076 - Straw and Second Thoughts

You pick up your Bible. One is more here than meets the is there something here for me. I mean it's just words printed on paper right it may look like just print on the page but it's more than Inc. join us for the next half hour, as we explore God's word together as we learn how to explore it on our as we ask God to meet us there in its pages welcome to more than you know how great expectations of good things happening in the they don't always look for something to blame.

Look how did I get here. We do that. Have you been tempted to blame God when Moses and Aaron sure where they did and they did today on more than Inc. will warm welcome to you this morning in the new Jim and I'm Dorothy glad you joined us. We have turned, according to to the new year and we are adventuring exploring walking striding our way through Exodus we have come out of 2021 and this is a great story of this gigantic rescue on God's part of his people who've been in Egypt for hundreds of years measured in centuries and dying in slavery and in God takes the initiative because he hears their cry and he affects you rescue and were very early in the process are just starting to chapter 5 today and want to recap force where you left off last time I remember well at the end of chapter 4 we left off where Moses and Aaron had gone and spoken to the people and they had lessened the way God said they would respond right at the end of verse end of chapter 4 it says so the people believed when they heard that the Lord is concerned about the sons of Israel and that he'd seen the reflection and they bowed low shipped this very welcoming response to news that God is going to come and deliver you, so here's Moses and his brother Aaron talking the people of the going rate in and everything looks just fine yeah now before we really get into this. I was thinking today. It's been a while since we've talked about the fact that we are not experts in Egyptian culture or Egyptian history by about what and when attempting to be exhaustive in the way we handled the text. What we are hoping to help you who are listening.

Consider what the text actually says to ask good questions how to to evaluate the context how to understand what how the stories being told what's being told to us about God's activity is 80% of the effort when it comes to Bible really the first level observation. There's just a ton of understanding to mine at that level and often when I'm starting into a narrative is big as this one is big is the book of Exodus, I will frequently turn back to the beginning and reread as quickly as I can from the beginning all the way up to where currently studying so that I kind of reinforce everything that came before, and that's a way of picking up patterns and repetitions that perhaps you didn't see. It's kind of like not seeing the forest for the trees because you're focused on the details of the teeny portion you're working on. So it's good to go back and review so like for us of this is if this is our daily devotion that same side, gonna read Exodus 5 today and you say will go back to chapter 1 and just read my way up to chapter 5 and just see where we came from and where we are. It's a nice weekend context straight and get a bigger picture created in your mind. And sometimes when you get farther into the book like when you're in chapter 25 or 30, you can't do that in a practical way, but you can kind of skim back through so very helpful and that helps us to set the content is great, and it just puts me on a soapbox about pull a single verse out of the Scripture have no clue what came before, I see. So there is practice is a safeguard against that. Yeah yeah because without that context, you could interpret it almost anywhere you want, and also it gives us a view into the factor repetition is very very important in Scriptures and so we see some things repeated again and again and again when we are in the habit of continually looking over the big picture and you can't spot right in picture you can see that repetition well so soulless just going exploring our way into it and so Moses and Aaron with the people they are ready to have their confrontation with Pharaoh right so so here we go.

Looks like everyone's on board and everything is going to go right right okay so after the people respond really well at the end of chapter for our here we dive into chapter 5. After that Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness that Pharaoh said is the Lord that I should obey his voice and let Israel go. I know the Lord. Moreover, I will not let Israel go.

Then they said the God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go on a three days journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.

But the king of Egypt said to them, Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work. Get back to your burdens. We should probably step so you don't hit him first up with little these people going and never see him again. In fact, that was by God's design. Back in chapter 3 it was no start with an easy task list.

Just let them go long enough to go out in the desert and worship. Yeah, now you know.

I wondered at first because God didn't actually say those words when he said go and say to Pharaoh, so look back in chapter 4 and the Lord says in verse 21 the Lord said to Moses, when you go back to Egypt, see that you perform for fear of the winners which I put in your power and I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go then you shall say to Pharaoh thus says the Lord Israel is my son, my firstborn, but we don't have a record of Moses, saying that right here. So I said to you. Let my son know that he may serve me. So that's the idea of going out to worship I think is is there, behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn if you refuse to let them go. So you know this request to go and worship is kind of feels like a tester. Yes, I knew this, but it's an easy first step to consumer Pharaoh's every right to be actually uncovering Pharaoh's heart and all, right. So you start write an easy thing if he's going to say no to this. No words yet you always got a reference back in chapter 3 verse 18 you say to them, the Lord, the God of the Hebrews is met with us in right. Please let us go three days journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God. So it's it's basically the nation of Israel worshiping God as God's son would you know you you might let us know relate to God that we were supposed to because were God's children okay but this phrase the God of the Hebrews has been with us.

