercy and grace in the world. 00:19:56.960 --> 00:20:06.160 The reason I say that is because what would happen had Germany won, and you have the rest of this whole people group getting annihilated. 00:20:06.319 --> 00:20:07.599 It gets worse and worse and worse. 00:20:07.680 --> 00:20:09.440 These folks were heroes, right? 00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:12.960 Um that's Germany in the West. 00:20:13.200 --> 00:20:14.960 In the East, right? 00:20:15.119 --> 00:20:18.880 If Japan had just kept going and going and going, what happens? 00:20:20.079 --> 00:20:20.480 Right? 00:20:20.799 --> 00:20:26.640 Korea keeps getting oppressed, the the imperial armies keep taking over more and more and more. 00:20:26.960 --> 00:20:30.000 So this, I have to tell you this real fast. 00:20:30.240 --> 00:20:31.599 I didn't, I never knew this before. 00:20:31.839 --> 00:20:34.880 Mia and I and our kids, we went to Korea last year. 00:20:35.200 --> 00:20:37.359 And we go we go to this big palace. 00:20:37.440 --> 00:20:42.079 Um, it's actually where like the head of Korea used to live for years, you know, for centuries and centuries. 00:20:42.240 --> 00:20:46.799 It's this beautiful giant palace um called Kyongbokong. 00:20:47.039 --> 00:20:48.640 Don't worry, you don't have to pronounce it later. 00:20:48.720 --> 00:20:52.000 Okay, I actually the it's in my notes, it's phonetic, just so you know. 00:20:53.039 --> 00:20:54.640 But we went there, and it was really cool. 00:20:54.720 --> 00:20:58.559 And I had we had this tour guide named Thomas, he was like my best friend in Korea. 00:20:58.799 --> 00:21:04.000 And um so on this tour, Thomas told me something that I never knew. 00:21:04.319 --> 00:21:11.519 Thomas said that there's only one embassy that's really, really close to the seat of government in Korea, right in Seoul. 00:21:11.839 --> 00:21:14.160 You can see it from the palace. 00:21:14.400 --> 00:21:15.440 You know who it is? 00:21:15.519 --> 00:21:16.160 It's ours. 00:21:16.240 --> 00:21:17.519 It's the American Embassy. 00:21:17.680 --> 00:21:21.519 There's a teeny little sliver of one in Australia, but I'm not counting that one, okay? 00:21:22.079 --> 00:21:23.119 Because it's tiny. 00:21:23.599 --> 00:21:26.160 There's this giant embassy, there's a huge American embassy. 00:21:26.480 --> 00:21:30.240 It's only we only get there's only one, right next to the seat of government in Korea. 00:21:30.319 --> 00:21:31.200 Do you know why? 00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:34.319 Because the Korean people love America. 00:21:34.799 --> 00:21:37.039 Because they looked and said, you saved us twice. 00:21:37.519 --> 00:21:45.039 You saved us in World War II from the armies of Japan and from sexual slavery that occurred to Korean women. 00:21:45.440 --> 00:21:53.680 You saved us after that from the Soviet Union and China marching down from the north in the Korean War started in 1950. 00:21:54.319 --> 00:21:57.519 It's why Korea says we we want America close. 00:21:57.839 --> 00:21:59.279 Because of what you've done for us in the past. 00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:03.920 God worked through you to save us. 00:22:04.079 --> 00:22:06.559 He he saw injustice. 00:22:06.720 --> 00:22:07.680 He saw suffering. 00:22:07.839 --> 00:22:11.359 He saw vulnerable people that needed help and you helped us. 00:22:11.759 --> 00:22:13.039 And we're so grateful for that. 00:22:13.119 --> 00:22:19.680 I never knew even about how intimate the history of Korea in America was until that, until Thomas told me about it. 00:22:20.319 --> 00:22:26.799 The reason I tell you all this is because God is not a God who turns his head away from injustice. 00:22:27.119 --> 00:22:30.160 God is not a God who ignores the pleas of the vulnerable. 