The God of the Exodus

[0:00] We'll be right back.

[0:30] We'll be right back.

[1:00] Don't ever lose sight of what a gift having a faith family is. Like what a joy it is on a Saturday night to be able to just to come together with a faith family, to worship together, to talk and to commune with one another.

[1:16] And regardless of what you're going through, to be reminded you're not alone, that there are people that love you and are walking through this journey with you. So don't ever forget what a gift it is to be able to be a part of God's people.

[1:32] So tonight is the last week of the book of Exodus. Not that the book of Exodus is going away, but our series, we've been in this for 40 sermons, over 40 chapters, with 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.

[1:52] And there's been a lot of great feedback throughout this series. And what I want to do tonight before we dive into the passage is I actually, and I've done this from time to time with series and certainly one that went as long as this one, is just to kind of go back and read some of the testimonies.

[2:11] Many of these are things you've never heard, but these are things that people will write to me by email and talk about what God was doing in their life through the ministry of the Word.

[2:25] I think I can get through this without losing it because this stuff matters to me. You know, I pour my heart into doing this, and so I want it to matter to our life.

[2:36] And so when I read, whether big or small, the ways that it impacts your journey in the wilderness, it means the world to me. So here are just a few highlights of things that people have shared along this 40-sermon journey we've been a part of.

[2:54] Someone wrote and said, I've learned to live in present grace and to not try and bear tomorrow's burdens on today's strength.

[3:06] And you remember we talked about how that's where we get in trouble, is we have mercy that's good for today, and we start living six months worth of trouble on today's mercy. And so learning to trust that His mercy is new every day.

[3:20] Another one wrote and said, The long way isn't always the wrong way. Many times in my career, I was bumped off desirable routes based on low seniority and forced into difficult ones.

[3:33] I was forced to leave my comfort zone and routine. My stress level was through the roof. And I was questioning everything as I saw my peers traveling what seemed to be easier roads to success.

[3:48] When Pharaoh released God's people from Egypt, God led them through the wilderness. God led them through the wilderness because He knew they weren't equipped to deal with what lay ahead on the easier path.

[4:02] I now see that God had His hand on me and my work throughout my entire career as He's rewarded me in ways I could have never imagined.

[4:16] Another one writes, The seriousness of the Sabbath and the biblical teaching of finding rest in Christ was impactful for my wife and I in such a busy season of our life.

[4:28] Although we can try to be mindful to get enough sleep or to take a vacation, there is no vacation long enough that will ever compare to rest in Jesus.

[4:40] Another one writes, As someone who's never read the Bible, and by the way, I love the fact that we have people who are learning the Bible. As someone who's never read the Bible, Exodus has been fascinating how God worked powerfully through Moses.

[4:56] I remember hearing how Moses didn't think he was qualified for the job to be God's spokesperson to the people of Israel. And boy, can I relate to that. I was asked to teach the pre-K and first grade children at church.

[5:09] No way was I qualified. Who is, by the way, right? But I took the chance. And with the help of Yahweh, I now have the opportunity to bring good news to children.

[5:24] I love that because it's like, we think, well, I'm no Moses. I'm not going to lead a nation out from under slavery of another nation. No, but he may be leading you to lead children.

[5:36] To teach someone. To invest in someone's life. Another one writes, We were so impacted by Exodus and how it's revealed the gospel in the Old Testament.

[5:47] It has been very enlightening and impactful that every message has been brought back to the gospel of Jesus. That the gospel is everywhere throughout Exodus.

[5:58] This is one I had to laugh about. It says, and these are actually from dear friends that listen every week in Texas and always send just wonderful, encouraging emails.

[6:08] They write, After studying Israel's idolatry with the golden calf, it is with great sadness that we will no longer be able to enjoy our favorite buffet, the golden corral.

[6:22] I love it. I love it. And then they actually went on to talk about how in that, you remember in that sermon, how anything can be an idol.

[6:33] We can make food an idol. We can make entertainment an idol. And so while that was meant to be funny, they actually went on to really talk about how that exposed idols in their life.