I didn't pay any attention to that until just a little while ago and I suddenly realized the God of the Egyptians didn't come down and meet with them.

They resided in a way of saying we have a God who is alive and is right here and he's coming to his present so he's going this out.

I need to go and radically different idea. God's yeah and so this is totally foreign to Pharaoh. I don't know who this God is and I think that's an honest thing on your God is. But no, not going to have you write a vacation I go to this worshiping your God is no please is no say here and worship like we do exactly exec just stared here and get back to your burden is a way to snow day off and I don't know your social go back to work that is less likely that your burdens are so Johnson versus behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens. That's his way of saying we've come to rely on you all you want them rest now. No way for six of the same day Pharaoh commanded commanded the taskmasters of the people in their form and you shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks as in the past. Let them go and gather straw for themselves, but the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on you shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore, they cry lose going over were God let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor edit and pay no regard to lying words, he's kind of against this well yeah so here we begin to see Pharaoh's heart beginning to be revealed.

Yet he says okay you want you want to go and do this thing to your God.

Well, let's just make your work a little harder. You must have too much time on idle hands so will love will make use of that idle and by making you collect on your store which is by the way, pretty essential building review committees. These bricks got holds the bricks together the clay something to grab onto yeah because these bricks. These bricks really sun-dried bricks we think of her children you really strong but these ones are sun-dried you are, you really do. It's it's important thing so yeah so now I guess before this some Egyptian you know low level workers were bringing big bunches of aerials they needed they would collect them and then these roads just make bricks another have is extra work to do as well nuts so there's a lot of repetition here in the story to drive home the fact that this was this was unfamiliar to everybody right so in verse 10, the taskmasters and the foreman of the people went out and said to the people versus Pharaoh I will not give you straw go and get your straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced in the least.

So the people were scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather straw stubble for straw. The taskmasters were urgent saying complete your work, your daily task each day as when there was straw in the foreman of the people of Israel, whom Ferris taskmasters headset over them were beaten and were asked why have you not done all your task of making bricks today. Yesterday, as in the past. Okay so things are going really fast from bad to worse write them.

It Moses comes with this message of deliverance as God sees you got to deliver, you were just going to go to Pharaoh and ask well then things turned sour really fast and I think sometimes we don't expect that right. We think God's deliverance is going to be immediate and beautiful and all good to be yes right immediately beautiful and good. But here we see in this story have the beginning of God's deliverance gets very hard things get worse first 10 is because God's out-of-control answer is that all is delivering no but there's an essential thing that's become a member right so I think it becomes more apparent as we go on. So this is a necessary step yeah but this probably if you pulled a random Hebrew off the streets and said is going according to plan, you thought would write a chapter for you so great got to rescue us is rice what you envision and they say no I don't think so. I'm in.

This is gotten worse, say Welborn C a minute. That's how it Moses expected it, and just by way of saying this that is so often true about our relationship with God is that we ask for.

We pray for and when it doesn't come come true. The way that we think it is think the guy is either not listening or he kind of botch the plan and it's not true. Got pretty darn smart and he's got a lot of gears turning. Yeah that's always doing something bigger. And other than we can see on the surface, and so I bring this up again at the end but this whole idea that when we got sets about to deliver and things suddenly go from bad to worse fast sent me thinking of the story of Lazarus in John 11. Oh yes, right. When the sisters send to Jesus and say our brother is very ill come now, and Jesus deliberately waits until Lazarus dies. Yes, very clear, and so rises circle back to that at the end of the chapter. I think my thinking. But you know this whole idea that when God says I will deliver you, but in my way and for my glory and it may not meet your expectations, exactly. And by the way it's always the best way that's right okay you want to go for 15 sure then the foreman of the people of Israel came in crying to Pharaoh to treat your servants like this. No straw is given to your servants, yet they say let's make bricks and behold your servants are beaten, but the fault is your own people but he said your idle your idle that's why you say let's go and sacrifice to the Lord. Go now and work. No straw will be given you, but you must still deliver the same number bricks. The foreman of the people of Israel saw that they were in trouble when they said you shall by no means reduce your number bricks your daily task.

Each day they met Moses and Aaron who were waiting for them as they came out from Pharaoh and they said to them, the Lord look on you, and judge because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants up, but a sword in her hand to kill us.

So stop they blame Moses and Pharaoh had blamed them for being lazy. There's lots of blame bouncing around possibly yeah everyone does not like the new situation right and I I think it's actually it's it's somewhat away.

