WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:00.959 Good morning. 00:00:01.840 --> 00:00:06.160 Today's reading is from Exodus chapter seventeen. 00:00:06.879 --> 00:00:18.800 All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of sin by stages according to the commandment of the Lord, encamped at Rephadim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 00:00:18.960 --> 00:00:23.359 Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, Give us water to drink. 00:00:23.519 --> 00:00:26.160 And Moses said to them, Why do you quarrel with me? 00:00:26.239 --> 00:00:27.679 Why do you test the Lord? 00:00:27.920 --> 00:00:37.520 But the people thirsted for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst? 00:00:37.840 --> 00:00:41.840 So Moses cried to the Lord, What shall I do with this people? 00:00:42.240 --> 00:00:44.240 They are almost ready to stone me. 00:00:44.399 --> 00:00:54.799 And the Lord said to Moses, Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 00:00:55.200 --> 00:01:02.479 Behold, I will stand before you on the rock of Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink. 00:01:02.719 --> 00:01:18.079 And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel, and he called the name of the place Masa and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord, saying, Is the Lord is the Lord among us or not? 00:01:18.480 --> 00:01:22.879 Then Amalek came up and fought with Israel at Rephadim. 00:01:23.200 --> 00:01:28.159 So Moses said to Joshua, Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. 00:01:28.480 --> 00:01:33.519 Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand. 00:01:33.920 --> 00:01:40.400 So Joshua did as Moses told him and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and her went up to the top of the hill. 00:01:40.640 --> 00:01:47.599 Whenever Moses held up his hands, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. 00:01:47.760 --> 00:01:59.680 But Moses Moses' hands grew weary, so they took the stone and put it under him, and he sat on it while Aaron and Her held up his hands, one on one side and one and the other on the other side. 00:01:59.920 --> 00:02:03.040 So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. 00:02:03.439 --> 00:02:07.280 And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword. 00:02:07.760 --> 00:02:17.039 Then the Lord said to Moses, Write this as a memorial in the book and recite it to the ears of Joshua in the ears in the ears of Joshua. 00:02:17.439 --> 00:02:20.960 That I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. 00:02:21.039 --> 00:02:28.879 And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The Lord is my banner, saying, A hand upon the throne of the Lord. 00:02:29.039 --> 00:02:32.639 The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation. 00:02:32.960 --> 00:02:34.240 This is the word of the Lord. 00:02:34.479 --> 00:02:35.360 Thanks be to God. 00:02:35.520 --> 00:02:36.719 Please be seated. 00:02:53.520 --> 00:02:55.840 As it's been a long time since we've been in this book. 00:02:55.919 --> 00:03:00.000 It's been uh uh well, I guess just a little under a year since we've returned to Exodus. 00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:04.479 But my name's James Rathman, I'm the pastor here at Redemption Church Denver. 00:03:04.639 --> 00:03:07.439 And uh um yeah, how's everybody's August going? 00:03:07.599 --> 00:03:11.919 August is typically a relaxing time, I've noticed. 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:14.639 Um so uh yeah, hang in there. 00:03:14.800 --> 00:03:18.319 Uh it it is i I would attribute a lot of it to August. 00:03:18.479 --> 00:03:23.599 Don't forget to do that uh as the as the month continues on. 00:03:23.840 --> 00:03:47.759 Uh but as I said, we're moving back into Exodus, so we're out of our parenting series, and uh we're back into Exodus, and I had talked a lot about how throughout the parenting series, um it's like the Lord really like uh pressed my wife Megan and I up against the wall and was like, you're gonna talk about parenting, we're gonna make this pretty challenging for you uh during this parenting series. 00:03:47.919 --> 00:03:54.719 And then today uh we uh I'm preaching a sermon on a text about how there's no water. 00:03:55.199 --> 00:03:58.000 And there and there's no water in the church. 00:03:58.560 --> 00:04:00.639 So I don't know. 00:04:01.439 --> 00:04:03.680 You do with that whatever you want to do with that. 00:04:04.639 --> 00:04:05.439 Let's pray. 00:04:05.599 --> 00:04:07.919 We'll move into our text for the day. 00:04:10.879 --> 00:04:21.519 Father, we praise you that you have gone before us to make a sacrifice on our behalves so that we might receive by faith salvation from your hand. 00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:28.000 Lord, this is unthinkably good news and it's a wonderful blessing to our hearts to remember. 00:04:28.319 --> 00:04:53.839 Lord, I pray that as we're in uh uh a month of uh beginnings, Lord, of school years beginning, um kids going back, and all the uh pressures and stresses that uh this brings into uh our homes, Lord, pray that we would remember that we can take and find our joy in you because you are the same yesterday, today, and forever. 