Podcasts about so moses

“You Can't Do It Alone”Exodus 18:1-27 [NIV]1 Now Jethro, the priest of Midian and father-in-law of Moses, heard of everything God had done for Moses and for his people Israel, and how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt.2 After Moses had sent away his wife Zipporah, his father-in-law Jethro received her 3 and her two sons. One son was named Gershom, for Moses said, “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land”; 4 and the other was named Eliezer, for he said, “My father's God was my helper; he saved me from the sword of Pharaoh.”5 Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, together with Moses' sons and wife, came to him in the wilderness, where he was camped near the mountain of God. 6 Jethro had sent word to him, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons.”7 So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. They greeted each other and then went into the tent. 8 Moses told his father-in-law about everything the Lord had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel's sake and about all the hardships they had met along the way and how the Lord had saved them.9 Jethro was delighted to hear about all the good things the Lord had done for Israel in rescuing them from the hand of the Egyptians. 10 He said, “Praise be to the Lord, who rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and of Pharaoh, and who rescued the people from the hand of the Egyptians. 11 Now I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods, for he did this to those who had treated Israel arrogantly.” 12 Then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and other sacrifices to God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat a meal with Moses' father-in-law in the presence of God.13 The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood around him from morning till evening. 14 When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, “What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?”15 Moses answered him, “Because the people come to me to seek God's will. 16 Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God's decrees and instructions.”17 Moses' father-in-law replied, “What you are doing is not good. 18 You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. 19 Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people's representative before God and bring their disputes to him. 20 Teach them his decrees and instructions, and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave. 21 But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 22 Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. 23 If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.”CONNECT WITH USIf you have any questions or would like to get to know us further, head over to https://www.triumphlbc.org/connect and fill out our online connection card.ABOUT TRIUMPHTriumph wants to see the life and message of Jesus transform your heart, home, and city. To learn more visit https://www.triumphlbc.org/

“Who Gets the Glory?”Exodus 17:8-16 [ESV]8 Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. 9 So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” 10 So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses' hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur 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. 13 And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword.14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” 15 And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The Lord Is My Banner, 16 saying, “A hand upon the throne of the Lord! The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”CONNECT WITH USIf you have any questions or would like to get to know us further, head over to https://www.triumphlbc.org/connect and fill out our online connection card.ABOUT TRIUMPHTriumph wants to see the life and message of Jesus transform your heart, home, and city. To learn more visit https://www.triumphlbc.org/

“You Can't Do It Alone”Exodus 18:1-7 [ESV]1 Moses' father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, heard about everything God had done for Moses and his people, the Israelites. He heard especially about how the Lord had rescued them from Egypt.2 Earlier, Moses had sent his wife, Zipporah, and his two sons back to Jethro, who had taken them in. 3 (Moses' first son was named Gershom,[a] for Moses had said when the boy was born, “I have been a foreigner in a foreign land.” 4 His second son was named Eliezer,[b] for Moses had said, “The God of my ancestors was my helper; he rescued me from the sword of Pharaoh.”) 5 Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, now came to visit Moses in the wilderness. He brought Moses' wife and two sons with him, and they arrived while Moses and the people were camped near the mountain of God. 6 Jethro had sent a message to Moses, saying, “I, Jethro, your father-in-law, am coming to see you with your wife and your two sons.”7 So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law. He bowed low and kissed him. They asked about each other's welfare and then went into Moses' tent.CONNECT WITH USIf you have any questions or would like to get to know us further, head over to https://www.triumphlbc.org/connect and fill out our online connection card.ABOUT TRIUMPHTriumph wants to see the life and message of Jesus transform your heart, home, and city. To learn more visit https://www.triumphlbc.org/

Sunday Service (4/18/25) // Numbers 21:4-9 // Visit our website: https://mbchicago.org Follow us to remain connected: Facebook:   / mbc.chicago   Instagram:   / mbc.chicago   TikTok:   / mbc.chicago   Podcasts: Listen on Apple, Spotify & others To support this ministry, you can donate via: Zelle to: info@mbchicago.org Web: https://mbchicago.org/give Venmo: https://venmo.com/mbchurch DAF Donations: https://every.org/mbc.chicago PayPal/Credit: https://paypal.com/donate/?hosted_but... Numbers 21:4-9 (ESV) The Bronze Serpent4 From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” 6 Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 7 And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze[a] serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.Footnotesa. Numbers 21:9 Or copper#DanielBatarseh #easter #goodfriday #crucifixion #cross #sacrifice #grace #mercy #God #Resurrection #BibleStudy #mbchicago #mbcchicago #Bible #versebyverse #sermon #sermons #sermononline #newtestament #scripture #verses #lessons #church #chicago #livechurch #churchlive #chicagochurch #chicagochurches #prophecy #prophetic #jesus #jesuschrist

Over the coming months and through our study of the book of Hebrews, we aim to meditate frequently on the glory of Jesus Christ. May our souls be revived by a constant view of his glory - in this book which invites us to consider Christ Jesus, the exalted Savior of weary pilgrims like us. This week we look to Hebrews 3:7-19.Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” But the people thirsted there 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?” So Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” Exodus 17:2-4And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?”And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” Numbers 14:2–4Portrait of the hard at heart:They had heard His voiceThey made their hearts diamond-hard lest they should hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Zechariah 7:11-12Portrait of the hard at heart:They had heard His voiceThey were witnesses of God's worksExamine your heart (V. 12)“I beg you to try and understand the fact that your soul is the one thing worth living for… Keep the interests of  your soul in mind, morning, noon and night. Get up each day desiring that your soul may prosper; lie down each evening asking yourself whether it has progressed.” - JC RyleSearch me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! Psalm 139:23–24For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4:11–12Exhort one another (V. 13)Life Group Discussion Questions: lifechurchnc.com/hebrewsLife Church exists to glorify God by making disciples who treasure Christ, grow together, and live on mission. Salisbury, NCFollow us online:lifechurchnc.comFacebookInstagramYouTubeTwitter

“Grace for Grumblers”Exodus 17:1-7 [ESV]1 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 Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” 3 But the people thirsted there 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?” 4 So Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 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. 6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”CONNECT WITH USIf you have any questions or would like to get to know us further, head over to https://www.triumphlbc.org/connect and fill out our online connection card.ABOUT TRIUMPHTriumph wants to see the life and message of Jesus transform your heart, home, and city. To learn more visit https://www.triumphlbc.org/

“God On Trial”Exodus 17:1-7 [ESV]1 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 Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” 3 But the people thirsted there 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?” 4 So Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 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. 6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”CONNECT WITH USIf you have any questions or would like to get to know us further, head over to https://www.triumphlbc.org/connect and fill out our online connection card.ABOUT TRIUMPHTriumph wants to see the life and message of Jesus transform your heart, home, and city. To learn more visit https://www.triumphlbc.org/

[Proverbs 13:19] It is pleasant to see dreams come true, It takes ___________ to get to the dream, but even more work to _____________ the dream. God will never interrupt your life to give you an __________ _________. [Matthew 10:38-39] If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. [39] If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it. God's dream is a call to ________________ and __________________. Living the dream will require _________________. [Proverbs 22:4] True humility and fear of the Lord lead to riches, honor, and long life. [Genesis 45:3-8] “I am Joseph!” he said to his brothers. “Is my father still alive?” But his brothers were speechless! They were stunned to realize that Joseph was standing there in front of them. [4] “Please, come closer,” he said to them. So they came closer. And he said again, “I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into slavery in Egypt. [5] But don't be upset, and don't be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. [6] This famine that has ravaged the land for two years will last five more years, and there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. [7] God has sent me ahead of you to keep you and your families alive and to preserve many survivors. [8] So it was God who sent me here, not you! And he is the one who made me an adviser to Pharaoh—the manager of his entire palace and the governor of all Egypt. God requires _______________ to live the dream. [Numbers 20:7-12] and the Lord said to Moses, [8] “You and Aaron must take the staff and assemble the entire community. As the people watch, speak to the rock over there, and it will pour out its water. You will provide enough water from the rock to satisfy the whole community and their livestock.” [9] So Moses did as he was told. He took the staff from the place where it was kept before the Lord. [10] Then he and Aaron summoned the people to come and gather at the rock. “Listen, you rebels!” he shouted. “Must we bring you water from this rock?” [11] Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with the staff, and water gushed out. So the entire community and their livestock drank their fill. [12] But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust me enough to demonstrate my holiness to the people of Israel, you will not lead them into the land I am giving them!” A lack of _____________ can sabotage your dreams. Are you ready to _____________ God's dream for your life?

Sink or Walk on Water? Part Two In Walking on Water Part One, we looked at the following account of Yeshua walking on water: But the boat was already a long distance from the land, battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “You are certainly God's Son!” (Mt 14:24-33) Last week, we found one answer as to why Yeshua walked on water. We'll look at some other answers next week, but our second question was, “Why was Peter afraid of the wind?” Hadn't the wind been blowing just as fearfully up until then? He didn't think about that before he crawled out of the boat? Knowing what Peter knew about the dangerous time of the morning watch, the last watch of the night, we can venture an educated guess. To know what Peter knew, we refer to the Torah: “When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, ‘Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city. But he hesitated. So the men seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, for the compassion of the LORD was upon him; and they brought him out, and put him outside the city.'” (Ge 19:15-16) The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar. Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven, and He overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. But his wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. Now Abraham arose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the LORD; and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the valley, and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of a furnace. (Ge 19:24-28) Yeshua came to rescue the disciples from the windstorm in the last watch of the night [in Roman calculation, the fourth watch; in Hebrew calculation, the third watch]. From the texts above, we can see that the last watch of the night before the dawn is a dangerous time. Especially back then, who could know the precise moment when the sun would break the horizon, ending the last watch and beginning the timeframe of morning? When the morning dawned, destruction could begin, rescue could end, or righteousness could view the destruction from afar, or “the place where he stood before the LORD.” In this account of Genesis Nineteen, Peter could see the traditional explanation of the destination of three groups of people: the righteous (Abraham), the lukewarm (Lot and his wife and daughters), and the wicked (the cities of Sodom). Yeshua reminds the Laodiceans in Revelation of the danger of remaining in the category of the lukewarm, who ultimately cannot stand in the same place as the righteous in the Kingdom. It doesn't mean they are not rescued, but it does mean they are not in good “standing” relative to the righteous. At the crossing of the Reed Sea, Peter has this reference for destruction following the last watch of the night: So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal state at daybreak,

“Swallowed Up in Victory”Exodus 14:10-18, 21-31 [ESV]10 When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord. 11 They 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 in bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians'? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” 13 And 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. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”15 The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. 16 Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground. 17 And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen. 18 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. 22 And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 23 The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. 24 And in the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic, 25 clogging their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from before Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians.”26 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.” 27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the Lord threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. 28 The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained. 29 But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.30 Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31 Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.CONNECT WITH USIf you have any questions or would like to get to know us further, head over to https://www.triumphlbc.org/connect and fill out our online connection card.ABOUT TRIUMPHTriumph wants to see the life and message of Jesus transform your heart, home, and city. To learn more visit https://www.triumphlbc.org/

The Great Vigil of Easter The Story of Creation Old Testament Genesis 1:1-2:4a In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. And God said, "Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters." So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. And God said, "Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear." And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it." And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day. And God said, "Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth." And it was so. God made the two great lights--the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night--and the stars. God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. And God said, "Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky." So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth." And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day. And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind." And it was so. God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth." God said, "See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." And it was so. God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation. These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.   The Flood Old Testament Genesis 7:1-5, 11-18, 8:6-18, 9:8-13 The Lord said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you alone are righteous before me in this generation. Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and its mate; and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and its mate; and seven pairs of the birds of the air also, male and female, to keep their kind alive on the face of all the earth. For in seven days I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights; and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground." And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him. In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. The rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights. On the very same day Noah with his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons entered the ark, they and every wild animal of every kind, and all domestic animals of every kind, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every bird of every kind-- every bird, every winged creature. They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in. The flood continued forty days on the earth; and the waters increased, and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. The waters swelled and increased greatly on the earth; and the ark floated on the face of the waters. At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made and sent out the raven; and it went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. Then he sent out the dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground; but the dove found no place to set its foot, and it returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took it and brought it into the ark with him. He waited another seven days, and again he sent out the dove from the ark; and the dove came back to him in the evening, and there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf; so Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. Then he waited another seven days, and sent out the dove; and it did not return to him any more. In the six hundred first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from the earth; and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and saw that the face of the ground was drying. In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry. Then God said to Noah, "Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you. Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh-- birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth-- so that they may abound on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth." So Noah went out with his sons and his wife and his sons' wives. Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, "As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth." God said, "This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth." Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac Old Testament Genesis 22:1-18 After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." He said, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you." So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. Then Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you." Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. Isaac said to his father Abraham, "Father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son." He said, "The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" Abraham said, "God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." So the two of them walked on together. When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." He said, "Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me." And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place "The Lord will provide"; as it is said to this day, "On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided." The angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, and said, "By myself I have sworn, says the Lord: Because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will indeed bless you, and I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of their enemies, and by your offspring shall all the nations of the earth gain blessing for themselves, because you have obeyed my voice." Israel's deliverance at the Red Sea Old Testament Exodus 14:10-31; 15:20-21 As Pharaoh drew near, the Israelites looked back, and there were the Egyptians advancing on them. In great fear the Israelites cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, "Was it because there were 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? Is this not the very thing we told you in Egypt, 'Let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians'? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness." But Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance that the Lord will accomplish 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 keep still." Then the Lord said to Moses, "Why do you cry out to me? Tell the Israelites to go forward. But you lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the Israelites may go into the sea on dry ground. Then I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them; and so I will gain glory for myself over Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots, and his chariot drivers. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gained glory for myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his chariot drivers." The angel of God who was going before the Israelite army moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and took its place behind them. It came between the army of Egypt and the army of Israel. And so the cloud was there with the darkness, and it lit up the night; one did not come near the other all night. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land; and the waters were divided. The Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. The Egyptians pursued, and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh's horses, chariots, and chariot drivers. At the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and cloud looked down upon the Egyptian army, and threw the Egyptian army into panic. He clogged their chariot wheels so that they turned with difficulty. The Egyptians said, "Let us flee from the Israelites, for the Lord is fighting for them against Egypt." Then the Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and chariot drivers." So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at dawn the sea returned to its normal depth. As the Egyptians fled before it, the Lord tossed the Egyptians into the sea. The waters returned and covered the chariots and the chariot drivers, the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea; not one of them remained. But the Israelites walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Israel saw the great work that the Lord did against the Egyptians. So the people feared the Lord and believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses. Then the prophet Miriam, Aaron's sister, took a tambourine in her hand; and all the women went out after her with tambourines and with dancing. And Miriam sang to them: "Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; horse and rider he has thrown into the sea." Old Testament Isaiah 55:1-11 Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live. I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. See, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. See, you shall call nations that you do not know, and nations that do not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you. Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it. Old Testament Ezekiel 37:1-14 The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, "Mortal, can these bones live?" I answered, "O Lord God, you know." Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord." So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live." I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude. Then he said to me, "Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, 'Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.' Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act," says the Lord. Romans 6:3-11 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For whoever has died is freed from sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. The Gospel Luke 24:1-12 On the first day of the week, at early dawn, the women who had come with Jesus from Galilee came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again." Then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.  

For today’s installment of our 40 Days Meditation series, our brother Martin Steinbereithner provides commentary on Num 20: 1-13; 21:4-9. Listen below, download here, or search for Words from the Brothers on your favourite podcasting app. And the people of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh. And Miriam died there and was buried there. Now there was no water for the congregation. And they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. And the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Would that we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord! Why have you brought the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle? And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It is no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink.” Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them, and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.” And Moses took the staff from before the Lord, as he commanded him. Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.” These are the waters of Meribah, where the people of Israel quarreled with the Lord, and through them he showed himself holy. From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live. Num 20: 1-13; 21:4-9

For today’s installment of our 40 Days Meditation series, our brother Martin Steinbereithner provides commentary on Num 12:16-13:33. Listen below, download here, or search for Words from the Brothers on your favourite podcasting app. After that the people set out from Hazeroth, and camped in the wilderness of Paran. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them.” So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran, according to the command of the Lord, all of them men who were heads of the people of Israel. And these were their names: From the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur; from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori; from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh; from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph; from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun; from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu; from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi; from the tribe of Joseph (that is, from the tribe of Manasseh), Gaddi the son of Susi; from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli; from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael; from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi; from the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi. These were the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun Joshua. Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said to them, “Go up into the Negeb and go up into the hill country, and see what the land is, and whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many, and whether the land that they dwell in is good or bad, and whether the cities that they dwell in are camps or strongholds, and whether the land is rich or poor, and whether there are trees in it or not. Be of good courage and bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes. So they went up and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, near Lebo-hamath. They went up into the Negeb and came to Hebron. Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were there. (Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) And they came to the Valley of Eshcol and cut down from there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them; they also brought some pomegranates and figs. That place was called the Valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster that the people of Israel cut down from there. At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land. And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.” But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.” So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.” Num 12:16-13:33

    For today’s installment of our 40 Days Meditation series, our brother Martin Steinbereithner provides commentary on Num 11:4-30. Listen below, download here, or search for Words from the Brothers on your favourite podcasting app. Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.” Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its appearance like that of bdellium. The people went about and gathered it and ground it in handmills or beat it in mortars and boiled it in pots and made cakes of it. And the taste of it was like the taste of cakes baked with oil. When the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell with it. Moses heard the people weeping throughout their clans, everyone at the door of his tent. And the anger of the Lord blazed hotly, and Moses was displeased. Moses said to the Lord, “Why have you dealt ill with your servant? And why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? Did I conceive all this people? Did I give them birth, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing child,’ to the land that you swore to give their fathers? Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me and say, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’ I am not able to carry all this people alone; the burden is too heavy for me. If you will treat me like this, kill me at once, if I find favor in your sight, that I may not see my wretchedness.” Then the Lord said to Moses, “Gather for me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you. And I will come down and talk with you there. And I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you may not bear it yourself alone. And say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying, Who will give us meat to eat? For it was better for us in Egypt. Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat. You shall not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, Why did we come out of Egypt?'” But Moses said, “The people among whom I am number six hundred thousand on foot, and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month!’ Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, and be enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, and be enough for them?” And the Lord said to Moses, “Is the Lord’s hand shortened? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not.” So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord. And he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tent. Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. And as soon as the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied. But they did not continue doing it. Now two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the Spirit rested on them. They were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” And Joshua the son of Nun, the assistant of Moses from his youth, said, “My lord Moses, stop them.” But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” And Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp. Num 11:4-30

For today’s installment of our 40 Days Meditation series, our brother Miguel Vargas provides commentary on Ex 40:16-38. Listen below, download here, or search for Words from the Brothers on your favourite podcasting app. This Moses did; according to all that the Lord commanded him, so he did. In the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, the tabernacle was erected. Moses erected the tabernacle. He laid its bases, and set up its frames, and put in its poles, and raised up its pillars. And he spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering of the tent over it, as the Lord had commanded Moses. He took the testimony and put it into the ark, and put the poles on the ark and set the mercy seat above on the ark. And he brought the ark into the tabernacle and set up the veil of the screen, and screened the ark of the testimony, as the Lord had commanded Moses. He put the table in the tent of meeting, on the north side of the tabernacle, outside the veil, and arranged the bread on it before the Lord, as the Lord had commanded Moses. He put the lampstand in the tent of meeting, opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle, and set up the lamps before the Lord, as the Lord had commanded Moses. He put the golden altar in the tent of meeting before the veil, and burned fragrant incense on it, as the Lord had commanded Moses. He put in place the screen for the door of the tabernacle. And he set the altar of burnt offering at the entrance of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, and offered on it the burnt offering and the grain offering, as the Lord had commanded Moses. He set the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it for washing, with which Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet. When they went into the tent of meeting, and when they approached the altar, they washed, as the Lord commanded Moses. And he erected the court around the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the screen of the gate of the court. So Moses finished the work. Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out. But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys. Ex 40:16-38

