[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hey, thanks so much for listening to this message. My name is Jason and I'm one of the ministers here at the Madison Church of Christ. It's our hope and prayer that the teaching you hear today will bless your life and draw you closer to God. If you're ever in the Madison area, we'd love for you to stop by and study the Bible with us on Sundays at 5pm or Wednesdays at 7pm if you have questions about the Bible or want to know more about the Madison Church, you can find us
[email protected] be sure to subscribe to this podcast as well as our Sermons podcast. Madison Church of Christ Sermons. Thanks again for stopping by. I hope this study is a blessing to you.
[00:00:36] Speaker B: Alright, we'll go ahead and get started tonight. Exodus 14 is where we're going to be for our next encounter. This is a really different encounter than some of the ones that we've looked at in the fact that it's really just one big thing that God says in Exodus 14, but it seems to come out of nowhere and doesn't seem to fit the context of what's going on. So we'll get into that here in just a second in Exodus 14. So a statement that we're going to come back to a few times tonight at beginning, middle and end of class is this one. That rescue is not the same thing as deliverance.
And as you think about that statement, I'll give you a few examples.
Maybe you've been at a situation where you have been rescued from something, but you have not really necessarily been delivered from something. I think about this, both of these things happened on the exact same trip and I know I've shared one of them with you before and which should have given me the sign that I probably don't ever need to go on a mission trip again. But When I was 13 I went to Thailand with Dad and the main thing that my mom said to my dad was don't lose Andrew. It's one of the biggest cities in the world and congested everywhere. Even just to get across the city of Bangkok, Thailand, it takes four hours to drive across the city. Okay? That's how many people and how congested this place is. So it's funny. That's why when I took Cruz to Peru recently, I was literally holding onto his shirt the entire time. Another congested city. So we get on the subway and this is like the last day of the trip and maybe he just got a little too comfortable. We were on the subway, jam packed, filled with people and if you've ever been on a jam packed subway before, one of the things that, you know that happens is when the doors open, you've got like a few seconds and no one's caring whether or not, like, your child's with you. So dad was talking to somebody. Y'all know her. Her name's Rhonda Zorn. She also likes to talk like my dad. So you can imagine the two, they were talking, having a conversation. The subway doors open, people flood out, and I get pushed, pushed, pushed. Me and another girl one year older than me that was on that mission trip. And we don't make it out of that subway. I do remember the doors close and I'm like, near the glass. And it was almost like one of those moments like this as I, you know, get smaller off in the distance. And I can just tell my dad's look on his face is like, oh, no. So I start to panic. I'm not thinking good in the moment. But we had a girl with us, that girl that was older than me, which is actually Ryan Gallagher's wife, by the way. She was the one on that subway with me. Luckily she was, because she said, hey, it's okay. We'll find somebody that speaks English. I was like, oh, yeah. And so she's like, hey, anybody speak English? And this one guy's like, yeah, I do. And so he told her what happened. And he said, well, hey, all you gotta do is get off this subway and get to the next one and ride the next one back. And I was like, oh, yeah, should have thought of that. And so we did that. We got off that subway, got on the next one, and hopped on the next one to go back. And so we finally, as I get off that subway, they had said, hey, maybe that's what they'll do. Maybe. And so dad's standing there and he had been crying. I mean, he was, like, devastated because he thought, oh, man, I had lost Andrew. So the rest of that trip, I just remember dad kind of like I did with Cruz. Everywhere we went in public in Lima, Peru, he was holding onto my shirt and would not let me go. And he kept saying, I'm not letting you go till we land in Montgomery. Okay? And so the thing that happened there, I was rescued, but I wasn't truly delivered until I was home. Right? Another example, same exact trip. Rhonda, the travel guru, one of the things that she said was, hey, I noticed that if we, for those that want to, if we rerouted and changed our plane flight on the way from Tokyo to LA, it just was $50 more that this shows you. This was back in 2001. Kind of shows you the time period, okay, that we can reroute our plane and stop in Hawaii for just $50 extra. There's a military family that we can stay with there. And so Dad's like, yeah, that'll be awesome. Sign us up. We did we go there. One of the things that we did on that trip was we went snorkeling. Now snorkeling there is different than a lot of places. And the fact that a lot of their snorkeling, if you ever been there, is a lot of rock and big rocks, small rocks and reef, a little bit of bigger waves that can sometimes pull you out. And one of the things that, long story short, I kept going down in this one area trying to see stuff. I got my leg and really just my fin caulked between two rocks and all I had to really do was push it down to pop it back out. And so here I am kind of like trying to pull the fin out while also trying to get breath. So dad comes down and he's trying to pull the fin out. He and I spend so much energy. He spends all of his energy trying to get my fin out that he now once he did, he like had no energy. And so like now I'm trying to get him but I'm having no energy. So this random dude saves us that was there on that beach. Again, he did part of it, the rescue, right. But I wasn't going to be fully delivered to where I was there on the shore. The reason I say that and give those examples, to try to show you a line is that line in between rescue and deliverance is a very important one and a life altering one at times. And especially that's what we're going to see here with the children of Israel. They had been rescued as if it were from the Egyptians, but they weren't going to be delivered until they reached where the promised land.
