Time To Go - Exodus 13:1-22

[0:00] So where are we? Well, we're kind of in this area in Exodus where the plague, the last plague has ended. Israel's been cast out of Egypt, but there's this muddled middle part where if you're just kind of reading through your Bible, you can get lost in the narrative. Like, wait, who's happened? What's happening? Who's speaking? Remember we left off last time that Israel had left Egypt. Well, they've left their homes. They left their homes behind, a bunch of empty homes covered in blood, if you remember. And in seemingly a moment, they all left and they camped at Sukkoth on the edge of the wilderness. They've not yet left Egypt. They're still right on the edge. And today we're going to continue where by the time we get to the end of chapter 13, they have, they've taken that step.

[0:42] But if you think, if you're one of the Hebrews, you're more Egyptian than you are Hebrew. Everything you've known, everything you love, everything you hold dear, everything familiar is now behind you.

[0:52] And in front of you is, yes, we've been delivered from Egypt, from bondage. Now what? What does that look like? What is that going to be? And so this is where they find themselves in this moment. God has been speaking to them after the Passover and in the moment of the Passover, kind of saying, hey, not only is this something I'm doing now, this is something that's continual. This idea of deliverance, remembering deliverance, and living in and under deliverance is a continual thing in your life. At the end of chapter 12, 12, in verse 51, we saw that it said, and it came to pass the selfsame day that the Lord did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies. But if we rewind into chapter 12, he had already told us that they had removed and camped on the edge of the wilderness. So in this one day, they've removed. He's taken them out in that selfsame day, and they're camping now in Sukkoth.

[1:45] And we said that their day of deliverance, it would come to pass. It was a done deal. Death had passed over, and had already passed over. And so the only thing next was deliverance. There is a day of deliverance prescribed for all those who've come under covenant and under blood, which we saw last time. And so now at Sukkoth, in this camp, the Lord then speaks to Moses here in verse one. The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, sanctify unto me all the firstborn. Whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast, it is mine. The word sanctify means to prepare, to dedicate, to set apart, to be separate. I mean, we've heard that word. You know, we are under the process of sanctification as believers. You know, we're walking in sanctification. What does that mean? Well, it's just the process. Sanctification is the process of being prepared and set apart unto what we've been sanctified for. So something that is sanctified, it's sanctified unto something. You set it apart unto something, right? We talked about the holy towels in my house, that they are set apart unto, not to be used to clean our hands, but there's another purpose. They're pretty and they sit there.

[2:53] They're set apart. They're not just set apart. They're not just like, well, those are the sanctified towels. They're in the closet. No, they're there. There's a reason. Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verses 3 through 4. For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, your process of being prepared to be set apart unto what you've been sanctified for. We have positionally been sanctified under Christ, but our sanctification is the process then of working that out and living it out. That you should abstain from fornication. That you should separate yourself from that which is not part of being separated unto God. That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor. It's a way that we should be living our lives.

[3:37] Why? Because we are sanctified. Because we have been set apart. Well, then we should live it, right? God says then here to Moses, all the firstborn, whatsoever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and beast, it is mine. Why is it God's? Well, because God paid the price for it.

[3:58] God just paid the price for this firstborn. God just, with the cost of a lamb in the Passover, he said, every firstborn now is mine. I paid the price that your firstborn lives because of the lamb.

[4:10] And we owe it to God to give him what he owns, don't we? 1 Corinthians 6.20 says, you are bought with a price. Therefore, going right along with sanctification, glorify God in your body and in your spirit because they're not yours. They're God's. God paid the price for what he owns.

[4:29] The interesting thing is what belongs to God, who else does it belong to? Nobody. What belongs to God is God's. In Romans chapter 12, verse 1, we read, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God. This is just reasonable, guys. It's reasonable because it's already his. You know, when it's time to leave, when it's time to go, and we've experienced deliverance, the lamb has been slain, the blood is on the doorpost, we're leaving, we're ready to go, and it just seems like, what are we talking about? Why aren't we talking about traveling and moving and where are we going to go? And God's taking time to talk about a firstborn. He's going to revisit this idea of leaven. God's idea and God's process of moving forward is very different than ours. When we're ready to go, we think it's time to go, but God knows how to prepare his people. So we're going to see four different ways in which it's time to go.

[5:30] Time to go, to go in memorial, to go in redemption, to go by a way prepared, and to go with a presence. You see, you and I, we're ready to go. Let's just go. We looked at this verse yesterday in John chapter 10, beginning in verse 2, where Jesus said, He that enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And we talked about the different type of sheepfolds.

[5:59] You had a very large sheepfold where a bunch of shepherds would get collectively and keep their flocks. And then in the morning, to get your flock out, you wouldn't go through and try and pick them out, because, I mean, all sheep look the same. You know, you guys look exactly alike.

[6:12] Right? But all sheep look the same. When you look at penguins, you can't tell them apart. You know, it's like sheep. How can you tell a sheep apart? But they know the voice of the shepherd. So he calls them, because he spends a lot of time with them. So he calls them out, and they follow. They go out.