For today’s installment of our 40 Days Meditation series, our brother Miguel Vargas provides commentary on Ex 33:7-11; 33:18-34:9; 34:29-35. Listen below, download here, or search for Words from the Brothers on your favourite podcasting app. Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp. Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise up, and each would stand at his tent door, and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent. When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord would speak with Moses. And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door. Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent. Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.” The Lord said to Moses, “Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain. No one shall come up with you, and let no one be seen throughout all the mountain. Let no flocks or herds graze opposite that mountain.” So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first. And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone. The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. And he said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.” When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them. Afterward all the people of Israel came near, and he commanded them all that the Lord had spoken with him in Mount Sinai. And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. Whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil, until he came out. And when he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded, the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face was shining. And Moses would put the veil over his face again, until he went in to speak with him. Ex 33:7-11; 33:18-34:9; 34:29-35

For today’s installment of our 40 Days Meditation series, our brother Miguel Vargas provides commentary on Ex 24:1-18. Listen below, download here, or search for Words from the Brothers on your favourite podcasting app. Then he said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar. Moses alone shall come near to the Lord, but the others shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him.” Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.” And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.” Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank. The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.” So Moses rose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever has a dispute, let him go to them.” Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of the Lord dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights. Ex 24:1-18

Reading IExodus 17:3-7In those days, in their thirst for water,the people grumbled against Moses,saying, “Why did you ever make us leave Egypt?Was it just to have us die here of thirst with our children and our livestock?”So Moses cried out to the LORD, “What shall I do with this people?a little more and they will stone me!”The LORD answered Moses,“Go over there in front of the people, along with some of the elders of Israel, holding in your hand, as you go, the staff with which you struck the river.I will be standing there in front of you on the rock in Horeb.Strike the rock, and the water will flow from it for the people to drink.”This Moses did, in the presence of the elders of Israel.The place was called Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled thereand tested the LORD, saying,“Is the LORD in our midst or not?”Reading IIRomans 5:1-2, 5-8Brothers and sisters:Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God.And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.For Christ, while we were still helpless, died at the appointed time for the ungodly.Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person, though perhaps for a good person one might even find courage to die.But God proves his love for usin that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.GospelJohn 4:5-42Jesus came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.Jacob's well was there.Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well.It was about noon.A woman of Samaria came to draw water.Jesus said to her,“Give me a drink.”His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.The Samaritan woman said to him,“How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?”—For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.—Jesus answered and said to her,“If you knew the gift of Godand who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink, ‘you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”The woman said to him, “Sir, you do not even have a bucket and the cistern is deep; where then can you get this living water?Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this cistern and drank from it himself with his children and his flocks?”Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in hima spring of water welling up to eternal life.”The woman said to him,“Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”Jesus said to her,“Go call your husband and come back.”The woman answered and said to him,“I do not have a husband.”Jesus answered her,“You are right in saying, ‘I do not have a husband.'For you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband.What you have said is true.”The woman said to him,“Sir, I can see that you are a prophet.Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain; but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.”Jesus said to her,“Believe me, woman, the hour is comingwhen you will worship the Fatherneither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.You people worship what you do not understand; we worship what we understand, because salvation is from the Jews.But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him.God is Spirit, and those who worship himmust worship in Spirit and truth.”The woman said to him,“I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called the Christ; when he comes, he will tell us everything.”Jesus said to her,“I am he, the one speaking with you.”At that moment his disciples returned, and were amazed that he was talking with a woman, but still no one said, “What are you looking for?” or “Why are you talking with her?”The woman left her water jar and went into the town and said to the people, “Come see a man who told me everything I have done.Could he possibly be the Christ?”They went out of the town and came to him.Meanwhile, the disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat.”But he said to them,“I have food to eat of which you do not know.”So the disciples said to one another, “Could someone have brought him something to eat?”Jesus said to them,“My food is to do the will of the one who sent meand to finish his work.Do you not say, ‘In four months the harvest will be here'?I tell you, look up and see the fields ripe for the harvest.The reaper is already receiving payment and gathering crops for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together.For here the saying is verified that ‘One sows and another reaps.'I sent you to reap what you have not worked for; others have done the work, and you are sharing the fruits of their work.” Many of the Samaritans of that town began to believe in himbecause of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me everything I have done.”When the Samaritans came to him,they invited him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days.Many more began to believe in him because of his word, and they said to the woman, “We no longer believe because of your word; for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the savior of the world.”

Matthew 6:8-13 NIV8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.9 “This, then, is how you should pray:“‘Our Father in heaven,hallowed be your name,10 your kingdom come,your will be done,    on earth as it is in heaven.11 Give us today our daily bread.12 And forgive us our debts,    as we also have forgiven our debtors.13 And lead us not into temptation,[a]    but deliver us from the evil one.[b] Exodus 16:4-5, 13-18 MSG4-5 God said to Moses, “I'm going to rain bread down from the skies for you. The people will go out and gather each day's ration. I'm going to test them to see if they'll live according to my Teaching or not. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they have gathered, it will turn out to be twice as much as their daily ration.” 13-15 That evening quail flew in and covered the camp and in the morning there was a layer of dew all over the camp. When the layer of dew had lifted, there on the wilderness ground was a fine flaky something, fine as frost on the ground. The Israelites took one look and said to one another, man-hu (What is it?). They had no idea what it was.15-16 So Moses told them, “It's the bread God has given you to eat. And these are God's instructions: ‘Gather enough for each person, about two quarts per person; gather enough for everyone in your tent.'”17-18 The People of Israel went to work and started gathering, some more, some less, but when they measured out what they had gathered, those who gathered more had no extra and those who gathered less weren't short—each person had gathered as much as was needed. John 6:35 NIV35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

“God's Mediators”Exodus 6:28-7:13 [ESV]28 On the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29 the Lord said to Moses, “I am the Lord; tell Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.” 30 But Moses said to the Lord, “Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips. How will Pharaoh listen to me?”7:1 And the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. 2 You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land. 3 But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, 4 Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. 5 The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.” 6 Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the Lord commanded them. 7 Now Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.8 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Prove yourselves by working a miracle,' then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.'” 10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. 11 Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts. 12 For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. 13 Still Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.CONNECT WITH USIf you have any questions or would like to get to know us further, head over to https://www.triumphlbc.org/connect and fill out our online connection card.ABOUT TRIUMPHTriumph wants to see the life and message of Jesus transform your heart, home, and city. To learn more visit https://www.triumphlbc.org/

“That They Might Know”Exodus 7:1-13 [ESV]1 And the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. 2 You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land. 3 But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, 4 Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. 5 The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.” 6 Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the Lord commanded them. 7 Now Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.8 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Prove yourselves by working a miracle,' then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.'” 10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. 11 Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts. 12 For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. 13 Still Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.CONNECT WITH USIf you have any questions or would like to get to know us further, head over to https://www.triumphlbc.org/connect and fill out our online connection card.ABOUT TRIUMPHTriumph wants to see the life and message of Jesus transform your heart, home, and city. To learn more visit https://www.triumphlbc.org/

For today’s installment of our 40 Days Meditation series, our brother Philip Morrison provides commentary on Ex 19:1-25; 20:18-20. Listen below, download here, or search for Words from the Brothers on your favourite podcasting app. On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. They set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain, while Moses went up to God. The Lord called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.” So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. All the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” And Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord. And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever.” When Moses told the words of the people to the Lord, the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments and be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot; whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.” So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people; and they washed their garments. And he said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman.” On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder. The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the Lord to look and many of them perish. Also let the priests who come near to the Lord consecrate themselves, lest the Lord break out against them.” And Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for you yourself warned us, saying, ‘Set limits around the mountain and consecrate it.'” And the Lord said to him, “Go down, and come up bringing Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, lest he break out against them.” So Moses went down to the people and told them. Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” Ex 19:1-25; 20:18-20

For today’s installment of our 40 Days Meditation series, our brother Philip Morrison provides commentary on Ex 18:13-27. Listen below, download here, or search for Words from the Brothers on your favourite podcasting app. The next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening. When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?” And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God; when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make them know the statutes of God and his laws.” Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone. Now obey my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you! You shall represent the people before God and bring their cases to God, and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do. Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace.” So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. And they judged the people at all times. Any hard case they brought to Moses, but any small matter they decided themselves. Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went away to his own country. Ex 18:13-27

Moses has returned with new tablets after shattering the first pair. He has negotiated not only forgiveness for the Children of Israel after the Golden Calf debacle, he has also made an agreement with God that He would dwell amongst the people. So Moses presents the Mishkan project and asks for the people to contribute to it. But this is no ordinary project, it will create the circumstances for God's presence to dwell amongst the people. They will need to bring their very souls, not just their gold and silver. In this episode we explore the nature of this giving and what it entails.

For today’s installment of our 40 Days Meditation series, our brother Philip Morrison provides commentary on Ex 17:1-16. Listen below, download here, or search for Words from the Brothers on your favourite podcasting app. 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 Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” But the people thirsted there 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?” So Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 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. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?” Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur 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. And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” 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! The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.” Ex 17:1-16