And I think to some degree, as we try to connect all of these encounters with us, we experience kind of that same tension too. I think about in the PR class, if you've ever been to that class with us before, one of the things that is often talked about is that these guys, a lot of them have left places where if they drive by it, they have that urge that they've had before and they speak very openly about it, but they've left that area, they've left prison, but what they still feel captive in is that they haven't been delivered even from that urge at times. And it's something that will never truly leave them until they get to heaven. It's again, they've been rescued, but yet they're still in that in between of deliverance. Maybe some of y'all have been felt that maybe with like, a family member that you've lost, that you're kind of in that in between.
Anxiety, depression, those things will do that to you as well.
Israel is in that spot. But here's what I want us to think about as we get into this text in Exodus 14 is something that it's important for us to remember is it is a good news that God doesn't just rescue us, he also delivers us. He's taking us somewhere. And that's what's happening here with the children of Israel. He's not just taking them out of Egypt, he's taking them to a promised land. Now, let me ask you, does that give you a little bit of a different perspective? Does that give you a little bit of faith to know that we serve a God that doesn't just rescue us, he doesn't just save us from sin, but he takes us somewhere. And so I want to ask you just kind of hypothetically think it. I know it's a little bit of a deeper question, but would you. How would you operate just knowing you had been saved from your sins, but not saved to something? I want you to think about that. Not just saved from sin, but also saved to something, you know, having that purpose to drive us. Would you think it kind of matters to know that there's a place where we're going kind of matters. Sin in of itself is something that holds us captive as we're going to look at tonight. And yes, to be delivered from that is a big deal, but to know that we're going somewhere, that there's something more that can help get us through that. Any thoughts, Jason, before we.
[00:08:35] Speaker C: I'm just curious. Is that why your dad's never left Montgomery since 2001?
[00:08:39] Speaker B: Yes. Yes, he is. I don't think he's left Montgomery since, like 1979. Yeah.
[00:08:45] Speaker C: Now, I do think that this idea of deliverance is something that Israel struggles with. And we'll see. We've already seen this, but we'll see it as their pattern. Is that impatience, you know, when I think. When you think deliverance should be immediate and you get impatient when it doesn't come to fruition the way that you kind of have in your mind. And I think Israel is a beautiful and tragic example of that impatience and what impatience can do to a people that are wanting to follow God in theory, but struggle to follow God in practice when circumstance is greater than the actual promise that God made.
[00:09:24] Speaker B: Yeah. And also, I want to just mention the elephant in the room. We purposely matched tonight. All right, so here's the first verse. First two verses.
[00:09:34] Speaker C: And the Lord said to Moses, tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near hair between nikdol. That's why you wanted me to read it. And the sea in front of BAAL Zephon, you shall encamp facing it by the sea.
[00:09:46] Speaker B: Okay, so they have just been delivered. And he says, all right, here's what I want you to do. Go back.
Now, this doesn't mean, like, go back like 10ft.
They are going back to a place now we know the story, so I'm going to kind of spoil part of it for you. And if you don't, here's Egypt is going to come after them with 600 chariots. And where they are going to be, where he's telling them to go, is literally they would be stuck between one of these places means two canals. They're stuck between these two canals in Egypt. Okay. But a few things I want to point out here. When he tells them to go back, you'll notice it says, and the sea. This is kind of a neat thing when you go to the New Testament. The New Testament references, I think twice the Red Sea, but just calls it the sea. And the reason is is what's about to take place here. You don't have to say any other sea. Like, in their minds and in their history, when you talk about the sea, guess what sea they think about. The Red Sea. And the other thing that's really interesting here is if you notice, it says in front of Bel Savan. Now, who do we know Bel as a what? God of flies. A God of flies. A false God that was worshiped in this area. But here's what's interesting. One of the gods of BAAL was Zavan, and Savan was the God of the seas.
