WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.459 So, this morning, let's start, if you have a Bible, if you don't have a Bible, it'll 00:00:07.459 --> 00:00:11.000 be helpful for you to have one, and there are some extras sitting in the bookshelf over 00:00:11.000 --> 00:00:11.179 there. 00:00:11.660 --> 00:00:15.419 But let's start with Psalm 95 this morning. 00:00:17.940 --> 00:00:23.980 Psalm 95, in some Christian traditions, is prayed every morning as part of morning prayer, 00:00:24.440 --> 00:00:28.460 and it happens to fit really well with what we're looking at this morning. 00:00:28.460 --> 00:00:33.420 So, which one did you say? 00:00:33.480 --> 00:00:34.259 Psalm 95. 00:00:38.520 --> 00:00:41.060 O come, let us sing to the Lord. 00:00:41.719 --> 00:00:45.120 Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. 00:00:45.900 --> 00:00:48.040 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving. 00:00:48.679 --> 00:00:53.799 Let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise, for the Lord is a great God, and 00:00:53.799 --> 00:00:55.480 a great King above all gods. 00:00:55.840 --> 00:00:58.060 In his hand are the depths of the earth. 00:00:58.460 --> 00:01:00.399 The heights of the mountains are his also. 00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:03.200 The sea is his, for he made it. 00:01:03.640 --> 00:01:05.439 And his hands formed the dry land. 00:01:06.879 --> 00:01:09.099 O come, let us worship and bow down. 00:01:09.460 --> 00:01:11.420 Let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker. 00:01:11.780 --> 00:01:13.240 For he is our God. 00:01:13.239 --> 00:01:16.500 And we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. 00:01:18.039 --> 00:01:22.799 Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at 00:01:22.799 --> 00:01:27.060 Massa in the wilderness, when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof 00:01:27.060 --> 00:01:28.319 that they had seen my work. 00:01:28.319 --> 00:01:35.000 For forty years I loathed that generation and said, they are a people who go astray in their 00:01:35.000 --> 00:01:37.099 heart, and they have not known my ways. 00:01:37.939 --> 00:01:41.979 Therefore I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest. 00:01:41.980 --> 00:01:54.520 This psalm sings praises to the God of Israel, who is the rock of their salvation. 00:01:54.740 --> 00:02:01.560 And this morning we're going to be looking at the fundamental moment, the fundamental event 00:02:01.560 --> 00:02:04.180 of Israel's salvation in the Exodus. 00:02:04.180 --> 00:02:10.620 But then in the latter half of the psalm, you have this bit, today if you hear his voice, 00:02:10.700 --> 00:02:13.439 do not harden your hearts, as Israel did in the wilderness. 00:02:15.580 --> 00:02:24.300 And we're going to be looking at the wilderness years as well, the time when Israel went astray 00:02:24.300 --> 00:02:26.939 in their heart and did not know God's ways. 00:02:26.939 --> 00:02:36.319 So, this summer, through the whole summer in this Sunday school class, we're looking 00:02:36.319 --> 00:02:42.740 at a sort of big, broad, thirty-thousand-foot view picture of the Old Testament, and especially 00:02:42.740 --> 00:02:44.740 the narrative of the Old Testament. 00:02:45.039 --> 00:02:46.680 Because it's one big story. 00:02:48.960 --> 00:02:55.419 And sometimes we might know individual pieces of that story, but it's helpful for us to be 00:02:55.419 --> 00:03:00.219 able to put the whole thing together to see how Jesus is the climax of the whole story 00:03:00.219 --> 00:03:00.859 of the Old Testament. 