WEBVTT 00:00:01.760 --> 00:00:04.240 Thanks for listening to the His Hands Church podcast. 00:00:04.400 --> 00:00:12.800 If you're using the His Hands Church mobile app, please turn off the auto lock on your phone's general settings so that you can listen to the message uninterrupted. 00:00:12.960 --> 00:00:16.000 And thank you for being part of what God is doing at His Hands. 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:19.199 Good morning. 00:00:20.160 --> 00:00:24.480 First and foremost, happy one extra hour of sleep day, right? 00:00:24.719 --> 00:00:25.920 Yeah, I know. 00:00:26.239 --> 00:00:28.000 Teenagers and moms, I think, are the best. 00:00:28.079 --> 00:00:30.160 They're like, yeah! I don't know about you. 00:00:30.239 --> 00:00:33.759 I was up at the exact same time as normal, like, bing, you know, man. 00:00:33.920 --> 00:00:36.719 I wish I could enjoy that, but not so much. 00:00:37.200 --> 00:00:40.079 Um, I don't know about each of you. 00:00:40.240 --> 00:00:47.119 I have uh been overwhelmed uh with this story of the tree just trees journey that we've been on the last several weeks. 00:00:47.280 --> 00:00:56.880 Um it's absolutely been one of the most most uh awe-inspiring and faith-strengthening studies that I've ever been a part of. 00:00:57.039 --> 00:01:08.719 Um if if you haven't had a chance to be here or or get the full scope of what we're in the middle of, we're basically taking the entire Bible, right, and breaking it into eight large sections. 00:01:09.120 --> 00:01:22.000 Ben Sykes, um, who's a great guy, he was given this awesome um perspective on the of the entirety of the Bible and what it looks like from this really big picture point of view, almost this 10,000-foot point of view. 00:01:22.159 --> 00:01:26.480 Um and the first week uh we had a huge summary of the whole model. 00:01:26.560 --> 00:01:30.879 Um, and that that's actually available to watch on video, which is unique for us. 00:01:31.040 --> 00:01:34.959 And you can actually see that on our website, it's right there on the front page or on YouTube. 00:01:35.439 --> 00:01:41.920 Um and I really, if you haven't seen it or if you weren't here three weeks ago, I encourage everybody to take the 40 minutes. 00:01:42.079 --> 00:01:44.319 It is so worth it to watch. 00:01:44.480 --> 00:01:50.640 Um, it really gives an amazing um picture uh literally of what God does through the entirety of the Bible. 00:01:50.719 --> 00:01:52.159 And you'll see it kind of popping up here. 00:01:52.239 --> 00:01:53.760 I'm gonna summarize it really quickly. 00:01:53.920 --> 00:02:08.639 Um, two weeks ago, Justin took the first section, and that was on the tree of life, which focused on the promise of eternity and the hope that eternity through God uh and through Jesus gives to our finite lives here on earth. 00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:22.400 Um then the next week, uh last week, actually, Ben shared again, and he uh shared with us Abraham's meeting at God at the Oaks of Mamreh, which focused on the promise of blessings when we have faith in God's plans. 00:02:22.639 --> 00:02:25.120 Um this week we have a new tree kind of. 00:02:25.280 --> 00:02:32.400 Um I was asked by Ben, Justin, and Steve to share about Moses and his encounter uh starting at the burning bush. 00:02:32.639 --> 00:02:47.360 Um and then what we'll see is we'll let the uh video here kind of continue on, and we see it paint a picture, and we'll go through these the next several weeks as it goes through, and you can see it paints this huge picture, which ends up looking like a tree. 00:02:47.599 --> 00:02:59.840 And the tree of life is such a big part of what we do here, and it it parallels with one of Marlon's paintings there, and you can just see the tree of life in the whole picture of the Bible, and the tree of life is really a picture of Jesus. 00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:08.560 But today we're gonna rewind and we're gonna we're gonna go back to uh to Moses and his encounter at what we're we're calling the burning bush, I guess. 00:03:08.719 --> 00:03:11.759 I'm not really sure how this whole assignment process of the trees went down. 00:03:11.919 --> 00:03:13.840 Um I know Justin got the tree of life. 00:03:13.919 --> 00:03:16.319 That's pretty that's a pretty big deal, right? 00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:17.599 Um it's it's big here. 00:03:17.680 --> 00:03:18.400 I think I'm off center. 00:03:18.479 --> 00:03:20.080 I'm gonna I'm gonna scoot over just a little bit. 00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:23.599 Um Ben had the oaks of Mamrah. 00:03:23.759 --> 00:03:25.840 I mean, that just sounds manly, doesn't it? 00:03:26.719 --> 00:03:31.599 Next week Steve's gonna uh share again, and he's gonna be back and uh talk about the tree by the water. 00:03:31.759 --> 00:03:34.240 I mean that just that's a majestic image, right? 00:03:34.479 --> 00:03:36.080 I got the shrubbery. 00:03:38.240 --> 00:03:39.439 I got I got the bush. 00:03:41.759 --> 00:03:42.319 All right. 