It was the idea that Zavan owned was in charge of manned the seas. In fact, one of the things that I read said people during this day that worship BAAL and Zavan, what they would do is they would actually get in their boats. And it was known that as tradition. You have to thank and ask for from Sivan to give you a lot of fish in your nets.
But we know, of course, this same red sea that people would go and worship Savannah and call out to Sifan, what God's basically going to do, he's going to say, no, Ziphon doesn't own that. I own that. So when they go to BAAL Sivan, that's kind of one of the things that they have in their mind. This is the place. This is one of the popular places where people ask for Zavon to intercede. Well, God's going to intercede in just a second and show that he's better.
And so this is kind of a confusing thing for them. And I love this quote. I have it written down in one of my Bibles that things that we often see as confusion, God uses as navigation. Would you agree with that? You've maybe had moments before where you're like, I don't understand how. I don't understand why. You know, we've maybe thought this before.
This is the worst thing, thing in the entire world. And turns out it ended up being the thing that you needed maybe the most. There's the flip side we've probably all experienced where we have said, this is the one thing that I need. Like, God, if you just give me this. And then I always think about the song Garth Brook. Sometimes I thank God unanswered prayers, you know.
Okay, never mind Wild horses. I'm just kidding. Anyway. But so now where are we? Okay, we're teaching. All right. So. Yes.
Oh, a lot of songs are going through my head. Greatest hits. When your dad had a CD subscription. Some of y'all know what that is. We get a lot of Garth Brooks. Anyway, that's okay. That's your fault. Oh, anyway, this is the best thing ever. This is exactly what I need. And then turns out later, that was not what you needed. Right? God does that a lot through scripture. He's going to do that here in just a second.
[00:13:17] Speaker C: Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, they are wandering in the land. The wilderness has shut them in.
[00:13:22] Speaker B: So because they go back, he's basically saying, hey, Pharaoh's going to be like, this makes absolutely no sense. Like, man.
You almost probably makes him wonder. Like, man, this is so easy. We've got to go after this. In fact, in just a second, we're going to hear twice. The Bible says that Pharaoh's heart was hardened by God so that God got him to do this. So sometimes that's how obedience works.
Sometimes obedience feels like you're going backwards. Would you agree?
And I want you to think about that in your own way. Here's some of the ones I've thought of that may. I was just trying to think of, like, the top three things about our world and how we are told to view it. Or maybe how TV tells us to view it. Culture says to view it versus how God. Okay, so the three main things we often hear people are after is money, sex, and power. Those three things. So the world says, with money, make that your God.
That's what's holy, is money. Your whole life is set apart for money. That's the holy thing. According to the world. Sex is, hey, be as generous as you want. Have as much as you want with whoever you want. Then you got the third part, which is power, which is go grab for that. Go after that. Then think about what Scripture says as opposed to all those things where the world might say, money is holy. God says sex is holy. It's set apart. You think about money. Where the world says, sex is where you be generous. God says, money is where you are supposed to be generous. Think about power instead of grab as much as you want. It's what. The one who exalts himself is going to be humble. The one who humbles himself is going to be exalted. You know, all of those things that we are told, that this is where your identity lies. God says, actually, I'm going to give you a complete opposite statement of all of those things.
That obedience to the world does seem backwards at times. Any thoughts on that?
[00:15:31] Speaker D: That's the whole thing about repentance. It's stop, turn around, and go the other way.
[00:15:35] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:15:36] Speaker D: Definition.
[00:15:37] Speaker B: Yeah. Means to turn. All right.
[00:15:39] Speaker C: My mind goes, of course, to Karate Kid. And, you know, Miyagi has him go through all these random. Thank you.
Seemingly random exercises that ultimately actually put in a different context, make perfect sense. And I think that's kind of the way we view life versus God's view. When we don't trust in his actual promise, then all we're concerned with the execution of the promise. Right. And that's only circumstantial. We only see evidence through circumstance, as opposed to, again, his promise. It's Peter getting out of the boat and sinking. Once he looks at the circumstance of the storm, as opposed to remembering who called him out of the boat in the first place. That's the challenge. That's the challenge of faith, is the walking by faith, not by sight.
It's just really easy. It's really hard not to walk by sight sometimes.