00:03:02.519 --> 00:03:11.719 And today, we're looking at Israel's exodus from Egypt and their time wandering in the 00:03:11.719 --> 00:03:13.639 wilderness before they enter the Promised Land. 00:03:15.619 --> 00:03:22.879 And since, if you've been coming to the sermons, you would know that we are going through Exodus 00:03:22.879 --> 00:03:23.759 right now upstairs. 00:03:23.759 --> 00:03:27.879 So, we're going to, it's really going to be a thirty-thousand-foot view. 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:37.479 Because if you come to the sermons, you will be getting a sort of verse-by-verse look at 00:03:37.479 --> 00:03:38.780 Exodus. 00:03:41.639 --> 00:03:43.599 So, I'm a handout. 00:03:44.180 --> 00:03:51.759 I have a very, it can't get any briefer than this, outline of the Torah, of the first five 00:03:51.759 --> 00:03:52.519 books of the Bible. 00:03:52.919 --> 00:04:00.659 I put this on here just because we're going to be finishing up the narrative of the Torah 00:04:00.659 --> 00:04:01.219 this morning. 00:04:01.639 --> 00:04:07.579 We looked at Abraham's life last week, and that's all in the first half of Genesis. 00:04:08.299 --> 00:04:09.819 And then today, we're looking at Exodus. 00:04:09.819 --> 00:04:15.379 And Numbers has some of the story of Israel in the wilderness. 00:04:18.459 --> 00:04:22.839 And then Leviticus and Deuteronomy, it doesn't have so much narrative in it. 00:04:22.920 --> 00:04:25.159 It's mostly just legal codes. 00:04:25.160 --> 00:04:29.900 So, we're not really going to be looking at those books at all this summer. 00:04:32.580 --> 00:04:37.460 But first, talking about the Exodus from Egypt, where we left off last week, Israel is not 00:04:37.460 --> 00:04:37.960 in Egypt. 00:04:39.080 --> 00:04:45.900 Abraham is still wandering in the land that God had promised to give to his offspring. 00:04:45.899 --> 00:04:58.839 So, I just put down a few sort of citations there if you want to chart out the story of Abraham's 00:04:58.839 --> 00:05:00.000 family getting down into Egypt. 00:05:01.399 --> 00:05:07.519 We talked about Abraham and Sarah being the parents of Isaac last week, the promised child, 00:05:07.679 --> 00:05:09.879 the child that God had promised to Abraham. 00:05:09.879 --> 00:05:14.800 And God's promises and blessing to Abraham that we talked about so much last week are 00:05:14.800 --> 00:05:17.879 reiterated to Isaac in Genesis 26. 00:05:18.579 --> 00:05:25.120 And then they're reiterated to Jacob, the child of Isaac, in Genesis 32. 00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:33.600 So, we see this family line of promise, of blessing, emerging in Genesis. 00:05:33.600 --> 00:05:43.540 Which is God bringing about and continuing his promise to Abraham that his offspring, his 00:05:43.540 --> 00:05:47.240 family, would be the means by which God would bless the whole world. 00:05:47.879 --> 00:05:51.640 And that promise is reiterated to Abraham's children. 00:05:53.820 --> 00:06:02.140 Then there's the story of Jacob's child, Joseph, who was sold into Egypt as a slave. 00:06:02.139 --> 00:06:10.099 Then God raises Joseph to prominence, saving the land from famine. 00:06:11.120 --> 00:06:16.639 That's about 10 chapters in Genesis that we're just totally, we're mentioning but not looking at. 00:06:18.659 --> 00:06:23.539 And then in this one, I think it might be helpful to look at really briefly. 00:06:23.959 --> 00:06:27.000 If we can turn to Genesis 45. 00:06:32.139 --> 00:06:45.240 So, starting in verse 4, this is Genesis 45. 00:06:46.860 --> 00:06:51.099 Joseph is talking to his brothers years later after they had sold him into slavery, 00:06:51.279 --> 00:06:53.319 after Joseph rises to prominence in Egypt. 00:06:53.319 --> 00:06:57.240 So, starting, so Genesis 45, verse 4. 