[6:26] He leads them out. And it says here, and when he put them forth, when he puts forth his own sheep, he goes before them. And the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. So there's that moment as the shepherd calls you out. He's putting forth his sheep. They're all coming out. Well, you stand there with a great wide world in front of you. And as you're standing here on the edge of the wilderness at Sukkoth, all that you know is behind you, and there's nothing in front of you but the wilderness.

[6:49] It's a frightening moment as a sheep. The temptation is just a runoff on your own. Like, well, that looks safe over there. What direction should we go? But there's a moment of having to wait, to wait until the shepherd comes around and begins to lead. And that's very much, I think, what is taking place right here with the nation of Israel. As God then says, or God has spoken this to Moses, and now Moses begins to speak. So we set the tone here in chapter 13 with the Lord speaking to Moses about that which is set apart unto him. Now Moses, verse 3, said unto the people, remember this day. So we're going to go in memorial. How do we go? Well, first we go in memorial.

[7:28] Remember this day, this selfsame day, in which you came out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Remember. Remember that you have been removed where you've been removed from. How do we remember our removing? Well, by living a life that is removed, right? We live a life that's sanctified.

[7:49] Because we've been removed, don't ever forget that. Don't ever forget what you've been removed from, and then live a life of removing. Ezekiel, in Ezekiel chapter 12, the word of the Lord comes to him.

[8:00] He's just living among the people of Israel as a prophet. And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house. That's good to know. Thanks for giving it to me straight, Lord. They have eyes to see, and they see not.

[8:14] And they have ears to hear, and they hear not. But they are rebellious house. What's the definition of rebellion? Inability to receive what you can clearly see and clearly hear.

[8:26] Therefore, thou son of man, prepare these stuff for removing, and remove by day in their sight. And thou shalt remove from your place to another place in their sight. It may be they will consider, though they be a rebellious house. It's right in front of their face. And here is Israel.

[8:41] God says, Moses says, all right, remember that you have been removed from this. Remember that. That it would be a sign, not just to you, but to the world around you. That God has taken you out by the strength of his hand. In Isaiah 41 10, it says, fear thou not, for I am with thee, saith the Lord. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. Yea, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness. They've been taken out of Egypt by this hand of the Lord.

[9:11] And as frightening as this moment may seem, standing on the edge of the wilderness, to know that they're firmly in the Lord's hands, just as firmly as we are. Our Father who will not allow anything to pluck us out of his hand. But then he says here, at the end here, verse 3, he says, okay, Moses says, when you came out of Egypt, remember it. You came out of the house of bondage by the strength of the hand of the Lord. He brought you out of this place. There shall no leaven be eaten, no leaven bread.

[9:39] What? Why not? Outside of Egypt, there are things that are no longer appropriate, that were appropriate when we were in Egypt. Outside of Egypt, as we're traveling now in deliverance, there are things that just no longer should be part of what used to be normal for us. Leaven is no longer appropriate once we're outside of Egypt. Now, in this picture, in the shadow we have of that which is to come, you know, Christ who is our Passover. As we read here in Romans 6, 11, we're told that our leaven, that we also, we should reckon ourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Well, leaven was appropriate. Sin was appropriate when I was a sinner, when I lived as a life under sin. But now what am I? Oh, I've been sanctified. I've been set apart. Have I fully realized that? No. We talked about this yesterday as well, where Paul says, you know, this one thing I do, you know, forgetting that which is behind and reaching forth into that which is before. He says, not that I've already attained. Now, I have everything I need, but I haven't yet grabbed a hold of it. We have everything we need in Christ, but all of our lives we're going to be reaching for more. What more can I have of Jesus? We're never going to be satisfied. We're never going to get to the point where we say, you know what? I'm good. I don't really need the Lord, and let's just hang out here. This day, he says in verse 4, this day came you out in the month of Beb, and that's that month of March. The word there means like barley or new growth. If you remember the barley, it was still when the hail came, it didn't destroy the barley because it was still young and had not yet sprouted.

[11:20] And it shall be when the Lord shall bring you into the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. You wonder if you're the Hebrews right here now, the Israelites going, wait, wait, well, we haven't really talked a lot about where we're going. I mean, maybe it was kind of obvious that they're going to come out of Egypt and go back to the land of Canaan, the land of their forefathers, but we haven't been there. This is 400 years ago, and now we're going to the Canaanites. The name means people under burden, those that are subdued. The Hittites, those people that are of fear and terror. The Amorites, the people of the mountains. The Hivites, the villagers. All right, we'll go live among the village people. And the Jebusites means those that are of the threshing place. This is where God's taking us? We're coming out of Egypt, and we're going to a people of terror, of burden, of subdued in the mountains and villages and threshing places, which he swore to give to your fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou shall keep this service in this month. We'll talk about milk and honey in a bit.

[12:22] But God is preparing his people for a future, a future that's been promised. This promise was made generations ago, and God now needs to prepare this people for it. Listen, if God brought us out of bondage, we can be sure he'll bring us into promise. God doesn't bring us out unnecessarily.