00:03:43.120 --> 00:03:52.479 Oh, no, but in seriousness, um I I was overcome with praise from being able to bless and study on this uh this week. 00:03:52.639 --> 00:03:55.520 Um this particular short story is really amazing. 00:03:55.680 --> 00:04:02.159 And uh throughout the last couple weeks while I've been preparing, my my my walk with God has been really intimate and intense. 00:04:02.240 --> 00:04:06.159 And and just to kind of get aside from me my notes, this morning's been weird. 00:04:06.319 --> 00:04:07.680 I've cried this morning. 00:04:07.759 --> 00:04:11.599 Uh we've had technology just break out of nowhere this morning. 00:04:11.840 --> 00:04:20.959 It's it's been a weird morning, and I hope that's a good thing because I think it's it's just God's way of saying, you know, um something's really strong here, and there's something fighting against that. 00:04:21.120 --> 00:04:25.199 There's something rebelling against what God's trying to share today, and we're not gonna let it, right? 00:04:25.439 --> 00:04:26.480 We're not gonna let it. 00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:43.600 So um my prayers today have really focused on a hope that each of you can can uh get to experience the same kind of passion that I felt this week, the same connection with God, and that today's uh what we're gonna go through today, it's really big and it might help in that process. 00:04:43.839 --> 00:04:48.480 Um this morning's chapter in our story of the trees journey spans between the books. 00:04:48.560 --> 00:04:54.399 We're gonna bite off just a little section Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, and Ruth. 00:04:54.639 --> 00:04:56.160 Yeah, no big deal, right? 00:04:56.399 --> 00:05:01.279 We're only gonna cover about 400 years of uh history of Israel, so we're just gonna fly through it. 00:05:01.439 --> 00:05:04.079 Um, everybody, they don't mind not eating lunch, right? 00:05:04.160 --> 00:05:05.279 No, I'm just kidding. 00:05:05.519 --> 00:05:09.759 Uh I wanted to begin this morning account and go ahead and give away the ending, too. 00:05:09.920 --> 00:05:12.800 It's always good when the ending of the story is at the beginning, right? 00:05:12.959 --> 00:05:25.759 Um, we're gonna have a nation, the nation of Israel, that God has blessed and he's protected in this tremendous and miraculous fashion, and they're gonna struggle to have their act together. 00:05:25.920 --> 00:05:32.160 They're gonna be directionless, they're gonna be misguided, floundering at this point of desperation. 00:05:33.600 --> 00:05:34.720 Yay! Right? 00:05:34.879 --> 00:05:37.120 That's where we're gonna end today, so sorry about that. 00:05:37.279 --> 00:05:41.279 Um, but the truth is last week and even the week before kind of all ended. 00:05:41.360 --> 00:05:43.199 All these chapters kind of end that way. 00:05:43.519 --> 00:05:54.319 Last week we had this nation of Israel who who was brought to Egypt to to you know stave off this famine that was having in the land and to protect them. 00:05:54.480 --> 00:05:57.600 And you had Joseph, the the dream coat guy, right? 00:05:57.759 --> 00:06:01.920 And he brings his family in, and they're protected from this famine. 00:06:02.399 --> 00:06:11.759 But Joseph passes away, and the the nation of Israel is still there in Egypt, and they've been enslaved and oppressed now. 00:06:11.920 --> 00:06:18.160 You know, the the rulers that remember Joseph are gone, and now there's new leadership in place, and that's kind of where we left them last year. 00:06:18.240 --> 00:06:21.759 It's like again, one of those, wow, this is this is hard. 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:30.800 You know, and they're trapped in a foreign land, away from the promised land that God had given to Abraham, Jacob, or Isaac, and Jacob. 00:06:31.519 --> 00:06:37.040 But in spite of this oppression and enslavement, the nation, the nation of Israel is still blessed. 00:06:37.279 --> 00:06:44.319 And they grow in size and in strength, so much so that the new Pharaoh has all of the newborn males murdered. 00:06:44.639 --> 00:06:49.279 But God allows one special Hebrew boy to escape that that horrific fate. 00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:50.879 And his name is Moses. 00:06:51.600 --> 00:06:57.360 Uh Moses was put in a basket down the uh the Nile and was picked up by the daughter of Pharaoh. 00:06:57.519 --> 00:07:02.879 And he was raised in that same house, cloaked under the guise of Egyptian royalty. 00:07:03.360 --> 00:07:09.519 And he ends up, though, at some point, killing an Egyptian for beating a Hebrew. 00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:11.680 And he has to run away. 00:07:11.839 --> 00:07:16.720 He runs away and he flees because he doesn't want to have to deal with the punishment from that. 00:07:17.040 --> 00:07:20.079 And he resettles in a land known as Midian. 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:26.079 And today, the area of Egypt that we're talking about is near Cairo. 00:07:26.160 --> 00:07:30.800 It was an area called Goshen, and that's even where the pyramids and stuff are, kind of around that today. 00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:33.040 So this is in northeastern Egypt. 