00:06:57.360 --> 00:06:59.459 Joseph said to his brothers, come near to me, please. 00:06:59.879 --> 00:07:00.659 And they came near. 00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:03.879 And he said, I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. 00:07:04.399 --> 00:07:08.040 And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here. 00:07:08.159 --> 00:07:11.000 For God sent me before you to preserve life. 00:07:11.980 --> 00:07:14.600 For the famine has been in the land these two years. 00:07:14.699 --> 00:07:18.839 And there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. 00:07:18.839 --> 00:07:24.439 And God sent me here before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to keep alive 00:07:24.439 --> 00:07:25.519 for you many survivors. 00:07:26.279 --> 00:07:28.439 So, it was not you who sent me here, but God. 00:07:29.000 --> 00:07:34.339 He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his house and ruler over the land of Egypt. 00:07:34.779 --> 00:07:39.279 Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord 00:07:39.279 --> 00:07:40.079 over all Egypt. 00:07:40.620 --> 00:07:41.439 Come down to me. 00:07:41.659 --> 00:07:42.459 Do not tarry. 00:07:42.939 --> 00:07:44.579 You shall dwell in the land of Goshen. 00:07:44.579 --> 00:07:49.639 And you shall be near me, you and your children and your children's children and your flock 00:07:49.639 --> 00:07:50.859 and all that you have. 00:07:51.159 --> 00:07:52.639 There I will provide for you. 00:07:52.719 --> 00:07:54.819 For there are yet five years of famine to come. 00:07:55.939 --> 00:08:00.759 So that you and your household and all that you have do not come into poverty. 00:08:03.539 --> 00:08:08.500 So, in this way, Israel ends up going down into Egypt. 00:08:08.860 --> 00:08:14.219 And at first, it's not, they're not enslaved at first, right? 00:08:14.220 --> 00:08:17.220 This is a good thing for them to be going to Egypt. 00:08:19.720 --> 00:08:21.940 And Joseph even says God sent him there. 00:08:24.580 --> 00:08:30.880 But just as God had told Abraham in Genesis 15, which I put on the page there, 00:08:31.460 --> 00:08:35.399 know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs 00:08:35.399 --> 00:08:36.940 and will be servants there. 00:08:37.279 --> 00:08:39.180 And they will be afflicted for 400 years. 00:08:39.179 --> 00:08:44.099 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve. 00:08:44.179 --> 00:08:48.459 And afterward, they shall come out with great possessions, just as God had assured Abraham. 00:08:50.699 --> 00:08:51.659 So it happens. 00:08:55.399 --> 00:09:02.339 A pharaoh, a new pharaoh comes up in the beginning of Exodus, who doesn't know Joseph's family. 00:09:02.340 --> 00:09:12.220 And out of fear of that family that is increasing greatly, he enslaves them. 00:09:12.980 --> 00:09:18.480 And they are afflicted for 400 years, as God had told Abraham. 00:09:18.480 --> 00:09:25.700 And like I said, it's because it's the sermon series upstairs. 00:09:26.899 --> 00:09:32.180 I have just a few notes here, like a really broad view of the book. 00:09:32.279 --> 00:09:35.440 And on the second page, I have an outline of the book of Exodus, 00:09:35.539 --> 00:09:38.600 which might actually help you follow the sermons upstairs. 00:09:38.740 --> 00:09:42.940 You can place any particular sermon within the broader outline of the book. 00:09:42.940 --> 00:09:53.140 But in short, the book of Exodus starts with God calling Moses and saving Israel from slavery in Egypt through Moses. 