[12:39] If he's taken us out, then it's to bring us in. If he's delivered us from, it's to deliver us unto, right? If he's separated us from, it's to be separate unto. So if God's brought his people out of bondage, well, there's a reason, is to go to this land of promise. But for you and I, the temptation is to look at the inhabitants of the land and let that influence our view of the nature of God. We look at the inhabitants of the land around us, and we think, well, somehow this is a reflection of God. Why would God allow this? In Numbers chapter 16, unfortunately, at this time, Korah, and he will, the rebellion of Korah, he will question Moses' leadership and say, who are you?

[13:26] And he says this in Numbers 16, he says, is it a small thing that you've brought us out of a land that flows with milk and honey? He's attributing to Egypt the things that God says is only attributed to the land of promise to kill us in the wilderness. Moses, you did this. Except you make yourself altogether a prince over us, it wasn't enough. You took us from this wonderful place of resources, and now you've brought us to a place where you want to be prince over us, and now you're going to kill us in the wilderness. Moreover, you have not brought us into a land that flows with milk and honey, or given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men also?

[14:02] We will not come up. Because Moses had said to Korah, hey, get all the guys and come up to the tabernacle, and we'll talk about this. And they said, no, you just want to bring us up there to poke out our eyes. Listen, be careful of people who are quick to accuse, but then refuse to deal with the situation they say exists. Most likely, there's something else going on behind the scenes.

[14:28] When someone is quick to accuse, and they say, all right, well, let's talk about it. No, no, no, no, no, because I know if we talk about it, you're just going to poke me in the eye. Well, there's probably something else going on. They're not really being honest. You know, Jesus talks about that we're to forgive our brother 70 times 7. And then in Luke, he says, as often as your brother sin against you and repent, forgive him. So there's two pictures.

[14:51] There's the one that says, man, you need to forgive. You always need to release. Never hold on. Never hold on to what Jesus has already taken from you. But at the same time, there's two sides of a relationship. I can't have, Jesus said, I mean, Scripture says, how can two walk together unless they be agreed? You can't. There has to be a willingness in the relationship to move forward. And many times, those that are quick to accuse, but then refuse to deal with what they've accused you of, they're not really in it for relationship. They're in it for, as these men were, for their own pride. But God said, or Moses says to the people, that God will give you a land.

[15:29] You know, God owes us nothing. There's nothing that he owes us, but he gives us so much. What should we say then to these things? Paul writes in Romans 8, 31 and 32. If God is for us, who can be against us? He that did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? God owes us nothing.

[15:51] But he sure gives us much. There's so much that he gives us. God deserves everything, and yet he requires so little. What does he ask of us? Just believe. This is the work of God, that you believe on him whom he has sent. And then this idea here of milk and honey. As a kid, you know, I was taught to take the Bible literally. So I said milk and honey, and I thought, man, that must have been so cool to go into a land that had like honey and milk just flowing in it.

[16:18] Wow. In Deuteronomy, you can turn there if you'd like to. I'm going to put on the screen, but it's a pretty long text. In Deuteronomy chapter 11, so it might be kind of small. We read a description here of what it is to have a land flowing with milk and honey.

[16:36] As the Lord speaks, or as Moses is speaking of the Lord, therefore shall you keep all the commandments, which I, the Lord, command you this day through Moses, that you may be strong and go in and possess the land with you to go to possess it.

[16:52] What is the source of their strength? Their obedience to God's word, their faith in God's word. Keep the commandments that you might be strong to take hold of what God has given you to possess.

[17:04] And that you may prolong your days in the land, which the Lord swear unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a land that flows with milk and honey. For the land where you go into possess, it's not like the land of Egypt, much as Korah thought, well, we came from a land of milk and honey. No, you did not. We came from a land of oppression and I don't know what the Egyptians ate crocodile meat. For the land is not like the land of Egypt from whence you came out, where you sowed your seed and watered it with your foot as a garden of herbs. So the land of Egypt, the Nile flowed through it to irrigate their land. It was a land that survived through irrigation.

[17:42] They had systems where they would lift the water from the Nile and into their irrigation ditches by kind of peddling this wheel, water wheel, to do that. They had to sow the seed. They had to plant.

[17:55] They're the ones who had to water. But the land where you go to possess it, this land, God's land, is a land of hills and valleys and drinks water of the rain of heavens, a land which the Lord your God cares for. Provision is produced by God's grace, not by man's effort.

[18:11] The eyes of the Lord your God are always upon it from the beginning of the year, even unto the end of the year. So land flowing with milk and honey is simply a land that's, the provision is because of God's grace, because of God doing all the effort and work, not man.

[18:25] There's no effort of man there. Zechariah 4, 6 tells us, it's not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Jesus, as he's preparing to ascend into heaven, he says in Acts chapter 1, verse 8 to the apostles, and he says, But you, you shall receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.

[18:52] Our provision, our equipping, it's not by our efforts. It's by God's grace. We are never to forget, never to forget, he's saying here, that you are to remember what it cost another for you to have what you enjoy freely. Never forget what it cost another for what we enjoy freely, this land flowing with milk and honey. And the other part, the end of there of Deuteronomy, verse 12, a land which the Lord your God cares for. The eyes of the Lord your God are always upon it.