Return of the Man-Child (3) (audio) David Eells – 3/19/25  Taking up where we left off, we read, And thou Bethlehem, land of Judah, Art in no wise least among the princes of Judah: For out of thee shall come forth a governor, Who shall be shepherd of my people Israel (Mat.2:6). We know that Jesus is always going to be the Shepherd; He's always going to be the King David over Israel. God is never going to change that, but there are some things that He might change, as we'll see. Previously, we learned that the Lord said, A body didst thou prepare for me (Heb.10:5). The Lord, Son of God, came in a body that was prepared for Him through Mary, a body of the Son of Man. We know that God's plan was for Jesus to leave an individual body and return in a corporate body so that He could minister all over the world. Today we are going to see the first-fruits of those who have fully entered into this by the grace of God. In other words, the first-fruits will be a body like the body of His temple that He spoke about when He said, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up (Joh.2:19). (21) But he spake of the temple of his body. And we've discovered that's referring to His corporate body.   We know that the Lord comes in every one of us. For instance, He says, Try your own selves, whether ye are in the faith; prove your own selves. Or know ye not as to your own selves, that Jesus Christ is in you? unless indeed ye be reprobate (2Co.13:5). (Col.1:27) … Christ in you, the hope of glory. Jesus Christ is in you! All through the Old Testament, Jesus was coming in vessels of honor through whom He ministered. For example, it says this: (1Pe.1:10) Concerning which salvation the prophets sought and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that [should come] unto you: (11) searching what [time] or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did point unto, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that should follow them. The Spirit of Christ was in great men of the Old Testament and that's what made them great men. He is the Shepherd; He is the Ruler; He is the King David and always will be, but He's going to repeat history because That which hath been is that which shall be (Ecc.1:9).   I'm reminded of a very famous text that speaks of Who Jesus is: (Isa.9:6) For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father (or “Father of eternity,” literally), Prince of Peace. (7) Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. God called Jesus to repeat history Himself. He was a King David in His day, Who was given, once again, the reins of government, which is in total agreement with what the Bible says about Him.   (Luk.1:31) And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. (32) He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: (33) and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. So He would receive the throne of David forever, just as the Bible speaks about when it states, David shall never want (“lack”) a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel (Jer.33:17).   For example, the Bible says this: (Jer.33:14) Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform that good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and concerning the house of Judah. (15) In those days, and at that time, will I cause a Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David (now, this was a long time after David); and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. (16) In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely; and this is [the name] whereby she shall be called … That's a very strange text, but if nobody had changed what word was actually there in the Hebrew, that's what they would have had to translate; the word is “she.” It's strange because in Chapter 23 the word is “he,” but here it is “she.” Some people think, “Well, he made a mistake and they replaced it with ‘he.'” They didn't translate what was really there.   The word, “she” is used quite often in the Bible when referring to a corporate body of people and that's what this is. This is a corporate body, which God calls the “branch,” that is raised up as the seed of David. We know that Jesus Christ is our David on His throne all the way up through eternity, but as we saw earlier, the Spirit of Christ comes into many men and we have seen many from the beginning of Scripture to the end who are types of the Man-child. The Spirit of Christ comes into them and uses them, like a body of the son of David. (Jer.33:16) In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely; and this is [the name] whereby she shall be called: the Lord our righteousness. Notice that this is a corporate body of people, “our righteousness.” (Jer.33:17) For thus saith the Lord: David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel.   Now we know that Jesus the Son of God has been given the authority of David's throne for eternity, but the question is, what is the “man” that He abides in who does this work? This is what the branch is; it's a corporate body of men in whom the Spirit of Christ rules and reigns. (Jer.33:18) Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt-offerings, and to burn meal-offerings, and to do sacrifice continually. (19) And the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah, saying, (20) Thus saith the Lord: If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, so that there shall not be day and night in their season; (21) then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he shall not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers. In other words, this is from the time of David up until the time of Christ and until our time; so it appears that He never broke His covenant with David. There was always a David upon the throne. Isn't that amazing?   I would suspect that you could not recognize this corporate body according to the flesh. (Luk.17:20) … The kingdom of God cometh not with observation. We're talking about a spiritual Israel, a spiritual Jerusalem, and a spiritual David. Many people recognize, that Jesus was the Son of David and that He was born of the seed of David according to the flesh (Rom.1:3), but He was declared [to be] the Son of God with power, according to the spirit (4). What body could the Lord be choosing in our day to fulfill this covenant of a man in whom Jesus Christ lives to occupy the throne? Well, it's the body of the Man-child (Revelation 12:5), which we've spoken of. (Jer.33:22) As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured; so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.   I am sure you could look at that in a certain way, meaning multiplied throughout history, but I suspect it also means (and the Lord likes to hide things like that) that in these days there will be a great number of Davids and that this, “the Lord our righteousness,” is a very large group of people. (Jer.33:25) Thus saith the Lord: If my covenant of day and night [stand] not (Is it still in effect? I would say so.), if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; (26) then will I also cast away the seed of Jacob, and of David my servant, so that I will not take of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (The seed of David is to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.): for I will cause their captivity to return, and will have mercy on them. In these days, we know that even with the natural seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, a remnant of them is once again going to turn to the Lord God of Israel.   We read in the last study that in Revelation 12, the son of David, this Man-child is caught up to the throne of God. And here we see the Bible says, Blessed be the Lord thy God, who delighted in thee, to set thee on his throne, to be king for the Lord thy God (2Ch.9:8). Many people see the Man-child caught up to the throne of God in heaven, but the Lord God is calling David's throne on Earth His throne. This is the throne of God. In fact, it says here, At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord (Jer.3:17). Jeremiah is talking about the New Jerusalem on Earth. There is still a throne of David. Not in natural Israel, but you can find it in spiritual Israel because we know that Jesus Christ is the Son of David, the eternal Lord of His Kingdom. And He's also coming in a body, A body didst thou prepare for me (Heb.10:5).   You may say, “That was referring to the body of the individual Jesus.” That's true, but everything repeats and it always repeats on a larger scale. We have the Word of God for that, which cannot be broken (Joh.10:35). So we have to believe that it will be the same thing once again. The Lord told me many years ago, “Everything that has happened in the Gospels and in the Book of Acts will happen again, except the cast of characters will be multiplied many times over.” The Lord thy God, who delighted in thee, to set thee on his throne, to be king for the Lord thy God (2Ch.9:8) is true of Jesus. It's true of the body of Jesus and we've already spoken of the manifestation of the body of Christ, that we all claim to be by faith, and rightly so. But we've discovered that there is also a manifestation of the body of Christ, that is, those in whom Christ lives. If Christ lives in you, then you manifestly are the body of Christ. We've taught that we grow into this wonderful position 30-, 60- and 100-fold, according to Jesus Himself, so God is fulfilling it in that way.   Let me share something else with you. Remember that the Lord told me that the Gospels were a type of the first 3½ years of the Tribulation period and the Book of Acts was a type of the second 3½ years. Now we know that other types of the end-time Man-child show different similarities. For instance, Joseph brought God's people through the seven years of famine, which is a type of the seven-year Tribulation. We also know that Moses took God's people geographically halfway through the wilderness and we know that Revelation chapters 12 and 17 speak of the first and second 3½ years, respectively, and call the “wilderness” the “Tribulation.” Moses went halfway through the wilderness and then was glorified. When I say halfway, I'm not talking about time-wise, but in geographical distance. Some people, myself included, believe that the Lord brought His people across what we now call the Gulf of Suez, high up near where Succoth was, where the Gulf narrowed down quite a bit. Then He carried them across the Sinai Peninsula, where they crossed the Gulf of Aqaba, which they called the “Red Sea.”   Apostle Paul said, Mount Sinai in Arabia (Gal.4:25), not in Sinai. Arabia is east of the Gulf of Aqaba. I had heard years ago that the explorer Ron Wyatt had come across the pillar that the Israelites had erected to identify the place where the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea and it was on the eastern shore of Aqaba. They also discovered out there the mountain that Exodus 19 speaks of being burnt and charred on the top because God's presence came down on it, which was Mt. Sinai, and found it as a place called Jabal al-Lawz, which means “the Mount of the Law.” That's interesting because that's where Moses received the Law. If you look, which I have, on several maps, you can see where the Israelites left Egypt and crossed the Gulf of Suez. And if you follow that on down to Jabal al-Lawz and then follow that point and return back up to where they crossed into the Promised Land, you find that it is like an isosceles triangle (where the two legs are approximately even).   I thought the Lord was pointing out to me at that time that Moses went halfway through the wilderness (meaning 3½ years) and at that point he was glorified. Like Moses, Jesus went 3½ years through His ministry before He was glorified. I believe that Mount Sinai is Jabal al-Lawz in Arabia. Many signs seem to confirm that, even though the Saudi Arabians have fenced the mount off. They do not want Christians going in there.   By the way, at the foot of Jabal al-Lawz is the altar where the golden calf was set. Of course, the golden calf isn't there anymore, but the altar is. There are quite a few other artifacts there, including several hieroglyphics depicting the golden calf scratched into the rocks in the area of the altar. These finds make it very plain that this is the correct spot and I believe Ron Wyatt even took pictures of chariot wheels submerged in the Gulf of Aqaba, which further makes the case that it was the real Red Sea, not the Gulf of Suez. It would have taken the Israelites three months to travel from Egypt to Jabal al-Lawz. It took them a lot longer to get to the Promised Land because they were disobedient by worshipping the golden calf, but it was geographically halfway. I believe the Lord was showing me the two 3½-year periods of the wilderness Tribulation.   At any rate, we have a pretty good confirmation right here: (Exo.34:29) And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of the testimony in Moses' hand … The two tables of the Testimony are the same thing as the Tables of Witness, the Two Witnesses. The Man-child is going to give to God's people the Two Witnesses, upon whose heart the Word of God is written, not upon tables of stone. There's a fulfillment here of that. (Exo.34:29) And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of the testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses knew not that the skin of his face shone by reason of his speaking with him. In other words, Moses had come face-to-face with God. We know that we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory (2Co.3:18). This is the type and the shadow here of God's people, at least the first-fruits, coming into the Image of God. It even says, The first of the first-fruits of thy ground thou shalt bring unto the house of the Lord thy God (Exo.34:26). There is a type of the first-fruits here and it is Moses. It would have been Jesus in His time, but here it's Moses.   So after Moses came face-to-face with God, Moses manifested His glory. I believe what's being said here is that this is a glorified soul, not a glorified body. The Man-child goes through three stages of perfection. I believe that when Jesus started His ministry, He was perfected in Spirit by the Holy Spirit because He was anointed with the Holy Spirit. And when He was crucified, that's a parable about our being crucified, too, in a crucifixion of self 3½ years into the Tribulation. When a parable is first shown (and the Bible does say that Jesus was a sign (Isaiah 7:14), or in Hebrew, an uwth of something to come), it's literal, and the next time it's spiritual.   So we see that the first-fruits, who are only spiritually the Man-child and not physically, as Jesus was, are the spiritual fulfillment of this parable. In the midst of the Tribulation period, the Man-child is going to be glorified in soul because “self” has been crucified. At the end of the Tribulation period, he will be glorified in body. The progression is first spirit, then soul in the middle, and then body. These are the three stages of perfection that God is bringing Himself to in His people. In fact, When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be marvelled at in all them that believed (because our testimony unto you was believed) in that day (2Th.1:10). And also, But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, for that God chose you from the beginning unto salvation in sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth (2Th.2:13).   Let's continue in Exodus. (Exo.34:30) And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him. (31) And Moses called unto them; and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him: and Moses spake to them. They must have run on down the road because they had to turn around and return to him. (Exo.34:32) And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh: and he gave them in commandment all that the Lord had spoken with him in mount Sinai. (33) And when Moses had done speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. (34) But when Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he took the veil off (because he wanted to see the Lord clearly, face-to-face), until he came out; and he came out, and spake unto the children of Israel that which he was commanded. So, Moses was in communication with God face-to-face, but with the children of Israel behind a veil.   This will also be so with the ministry of the Man-child. Jesus said, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father doing: for what things soever he doeth, these the Son also doeth in like manner (Joh.5:19). Jesus was in close fellowship with the Father; He walked in the Spirit; He saw the Father and He saw the people. Yet Jesus walked also behind a veil, as the Scripture clearly shows us, and we'll see that shortly. (Exo.34:35) And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone; and Moses put the veil upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him. We're told the same thing about the first-fruits. (Heb.10:19) Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, (20) by the way which He dedicated for us, a new and living way, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh.   So we enter into the presence of God through the veil, which is to say, through His flesh. Jesus' flesh was a veil. The people did not see the real Jesus. They didn't see the glorified man underneath that veil of flesh; they saw the veil. However, when the Lord went into the presence of God, He was in Spirit where there was no veil, speaking with the Father. This is the same thing we see here with Moses. Moses was a type of Jesus and a type of the Man-child. We're getting a description here of the kind of ministry that the Man-child is going to have and it's just like Jesus' ministry.   Seeing God face-to-face makes us capable of manifesting God before His people. (2Co.3:18) But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit. From behind that body of flesh, called a veil, there was a glorified soul, ready to walk through the other half of the wilderness.   Now we know that Moses went all the way through the wilderness, but that's only part of the picture. If we look at other different types of the Man-child, they'll show other parts of the whole picture. For example, we can also see Jesus in Acts where it says, And when they were come over against Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia; and the Spirit of Jesus suffered them not (Act.16:7). So Jesus was a type of the second 3½ years of the Man-child during the Tribulation. We know that because the second part of the Tribulation started at the end of Jesus' ministry when He was crucified and it ended with the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, which was the destruction of the Harlot by the Beast. We see that the second 3½ years starts at the end of the first 3½ years and extends to the point of destruction of the Harlot by the Beast. The Book of Acts represents the 40 years between Jesus' ministry and the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Forty is the number of tribulation.   We're seeing here a perfect parallel between Moses and Jesus. Some have thought that Jesus did not have a ministry after His 3½ years, but He did have a ministry of guiding His people for 3½ years, just like Moses went the other half of the distance through the wilderness to the Promised Land. Moses brought the people all the way and, in type, Jesus did that, too. His glorification in the second 3½ years represents what Moses was when “his face shone.” What we're really referring to in the end times is a glorified soul underneath a body, with the body being the veil that permitted men to look upon that which is glorified and have fellowship without being frightened. We would call it bearing fruit “100-fold.” When the Lord sows the seed of the Word in our hearts, it's to bring forth Himself in us, 30-, 60- and 100-fold (Matthew 13). That's not referring to the body; that's referring to the fruit of Christ in the soul, or in the heart, and that is what we are here for. What makes the first-fruits the first-fruits, is that they have come into this glorified soul and they have come into the crucifixion of self, which is the type that Jesus showed us.   If we look at the timing of Exodus 34, we find that it falls in the middle of the Tribulation period. How do we know that? Well, for instance, in Chapter 32, we see what happened there was, they made the image of the beast and worshipped it. That's a pretty clear sign of being the middle of the Tribulation period. What came along with worshiping the image of the Beast, according to Revelation 14, was the mark of the Beast. So we see them there in Chapter 32 bowing down to this image of the beast and we see God's rebuke of them, and we see the Tables of the Testimony were cast down and broken.   (Exo.32:19) And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. We know the two Tables of the Testimony represent the Two Witnesses corporate body because “witness” and “testimony” are the same word. So Moses the Man-child, as a type of Jesus Christ, brings the two witnesses with the Word of God written upon their heart to the people of God, which is what Jesus did with His disciples when He sent them out two-by-two. They were a corporate body of two witnesses to go to God's people and bring the Law, that was written upon their hearts, to them. It's an exact type and shadow of what we see here.   However, it says here, he saw the calf and the dancing (in other words, the people were worshiping the image of the beast): and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount (Exo.32:19). So not only did Jesus bring the Two Witnesses, but the people in their sins “broke” them. I believe that the Apostle John was the only one who died a natural death of old age. The rest of the apostles were all killed. The apostates “broke” their Two Witnesses. We see what God says about this situation a few verses later: (Exo.32:26) Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Whoso is on the Lord's side, [let him come] unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. These are the only people who did not worship the image of the beast from among the camp of God's people.   We're told that God has chosen us to be a kingdom of priests. (Exo.19:5) Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be mine own possession from among all peoples: for all the earth is mine: (6) and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation … In other words, all of God's people were called to be priests because we all offer sacrifices unto God and we especially offer up this body as a living sacrifice unto the Lord. On the altar of the fiery trial, the old flesh is burned up, which is what our sacrificial life is supposed to be.   The people who did sacrifice, the Levites, did not join in with the rest in worshiping the image of the beast. The true Levites, the tribe that followed God, were God's inheritance. It was the firstborn from among all of Israel who were His inheritance and then God changed that to be the Levites. Those priests were His inheritance, He said, and God was their inheritance. Those Levites were the ones who were on the Lord's side. (Exo.32:27) And he said unto them, Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, Put ye every man his sword upon his thigh, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor. Well, as you know, those who worship the image of the Beast are slain because they no longer belong to the body of Christ; they belong to the Beast. The mark of the Beast is the sign of his ownership and those on whom have the mark, belong to him. They are dead; they're no longer living.   The Levites will have the authority to bring great judgment on the earth and, again, we're talking about the middle of the Tribulation period because we're referring to the mark and image of the Beast being manifested. This was the time that Moses was glorified; this was the time when the Two Witnesses were beginning to be killed. (Rev.11:8) And their dead bodies [lie] in the street of the great city (that's Babylon, not Jerusalem), which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. (9) And from among the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations do [men] look upon their dead bodies three days and a half, and suffer not their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. “Three days and a half” is half of the seven “days” of the 70th week of Daniel 9, which makes it 3½ years that the Two Witnesses will be killed. From the time of the middle of the Tribulation to the end of the Tribulation, they are being killed.   When they finish their testimony, this great group of witnesses (prophets) will be allowed by God to be killed and they're resurrected in the last trump of Revelation 11:15. But in response it is Moses, it is the Manchild, who sends the Levites forth to slay the members of the body of the Beast. (Exo.32:28) And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. (29) And Moses said, Consecrate yourselves today to the Lord, yea, every man against his son, and against his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day. (30) And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the Lord; peradventure I shall make atonement for your sin. (31) And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. (32) Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin—; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.   Moses wanted to take the place of the people, which is also what Jesus did, but how many of you know that Jesus' sacrifice will not apply to everybody in the end? (Heb.10:26) For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more a sacrifice for sins, (27) but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which shall devour the adversaries. People who live a life of willful sin and indulgence in the world will die. As the Bible says, If ye live after the flesh, ye must die (Rom.8:13). Walking after the flesh is to take the mark of the Beast because the mind of the flesh and the works of the flesh is to take the mark. Those people who are walking in sin willfully and do so up until death will have no sacrifice.   (Exo.32:33) And the Lord said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. In other words, God would not take the sacrifice of Moses for those people who worshipped the image of the Beast and took the mark. In fact, in Revelation 14:9-11, He says that there is no sacrifice for them. This is a way of separating those people who are Christian in name only from those who are Levites, the kingdom of priests that God said would come. “Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.” That sounds like reprobation to me.   (Exo.32:34) And now go, lead the people unto [the place] of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine angel shall go before thee; nevertheless in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them. (35) And the Lord smote the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made. This is clearly referring to the time of the middle of the Tribulation period, when Moses in type as the Man-child is glorified, at least in soul underneath that body of flesh, in order to carry them all the way to the Promised Land, which in one parable we would call the “Kingdom of Heaven.” At the end of the seven years, that's exactly where God's people go. Just like Noah, they'll be in the Ark; it lifts off and they're in the Kingdom of Heaven.   I think it would make a very good study to do an Internet search for “Jabal al-Lawz” and learn about some of the things that have been discovered about this particular mountain. Again, it's not located in the middle of the wilderness by time; it's only the middle of the wilderness by geography, by distance. But that's where the altar of the golden calf was and that's where the fire burned the top of the mountain and where Moses was given the Law to give to the people. It's very interesting. Actually, the first time Moses was on the mountain was way back in Exodus 19 and this is the second time he's on the mountain because this had to fulfill the type. So we have Joseph going, as a type of the Man-child, seven years, and we have Moses, as a type of the Man-child, going through the first and the second half of the Tribulation, which were both called “the wilderness.” Now we have Jesus also going through the two halves, in the Gospels and the Book of Acts, as well.   As we said earlier, the Spirit of Jesus was surely in those disciples. Jesus said, It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life (Joh.6:63). His words went into those disciples and recreated Himself in them. The spirit in them was the Spirit of Christ. He had taken on a new body, but it was still the Spirit of Christ. When the first-fruits show up, I believe very shortly, in our day, this is what we're going to find. They are the body of the Son of David which sits upon God's throne. It's not a throne somewhere up there in the sky, but it's the throne here on the earth that spiritually is the leadership of God's people. The throne is the place of leadership.   I had quoted Jeremiah earlier, but only a part of it. It says, At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it (So you know it's not natural Jerusalem because the Gentiles are coming to it.), to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart (Jer.3:17). This is the end time, obviously, because this has not been true at any time in history. It has to be the “latter days” because, truly, when these people come to the throne, God has perfected them, matured them, and made them ready for the Kingdom of Heaven.   (Jer.3:18) In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north (which was captivity) to the land that I gave for an inheritance unto your fathers. Our early church fathers were given all of the land for an inheritance, but for 2000 years we have not entered into it. It was the same with Israel. In the beginning, God gave them the whole land, which represented the Land of Promise, but I don't think they ever set foot on any more than about a third of it and actually take possession of it.   Well, in these last days, we are going to take possession of all of the land that was given to our fathers; we're going to take possession of all of the Land of Promise, representing all of the promises of God that we're going to walk in. We are going to enter into the land of rest. (Heb.4:3) For we who have believed do enter into that rest … We're actually going to keep the real Sabbath, not the shadow, and it is to walk in all of the Land of Promise that the Lord gave unto us. Once again, God's people will be walking as the early disciples walked. They'll be walking in the power of God, in the anointing of God and in the knowledge of the truth, only this time it will be the latter rain.   When he began to walk with God, Moses was the one who had the former rain (or the latter rain, in type) because God took of the anointing that was upon Moses and put it upon the 70 elders. If you remember, that's the same thing that happened to Jesus. Jesus was the One Who came with the former rain and He was the only One Who had it, but the people whom He raised up as disciples were later given this anointing. When Jesus first sent His disciples out during the first 3½ years, they didn't have that anointing. What they had was authority given by the Lord. He said, “You go and do this,” and they went out and healed the sick and cast out devils and raised the dead (Matthew 10). Jesus was their authority. But then He said that God was also going to send “another Comforter” (John 14:16) and we know that was the Holy Spirit Who came in the middle of the Tribulation, on Pentecost, in the middle of the seven years and at the end of the 3½ years of Jesus' ministry. The disciples received the former rain and went out with that anointing to do the works of Jesus.   Jesus said the Spirit of God shall take of mine, and shall declare [it] unto you (Joh.16:14). One of the jobs of the Holy Spirit is to recreate in us, through the anointing (because “Christ” means “anointed”), the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. It is impossible to do that without the anointing, which breaks the yoke (Isaiah 10:27). It is Not by might, nor by power (meaning man's might and power), but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts (Zec.4:6). The Lord is about to make this possible. The anointing that was upon Moses, the Lord later took and put upon those 70 elders. Jesus also had 70 whom He sent out and the anointing came upon them.   I especially like what it says a little further down in the text. (Jer.3:19) But I said, How I will put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of the nations! and I said, Ye shall call me My Father, and shall not turn away from following me. He had already said, “Neither shall they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart.” Wow! This is awesome! I dare say, that most of the people of God do not know Him as Father. They know Him as “God,” a very distant name. But know Him as Father? This is the relationship the Lord is going to establish by bringing us into the manifestation of the sons of God (Romans 8:19). Jesus was the Son of God and always called Him “Father.” Get out your concordance and look it up. He did not call Him all the names that the Jewish Christians or the Judaized Christians wanted to call Him. Jesus called Him “Father” and this is what He says we will call Him. This is what we'll know Him as – as “Father,” like Jesus knew Him. He used the term over and over, all the way through the Gospels.   These people are going to be coming back out of the land of the north (as we see from Jeremiah 3:14 on down), out of bondage, back to Zion. Zion is the place where King David ruled and Zion is the place where Jesus ruled, not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. Jesus was ruling in a new city of Jerusalem and the Apostle Paul told the disciples that they are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem (Heb.12:22) while they were on the earth. So, once again, God is restoring the Kingdom.   As Jesus came to restore the Kingdom, the Man-child is coming to restore, to rebuild spiritual, heavenly Jerusalem on this earth and to sit as the body in whom the King Jesus Christ lives. God has said, David shall never want (“lack”) a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel (Jer.33:17). Inside that “man” is going to be the King of kings and He is going to get all the credit. The King of kings is coming inside the body of the Son of David. Glory be to God! Isn't it neat the way God has put this parable together over and over, so we would understand sooner or later?   Father, in the Name of Jesus, we thank You so much, Lord, for helping us to see these wondrous things and we enjoy seeing the New Testament in our time, Lord, the Gospel time period. You are going to repeat this again. Oh, what a wondrous time we are coming to! A time of great glory, a time when the Lord Himself is coming to fellowship with us and live in our midst, as He lived in the midst of the Tabernacle in the wilderness, Lord. He came in the midst of His people. Jesus is Immanuel, “God with us,” and we thank You, Lord. We want so much for You to live in our midst. Those people who bowed to the golden calf, You were angered with and said You would no longer go in the midst of those people because they were a stiff-necked people. Lord, we know that's true of those who worship the image of the Beast, but it's not true of Your true people, who are Your true Levites, Your chosen ministers. Lord, we praise You and we thank You for the privilege of having You walking in our midst. We ask You, Lord, to finish the promise that You gave us, the promise that You gave to the fathers. Cause us to walk on all of the land that You gave to them, Lord, which our forefathers lost out on during the Dark Ages all the way up until the time we are in now. Thank You for being our Father and our Savior, in Jesus' name. Amen.  

For today’s installment of our 40 Days Meditation series, our brother Philip Morrison provides commentary on Ex 16:1-18, 35. Listen below, download here, or search for Words from the Brothers on your favourite podcasting app. They set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, “At evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against the Lord. For what are we, that you grumble against us?” And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him-what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the Lord.” Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, ‘Come near before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.'” And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. And the Lord said to Moses, “I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.'” In the evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp. And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground. When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat. This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an omer, according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.'” And the people of Israel did so. They gathered, some more, some less. But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat. Ex 16:1-18, 35

For today’s installment of our 40 Days Meditation series, our brother Philip Morrison provides commentary on Ex 14:10-31. Listen below, download here, or search for Words from the Brothers on your favourite podcasting app. When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord. They 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 in bringing us out of Egypt? Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” And 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.” The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground. And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.” Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. And in the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic, clogging their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from before Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians.” Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.” So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the Lord threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained. But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses. Ex 14:10-31

For today’s installment of our 40 Days Meditation series, our brother Dan Keating provides commentary on Ex 10:21-11:10. Listen below, download here, or search for Words from the Brothers on your favourite podcasting app. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt.” So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was pitch darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the people of Israel had light where they lived. Then Pharaoh called Moses and said, “Go, serve the Lord; your little ones also may go with you; only let your flocks and your herds remain behind.” But Moses said, “You must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God. Our livestock also must go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind, for we must take of them to serve the Lord our God, and we do not know with what we must serve the Lord until we arrive there.” But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go. Then Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me; take care never to see my face again, for on the day you see my face you shall die.” Moses said, “As you say! I will not see your face again.” The Lord said to Moses, “Yet one plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will drive you away completely. Speak now in the hearing of the people, that they ask, every man of his neighbor and every woman of her neighbor, for silver and gold jewelry.” And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people. So Moses said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt, and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle. There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again. But not a dog shall growl against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’ And all these your servants shall come down to me and bow down to me, saying, ‘Get out, you and all the people who follow you.’ And after that I will go out.” And he went out from Pharaoh in hot anger. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, and the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go out of his land. Ex 10:21-11:10

For today’s installment of our 40 Days Meditation series, our brother Dan Keating provides commentary on Ex 6:28-7:24. Listen below, download here, or search for Words from the Brothers on your favourite podcasting app. On the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, the Lord said to Moses, “I am the Lord; tell Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.” But Moses said to the Lord, “Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips. How will Pharaoh listen to me?” And the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land. But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.” Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the Lord commanded them. Now Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh. Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Prove yourselves by working a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.'” So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts. For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. Still Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water. Stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that turned into a serpent. And you shall say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness. But so far, you have not obeyed. Thus says the Lord, By this you shall know that I am the Lord: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood. The fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will grow weary of drinking water from the Nile.'” And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, so that they may become blood, and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.'” Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile turned into blood. And the fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts. So Pharaoh’s heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said. Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart. And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the Nile. Ex 6:28-7:24