00:22:30.400 --> 00:22:42.319 God is a God who acts in history and in real time in real space on the cross says that he will take on injustice. 00:22:43.119 --> 00:22:43.440 Right? 00:22:43.599 --> 00:22:51.039 So actually, what happens is that on the cross, in Jesus Christ, if you look and say, but how does God understand the suffering? 00:22:51.200 --> 00:22:53.359 God is a God who suffered. 00:22:54.079 --> 00:22:55.920 You know, only Christians believe that. 00:22:56.720 --> 00:22:58.240 Only Christians believe that. 00:22:58.480 --> 00:23:00.000 And it's because of the cross. 00:23:01.279 --> 00:23:03.920 God cares about the suffering. 00:23:04.960 --> 00:23:10.799 And God cares about the suffering so much that God Himself suffered to identify with His people. 00:23:13.440 --> 00:23:19.039 Israel had been, life had been getting worse and worse and worse for them. 00:23:20.319 --> 00:23:22.319 As they're stuck in slavery. 00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:23.119 Right? 00:23:23.279 --> 00:23:27.599 As sinful leaders had led a sinful country to enslave them. 00:23:28.480 --> 00:23:31.519 And then there's this odd little verse, and I want you to notice it. 00:23:31.759 --> 00:23:35.279 Did you notice what I think in some ways it feels like an odd little verse? 00:23:35.440 --> 00:23:42.720 It says, Oh, in verse 2, tell people that men and women alike are to ask their neighbors for articles of silver and gold. 00:23:42.880 --> 00:23:48.319 And that was in two, and then in three, it says, Yeah, because the Lord made the Egyptians favorably disposed towards the people. 00:23:48.480 --> 00:23:51.359 That means he got the Egyptians to say yes. 00:23:51.680 --> 00:23:52.640 You know what this was? 00:23:52.799 --> 00:23:54.160 This is restitution. 00:23:54.720 --> 00:24:00.160 This is him saying, Listen, you get their gold and silver, because you know how they got it? 00:24:00.319 --> 00:24:01.680 They oppressed you. 00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:03.599 I will, and it's ours. 00:24:03.759 --> 00:24:04.720 We want it back. 00:24:04.960 --> 00:24:05.279 Okay? 00:24:05.599 --> 00:24:07.039 That's what happens here. 00:24:07.279 --> 00:24:14.240 And so Israel on the way out gets the money that they actually earned the whole time. 00:24:14.400 --> 00:24:14.720 Right? 00:24:14.880 --> 00:24:16.720 Sorry, I just realized a couple of your faces. 00:24:16.799 --> 00:24:18.400 I'm not making a big political statement in that. 00:24:18.480 --> 00:24:19.759 I know I use the word restitution. 00:24:19.920 --> 00:24:21.839 We'll talk about another time, okay? 00:24:22.640 --> 00:24:25.839 I'm just saying they got what was actually coming to them. 00:24:27.200 --> 00:24:29.759 They had earned this the whole time. 00:24:30.240 --> 00:24:32.319 And they got it as they left, right? 00:24:32.559 --> 00:24:38.960 God gave them favor from the Egyptians, and they take all this gold, all this silver with them. 00:24:39.440 --> 00:24:40.079 Right? 00:24:40.480 --> 00:24:43.039 They and here's what happens. 00:24:43.279 --> 00:24:48.960 Life, and we're gonna talk about um God's protection and this distinction now for the rest of our time. 00:24:49.279 --> 00:24:51.839 Life was getting worse and worse and worse, like we said. 00:24:52.079 --> 00:24:52.559 Right? 00:24:52.720 --> 00:24:56.559 Um, it went from a real high point in Exodus, or excuse me, in Genesis 50, right? 00:24:56.640 --> 00:25:06.079 A couple hundred years go by, there's a new Pharaoh, he doesn't even remember Joseph, any of his family, anything, and now they go from this place of incredible favor to now being slaves. 00:25:06.400 --> 00:25:09.680 Life has gotten so much harder for Israel. 