[19:21] Is Israel living in the land at this time in Deuteronomy? No, they're still in the wilderness. God's eyes are on it when the Canaanites are there. God's eyes are always on that land. That is his land. He bought it. He created it. It belongs to him. It's not the land of Israel and the land of the Jews. It's God's land. And those are God's people that he put in God's land. And now God's people live in God's land. But it is a land that is always under the eye of the Lord. Always.

[19:53] Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread and the seventh day shall be a feast to the Lord. Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days and there shall no leavened bread be seen with you. Neither shall there be leavened seen with you in all your quarters. And here we are again talking about this leaven. Leaven shall not be seen with you. First Thessalonians 5.22 says that Paul says, abstain from all appearance of evil. Not only shall it not be seen with you, he says, you will not consume it. You won't even handle it. You're not even to tolerate it and be in its presence.

[20:26] Let there be no appearance of evil. You know, there's things that I wouldn't partake of. There's things that I wouldn't allow into my home. But maybe there's things I tolerate. Maybe there's things that I allow to influence my life that I tolerate because I don't want to create waves or you know what? It's not really effective.

[20:49] That's the problem with leaven. A little leaven, once you get a little bit in, you can't get it out and it permeates everything. We talked yesterday about who we follow determines who we are with the men and that people who say, well, that doesn't affect me. So this is nonsense. Everything affects us. Everything is always influencing us. And we're always having to decide how we will react to the things that are influencing us. We're always, at all times, either rejecting one thing and turning to another. All of life is sanctification. It's just what we're going to separate ourselves onto. And so he says now that this feast of unleavened bread, here's what you're to do with it.

[21:30] And you shall show your son in that day saying, this is done because of that which the Lord did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt. He says, moms and dads, this is your responsibility.

[21:41] You're to give your testimony. God's word plus my experience with God's word equals testimony. What's your testimony? Well, here's God's word. It entered my life and I responded to it in this way.

[21:54] And here's what happened. God's word plus my experience equals testimony. We are to know what God has done, but then we're responsible to also show what God has done. There's two things we're going to see that he's going to further on say how we're to pass this on to the next generation. One is to show. So that's we initiate to the next generation to show. And the other one is to answer. And that's where they initiate. That God has a plan for passing on to the next generation. In 1 Peter 2, verse 9, we read that we are a chosen generation. We are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that we should show forth the praises of him who's called us out of darkness into this marvelous light, which in time past, we were not a people, but we are now the people of God. At one time, we had not obtained mercy, but we've now obtained mercy. That's our testimony. That's what we're responsible to show. We're to show what God did unto us. And what God did unto us is the only reason we can respond to him. We love him because he first loved us. In verse 9, it shall be a sign unto you upon your hand and for a memorial between your eyes.

[23:06] Speaking of the leaven, the speaking of this sign that God says that you are to use to remember deliverance. It's the feast of unleavened bread. This shall be a sign unto you upon your hand and memorial between your eyes that the Lord's law may be in your mouth. For the strong hand has the Lord brought you out of Egypt. Now, what do the Jews do with that? If you see what God's purpose here is, is what? That the Lord's law may be in your mouth. If it's in your mouth, it's because it's in your heart. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Well, it's much easier to just make up some outward thing to keep instead of having to deal with the heart. There's nowhere in here or in scripture where you will see that God said that they should put scripture in a little box and put it on their forehead and they should wrap it around their arms. But that's what they did. And they called them phylacteries. Jesus will come in contact with the Pharisees when he's on his sojourn on this earth for 30 years during his three-year window of ministry. And he'll challenge them on this. In

[24:07] Matthew 23 verse 5, he said, but all their work, speaking of the Pharisees, they do for to be seen of men. They make broad their phylacteries, the things on their heads, and they enlarge the borders of their garments to make themselves seem so spiritual. But God is saying here, this sign of deliverance simply, it's at hand. It's upon your hand. It's always at hand. It's always in view. And it's always spoken of. That you'd have it at hand, be between your eyes and out of your mouth. God wants the testimony of our deliverance for the next generation to always be at hand, always in view, and always spoken of. And you therefore, in verse 10, you shall keep therefore this ordinance in his season from year to year. It's perfectly fine and appropriate to have routine seasons that we set aside for the purpose of honoring and remembering what God has done. Right? Well, Christmas isn't in the Bible, and neither is Easter that we should celebrate that. You know what? It's perfectly appropriate to have routine times that we set aside a season where we say, I'm going to honor and remember what God has done. I mean, I can set aside a sports season. I can set aside a season and vacation.

[25:17] Why can't I set aside a season to remember what God has done? Not in religion. No. Not like the Pharisees turned it into where they wrapped it around, they put it on their foreheads. No, because I want God's deliverance to always be at hand, always in view, and always being spoken of. We go in memorial, but we also go in redemption in verse 11.

[25:37] And it shall be when the Lord shall bring you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swear unto you and to your fathers, and he shall give it to you, that you shall set apart unto the Lord all that opens the womb. And every firstling that comes of a beast which thou hast, the males shall be the Lord's.