“So Moses made a snake out of bronze and attached it to a pole. Then anyone who was bitten by a snake could look at the bronze snake and be healed!” (Numbers 21:9 NLT) Moses led the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt and into the Promised Land. But the journey was anything but pleasant. The Israelites complained repeatedly about the traveling conditions. They accused Moses of leading them into the wilderness to die. God parted the waters of the Red Sea so that they could walk through the middle on dry ground to escape the Egyptian army. He caused fresh water to flow from a rock in the desert when the Israelites were thirsty. He sent manna and quail to feed them when they were hungry. Still, they complained. God gave them a miraculous military victory over the Canaanites. But after the battle, when Moses led them around the land of Edom instead of through it, “the people grew impatient with the long journey, and they began to speak against God and Moses. ‘Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die here in the wilderness?’ they complained. ‘There is nothing to eat here and nothing to drink. And we hate this horrible manna!’” (Numbers 21:4–5 NLT). The Israelites needed to learn a hard lesson. “So the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and many were bitten and died. Then the people came to Moses and cried out, ‘We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take away the snakes.’ So Moses prayed for the people” (verses 6–7 NLT). Lesson learned (for the moment). The people sinned and faced the punishment for it. They confessed, repented, and prayed. And God sent them a way to be saved. He instructed Moses to make a bronze replica of a snake and attach it to a pole. Anyone who looked at the bronze snake was healed and saved from death. Of course, there’s more going on in this story than people recovering from snake bites. This is a preview of the work of Jesus on the cross. In John 3:14–15, Jesus said, “And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life” (NLT). And in John 12:32, He said, “And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself” (nlt). The apostle John adds this note in the following verse: “He said this to indicate how he was going to die” (NLT). Everyone has sinned and faces God’s punishment of death. The only way you can be saved is to confess your sins, ask God’s forgiveness, and place your faith in the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross. You might wonder, “Why would God be concerned about me?” Job asked, “What are people, that you should make so much of us, that you should think of us so often?” (Job 7:17 NLT). There are many reasons, but the most notable would simply be that He loves you! He loves you with an everlasting love! The amazing thing is that the God of the universe loves you and is watching over you. He will bless you, smile on you, keep you, and give you His full attention and peace because He cares for you. Reflection question: Why is Jesus the only way to be saved from God’s punishment for our sins? Discuss Today's Devo in Harvest Discipleship! — Listen to the Greg Laurie Podcast Become a Harvest PartnerSupport the show: https://harvest.org/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Back to EgyptExodus 4:18-31 [ESV]18 Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Please let me go back to my brothers in Egypt to see whether they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” 19 And the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” 20 So Moses took his wife and his sons and had them ride on a donkey, and went back to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the staff of God in his hand.21 And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. 22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son, 23 and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.'”24 At a lodging place on the way the Lord met him and sought to put him to death. 25 Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses' feet with it and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!” 26 So he let him alone. It was then that she said, “A bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.27 The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him. 28 And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which he had sent him to speak, and all the signs that he had commanded him to do. 29 Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the people of Israel. 30 Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people. 31 And the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.CONNECT WITH USIf you have any questions or would like to get to know us further, head over to https://www.triumphlbc.org/connect and fill out our online connection card.ABOUT TRIUMPHTriumph wants to see the life and message of Jesus transform your heart, home, and city. To learn more visit https://www.triumphlbc.org/

Return to EgyptExodus 3:9-4:17 [ESV]18 Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Please let me go back to my brothers in Egypt to see whether they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” 19 And the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” 20 So Moses took his wife and his sons and had them ride on a donkey, and went back to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the staff of God in his hand.21 And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. 22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son, 23 and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.'”24 At a lodging place on the way the Lord met him and sought to put him to death. 25 Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses'[a] feet with it and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!” 26 So he let him alone. It was then that she said, “A bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.27 The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him. 28 And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which he had sent him to speak, and all the signs that he had commanded him to do. 29 Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the people of Israel. 30 Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people. 31 And the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.CONNECT WITH USIf you have any questions or would like to get to know us further, head over to https://www.triumphlbc.org/connect and fill out our online connection card.ABOUT TRIUMPHTriumph wants to see the life and message of Jesus transform your heart, home, and city. To learn more visit https://www.triumphlbc.org/

Phylicia Masonheimer joins us to discuss what a theology of sex is, why we struggle with it, and how to develop a better theology. Sponsor We LOVE Share the Soap! Check out their fabulous skin-care products made with from goat milk, essential oils, and other wholesome ingredients. From the Bible But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Galatians 5:22–23 (NLT) The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife. Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 1 Corinthians 7:3–5 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 1 Corinthians 13:4–7 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 1 John 4:16 (ESV) For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:15–16 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.' “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don't fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually come and attack me!'” And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? Luke 18:1–7 So Moses brought their case before the Lord, and the Lord said to him, “What Zelophehad's daughters are saying is right. You must certainly give them property as an inheritance among their father's relatives and give their father's inheritance to them. Numbers 27:5–7 “If a man seduces a virgin who is not engaged to anyone and has sex with her, he must pay the customary bride price and marry her. But if her father refuses to let him marry her, the man must still pay him an amount equal to the bride price of a virgin. Exodus 22:16-17 (NLT) Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— for we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. (Ephesians 5:25-33 Resources Every Woman a Theologian - Phylicia Masonheimer The Sex Talk You Never Had by Phylicia Masonheimer Episode 154: Why We're Against Porn and Erotica Common Myths of Romance Novels - Hot, Holy & Humorous Wired for Story: The Writer's Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence by Lisa Cron Why You Feel Worse Than He Does about the Premarital Sex - Hot, Holy & Humorous 5 Reasons Satan Targets Marriage • Bonny's Oysterbed7 Francie Winslow (mentioned by Phylicia, but

Passage: 2 And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, 3 and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” 4 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. 5 On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” 6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, “At evening you shall know that it was the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, 7 and in the morning you shall see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your grumbling against the LORD. For what are we, that you grumble against us?” 8 And Moses said, “When the LORD gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the LORD has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him—what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the LORD.” (Exodus 16:2-8 ESV) Song: Manna (After All This Time) by Chris Renzema Lyrics: Feels like 40 years since I saw that burning bush And even longer still Since I felt the heat from that flame And if I'm being honest with You Sure hoped there'd be a few More of those along the way But I still believe You're here even in the waiting 'Cause after all these years I still love You And after all these years I'll still praise Your holy name 'Cause even when I've lost my taste for manna It comes from Heaven all the same every day It comes from Heaven all the same Feels like 40 years since I saw You split the sea And even longer still Since You split this heart in me And I don't know why Some days I just get so afraid That meeting You was just a dream So when I'm falling asleep Would You come wake some faith in me 'Cause after all these years I still love You And after all these years I'll still praise Your holy name 'Cause even when I've lost my taste for manna It comes from Heaven all the same (comes from Heaven all the same) Even when I've lost my taste for manna It comes from Heaven all the same every day It comes from Heaven all the same Whether or not I recognize The miracle hidden in the mundane Oh the bread of Heaven's offered either way Prayer: O Lord, have mercy upon us. O Christ, have mercy upon us. O Spirit, have mercy upon us. O God the Father in heaven, we beseech you, hear us. O God the Son, Redeemer of the world, we beseech you, hear us. O God the Holy Spirit, our Comforter, we beseech you, hear us. Be gracious unto us. Spare us, good Lord. Be gracious unto us. Help us, good Lord. Be gracious unto us. Save us, good Lord, from our sin, from our errors, from all evil. Good Lord, deliver us. Lord, have mercy upon us. Amen. — Gregory the Great

Passage: The Lord said to Moses, “Yet one plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will drive you away completely. Speak now in the hearing of the people, that they ask, every man of his neighbor and every woman of her neighbor, for silver and gold jewelry.” And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh's servants and in the sight of the people. So Moses said, “Thus says the Lord: About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt, and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle. There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again. But not a dog shall growl against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. And all these your servants shall come down to me and bow down to me, saying, ‘Get out, you and all the people who follow you.' And after that I will go out.” And he went out from Pharaoh in hot anger. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, and the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go out of his land. (Exodus 11:1-10 ESV) Song: Illuminate the Shadows by Isaac Wardell and Paul Zach Lyrics: Illuminate the shadows Comfort those who are cast down Illuminate the shadows Be our refuge in the time of storm God our help in the time of trouble (God our help in the time of trouble) Illuminate the shadows Cast the evil ruler from His throne Illuminate the shadows Break oppression with your mighty arm Illuminate the shadows 'Til every idol has been trampled on Illuminate the shadows 'Til every statue comes tumbling down Bring hope to the hopeless Prayer: Your glorious Majesty surround me, the blessed Trinity protect me, and the eternal Godhead preserve me. Your unlimited mercy support me; your loving kindness encompass me; your favor make me to rejoice. The eternal truth of God be my delight, the saving knowledge of Christ strengthen me, and the all-prevailing grace of God be sufficient for me. May the grace of God the Father lead me, the wisdom of God the Son be my consolation, and the power of the Holy Spirit enlighten me. Lord my Creator, stand by me; my Redeemer, save me; and my Comforter, dwell with me. Amen. —Johann Habermann

Let My Son Go  Exodus 4:1-5 (HCSB)“Moses answered, ‘What if they won't believe me and will not obey me but say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you'?' The Lord asked him, ‘What is that in your hand?' ‘A staff,' he replied. Then He said, ‘Throw it on the ground.' He threw it on the ground, and it became a snake. Moses ran from it, but the Lord told him, ‘Stretch out your hand and grab it by the tail.' So he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand. ‘This will take place,' He continued, ‘so they will believe that Yahweh, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.'” Exodus 4:6-9 (HCSB)“In addition, the Lord said to him, ‘Put your hand inside your cloak.' So he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, his hand was diseased, white as snow.  Then He said, ‘Put your hand back inside your cloak.' He put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, it had again become like the rest of his skin. ‘If they will not believe you and will not respond to the evidence of the first sign, they may believe the evidence of the second sign. And if they don't believe even these two signs or listen to what you say, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the Nile will become blood on the ground.'” Exodus 4:10-17 (HCSB)“But Moses replied to the Lord, ‘Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent—either in the past or recently or since You have been speaking to Your servant—because I am slow and hesitant in speech.' Yahweh said to him, ‘Who made the human mouth? Who makes him mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, Yahweh? Now go! I will help you speak and I will teach you what to say.'  Moses said, ‘Please, Lord, send someone else.' Then the Lord's anger burned against Moses, and He said, ‘Isn't Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, he is on his way now to meet you. He will rejoice when he sees you.  You will speak with him and tell him what to say. I will help both you and him to speak and will teach you both what to do. He will speak to the people for you. He will be your spokesman, and you will serve as God to him. And take this staff in your hand that you will perform the signs with.'” Exodus 4:18-23 (HCSB)“Then Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, ‘Please let me return to my relatives in Egypt and see if they are still living.' Jethro said to Moses, ‘Go in peace.' Now in Midian the Lord told Moses, ‘Return to Egypt, for all the men who wanted to kill you are dead.'  So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses took God's staff in his hand. The Lord instructed Moses, ‘When you go back to Egypt, make sure you do all the wonders before Pharaoh that I have put within your power. But I will harden his heart so that he won't let the people go. Then you will say to Pharaoh: ‘This is what Yahweh says: Israel is My firstborn son.  I told you: Let My son go so that he may worship Me, but you refused to let him go. Now I will kill your firstborn son!'”     Exodus 4:24-31 (HCSB)“On the trip, at an overnight campsite, it happened that the Lord confronted him and sought to put him to death. So Zipporah took a flint, cut off her son's foreskin, and threw it at Moses' feet. Then she said, ‘You are a bridegroom of blood to me!' So He let him alone. At that time she said, ‘You are a bridegroom of blood,' referring to the circumcision. Now the Lord had said to Aaron, ‘Go and meet Moses in the wilderness.' So he went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him. Moses told Aaron everything the Lord had sent him to say, and about all the signs He had commanded him to do. Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of the Israelites. Aaron repeated everything the Lord had said to Moses and performed the signs before the people. The people believed, and when they heard that the Lord had paid attention to them and that He had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.” IntroductionThree SignsTwo Objections Freedom for the people of God  Three SignsThe Staff/RodThe Leprous White Hand The Nile Water Becoming Blood Three SignsIn challenging Egypt's faith, God struck at the world of nature. Suddenly nature became to the Egyptian mind, perverse & undependable. This fact struck at the foundations of Egyptian life and religion: Egypt's certainties became uncertainties … - R. J. Rushdoonyy The Rod/StaffPsalm 94:20 (CSB)“Can a corrupt throne be your ally, a throne that makes evil laws?” The Leprous White Hand Nile Water Becoming Blood Two Objections·       First objection: What if they won't believe me? ·       Second objection: I am not eloquent-my mouth and tongue are slow.  First objection: What if they won't believe me?  Second Objection: I am not eloquent – my mouth and tongue are slow.Exodus 4:11-12 (CSB)“Who placed a mouth on humans? Who makes a person mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I the Lord? Now go! I will help you speak and I will teach you what to say.” Second Objection: “I am not eloquent – my mouth and tongue are slow”Matthew 10:16-20 (HCSB)“Look, I'm sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as serpents and as harmless as doves.  Because people will hand you over to sanhedrins and flog you in their synagogues, beware of them. You will even be brought before governors and kings because of Me, to bear witness to them and to the nations. But when they hand you over, don't worry about how or what you should speak. For you will be given what to say at that hour, because you are not speaking, but the Spirit of your Father is speaking through you.” Second Objection: “I am not eloquent – my mouth and tongue are slow”Jeremiah 1: 8-9 (NKJV)“Do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you,” says the Lord. Then the Lord put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me: “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.” Second Objection: “I am not eloquent – my mouth and tongue are slow”Pharoah was to the Egyptians the great god, and, as such, he spoke to the people through various officials who were his mouth. The Lord uses Moses' reluctance to establi...

John 1:14-18,14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.'”) 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known. “The Word became flesh” — the Word that was in the beginning, the Word that was with God, the Word that was God, the Word through whom all things were made — that Word became flesh. God became a man. Eternal God in skin and bones. And he dwelt among us. Which means he was here, on this earth, rubbing shoulders with people like you and me, and John says, “we have seen his glory.”John is talking about himself and his friends. He's talking about the historical eye-witnesses of Jesus — these are the people who literally saw Jesus when he was here — They saw his nose; they saw his teeth when he smiled; they heard his voice; they touched his body — John and his friends, people like us — they saw Jesus in person.But John doesn't just say here that they saw Jesus, he says they saw his glory. Now the word “glory” is one we use a lot, and remember the glory of something is its weight and wonder. It's the beauty or the radiance of a thing. And John says he saw that of Jesus. John saw the glory of Jesus. That's why he is writing this book! We're reading the account of someone who saw the glory of Jesus — and so the question is: Do you wanna see it?Does anybody here want to see the glory of Jesus?Because that's what John is gonna show us ... he wants to show us what he saw.And I'll be straight with you, if you read the words in verse 14 — “we have seen his glory” — and they mean nothing to you, that's a problem … You either care (or come to care) about his glory or the Gospel of John (and Christianity as a whole) will make no sense to you. So I think this is something we gotta talk about. The plan today is pretty simple: God willing, I just want to answer two questions:What do you most need to see?How do you see it?Father, by your Spirit, we pray: speak to us your Son, amen.1. What do you most need to see?Well, what do you think the answer is? When it comes to your life right now, what do you think you most need to see?There's no doubt that when John writes verse 14, he's thinking about a story from the Old Testament. Any of the first readers who knew the Hebrew Bible, would have made the connection right away — and we can make the connection too. Because that word there for “dwelt” is actually the word used for “tabernacle” in the Greek Old Testament. John is saying literally that the Word, God, became a man, and “tabernacled” among us. He “set up his tent” among us.This by itself reminds us of the Book of Exodus, where we read that in the Old Covenant the tabernacle was the place where God's presence dwelt with his people. But then there's more — The word “glory” in verse 14 — that John “saw his glory” — that also alludes back to the same time in the Book of Exodus, and it reminds us of Moses's prayer in Exodus 33. This is one of the most important moments in the whole Old Testament — we gotta turn back there. Everyone, if you can, go to Exodus Chapter 33. Hold your spot in John 1, go back to Exodus 33. The Exodus 33 ConversationFor context, the chapter right before 33, Exodus 32, is one of the lowest moments in Israel's history. While Moses was up on Mount Sinai receiving the law, the people were rebelling against God and worshiping a golden calf. And God told Moses about it while he was on the mountain, and God said he's done. The people are stiff-necked — they're hard-hearted — and God says: I'm just going to wipe them all out and make a great nation out of you, Moses. But Moses intercedes for the people. He goes back and forth with God, begging God not to destroy the people. And God relents. God sends judgment but he doesn't wipe ‘em all out, and he tells Moses and the people to leave Sinai and go to the Promised Land — but here's the thing: God says I'm not going with you. You're such a sinful people that if I were near you, I'd consume you. And Exodus 33:4 says this was a “disastrous word.” The people are sinful, but they're not completely stupid — they know that without God being with them they're cooked, so they mourn. And Moses goes back to talk with God. And you can read this whole dialogue in Exodus 33, verses 12–23, and we are supposed to read it like a dialogue. Moses talked with God like a man talks with his friend (verse 11). So we're supposed to hear this as a conversation:Moses says, God, I'm in a mess. You've told me to lead these people but you've not told me who's gonna help me. You just said you're not coming with me. But you've also said that you know me and I have favor with you. So, I'm stuck here. Help me. And God says: Okay, Moses, my presence will go with you.And Moses says: That's the only way I can go! You going with us is what makes all the difference.God says: I'll be there, because you have found favor with me and I do know you.Then Moses says, “Please show me your glory.” And I want everybody to see this. Look at Chapter 33, verse 18,“Please show me your glory.”Just five words in English.The Crisis We're InBut I want you to see that this simple prayer has a profound context — and the context is not comfort but chaos. Moses is not having a great day and then he wants a little glory like it's a cherry on top. This is not a Bible-verse-on-a-coffee-mug kind of moment. But Moses wants to see God's glory like his life depends on it — and not just his life, but the life of an entire nation depends on it; and it's not even just about the nation, but this is about God's reputation in the world. Moses is desperate here. He's in an absolute crisis. That's why he prays the way he does. So get this: how you understand your condition will determine what you think you most need. That makes sense, right? Your assessment of ‘how you're doing' will shape what you think you most need to see.And this is where too often it goes sideways for us, because too often we get this assessment wrong. I was at the gym the other day, and like most gyms, there's TVs mounted up on the wall — four of them in a row. There's a bunch of treadmills in front of them, I guess in case people wanna watch TV while they're walking. And on these TVs, in this moment I was looking … The first screen was a daytime talkshow with some has-been celebrityThe second screen was a news story about how they're now saying coffee is good for youThe third screen was a news story about how outdoor activities extend your biological clockThe fourth screen was a pharmaceutical commercial — which are all the same, somebody riding a bicycle and smiling …And everybody, like hamsters, walking and watching, and what's the message there? Well, what's being sold there is going to conform to what most people consider to be their biggest need — and in a word, it's improvement. That's how a lot of people understand their condition: “I need to improve.” So we look to the influencers and we listen to hours of podcasts and we keep buying the stuff — just to make ourselves a little bit better, to make things a little bit easier, to make our lives a little bit more comfortable. And look, there's nothing inherently wrong with wanting to improve, but what if I told you our condition is a lot worse than the need for improvement? What if I told you that we're actually in a crisis, all of us — and it's a crisis not unlike the one Moses was in. We Need GodSee, Moses knew that without God, it's over. Over! Moses cannot do life without God … and we can't either. We can't.Now we live in a world that sells us the lie everyday, on every screen, that we can! We're told to think that everything we need can be found here — from ourselves, by ourselves, for ourselves. But that's not true. We need God. You need God. And the crisis is: Where is he?You ever felt that crisis before? You need someone whom you have never seen, someone you cannot find. The evidences of God are all around us, but he's invisible. How do you know that when you pray you're not just talking to air? Because sometimes it can feel like you're talking to air. This is one of the reasons we have a world full of fillers, substitutes, idols. “We don't know where he is.”Moses knew he needed God (he knew God is real) — but he still needed the assurance from God that God would meet his need for him. Moses is saying: I need you! How do I know I have you? That's why he prayed: Please show me your glory. Show me your weight and wonder. I need to see who you are. I need to see your glory. That is what we most need to see too. Whatever it is you've got going on — whatever pain you're walking in, whatever uncertainty you're navigating, whatever oblivion you're scrolling through — what you think you most need to see might be wrong. Because what we all most need to see is the glory of God. We need God, and we need to know what he is like. That's the answer to question 1, What do we most need to see? Question 2 …2. How do we see it?“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”Look at those words at the end of verse 14: “full of grace and truth.” Grace and truth.This again sends us back to Exodus 33, to see how God answered Moses's prayer. After Moses says, Please show me your glory, God says, Exodus 33:19, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.' …So Moses is about to see God, except God tells him: You can't see my face. It's too radiant. But go here, in the cleft of the rock, in this little ditch I have for you, and wait for me there. I'll pass by and let you see a little bit.So Moses does that. And Exodus 33:5 says, 5 The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord.This is God telling Moses his glory. Verse 6: 6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” …And those words “abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” could be translated “full of grace and truth.”Moses, that's my glory, God says. I'm kind and merciful, and I always do what I say. I'm faithful. I am the God full of grace and truth. I'm telling you who I am …That's in the old covenant. But then, in the new covenant, when the Word became flesh — God himself in skin and bones, God the Son sent from God the Father — then God was showing us his glory. John saw it. He saw the glory of Jesus, full of grace and truth. Look at Jesus ChristAll of the steadfast love of God, all of his faithfulness, all of his mercy and righteousness, his grace and truth — who God is for us — was manifest in Jesus. Verse 18 tells us that the God who cannot be seen was seen in Jesus. Jesus has made God known.Look, you need God, but where is he? You need to see his glory. You need to know what he is like, but how? How do you see the glory of God?You need God—where can he be?You need his glory for eyes to see.You long to know what he is like: simply look at Jesus Christ.All of who God is for us is made known in Jesus, and all of who Jesus is makes God known. To see Jesus is to see God. And John has seen him. He wants to show us. So we're for this. Our greatest need is met in Jesus.Is He Really?My favorite theological book on the incarnation is by a Scottish theologian named T. F. Torrance. Torrance served as a chaplain for the British army in World War II (Alister McGrath, his biographer, tells this story; Glen Scrivener does too). Torrance had a powerful experience on the battlefield that changed his life. Torrance had received great theological training, his doctrinal ducks were in a row, and for most of his time as a chaplain, he could keep studying. He brought books with him everywhere he went. But there was one incident, October 17, 1944 — Torrance wrote about … His battalion was in Italy, and the Nazi army had strong defenses in this one city in the mountains, so the Allied Forces decided to launch a night attack. Torrance, as a chaplain, had to carry a stretcher to go and find the wounded, and he was under fire most of the night, and then at dawn, just as the sun started to rise, he came across a young man, 19 years old, who had been shot during the night and was bleeding out. Torrance knew he was minutes away from death. He recounts this moment. He writes: As I knelt down and bent over him, he [looked at me and] said: “Padre, is God really like Jesus Christ?”Isn't that an amazing question? The dying solider understood the crisis. He knew what he most needed to see. Is God really like Jesus?And Torrance said, “The only God there is, is the God who has come to us in Jesus. He has shown his face to us and poured out his love for us as our Savior.”Do you believe that this morning?Christian, do you know that's true?Maybe you would say, Yeah, I know that. I've looked to Jesus. I'm saved. But now I've got other things. I've got bills … broken relationships … besetting sins — boredom. But see, this is where I want to say: looking to Jesus is not a one-time thing. We don't just look to Jesus once and then its crisis averted. But we look and keep looking, because the real crisis behind every trial we walk through for the rest of our lives is to know and remember what God is like. That's the question you're asking in your pain, your confusion, your apathy — “God, what are you really like?”Look to Jesus. Look to Jesus. Look to Jesus. This is why we want to be a church that remembers the realness of Jesus in all of life.My prayer this year is that we see Jesus afresh through the Gospel of John. I want us to refocus everything about our lives on him — I want us to see him and know him and love him more than anything else.That's what brings us to the Table. The TableOne of the things that will be clear in the Gospel of John is where we see the glory of Jesus most vividly. If Jesus makes known the grace and truth of God, is there a highest point of that revelation? Yes, it's the cross. We see the glory of Jesus clearest when he is glorified, and Jesus being glorified in the Gospel of John is when he was lifted up on the cross. The glory of God made known in Jesus Christ is seen supremely in his death and resurrection — a God who stoops and serves and suffers for those he loves. Bleeding, arms stretched wide in sacrifice for us — that is our God. And that's what we remember at this Table.The bread and cup represent the broken body and shed blood of Jesus, and so today, when we hold the bread and cup, think Glory! This is what God is like. This is what grace and truth means. And that's why this Table is just for Christians. If you're here this morning and you're not a Christian, I'm glad you're with us, and I'd love to talk with you and I would not embarrass you for anything in the world. I know what it's like to be where you are, so after the service, I'm gonna stand right here and just be available. Come talk to me.Now, if you trust in Jesus, if you've seen his glory and you believe in him, let's eat and drink together.