00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:57.199 And so that means that we can always find our joy in you. 00:04:57.519 --> 00:05:00.800 Lord, I pray that you would work this truth into our hearts. 00:05:01.360 --> 00:05:07.199 Father, I pray that you would teach us how we might cast our anxieties upon you, because you care for us. 00:05:07.600 --> 00:05:19.680 Father, I pray that as we look at your text this morning and as we look at this story of uh two accounts of a glorious salvation that you accomplished on behalf of your people in the wilderness. 00:05:20.240 --> 00:05:29.600 Lord, help us search our own hearts, because this people in the wilderness ended up falling away from you, even after seeing such glorious miracles on their behalf. 00:05:29.920 --> 00:05:39.759 Father, I pray that you would help us to turn to you, that we would lay down idols, that we would test you against, and instead that we would find the fullness of our hope in you alone. 00:05:39.920 --> 00:05:42.319 We lift this up in Jesus' name, amen. 00:05:43.759 --> 00:05:52.959 So we began Exodus in the spring of 2024, and typically what we do is we move through different phases of uh passages in the scriptures. 00:05:53.120 --> 00:05:59.040 So we'll uh do like the Old Testament in the spring and New Testament in the fall. 00:05:59.199 --> 00:06:07.439 Uh and this time we're doing Old Testament in the fall, and so uh we've seen the whole Exodus story up to this point. 00:06:07.600 --> 00:06:31.120 What that's what that's what we've uh witnessed is uh the story of the people of God being found in Egypt after Genesis, and then the story of Moses and the basket and him being hidden, and then Moses being raised up and called at the bo at the burning bush to return to his people so that he might deliver them out of slavery in Egypt. 00:06:31.279 --> 00:06:43.759 And we've seen the exodus, it's we've seen the plagues that uh God does against Egypt to sort of pry the Israelites out of Pharaoh's grip, and we saw the glorious Exodus itself. 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:51.040 Uh last time we were in this book, we saw them passing through the waters of the Red Sea, which Moses parted by his staff. 00:06:51.199 --> 00:06:55.279 And then we saw a couple of incidents on the other side of the parting of the Red Sea. 00:06:55.360 --> 00:07:08.560 We saw the glorious song that Moses sings on the other side of the Red Sea, and then we saw that they cut the first place that they come to, the water that they encounter is bitter, and so they aren't able to drink it. 00:07:08.720 --> 00:07:15.040 But the Lord turns that bitter water into sweet water, and so they are able to drink it by a miracle. 00:07:15.279 --> 00:07:19.759 And then right after that, they happen to a place called sin and there's no food. 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:27.360 And so they complain and they argue against Moses, saying, Why would you bring us out into the wilderness to die when there's no food? 00:07:27.519 --> 00:07:31.040 And then God begins providing manna from heaven. 00:07:31.279 --> 00:07:34.240 And that's where we enter our story now. 00:07:34.399 --> 00:07:39.839 Today, this morning, we're going to cover two stories of uh what happens in the wilderness. 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:44.879 The first story is like that story of the bitter water made sweet. 00:07:45.199 --> 00:07:50.399 They're in a place called Rephadim, and in Rephidim, there is no water for them to drink. 00:07:50.720 --> 00:07:55.839 And God provides a way for there to be water after much quarreling. 00:07:56.079 --> 00:08:03.600 And in the second story, the people of God are for the first time violently attacked by another nation in their wandering. 00:08:03.680 --> 00:08:05.600 And they're attacked by Amalek. 00:08:05.839 --> 00:08:08.639 And Amalek uh begins to attack them first. 00:08:09.040 --> 00:08:18.079 Uh uh this is the first the first nation that attacks the people of God, and God strikes down Amalek. 00:08:18.319 --> 00:08:22.879 So what we have here are two stories of striking. 00:08:23.279 --> 00:08:26.319 That's what we should pay attention to as we look at these two stories. 00:08:26.480 --> 00:08:34.480 These are two stories, and in both instances, the people of God are delivered, and somebody gets struck. 00:08:35.840 --> 00:08:37.440 Here's the first story. 00:08:37.679 --> 00:08:49.440 In Exodus 17, 1, it says, All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Raphadim. 00:08:49.759 --> 00:08:52.720 But there was no water for the people to drink. 00:08:54.159 --> 00:09:00.799 Now they've been rescued and delivered, and they've been pressed up against water problems before. 00:09:01.039 --> 00:09:05.360 We could say this is uh this is not their first water problem. 00:09:05.759 --> 00:09:12.720 Moses caused water problems for Egypt because he turns the Nile River into blood. 00:09:13.200 --> 00:09:22.080 He caused water problems for the Egyptians as the waters that were parted in the Red Sea wash down over and wash away the enemies of God. 00:09:22.240 --> 00:09:29.679 But the people of God, this is their second water problem that they've really encountered, which is that they don't have water to drink. 