[25:55] When God shall bring them into the land, the land that he promised that he will give. You know, all things from God, they're given freely. There's nothing we can earn from the Lord. Everything is either given and received freely or not at all. Romans 11, 6 tells us of the mutual exclusivity of receiving from God freely or attempting to earn something from God. He says, Paul says, if by works, well, I mean, if it's by grace, then it's no more works because grace can no more be grace.

[26:25] It's like light and darkness. You can't have both. But if it be of works, then it's no more grace. Otherwise, work is no more work. And then he'll later tell us in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, towards the end of the chapter, the reason is that no flesh can glory in God's presence.

[26:41] That as it's written, he that glories, let him glory in the Lord. Why? Because the flesh has nothing glorious about it. The flesh is under a curse. The flesh is under sin. So the only way to receive something glorious is I have to receive it freely. God will freely give what these people could never earn.

[26:58] And that thou shall set apart unto the Lord all that opens the womb. To set apart is literally the same word for Passover. And thou shall pass over unto the Lord. Passover, the word set apart, means to be wholly offered, completely given. Remember the Passover lamb was completely consumed?

[27:18] We are to pass over to God something in full. He's saying that you will pass this over to God and you will fully do it. Anything that opens the womb, any male that opens the womb, a firstborn.

[27:30] What is to be fully passed over to God? We fully pass over a new birth. We fully pass over to God a firstborn and a male. That's what's passed over to God. It's that beautiful picture of Jesus in this.

[27:46] Now verse 13 is very interesting in light of all this. What is God saying here? He's saying here is an ordinance that I want you to keep. Any firstborn that's a male is mine. If it's a clean animal, it's to be sacrificed unto me. If it is an unclean animal, then you can keep it alive, but you'll have to sacrifice the clean. The clean to be sacrificed for the unclean, it seems backwards.

[28:24] For he made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. The clean was sacrificed for the unclean. Redemption is the only option for those who would live in deliverance. It is a payable price, but it is a price that must be paid. There's no other alternative here. The sacrifice of the lamb allowed death to pass over the unworthy because the worthy was in its place. And it shall be, and here we see in verse 14, we had first we're gonna show and now we're gonna tell. And it shall be when your son asks you in time to come saying, what is this?

[29:04] What are we doing? What are, what, why are we going, we're doing what on a Saturday morning? We're gonna go to church? I thought we only do that on Sunday morning. Come on, boys, we're going to church. That's why yesterday we had with the men's conference, it was men ages 12 and up, young men and up. Why do we do this? Why are we doing this? What is this that you do? You will say unto him, by strength of the hand of the Lord, the Lord brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage.

[29:35] Mom, dad, why do we go to church? Why are we opening our Bibles? Why do you talk about Jesus so much? Well, because at one time I was under bondage, but now I'm free. You see, the next generation wouldn't have partaken of that. The next generation wasn't there when they were standing on the edge of the threshold of the wilderness about to leave Egypt. They didn't see all the plagues.

[29:56] They just entered into this all of a sudden. And the danger is because all the battles and all the work and all the deliverance happened in the past. And now mom and dad are in a great, stable, God-fearing, honoring, remembering place of deliverance. And the kids just go, this is just life. This is great. This is just what it is. But they don't understand that they also have to be redeemed, that redemption is not optional. Colossians 4 verse 6 says, Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man. I didn't use the one from Peter, which is that we ought to always be ready to give every man an answer for the reason of the hope that is in us. But I like this one because the scripture says that if we're always, if our speech is seasoned with salt and with grace, what's that?

[30:45] That's God's word. That if God's word is something that's in our mouth, as Moses just commanded the people, that they are to have it at hand before their eyes and in their mouth, well then I don't have to think, how should I answer that? I'm not sure. No, it's just there. God's word is the answer for all of these things. So if God's word's in my mouth, then I will know how I ought to answer every man when my son asks. God here is instituting a pathway for the future. He's preparing them. They haven't even left. He's like, but I've already prepared a pathway for your future. You know, a lot of churches have children's ministry. Well, you need children to have children's ministry, and God just hasn't brought a lot of families yet with young children. But children's ministry is just means and methods. Ministry to children is always upon God's heart. And right here, God has just given this blueprint for ministry to children. In verse 8, he said to show that we should initiate into kids' lives, into the next generation, say, we need to show. I need to show you.

[31:48] This, whether you're asking or not. And in verse 15, we're told we also need to answer. We need to be ready to answer any questions. In Matthew 19, verse 14, Jesus says, let the little children suffer them to come unto me and forbid them not, for such is the kingdom of heaven. To suffer means allow.

[32:10] To forbid them not means you put up a barrier. It means they were already coming to Jesus. Yes. All the disciples needed to do is get out of the way and let them come to Jesus. That's not that hard. It's like, oh, we have children's ministry, got games, and we got this. You know what we did yesterday? We had, we had not children. Sorry, guys, you're not children. Youth. We had youth ministry.