00:09:55.020 --> 00:10:01.040 Then there's this, God brings them to Sinai and makes a covenant with them and gives them some laws. 00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:02.940 That's where we are upstairs right now. 00:10:02.940 --> 00:10:16.440 Then Israel fails, breaches the covenant, worships the golden calf, but God renews, restores the covenant. 00:10:18.480 --> 00:10:23.500 And even from this really, really broad outline of the book of Exodus, 00:10:23.720 --> 00:10:29.640 I think we can learn a lot about the life of faith just from that very basic structure of God saves Israel, 00:10:29.900 --> 00:10:31.460 God makes a covenant and gives them laws. 00:10:31.460 --> 00:10:40.720 Israel fails miserably, worships the golden calf, even while Moses is up on the mountain receiving laws and talking to God. 00:10:40.860 --> 00:10:43.340 And then God restores the covenant. 00:10:44.240 --> 00:10:50.720 I think from just that very broadest outline of the book, we can learn a lot about the life of faith. 00:10:53.840 --> 00:10:59.340 For one thing, just as God saved Israel from slavery in Egypt, 00:10:59.340 --> 00:11:04.960 God saves us, his people today, from a kind of slavery to sin and death. 00:11:08.740 --> 00:11:12.180 Jesus says in the Gospel of John, and I put these on the handout, 00:11:12.179 --> 00:11:33.339 Jesus describes sin as almost a kind of addictive behavior. 00:11:33.340 --> 00:11:41.019 If you engage in it, and we all do, you become enslaved to it in a sense. 00:11:43.300 --> 00:11:48.540 I can, I can, how many times have I, has a word come out of my mouth, 00:11:48.980 --> 00:11:53.840 an unkind, cruel word come out of my mouth before I even realize it? 00:11:53.840 --> 00:12:00.620 It's, it's, it's, it's as if I cannot help but do wrong to God and my neighbor. 00:12:01.100 --> 00:12:05.060 I, I am, in some sense, a slave to sin. 00:12:05.220 --> 00:12:08.600 And, and Jesus says that is, that is our condition. 00:12:08.720 --> 00:12:12.340 But he, the Son, sets us free, and we are free indeed. 00:12:12.340 --> 00:12:18.960 Um, so, there is that kind of correspondence, um, that, that we see in the life of faith 00:12:18.960 --> 00:12:22.600 between the Exodus and, and, um, us today. 00:12:24.519 --> 00:12:26.840 And then, this, this bit from Hebrews. 00:12:27.060 --> 00:12:32.060 Since, therefore, the children, uh, human beings, share in flesh and blood, 00:12:32.200 --> 00:12:34.920 the Son himself, likewise, partook of the same thing. 00:12:35.220 --> 00:12:36.680 Becoming flesh and blood, that is. 00:12:36.679 --> 00:12:42.079 That through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil. 00:12:42.519 --> 00:12:46.539 And deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. 00:12:47.279 --> 00:12:53.979 Um, there, there is a, a sense in which we are slaves of, of death and the fear of death. 00:12:54.339 --> 00:13:01.120 Uh, that, uh, the, the, the fear of death limits what we are willing and able to do. 00:13:01.639 --> 00:13:06.139 Um, but Jesus, in defeating death, 00:13:06.139 --> 00:13:08.580 uh, frees us from that. 00:13:08.759 --> 00:13:15.539 To be able to serve him, uh, live for him, uh, and, and say with Paul, 00:13:15.679 --> 00:13:17.960 for me, to, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 00:13:18.139 --> 00:13:21.539 Whether I, whether I live or die ultimately is not the thing that matters, 00:13:21.539 --> 00:13:23.720 but whether I belong to Jesus is the thing that matters. 00:13:24.120 --> 00:13:26.279 Uh, and I want to be part of what he is doing in the world. 00:13:26.279 --> 00:13:30.259 Um, for, to, to be this conduit of blessing, uh, to the whole world. 00:13:31.080 --> 00:13:34.899 Um, so just as God saved Israel from Egypt, 00:13:34.899 --> 00:13:39.000 so also Jesus saves us from, from a kind of, a kind of slaver. 