00:09:30.320 --> 00:09:32.879 Now, why is it that they don't have water to drink? 00:09:33.039 --> 00:09:37.279 It's because they have gone to the place that God called them to go. 00:09:37.919 --> 00:09:39.440 Now that's strange. 00:09:39.759 --> 00:09:44.240 You'd think if you went to the place that God called you to go, there would always be water there. 00:09:44.320 --> 00:09:50.559 You would just be able to count on the water being prepared and packaged before there, uh before you even arrived. 00:09:50.879 --> 00:09:56.480 But in this instance, they go to the place that God called them to, and there is no water there. 00:09:56.639 --> 00:10:03.600 And so in verse 2 it says, Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, Give us water to drink. 00:10:04.159 --> 00:10:07.759 And Moses said to them, Why do you quarrel with me? 00:10:08.399 --> 00:10:10.879 Why do you test the Lord? 00:10:12.480 --> 00:10:16.799 So does it feel like testing, I guess, is my question. 00:10:17.679 --> 00:10:22.159 I think upon first reading, it doesn't really feel like a testing of the Lord. 00:10:22.320 --> 00:10:27.440 They're quarreling with Moses, but Moses has led them to a place where there's no water. 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:30.399 And that makes you very thirsty. 00:10:30.799 --> 00:10:34.000 You need water to drink, you need water to live. 00:10:34.159 --> 00:10:44.000 This is the whole people are uh the whole of the nation of Israel is at a point of uh of catastrophe where they can die because of a lack of water. 00:10:44.240 --> 00:10:57.600 And so, of course, they turn this against their leader, who is the spokesman for God to them, and who leads them in the way that God calls them to go, and so he is in some sense responsible for them not having water. 00:10:57.759 --> 00:11:09.279 But he says, But Moses actually notices what they are doing, they are quarreling with God by quarreling with Moses, and they are putting God to the test. 00:11:10.320 --> 00:11:13.919 What does that mean when we put God to the test? 00:11:15.759 --> 00:11:17.919 Well, here's how tests work. 00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:27.279 If I put my son to a test, because we as I'm teaching him something, and I'm going to test him with something, here's what this means. 00:11:27.360 --> 00:11:37.039 I I would have a list of questions for him, and I would hand him the list of questions, and then he would write down the answers. 00:11:37.200 --> 00:11:41.440 And do you know what I have that uh allows me to judge his test? 00:11:41.679 --> 00:11:43.200 I have the answer key. 00:11:45.279 --> 00:11:56.720 And so he submits his answers to me, and then I am the one with the answer key, who is able to judge whether or not he is measuring up to my standards. 00:11:57.360 --> 00:11:59.279 This is the nature of a test. 00:12:00.480 --> 00:12:03.039 So, what does it mean when we test the Lord? 00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:06.559 Why are the people of God testing the Lord? 00:12:06.799 --> 00:12:12.159 Well, here's what it looks like the people of God have a standard for God. 00:12:13.679 --> 00:12:23.039 They have a standard for him, and they submit to him a test, and they say, God, will you measure up to my standard? 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:26.159 That is the way that they are treating God. 00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:29.919 Now, what's the problem with treating God that way? 00:12:30.080 --> 00:12:32.639 Why is that the wrong way to treat God? 00:12:32.799 --> 00:12:42.159 Well, because what's happening is you are treating yourself as though you are the one who is able to measure and judge God. 00:12:43.519 --> 00:12:52.559 You give a test to God, and then you say, if you measure up to this, then you are worthy of my worship, then you are worthy of my praise. 00:12:52.799 --> 00:12:56.320 It is a disordered way of encountering God. 00:12:56.559 --> 00:13:01.840 You are the one who is putting yourself in the position of judgment over God. 00:13:02.320 --> 00:13:04.240 That is an absurdity. 00:13:05.200 --> 00:13:08.240 It is an absurd position to place yourself in. 00:13:08.399 --> 00:13:19.919 We hear the language of doing this all all the time, but what the the it so one way that you could hear that language is I could never believe in a God that blank. 00:13:22.320 --> 00:13:29.440 Now, if that is, I could I could never believe in a God who rules unjustly. 00:13:30.159 --> 00:13:31.200 Game on. 00:13:31.840 --> 00:13:32.960 I'm with you. 00:13:33.279 --> 00:13:35.120 I think that sounds great. 00:13:36.080 --> 00:13:51.840 But when what fills in, whatever that clause is at the end, when that is something that is out of step with the scriptures, then what you're saying is I know better how God ought to be. 00:13:52.240 --> 00:13:59.039 And if God does not measure up to how I know God ought to be, then he is not worthy of my praise. 00:13:59.360 --> 00:14:01.120 He is not worthy of my devotion. 