[6:48] Another one writes, My son recently had a heart episode at basketball practice. We had to take him to the ER and he was terrified as he deals with anxiety daily. Throughout the evening in the ER, they poked him and stuck him and ran multiple tests.

[7:02] And he said to me over and over through tears, Pray that God stays with me. I need God here with me. I was overcome as I watched my son beg for nothing but God's presence.

[7:13] He didn't ask me to ask God to make him better or to take it away or make it stop. He just said over and over, Just tell God I need his presence with me.

[7:26] And then finally, Amen. Amen. Finally, I thought I had a large view of God's sovereignty, but that's been expanded. The preaching on the genealogy, which that was week one.

[7:39] The preaching on the genealogy, which showed God's providence in preserving bloodlines leading to Christ was amazing. Joseph's story of how good and evil was all used for God's glory to preserve the Israelites.

[7:53] The enslavement of Israel to keep them separated for God showed me things about my life. I look back to a painful childhood, to difficult and destructive young adult years with a new perspective.

[8:11] The difference it's made in my life as I now see that it was all God's providential hand upon me. The pain and suffering is what broke me and helped me see the Lord more clearly.

[8:25] I now look back and say, Thank you, Lord, for my life just the way you planned it from the beginning. I wanted you to know that Exodus has had a huge impact on my life.

[8:43] And all God's people said, Amen. Amen. These are the things it's all about, Faith Family. This is why we do what we do. Whether it's God calling you out to teach children, or giving you a perspective about the suffering in your life, or never going to the buffet again.

[8:59] Whatever it is, this is what God's Word does. As we, every week here, just faithfully try to go through God's Word, a verse at a time, a chapter at a time, and let God's Word do what God's Word does.

[9:15] Amen? So, let's finish the book. We finished our journey this evening. Now, actually, two weeks ago, I finished Exodus 40, the last chapter in the book.

[9:25] And I told you I was going to take two weeks to kind of do a summary. And the first would be on what we need to know about the book, how to understand the book. And we did that last week.

[9:37] How the whole book of Exodus is declaring and proclaiming the gospel everywhere. It's telling the story of the gospel. Every single event from the beginning to the end is taking us through the order of salvation.

[9:52] It's screaming Jesus, Jesus, Jesus on every page that we should not walk away from the book of Exodus without understanding that it is all about the gospel.

[10:05] It is foreshadowing in the second book of the Bible what's coming in God's final act of redemption. Now, this week, what I want to focus on is kind of the main application of the book.

[10:17] What's the big takeaway? What's the thing we should apply the most as we move forward from the book of Exodus? And to do that, I want to go back to just three verses that conclude chapter 2 to kind of focus on what I think the main takeaway of the book is.

[10:36] So if you're ready and able to stand, please do so as we honor the reading of God's Word and look here at Exodus chapter 2, verse 23 through 25.

[10:47] During those many days, the king of Egypt died and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and they cried out for help.

[11:03] Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God and God heard their groaning and God remembered His covenant with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.

[11:16] God saw the people of Israel and God knew. Let's pray. Lord, thank you for this time together this evening. Thank you for all that you have taught us and all the ways that you have spoken to us through our journey in the book of Exodus.

[11:34] And we come one more time this evening asking you to speak to us and plant deep in us not just a knowledge of what this book is about, but a deep faith that you are the God of the Exodus.

[11:49] You are the God of the Exodus. And we pray this in Jesus' name and God's people said, Amen. You can be seated. I was surrounded by total darkness and the only sound I could hear was the sound of my own heartbeat.

[12:08] Those were the words of Rachel Cox. Rachel was describing an event that happened to her on October the 22nd, 1989 when she was 18 years old.

[12:20] See, Rachel was actually hiking through South Dakota's Wind Cave National Park. Her and her classmates were there conducting kind of a search and rescue training course.

[12:33] And on that particular day, they'd been divided into different teams and they were trying to find their instructor's hiding spot. Now certain, Rachel was certain that they had found the location of their instructor.