[00:16:27] Speaker B: So here's a question. This is not one to answer aloud, but you can answer it in your head. What step is God calling you to Take that may seem backwards to the world right now. Like, maybe just consider for just a second a step that may seem backwards to the world that God is wanting you to take right now. Could be something with your kids, could be something with your job, could be something with your money, could be something with your schedule. Maybe think on that for just a second. All right, Jason.
[00:17:08] Speaker C: I will harden Pharaoh's heart so that he will pursue them. Then I will receive glory by means of Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.
[00:17:17] Speaker B: I really wish we could just get into that because that just fascinated me, that phrase, I will harden Pharaoh's heart.
Because I also thought, I feel like his heart has already been pretty hardened because he saw those 10 plagues and was like, yeah, still after that I'm going to go after him. That kind of shows you.
But then the other part that kind of brought me to, isn't that a warning too, that how hard your heart can really get too, to see all 10 of those things and still let your heart be hardened.
So anyway, but here's what's interesting in this. He says, I will receive glory by means of Pharaoh and his army. And the Egyptians will know that I'm the Lord. So that's what he's saying in the middle of this, I will get my glory, which is what worship, worship is going to happen. And by the way, worship happens at the very end of this. They probably don't think that that's anything close to happening, but worship is going to happen at the end of this and people are going to know who I am. You know what that is? That's mission. So worship and mission is what he's saying is going to result in the middle of a situation where you feel stuck in the middle of a situation where you're between rescue and deliverance, that you feel like there's not a way out. He said, here's what I'm workshopping in you. I'm going to let worship happen and I'm going to let mission happen during the middle of that. Have you ever seen how maybe God used or brought about worship and mission as you've been in between a rescue per se and deliverance. And it could be generic. Doesn't have to be a specific situation like you end up worshiping when you didn't think that that would be a time you would worship or you ended up getting to share with somebody in a time where you didn't think you would get to share.
[00:19:24] Speaker E: It kind of reminds me, you know, those Rock bottom moments where in a situation, there's nowhere to go except on your knees and, you know, in the midst of your prayer. You know, there have been several times in my life, married, not married, you know, where those moments have happened. And my first instinct is to. When I'm focused in on that worship, I guess would be the word, that I focus on the positives. When God has rescued me before, and then I'm reminded by that, and then I'm able to focus in on what he's truly, you know, where he's guiding me or how he's leading me. And then I'm able to move forward and put one step forward whenever, you know, there's next.
Sometimes it just takes being reminded that he is God. He is in control, not me.
[00:20:19] Speaker B: Yeah, it's interesting how worship even, like showing up at a public worship like this. Or maybe it's just private worship at home, if you like. You may not feel like it, but then you start worshiping. And then a perspective. The situation is the same, but the perspective through the worship changes. But then y'all probably, like, I have also experienced the complete opposite. Like, I wasn't in the mood, but then the worship got me. You know, like, it can happen in both directions. Any other thoughts?
[00:20:48] Speaker C: I see this a lot in hospital waiting rooms, you know, when there's this crisis. And then you see yourself eventually surrounded by more and more people thinking. Kathy Stevens. Years and years ago, when Stan had his aneurysm, and it was the downtown Madison congregation for a couple of nights there, a couple times we would start singing or praying together and things like that. And the crisis was still going on, and we were still praying for the outcome that we wanted. But in the midst of that, there was a much deeper relationship that was being built among every person in that room, Even among some of the strangers that started asking, what's this Madison Church place?
It's happened multiple times. That's one that really stands out because of the. Just the scale of it. But I think. I think you see that a lot in those moments, kind of like you said, of crisis. Crises.
[00:21:41] Speaker B: All right, so here's some more verses.
[00:21:46] Speaker C: I didn't do scripture reading in, lads. Okay. When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about the people and said, what have we done? We have released Israel from serving us. So he got his chariot ready and took his troops with him. He took 600 of the best chariots and all the rest of the chariots of Egypt with officers in each one, the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh King of Egypt. And he pursued the Israelites who were going out defiantly. The Egyptians, all Pharaoh's horses and chariots, his horsemen, his army chased after them and caught up with them as they camped by the sea beside PI Hair in front of BAAL Zephon.
[00:22:20] Speaker B: Okay, so here, this is to set up our next point. Okay, so this is the point before the point. I don't know if you can have those, but we pre. Point. Okay, thank you. All right.
Is the very people that they used to depend on to eat, to have shelter, even though it wasn't the best food and it wasn't the best shelter, are now chasing after them.