00:14:01.360 --> 00:14:03.759 He cannot be God over me. 00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:06.879 He has not passed my test. 00:14:07.679 --> 00:14:13.440 Now, there's an ordinary strangeness about this, at least because God knows so many things. 00:14:13.919 --> 00:14:16.159 You know how all the stuff that God knows? 00:14:17.440 --> 00:14:18.639 It's a lot. 00:14:19.039 --> 00:14:21.279 God knows so many different things. 00:14:21.600 --> 00:14:24.799 And you don't know that many things. 00:14:25.919 --> 00:14:30.000 Let's say you know 40 years of cumulative things. 00:14:30.320 --> 00:14:32.159 That's a lot of things. 00:14:32.399 --> 00:14:37.519 But compared to how much God knows, it is a very, very small amount. 00:14:37.759 --> 00:15:00.879 And so you are taking this very, very small amount of things that you know about how life should go, how the world should work, how things should be operated, and you are saying to God who knows everything, your creator who upholds all things by the word of his power, if you are not like this, then you are not really God to me. 00:15:01.919 --> 00:15:03.840 You are not passing my test. 00:15:04.320 --> 00:15:06.240 This is an absurdity. 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:10.080 But we do this all the time. 00:15:11.600 --> 00:15:25.440 Because we encounter the way that God is running the world, we encounter problems that God has placed into our lives, and we we the way that we think about them is if God would allow this to happen to me, then He's not really with me. 00:15:26.480 --> 00:15:28.639 He doesn't really care for me. 00:15:29.360 --> 00:15:31.919 He isn't really to be trusted. 00:15:32.080 --> 00:15:37.759 The promises that God has made to has made to me must actually be false. 00:15:37.919 --> 00:15:43.679 And I'll tell you, I sympathize with that uh with that sense. 00:15:45.279 --> 00:15:52.080 And I I think that as having been a pastor for a while now, I think I sympathize with that sense more more than ever. 00:15:52.960 --> 00:16:16.799 Because uh what I one thing that I have learned about God, and this is this is just by looking out and and being a part of your lives, is that God is willing to pay higher prices than I would ever be willing to pay in order to gain you more glorious things than you would ever be willing to imagine. 00:16:18.799 --> 00:16:32.879 I think God is willing to take you into harder circumstances, take you into more surprising, more catastrophic, in thing, in fact, things that are tailor-made horrible for you to experience. 00:16:33.600 --> 00:16:37.840 God is willing to bring you into those places. 00:16:38.080 --> 00:16:42.639 He is willing to bring you into places where there is no water. 00:16:43.279 --> 00:16:44.480 No water. 00:16:47.039 --> 00:16:59.600 Because he understands that by bringing you into those places, he is able to accomplish glories that are far beyond what you would ever imagine accomplishing. 00:17:00.799 --> 00:17:04.640 He pays higher prices to get more glorious things. 00:17:04.880 --> 00:17:12.559 If I were an author and I were writing, I remember reading Lord of the Rings, contractually obligated to mention that once a month. 00:17:12.799 --> 00:17:25.119 And there's a uh and I remember like getting to a point where there it's just like more and more, you know, rocks and hills for Frodo and Sam, and just thinking like, I can't believe Tolkien is doing this to these guys. 00:17:25.359 --> 00:17:28.160 This is an insane, like, enough is enough. 00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:31.839 You know, like there's there's let's just let up and let's just get them there. 00:17:31.920 --> 00:17:38.880 I can't believe he's still putting them through this over and over again, and just one more bad thing happens, one more bad thing happens. 00:17:39.119 --> 00:17:50.160 And I think of that, I think of the author, God as the author of all of all things, and and there's this uh reality of looking at people's lives and thinking, I can't believe that he would put them into this situation. 00:17:50.319 --> 00:17:58.160 And so the faithfulness of God does not mean that we will be we will never be led into places where there is no water. 00:17:59.279 --> 00:18:06.000 The faithfulness of God means that even when we are in those places, he promises to be with us. 00:18:06.720 --> 00:18:10.559 And him being with us is sufficient. 00:18:12.319 --> 00:18:16.160 Him being with us is the most he could give us. 00:18:16.319 --> 00:18:19.200 It's the best thing that he can give us. 00:18:19.279 --> 00:18:23.920 It doesn't stack up, it does not even compare to waterlessness. 00:18:24.880 --> 00:18:27.359 It swallows up waterlessness. 00:18:27.839 --> 00:18:36.640 It makes it of no account, of no meaning, because in those places, in the desert, in the wilderness, God is with us. 00:18:37.119 --> 00:18:38.880 This is the promise of God. 00:18:39.039 --> 00:18:53.759 But what the testing says, what the testing that Israel is doing, they're saying, if there's no water, that means you're not with me, and you don't pass the test of being my God. 00:18:55.359 --> 00:18:57.599 This is the sin of Israel. 00:18:58.240 --> 00:19:06.400 What Israel says, and this is what we do with our lives when we encounter terrible things that we never possibly would have imagined happening. 