00:13:40.159 --> 00:13:45.919 Um, and just as God saved Israel apart from anything they did beforehand, 00:13:46.779 --> 00:13:50.559 so also God saves us irrespective of what we've done. 00:13:51.220 --> 00:13:56.299 Uh, the, the law is not given to Egypt, right? 00:13:56.299 --> 00:13:58.559 So that big, broad outline of the book of Exodus, 00:13:59.000 --> 00:14:02.879 God doesn't tell, uh, God doesn't tell Israel how to live, 00:14:03.339 --> 00:14:05.339 uh, giving them commands to live by, 00:14:05.559 --> 00:14:07.099 until after he saved them from Egypt. 00:14:07.519 --> 00:14:10.959 Um, and it, and it's the same, it's the same way for us. 00:14:11.199 --> 00:14:15.539 We don't, Israel didn't have to earn their, their freedom from Egypt 00:14:15.539 --> 00:14:20.379 in the same way we don't have to earn our, uh, relationship, 00:14:20.379 --> 00:14:22.159 our freedom with God. 00:14:22.639 --> 00:14:25.919 Uh, by grace you have been saved through faith, 00:14:26.080 --> 00:14:27.679 and this is not your own doing. 00:14:28.679 --> 00:14:31.539 It is the gift of God, not a result of works, 00:14:31.600 --> 00:14:33.120 so that no one may boast. 00:14:34.200 --> 00:14:37.340 Um, so you see what I'm doing here. 00:14:37.399 --> 00:14:40.600 I'm looking for these correspondences between, uh, 00:14:40.899 --> 00:14:43.539 the book of Exodus, and it's, it's big, broad outline, 00:14:43.539 --> 00:14:46.079 and the life of the Christian. 00:14:46.539 --> 00:14:49.159 Um, because there is this, the, the, the, 00:14:49.159 --> 00:14:52.539 the big, broad outline of Exodus is a picture of, 00:14:52.579 --> 00:14:53.759 of salvation in Jesus. 00:14:54.659 --> 00:14:59.639 Um, and then just as God gave Israel his law at Mount Sinai, 00:15:00.099 --> 00:15:03.179 um, after, after saving them, 00:15:03.519 --> 00:15:05.419 God gives us direction on how to live. 00:15:05.699 --> 00:15:08.240 Uh, God expects us to, to live in a certain way 00:15:08.240 --> 00:15:11.899 after he's, you know, saved us from this kind of slavery 00:15:11.899 --> 00:15:14.919 and, and brought us into a relationship with himself. 00:15:15.679 --> 00:15:19.240 Uh, just going on, right, uh, 00:15:19.240 --> 00:15:22.539 so the previous thing that I read was Ephesians 2, 8, and 9. 00:15:22.720 --> 00:15:25.740 Very next verse, uh, we are his workmanship, 00:15:26.079 --> 00:15:28.939 God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, 00:15:29.299 --> 00:15:32.179 which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. 00:15:32.620 --> 00:15:35.980 Uh, in the same way that Israel is expected to live in a certain way 00:15:35.980 --> 00:15:37.539 after God brings them out of slavery, 00:15:37.799 --> 00:15:40.240 so also God expects us to live in a certain way 00:15:40.240 --> 00:15:43.259 after, after God brings us into relationship with himself. 00:15:44.399 --> 00:15:44.720 Um, 00:15:44.960 --> 00:15:51.039 and then just as God forgives Israel 00:15:51.039 --> 00:15:52.740 and restores his covenant with them, 00:15:53.259 --> 00:15:57.500 after they fail miserably in, in, in worship of the golden calf, 00:15:58.080 --> 00:16:00.340 so also God forgives our sin 00:16:00.340 --> 00:16:02.600 and restores our relationship with him 00:16:02.600 --> 00:16:06.240 when we genuinely turn back to him in, in, in faith. 