00:07:33.199 --> 00:07:40.079 And this area of Midian is in the western part of Saudi Arabia, and there's about 700 miles that spans the two, just to give it some perspective. 00:07:40.160 --> 00:07:42.480 Those areas have been in the news the last several years. 00:07:42.720 --> 00:07:49.360 And so it kind of gives us, these are real places and real, real, you know, tangible lands and stuff that we can understand. 00:07:49.600 --> 00:07:53.120 And this is where we find Moses in Exodus chapter three. 00:07:53.279 --> 00:07:58.639 It says, One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, priest of Midian. 00:07:58.800 --> 00:08:02.639 He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai, the mountain of God. 00:08:02.879 --> 00:08:07.040 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. 00:08:07.279 --> 00:08:09.360 Moses stared in amazement. 00:08:09.600 --> 00:08:12.399 Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn't burn up. 00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:14.399 This is amazing, Moses said to himself. 00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:16.240 Why isn't that bush burning up? 00:08:16.399 --> 00:08:17.439 I must go see it. 00:08:17.680 --> 00:08:18.639 That's what I do. 00:08:18.800 --> 00:08:24.240 Um, when the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush. 00:08:24.480 --> 00:08:27.199 Moses, Moses, I don't do a very good God voice. 00:08:27.439 --> 00:08:29.120 Here I am, Moses replied. 00:08:29.360 --> 00:08:31.519 Do not come any closer, the Lord warned. 00:08:31.680 --> 00:08:34.480 Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground. 00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:38.639 I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. 00:08:38.799 --> 00:08:42.480 When Moses heard this, he covered his face because he was afraid to look at God. 00:08:42.639 --> 00:08:46.720 And then the Lord told him, I have certainly seen the oppression from my people in Egypt. 00:08:46.879 --> 00:08:50.879 I have heard their cries of distress because they're li because of their harsh slave drivers. 00:08:51.039 --> 00:08:52.480 Yes, I am aware of their suffering. 00:08:52.639 --> 00:08:59.120 So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land. 00:08:59.279 --> 00:09:07.519 It is a land flowing with milk and honey, where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Havitites, and Jebusites now live. 00:09:07.840 --> 00:09:13.600 Look, the cry of the people of Israel has reached me, and I have seen how hard harshly the Egyptians abuse them. 00:09:13.759 --> 00:09:19.919 Now go, for I am sending you Pharaoh, you to Pharaoh, you must lead my people out of Egypt. 00:09:20.480 --> 00:09:24.720 So Moses initially says, Whoa, whoa, whoa, I'm not the right guy. 00:09:25.360 --> 00:09:34.559 But ultimately he does walk in faith and and and and follows through, and that God will help him lead his nation to this new promised land. 00:09:34.879 --> 00:09:36.960 And that's exactly what happens. 00:09:37.519 --> 00:09:51.360 You've probably heard the account, and we've talked about it here a couple times, of Moses in Egypt, and how with God's power, Moses calls for ten plagues to come upon Pharaoh in Egypt, and ultimately set Israel free. 00:09:51.759 --> 00:10:03.039 In the final plague, God calls for the people of Israel to take the blood of a spotless lamb or goat, place it on their doors, so that death will pass over their homes. 00:10:04.159 --> 00:10:05.759 We call it the Passover. 00:10:06.080 --> 00:10:08.720 It's a really amazing picture of Jesus. 00:10:08.960 --> 00:10:15.759 And the truth is we could spend weeks looking in to all the parallels of Jesus in the Passover. 00:10:15.840 --> 00:10:22.879 In fact, I was honored to speak, I believe, on Palm Sunday this past year, and you can find it online if you want to listen to it, about that very thing. 00:10:23.120 --> 00:10:31.200 And we also, I lead a group in the spring a lot of times that spends eight weeks, eight weeks covering the Passover and the parallels of Jesus. 00:10:31.360 --> 00:10:35.519 And they're just innumerable and unimaginable. 00:10:36.320 --> 00:10:41.759 But for today, I want to focus on something that I saw that's new regarding this, something that's brand new to even me. 00:10:42.399 --> 00:10:45.039 During the week, I actually did a fairly informal study. 00:10:45.200 --> 00:10:52.240 I asked several friends and some family, when in the Bible did the first law for Israel come? 00:10:52.399 --> 00:10:55.120 When was the first law for Israel given to Moses? 00:10:55.759 --> 00:10:57.360 And most people stared at me blankly. 00:10:57.519 --> 00:10:59.360 Like, what I don't understand. 00:11:00.480 --> 00:11:04.639 And then they kind of contemplated it, and you know, they really didn't have a good answer. 00:11:04.720 --> 00:11:07.120 And maybe around the Ten Commandments, right? 00:11:07.279 --> 00:11:09.519 Those are the laws of Moses, right? 00:11:10.080 --> 00:11:11.200 That's not it. 00:11:11.440 --> 00:11:18.240 In fact, the first mention of law in the Bible is when God is giving instructions regarding the Passover. 