We started to be instead of them crying out to God be quite a crowd. Pharaoh yeah and trying to peel them like you need to change your decision because you're making things hard for us and that's why were falling short. They cry out Pharaoh kind of adjusts the situation as it was an intentional that I got support that this would ratchet up like to reveal Pharaoh's heart to reveal Pharaoh's heart and so and you know in here they're actually putting the blame back door. It actually gives the problem is is Pharaoh's people are collecting straw. That's the problem, and you know logistically, that is the problem. But that's not really that's not really central to the issue here. What we see here is the hearts of the people in the rise of Pharaoh cited becoming revealed in a way that we didn't know before. Right and and I'm I'm just going to jump up to verse 20 you know when they met with Moses and Aaron who were waiting for them to go and they came out from Pharaoh and he said will look the Lord look on you, and judge because you made us stink what they act like they know what's going on right and you know and they're basically saying we're right and you're wrong like a good judge between you and interfered and you interfere right we can work this out but you interfered yeah I'm week we ask God to judge were in the right here in the wrong my you know when things go bad. That's exactly what we do we end up with kind of finding sides ourselves amongst the people around us with who's the fault you know that my perspective of what's going on. That's always right right so I'm right and you're wrong God judge between us.

You'll see got approved attend. This is your fault. And this is your you did this. This is not my focus is your fault, and in the Lord look on you and judge you gotta tell you that you're in the wrong Moses you're in the wrong area you got it wrong you're totally wrong because suddenly you've made us stink in the sight of her love look you give them a weapon to kill us with exactly exactly. So half no the presumption when they say you made us stink with Pharaoh was that before this moment in time they did not stink with Pharaoh. However, when you really not true, does not.

That's what this is about their observation. Moses didn't call this because this stinking in the heart of Pharaoh against the Hebrews that that have been that had been growing for quite some time. That's why when they were stuck making bricks in the first place.

That's right as Pharaoh was already feeling threatened by the numbers. If you remember back to early in the book. He said no there's a lot Hebrews. Let's put in the hard work but but the Hebrews didn't know this is where the status of Pharaoh's heart was. They didn't really and you know after hundreds of years of being there. They have been enslaved. Yes, but it seemed like things are going kind of okay as long as you play the game and you may think it acts like their place. Once you say you can't, Pharaoh happy. We have relatively good lives and now Pharaoh no longer want Pharaoh wasn't happy and they did know that till this very thing happened. He wasn't happy he was.

He was actually antagonized against them, and they did know that until right here and tell Moses part of the blister. So Moses and Moses and Aaron didn't make them stink in the side of right right Moses and Aaron just expose the fact that Wright hated that's that's what happened expose what was already there message that that's a really important issue that I think for me that's person why God did this whole vendor here so they could get a better look into the heart of this Pharaoh who they thought was a relatively fair, although enslaving kind of you know, King still they didn't realize how much animosity was building this heart against them, and they thought they could actually of Moses and Aaron hadn't done what they had done things would be fine with Pharaoh. I think also it gives us a view into the heart of the Israelites of the Hebrew people are called Hebrews up to this point because look how fast they turned from receiving the message of deliverance with joy and worshiping God. Well clearly and God they did not yet know to the minute things get worse blaming the messenger right right and then was messenger to look at verse 22 and Moses turned to the Lord and said, Lord, why have you done evil to this people did.

Why didn't you ever send me your fault right for since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name. He's done evil to this purple and you have not delivered your people at all whole and pass and quick you know so he's blaming the Lord for this turn of events but he's also feeling very sorry for himself why you said me knew it was going to turn out this way told him it was, he told it would yeah he told him it would happen and I think is back in chapter 3, he predicted exactly Pharaoh's right to be tough is to go really well go, so this shouldn't be a surprise, but now the people you know, the people are blaming Moses and Aaron and Moses going blaming God and the blame is going on everywhere and is this like assets. It is always like this coming the righteous response would be to look around and see how the circumstances going south thinking on Jesus ago.