[32:32] What better place than to have these young men being around men who they can see honoring Jesus, loving Jesus, praying for one another. We had an indoor gaga pit set up over there. They're hanging out. It was fun. But man, it just to be like, no, no, no. You just go over there with some specially trained person because who's the one who's responsible here? You. You. It should be come to pass when your son asks. You need to tell him, by strength of the hand of the Lord who brought us out from the land of Egypt. What has he done in my life? In John 21, Jesus would say to Peter, after Peter's denied him and after the resurrection, and Jesus comes back at the Sea of Galilee and he restores Peter to ministry. And he said to him, Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, do you love me more than these, more than the other disciples? And Peter says, Lord, you know, you know I love you. He said to him, feed my lambs. And two more times he's going to ask him, he's going to say, feed my sheep. But he prioritizes and he says, feed my lambs.

[33:34] Ministry to children is the responsibility of their parents and of the church together. He says, you, mom and dad, you need to tell your children. And then he says to Peter, hey, make sure you're feeding the lambs. Make sure the little ones are taken care of. And the amazing thing is, God even provides the curriculum. He says, when it comes to pass that he'll say, what is this? Well, here's what you say. By strength of the hand of the Lord, he brought us out from Egypt from the house of bondage. God's strength is displayed in deliverance from bondage. How do I know God exists?

[34:08] Because son, I've been delivered. Let me tell you the bondage I was under. First Corinthians 5, 7, we remind them of the Passover. Purge out therefore the old leaven, that you may be a new lump as you are in leaven, for even Christ, our Passover, sacrificed for us. That's what we're passing on. We're just passing on the fact that Jesus is our Passover. And it came to pass when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that the Lord slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast.

[34:40] And look at this wording here, therefore I, this is personal. It must be personal. I can't, I can't pass on to you what I don't have. How terrible to sit up here and just academically try and tell you what the Bible says. The Bible is not academic. The Bible is spiritual. It's alive.

[34:59] The future generation, they must know that the death of the firstborn in judgment has led to the redemption of the firstborn in birth. The death of the firstborn in judgment allowed there to be life, redemption of the firstborn in birth. Hebrews 10, 19 and 20, having therefore brethren boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he has consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say his flesh. That's what God has done. Let's reword that and put yourself in there and make it personal. Having therefore brethren boldness, I enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. I enter in by a new and living way, which he's consecrated for me through the veil, that is to say his flesh. We are letting the future generation know that because of the death of the firstborn in judgment, there's now redemption for the firstborn in birth. And this also shall be a token for you. Upon your hands, there shall be a frontlet between your eyes. God's deliverance is to be the filter by which we process all of life. All of life is to be filtered. When I reach for something, oh, that's right, I'm under redemption. Where's my hand going? When I see something, it's coming through that filter.

[36:17] All of life is to be filtered through this deliverance and this redemption. So God has told them to go. They go a memorial. They go redeemed. And they also go by a way prepared. Verse 17, And it came to pass when Pharaoh had let the people go, there God led them. But he led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. So that was the quickest route. For God said, well, lest peradventure the people repent when they see war and they return to Egypt. God will lead them. He will not send a GPS. Here, everybody, took these onto your camels. Let me know when you get there.

[36:59] God himself is going to lead them. This is personal. Deliverance is the beginning of a relationship. When we leave Egypt and we enter into deliverance, it's a relationship. We now have someone personal leading us. But interestingly, God doesn't always lead us like we'd like to be led.

[37:14] But he has his reasons. God has his reasons for how he leads. And it's never, we should never let our lack of understanding of those reasons affect how we follow. We talked a lot about that yesterday, too. I may not understand God's reasons. Okay, we're going. There it is. He's like, yep, there it is.

[37:34] And we're going way around over here. What are we doing? That should never affect my following. You should never, well, I can't see where we're going, Lord, so I'm not going to, that's the point of following. In Romans 11, beginning in verse 34, Paul writes, for who has known the mind of the Lord? Who has been his counselor? He's not saying, well, God's so confusing. Not at all. He's saying, God doesn't need our help to bring about his promises. Or who has first given to him and it shall be recompensed unto him again. You know, who's going to, God, you need to answer for what you're doing. I don't understand this. God knows what he's doing. And his reason here is very clear. He says, less than when they see war. The temptation in battle will us to run to what we know. When there's a conflict, we turn and we run to what we know, right? When you're a little kid, little kids, little, little, little kids. When they're hurt, what do they run to? They run to who they know. They run to mom. In a crisis, it is one's old love and not the greater love that wins out, right? Oh, this,

[38:38] I'm all, oh yes, I'm all about Jesus. This great. Well, in a crisis, it's the love that you're familiar with. It's the thing that you're comfortable with. You run for comfort and God knows that. In Psalm 144 verses 1 and 2, David would write, blessed be the Lord, my strength, which teaches my hands to war and my fingers to fight, my goodness and my fortress, my high tower and my deliverer, my shield and he in whom I trust, who subdues my people under me. David didn't write that at the beginning of his life. David didn't write that before he ever saw a battle. David wrote that after he experienced every one of those. I didn't have strength. God is my strength. I had no knowledge. He taught me how. He's my goodness. He's my fortress. He's my high tower. He's my deliverer. He's my shield. He's the one I trust. He's the one who subdues the people under me.

[39:30] Israel didn't know that at this point. God had a plan to bring that. I look at how he's led this church. Why didn't we just come right here to start with? I don't know. You know, we've had people that would come and say, oh, you know, I've been looking for a Calvary Chapel in the Charlotte area.