00:19:06.640 --> 00:19:13.920 What happens is we say, if you allow this to happen, God, you are not faithful to me. 00:19:14.240 --> 00:19:23.680 That means there is another measure, another glory other than receiving God Himself, that we are using to measure the faithfulness of God. 00:19:25.039 --> 00:19:35.119 That means that there is something that we place above God, which God must submit to in order to demonstrate his faithfulness to us. 00:19:35.440 --> 00:19:36.960 That is idolatry. 00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:39.039 That's what idolatry is. 00:19:40.079 --> 00:19:44.559 Idolatry is when you say, You are God insofar as you give me this. 00:19:45.599 --> 00:19:49.039 And that this, that is your highest aim. 00:19:50.160 --> 00:19:54.319 And if that is your highest aim, then that is God to you. 00:19:54.960 --> 00:20:03.519 And you would be willing to sacrifice the real God in order to gain for you your idols. 00:20:03.920 --> 00:20:11.519 That's what Israel is doing here, and that's what Moses recognizes when he says, Why do you quarrel with me? 00:20:11.759 --> 00:20:14.400 Why do you test the Lord? 00:20:15.680 --> 00:20:18.640 You have to hear what testing the Lord really means. 00:20:18.880 --> 00:20:22.960 It's not just poking or prodding, it is idolatry. 00:20:23.119 --> 00:20:29.599 It is placing yourself above God, it is giving God standards by which you can judge him. 00:20:31.119 --> 00:20:42.400 And so, amidst this testing, the people are saying this, those say they have a couple of refrains that the people of God tend to go to, which is, man, Egypt, we have to go back to Egypt. 00:20:42.559 --> 00:20:45.599 They just retcon the whole Egypt story. 00:20:46.799 --> 00:20:53.359 They look back and interpret it in this hor in this way where it's just like, oh yeah, that was only awesome all the time. 00:20:53.599 --> 00:20:55.920 And I actually kind of liked my manager. 00:20:56.079 --> 00:20:58.960 He was really fun on my birthdays and things like that. 00:20:59.119 --> 00:21:02.640 They'd remember things like that that were that were foolish. 00:21:02.880 --> 00:21:03.839 That were foolish. 00:21:04.079 --> 00:21:09.839 But after saying that, in verse 4, it says, So Moses cried to the Lord, What shall I do with this people? 00:21:10.559 --> 00:21:13.440 They are almost ready to stone me. 00:21:14.559 --> 00:21:16.000 Okay, so here they are. 00:21:16.240 --> 00:21:17.680 This is the situation. 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:22.720 They have judged God and therefore the servant of God as not measuring up. 00:21:23.119 --> 00:21:38.559 So now they're saying God must be sacrificed in order for us to get the true God that we really desire, which at this point, because of their because of the desires of the flesh, is water. 00:21:39.200 --> 00:21:40.799 It's just water. 00:21:43.039 --> 00:21:57.440 Now, there's some strangeness about this, about this desire for water, in that they are at the point of being willing to stone Moses because of this desire for water. 00:21:57.599 --> 00:22:03.680 Now, one of the strange things about it is it They it seems as though they had forgotten about breakfast. 00:22:04.480 --> 00:22:06.880 Because do you remember what they had for breakfast this morning? 00:22:06.960 --> 00:22:09.519 It's not written down, but we know the faithfulness of the Lord. 00:22:09.680 --> 00:22:12.720 They woke up that morning, and do you know where breakfast was? 00:22:12.880 --> 00:22:15.839 It was just all around on the ground. 00:22:16.720 --> 00:22:25.039 As much as they needed for the day was already laid out like a feast, the manna from heaven that they had been promised. 00:22:25.440 --> 00:22:28.319 And do you know what they did to get the manna from heaven? 00:22:28.640 --> 00:22:29.440 Nothing. 00:22:29.680 --> 00:22:32.720 They didn't do anything to get the manna from heaven. 00:22:33.039 --> 00:22:34.640 God just gave it to them. 00:22:34.799 --> 00:22:39.200 Now I understand, crackers makes your mouth a little dry, want some water. 00:22:39.359 --> 00:22:48.559 But still, what the manna from heaven demonstrates is that God has been, is being faithful to them. 00:22:49.200 --> 00:22:51.759 That God is with them. 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:54.240 That God has not neglected them. 00:22:54.480 --> 00:22:57.839 He sees them and he cares for them. 00:23:01.200 --> 00:23:05.359 And yet they are at a point where they are ready to stone Moses. 00:23:05.680 --> 00:23:13.759 They are saying we will strike you down in order to get to our true God, which is water. 00:23:14.960 --> 00:23:16.799 We will strike you down for that. 00:23:16.960 --> 00:23:19.119 Somebody's going to get struck. 00:23:20.160 --> 00:23:22.880 So Moses turns to the Lord, What shall I do with this people? 00:23:23.039 --> 00:23:24.960 They are almost ready to stone me. 00:23:25.440 --> 00:23:40.640 And amidst this mutiny, God commands, in Exodus 17, 5, and the Lord said to Moses, Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile and go. 00:23:42.400 --> 00:23:57.680 So here's the first counsel of the Lord take in your hand the staff with which you used to strike the Nile, and take some of the elders of Israel, and you need to walk before the people of Israel, and you need to get in plain view of them. 00:23:58.079 --> 00:24:00.240 This is what you are called to do. 00:24:01.039 --> 00:24:04.720 And it's an interesting modifier that God provides for the staff. 