00:11:18.399 --> 00:11:24.320 We find it in Exodus 12, verse 14, regarding the Passover, it says, This is a day to remember. 00:11:24.559 --> 00:11:31.360 Each year, from generation to generation, you must celebrate it as a special festival to the Lord. 00:11:31.679 --> 00:11:34.480 This is a law for all time. 00:11:35.360 --> 00:11:45.759 God's first directive, his first rule for this chosen nation was to remember, to celebrate, to throw a party on the Passover. 00:11:46.080 --> 00:11:56.879 The Passover, which is a complete picture of Jesus as our sacrifice, his blood poured out so that death can no longer harbor as a threat to any of us. 00:11:58.320 --> 00:11:59.279 That's amazing. 00:11:59.440 --> 00:12:06.960 The first law, the first law is like, wait a second, before you get into all the do's and don'ts, party because of Jesus. 00:12:08.159 --> 00:12:09.039 That's the law. 00:12:09.200 --> 00:12:10.240 That's the first law. 00:12:10.399 --> 00:12:11.600 Now God does go on. 00:12:11.759 --> 00:12:18.240 He goes on to honor his promise of the law, providing the full law to God, to Moses and his people. 00:12:18.399 --> 00:12:22.080 And he gives them the commandments to obey and follow that will honor him. 00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:30.639 The law is laid out through the books of Exodus, a lot in Leviticus, and very well, a lot of them in Numbers as well, the books of Numbers. 00:12:30.960 --> 00:12:34.399 It has rules that we know well and relate to in our society. 00:12:34.559 --> 00:12:39.440 The Ten Commandments is still something that many of our laws today are wrapped around, right? 00:12:40.240 --> 00:12:44.240 Most people would argue that in context, they're good no matter what. 00:12:44.559 --> 00:12:48.320 It has some other parts that are difficult for us to understand in today's world. 00:12:48.399 --> 00:12:53.840 I mean, it talks about some slavery and what you can and can't eat and what you can and can't wear, cutting your hair and some other things. 00:12:53.919 --> 00:12:55.360 I don't worry about that. 00:12:56.879 --> 00:12:59.840 It really all circles back, though, to Adam and Eve. 00:13:00.080 --> 00:13:01.759 Adam and Eve were in the garden. 00:13:01.919 --> 00:13:04.399 They chose to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 00:13:04.639 --> 00:13:07.360 Simply put, they just wanted the rules. 00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:12.240 You know, just give us what we can do that will be us, that will make us like God. 00:13:13.440 --> 00:13:18.720 But here, generations later, God is actually laying out what that takes from his perspective. 00:13:18.879 --> 00:13:20.480 He says, here's the law. 00:13:20.639 --> 00:13:22.080 Here it is, follow it. 00:13:22.320 --> 00:13:24.159 But it's not given without purpose. 00:13:24.240 --> 00:13:27.120 There's a lot of purpose, in fact, behind this law. 00:13:27.600 --> 00:13:29.759 The first, I got three kind of key points here. 00:13:29.919 --> 00:13:36.639 The first is it provides structure, it provided protection, and it provides blessings to those who keep it. 00:13:36.960 --> 00:13:40.720 In Deuteronomy, Moses actually is addressing this exact thing. 00:13:40.799 --> 00:13:49.679 It says, In the future, your children will ask you, what is the meaning of these laws, decrees, and regulations that our Lord, the Lord our God has commanded us to obey? 00:13:49.919 --> 00:13:56.639 Then you must tell them, when we were Pharaoh's slaves living in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with his strong hand. 00:13:56.799 --> 00:14:03.200 The Lord did miraculous signs and wonders before our eyes, dealing terrifying blows against Egypt and Pharaoh and all his people. 00:14:03.440 --> 00:14:08.240 He brought us out of Egypt so he could give us this land he had sworn to give our ancestors. 00:14:08.399 --> 00:14:20.240 And the Lord our God commanded us to obey all these decrees to fear him so he can continue to bless us and preserve us, preserve our lives, as he has done to this day. 00:14:20.480 --> 00:14:25.840 It provides blessing and protection when we live under the law of God. 00:14:26.720 --> 00:14:28.960 But that also kind of leads to a second point. 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:36.159 And it shows that no one, not one of us, there's not one person who can match the righteousness of God. 00:14:36.720 --> 00:14:38.320 Paul talks about this in Romans. 00:14:38.399 --> 00:14:42.720 He says, obviously the law applies to those to whom it was given. 00:14:42.879 --> 00:14:50.159 For the purpose is to keep people from having excuses and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. 00:14:50.480 --> 00:14:54.240 No one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. 00:14:54.399 --> 00:14:58.399 The law simply shows how sinful we are. 00:14:59.279 --> 00:15:06.000 It goes on to say that all have sinned, for all have sinned and failed to meet God's glorious standard. 00:15:07.120 --> 00:15:09.200 What a cool way of saying that, right? 00:15:09.519 --> 00:15:15.919 It goes so far as to say, and this is one, I'm just gonna lay on the line, I'm gonna throw one of my guilt out there. 