Leviticus 9~10 Obedient Service - Part 1 Introduction Here we witness together a scene of great and exuberant joy! The first seven chapters of Leviticus talk about the different offerings or sacrifices that the nation of Israel was to make to God. Then in chapter 8 we see the beginning of the priesthood and the joyful work of Aaron and the priests. Their main role of service was to act as mediators between a holy God and the people of Israel, particularly in the role of making those offerings and sacrifices. In fact, they were the ultimate multi-taskers, as they seemed equally adept as butchers, doctors, teachers, quality assurors and public health inspectors! The passage we have in front of us tonight shows the culmination of this priestly ordination. Great joy! (Leviticus 9v22-24) Israel was a nation, chosen by God, to be His people and to be a shining light of God's glory to the world around them. This nation, God's treasured and precious people, however, way back in Exodus 19, refused to be a nation of royal priests. Instead they preferred being represented by Moses and Aaron. So Moses and Aaron have gone into the Tent of Meeting or Tabernacle to meet with God. This was where Moses and Aaron would meet with the Lord during the travels to the Promised Land. The whole nation is waiting for them! So Moses and Aaron, as we just read, come out, give a blessing to the people and God's glory appeared to the nation! WOW! That must have been some blessing Aaron gave! Whatever his words were in v24, they were words that invocated Almighty God's power, presence and peace to be with and upon His people. No wonder the people fell on the ground with their noses in the dirt as an act of joyful worship and praise to God!! The burnt offering and fat portions on the altar were consumed in a great fire emanating from the manifestation of the glory of God! So amazing was this sight that a tremendous wave of exuberant joy overcame the people and they all fell with their face in the ground! There was probably a mixture of amazement, surprise and reverent fear! That must have been a tremendous sight to behold! Falling face forward was a characteristic method of showing total surrender and submission to a king or master. Here it is adopted by the Israelites as symbolic surrender to their God! The infinite, almighty, majestic and glorious God, was living and being worshipped by His people. This God was a holy God and these people were to be His people. So there is tremendous joy in the nation of Israel and this is evident in their spontaneous act of submissive, voluntary worship and expressions of thanks to their Almighty God. Moses and Aaron had followed God's guidelines obediently and the nations true joy was in evidence. Not just joy as an emotion, but true joy as evidenced through sacrifice, praise and testimony! Now it would be very nice to just stop there, but the story continues! The Bible is an honest book! Just as the celebrations were concluding and the priests were taking up their sacred roles, something happens! Continued tomorrow into part 2! Right mouse click or tap here to save/download this as a MP3 file

Hebrews 11:27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing Him who is unseen. This is a very interesting comment about Moses leaving Egypt after it was made known that he had killed an Egyptian who was beating another Hebrew. We read this in Exodus 2:15. “When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well.” What are we to conclude from this Holy Spirit-inspired testimony of Moses' faith?  First, we must conclude that when Moses fled for his life, it wasn't out of fear but by faith. He had assurance that God would best work out His plan concerning him if he left Egypt when he did. Second, he feared God more than he feared the king. Third, Moses' faith endured for 40 years, according to Stephen's account found in Acts. 7:30. Fourth, Moses faith came from his intimate relationship with God, “seeing Him who is unseen.” He kept his eyes fixed on God, the author and perfecter of his faith (Heb. 12:2). So Moses sought to please the Lord, did not shrink back in fear or unbelief, and kept his eyes fixed on God. What a great description of the character of faith that God works in the hearts of His people. Such a faith comes to all who are born again by the Spirit of God and see the kingdom of God with the eyes of a new heart. We see Him who is unseen with spiritual eyes. We experience His presence, love, guidance, courage, and endurance. All of these qualities are ours as we live to love with Jesus. They are grace gifts to us as we draw near to Him and abide in Him by faith. Let's draw near to His throne now in prayer. Father, we come to You through Your Son, Jesus Christ, our high priest and intercessor. Thank You for bringing us to Yourself through Him so that we might experience Your presence, love, guidance, courage, and endurance. We fix our eyes on You. Express Your life, Lord Jesus, in us today as we walk with You for the glory of our Father and the honor of Your name. Amen.

December 29, 2024 - Sunday PM Sermon   Things to focus on as we make our transition - (Deuteronomy 31) Neal Pollard   Believe that the Lord is leading our transition Be strong and courageous Focus on our family   Deuteronomy 31 - New King James Version   Joshua the New Leader of Israel 31 Then Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel. 2 And he said to them: “I am one hundred and twenty years old today. I can no longer go out and come in. Also the Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not cross over this Jordan.' 3 The Lord your God Himself crosses over before you; He will destroy these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua himself crosses over before you, just as the Lord has said. 4 And the Lord will do to them as He did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites and their land, when He destroyed them. 5 The Lord will give them over to you, that you may do to them according to every commandment which I have commanded you. 6 Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.” 7 Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it. 8 And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.” The Law to Be Read Every Seven Years 9 So Moses wrote this law and delivered it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. 10 And Moses commanded them, saying: “At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the year of release, at the Feast of Tabernacles, 11 when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. 12 Gather the people together, men and women and little ones, and the stranger who is within your gates, that they may hear and that they may learn to fear the Lord your God and carefully observe all the words of this law, 13 and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land which you cross the Jordan to possess.” Prediction of Israel's Rebellion 14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, the days approach when you must die; call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle of meeting, that I may [a]inaugurate him.” So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tabernacle of meeting. 15 Now the Lord appeared at the tabernacle in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood above the door of the tabernacle. 16 And the Lord said to Moses: “Behold, you will [b]rest with your fathers; and this people will rise and play the harlot with the gods of the foreigners of the land, where they go to be among them, and they will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have made with them. 17 Then My anger shall be aroused against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide My face from them, and they shall be [c]devoured. And many evils and troubles shall befall them, so that they will say in that day, ‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?' 18 And I will surely hide My face in that day because of all the evil which they have done, in that they have turned to other gods. 19 “Now therefore, write down this song for yourselves, and teach it to the children of Israel; put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for Me against the children of Israel. 20 When I have brought them to the land flowing with milk and honey, of which I swore to their fathers, and they have eaten and filled themselves and grown fat, then they will turn to other gods and serve them; and they will provoke Me and break My covenant. 21 Then it shall be, when many evils and troubles have come upon them, that this song will testify against them as a witness; for it will not be forgotten in the mouths of their descendants, for I know the inclination of their behavior today, even before I have brought them to the land of which I swore to give them.” 22 Therefore Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it to the children of Israel. 23 Then He inaugurated Joshua the son of Nun, and said, “Be strong and of good courage; for you shall bring the children of Israel into the land of which I swore to them, and I will be with you.” 24 So it was, when Moses had completed writing the words of this law in a book, when they were finished, 25 that Moses commanded the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying: 26 “Take this Book of the Law, and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there as a witness against you; 27 for I know your rebellion and your stiff neck. If today, while I am yet alive with you, you have been rebellious against the Lord, then how much more after my death? 28 Gather to me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their hearing and call heaven and earth to witness against them. 29 For I know that after my death you will become utterly corrupt, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you. And evil will befall you in the latter days, because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger through the work of your hands.” The Song of Moses 30 Then Moses spoke in the hearing of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song until they were ended:     Duration 30:51

Numbers 31:13-20,13 Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the chiefs of the congregation went to meet them outside the camp. 14 And Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, who had come from service in the war. 15 Moses said to them, “Have you let all the women live? 16 Behold, these, on Balaam's advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the Lord. 17 Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him. 18 But all the young girls who have not known man by lying with him keep alive for yourselves. 19 Encamp outside the camp seven days. Whoever of you has killed any person and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves and your captives on the third day and on the seventh day. 20 You shall purify every garment, every article of skin, all work of goats' hair, and every article of wood.” “Kill every male among the little ones.” If I told you, that's a quote from Scripture, and asked, “Where's it from?” Some might say, that's Pharoah, when he orders the destruction of newborn Israelite boys in Egypt. Others might say, with Christmas fresh on our minds, that's Herod, when he orders the destruction of infant boys in Bethlehem.An angel had warned Joseph in a dream in Matthew 2:13:“Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.”Joseph obeys, and ironically Egypt becomes the place of safety, and the land of Israel becomes the Egypt where baby boys are slaughtered by a bloodthirsty Pharaoh, Matthew 2:16,“Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the [magi], became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under.”However, that ominous quote, “Kill every male among the little ones,” is not from Herod or Pharaoh; it's from Moses — verse 17 in Numbers 31.It's one thing to hear that from Herod, who obviously is a bad guy (one of the worst in all the Bible). But it's another to hear words like these from Moses, who is not only a good guy, God's guy, but who speaks on God's behalf. When Moses says this, he's not speaking for himself but for God. This is God's command: “kill every male among the little ones.” God said this, through his chain of command in Moses. So, how do we renounce the evil of Herod at that first Christmas, and yet honor Moses and God himself?This is a dark subject for the Sunday before Christmas. But isn't this what we teach our children? Advent is a season of waiting. And,“Where are we waiting? In a land of deep darkness.”But then we say, “What are we waiting for during Advent? For the light to shine on us.”The slaughter of infants is not holly-jolly. Numbers 31 is not all merry and bright. But this is actually the real setting for Christmas — a desperate, cursed, evil world in which surprising light dawns.Unfinished BusinessAt this point in the book of Numbers, a new generation has arisen. The previous generation has perished during forty years in the wilderness. Now, only Moses remains and he's about to die. But before he departs, he readies this new generation for the conquest to come.Which means Moses finishes well. Even after striking the rock twice and being barred from the promised land, Moses doesn't crumble into self-sabotage. He gathers himself. He finishes the race. He dies well, by preparing the next gen in these chapters: he will teach them the pattern for holy war as they conquer the land, and just principles for sharing the spoils. He still cares enough to get angry and speak words of rebuke, and then make thoughtful provision for the next leaders after he's gone, in chapter 32.And as we come to chapter 31, the main item of unfinished business for Moses, not to leave to the next generation of leaders, is Midian.So, what rays of Advent light might we see in this land of deep darkness on the Sunday before Christmas?1. God will destroy the enemies of his people. (chapter 31)If you are his, in Christ, God will destroy your enemies, our enemies. It's just a matter of time. The adversaries of God will not be left forever to wreak havoc on his people. In love for his people, he will see to the destruction of our enemies, whether in the end, or even in this life, if God chooses to have his final judgments break into the present. Which is what happens with Midian.Let's not forget what happened with the Midianites in chapters 22–25. They are not innocent. They see that Israel has defeated two nations east of the Jordan River. They are in dread of Israel, and so they send for a prophet named Balaam, to pay him to curse Israel. But God keeps Balaam from cursing them, and instead gives him words of blessing. So Balaam fails to derail Israel. But in chapter 25, some men from Israel, now living in such proximity to Midian, are drawn into idolatry and immorality with their new neighbors. God's judgment begins with his own people when 24,000 die of plague (about 4% of the men). Then, God had said at the end of chapter 25,Harass the Midianites and strike them down, for they have harassed you with their wiles, with which they beguiled you in the matter of Peor [where the idolatry happened] . . . . (25:17-18)So, now, chapter 31 addresses God's righteous vengeance on Midian. Look at verses 1–3:The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Avenge the people of Israel on the Midianites. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.” So Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian to execute the Lord's vengeance on Midian.This will be the last war campaign before Moses dies. But don't miss who's calling the shots. It's not Moses. God is the one who says, This will be it for you, Moses. And God says in chapter 25, “Harass the Midianites and strike them down.” And God says now, “Avenge the people of Israel on the Midianites.”So verse 7, “They warred against Midian, as the Lord commanded Moses.” This chapter turns on that phrase, “as the Lord commanded Moses” — in verses 7, 21, 31, 41, 47. In the word of verse 3, this is “the Lord's vengeance on Midian.”So Israel's warriors kill the Midianite men, and take the women and children captive, and bring them back to Moses. And Moses is angry with the officers. They have not completed the task. So he says in verses 15–18, which make us cringe the most:“Have you let all the women live? Behold, these, on Balaam's advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the Lord. Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him. But all the young girls who have not known man by lying with him keep alive for yourselves.Verses 25–47, then, address how to divide up the spoils (and young girls): in two parts (for the warriors and the congregation), and then distribute 1/50 (of half) to the Levites and 1/500 (of the other half) to the priests. Finally, we learn in verses 48–54 that they have taken a count of Israel's warriors; none are missing; and according to the Exodus 30, the officers make atonement for having taken a count.Advent LightThere's a summary of chapter 31. Now we ask, How can this be? How can God — through Moses, but originating with God — order the destruction of these Midianites, including the infant boys?Christmas is helpful here. It doesn't answer every question, but it puts the destruction of the Midianites in some fresh light when we see it side by side with Herod's destruction of the boys:Herod, Rome's puppet king, is watching out for himself, seeking to preserve his own fragile power; Moses is the prophet of the living God who hears from him and speaks for God, not for himself, as God is the one who brings divine justice on the enemies of his people.When the magi don't return to report where to find the child, Herod is furious (with unrighteous anger); Moses, as God's prophet, burns with righteous, godly anger when God's people do not live up to their calling as God's people.Herod, in sin, from his wicked heart, orders the slaughter of infant boys in Bethlehem; his kingly order is horribly unjust, and profoundly evil. Moses, on the other hand, orders God's people, at God's initiative, to act as his instrument to destroy the Midianites because of their sin. Mark this: the Midianites are not innocent before God. He does them no wrong in judging them and ordering their destruction.The destruction of the Midianites is not the same as Herod's destruction of Bethlehem's boys. This is the Lord's vengeance, not Moses's, not Israel's. The question is not whether Midian is innocent; the question is why God doesn't destroy Israel as well.And Christmas has a clarifying word to speak into this unnerving episode in Numbers 31, and in the conquest of the land to come in the book of Joshua.Christmas is both the reason we cringe, and the resolution to this darkness. When Jesus came at Christmas, he split history in two. We cringe like we do today because we live on this side of Christmas. We've been influenced by the ethics of Jesus. And the grace and compassion and comfort brought by Christmas have made it possible for us, to our fault, to soft-pedal how dark and sinful and evil this world is — and what sinful people and nations like the Midianites, and us, justly deserve. Part of why we cringe at this is because we have such a shallow view of sin, beginning with our own. We should be cringing that we deserve the same.When we say we live in a land of deep darkness, what do you think we mean? Deep darkness — a world so evil that infants are slaughtered, whether wickedly in Egypt or Bethlehem or America, or justly by God Almighty before whom all stand guilty and he does no one wrong. And if he so chooses, the holy God can use imperfect Israel as his instrument to recompense the profound wickedness in Midian, and Canaan, even as he later will use wicked Babylon as his instrument of judgment against Israel.To be clear, with Christmas, with the coming of Christ, and the bringing in of the supra-national church age, God will never again commission his covenant people to execute his judgments on other's sins. After Christmas, God does not do it this way anymore. Now, his fullness of times has come.And when we get a glimpse in the book of Revelation, what do we see the church doing, as God's judgments fall? We are not administering them. We watch in awe, and rejoice, as Jesus takes care of business. In the end, God's people will observe his judgments, and praise him for them, and say Hallelujah, but we do not execute our enemies for God. We wait for him to execute his judgments for us.So, to be clear, if some imbalanced person tells you that God told him to kill someone, you tell him, I guarantee you that you are wrong. God did not say that. That's from your own head, or from Satan. You have profoundly misread the era. God's covenant with one particular nation-state in the previous era made that possible, while still unusual. But now Christmas has come. God does not work like that, not after Christmas. God will never call his new-covenant people to what he says through Moses here.So, #1, God will destroy the enemies of his people — and we, his church, will watch in awe and praise as Jesus does the work with the word of his power (Revelation 1:16; 2:16; 19:15, 21).2. God will not destroy his people who repent. (chapter 32)Now we come to chapter 32. Moses faces another threat — this time from within. In verses 1–5, the tribes of Gad and Rueben ask to settle down east of the Jordan River, outside the promised land. What in the world? Here we go again. This is a crisis moment. God's people come up to the edge of the promised land, and two tribes, Gad and Rueben, see that the land east of the Jordan looks good for livestock, and they have livestock. So, they ask, Can we stay here? In verses 6–15, Moses responds by remembering the Lord's anger. This has happened before, forty years ago. The people's faith failed, and God sent them back to the wilderness for forty years. So, Moses rebukes the leaders of Gad and Reuben. Verses 14–15: behold, you have risen in your fathers' place, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the Lord against Israel! For if you turn away from following him, he will again abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all this people.So, the threat is destruction. Then, amazingly, in verses 16–27, the new generation of leaders in these two tribes respond with humility. They are not stubborn like their fathers. Their hearts are soft. They receive Moses's rebuke, and adjust their request, and the chapter ends in verses 28–42 with everyone happy: the warriors from Gad and Reuben will join the rest of the tribes in securing the promised land — in fact, they will lead the way, and Gad and Reuben (now joined by the half tribe of Manasseh) will expand the lands of Israel to the good pasturelands east of the Jordan. Win, win, win — but it started with a failure of faith. It started with sin. Yet Moses engaged, and God was gracious with his people, the two tribes listened and changed their tune, and responded humbly. And so God does not destroy Gad and Rueben and the whole nation.Two Words for UsEarlier we mentioned Moses finishing well. How admirable that Moses cares enough to speak the word of rebuke. He's old. God's told him he's about to die. He could just phone it in and say, Whatever, like King Hezekiah will do many centuries later. But Moses cares what will happen to God's people after he's gone. He cares enough to be angry. His anger over such a crazy request shows how much he cares.I wonder if when you hear of anger, you assume that's sin. Is Moses angry? That must be sin. Not so fast. Anger can be righteous or unrighteous, godly or sinful. In Ephesians 4:26, Paul says,“Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.”Anger can be holy, righteous, and good. Anger is not necessarily sin, but soon leads to sin if you let it linger. Righteous anger is godly, to observe something that's not right, and to care about it. Not just say, Whatever. Righteous anger prompts to action; it summons Moses to say what needs to be said. It makes him bold to rebuke. And then Gad and Rueben respond with humility, alter their plan, and what emerges is better for the whole nation.When you feel a flare of anger, ask it questions. Anger, how are you trying to help me right now? What holy, patient, loving step do I need to take to address this perceived injustice in a way that is reasonable and wise? Am I seeing that right, and if so, what is God calling me to do?A second word for us here in chapter 32 is how our actions (and our presence and absence) affect the hearts of others. When Moses objects to Gad's and Rueben's initial request, he doesn't just say, “Shall your brothers go to the war while you sit here?” But he also talks about the effect on their hearts. He says your bowing out will “discourage the heart of the people.”Our world may look at this, and ignore timeless social dynamics like this, say, “Just let them choose where they want to live. What's the big deal? Let everyone choose for themselves.” But it's not that simple. Your decision to show up or stay home, to continue with the community or head for the pastureland affects other people. Which is really relevant in church life, and especially in smaller groupings like CGs and Life Groups. Don't overlook the power of your presence to encourage the hearts of others. And don't ignore the power of your absence to discourage the hearts of others.So, #1, God will destroy the enemies of his people. #2, God will not destroy his people who repent. But now what? Who is this God? Is he the God who destroys, or the God who does not destroy. How do we put chapter 31 and 32 together? Is this the same God?We finish with two texts from outside this passage. One I came across this week, reading through the Minor Prophets, as I do every December. I came to the end of Micah, and read these stunning wordings of grace to his people in the last three verses (7:18–20):Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. You will show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham, as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.Then, back to back, next page, there's Nahum, and what's the first thing out of his mouth for Nineveh and the Assyrians (1:2)?The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord is avenging and wrathful; the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies.So, who is this God? Is he the pardoning God of Micah or the avenging God of Nahum? Part of the answer here is in whom the prophets are addressing. Micah is talking to God's people, his “remnant,” his covenant people, sinners who have repented. To them, God shows compassion and steadfast love. However, Nahum is talking to the Assyrians, who are the adversaries and enemies of his people. To them, God is full of righteous wrath and vengeance. It all comes down to whether your sins are covered with his covenant people, or whether you remain unshielded as his adversary and enemy of God.So, we finish with a Christmas text, and final ray of Advent light.3. Jesus came to pardon his people and destroy the devil. (1 John 3:5, 8)I love 1 John 3:5 and 8, and especially during Advent, because here together John gives us two expressions of why Jesus came.Verse 5: Jesus “appeared in order to take away sins.” That is, he came to die in the place of his sinful people, that those who are in him, by faith, would have their sins covered, and their enemies destroyed, and live with Jesus in unending joy forever.Verse 8: “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” That is, Christmas is holy war. He came to ruin Satan, and destroy his works. And oh was the devil at work in ancient Egypt. And was he at work in Midian, and in Israel, and in Herod and Bethlehem.The God of Christmas is a pardoning God because Jesus takes away the sins of those who genuinely repent. And the God of Christmas is an avenging God, who will right every wrong in the end.This crooked and cursed and sinful world, this land of deep darkness, is the one into which Jesus came at Christmas. Which means the great joy of Christmas comes precisely in the midst of this age's pains and horrors, not by repressing, ignoring, or reframing them. Death and sin and destruction don't ruin Christmas; they are the reason for Christmas, and why Christmas is so precious. The darkness around us, and in us, is why the light of Christmas shines so bright. Ignore the darkness, or pretend it isn't there, and your Christmas light will be dull and faint. But acknowledge evil, own your own sin, recognize the size of your need, and the light of Christmas shines out in its true greatness.Christmas's brightness doesn't depend on all being merry and bright. It is brightness in the midst of much darkness, real merriment that comes after and in the midst of real tragedy.Why Jesus CameAs we come to the Table, we remember why Jesus appeared — that is, why he came at Christmas. He came, on the one hand, to war against and to destroy the works of the devil. And a day is coming when he will return and speak the word to enact eternal destruction to the enemies of his people — to our praise and applause.This Table celebrates his taking away the sins of his people. He bled and died, gave his body and blood, that we the guilty, who deserved destruction, might receive his compassion and love.