00:24:04.799 --> 00:24:07.039 He doesn't just say, take the staff. 00:24:11.759 --> 00:24:18.400 He doesn't say, take the staff that turned into a serpent that ate the serpents in Pharaoh's court. 00:24:18.880 --> 00:24:21.920 He doesn't say, take your trusty old staff. 00:24:22.240 --> 00:24:24.079 These all would have worked. 00:24:24.319 --> 00:24:30.240 What he says is, take the staff that you used to strike the Nile. 00:24:31.440 --> 00:24:37.119 So you can see Moses is passing before the people of God who are complaining that they don't have water. 00:24:37.359 --> 00:24:44.319 And he walks and he's in and he says, You know what staff I'm walking with that God called me to bring? 00:24:44.559 --> 00:24:49.119 God called me to bring the staff that struck the Nile. 00:24:50.079 --> 00:24:54.720 The staff that struck the Nile is not the staff that brought water. 00:24:55.519 --> 00:25:00.480 The staff that struck the Nile is the staff that removed the water. 00:25:01.920 --> 00:25:22.319 That when the enemies of God were standing against God, when they were worshipping idols of their own, one of them is the God of the Nile, God took this staff and he struck the Nile so that it would turn into blood, and there was no drinkable water in the land of Egypt. 00:25:22.960 --> 00:25:25.519 That's the staff that Moses is walking with. 00:25:25.759 --> 00:25:28.400 Who are the people of God at this point? 00:25:28.640 --> 00:25:40.319 The people of God have shown themselves to be idle worshipers who are worshiping the water rather than worshiping the creator of the water. 00:25:40.559 --> 00:25:43.359 Who are they acting just like? 00:25:44.480 --> 00:25:46.000 The Egyptians. 00:25:46.319 --> 00:25:50.400 They're acting just like the Egyptians. 00:25:50.559 --> 00:26:07.519 And God says, after Moses says, they're ready to stone me, God says, take the staff that you used to strike the Nile, bring the el the elders, many of whom are mounting a coup against you, and go up to this rock. 00:26:07.839 --> 00:26:15.119 And so what Moses perhaps, I don't know, what he may have been thinking was, somebody's gonna get struck. 00:26:15.440 --> 00:26:27.279 And the people that are saying they're going to strike God, and the people who are worshiping the water God rather than the true God, I know how this story goes, Moses may have thought. 00:26:27.519 --> 00:26:29.599 I'm going to strike them. 00:26:31.119 --> 00:26:38.319 I'm going to strike them as though they are the enemies of God, because they are acting just like the enemies of God. 00:26:38.480 --> 00:26:42.480 But here's how the instruction continues from the Lord. 00:26:42.880 --> 00:26:44.960 Exodus 17, verse 6. 00:26:45.119 --> 00:26:58.799 Behold, God says, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink. 00:26:59.519 --> 00:27:03.920 And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 00:27:05.680 --> 00:27:10.640 Okay, I've seen this before, where you use a chair and you use James Todd to demonstrate things. 00:27:10.799 --> 00:27:12.480 I'm going to do that again. 00:27:12.960 --> 00:27:15.039 JT, come here to this chair. 00:27:15.200 --> 00:27:18.400 This is a chair made of chair parts. 00:27:19.119 --> 00:27:20.640 You sit right here. 00:27:21.440 --> 00:27:23.680 This is, behold, the rock of Horeb. 00:27:25.200 --> 00:27:30.319 Behold, something before the rock of Horeb, which is where God says that he will stand. 00:27:30.480 --> 00:27:31.839 Behold, striking. 00:27:32.000 --> 00:27:34.559 What do you notice when I strike the rock of Horeb? 00:27:35.519 --> 00:27:36.480 What do you notice? 00:27:36.640 --> 00:27:38.160 Does anything jump out to you? 00:27:38.640 --> 00:27:39.920 Great job, JT. 00:27:40.240 --> 00:27:40.880 Connect in? 00:27:41.119 --> 00:27:42.400 Round of applause. 00:27:45.119 --> 00:27:49.200 When people walk to and from stages in our culture, it is customary to clap for them. 00:27:55.359 --> 00:27:56.079 Well done. 00:27:56.160 --> 00:27:58.960 It's good to be a part of a culture, you know? 00:28:01.519 --> 00:28:07.920 God says, I will stand before the rock at Horeb, and you strike the rock. 00:28:08.640 --> 00:28:11.920 Do you see the fever pitch that we are at? 00:28:12.960 --> 00:28:15.279 The people are gonna stone Moses. 00:28:15.839 --> 00:28:20.319 They say, We're going to strike you to get the water. 00:28:21.359 --> 00:28:26.160 Moses has the rod, the staff that struck the Nile. 00:28:26.319 --> 00:28:27.680 What does it look like? 00:28:28.000 --> 00:28:33.680 I'm going to strike you because you have made yourselves the enemies of God. 00:28:35.359 --> 00:28:38.000 What happens in this fever pitch moment? 00:28:38.880 --> 00:28:48.880 God says, strike the rock I'm standing on, and the people will drink the water. 00:28:50.559 --> 00:28:54.160 The Lord is struck, and the people drink. 00:28:55.279 --> 00:28:58.079 What is the moral of that story? 