00:15:16.320 --> 00:15:17.919 You can't eat bacon. 00:15:18.159 --> 00:15:19.679 That's how strict the law is. 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:20.639 Look at you up here. 00:15:20.720 --> 00:15:24.720 It says, you know, the pig is in the least bit hoos, but don't you cut it and unclean. 00:15:24.879 --> 00:15:29.039 You can't eat bacon or barbecue or all the stuff I love. 00:15:29.919 --> 00:15:31.039 It's really good. 00:15:31.279 --> 00:15:35.039 The truth is, all of us, all I mean, it that's how, I mean, it gets that's intense. 00:15:35.120 --> 00:15:38.960 Now, Jesus actually, just a quick aside, comes back and says, it's okay to eat bacon. 00:15:39.039 --> 00:15:45.840 It's not what you bring in that makes you unclean, it's what lives in your heart that makes you clean or unclean. 00:15:46.159 --> 00:15:47.679 So it's okay to eat bacon. 00:15:47.919 --> 00:15:51.600 But but that's how strict the rules are. 00:15:51.759 --> 00:15:53.600 Nobody could keep the law of Moses. 00:15:54.159 --> 00:15:57.519 Nobody normal except Jesus. 00:15:58.480 --> 00:16:05.919 The last thing the law does, though, if if it protects us and blesses us, but we can't meet God's righteousness, where does that leave us? 00:16:06.320 --> 00:16:12.320 The truth is that the main point of the law, the number one point, is to point us to Jesus. 00:16:12.559 --> 00:16:16.080 In fact, Jesus says it in Matthew chapter 5, 17. 00:16:16.159 --> 00:16:19.440 He says, Don't misunderstand why I have come. 00:16:19.679 --> 00:16:24.159 I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. 00:16:24.480 --> 00:16:28.559 No, I came to accomplish their purpose. 00:16:29.360 --> 00:16:39.759 John, Jesus quoted again, says it this way, again, you search the scriptures because you think they give you eternal life, but the scriptures point to me. 00:16:41.039 --> 00:16:44.000 I mean, the law can't give you eternal life. 00:16:44.639 --> 00:16:45.679 Jesus can. 00:16:46.480 --> 00:16:48.000 That's why the law was given. 00:16:48.240 --> 00:16:57.039 It was set as a guide to get us safely to Jesus and show that we can't have eternal hope without a relationship with him. 00:16:57.840 --> 00:16:59.279 Let me say that one more time. 00:16:59.759 --> 00:17:07.519 It was set to guide us safely to Jesus and show that we cannot have eternal hope without a relationship in him. 00:17:08.640 --> 00:17:09.440 That's awesome. 00:17:09.519 --> 00:17:11.440 And that relationship's available to every one of us. 00:17:11.519 --> 00:17:14.720 All we gotta do is say, Jesus, I want, I want to follow you. 00:17:16.319 --> 00:17:23.440 Now, getting back to Israel, despite freeing these people, providing for every need, right? 00:17:24.079 --> 00:17:35.440 Promising them a land flowing with milk and honey, this ragtag nation cannot help but to complain, rebel, and disobey God's laws. 00:17:35.759 --> 00:17:38.640 And they end up wandering for 40 years. 00:17:39.279 --> 00:17:46.079 And Moses, God's best friend, I mean his best bud, it says God and Moses knew each other face to face. 00:17:46.880 --> 00:17:53.440 He's not even allowed to enter the promised land because he could not perfectly deliver this nation. 00:17:53.839 --> 00:18:02.480 We'll find out that no one, you look through the Bible, there's no one outside of Jesus that can fully measure up to God's holiness. 00:18:03.599 --> 00:18:10.960 The book of Deuteronomy, so we're we're already four books in, um, is basically Moses' farewell address. 00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:13.680 And he's kind of reiterating the the points of the law. 00:18:13.920 --> 00:18:19.039 And he it ends with God personally burying Moses. 00:18:20.079 --> 00:18:23.119 I mean, that's the kind of personal relationship they had. 00:18:23.359 --> 00:18:27.119 And yet even then, Moses wasn't good enough. 00:18:27.759 --> 00:18:40.240 And despite all this angst and all the struggles he's had with Israel, God honors his covenant and gives the promised land to Israel through a new guy named Joshua. 00:18:40.400 --> 00:18:43.200 Joshua's been around, he's kind of like the military leader. 00:18:43.519 --> 00:18:48.160 And God and Moses appoint him, and that's the book of Joshua. 00:18:49.119 --> 00:18:53.200 And God brings him into this promised land with these resounding victories. 00:18:54.079 --> 00:19:01.039 But Israel's ownership of this new land is again not quite completed as it was directed. 00:19:01.440 --> 00:19:05.839 God specifically directed it to do certain things, and they they just fell short. 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:09.200 And it kind of blends over into the next book of Judges. 00:19:09.440 --> 00:19:26.000 So we've gone through Joshua, Judges, and in Judges near the beginning it says this, and the angel of the Lord went up from Gigal to Bochum and said to the Israelites, I brought you out of Egypt into this land that I swore to give to your ancestors, and I said, I would never break my covenant with you. 00:19:26.319 --> 00:19:30.240 For your part, you were to not make any covenants with the people living in this land. 00:19:30.319 --> 00:19:35.599 Instead, you were to destroy their altars, but you disobeyed my command. 