Jethro and Moses (Exodus): Whether you have an official leadership role or title, everyone can influence someone for good. When Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, visited the Israelites, he realized Moses would be crushed without some serious help. He advised Moses to invite others to share the leadership burden with him. God's people needed good and godly leaders to help them live lives that bring glory and honor to him. Recorded on Dec 8, 2024, on Exodus 18 by Pastor David Parks. This message is part of our Exodus series called Journey to Freedom. Exodus is a story of liberation — of God working to rescue and redeem a people for himself, freeing them from slavery and leading them to the land he promised to the family of Abraham and Sarah. Exodus is also a picture of the gospel and the Christian life. In Christ, we, too, are freed from captivity to sin and death and led through the wilderness of life by God's Word and Presence as we make our way to the Promised Land of the world to come. Join us as we make this journey to find true and lasting freedom. Sermon Transcript So, we're working through the book of Exodus in a sermon series called Journey to Freedom. Exodus is a story of liberation, of God rescuing and redeeming a people for himself. After freeing the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, Yahweh God led them through the desert wilderness by his word given through the prophet Moses and by his own holy Presence in the form of a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. But, we've seen that things didn't get much easier for the Israelites on the other side of the famous parting of the Red Sea. The Israelites struggled and grumbled through a series of desert tests before being viciously attacked by the Amalekites at Rephidim. It was tough, and the people didn't display a very impressive amount of faith in the God who had just rescued them from Egypt. But Yahweh proved faithful and good and provided what they needed despite their grumbling and quarreling. Today, we have one more stop to make, one more chapter in our story, before we get to the fireworks of Mount Sinai, the giving of the Law, and the establishment of the covenant between Yahweh and Israel. When Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, meets them, he offers a suggestion that would help Moses lead the people well and not be crushed by the burden. This chapter offers many leadership lessons. Now, whether you have an official leadership role or not, everyone can influence others for good. And this is what good leadership is all about. We need these lessons. So, if you have your Bible/app, please open it to Exodus 18:1. We'll read through this and unpack it as we go. Exodus 18:1–7 (NIV), “1 Now Jethro, the priest of Midian and father-in-law of Moses, heard of everything God had done for Moses and for his people Israel, and how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. 2 After Moses had sent away his wife Zipporah, his father-in-law Jethro received her 3 and her two sons. One son was named Gershom, for Moses said, “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land”; 4 and the other was named Eliezer, for he said, “My father's God was my helper; he saved me from the sword of Pharaoh.” 5 Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, together with Moses' sons and wife, came to him in the wilderness, where he was camped near the mountain of God. 6 Jethro had sent word to him, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons.” 7 So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. They greeted each other and then went into the tent.” Moses doesn't record when, but at some point between leaving Midian with his family and his time in Egypt during the Ten Plagues, he sent his wife Zipporah and their sons back to live in Midian with her father, Jethro. He doesn't say why, and some have speculated that they were having trouble in their marriage. But it doesn't say that. And once the Israelites reached Mount Sinai,

Exodus 111 Now the LORD had said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. After that, he will let you go from here, and when he does, he will drive you out completely. 2 Tell the people that men and women alike are to ask their neighbors for articles of silver and gold.” 3 (The LORD made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and Moses himself was highly regarded in Egypt by Pharaoh's officials and by the people.)4 So Moses said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘About midnight I will go throughout Egypt. 5 Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the female slave, who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well. 6 There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt—worse than there has ever been or ever will be again. 7 But among the Israelites not a dog will bark at any person or animal.' Then you will know that the LORD makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. 8 All these officials of yours will come to me, bowing down before me and saying, ‘Go, you and all the people who follow you!' After that I will leave.” Then Moses, hot with anger, left Pharaoh.9 The LORD had said to Moses, “Pharaoh will refuse to listen to you—so that my wonders may be multiplied in Egypt.” 10 Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let the Israelites go out of his country.

Numbers 21:4-9,4 From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” 6 Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 7 And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.What do you want from me?!This is a question that's probably been asked more than once, but I'm thinking about a scene in one of my favorite movies, Simon Birch. It's a good movie; you should go watch it; I won't ruin it for you; but there's this one scene when Simon, a 12-year-old kid, is visiting the grave of his best friend's mom. It's in the evening and Simon is alone at her grave; he is blaming himself for her death; and his best friend, Joe, is looking for him. And in the distance, Joe is calling his name, Simon! Simon! And Simon hears his name but thinks it's God talking to him, so he looks up in the sky and says, “I'm right here. What do you want from me?” It's a great scene.Have you ever asked God that question? You ever wondered it?I think we all have — or we will — come to certain places at certain times in our lives where we just want to know as plainly as possible, “God, what do you want from me?”Well, this morning, I think we find the answer to that question in Numbers 20–21, and put most simply here it is: God wants your faith.Whoever you are, if you want to live, God wants your faith. And in today's sermon, I want to show you how Numbers 20–21 make this clear. Let's pray:Father in heaven, we ask now, with your Word open before us, that you would help us open wide our hearts to you and what you want to do in these moments. Speak to us and accomplish what you will, in Jesus's name, amen.The first thing made clear in these chapters is …1. God wants your faith whoever you are.Now a lot has happened since the last time I preached. It was only three Sundays ago, but we've covered Chapters 13–19, which means almost 40 years have passed in this story. Throughout those years, the people of Israel have been in the wilderness of Paran as the consequence of God's judgment. And that wilderness judgment, remember, goes back to Chapters 13–14.Chapters 13–14 are really important in the Book of Numbers. Back in Chapter 13, remember, God tells Moses to send 12 spies into the Promised Land, one spy for each of the tribes of Israel, and these spies were supposed to go into the Promised Land to see if the land was good or bad, and if the people who lived in the land were strong or weak. Well, after 40 days of this spy mission, the 12 spies return to Moses and the people, and they all said the land was good, but 10 of the spies said the people in the land were too strong for Israel to overcome. They said that if Israel attempted to go into the land, they would be destroyed. But then two of the spies, Caleb and Joshua, disagreed and said, No, we shouldn't be scared! Let's take the land. God will give it to us.And so, of the 12 spies, the two spies Caleb and Joshua represented faith and courage, the 10 other spies represented unbelief and fear — and the people sided with the 10. All the people rebel. They don't trust God. And so God brings judgment. He says that every person who is part of the people of Israel from 20 years old and upward — everyone except Caleb and Joshua — are gonna die in the wilderness. God sentences the people to 40 years in the wilderness — one year for each day the spies were spying out the Promised Land. That's what has been going on from Chapters 15–19.Miriam and Aaron DieAnd we see at the beginning of Chapter 20 that this 40 years is coming to a close. We are now in the first month of the 40th year, which means we are about to turn the page. A transition is coming. We see the hint of this transition right away in the death of Miriam, Moses's sister, in Chapter 20, verse 1. The story doesn't elaborate anything here, it's just one sentence, but this is important. Y'all find this sentence with me. Chapter 20, verse 1. And the very end of verse 1: “And Miriam died there and was buried there.”Why is this important? Well it's because Miriam, along with Moses and Aaron, were leaders among the people — Aaron was the high priest, and Miriam was a prophetess and song leader. Well, Chapter 20 starts with her death, now look how Chapter 20 ends. Skip to Chapter 20, verse 28. I think you need to see this too. Chapter 20, verse 28,“And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son. And Aaron died there on the top of the mountain.”So Chapter 20 starts and finishes with “And Miriam died there…” and “And Aaron died there…” There's been a lot of death over these almost 40 years, but now it's the leaders. Two of these leaders die; they don't enter the Promised Land; now only Moses remains — but we need to look closer at Moses in Chapter 20.Moses Does Not Make ItChapter 20 is where we find the famous tragic story of Moses striking the rock. It's almost an exact repeat of a story in Exodus 17, and it starts with the same situation we've seen over and over again with these people: The people have a need; they think God won't meet the need; so what do the people do? — They complain. They whine. They grumble. They shake their fists at God. And Moses says, God, what do I do?Well, in Exodus 17 when the people were thirsty and did this, God told Moses to strike a rock, which made water gush out, and God provided for the people in this amazing way. But here, in Numbers 20, verse 8, look what God says to Moses. We need to read this carefully. Numbers 20:8, “…and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 8 Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.”Y'all double-check me here, but does anybody see the word “strike” in Numbers 20, verse 8? …God tells Moses to speak to the rock. Agree?Well look what happens in verse 10. Moses got the people together and said, verse 10:…“Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock.And it seems like, Oh, okay. That worked out. But then look what God says in verse 12: And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”Heads up: Moses doesn't make it into the Promised Land. This is a big deal, and the Bible wants to make this clear. We don't just see this here, but it's said again in Numbers 27:12, in Deuteronomy 3:26, in Deuteronomy 32:51 — Moses does not make it! Whoever You AreMoses will die in the wilderness because, according to the text, he does not believe God. That is what the text tells us, and I don't think we need to speculate more details than what we're told.If we're reading carefully, we see that Moses does something different in verse 11 from what God says in verse 8 — he doesn't speak to the rock, he strikes the rock — and then God says in verse 12, “you did not believe in me.” Later on, referring to this event, in Numbers 27, God says Moses rebelled against his word; in Deuteronomy 32, God says Moses broke faith with him in the midst of the people. So the Bible makes this clear: Moses did not believe God, which was evidenced in that he did not do what God said, and that's why Moses didn't make it into the Promised Land.Which means, God wants your faith whoever you are. It doesn't even matter if you're Moses … or Miriam or Aaron. It doesn't matter who you are, God wants your faith.At the very least, this gives us some wonderful clarity, because it means that from the greatest men and women to ever live, to the simplest person you could ever imagine, God requires the same thing. He wants every type of person to trust him.So, get this: for everyone in this room, you don't have to wonder what God wants from you, because what he wants from you the same thing he wants from every human, whoever they are. God wants your faith. He wants you to trust him, which means you do what he says.So we're all in this together: whatever we got going on, wherever we're coming from, God wants our faith whoever we are. Chapter 20 makes that clear. Now let's look at Chapter 21.2. God wants your faith if you want to live. We're gonna focus here on verses 4–9. You heard it read earlier, but let me set up the scene for you. We have another situation yet again when the people became impatient and they spoke against God and against Moses. They did the whole: You brought us out of Egypt to die here! There's no food and no water!And Chapter 21, verse 6 shows us God's response. It's straightforward. This just happens. Ya'll look at Chapter 21, verse 6. You're gonna wanna see this. Chapter 21, verse 6:“Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.”Now this is just one verse and the story moves on right away, but wait a minute! Can you imagine this? “Fiery serpents” is another way to say poisonous snakes — these are the kind of snakes that if they bite you, you die. And this makes sense to us because these kind of snakes exists today. Snakes like the black mamba, king cobra, saw-scaled viper, diamondback rattlesnake — these are snakes that when they bite you, they inject hemotoxins into your body that destroy your red blood cells; your blood clots, it basically turns into concrete, and you die in agony. Can we give thanks to God that we don't have any of these snakes in MN? I know people complain about the cold, but it's a good thing we don't have poisonous snakes. It wasn't like that for me growing up in North Carolina.We were doing an ice-breaker question at a big staff meeting a few weeks ago, and the question was about your greatest fear. And if I'm honest, since I was a kid I've had this fear that a snake would be hiding under the rim of a toilet, waiting for me. Just imagine that. … When you least imagine it, bitten.That kind of thing is happening in Numbers 21. It's snakebites everywhere, and it's not that these snakes magically appeared, but they had most likely already been in the land. There are a few other places in the Torah where God mentions the wild animals in the land (see Exodus 23:29; Deuteronomy 7:22); and in Leviticus 26:22, God says that as a curse for disobedience, he will “let loose the wild beasts against you.” I think that's what's happening here. Up to now, God has been restraining these creatures from harming the people, but now, as judgment, God let's them loose, and it's mayhem. Look what the people do in verse 7: And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.And God answers the prayer. He is going to send salvation to the people, but notice the unusual way God does this in verse 8. … God tells Moses to make a bronze serpent, set it up on a pole, and whoever is bitten, if they look at the bronze serpent, they'll live. That's the only way to survive. I want you to see this in verse 9. Verse 9 says: “So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.”Now it's pretty straightforward what you're supposed to do if your snakebitten, but the question is: Why? Why did God do it like this?It seems unreasonable to us, maybe even a little bit absurd in this context, that God would bring healing from a curse by looking at a symbol of that curse.We don't know exactly why this way — we just know this is what God said and if you're snakebitten you better do what God says — which means you trust him — if you want to live!So yeah, it might not make a lot of sense to you. You might have all kinds of questions, but how many questions do you wanna ask while your blood is turning into concrete!?!?The fact is, when you realize that you've been snakebitten — when you get the severity of your situation — the only thing you wanna do is look! Where's the bronze serpent?! I gotta see it! I just have to see it!John Calvin comments on this passage that this whole thing showcases “the peculiar virtue of faith, that we should willingly be fools, in order that we may learn to be wise only from the mouth of God.” Calvin says, and I agree, that God is offending human reason on purpose, so that it's crystal clear that it's not ourselves who rescue us, but it's only by the grace of God. This whole scene, then, is an amazing picture of faith in Jesus — and you don't have to take Calvin's word for it, because Jesus himself told us this. In the Gospel of John, Chapter 3, one of the most famous passages in the Bible, Jesus says this amazing sentence. He says: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”And I think the connection here is multi-layered. In a way, Jesus lifted up on the cross is like the bronze serpent on the pole — the symbol of judgment becomes the source of life. And this lifting up was not just the actual event of the crucifixion, but it's the telling of that event; it's the preaching of Jesus. Jesus lifted up is our witness to Jesus. But the main connection that Jesus is making is not between himself and the bronze serpent, but it's about what we do — it's that we must believe! The deeper connection in what Jesus says is between us and the people of Israel, and it's that we're all snakebitten. We're all sinners who are under a curse and we're condemned. We've been separated from God and we are going to die, and the only thing you can do — if you wanna live — is look! Look to Jesus!Don't look to yourself. Don't look to how good you are or to how many decent things you've done or to how smart you might be. Don't look to others — to who your family is or who your friends are or to what others think of you. Don't look anywhere else. Just look to Jesus. Trust in Jesus — if you want to live. That's what Numbers 21 is telling us.And this is something that I think we need to settle. Just get this clear in our hearts. Whenever we find ourselves in a place where we wonder: God, what do you want from me? If we're ever looking up to heaven saying that — Here I am! What do you want?Here's the answer that is true every time: God wants your faith. Whoever you are, if you want to live, trust in Jesus Christ.And if you think all this sounds simple, it's supposed to. This is God's word for us today. Some of you who have been walking with Jesus for a long time, hear this again: keep trusting him. Keep looking to him, for eternal life and all its details here.And for others of you who are snakebitten and condemned, what are you doing? You're looking to all these others things, but they will not give you life. This morning, I'm lifting Jesus high for you! Look to him! It could mean that you pray a straightforward prayer like this:Jesus, I can't save myself and I'm sorry for trying.I believe you died on the cross and are raised from dead for me.I trust you. Save me.That is a prayer of faith, and it's what God calls us to as his people, and that's how we come to this Table.The TableAt the Lord's Table, we as God's people remember the death of Jesus and give him thanks.