00:16:06.240 --> 00:16:10.500 Um, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves 00:16:10.500 --> 00:16:11.799 and the truth is not in us. 00:16:11.940 --> 00:16:14.659 If we confess our sin, he is faithful and just 00:16:14.659 --> 00:16:15.860 to forgive us our sins 00:16:15.860 --> 00:16:17.840 and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 00:16:18.560 --> 00:16:18.960 Uh, 00:16:19.039 --> 00:16:23.100 so as, as, um, 00:16:24.399 --> 00:16:26.080 as we are, uh, 00:16:26.080 --> 00:16:27.940 going through the rest of the book of Exodus upstairs, 00:16:28.120 --> 00:16:30.159 I hope, I hope I'm not rehashing too much 00:16:30.159 --> 00:16:31.840 what, what our pastors have been saying 00:16:31.840 --> 00:16:33.039 in sermons so far. 00:16:33.039 --> 00:16:36.399 Um, but as we go through the rest of the book of Exodus, 00:16:36.839 --> 00:16:37.279 uh, 00:16:38.039 --> 00:16:41.399 it can be helpful for us to look for ways that, 00:16:41.399 --> 00:16:42.199 uh, 00:16:42.519 --> 00:16:45.860 the story of Israel in, in the Exodus is, 00:16:45.980 --> 00:16:47.480 is our story too. 00:16:47.759 --> 00:16:49.639 Um, which we should expect if we are, 00:16:49.980 --> 00:16:51.360 as, as we were saying last week, 00:16:51.379 --> 00:16:52.639 if we are Abraham's offspring, 00:16:53.059 --> 00:16:55.559 uh, then we should expect the story of Abraham's offspring 00:16:55.559 --> 00:16:56.879 to be our story too. 00:16:57.679 --> 00:16:58.079 Um, 00:16:58.080 --> 00:17:01.660 if, if you, uh, 00:17:01.780 --> 00:17:03.160 if you know this word, 00:17:03.280 --> 00:17:04.860 the, the approach that I'm doing there 00:17:04.860 --> 00:17:05.900 is called typology. 00:17:06.039 --> 00:17:07.460 If you've heard that word before, 00:17:07.840 --> 00:17:09.039 that's why I'm saying it 00:17:09.039 --> 00:17:09.900 just so you have something to, 00:17:09.920 --> 00:17:10.519 to grab onto. 00:17:10.620 --> 00:17:11.259 If you don't know that word, 00:17:11.340 --> 00:17:11.600 forget it. 00:17:11.620 --> 00:17:12.279 It doesn't really matter. 00:17:12.360 --> 00:17:13.340 It's a seminary word. 00:17:13.860 --> 00:17:14.220 Um, 00:17:14.380 --> 00:17:14.980 you don't, 00:17:15.039 --> 00:17:16.660 you don't need that to follow God. 00:17:17.220 --> 00:17:17.579 Um, 00:17:18.279 --> 00:17:21.480 so that, 00:17:21.600 --> 00:17:22.620 that's a super, 00:17:22.740 --> 00:17:23.319 I, like I said, 00:17:23.400 --> 00:17:23.539 the, 00:17:23.539 --> 00:17:25.340 I feel like I'm doing violence to the text 00:17:25.340 --> 00:17:27.039 by skimming that briefly through it. 00:17:27.039 --> 00:17:27.839 But, um, 00:17:28.139 --> 00:17:29.359 I don't, 00:17:29.420 --> 00:17:30.099 I don't want to steal, 00:17:30.399 --> 00:17:32.079 steal anything from the pastors upstairs, 00:17:32.079 --> 00:17:32.920 uh, 00:17:32.920 --> 00:17:33.279 and, 00:17:33.279 --> 00:17:34.519 and sort of belabor the point. 00:17:35.079 --> 00:17:35.440 Um, 00:17:35.740 --> 00:17:38.420 I want to spend most of our time 00:17:38.420 --> 00:17:39.220 on something we, 00:17:39.279 --> 00:17:40.519 we are not going to be talking about 00:17:40.519 --> 00:17:41.279 so much upstairs 00:17:41.279 --> 00:17:42.339 when we look through Exodus, 00:17:42.480 --> 00:17:44.319 and that's Israel's wilderness years. 00:17:44.859 --> 00:17:45.240 Um, 00:17:45.240 --> 00:17:46.799 but before we move on to that, 00:17:46.920 --> 00:17:47.319 uh, 00:17:47.319 --> 00:17:48.539 are there any thoughts, 00:17:48.639 --> 00:17:48.980 questions? 00:17:49.779 --> 00:17:50.099 Um, 00:17:52.599 --> 00:17:55.019 I don't think you can do Exodus too much. 00:17:55.200 --> 00:17:55.539 I mean, 00:17:55.539 --> 00:17:57.579 I thought you could come back to it 00:17:57.579 --> 00:18:00.539 probably several times in your life 00:18:00.539 --> 00:18:02.019 and come back to it 00:18:02.019 --> 00:18:03.099 and find more. 00:18:03.779 --> 00:18:04.079 There's, 00:18:04.139 --> 00:18:05.859 there's a lot here for us. 00:18:06.299 --> 00:18:06.539 Um, 00:18:07.180 --> 00:18:09.259 you're fine. 00:18:10.940 --> 00:18:12.339 You can't talk to us. 00:18:13.480 --> 00:18:14.119 Amen. 00:18:17.619 --> 00:18:18.420 All right. 