00:19:35.839 --> 00:19:37.279 Why did you do this? 00:19:37.599 --> 00:19:47.599 So now I declare that I will no longer drive out the people living in your land, they will be thorns in your side, and their gods will be a constant temptation to you. 00:19:48.160 --> 00:19:50.000 And that's exactly what happens. 00:19:50.160 --> 00:19:51.680 Now I'm gonna go on and lay it out there. 00:19:51.759 --> 00:19:54.480 The book of Judges, it's crazy. 00:19:54.720 --> 00:19:55.920 It is absolutely nuts. 00:19:56.079 --> 00:20:02.240 I I had never really, truthfully, I've read all sorts of parts of it, but I just never read it start to finish until last week. 00:20:02.319 --> 00:20:05.200 And I'm like, whoa, that was that was weird. 00:20:05.440 --> 00:20:08.799 Um, it's basically the comic book section of the Bible. 00:20:09.039 --> 00:20:10.079 I mean, truthfully. 00:20:10.160 --> 00:20:13.359 I mean, if if you get it to you, you want to read it's the comic book section of the Bible. 00:20:13.519 --> 00:20:16.160 It has the accounts of Gideon and Deborah and Samson. 00:20:17.200 --> 00:20:22.640 And and at the very beginning, Joshua, he passes away, and then chaos kind of ensues for Israel. 00:20:22.880 --> 00:20:26.160 They forget who their God is and what he had done for them. 00:20:26.319 --> 00:20:31.599 And God raises up these individuals called judges, which are basically like Bible superheroes. 00:20:31.839 --> 00:20:32.400 All right? 00:20:32.640 --> 00:20:37.039 And they're raised up to rescue God's people from their attackers. 00:20:37.440 --> 00:20:39.359 My son Will and I, he's 10. 00:20:39.680 --> 00:20:41.599 We were right in the car last week, right? 00:20:41.759 --> 00:20:58.480 And I'm trying to explain my thoughts about this whole thing we're talking about this morning, from all the way back to the Garden of Eden, and then and then specifically with Moses and the burning bush, and you know, judges and these guys, and you know, how the nation of Israel and God's people, they just couldn't stay on course. 00:20:58.640 --> 00:21:03.440 And God's promises were true, and and he backed them up, and his law was explicitly clear. 00:21:03.599 --> 00:21:05.599 Like, I wrote this down for you, clear. 00:21:05.759 --> 00:21:14.400 Yet time and time again, the people just get derailed, you know, by their own rebelliousness or lack of focus on God. 00:21:15.119 --> 00:21:21.359 And every time this kind of happens, God steps back in and he says, I'm gonna recalculate it for you, I'm gonna reroute you. 00:21:21.440 --> 00:21:22.559 And my son goes, like, Siri. 00:21:23.039 --> 00:21:26.000 I'm like, that's brilliant. 00:21:27.119 --> 00:21:29.839 You know, but it's a fairly accurate comparison. 00:21:30.079 --> 00:21:46.960 You know, God is dealing with this motley, cantankerous, rebellious nation, and every time they screw up, every time they make a wrong turn, he's like, all right, reroute, get you back on direction, get you back on path toward this bigger purpose I have for you. 00:21:47.359 --> 00:21:55.680 And the the book of Judges is filled with kind of this nation, and he just can't get them rerouted correctly. 00:21:55.839 --> 00:21:59.599 It has these amazing feats of strength and honor and glory. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:08.559 Yet, no matter which one of these judges is raised up, not one can seemingly unify the nation for any significant period of time. 00:22:09.279 --> 00:22:10.319 And that's where we're at. 00:22:10.799 --> 00:22:12.880 That's the ending that I prefaced. 00:22:13.440 --> 00:22:15.039 It's kind of depressing. 00:22:15.279 --> 00:22:17.200 But then we have Ruth. 00:22:17.359 --> 00:22:19.680 So we have Judges and their final book of Ruth. 00:22:19.759 --> 00:22:23.759 And Ruth is a parallel account in terms of time. 00:22:24.319 --> 00:22:24.960 All right? 00:22:25.119 --> 00:22:28.880 It's the same period of time, this disorganized and chaotic period of time. 00:22:29.039 --> 00:22:32.000 And we have this weird small personal account. 00:22:32.240 --> 00:22:41.839 Judges is a big, broad account, but now we have a small personal account of a Moabite widow named Ruth and her mother-in-law, Naomi. 00:22:42.160 --> 00:22:49.440 And Ruth stays with Naomi, even though she's been freed, and decides to stay with her and worship the God of Israel. 00:22:49.680 --> 00:22:53.680 And through a servant's heart, she's repeatedly blessed. 00:22:53.839 --> 00:22:56.720 And Zen ends up remarrying a man named Boaz. 00:22:57.039 --> 00:22:58.799 Now I want to pause right there. 00:22:58.960 --> 00:22:59.759 I want to stop. 00:22:59.839 --> 00:23:03.839 And everybody remember where we're at because I want to screw everything up. 00:23:03.920 --> 00:23:08.079 And I'm going to go all the way back to the I started with the end, now I'm going to go back to the beginning at the end. 00:23:08.559 --> 00:23:09.440 Everybody with me? 00:23:09.599 --> 00:23:09.920 Yeah. 00:23:10.160 --> 00:23:10.799 All right. 