And the reason I mention this is I feel like one of the things that I said wrong a lot, whether it's in a lesson or a sermon, is I really. I don't think I said this directly, but I almost implied it, is that if you take a leap of faith, if you take a step of faith, then, man, it's just going almost like all those other things are going to leave you to. And it's going to start working out. And again, I didn't exactly say that, but sometimes I almost implied it. Like, hey, do that because of this. A plus B equals C. Well, sometimes. Because think about this one. They didn't necessarily. Well, they did. And they didn't ask for this.
Their forefathers did, but they're living in the results of that. But the very thing in the group of people that they depended on are now chasing after them.
Do you feel like sometimes that happens to us, that the thing that at one time held you captive still chases after you.
I referenced PR earlier and just because of a recent conversation with one of the guys, and he was literally talking about what I described earlier is, and the guys mention this in class all the time of how, you know, if you've ever struggled with addiction, you don't stop. Like, you just learn how to deal with it, how to cope with it. And that's why he mentioned he's like, you know, I don't even want to go home. I don't want. Because if I drive by those places, it gets. The urge gets even more difficult. That I just feel like it's always. I figure out new ways to deal with what is after me, what's chasing after me.
And now you think, okay, well, what do we do with that? And we're going to get to that in just a second. But I do think what God is trying to teach them is I want you to shift your dependence that I want you to solely depend on me. And I'm going to tell you how in just a second, because the thing that used to. Because we're going to get to in just a second, that you wouldn't think that the people or the thing that enslaved you would be the thing you would want to come back to, the thing that made you miserable that you would want to come back to. But sometimes you do. Okay, so verse 10.
[00:24:54] Speaker C: As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and there were the Egyptians coming after them. The Israelites were terrified and cried out to the Lord for help.
[00:25:01] Speaker B: Alright? Imagine the terror of this, okay? They are literally stuck. Like there's nowhere for them to go. All they have. And some would say this is more than enough, right? All they have is their faith. Now there's nowhere to go.
And if you think of 600 chariots chasing after you, the dust of that like making its way towards you, this quite dramatic effect, then you hear the sound of like the, you know, the clink and the clang of the wooden wheels and the metal. They had metal, by the way then. So you would have heard like all of those sounds against each other as they're getting closer and closer and closer. I want you to think about in that moment of crisis. Have you noticed how we might have a tendency to then start to find out a place to blame, that when the moment is under pressure, we're kind of trying to look for something to blame?
[00:25:57] Speaker C: All right, I said to Moses, is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us bringing us out of Egypt?
[00:26:07] Speaker B: Hmm, that's kind of a. Whoever said that, by the way? Like, I always wondered that with scripture. Like, who was the guy that, you know, scrolled that one? He was like, man, that was sarcastic. Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you've taken us to die in the wilderness? What have you done to bring us out of here? I used to read a statement like that one and just think, man, they are just so faithless.
But then, like, if I was in that situation, these guys, 600 of them are after me and I can't go anywhere.
Yes, they can have better faith. I do think that. But I also think maybe part of it is that when you've been held captive, because keep in mind, we're trying to understand this from their perspective. We've all been held captive by things. But y'all, this has been generational captivity. That's been talked about amongst families forever, that when you've been enslaved for that long, it's easy to put your faith kind of in reverse and start blaming something. Right. So it kind of tells you something about, I guess, slavery or being captive by something. It's not just sometimes spiritual. It can be physical, it can be emotional.
And as we think about that, one of the statements I put up here was their circumstance has changed, but their focus, like what they see has not. They're looking to blame something.
And I wanted to ask this follow up question. How is it possible. I do want you to answer this one, that they are free, but they're not living in freedom. All right. How can we sometimes maybe be free but not actually live in freedom when we're too worried about what other people think or offending people? Sometimes that makes us more quiet.
[00:28:05] Speaker E: Sometimes it's also hard to see when your circumstance changes, but your mindset didn't. So, like, they're not no longer enslaved yet. That was only a few weeks ago.
[00:28:17] Speaker B: Yeah, that's true. Yeah. They had, you know, just seen the 10 plagues. They probably still had some lamb in their teeth, you know, from the Passover. Very fresh.
Yeah, yeah.
[00:28:29] Speaker F: Back to what you said a while ago about the gentleman in the PR class can't go to certain places. If you've ever been a slave to alcohol or drugs, you're free from it when you're redeemed, but you're never. You don't never gain your freedom because you could always fall back into it.
[00:28:47] Speaker E: I think like a cancer survivor and surviving cancer. If I live in fear of relapse all the time and like, kind of like hypochondria, which I've been through those phases of life, but then you don't have that. Like you're not enjoying the life that God gave back to you.