[12:47] And so she put her backpack down and she wiggled kind of through this small tunnel to try to find him. But the instructor wasn't there.

[12:58] Her teammate, frustrated with her and kind of mocking her, decided to leave. But Rachel was convinced he was there. So she kept looking. And that's when all of a sudden her lamp went out.

[13:12] And Rachel was surrounded alone in complete darkness. But she was trained for moments like this. She'd prepared. She knew what she was supposed to do. What she was supposed to do is stay right there.

[13:26] To not leave the spot where her teammate had left her. But instead of doing that, Rachel thought, oh, it'll be easy enough to just crawl back through the tunnel.

[13:37] And that's what she did. Except what she didn't know, because she was surrounded by the darkness, is that she crawled down the wrong one. Now Rachel is alone.

[13:50] She has no backpack. She has no food or water. She has no source of heat. And probably more important than all of those things, she has no light.

[14:03] To keep from hypothermia setting in, she has to keep moving. She can't just stand still. And she ends up going deeper into the cave. And the whole time she's making noise.

[14:14] She's crying out for help, hoping that somebody would hear her. And for the next, I can't even imagine, the next 36 hours, the only sound Rachel could hear was the silence of darkness.

[14:37] Rachel started losing hope that she would ever be found. But what Rachel didn't know is what was going on on the outside of the cave.

[14:50] Because on the outside of the cave, there was an entire team of rescue people that were coming for her. And finally, after those 36 hours, Rachel heard some rocks falling in the distance, and she screamed once more for help.

[15:07] And two hours later, though weak and shaking and with mild hypothermia, Rachel was rescued from the darkness.

[15:20] I have a feeling, Faith family, that many of us here this evening, let's be real tonight, at one time or another, can relate to Rachel.

[15:32] Not that you've ever been trapped inside a cave. What I mean is that you have known darkness. You have known the silence of darkness.

[15:44] Is it ever going to come to an end? Am I ever going to get out of this place? Is anybody ever going to come and rescue me? You have known that darkness. Maybe for you, it was the darkness of grief, of having to put a loved one to rest.

[15:59] Maybe it was the darkness of loneliness, of living every day all by yourself. Maybe it was the darkness of feeling abandoned, like no one truly loved you or cared.

[16:11] Maybe it was the darkness of financial loss, where you watched everything you'd worked for crumble. Maybe it was the darkness of depression, where this fog over your mind never seems to leave.

[16:26] But I bet you, you've known darkness. That you've known what it's like to be inside that cave.

[16:40] Faith family, I remind you that that is actually the historical, spiritual, and emotional context of the book of Exodus. And I think that's easy to forget, and it's easy to forget because of all the miraculous events and stories that we know about the book of Exodus.

[16:56] We know about the burning bush and the great plagues and the crossing of the Red Sea and the manna from heaven. We know of all these miraculous events, but yet what we often fail to realize is that Israel's context was one of darkness.

[17:14] The people of God for 430 years oppressed by another nation. That is 430 years of where is God.

[17:26] 430 years of it's never going to change. 430 years of life is never going to get better. Like Rachel in that cave, Israel knew, Israel felt, and all they could ever imagine their future to be was darkness.

[17:45] But would you hear me tonight when I tell you that what Israel didn't know is what God was doing on the outside of the cave?

[17:58] All Israel could see was darkness. All Israel could hear was the silence of darkness. But she had no idea what God was doing outside the cave because what God was doing outside the cave was preparing an exodus.

[18:15] It's why the book is called Exodus. If you ask me what's the single life application lesson that we should take from the book, well, what's the title of the book?

[18:29] Exodus, which means the life application of the book of Exodus is this, faith family, God is the God who gets his people out. God is the God who gets his people out.

[18:44] It's not a story about Israel, it's a story about the God who delivers. That's why the book is called Exodus.

[18:54] It's an exiting, it is a reminder to the people of God that God never leaves you. That you're not alone in the darkness. That you don't know what's going on outside the cave and God will get you out.