00:23:11.279 --> 00:23:16.240 So this morning we started down a path focusing on Moses and the law. 00:23:16.319 --> 00:23:17.759 It's led us to Ruth. 00:23:18.079 --> 00:23:23.039 And we started with this story of the trees chapter, the burning bush. 00:23:23.839 --> 00:23:27.440 But the truth is it's a really inaccurate title. 00:23:28.720 --> 00:23:30.240 You recall, we even read it. 00:23:30.400 --> 00:23:33.759 The bush was on fire, but it was not burned up. 00:23:33.920 --> 00:23:34.960 That's what it said. 00:23:35.200 --> 00:23:36.880 It's on fire, but it's not burned up. 00:23:36.960 --> 00:23:39.119 It wasn't consumed, you might say. 00:23:39.440 --> 00:23:42.480 In fact, we probably should say the unburning bush. 00:23:42.720 --> 00:23:49.119 You know, to burn something, you have to have air and fuel and the heat, and they engage in this process which consumes the matter and makes energy. 00:23:49.279 --> 00:23:50.480 That's burning. 00:23:50.960 --> 00:23:54.240 But here we have a plant on fire, but not consumed. 00:23:54.319 --> 00:23:55.920 It's not burnt up. 00:23:56.720 --> 00:24:00.480 And the label bush that I laughed about earlier, I looked it up. 00:24:00.559 --> 00:24:04.720 I looked a Hebrew word up, and the Hebrew word is actually sinna. 00:24:05.359 --> 00:24:08.319 And it means to prick or stick. 00:24:08.960 --> 00:24:14.079 Many of us probably think of a blackberry bush or a rose, maybe a rose bush. 00:24:14.880 --> 00:24:17.200 But I want to switch to a little image here. 00:24:17.359 --> 00:24:25.680 In the region of Saudi Arabia, where Moses is at Sinai, the most well-known thorn plant is the acacia thorn tree. 00:24:26.799 --> 00:24:32.000 It's beautiful from a distance, but it is brutal lurking up close. 00:24:34.880 --> 00:24:40.319 Marlin did a painting this week, and I kind of gave him a heads up on the acacia thorn tree. 00:24:40.640 --> 00:24:42.079 Take a look at this. 00:24:43.599 --> 00:24:45.519 You see the angel of God in it? 00:24:46.000 --> 00:24:47.599 A tree on fire. 00:24:48.480 --> 00:24:50.079 But not consumed. 00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:56.240 You know, on a quick aside, most of the time you might do this in the biblical way. 00:24:56.319 --> 00:24:57.440 I did it a complete wrong way. 00:24:57.519 --> 00:24:59.119 I knew that the region was Saudi Arabia. 00:24:59.200 --> 00:25:02.559 I knew it was thorns, so what I did is I went to the old trusty Google, right? 00:25:02.799 --> 00:25:08.559 And I Googled Thorns, Saudi Arabia, and the first four or five hits were for the Acacia thorn tree. 00:25:08.720 --> 00:25:14.079 It wasn't until a couple of days later that I found out that Acacia is actually in the Bible, too. 00:25:14.240 --> 00:25:18.160 Just a couple chapters down from the Ten Commandments. 00:25:18.480 --> 00:25:22.960 The Acacia wood is actually mentioned as part of the law. 00:25:23.200 --> 00:25:32.720 It's the wood commanded for Israel to make the Ark of the Covenant, the Tabernacle, and the altar of burnt offering. 00:25:34.799 --> 00:25:47.519 So rather than this section being titled The Burning Bush, what we really could call it or should call it is the tree of thorns that is not consumed by fire. 00:25:48.960 --> 00:25:57.039 If we were called from two weeks ago, Justin, he talked about the curses that Adam and Eve had laid up at them, right? 00:25:57.200 --> 00:25:59.680 When they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 00:25:59.759 --> 00:26:01.039 In Genesis 3, we find that. 00:26:01.279 --> 00:26:11.839 It says, to reiterate, it says, to the man he said, Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. 00:26:12.240 --> 00:26:15.279 All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. 00:26:15.519 --> 00:26:19.599 It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains. 00:26:19.759 --> 00:26:28.400 By the sweat of your brow you will have food to eat until you return from the ground from which you were made, for you were made from dust, and to dust you will return. 00:26:28.880 --> 00:26:33.839 You Adam had to endure the curses of thorns and death. 00:26:34.799 --> 00:26:38.880 And all mankind is subjected to this curse in a regard. 00:26:39.920 --> 00:26:47.519 You know, throughout the Bible, the the idea of spiritual death is described by highlighting this image of burning and fire. 00:26:47.680 --> 00:26:48.960 We call it hell. 00:26:50.319 --> 00:26:53.519 And it all then we circle it back to Jesus. 00:26:54.160 --> 00:26:59.200 Jesus referred to himself not as the Son of God, but he called himself the Son of Man. 00:26:59.359 --> 00:27:00.960 We might even say the Son of Adam. 00:27:01.119 --> 00:27:03.200 The word Adam actually means man. 00:27:04.319 --> 00:27:09.200 Jesus was fully human, and thus he had to endure death. 00:27:09.759 --> 00:27:15.599 And at his crucifixion, he was given a crown of thorns. 00:27:16.160 --> 00:27:18.720 The crown of humanity's curse. 