[39:43] I've been looking for years. We've been around for about two years now, but it was in God's timing found us when God wanted them to. Praise God. No, we're here. God knows his timing, and it's never for us to stop following or to question that timing just because we can't understand his reasoning.

[40:00] Just as we said in John 10, where it says that Jesus, he puts forth his sheep, and then he goes before them. That moment of indecision of where are we going is then followed by many moments of indecision. Do I keep following because I can't quite see the path? That's okay because we already know the end point. He's already told us it's a land of promise. But God then led the people. He led them about through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea, and the children of Israel went up harnessed or literally ordered. God has his order. He led them about because God knows what he's about.

[40:35] They went up, ordered, out of the land of Egypt. There's always a method and an order when it seems like God is just going roundabout. God's roundabout ways. There's always a method. There's always an order because God knows. The temptation is to take the shortcut. God, I see you going this way, but I can also see the end point right there. It doesn't seem so bad. I'm just going to take the shortcut. James tells us in James 5, 7 to 8, he says, well, be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman, the farmer, the agriculturalist, he waits long. He waits for the precious fruit of the earth and has long patience for it until he received the early and latter rain. This is the difference between planting strawberries and going and buying strawberries. Be you also patient. Establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord draws nigh. Don't stop following because it's taking longer than you think. Jesus doesn't come back yet.

[41:35] I'm going to go follow Buddha, right? No. We also need to be careful because what may appear to be a shortcut is most always, always the enemy, right? We just read that we need to be patient. We need to establish our hearts. God is long-suffering. Usually the shortcut's the enemy. The enemy says, oh, we can get over here quick. The enemy says the flesh is a shortcut, right? You know what?

[42:00] We need to get some work done. We need some resources. Well, I'll turn to the flesh to do it. I'll use anger to motivate. I'll use the world to supply my needs. The flesh is such a shortcut, but it pays in corruption. And so Moses now is telling that, or we're hearing this account, this narrative of that God chose not to lead them the quick route, but he chose to take them through the wilderness and they went up out of the land of Egypt. And when they did that, we're told that they took something with them in verse 19. Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had straightly sworn the children of Israel saying, God will surely visit you and you will carry, and you shall carry up my bones away hence with you. That was in Genesis 50 verse 25, the end of Genesis. Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel saying, God will surely visit you. You shall carry up my bones from hence. You know, it's not that hard to follow God's word. Joseph said that.

[43:01] Now we fast forward to verse 19 in Exodus, and it's like the exact same wording. God will surely visit you. You shall carry up my bones away hence with you. It's not that hard. It doesn't change.

[43:12] It's always the same thing. I don't have to wonder and worry about, well, it's Tuesday. I'm going to open my Bible. What's it going to say this time as I turn to John chapter 3, 16, for God so hated the world. I knew it. No, it's the same every time. God's word is the same. I don't have to fear it.

[43:30] God is the same yesterday and today and forever. Now I'm going to experience new things of that. His mercies are new every morning, but he's the same God. Joseph knew that he would be a partaker of God's promise, that he would partake of God's promised deliverance, whether it was in life or death.

[43:45] He said, listen, carry my bones out of here, because whether I'm alive or dead, I'm going to be part of God's promise. Romans 14, 8, for whether we live, we live unto the Lord, or whether we die, we die unto the Lord, whether we live thereof or therefore or die, we're the Lord's. We belong to him. By life or by death, we are partakers of promise. And it seems like I put this verse up or some combination of it every single week, but there's a reason. Because the Lord is coming soon.

[44:17] And if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. The dead, whether alive or dead, we'll partake of promise. Those that are alive, well, we which are alive and remain, we will be caught up together to meet them in the clouds, or to be with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

[44:37] We have the same promise that whether by life or by death, we also will partake of God's deliverance. And so in verse 20, they took their journey from Sukkoth and encamped in Etham on the edge of the wilderness. I mean, that's not just one little line, right? Just one step, one small step for just one step. But deliverance, this deliverance, this is something entirely new. This is something brand new. They haven't experienced this before. Not only is it new, it's also unknown. In front of them, the wilderness. Behind them, Egypt. And this is a huge step. I might look at your life and think, what is that? I mean, dude, just put it down. It's not that big of a deal. Or why not just believe Jesus? It's just a little step. Man, this deliverance is a big step. It's a needed step.

[45:30] And it was also in front of them, wasn't it? But they will not go alone. Just like in John 10, the sheep are standing there on the edge of the wilderness, but they're going to be led through it.

[45:42] They will go with a presence. And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them in the way. And by night, a pillar of fire to give them light to go by day and night.

[45:56] God gave his abiding presence for two reasons. To lead, to lead them in the way. By night, to give them light. To lead and to give light. God gives his abiding presence. The wording there where it says before them is literally in front of their face. That God would be in front of their face at all times. And not only would he give them light, the wording there, give them light, means to become light. That he became light. The Lord walked before them visibly. He walked before them to guide their journey. And he became their light. Now, who does that sound like?

[46:32] Jesus answers in John 11 verses 9 and 10. He said, are not there 12 hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, well, he stumbles not. Obviously, because he sees the light of this world.