[19:14] So let's, one final time this evening, let our hearts be encouraged with the message of the Exodus verse 23. During those many, say many, during those many days, the king of Egypt died and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and they cried out for help.

[19:40] Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. First is the darkness of Israel. Just a few brief observations here of the cave that Israel was in.

[19:54] The darkness that they'd experience here in verse 23. The first idea that I see from the text is the idea of the spiritual side of darkness if we want to call it that.

[20:05] The spiritual side of darkness. The idea of the spiritual side of darkness is trying to make sense out of God's timing. Trying to understand God's plan.

[20:16] Nobody here has ever had to struggle with that, right? God, what are you doing? What's going on? And I take that from verse 23 where it said, during those many days.

[20:32] Because you realize, Moses could have just said, during those days. The text could read, during those days, the king of Egypt died. But that's not what the text says.

[20:45] By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Moses writes, during those many days. There's an emphasis here on the season that they're in seems to drag on and on and on and on.

[21:02] Anybody been there? And I don't know about you, but in those moments, because everybody always says, and I understand why they say this, and I really do get it, but everybody always says in those moments that the main question that people ask is, why?

[21:15] Why am I going through this? Why is this happening? What is God's purpose in it all? But I've actually discovered, at least in my life, and maybe that's not true for you, but I think some of you will connect with this, is that it's not that, but notice this here on the screen, that more than the answer to why, is we want the answer to when?

[21:38] That is, when is it going to be over? How long is this going to, I don't know about you, I don't like many days. You with me?

[21:49] I'm fine with days. I prefer hours, but I'm fine with days. What I don't like is many days, when it just seems to never end.

[22:00] Again, maybe this is just me, but notice it on the screen, is that often my struggle is not providence, it's patience. It's not that I don't think God has a purpose.

[22:14] It's not that I don't think God is sovereign. It's not that I don't think God has a plan. It's just, would you hurry up? I don't want 430 years in slavery.

[22:30] I don't want a day, but I don't want many days. You see, one of the issues that Exodus forces us to consider right out of the gate is the confusing nature of God's timeline.

[22:44] Go back to the original promise that God gave to Abraham in Genesis chapter 15. Again, Abram, God, the Lord, said to Abram, know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in the land that's not theirs.

[23:00] They will be servants, actually slaves. They'll be slaves there. And they will be afflicted for 400 years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out to a great possession, to great possessions.

[23:16] In verse 18, on that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, to your offspring I give this land from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates.

[23:29] Now, I read that. If you read it this way, I read it and I say, you're God. If you want to give them the land, why don't you just give them the land?

[23:45] Why 400 years? Anybody tracking with me? Just give them the land. Why don't you just give them the land now? Paul. Verse 16. And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.

[24:04] So, why 400 years? Because over these 400 years, there's going to be some things that have become absolutely clear. Here's what's going to become totally clear through these 400 years.

[24:18] Namely, the wickedness of the nations, the Amorites, that God's people are a very rebellious and stubborn people, Israel, and that God's covenant blessings are free and undeserved.

[24:34] Those are not things you learn in a day. Those are things that take years for God to display in the world.

[24:48] And so, what God is saying to His people here in Genesis is don't begrudge my timeline. I'm doing things, are you listening to me, faith family? I'm doing things outside the cave for 400 years that you couldn't possibly understand, even if I told you.

[25:08] All you will know is darkness. All you will know is 400 years of affliction. All you will know is many days.

[25:18] things. But that's because you don't know what I'm doing outside the cave. And you will be in a season wondering, when is this going to end?

[25:33] It's the spiritual side of darkness. And then there's the emotional side of darkness. The emotional side of darkness, which you see again clearly in verse 23, not just the many days, but of the many days that the king of Egypt died, the people of Israel did what?

[25:50] They groaned because of their slavery and they what? They cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God.

[26:02] You can just hear the agony, can't you? You just feel the groaning and the crying for help because life in Egypt was hard.

[26:13] You don't need to respond vocally, but have you ever gone through a level of suffering where all you could do is just make sounds? You just groan.