I don't understand what's happening but I trust I trust you got things under control but man I'm really confused. Okay, say, God, what are you doing because I don't understand this. The problem is my understanding and my response, not your righteous little activity and then suggest we come to pulses we walk by faith and not right right know your site tells you that Pharaoh's got bad and Moses and Aaron aren't here helping you your sites tell you everything's bad but God said he was going to get you released to get you and I told you this or even through Moses and Aaron come go to get you out, so are they willing to trust that statement are they willing to trust with the right, but here's the really big thought that I take away from here and that is that the meaning of God's deliverance of his people out of Egypt looks like a disaster. Yeah, things turn very bad right after the announcement, let my people go, and I think we need to take that to heart. As I said before that set me thinking about the story of Lazarus right when Jesus setting this is for the glory of God and so he hold still and waits three days for Lazarus to die and be married and then he says later to the sisters when he standing in front of the tomb, about to raise and he says if you believe you will see the glory of God, but he let them endure those days of grief that was deliberate, well told Jesus himself also died right and the disciples were like well this happened when he's been telling him all Jerusalem and I'm going to die and even Paul himself says in the beginning of second Corinthians 1.

He says we despaired of life itself, so that our hope would be in God and not ourselves. That's sinking his 189. So I think that is a huge principle here that you when God says I will deliver. He may not do it in the way we expect and things might look like they're getting a whole lot worse I get better and it's constantly keeping you on this knife edge of whether you willing to trust God's promises right over what your eyes are telling you what's going on around you and all your eyes are telling you it's all going south but you don't see the half of what goes on just your eyes but your heart experience. This was painful and difficult for them what God was doing in the Hebrews was making them want to get out. Yeah, right, and I was maintain that that was that. That's one of the primary because soon frozen be given motivation to want them to get out right. The Israelites themselves after hundreds of years there. The I think they're experiencing what today we call the Stockholm syndrome were you you know your kept by a captor and you begin, you just tend to think well this is maybe what normal life is like siliceous not antagonize them. The be nice to some things be okay even the word slave that's you know it's kind of a status quo kind of affair, and so that's what they're saying to Moses if you hadn't stepped in. Things were been certified well okay so that makes me think later on in the wilderness were to see them say why did you bring us out here because we want to go back to Egypt where we were eating cucumbers and melons.

Then we could cook the way we wanted and we just got water by pumping it all when he promised they were slaves flowing with milk and honey, believe that promise so were constantly put out through all these nerves were put up against. Are you willing to trust God's promise to us or are you willing to lose or order you instead you want to trust Dreiser telling it's going on because it's so much more going on than you can see when God executes his plans so II think I think this is really instrumental that only for a see my Pharaoh's heart is really long time and he's really is hardhearted right now but but the people I think don't realize how much they been sort of connected and Egypt and the need to be disconnected.

In this yeah until this kind of nasty event happens here that they don't really understand how much that they really need to be gone from here because all of a sudden the stink in the nose Pharaoh need to be out so and and that's not something that Moses and Aaron created that something that's always been there. So God needs to pull them out of there and they're suddenly realizing that there suddenly realizing and this is not her.

Hey thinker and saved were yeah this are likely getting over enslaved here now, is it third is like this is like a bad deal yeah you know you said Stockholm syndrome.

I'm thinking more frog in the pot syndrome why I just kinda drifted into this over the generations and inserting it just is just their life now right and and maybe in some way they've sort of forgotten that God promised them a land someplace else much much better and they just got used to being here that's very like and so by by reviewing Pharaoh's hearts are saying oh we really do need to get out. We really do need to so I think were I think I've revealing their own hearts to themselves.

That's what's going on here so that brings us to the end of chapter 5 really going chapter 6 of this whole thing will continue and we hope you're following with this, but then I hope the attitude of the Israelites. The Hebrews gets better into chapter 6, but don't count too much, you know, the thing that stands out to me to at this point is that these are not perfect people. Moses and Aaron were not perfect, men right and their relationship with one another and their relationship with their people was not perfect and yet God says I'm going to do this and I've chosen you to be my instruments right in that working to see them in the next chapter Balkan Balkan Balkan God charges them. He gives them an executive order just go do it just just do it.

Yeah so so you know at the end of this chapter Moses and Aaron if they were the real hot righteous guys would like to think that they are the righteous superstars they would've they would've said people hate you know people you need to wise up. You know, we have a God who made a promise to us he's going to get us out of here. Let's all fast and pray and I will work through this.

Instead, Moses and Aaron come up to God's presence and blame him for messing up the exits. It's your fault. What I just send me an order. What a bed Nan is overseeing Moses and Aaron grows well and when the necessary skills going to have to be much, much later when things get even worse.

I promise. So so God is changing everybody in office and now I think at this point. Hebrews for the first time ever, are truly motivated to say we gotta get out when should I motivated yet. Well, they will so that that's so that's why God gives us the stories to reveal the nature of the human heart and that's what he brings us through tough times. So will see that reveal more than one here so I'm Jim Leger with some exit 6 and hope things turn out better see how it goes. Join us next time mainstream church is solely responsible to contact us with your questions or comments in