[00:29:03] Speaker B: Wow.
Absolutely, sunny.
[00:29:07] Speaker F: So sometimes freedom is overwhelming.
And because of that, they don't take advantage of it the way they should or the way that they ought to. I mean, I mean, when you think about somebody that comes from another country that comes here and we have the freedoms that we have, it's very intimidating to have that kind of freedom. I mean, especially in God. I mean, the freedom that he gives us to make our own choices, that's just hard to.
[00:29:42] Speaker B: Well, that makes me think of the example I gave of the guys in prison ministry in that, you know, Montgomery, you know, I think about what Julie said too. All right, you've been set free from something, but you want to sing to the Top of your lungs, like, well, what are people going to think? You know? And again, we're going to talk about in just a second. What we fear oftentimes reveals where our values lie. And so we'll get to that in just a second. Any other thoughts on this one?
[00:30:13] Speaker C: Since you brought up prison, think Shawshank Redemption. Another place to go. Clearly, you know, in Shawshank, there's an older gentleman that gains his freedom, begins working at a grocery store, can't figure out how to live free, and takes his own life. And then Morgan Freeman's character gets freedom, starts working at that same grocery store, lives in the same apartment room, and considers doing the. Tries to do the same thing. There is this struggle when you are conditioned to a circumstance or a relationship that's not good. In youth ministry, you saw this a lot. It was the great girl dating the terrible guy, and for fear of being single, she stays with him. Maybe it's a vice person, but it never was. It was always a good girl, bad guy.
I think we do that sometimes. Maybe it's a job, but more likely a relationship that's toxic, that's just not good, not healthy. And for fear of the unknown, for fear of being alone, we stay with what's familiar. And when we focus so much on finding comfort from what's familiar, we're not looking with finding freedom in faith. That's a huge. It's a different way of life. That's why people struggle to live free. That's the whole book of Galatians is living in freedom from the law. I feel like I've said something I.
[00:31:25] Speaker B: Didn'T realize because they're still laughing A series talking. Siri. Yeah, it's not you, it's them.
[00:31:33] Speaker C: But I do think that it's a. This is a completely different way of life that God has called them to live, leaving Egypt. And sometimes we kind of under. Underplay that a little undervalue that of, you don't have to live in this again. It's not really good. But in that moment, I think familiar is more comfortable to us than true freedom.
[00:31:53] Speaker B: Well, yeah, one of the. Know anything different? Yes, to learn.
[00:31:58] Speaker C: Faith is learned.
[00:31:59] Speaker B: Sorry, let me write that down. There's a big divide between intellectually knowing something and then living.
[00:32:04] Speaker D: When you know that we talk about the powers in the word not enough. How much does it freak us out.
[00:32:12] Speaker B: To go up to the door and.
[00:32:13] Speaker D: Knock and what am I going to say?
[00:32:15] Speaker B: Yeah, the powers in the word.
Hard to live, though. Yeah. Well, the example that I had kind of like y'all were mentioning was I had just thinking of when I was campus minister at Faulkner, seeing different people that kept going back to the same abusive relationship over and over again. And I'm not trying to equate the same things to being the same, but one of the things that was making me think of is how we had a.
We got a dog from the pound when I was in, like, middle school or high school. And it was a rescue. And so one of the things that they had told us is that the dog had been abused.
And, well, we, you know, in our mind we thought, well, we'll bring this dog in and, you know, we'll save the day.
But what was interesting is we. He was free, as I guess if it were, he was rescued. But the thing he wasn't delivered from is we didn't see signs of his struggle of abuse till later when. And this. See, we don't still know what happened here, but whenever we would run water to give him a bath, he would start shaking and get into a corner.
And this is another weird thing, but whenever we use anything like with an R, like. Like raw, some R tones, he would start shaking.
Don't know what happened. Don't know what it was. But you think about that. Here he was. He was. But that happened. And one of the illustrations I did have that I was prepared to mention was this. One of the commentaries on this one said it's kind of like illustration. He heard was with that he did the same thing. He had a dog that if you get like a dog from somebody that was, you know, abused or something like that, and then that dog hears the whistle of that master, a lot of times those dogs will go back, or if they find where that's at, they'll go back to that place.
Why is that? I know that's kind of a deeper question. I think part of it goes back to what you're.