[46:44] When you walk in light, you can see where you're going. But if a man walk in the night, well, he stumbles because there's no light in him. John 8 verse 12, then spake Jesus again unto them saying, I am the light of the world. He that follows me shall not walk in darkness. That means no stumbling.

[47:01] That means I know where I'm going. But he shall have the light of life. God's delivered people, they're to be a journeying people. They're to be a people who journey and follow. But they do so in the presence of their God. We don't do it alone. Man, there's a big step in front of us.

[47:15] There's always a big step in front of us. Faith's never simple and easy in the sense because I don't see it. It's a substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. But God still puts it in front of us says, hey, just follow after me. We can see who? Jesus. We can see the one who's gone before us, but I don't know where he's leading me. I don't know the path he's going to take.

[47:34] And he took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night from before the people. Like we said, I would love to have seen that. I like the abiding presence of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. I don't have to open my tent door to look out, but I do think that'd be pretty cool. And you know, you get up early in the morning to do your devotions.

[47:58] Lord, I know you're with me yesterday, but I'm feeling really skunklish this morning. And I just don't feel like I'm in the spirit. I just kind of feel like, are you there? You can crack the tent.

[48:10] And there it is. There's a pillar of fire, right? The same thing. We get up and we say, Lord, are you there? Will you leave me? Are you still here today? Hebrews 13, verses five and six, let your conversation, the way you live your life, be without covetousness. Be content with such things as you have, because you have something so much more valuable than what you can gain. For he has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you, so that we may boldly and confidently and at all times say, the Lord is my helper. I will not fear what man shall do unto me. At all times, I have his abiding presence. As Jesus promises, that he would pray the Father and he will give you another comforter, that he may abide with you forever, even the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it sees him not. Neither knows him, but we do. And that's who we're led by. The world wants to see the path. They want to know how they're going to get there. They want to know the destination.

[49:10] God comes and says, I know the path. I know how we're going to get there. And I know the destination. All you need to see is me. Because it sees him not, neither knows him, but you know him.

[49:21] He dwells with you and shall be in you. God's abiding presence was to lead and to give light. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. It's time to go. Jesus says, be ready because I come in an hour in which you think not. The only requirement, the only requirement of God's people in deliverance, just to follow. That was it. Just follow. God did the deliverance.

[49:50] God brought them on the way on their journey from place to place. God was with them. All he said is just, you just keep following me. We talked a little about this yesterday.

[50:05] How are we to follow? We're to follow in relationship. We're to follow in recognition, surrender. We're to follow one, exclusive. And also, we're journeying people. We're to walk. We have a relationship. It's, we're going to pass on what God has done for me. I have to have that for myself. There's recognition. Well, who are you following? I don't know. No, I can see him. The world can't see him, but I can. There's surrender.

[50:36] There has to be a surrender. How can you follow unsurrendered? And we follow one. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. You see, it's time to go. It's time to follow. And to do that means we got to leave it behind. We got to cross that line and take that step. We have to go from Sukkoth to Etham.

[51:04] It doesn't seem like much, but in doing so, we leave everything behind. Jesus said, you want to follow me? Deny yourself. Why? Because self will hold you back. Nothing will hold you back quicker than self. Self is going to be the one that says, let's take the shortcut. And then you're in battles and you're running back to Egypt because that's the only thing you knew that was comfortable. And then you're battling again. You're back in the flesh. You're back in Egypt. Leaven's filling your life.

[51:27] Take up his cross. Take up my cross. Yeah. The thing that God has in your life that you feel like is just killing you. Embrace it and say, God, I recognize that you're directing my life and you brought me to this point and you're using this in my life so that I can follow you. So I can let go of this and follow you. That is what Israel in this moment is facing as they turn their back on Egypt and walk out into the wilderness. But they don't do it alone and neither do we.

[51:53] Time to go, but we go with his presence. Father, thank you so much. We don't go alone. You'll never leave us or forsake us, Lord. You go before us, Lord. We know that Psalm 139 says that you go before us, you're behind us, and you place your hand upon us, Lord. Where can I go from your spirit?

[52:10] Whither shall I flee from your presence? If I make my bed in heaven, you are there. If I descend into hell, Lord, you are there. But there's nowhere I can go from you. There's nowhere, Lord, that I can hide from you. And no matter how comfortable, I don't know who would want to make their bed in hell, but no matter how comfortable I may be in a place I shouldn't be, God, you won't leave me.

[52:34] Lord, you'll bring deliverance, but it may cost a life, but it doesn't have to cost ours, Lord. And Lord, as we walk out into the unknown, as we take that step of faith, Lord, we do so knowing that you've already prepared us. You've told us to go in remembrance. You've told us to go in redemption. You've told us to go by a way prepared. And then, Lord, you've told us to go not alone, but to go with you. I thank you so much for that, Lord. I wouldn't know what to do, Lord, if I didn't have your abiding presence that comes alongside us and reminds us that we are not alone, but also reminds us, Lord, that you have a path that you are willing to lead us on if only we'd be willing to follow. Thank you for deliverance. Thank you for redemption. In Jesus' name, amen.