00:18:19.039 --> 00:18:19.519 So, 00:18:19.519 --> 00:18:20.779 um, 00:18:21.779 --> 00:18:25.639 after Israel leaves 00:18:25.639 --> 00:18:26.799 Mount Sinai, 00:18:27.180 --> 00:18:27.519 uh, 00:18:27.519 --> 00:18:28.480 God sends them away, 00:18:28.480 --> 00:18:29.400 uh, 00:18:29.519 --> 00:18:29.879 into, 00:18:29.960 --> 00:18:32.720 into the land that he had promised Abraham 00:18:32.720 --> 00:18:33.639 all those years before. 00:18:33.879 --> 00:18:34.440 Uh, 00:18:34.440 --> 00:18:36.299 we were looking last week in Genesis, 00:18:36.779 --> 00:18:37.299 uh, 00:18:37.299 --> 00:18:39.400 God promised Abraham, 00:18:39.400 --> 00:18:41.799 I'm going to give your offspring this land 00:18:41.799 --> 00:18:42.900 that you're wandering about in. 00:18:43.319 --> 00:18:43.799 Well, 00:18:44.200 --> 00:18:45.839 now God's doing it. 00:18:45.839 --> 00:18:46.240 Uh, 00:18:46.639 --> 00:18:47.619 finally, 00:18:47.699 --> 00:18:48.579 after 400 years, 00:18:48.659 --> 00:18:49.079 God is, 00:18:49.119 --> 00:18:50.759 is taking Israel into this land. 00:18:51.199 --> 00:18:51.559 Um, 00:18:52.199 --> 00:18:53.379 and, 00:18:53.480 --> 00:18:54.559 it's, 00:18:54.720 --> 00:18:55.299 if we look, 00:18:55.480 --> 00:18:58.000 there's this verse in the beginning of Deuteronomy 00:18:58.000 --> 00:18:58.799 that tells us that 00:18:58.799 --> 00:19:00.599 it's only an 11 days journey. 00:19:01.439 --> 00:19:02.000 Um, 00:19:02.079 --> 00:19:03.220 the second verse of Deuteronomy, 00:19:03.279 --> 00:19:04.679 it's only an 11 days journey 00:19:04.679 --> 00:19:06.000 from Mount Sinai 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:08.059 to the edge of the land 00:19:08.059 --> 00:19:09.299 that God had promised 00:19:09.299 --> 00:19:10.379 to give to them. 00:19:10.959 --> 00:19:11.319 Uh, 00:19:11.319 --> 00:19:13.199 but it takes Israel 40 years to get there. 00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:14.480 Uh, 00:19:14.480 --> 00:19:16.759 and you think, 00:19:16.839 --> 00:19:17.299 what gives? 00:19:17.400 --> 00:19:17.539 Well, 00:19:17.579 --> 00:19:19.140 it's because Israel is 00:19:19.140 --> 00:19:20.920 once again disobedient. 00:19:21.360 --> 00:19:21.759 Uh, 00:19:21.819 --> 00:19:22.000 and, 00:19:22.099 --> 00:19:23.120 and this entire time, 00:19:23.220 --> 00:19:24.960 so most of Israel's time in the wilderness, 00:19:24.960 --> 00:19:25.920 uh, 00:19:25.960 --> 00:19:26.819 is in, 00:19:27.339 --> 00:19:27.720 uh, 00:19:27.720 --> 00:19:29.500 is recorded in the book of Numbers. 00:19:30.319 --> 00:19:30.720 Um, 00:19:31.559 --> 00:19:34.620 in the, 00:19:34.620 --> 00:19:37.099 the Hebrew name for the book called Numbers. 00:19:37.480 --> 00:19:37.660 See, 00:19:37.700 --> 00:19:38.460 we call it Numbers 00:19:38.460 --> 00:19:40.140 because it begins with some census data 00:19:40.140 --> 00:19:41.000 and we think the whole book 00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:41.940 is just a bunch of numbers. 00:19:42.079 --> 00:19:42.240 It's, 00:19:42.460 --> 00:19:43.000 it's not, 00:19:43.299 --> 00:19:43.779 uh, 00:19:43.779 --> 00:19:44.240 it's, 00:19:44.240 --> 00:19:44.880 it's a story 00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:45.200 and, 00:19:45.319 --> 00:19:46.519 and the Hebrew name for it 00:19:46.519 --> 00:19:47.359 is actually a lot better. 00:19:47.519 --> 00:19:48.740 It means in the wilderness, 00:19:49.380 --> 00:19:49.799 uh, 00:19:49.880 --> 00:19:50.960 which is really what the book is about. 00:19:51.579 --> 00:19:51.980 Um, 00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:52.740 so most of this, 00:19:52.839 --> 00:19:54.400 most of the story is in the book of Numbers. 