00:25:10.319 --> 00:25:17.119 It feels like there's there's um like the pain is peaking, right? 00:25:17.359 --> 00:25:24.240 As they're full in this full subjugation of slavery to Egypt, and God makes this like promise of hope to them. 00:25:24.960 --> 00:25:42.640 He's not talking to Egypt now, he's just talking to Israel, and he says to Israel, but not a dog shall growl against any of the people of Israel, not man or beast, that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. 00:25:42.799 --> 00:25:45.920 So I want you to notice two things that are happening in that verse. 00:25:47.599 --> 00:25:52.720 A promise of protection, and then this word that you'll understand in a second of distinction. 00:25:52.799 --> 00:25:54.400 He's separated them apart. 00:25:55.200 --> 00:25:55.839 Right? 00:25:56.240 --> 00:25:57.680 First is protection. 00:25:57.920 --> 00:26:01.680 God says that there's gonna be this final plague coming upon Egypt, right? 00:26:02.000 --> 00:26:04.400 It's gonna be chaos for Egypt. 00:26:04.640 --> 00:26:17.200 And I will just tell you, I don't know if you've noticed this this far in the reading Exodus together, but this whole story that we've been reading from Exodus 1 through 10 in the last 10 chapters, and it actually keeps going. 00:26:17.519 --> 00:26:20.400 This is like a reversal of the story of Genesis. 00:26:20.640 --> 00:26:22.240 That's like what Bruce Walkie says. 00:26:22.319 --> 00:26:24.799 Is that actually what happens, and stick with me, think about this. 00:26:24.880 --> 00:26:26.240 In Genesis, what do you have? 00:26:26.400 --> 00:26:28.799 It starts with chaos, and what's it moved to? 00:26:28.960 --> 00:26:29.599 To order. 00:26:29.759 --> 00:26:30.960 That's the story of creation. 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:32.640 What's happening in Exodus? 00:26:32.880 --> 00:26:37.599 Exodus starts with order, it's becoming chaotic for the Egyptians, right? 00:26:37.920 --> 00:26:42.000 Um, the waters originally in the creation story brought life. 00:26:42.160 --> 00:26:42.880 What happens? 00:26:43.039 --> 00:26:45.119 Remember when the Nile turned into blood? 00:26:45.279 --> 00:26:50.880 It goes from waters are bringing life to now what's happening in the Nile, the water is bringing death. 00:26:51.119 --> 00:26:51.759 Right? 00:26:51.920 --> 00:26:53.839 Um, oh, remember, let there be light. 00:26:54.000 --> 00:26:58.880 You guys remember that verse from like being a kid and going to church and reading the Bible? 00:26:59.200 --> 00:27:02.799 God says at the beginning, let there be light. 00:27:03.039 --> 00:27:04.640 Do you remember what happened last week? 00:27:04.880 --> 00:27:07.839 It was a darkness so dark they could feel it. 00:27:08.160 --> 00:27:11.839 Creation in Exodus is going in reverse. 00:27:12.240 --> 00:27:12.720 Right? 00:27:12.880 --> 00:27:16.720 Instead of the land being fruitful in the garden, what was happening? 00:27:16.880 --> 00:27:20.960 The land is is, you've got hail destroying crops, right? 00:27:21.039 --> 00:27:24.000 You've got locusts consuming it, you've got livestock dying. 00:27:24.160 --> 00:27:26.079 Everything is getting flipped around. 00:27:26.319 --> 00:27:34.480 But God's promise to Israel, he it's like this ancient idiom, just you know, of that not a dog shall growl. 00:27:35.279 --> 00:27:39.920 What it's saying is that they won't experience even the slightest disturbance or threat. 00:27:40.079 --> 00:27:46.319 God's saying, if you right, if he was a 21st century American, he might say something like, I've got your back. 00:27:48.319 --> 00:27:49.039 See, right? 00:27:49.279 --> 00:27:55.920 Dogs in the in the ancient Near East, they're um still in a lot of parts of the world, they're scavengers and they're watchdogs. 00:27:56.079 --> 00:27:57.359