00:28:59.200 --> 00:29:02.640 What's the lesson of that story? 00:29:06.559 --> 00:29:11.039 The bad people who were acting wickedly and cruelly against Moses. 00:29:13.119 --> 00:29:18.000 They wanted to strike God so that they could get to their water. 00:29:19.359 --> 00:29:25.200 God is struck and they get their water. 00:29:26.160 --> 00:29:27.920 What is the lesson? 00:29:32.000 --> 00:29:36.880 It feels crazy, it feels absurd, it feels so hard to draw a lesson from. 00:29:37.119 --> 00:29:40.160 It feels like what is the teachable moment of this? 00:29:40.319 --> 00:29:49.119 It's a very hard thing to draw a lesson from because what's being demonstrated is something like a purity of grace. 00:29:52.319 --> 00:29:58.400 God is saying, someone's going to be struck, or you will not be blessed. 00:29:58.880 --> 00:30:03.680 In your sin, there must be a striking, or there is no blessing for you. 00:30:04.000 --> 00:30:07.119 I have promised a blessing for you. 00:30:08.559 --> 00:30:14.240 I will receive the striking, that you might receive the blessing. 00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:29.920 Now, what was the question that the elders of Israel were asking? 00:30:30.559 --> 00:30:35.680 The question was, oh well, what happens is Moses names that place. 00:30:35.759 --> 00:30:45.440 He names the place Masa and Maribah, which basically means like uh a quarreling and a trial, because they put God on trial and they find him wanting. 00:30:45.839 --> 00:30:53.359 Moses names the place that, and the way that they tested the Lord is by saying, Is the Lord among us or not? 00:30:55.839 --> 00:30:57.279 Is the Lord among us or not? 00:30:57.440 --> 00:30:59.759 What's the test of the Lord being among us or not? 00:30:59.920 --> 00:31:02.480 The test was if he would provide water. 00:31:03.039 --> 00:31:05.039 How does the Lord demonstrate this? 00:31:05.359 --> 00:31:15.200 The Lord demonstrates this by saying, I will be the one who is struck, so that you will receive the water of life. 00:31:16.079 --> 00:31:20.079 I am the one who is struck, so that you will receive the water of life. 00:31:20.559 --> 00:31:22.559 Was the Lord with them or not? 00:31:26.000 --> 00:31:28.000 What is the character of the Lord? 00:31:28.240 --> 00:31:32.880 What is the faithfulness of the Lord towards us while we are in the wilderness? 00:31:35.279 --> 00:31:37.759 Story number two, Amalek. 00:31:39.279 --> 00:31:40.640 In Exodus 17, 8. 00:31:40.720 --> 00:31:44.079 Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. 00:31:44.319 --> 00:31:48.000 So they uh have water now in the same place, Rephidim. 00:31:48.400 --> 00:31:54.000 And there, but what happens is they start getting attacked by this other nation. 00:31:54.079 --> 00:31:58.240 And they're just like a wandering nation in the wilderness. 00:31:58.480 --> 00:32:00.319 And so they start getting attacked. 00:32:00.480 --> 00:32:07.599 And the way they start getting attacked is uh kind of like what you'd imagine how a group like this would be attacked. 00:32:07.680 --> 00:32:11.359 It's recounted by Moses in Deuteronomy 25, 17 to 18. 00:32:11.440 --> 00:32:28.720 It says, Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you came out of Egypt, how he attacked you on the way when you were faint and weary and cut off your tail, those who were lagging behind you, and he did not fear God. 00:32:30.640 --> 00:32:32.400 How is Amalek attacking them? 00:32:32.559 --> 00:32:36.079 They're faint and weary in the wilderness. 00:32:36.559 --> 00:32:38.880 How does God remember this time? 00:32:41.519 --> 00:32:47.599 Did God say, Your thirst then, I count it as no thirst, because you complained the whole time? 00:32:49.119 --> 00:33:04.559 And then when he sees them being attacked by people who shouldn't be attacking them, when he sees this vulnerable state that they're in, that there's people who are cruelly taking advantage of that vulnerable state, does the Lord look at it and say, they deserved it? 00:33:05.440 --> 00:33:07.839 I'm glad this is happening to them. 00:33:08.079 --> 00:33:19.279 This is a good thing that's happening because my people, look, while just moments before, this same people, they were the enemies of God. 00:33:20.640 --> 00:33:23.279 They were the ones who were acting as the enemies of God. 00:33:23.359 --> 00:33:24.799 And who did they want to attack? 00:33:24.960 --> 00:33:26.319 Moses himself. 00:33:26.559 --> 00:33:29.200 They wanted to cut off their own head. 00:33:31.920 --> 00:33:33.680 Such was their state. 00:33:34.240 --> 00:33:38.000 But God looks at them, and as Moses remembers, he says, Remember how he attacked you? 00:33:38.160 --> 00:33:38.880 What were you like? 00:33:39.039 --> 00:33:40.880 You were faint and weary. 00:33:41.039 --> 00:33:41.839 And what did he do? 00:33:42.000 --> 00:33:46.319 He cut off your tail, those who were lagging behind you, and he did not fear God. 00:33:46.480 --> 00:33:47.920 How did Amalek attack them? 00:33:48.079 --> 00:33:51.279 He attacked them right at their most vulnerable place. 00:33:52.880 --> 00:33:56.799 At the moment where they had no water, where they were in the wilderness. 00:33:56.960 --> 00:34:02.079 And he attacks them in the most vulnerable place of their community. 