[00:34:18] Speaker C: Fear distorts our vision and fear distorts our faith sometimes because it sends us back to a place one way or the other. But fear is far more powerful, I think, than sometimes we realize. And if you look at all of Moses life, fear is a common thread that pops up and down. You see a huge transformation in how he deals with fear. But Israel for sure, over and over again, fear seems to kind of rule the day in their mentality and their actions. And it never works out good for them when they. When they walk with fear.
[00:34:47] Speaker D: Yeah, a lot of these examples point out the difference between us and God in that God has the Ability to forget. And we often don't, you know.
[00:34:58] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:34:59] Speaker D: Hebrews chapter 8, verse 12 says, For I will forgive their iniquities and I will remember their sins no more.
And the inability of us to forget those things and put them behind us is the difference between living free or being free and not yet being able to live in that freedom as we remember. And we have to try to put that past it because God has. If we can get our heads around the fact that God has, it's gone, then that will help us to live.
[00:35:31] Speaker F: So it's easier to go back to something that you know, regardless of how bad it is, than it is to go forward to something that you don't.
That's a big problem with theory that you'll go back to a horrific situation, a horror person or place because the unknown is more fearful to you than going back to the bad deep sometimes.
And that's to me, that's kind of what they're doing here is they want to go back to what they do even though it was bad because the freedom was overwhelming to them. They didn't know what it was going to be like. So because of that, they were willing.
[00:36:17] Speaker B: To go back to what they did.
All right, awesome comments by the way tonight. So here's. You just spoke of fear. Here's what Moses says to the people.
[00:36:30] Speaker C: Moses said to the people, fear not. Stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you and you have only to be silent.
[00:36:42] Speaker B: Okay, this is one of those that preach preachers really like because it's like a four part sermon right there, but. So that's what I did. All right. Moses instruction, don't fear, stand firm. Some translations say stand still or be still. See the Lord be silent, don't fear. Well, thanks, man. I appreciate that. Don't fear.
[00:37:09] Speaker D: Don't forget to read verse 15 though.
[00:37:11] Speaker B: Oh yeah, we're going to get to that just second. Yeah, that's the main encounter. But don't read ahead yet. I'm just kidding. You can. Don't fear.
I did mention this earlier about fear, but I also talked about faith. I probably like a lot of you heard that faith is the opposite of fear. I don't necessarily agree with that all the time. We're going to get to why that I think is in just a second. But we do know that they didn't have faith then fear. They had fear then faith. And sometimes that's how it works. Right. I just put it here. Before they had faith, they had fear. And that's normal. Okay? That's part of what makes faith. Faith is if it was something that was always in your lane and in your comfort zone, it would not be faithful.
I think about one of the guys that I asked to do a devotional, by the way, if you've turned me down, this does not mean that you don't have faith. But I do think I thought was really awesome. I asked him, I said, would you do the devotional on Wednesday night? This was a while back. And he said, yes. I have never, ever done anything like that. And that scares me to death, but maybe that's why I need to do it. And I was like, mmm, that's good. And to have that kind of perspective.
And so thinking about that, in our fears, I put kind of a profile of fear. And one of those is that what we fear oftentimes reveals what we value. I'll give you an example. So if you're fearful of. If I do this, how will they perceive me? Not all the time, but sometimes. That could indicate that what you value is the way other people see you, the way you're perceived, your status. Not all the time, but could be.
If you fear about being generous. Well, what does that tell you? Might value money. Right. Or the lack of money. Right. We could go on and on and on about that. Here's another one. What we fear can reveal sometimes, not all the time, where we trust God the least. It can be a situation where I've never. Because I've never done that. I don't know what's going to. Or can you do something in this? Because I'm seeing it from. Like we talked about Sunday with the angels and stuff like that. From our perspective, it doesn't seem like anything can happen. Right. But then fear could be the invitation. That could be the very thing. Like if when you do get fearful about something, we've not done this before. I've not done this as a family. We've not done this as a husband. I've never led in this way, whatever it is. I've never led at work in this way, whatever it is, that can sometimes be the very invitation. Any thoughts?
[00:40:03] Speaker E: Proverbs says that the fear of the.
[00:40:05] Speaker B: Lord is the beginning of knowledge.
[00:40:09] Speaker E: So it can be to open and go through. When you fear something, that's when you start to learn about it.
[00:40:19] Speaker C: We try to start telling our kids that it's okay to be afraid, but it's not okay to Let fear keep you from doing the right thing, regardless of whatever that situation may be. It is. It's a natural response, that emotion. But that's not the reason why we do things, you know, that's not the end all. Be all of our actions.