00:27:19.920 --> 00:27:23.680 He was subjected to death on a tree. 00:27:25.119 --> 00:27:28.240 Here's a cool thing, though, that death couldn't hold him in. 00:27:29.119 --> 00:27:31.839 Jesus also was fully God. 00:27:33.039 --> 00:27:39.440 The only person born ever capable of completing the true purposes of the law. 00:27:39.759 --> 00:27:43.519 The fire of death could not consume him. 00:27:44.720 --> 00:27:47.519 Three days later, he defeated hell. 00:27:48.640 --> 00:27:56.319 You see, this tree of thorns that is not consumed by fire, it's not just another Bible story we tell our kids. 00:27:57.599 --> 00:28:03.279 It's a big giant arrow, a big prophetic arrow to Jesus, just another one. 00:28:04.319 --> 00:28:06.319 It points us straight to him. 00:28:07.599 --> 00:28:16.400 You know, Jesus is our King, He wore our crown, He was your sacrifice that gives you hope beyond death. 00:28:16.640 --> 00:28:18.559 And he wants a relationship with you. 00:28:18.799 --> 00:28:19.599 He really does. 00:28:19.759 --> 00:28:21.759 All you have to do is say, I want to walk with you. 00:28:21.920 --> 00:28:23.200 There's no formula. 00:28:23.680 --> 00:28:28.240 And the Holy Spirit comes in your heart and he consumes you in a different way. 00:28:28.480 --> 00:28:33.039 And all of a sudden you start to act and walk and talk in a different way. 00:28:33.599 --> 00:28:37.519 It's not an instant process, it takes time. 00:28:38.160 --> 00:28:44.799 But he promises, just like he promises to fulfill the laws and the covenants he had with Israel, he promises to change us. 00:28:45.039 --> 00:28:52.160 If the worship team wants to kind of start heading back up, it says, you know, this guy, it's Jesus. 00:28:52.480 --> 00:28:54.559 He is the Son of God, right? 00:28:55.279 --> 00:28:58.960 He was asked about the greatest of Moses' commandments. 00:28:59.200 --> 00:29:04.559 It says this in Matthew Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses? 00:29:05.119 --> 00:29:10.880 Jesus replied, You must love the Lord God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. 00:29:11.200 --> 00:29:13.440 This is the first and greatest commandment. 00:29:13.759 --> 00:29:15.839 A second is equally important. 00:29:16.000 --> 00:29:18.640 Love your neighbor as yourself. 00:29:19.359 --> 00:29:25.440 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commands. 00:29:26.240 --> 00:29:27.519 You see, love. 00:29:28.480 --> 00:29:31.200 Love is the purpose of the law. 00:29:31.519 --> 00:29:34.799 And Jesus is love. 00:29:35.839 --> 00:29:41.759 When we have a relationship with Jesus, we learn to become love. 00:29:44.319 --> 00:29:46.640 You know, it's just one of those cool things. 00:29:46.799 --> 00:29:51.359 When we we uh we left our chapter, if you don't recall, our little story. 00:29:51.920 --> 00:29:54.400 And um I want to go back. 00:29:54.640 --> 00:29:58.079 Because we have this Moabite widow, her name's Ruth. 00:29:58.240 --> 00:30:02.640 She's marrying this guy named Boaz, and this is this time of chaos, right? 00:30:02.720 --> 00:30:04.960 It's it's the dail note of our story. 00:30:05.279 --> 00:30:07.279 But we see a glimpse of hope. 00:30:07.599 --> 00:30:19.920 Right at the very end, the very final verses of the chapter of Ruth, we have this glimpse of what becomes another redirection, another recalculation in God's plan. 00:30:20.880 --> 00:30:29.519 It says in Ruth, So Boaz took Ruth into his home, she became his wife, and when he slept with her, the Lord enabled her to become pregnant, and she gave birth to a son. 00:30:29.759 --> 00:30:35.279 When the women of Town said to Naomi, Braise the Lord, who has now provided a redeemer for your family. 00:30:35.440 --> 00:30:46.960 May this child be famous in Israel, may he restore your youth and care for you in your old age, for he is the son of your daughter-in-law who loves you and has been better to you than seven sons. 00:30:47.200 --> 00:30:52.240 Naomi took the baby and cuddled him to her breast, and she cared for him as if he were her own. 00:30:52.400 --> 00:30:57.920 The neighbor women said, Now, at last, Naomi has a son again, and they named him Obed. 00:30:58.079 --> 00:31:01.920 He became the father of Jesse and the grandfather of David. 00:31:02.720 --> 00:31:17.359 This grandchild David, he will become king, and he will change the path of Israel, and pave yet one more new road on a path for Jesus and this future kingdom that you can be a part of. 00:31:17.759 --> 00:31:19.359 All you gotta do is ask. 00:31:19.599 --> 00:31:20.240 All right? 00:31:20.559 --> 00:31:22.000 Why don't we pray? 00:31:22.720 --> 00:31:25.680 Heavenly Father, thank you for this morning. 00:31:25.839 --> 00:31:36.079 I I thank you for the amazing message that you gave through this image of this tree of thorns on fire that cannot be consumed. 00:31:36.400 --> 00:31:45.519 God, I I thank you so much for this law that you gave us that just points to Jesus and tells us we can live a life of love. 00:31:46.880 --> 00:31:50.720 And that you will transform us into love, God. 00:31:51.200 --> 00:32:04.720 I pray that uh every person here is blessed today, and as they walk out and they can just reflect on today, and that Holy Spirit, you just work in the minds and the hearts of everyone here, and uh just draw them closer to you. 00:32:04.880 --> 00:32:08.720 We love you and lift your name up, and it's in your son's precious and holy name we pray. 00:32:08.960 --> 00:32:09.599 Amen. 00:32:10.319 --> 00:32:11.119 Thank you.