[26:29] You just cry. Just so emotional and hard. Job knew this.

[26:41] Job 3, verse 24. My sighing comes instead of my bread. And my what?

[26:52] My groanings are poured out like water. That is, I am a puddle. I'm a puddle of emotion.

[27:04] My emotions are like water on the ground. I can't even eat for sighing. It's darkness. Paul speaks of this.

[27:15] I find this so, I mean, you talk about the beauty of the Holy Spirit. You talk about, anybody tonight want to just see how compassionate your God is?

[27:26] Look at what Paul says that the Spirit even does with us in the darkness. Romans chapter 8, verse 26. Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know what we ought to pray.

[27:43] We do not know what to pray as we ought. That is, we're so weak, we're so discouraged, we're so whatever, that we don't even know how to pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us.

[27:55] Isn't that good news? And how does the Spirit intercede for us? With groanings too deep for words. Oh, come on. Do you realize that in your groaning, the Spirit intercedes and groans with you?

[28:15] There's moments that you don't even know what to pray. You don't even know if you can pray. You've cried for help for so many times in the cave and heard nothing but silence.

[28:26] You're done crying. So the Spirit intercedes for you and groans, groanings too deep for words.

[28:40] Like Rachel, sometimes the only thing you can do inside the cave is cry for help, for rescue.

[28:51] And I don't have any doubt, zero doubt, zero doubt that in this season of darkness for Israel that many of them accused God of being unfaithful, of abandoning them.

[29:08] I think they thought we did something and God has turned away from us for good. I think there are some that thought the gods of Egypt must be more powerful than Yahweh because this is never going to end.

[29:25] But that is life. It's what life feels like inside the cave. Everybody with me? Now, this would be a really sad sermon if I ended right here.

[29:37] But I hope, and I kind of feel it in the room, I want you to feel even just a taste of what Israel felt. What I'm trying to do tonight is to get you to see that the book of Exodus is not some kid story about great miraculous events, though it is full of great miraculous events.

[29:58] It's a book about a people in darkness, in the cave, groaning and crying out, when are you going to help? And the good news is this tonight, and this will be the remainder of our time, is that what Exodus shows us is what God is doing outside the cave.

[30:19] What God is preparing for His people when all they hear is the silence of darkness, verse 24. God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and Jacob.

[30:34] God saw the people of Israel, and God knew. So in these final moments, the deliverance that God brings His people. And I hope just reading those verses are a tremendous encouragement to us, because it is a picture, again, of what God is doing outside the cave, what God is preparing.

[30:54] It's the heavenly perspective of what's happening when we're crying and feel like no one is listening. The reality is we cannot see these verses.

[31:04] We cannot feel these verses. There's only one thing you can do, and that is believe these verses. You're not going to see it. You're going to have to believe it.

[31:16] It's why this is a walk of faith, is that there is trusting in the cave that there's a God outside doing something. And it will be seen in His timing.

[31:29] But He is at work first, that He hears, that God hears. That when you pray, and when you cry for help, and when you're groaning, that you should be encouraged because God hears you every time.

[31:45] There is not a single cry of rescue that you give that God does not hear. And often the reason why this would be an encouragement is because often the complaint we have when we're like Rachel in the cave is, clearly God doesn't hear me.

[32:00] He's clearly not listening. Listen to me. And why do you think that? Why do I think that? Why do I think when I cry out that God isn't listening to that cry?

[32:11] The reason I think that, and the reason why I know you think that sometimes, is because God hasn't delivered yet. I assume wrongly that deliverance is the only proof of listening.

[32:28] But that would be a very, very arrogant way to think. Notice this on the screen. That is, we think the only way I know if God is listening is if God is obeying.

[32:40] You're not doing what I'm telling you to do. So you must not be listening. That is a deeply prideful, arrogant way to approach God.

[32:52] Because listen, you don't even know if what you're asking for is in your best interest. Nor could you possibly fathom the full purposes of God. Do you really think you could fully understand all that God is doing among the nations throughout 430 years?