[00:40:35] Speaker B: Yeah. Awesome. All right, the next one. Stand firm or stand still. As some of them say, when you're looking for a way out, standing still does not seem like the right way.
Part of it is because, like, I can't even be. My legs are shaking. In fact, when we were at Robertsdale, this man, I would sit on the pew like this, and he had to move because I would either shake the pew or he had to watch me do that. And it drove him nuts. He goes, when are you still? I was like, I don't know. Even, like, even in the bed, I'm a roller, like, the whole night. Like, I'm moving.
And so when we're trying to find a way out, being still is what? Not really. Usually our. Go to our option.
Psalm 40 gives kind of an example of this, and Jason will touch on this a little bit.
But the psalmist says, to be what? And know that I'm God.
Still.
Some translations say, cease your striving.
But again, when you're looking for a way out, striving seems to make sense. Moving, doing something when you're still.
And I'm not one to give you advice, but when you are still and you do take the time to do that, it is way easier to actually see what God is doing when you're still. Jason, any thoughts about stillness? Okay.
Okay. Good for you. Here was the next one. Oh, this was. How do we sometimes focus on the way of escape more than the Lord? Oh, man, we gotta hurry. Sorry. Alright. See the Lord. Basically, all I had there is acknowledge the enemy, but still keep your eyes on God. The Lord said to Moses, why do you. Here's the encounter.
Sorry, we got into other stuff. This is the main part. The Lord said to Moses, why did you cry out to me? Tell the people to go forward.
Wait, Moses just did all the checklist of the things you're supposed to do in the middle of a crisis, right? You know, don't fear. Stand firm. You know, be silent. You know, see what the Lord is doing. Then he's like, why did you just cry out to me? What. What is he saying here? Is he disagreeing with what he just said?
[00:42:58] Speaker D: Told the people of Israel to move, which is the opposite of standing firm?
[00:43:02] Speaker B: Yes, go on. Yes.
[00:43:05] Speaker D: And then the next verse, he's like, as for you.
[00:43:08] Speaker B: Yeah.
So, yes, to his point, he's basically saying there's a time to pray and cry out. This is not the time. Okay.
I think he's also referencing a little bit of what's in his hand.
What was in his hand, what was that? Staff had a history of doing a lot of stuff. Right.
Snake things. Right.
Again. There is a time to have belief, but belief alone can be very deceiving.
It's a good time to have belief and stand firm, but there's a time to do something sometimes.
So anyway, Moses raised his hand. We're going to talk more about that, but we don't have time.
So this is what it looked like according to AI.
So in between rescue and deliverance, here's just some things tonight. And I think David's going to put these on the PowerPoint with the class notes or whatever. If you want to listen online, you must walk by faith, not by feelings.
It's not that you just get through it. It's that you also take something from it. Like when you're in the middle, in between, also take something from what you've learned. Don't let it just be a non lesson learned. You don't worship when you just go through hard things. You worship when you're in them. Kind of like Heidi mentioned in between, don't fear, stand firm, see the Lord be silent. Oh, yeah. But also there's a time to pray. There's a time to act, kind of know. And this is, to me, one of the lessons that I. When the enemy is pressing like this, do something. You've got to do something. You've got to move. So what's interesting, after they get delivered, this is in Exodus 15. So with all of that in mind, we're going to sing this song that comes straight From Scripture, Exodus 15. This is their song that they sing right after they've been delivered. Correct. O the Lord, our strength and song.
[00:45:07] Speaker G: Highest praise to him. Beloved mighty warrior. Praise the Lord, the glorious one.
By his hand we stand in victory, and by his name we overcome.
Though the storms of hell pursue, in darkest night we worship you.
You divide the raging sea from death to light you safely lead.
Praise the Lord, our mighty warrior. Praise the Lord, the glorious one.
By his hand we stand in victory, and by his name we overcome.
All the saints and angels of hosts of heaven are crying out glory. Glory to the king. You reign for all eternity.
Raise the Lord our mighty warrior. Praise the Lord, the glorious one.
By his hand we send in victory. And by his name we overcome The Lord shall reign forever and ever the Lord shall reign forever and ever the Lord shall reign forever and ever the Lord shall reign forever and ever the Lord shall reign forever and ever Grace the Lord almighty warrior Praise the Lord, the glorious one by his hand we stand in victory and by his name we overcome Praise the Lord, our mighty warrior Praise the Lord, the glorious one by his hand we send him victory and by his name we overcome.
[00:47:54] Speaker B: Thank you all.