00:34:04.079 --> 00:34:10.480 Have you ever noticed that attacks come and it and it's like, wow, this is the perfect attack for me. 00:34:12.239 --> 00:34:15.840 This is right in my most vulnerable place. 00:34:16.239 --> 00:34:18.079 That was the perfect phrase. 00:34:18.239 --> 00:34:19.920 These are the perfect words. 00:34:20.159 --> 00:34:27.119 This is exactly the thing that I didn't want to be exposed, or that I didn't want to be known, or that I was unwilling to face. 00:34:27.199 --> 00:34:29.119 This is right at the heart of the matter. 00:34:29.199 --> 00:34:31.519 This is right at the place of that vulnerability. 00:34:32.559 --> 00:34:33.760 God knows that. 00:34:33.920 --> 00:34:35.039 God notices that. 00:34:35.280 --> 00:34:36.559 He accounts for that. 00:34:36.800 --> 00:34:40.400 He desires to avenge that sort of attack. 00:34:40.559 --> 00:34:43.840 And so the Amalekites attack in this particularly vulnerable place. 00:34:43.920 --> 00:34:53.440 And what happens is Moses commissions his first officer Joshua, and he tells Joshua to gather the men together, and it's their first time that they're going to really have to go to battle. 00:34:53.679 --> 00:34:56.000 This is the first battle for the people of Israel. 00:34:56.239 --> 00:34:58.719 Their first battle is from Amalek. 00:34:59.920 --> 00:35:02.639 Amalek is a descendant of Esau. 00:35:02.960 --> 00:35:10.000 And so it makes sense that the descendants of the hated brother are attacking the descendants of the chosen brother. 00:35:10.320 --> 00:35:13.280 This is the way that that story will go on. 00:35:13.519 --> 00:35:15.280 Esau attacks Jacob. 00:35:15.440 --> 00:35:16.800 That's what this is. 00:35:17.360 --> 00:35:19.039 Esau attacking Jacob. 00:35:19.199 --> 00:35:24.639 In Exodus 17, 11, it says, okay, so what happens is he tells Joshua to go up to the top of the mountain. 00:35:25.039 --> 00:35:26.880 He tells Joshua to go down and fight. 00:35:26.960 --> 00:35:29.760 And Moses is going up to the top of the mountain. 00:35:30.480 --> 00:35:34.320 And as he goes up to, well, I'll just read it for you. 00:35:34.639 --> 00:35:35.280 How's this? 00:35:35.440 --> 00:35:37.199 I forgot I had the text in here. 00:35:37.440 --> 00:35:44.320 Exodus 17, verse 9, it says, So Moses said to Joshua, choose for us men and go out and fight with Amalek. 00:35:44.639 --> 00:35:49.519 Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand. 00:35:49.679 --> 00:35:52.159 What does the staff of God do? 00:35:54.400 --> 00:35:55.199 Strikes. 00:35:55.920 --> 00:35:57.119 It strikes. 00:35:57.440 --> 00:35:59.360 The staff of God strikes. 00:35:59.599 --> 00:36:01.199 That's what it does. 00:36:02.480 --> 00:36:05.360 So it brings judgment. 00:36:05.519 --> 00:36:06.159 Yeah, judge. 00:36:06.239 --> 00:36:06.800 That's good. 00:36:07.039 --> 00:36:08.079 These are good. 00:36:09.280 --> 00:36:13.599 So what happens is Moses goes up there with Aaron and her to the top of the mountain. 00:36:13.840 --> 00:36:18.880 And in verse 11 it says, whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed. 00:36:19.119 --> 00:36:23.119 And whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. 00:36:23.519 --> 00:36:30.800 This is, we were, I was reading through this story last night with my family at dinner. 00:36:31.280 --> 00:36:35.280 And I said, This is, and my wife said, funny. 00:36:36.400 --> 00:36:39.119 And it plainly is funny. 00:36:39.440 --> 00:36:41.599 Because you can just picture it, you know? 00:36:44.400 --> 00:36:46.239 It's like, especially in a wide shot. 00:36:46.320 --> 00:36:48.400 Comedy loves a wide shot, you know? 00:36:48.559 --> 00:36:50.800 So you can picture it from the mountaintop. 00:36:52.239 --> 00:36:53.679 Well, what's the emphasis here? 00:36:53.840 --> 00:36:58.800 The the staff of God is striking the enemies of God. 00:36:59.840 --> 00:37:01.679 That's what's happening. 00:37:02.159 --> 00:37:15.519 The staff of God is striking in judgment the enemies of God, so that God's people might be preserved and protected while they're being attacked in this most vulnerable place. 00:37:16.800 --> 00:37:18.159 But here's what happens. 00:37:18.320 --> 00:37:34.480 In verse 12, it says, But Moses' hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and her held up his hands, one on one side and the other on the other side, so his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. 00:37:35.199 --> 00:37:46.639 There's so much that I'm sure can be made out of this, but I think I just wasn't clever enough to draw all of the wonderful images that I'm sure can be drawn from this. 00:37:46.800 --> 00:37:48.320 But here's what I want us to see. 00:37:49.599 --> 00:37:55.840 What is the text emphasizing about Moses as he holds up the staff? 00:37:56.239 --> 00:38:00.400 The text is emphasizing Moses' weakness. 00:38:01.519 --> 00:38:09.840 The text is emphasizing that Moses is not the one who the power is coming from for them to defeat their enemies. 00:38:10.639 --> 00:38:13.119 Moses needs a place to sit. 00:38:13.679 --> 00:38:23.119 The text is not emphasizing the strength of Joshua, because when the staff goes down, Joshua loses down on the battlefield. 00:38:23.519 --> 00:38:32.639