[33:06] Of course not! But you in your cave think you do. And so you assume, because I'm not out yet, God has shut off his listening.

[33:19] But God is listening regardless of what it feels like inside the cave. How do you know? You know because Exodus 2 says, God heard their cries.

[33:33] Listen, listen. Everybody right here, right here, right here. This is important. You know that God hears because God has spoken. Not because he's obeying you.

[33:48] You know he hears because he said he hears. Because he has said, I heard their groanings. And listen, Faith Family, keep in mind an entire, this is chapter 2 and by now you have a PhD in Exodus, right?

[34:06] You know this book well. So you know, if you remember the book, if we're in chapter 2, guess what hasn't happened yet? We haven't even had the burning bush experience.

[34:17] That is, in other words, when this happens, Moses is 40. He's not coming back until he's 80. So an entire generation is going to pass before their deliverance comes.

[34:28] That is, God hears them, but there won't be 40, God hears them, but there will be 40 years before there's evidence of it.

[34:39] Are you tracking with me? But God was hearing them every single day. He was working outside the cave. What that means for us, Faith Family, is even if you, as some of that generation certainly would have, Abraham certainly did before all of that promise would be fulfilled, is that even if you die before your deliverance comes, it doesn't change the fact that God hears you.

[35:10] It just means His ways aren't your ways, and His plans aren't your plans, and He will do what is best for you and what should encourage you is regardless of the outcome, you have the creator of the universe that listens to your cries.

[35:36] Second, not only does He hear, He remembers. He remembers His promise. So on what basis do we know that God hears? Well, it's on the basis that He made a promise.

[35:48] The text says that God remembers Israel on the basis of the covenant He made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In other words, notice it on the screen. This is so, so important.

[36:00] God is not hearing because we are special. God is hearing because He is faithful. This has nothing to do with Israel. This has everything to do with God.

[36:12] And if Exodus proves anything, it's that God's faithfulness could never have been based on Israel's faithfulness. And this is actually really good news. Listen, faith family, I am so thankful that God's faithfulness to me is not based on me.

[36:30] That's a good place for an amen. I'm so thankful that God's faithfulness to me is not based on me, but it is based on the faithfulness of His character. And often I think that we want to, or even we've been taught that, you know, God is going to be faithful because you're so special and He loves you so much and you're such a whatever, whatever.

[36:54] And it's like, no, that has nothing to do with it. God's faithful because He made a promise. And He will be faithful to His word.

[37:07] And so you can rest knowing that your faithfulness isn't based on, His faithfulness isn't based on you. It's based on His own name. And how does the story get fulfilled?

[37:20] And again, we don't even see it in Exodus. Talk about the delay of wondering when all of this is going to actually come to pass. But I was encouraged by Luke last week.

[37:34] So you've got to tell us how the story ends, right? You can't just leave us at the end of the book of Exodus and like, you know, most of us probably know it, but do they ever make it? God promised the land to Abraham.

[37:48] Do they ever get it? Joshua 1, verse 1. After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua, Moses' assistant, Moses, my servant is dead.

[38:02] Now arise and go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon, I will give to you.

[38:16] Here it is. Why don't we just say this together? Just as I promised to Moses. Not only was there 430 years before this Exodus, there would be another 40 years before they'd enter the promised land.

[38:35] But God would get his people out, and he would get his people there, because God is faithful to God.

[38:50] He gave Moses a promise, and God delivered on that promise. So when you're in the cave, know that he hears you, and know that he remembers his promise to you.

[39:06] Thirdly, that God sees. That God sees. You know, one of the things for Rachel is it's hard enough to be in the darkness of a cave.

[39:17] What's even more difficult is to be in the cave alone. To feel like no one sees you. I'm literally alone in this.

[39:28] And the comfort here is that God sees you in your suffering. And you would think if you're in the darkness, you couldn't possibly be seen, right?

[39:40] God can't see me. It's dark. Nobody can see me. This is why these verses give great comfort to us. Psalm 139, verse 11.

[39:53] If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me, and even the light about me be night, even darkness is not dark to you.