The passage that we just read comes at the end of a section of narrative in Numbers. It comes right in the middle of the whole section we will cover this morning, which is Numbers 16-19. Not only does it come in the middle of the chapters for this morning, it comes right at the middle of the book of Numbers as a whole. We see at the heart of the book of Numbers, which has been a theme in the Pentateuch as a whole, the question of how can an unholy people come near a Holy God? Or vise versa, how can a Holy God come and dwell in the midst of a sinful people, without them being consumed by his Holy justice? We have seen this focus in the books of Moses (the first 5 book of the Bible). The book placed right in the middle is Leviticus, which gives instruction about sacrifices, laws, and the duties of the priests. And right at the heart of that book, right in the middle, is instructions for the Day of Atonement, where the priest once a year will enter behind the curtain of the Holy of Holies, the Most Holy place, to make atonement for the sins of the nation.So it is not a coincidence that the tabernacle and the priesthood seem to take center stage, once again, in the book of Numbers. We will return to that theme at the end this morning. But first, we are going to look at what comes prior to this story, and what comes after it.In Chapter 16, we see three distinct acts of judgement connected with rebellion, grumbling and unbelief. After the three acts of judgement, we will look at three provisions from God for the people of Israel in Chapters 17, 18, and 19. That is the high level outline this morning; 3 acts of judgment, and 3 acts of provision.Would you pray with me as we get started?1. Three acts of Judgment from God (Ch. 16:1-40, 41-50)Hear again verses 12 and 13,“And the people of Israel said to Moses, “Behold, we perish, we are undone, we are all undone. Everyone who comes near, who comes near the tabernacle of the LORD, shall die. Are we all to perish?”This is the desperate question we see in response to all that has happened in chapters 16 and 17. Death, because of God's judgment related to sin, is all over the camp. So let's look back at the acts of judgment that led up to the people crying out to Moses. The first story incapsulates two of these acts of wrath.Korah's Rebellion (Numbers 16:1–19)Numbers 16:1-19,Now Korah the son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men. And they rose up before Moses, with a number of the people of Israel, 250 chiefs of the congregation, chosen from the assembly, well-known men. They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! For all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?” When Moses heard it, he fell on his face, and he said to Korah and all his company, “In the morning the LORD will show who is his, and who is holy, and will bring him near to him. The one whom he chooses he will bring near to him. Do this: take censers, Korah and all his company; put fire in them and put incense on them before the LORD tomorrow, and the man whom the LORD chooses shall be the holy one. You have gone too far, sons of Levi!” And Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi: is it too small a thing for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do service in the tabernacle of the LORD and to stand before the congregation to minister to them, and that he has brought you near him, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? And would you seek the priesthood also? Therefore it is against the LORD that you and all your company have gathered together. What is Aaron that you grumble against him?”And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and they said, “We will not come up. Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you must also make yourself a prince over us? Moreover, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up.” And Moses was very angry and said to the LORD, “Do not respect their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, and I have not harmed one of them.”And Moses said to Korah, “Be present, you and all your company, before the LORD, you and they, and Aaron, tomorrow. And let every one of you take his censer and put incense on it, and every one of you bring before the LORD his censer, 250 censers; you also, and Aaron, each his censer.” So every man took his censer and put fire in them and laid incense on them and stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron. Then Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And the glory of the LORD appeared to all the congregation.Korah, who was a leader among the Levites, has banded together with Dathan and Abiram, who are leaders from the tribe of Rueben. They have gathered 250 well-known leaders, from the whole camp to come and rebel against the leadership of Moses and Aaron. This is not a small group of complainers, this an organized revolt that has a sizable group with it. Besides the leaders mentioned, there are 250 well-known leaders that have joined in along with them. We need to see a few things here to appreciate the magnitude of what is going on. First lets do a historical fly by. Here we'll see revelation and rivalry…Starting back in Genesis, in Genesis 49, Jacob calls his 12 sons together so that he may tell them “what shall happen to [them] in days to come.” And in his speaking to each of them, it says that he “blessed them, blessing each with a blessing suitable to him.”Genesis 49 gives us prophetic blessings, that fit his sons and will play out in the coming generations. It gives us revelation into the coming days. There are three things to see in the first few blessings:To Rueben, the firstborn, he says: “[you are] preeminent in power, but you will not have preeminence”To Levi, he says: Their “weapons of violence are their swords.” Their anger is fierce and their wrath, cruel. God says: “I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.”To Judah, he says: “your brothers shall praise you.” “The scepter shall not depart from Judah.” Exodus 32 gives us a glimpse of this playing out for the Levites. This is the infamous story of the golden calf. Moses has been up on the mountain for a while and the people become restless. Along with Aaron, they make themselves an image to worship. Moses comes down and sees the wickednesses of the camp and how Aaron has let them stray. Moses says, “‘Who is on the LORD's side? Come to me' And all the sons of Levi gathered around him.” They are then commanded to slaughter the wickedness around them and about 3,000 fell that day. And Moses said,“…today you have been ordained for the service of the LORD, each one at the cost of his son and his brother, so that He [God] might bestow a blessing upon you this day.” (Exodus 32:29).The Levites are blessed for their faithfulness to God and execute his judgement. We see their warrior-like fierceness, and an ordaining that will fulfill what is said back in Genesis.Numbers 2 gives us a glimpse of these “prophetic blessings” playing out for the tribes of Judah and Rueben. As the camp is ordered, Judah is placed in the first position over all his brothers, first in the first camp which will be on the east. While Rueben is listed as first in the camp on the south side, the second camp.This is the same order used when it comes to Numbers 7 with the contributions for the tabernacle. Judah goes first. The firstborn tribe of Reuben is not the leader, the tribe of Judah is.In Numbers 3, we see the redeeming of the firstborn from all the tribes. So rather than all the firstborns, being taken to serve before the Lord, they are redeemed and replaced by all the sons of Levi. The firstborns of the tribes are swapped out for the whole tribe of Levi. Service of the Lord before the tabernacle is concentrated under the Levites. So what may have been brewing for quite some time, is rivalry among family as God's revelation starts to take place. God has chosen leaders different than the natural order.And it just so happens, that Korah, Dathan and Abiram all camp together in the south camp, so they have had some time to talk. Korah, Dathan, and Abiram suspect that Moses and Aaron have carved out their own position of power, which they think they have equal or greater right to. (But we have seen this many times already in scripture, that God's choosing is not restricted by natural order. And there issue is ultimately with God, although they focus the blame on Moses and Aaron).We see their astounding wickedness.Last week Pastor Mike Schumann highlighted how unbelief adds and removes things from what is true. And in this passage we see much of the same: They disregard God's choosing and say that Moses and Aaron have gone too far by exalting themselves over the people of Israel. Their plea is that “everyone is Holy,” yet they really just want to lead. They are suspicious and suspect that Moses and Aaron seek to punish or kill the men who have confronted them by exposing their ploy for power over the people of Israel. They say: “Will you put out the eyes of these men?” They describe Moses as making himself prince over them, so they won't take any of his commands anymore… “Don't tell us to come up to the tabernacle.”They give a jaw dropping account of what has transpired:“Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you must also make yourself prince over us?” (Num. 16:13).A land flowing with milk and honey in the Bible is exclusively used to describe the promised land, that they refused to go into only a few chapters earlier. And here, this wicked rebellion describes Egypt as a land flowing with milk and honey that Moses has taken the people from.This is absolutely stunning, I don't even know what to say…We see the power of sin and unbelief.We either have men who have been jealous of Moses and Aaron this whole time, despite God's provision through them again and again, and now see an opportunity to overthrow them because they have not received the Promise Land… They are unchanged by example after example of God's grace….Or, we have sin and unbelief that is so potent that these men change their opinion of all that has happened. They so quickly see it all differently now, because they don't like their circumstances. Their unbelief darkens them to all God has done, and in borderline blasphemy, they call Egypt “a land flowing with milk and honey!”A word for us here: Be careful to not get caught up in the sins of others. Gossip, slander, grumbling. Do not get entangled in the sin of others. A few men of the camp, maybe talking to much around the campfire, ended up gathering 250 known leaders, which will lead to the demise of them all.So the rebellion, with leaders from the tribe of Levi, and Reuben, and 250 other notable leaders, who likely have natural first born privileges, contend with Moses and Aaron, and this is taking place in two different places, with two different challenges. And the Lord will respond with 2 different and fitting judgements. You have the 250, with Korah standing before the tabernacle, and you have Dathan and Abiram staying in their own camp.These two locations highlight two different challenges to Moses and Aaron. One to Aaron and his Priesthood, and one to Moses and authority.Korah, a leading Levite, desires to lead the Priesthood and kick Aaron aside. Dathan and Abiram, are done taking instructions from Moses and seek to lead.And as the stage is set “the glory of the LORD appeared to all the congregation.” The Lord tells Moses and Aaron to separate so that God can consume them all. Moses pleads for the people to not be killed based on one mans rebellion. God tells them to command the people to separate from the camp of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. So Moses goes to them and commands the people to separate, and says, verses 28-30,“Hereby you shall know that the LORD has sent me to do all these works, and that it has not been of my own accord. If these men die as all men die, or if they are visited by the fate of all mankind, then the LORD has not sent me. But if the LORD creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised the LORD”. And immediately as Moses finishes speaking, the Lord acts in judgement. To those who contend against the leadership of Moses, and seek to exalt themselves over the Lord's chosen, they are brought down alive into the earth. And to those who contended against Aaron as the high priest, their incense is not accepted and, verse 35, “a fire came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men.”This was a terrible and fearful day in the camp of Israel, a significant rebellion which was against God, experiences of just wrath directly from Him. God defends Moses and Aaron. We would think that the people now see, but it is about to get worst. Verse 41,“But on the next day all the congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and against Aaron and said ‘You have killed the people of the LORD.'”The very next day, those who survived put their lot in with those who were judged in Korah's rebellion, and sided with them! One of the literary themes in this passage is the assembly of God versus the assembly of Korah. Those who belong to Yahweh, and those who “belong to Korah.”The very next day the people cry out and complain that Moses and Aaron have killed the true people of the LORD. Then the glory of the Lord appeared again. God tells Moses and Aaron to separate from the people again, and they hear that a plague has already started to wipe out the people.Moses commands Aaron to light his censor from off the altar and to run into the midst of the people, to make atonement for them, and he ran and stood between the living and the dead, and the plague was stopped. And when the plague had subsided, he returned to Moses. 14,700 died that day, in addition to all who were killed the day before.Here is the scary thing: Our hearts have the same seeds of sin and unbelief as Israel in the wilderness. They have that same capacity for wickedness, slander and unbelief. If not for the grace of God, we would fall into the same suspicion, the same grumbling, they same self-deception, the same unbelief. Our ability to deceive ourselves should be terrifying. Apart from God's grace and work, that is the capacity of your heart!You need to see that. You need to understand that. And when you do, the grace and rescue of Jesus looks like amazing news. We understand the “power of the gospel for salvation.” It was no small thing to save you, it took supernatural power, for God to overcome your sin and your heart, so that you may be alive, to see and believe in him. And not have eyes that are so blind to his grace and provision over and over again.Death is all over the camp of Israel. But God is committed to his people. And in chapters 17, 18, and 19, we see three provisions for Israel which bring hope and stability.2. Three acts of provisions for life from God (Ch. 17, 18, 19).Provision of the priest, provision for the levites, and provision for the rest of the camp.1. God Reaffirms leadership and the priesthood in the camp (Ch. 17).God reestablished the order that was for Israel's good. The wheels have been coming off, it was all falling apart, and God reestablished order out of increasing chaos. He does not abandon his plan or try something different, but he establishes again the order of the community that was given prior and brings it back into shape and form.12 staffs are brought, one from each tribe of Israel. Aaron's staff is placed among them and they are all brought into the tent of meeting, so that God will show his people who is Holy and who he has chosen by making their staff bud.Aaron's staff alone is chosen, it not only buds, but bears fruit and undeniably shows that the Lord has still chosen Aaron and the Levites to be near his house.And God says, verse 10, “Put back the staff of Aaron before the testimony, to be kept as a sign for the rebels, that you may make an end of their grumbling against me, lest they die.”God graciously gives the people a sign of his chosen leadership, and it is a perpetual sign to hold back the grumblings of rebels so they don't die.Much like the censors of the 250 that were taken and hammered out as a cover for the altar, to remind and warn the people that only the sons of Aaron can come near and offer incense on the altar.These signs don't remove the wickedness in Israel, but are described as holding it back, stopping it from breaking through to cause death.2. God reaffirms the duties of the priests and Levites (Ch. 18).Numbers 18:1–3,So the LORD said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father's house with you shall bear iniquity connected with the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear iniquity connected with your priesthood. And with you bring your brothers also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may join you and minister to you while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony. They shall keep guard over you and over the whole tent, but shall not come near to the vessels of the sanctuary or to the altar lest they, and you, die.”The Levites will serve with the priest, they will guard and help, and bear the burden together. There is mutual responsibility, a failure in duty could cause both to die. And they will serve as a buffer between God and the people.God also gives provisions to the Levites, because they will not have an inheritance in the land. They will be provided for by what is brought to the Lord. And as we zoom forward to Numbers 35 we see this fulfilled as they are given cities throughout the land, but not given their own portion. Sound familiar?Genesis 49, “I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.”We see the fulfilling of what was spoken of them back in Genesis. They are a warring people that will be scattered among the people of Israel, but they also stood by Moses and the Lord at the golden calf, and have been ordained to the burden and privilege of serving before the Lord. 3. God provides purification from death to enter back into the camp (Ch. 19).Numbers 19:2–5,“This is the statute of the law that the LORD has commanded: Tell the people of Israel to bring you a red heifer without defect, in which there is no blemish, and on which a yoke has never come. And you shall give it to Eleazar the priest, and it shall be taken outside the camp and slaughtered before him. And Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, and sprinkle some of its blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times. And the heifer shall be burned in his sight. Its skin, its flesh, and its blood, with its dung, shall be burned.”There are some similarities in this offering and the offering on the Day of Atonement. Both involve action outside of the camp and both are entrance rites. The Day of Atonement sacrifices were to cleanse the priest so he may enter the Most Holy place. The red heifer ashes were to cleanse those who had been near death so that they may be cleansed and return back into the camp. The Lord provided entrance back into the camp for those who were ceremonially unclean.Only through the Priesthood of AaronBefore we close, we need to return to the miracle of Aaron's staff flowering, and what it means.For Israel, God is saying: Only Aaron and his sons may come near … Aaron's staff buds, shoots, blossoms and bears fruit. The other staffs remain dead sticks. There aren't many ways to the presence of Yahweh. Only through a sacrifice for sin mediated through whom God has chosen. And when Israel saw this, they responded with great fear.But, God is also saying: I will bless all the people through Aaron and his sons. Them coming near to God was not for them alone, but for all the people. It was not a sign of death on the other leaders, but a sign of life for all through the mediation of the Levites. Aaron will stand in the gap between death and life for them.There is another place in which we have heard a description like this before. Of branches, and blossoms and fruit. It's the golden lampstand, with its seven branches and cups like almonds blossoms.The lampstand gave light to the Holy place, and shined on the 12 loaves of bread that represent the tribes. The priests were also to put Yahweh's name on the people of Israel by saying “may the Lord bless you, and keep you, may the LORD makes his face to shine upon you...”Aaron's staff shows once again that the Lord through His priests will abundantly bless his people and will shine on them. There is abundant life and blessing that is still offered to the people of Israel. God has not left his people, He will still dwell in their midst, and he will hold back their sin until he one day conquers and removes it for good. And we have the greater reality. Jesus stands in the gap for us, between life and death, but more than holding back sin and death, he defeats it. God will bless us, and keep us, and make His face to shine upon us, but only through the mediation of Jesus. Jesus is the only way back to God.Israel problem wasn't their circumstances, it was their unbelieving hearts. Better food won't make them believe, better land won't make them believe, rescue from wrath over and over won't make them believe. And apart from Christ, our hearts are the same. But God, through Christ, has given us new hearts. And because of this, we will make it though our own wilderness. We won't make it because God gives us favorable circumstances, but because we have faith in the Son of God who loved us and died for us. The TableThe only way to be reconciled to God is through Jesus. And that is what this table represents. Jesus's sacrifice cleanses our consciences, and gives us new hearts. Hebrew 9 says exactly this as it looks back at Numbers 19. It says:“For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”His life, death, and resurrection is for you. If you believe in Jesus, you are welcome to this table.

Message for 11/17/2024 "Jesus Starts a New Tradition" by Madison Tompkins. *All verses are NLT unless otherwise noted* What is your favorite holiday tradition? What is your favorite holiday tradition? Matthew 26:17-29 (ESV) Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?” 18 He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.'” 19 And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover. 20 When it was evening, he reclined at table with the twelve. 21 And as they were eating, he said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” 22 And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, “Is it I, Lord?” 23 He answered, “He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me will betray me. 24 The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.”25 Judas, who would betray him, answered, “Is it I, Rabbi?” He said to him, “You have said so.” 26 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” 27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.” Luke 22:19 (ESV) And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 1 John 1:7 (ESV) But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. Exodus 2:23-25 (ESV) During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. 24 God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. 25 So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them. Exodus 11:1-6 The Lord said to Moses, “Yet one plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will drive you away completely. 2 Speak now in the hearing of the people, that they ask, every man of his neighbor and every woman of her neighbor, for silver and gold jewelry.” 3 And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh's servants and in the sight of the people. 4 So Moses said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt, 5 and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle. 6 There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again. Exodus 12:1-13 (ESV) The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you.3 Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household. 4 And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, 6 and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight. 7 “Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. 8 They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9 Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. 10 And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. 11 In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. 12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord.13 The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt. John 6:48-51 (ESV) I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” Colossians 1:19-22 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. 21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, John 6:52-60 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum. 60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” 1 Corinthians 15:55-58 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

When I was a teenager, one day I was hanging out with my friends at the mall, and I was filling out this form to win a new car. (We've all done that before, right?) You know there's always those new cars at the mall, and you can win them for free — you just have to write down a lot of information. So that's what I was doing, and then suddenly this mall-walker approached me and he says, “Son, what are you doing?”I said, “I'm trying to win this car.”He said, “Well did you read the fine print?!”And I wasn't very smart, but I was respectful, so I said: “No sir, I did not.”And then, with a look of contempt on his face, he said, “And that is what is wrong with your generation!” And he turned around and mall-walked off.And I've never entered another sweepstakes in my life. True story. What the man said landed. I don't have time to read the fine print (who wants to do that?), but I also don't want to be what's wrong with my generation, so I just leave the whole thing alone. But that's not our approach to the Old Testament! Like the apostle Paul says, we believe that everything here has been written for our instruction, even the fine print, and that's what we're gonna look at today. And I'll go ahead and tell you it's not pretty. In just two chapters here, Chapters 11 and 12 — there are three different complaints; God's anger is mentioned four times; and people die with food in their mouths. The fine print is bad. It shows us a nation in decline, but that's not what it would seem like at the end of Chapter 10. There's a stark contrast in these chapters I want you to see: there's the shiny new car on one hand, then there's the fine print on the other hand, and then there's what it means for us. And that's the outline for this sermon. If you like outlines, I'm going to call these movements. There are three movements we're going to track in this story:See the shiny new carRead the fine printTake something homeFather, thank you for your Word and for this gathering. We ask now for you to bless the unfolding of your word. Let there be light! In Jesus's name, amen. 1. See the shiny new carSay you're strolling through the Old Testament, in the Book of Numbers, and you come upon the end of Chapter 10. In verse 11, we read that Israel is finally, actually leaving Mount Sinai. The first ten chapters have been preparing for this, but now it's happening. That cloud that is the manifestation of God's presence begins to move, and verse 13 says, “at the command of the Lord by Moses” the people follow. And they follow in a certain order. The tribe of Judah is first in line. Judah's ProminenceWe begin to see in Numbers the emerging prominence of Judah, and it's what we'd expect by now if we remember the Book of Genesis. If you remember, in Genesis 49, when Jacob blesses his 12 sons, he gives this amazing blessing to Judah. He says, “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples” (Genesis 49:10). Judah is special in God's plan. This is the tribe that King David will be from, and eventually this is the tribe Jesus is from. Jesus is the Lion from the tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5), and we see Judah's importance start to play out in Numbers. Judah is first.Abrahamic PromiseBut not only that, look at Hobab in verse 29. Hobab is Moses's brother-in-law, which means he was a Midianite (a Gentile). But look what Moses says to him in verse 29: “We are setting out for the place of which the Lord said, ‘I will give it to you.'”Bible quiz: Where did God first say he'd give this land to Israel? What book of the Bible?Answer: Genesis. This is God's promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:7. Abraham was in the land of Canaan and God said to him, “To your offspring I will give this land.” Moses makes a direct quote of that promise. He knows about it. He says, verse 29:“We are setting out for the place of which the Lord said, ‘I will give it to you.' Come with us, and we will do good to you, for the Lord has promised good to Israel.”Moses says this again in verse 32:“And if you do go with us, whatever good the Lord will do to us, the same will we do to you.”So get this: Moses is expecting that the Lord will do them good, and he's saying to this Gentile that if he sticks with Israel, God's blessing on Israel will be a blessing to him. Moses seems to think that through Israel the Gentiles will be blessed.Bible quiz: Where does Moses get that idea? What book of the Bible?Answer: Genesis. Again, this is in God's promise to Abraham in Genesis 12! God told Abraham that he would bless him and make him a blessing. All the families of the earth — Gentiles — would be blessed through him.And that is happening here! It's like Moses has taken Genesis as his script, and he's just checking off the boxes. The blessings are flowing. God is doing it! This is a shiny, new car, and nothing makes that more obvious than verses 35 and 36. The fulfillment has begun, and you can kind of hear a good movie theme song in the background.And whenever the ark set out, Moses said,“Arise, O Yahweh, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before you.” 36 And when it rested, he said, “Return, O Yahweh, to the ten thousand thousands of Israel.”This is epic! Count me in! I'm ready to sign up and be part of this thing. Let's go!But wait a minute. There's some fine print. This is the second movement.2. Read the fine printAnd I want you to see that it really does function like fine print in the storyline. Look back at Chapter 10, verse 12. I want you to see this. Chapter 10, verse 12.Verse 12,“…and the people of Israel set out by stages from the wilderness of Sinai. And the cloud settled down in the wilderness of Paran.”This is their departure/arrival. They leave Sinai and settle in Paran. Got it? Now turn over a couple of pages to Chapter 12, verse 16. Chapter 12:16,“After that the people set out from Hazeroth, and camped in the wilderness of Paran.”This is when they get to where we've already been told they end up. Chapter 12, verse 16 tells us the same thing that Chapter 10, verse 12 tells us. The people go from Sinai to Paran. From the high view, we already know this from Chapter 10; then Chapter 12 repeats it — so what's the point of Chapters 11 and 12 in-between? Well it's the fine print. The details. Three Complaints to ComeAnd this is how it starts, 11:1, “And the people complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes…”The Jurassic Park theme song is over and this is not good, but we need to pace ourselves here. This is the first of three complaints we read about in Chapters 11 and 12. For each complaint, God responds in anger, Moses prays, and the place where it happened is given a name. So we're gonna track these complaints by the names. If you like to think in order, think of it like this: Sinai is where they're starting from; Paran is where they arrive. And there are three stops in-between: Taberah, Kibroth-hattaavah, Hazeroth. (And those are all the Hebrew names transliterated in English, but for the meaning in English, these three places mean Burning, Craver's Graveyard, Separation — and I'm gonna talk about them like that.) First …Complaint #1 — Burning (11:1–3)We don't have too many details here, just that the people complained about their “misfortunes” — and that word for misfortunes is actually the Hebrew word that means “evil.” That's how the Israelites were thinking about their hardships. They complained about the evil they had experienced, and immediately, if we're reading carefully, we're supposed to pick up on a contrast. Because in the previous chapter, just a few verses earlier, we read the word “good” three times. Moses says Yahweh has promised good to Israel, and with whatever good Yahweh does to Israel, they'll do good to Hobab. It's all good according to Moses. That's God's heart. But then the people are complaining about evil. Hardship. Misfortune. And we don't know exactly how they were complaining — maybe they were commiserating in small groups, maybe a guy was having a private conversation with his wife, maybe they were alone in their car in traffic — we don't know, but however they did it, it was hatred of God. They considered their situation to be evil, and they blamed God for it. And God heard it. (Because, heads up, God hears everything.)And his fierce anger was kindled. In response, he sent fire among the people and burned up the outlying parts of the camp, which implies that if you were hanging out in the outlying parts of the camp, you were consumed by the fire. And this terrified the people. There's fire around them! Is it gonna stop? Is it coming in? So they cried to Moses; Moses prayed to the Lord; the fire died down; the place got its name. All of this happens in three verses. Pretty straightforward. There's not a lot of details on purpose. Because this first complaint is meant to be a kind of preview for what's to come. In case we got too excited about the end of Chapter 10 and we think we're gonna win a shiny new car — because it takes less than two weeks to get from Sinai to Canaan, we got this! — well Chapter 11 opens by thumping us between the eyes and says: Not two weeks, try 40 years. This is going to be bad, and the problem is not God; the problem is the people. That's what this place, the Burning, tells us. But now let's look at the second complaint.Complaint #2 — Craver's Graveyard (11:4–35)This is kind of a spoiler alert, but this place is called Craver's Graveyard. So good luck. There's a lot of fine print here. I'll be quick. It starts with “the rabble.” I want you to see that word in Chapter 11, verse 4. Find that for just a second. 11:4 — the word “rabble.”Verse 4,“Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again …”One question we need to answer is, “Who is this rabble?” — and I want you to see that this verse tells us they are different from the people of Israel. The King James Version actually translated the word as “mixed multitude.” These people would have been non-Israelites who came with Israel when they left Egypt. Another good translation of this word is “riffraff” — this is a negative group. They've tagged along with Israel and now they're the ones who had the strong craving. But notice that it's the people of Israel who complain. So the riffraff at least influenced Israel, but it's Israel who is whining, and it's Israel who says, “Oh that we had meat to eat!” — And just a heads up, this gets really gross. The people say:“We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.”And it's fascinating in this story, because right away in verse 7, as an aside, we're told again what manna is. It's like the writer is saying: Let me remind you about the stuff they're complaining about.And it's all very positive. Manna's appearance is like a bdellium — that's a precious stone from the Garden of Eden; it's incredibly versatile in terms of what you can make with it; it tastes like cake; and it falls from heaven. Verse 7 defends manna and it's meant to be a correction to the complaint.Because, first off, there was no free lunch in Egypt. That's a lie. The only free food these people have ever experienced was the stuff that falls from heaven — and that's another difference. Look at the food mentioned from Egypt: fish, cucumber, melons, leeks, onions, garlic. One thing that all these food have in common is that they come from below. It's not a coincidence. This is grave food. So Yahweh has been providing heavenly food that literally costs nothing — it falls down from heaven — but they're craving grave food that will cost them their lives.And Moses was done. The people are weeping and whining, and verse 10 tells us that the “anger of the Lord blazed hotly.” And the ESV says Moses was “displeased.” And that's not as strong as the original word here. The word behind “displeased” is again the Hebrew word for “evil.” Literally, the verse says “it was evil in the eyes of Moses.”And Moses wants out, and he tells God starting in verse 11. And some readers take Moses's words here as another complaint, but I think we should tread carefully in how we view Moses. He knows more about what's going on here than we do. He's God's prophet, and God does not correct him here, but instead, God helps him. See, the reason Moses is dejected is because he knows how this is going to play out. He knows the people haven't learned anything. He knows they're too evil to make it to the Promised Land — even if God gives them what they want. Because God says he will. God says he'd send them meat, but down in verse 21, Moses knows that even with that provision, it won't be enough for the people. God could empty the ocean for these people and it still won't be enough. Their lust, like all lust, is insatiable. Always craving, never satisfied.So Moses responds the way he does here because it's certain he's going to see these people die, and frankly, he can't handle all that carnage by himself. He knows this thing is going down, and he just can't bear that burden alone, and God seems to understand. Because he tells Moses to choose 70 elders from the people; God will share his Spirit with them; and they'll be able bear the burden with Moses. (And there's a little story within the story that we're gonna come back to, but for now skip to verse 31.)God does indeed send meat — he dropped quail for them just outside the camp. And people who craved meat went out to get it, and as they were eating it, while the meat was still in their mouths, God's anger was kindled, and he struck them all down. And the rest of the people buried them there, and the place got its name: Craver's Graveyard.Then they left there and came to a new place — and a new place meant a new complaint — complaint #3.Complaint #3 — Separation (12:1–16)We're still in the fine print, and one detail to notice about the previous two complaints is that God's judgment took place just outside the camp — The burning was the outlying parts of the camp (11:1); the cravers gathered the quail outside the camp and were spread out (11:31-32). Remember how the camp was set up: the tabernacle, God's presence, was at the center; there was Moses and Aaron, and the priests, and then the Levites, and then the tribes of Israel, and then the outer camp.Well, all the mess was happening out here for the first two complaints, but look at Complaint #3, Chapter 12, verse 1:Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman. 2 And they said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?” And the Lord heard it. [Because, again, heads up, the Lord hears everything.]And if we keep reading, we see that God defends Moses, and he says of Moses the most honoring, commending words that he's said about any man besides Jesus. Moses is the meekest man on the face of the earth; he's been faithful in all of God's house; God speaks with him face to face.We learn very quickly that Miriam and Aaron's complaint about Moses is unjustified; God's anger is kindled once again; Miriam is struck with leprosy; Moses prays; Miriam is separated from the people outside the camp; they waited for her seven days and after she was brought back in, they leave, and the place gets its name: Separation.There's a lot of details we could pursue in this complaint, but the main thing to see is where the complaint is coming from. This is not outside the camp, but this was about as close to the center as you can get. Aaron was the priest; Miriam, Moses's sister, was a prophetess (she was a singer, a female vocalist). These are two people upfront. They're leaders. And even they complain.This is the nail in the coffin about the condition of these people. From the outside even now to the inside, it's a mess. It's dysfunctional and toxic — as readers, our hope is all but lost.And there's a kind of whiplash. We go from the shiny new car and lots of hope, to suddenly we find ourselves in these details, bogged down into something we just want to get out of — like Moses did. Personally (and this was new for me — I've always been more of an Abraham-guy than a Moses-guy), but I felt sorry for Moses this past week. I felt heavy with him. I would not want his calling … and if y'all were like Israel here I wouldn't want my calling.But here's the thing: you're not. We are not like Israel. And this is what we take home from this story.3. Take Something Home Let's go back to Chapter 11 when Moses appoints the 70 elders. There's a mini-story in verses 24–30 that I want to show you. It's an amazing scene: God sends his Spirit on these elders and they start prophesying — and the prophesying here was word-ministry. They spoke words of guidance. They were confirming that they can help Moses instruct the people. And there are these two guys who apparently kept prophesying after the others had stopped. Their names were Eldad and Medad, but their names mean “God-Loved” and “Beloved.” Which, in light of what we've been seeing, these are positive names. It's a glimmer of something good. Well they're prophesying, and one guy hears them and runs to tell on them. And then, suddenly, there emerges a new character in Numbers, a man named Joshua. Joshua is Moses's assistant, his disciple, and he says, “Mr. Moses, stop these guys.”God-Loved and Beloved were doing word-ministry, and Joshua thought they were undermining Moses' authority, but actually they were serving it. Moses is not concerned. He says this is a good thing. Don't be jealous for me. He says, verse 29:“Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!”All of sudden, piercing through this dark story there's light. And it leads us to imagine a different kind of people, under a different kind of leader, perhaps one whose name is Joshua.See, there's no doubt this little story is meant to be a marker of hope. It's a foreshadowing of the New Covenant community. Because what Moses wishes does happen. Even later in the Old Testament storyline, God speaks through the prophet Joel about this new covenant community, and he says, 28 “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. 29 Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. (Joel 2:28–29)So the Holy Spirit is not just for Moses, and just for the 70, but the Holy Spirit is in everyone who then has the ability to do word ministry. This is all true of us right now. Right now, every Christian — every member of this new covenant community — can take this Book in your hands and you can go to any other member in this community and you can open this Book and help them. You can encourage them with God's word. You can show them what God says. Get this: what we have church was a dream for Moses. We don't have to worry about God's anger toward us, or about him striking us down, because God has already done that. And I'm not talking about this place called the Burning, or the Craver's Graveyard, or Separation, but I'm talking about the Place of a Skull — Golgotha. At that place, God's anger burned hotly and he poured out fire, as it were, on our sin. On our complaining and craving, God poured out his judgment — but it wasn't judgment on us, it was judgment on Jesus as our substitute. We are not like faithless Israel because our sins have been atoned for, once and for all, by the death of Jesus Christ. And he has given us his Spirit to believe. He keeps us. Jesus is able to save us to the uttermost, the whole way — and this morning we rest in him. We worship him. We give him thanks. That's what we do at this Table.The TableAt this Table, we as Christians come here to remember what Jesus has done for us. Together, as a brothers and sisters in Christ, as members of the new covenant community, we say Jesus, thank you. Jesus, you are strong and kind and we trust you.

Welcome to the Unlovely Truth. I'm your host church safety advocate and coach Lori Morrison. I help ministry leaders assess and address the 12 critical safety issues that exist in every church. Our churches need to be the safest places in our communities, so my mission on this podcast is to give you actionable steps to make your house of worship a true sanctuary in your community. Let's investigate the unlovely truth about real crime stories happening in real churches. I've got three cases to explore today, so let's dive right in.    I'm not a fan of horror movies. There's enough real-life stuff that scares me so why would I look for fake scary stuff. The episode proves that we've got to be on the lookout for horrific happenings even in our churches. So why do I think it's important to talk about the things I talk about on the podcast?   Numbers 21:6-9 (CSB) Then the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and they bit them so that many Israelites died. The people then came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Intercede with the Lord so that he will take the snakes away from us.” And Moses interceded for the people.   Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake image and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will recover.” So Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole. Whenever someone was bitten, and he looked at the bronze snake, he recovered.   The children of Israel were whining, again, about the state they found themselves in. Never did it seem to occur to them that THEY were the reason things weren't going so good. It would get a lot worse once the snakes made their appearance. And I'm fascinated to think about the idea that God “sent” these snakes. Was it that he commanded them to go and bite the people, or that He had been restraining them to protect the people and now since they were murmuring against God, he simply got out of the way like they seemed to say they wanted?   Ouch. That hits pretty close to home doesn't it?   But God is merciful and gave the people a way out of the mess they'd created. If they would look up in their distress at the bronze snake, they would live. Let's think hard about this. They had to look at the very thing that was killing them to live.    I think that as a whole, the church has whined and grumbled about taking the protection of the vulnerable among us as seriously as we need to. We need to hear these stories, these things that have the potential to strike and wound the church, if we want the church to live and thrive.   So I want to ask you - are you willing to be a person who speaks out? Who tries to get your leaders to look at problems they don't want to look at? If you are, please reach out to me. I'd love to help you on that important journey. Let me know what you think of this episode! Send me an email at lori@theunlovelytruth.com or message me on social media. I love it when people are willing to have hard, but impactful conversations that strengthen physical, emotional, and spiritual safety   Visit my website to access more episodes. If you would like to contact me about booking me as a speaker, or ask about my consulting services, please email me at lori@theunlovelytruth.com.    Ways you can support the work of The Unlovely Truth:   Buy Me a Coffee to help me continue to offer free church security advice on the podcast   Share the episode   Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Pinterest   Check out my Amazon Author Page to find resources on personal safety, and safety training for churches.    Read more about today's cases:   Volunteer youth pastor also a pimp   Another denomination covers up abuse   Spiritual abuse against women

Do you recognize the presence of God in your life? In one sense God is always with us, but I believe if we seek him, God will show up in manifest presence and power. Let's ask God to give us a greater desire and awareness of His presence. Main Points:1. Imagine how incredible this moment was for Moses. He was in the very presence of God himself. There was a work God wanted to do in him and through him. God had a task and a purpose for Moses' life, but it would require the presence of God.2. The same is true for your life. God has a task and a purpose for you, but it too will require the presence of God. It will also require the removal of sin and impure things.3. Moses recognized the sustaining power of God's presence was essential in his life and in the life of the Israelites. We must come to this recognition as well.Today's Scripture Verses:Exodus 3:2-6 - “Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up. When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”  And Moses said, “Here I am.”  “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.”Exodus 33:15-16 - “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”Quick Links:Donate to support this podcastLeave a review on Apple PodcastsGet a copy of The 5 Minute Discipleship JournalConnect on SocialJoin The 5 Minute Discipleship Facebook Group