[40:08] Amen? Even darkness is not dark to you. The night is bright as day. For darkness is as light with you.

[40:25] It's only dark to you. It's not dark to God. God sees you.

[40:38] See it on the screen. Just because you can't see God in the darkness doesn't mean God can't see you. And even more than seeing you, finally He is with you.

[40:50] Finally that God knows. God knows. This word we've talked about many times before, yada in Hebrew, is a word of intimacy. This is what I love.

[41:02] God is not watching you. Like, imagine taking your kids to a playground, and you're just kind of sitting back on the bench, and you're watching them at a distance, you know, to make sure that they're safe.

[41:12] But you're clearly watching them a ways away. It's not the image here. The image here is that idea of being in the playground with them.

[41:24] Not watching them from a distance, but watching them in a very intimate, up-close, personal way. That is, God hears, and God remembers, and God sees. But even more than that, He intimately is carrying the heaviness with you.

[41:42] Let me say it this way. Listen, God was with Israel in Egypt. They couldn't see that, but God was with them.

[41:53] He knew them. He was intimate with them. And so, this evening, Faith Family, if you ask, where is God in my dark days? Where is God when I get that just life-shattering phone call?

[42:07] Where is God when the doctor walks in and he can't even make eye contact with me? Where is God when I lose my job? Where is God when I lose my child? Where is God when I lose my marriage?

[42:18] And the answer is this. Here's the answer every single time. He's with you. He's with you. The only reason you can't see Him is darkness.

[42:29] But darkness is but light to Him. And He is in the cave with you.

[42:42] And if you say, I don't believe you, Pastor. I don't believe that God enters into my suffering. My response to you would be, He already has.

[42:54] In fact, He knows a darkness you'll never have to know because He entered into this darkness for us.

[43:11] So, what does Exodus teach? What's the big takeaway from the book? Well, I would ask you, well, why is it called Exodus? What's the book's title? No. It's an exiting.

[43:23] It's this. This is the takeaway I want, I mean, deeply planted in your heart as we leave this book.

[43:34] And it's this. God is the God who gets His people out. God is the God who gets His people out. And if the book of Exodus does not convince you of that, then let me remind you of that time when God went through the darkness.

[43:52] Only His wasn't a cave. It was a cross. And you remember how one Friday, what covered the land?

[44:06] Darkness. And you remember the groaning. As Jesus struggled on the cross and He cried, groaned repeatedly to the Father.

[44:21] You remember how for three straight hours, all Jesus knew was the silence of darkness. And you remember that one of those cries He cried out from the cross was for you.

[44:38] Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. You know what the Father did to the prayer of His Son?

[44:51] He heard it. And He remembered His promise. And the proof that the Father heard the cry of His Son, I hope you're listening, didn't come immediately.

[45:08] It didn't come on Friday. It came three days later when the Father performed the greatest exodus this world has ever known.

[45:19] faith family, God is the God who gets His people out. He is the God of the exodus.

[45:30] And all God's people said, Amen. Amen. Let's pray. Lord, thank You. Thank You for this evening because at some point the book of Exodus, I trust many points throughout this series, has got to be more than just a bunch of stories.

[45:52] But we feel the real life of this story. The darkness that Israel was in.

[46:04] The many days of groaning and crying for rescue. But more than that, the comfort and encouragement that you're at work outside the cave.

[46:21] You're the God of the exodus. You get your people out. And you hear us. You remember the promise that You made to us. You see us. You're with us.

[46:34] And You love us so much, You entered into the darkness for us. So we would know now and forever, we're not alone.

[46:50] You are with Your people. And now we take a time to remember through the Lord's Supper, the darkness that You entered into.

[47:05] Because as dark as we think times can be in this life, there's no darkness like facing the sin of the world and taking on that wrath.

[47:22] And so Jesus, as our sympathetic High Priest, we come to You tonight as we remember Your sacrifice, knowing what You have done for us, what You entered into for us, to give us hope, encouragement, and the comfort of the gospel in these many days.

[47:42] We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.

[48:02] Thank you.