00:19:54.920 --> 00:19:55.400 Uh, 00:19:55.519 --> 00:19:56.859 and their whole time in the wilderness 00:19:56.859 --> 00:19:58.359 is characterized by disobedience. 00:19:58.740 --> 00:19:59.180 Uh, 00:19:59.220 --> 00:20:00.380 it didn't end with the golden calf. 00:20:00.460 --> 00:20:02.660 They grumble about lack of food and water. 00:20:03.019 --> 00:20:03.339 Uh, 00:20:03.339 --> 00:20:04.220 they grumble about, 00:20:04.599 --> 00:20:04.819 uh, 00:20:04.819 --> 00:20:06.339 the leadership of Moses and Aaron. 00:20:07.000 --> 00:20:07.440 Um, 00:20:07.660 --> 00:20:09.680 and then later on in, 00:20:09.680 --> 00:20:10.460 in Numbers 25, 00:20:10.460 --> 00:20:12.480 they worship the pagan god Baal, 00:20:12.480 --> 00:20:13.200 uh, 00:20:13.200 --> 00:20:15.220 which comes up again and again 00:20:15.220 --> 00:20:16.319 in the rest of the Old Testament. 00:20:17.039 --> 00:20:17.500 Um, 00:20:17.980 --> 00:20:21.039 but I want to focus on one incident in particular, 00:20:21.039 --> 00:20:21.819 uh, 00:20:21.819 --> 00:20:23.240 in Numbers 13 and 14 00:20:23.240 --> 00:20:25.000 that sort of captures, 00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:26.339 uh, 00:20:26.440 --> 00:20:27.200 the whole, 00:20:27.440 --> 00:20:27.880 um, 00:20:28.099 --> 00:20:29.519 that really captures the whole thing. 00:20:29.599 --> 00:20:29.819 It's, 00:20:29.880 --> 00:20:31.880 it's maybe the most striking incident 00:20:31.880 --> 00:20:32.839 of, 00:20:32.940 --> 00:20:33.440 uh, 00:20:33.519 --> 00:20:35.920 of Israel's disobedience in the wilderness. 00:20:35.920 --> 00:20:37.220 Um, 00:20:37.220 --> 00:20:39.440 and, 00:20:39.519 --> 00:20:40.860 once again, 00:20:40.900 --> 00:20:43.400 I think this shows us a great deal 00:20:43.400 --> 00:20:43.940 about, 00:20:44.360 --> 00:20:44.759 um, 00:20:44.800 --> 00:20:45.720 our life of faith. 00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:46.360 Uh, 00:20:46.360 --> 00:20:46.700 and that's, 00:20:46.740 --> 00:20:47.759 and that's the lens I, 00:20:47.820 --> 00:20:48.259 I want to, 00:20:48.259 --> 00:20:48.600 uh, 00:20:48.600 --> 00:20:49.320 bring to it. 00:20:49.759 --> 00:20:50.160 Um, 00:20:51.180 --> 00:20:51.640 and it's, 00:20:51.680 --> 00:20:52.759 it's quite a lot of text, 00:20:52.860 --> 00:20:54.720 so that's why I left a lot of time for it. 00:20:54.740 --> 00:20:55.300 So let's, 00:20:55.340 --> 00:20:55.720 uh, 00:20:55.720 --> 00:20:57.440 look at Numbers chapter 13. 00:20:57.440 --> 00:20:57.840 Um, 00:20:57.839 --> 00:21:08.519 um, 00:21:08.919 --> 00:21:10.220 so by this point, 00:21:10.839 --> 00:21:14.619 they've gone on that 11 day journey. 00:21:15.159 --> 00:21:15.859 Israel has, 00:21:16.039 --> 00:21:16.579 uh, 00:21:16.639 --> 00:21:17.939 they're at the promised land. 00:21:18.459 --> 00:21:18.939 Um, 00:21:19.419 --> 00:21:20.720 and 00:21:20.720 --> 00:21:22.980 God tells Moses 00:21:22.980 --> 00:21:24.159 to send people 00:21:24.159 --> 00:21:25.579 into the land 00:21:25.579 --> 00:21:26.439 to check it out. 00:21:27.839 --> 00:21:28.359 Um, 00:21:29.119 --> 00:21:31.639 so let's start in, 00:21:31.779 --> 00:21:32.099 in, 00:21:32.259 --> 00:21:33.619 I'll start reading in verse 17. 00:21:35.039 --> 00:21:35.339 Um, 00:21:35.839 --> 00:21:45.480 all right, 00:21:45.480 --> 00:21:47.079 since this is Numbers chapter 13, 00:21:47.639 --> 00:21:48.959 I'm going to start in verse 00:21:48.959 --> 00:21:51.439 17. 00:21:53.119 --> 00:21:53.639 Great. 00:21:54.220 --> 00:21:54.659 All right. 00:21:54.660 --> 00:21:57.600 Moses sent them 00:21:57.600 --> 00:21:59.060 to spy out the land of Canaan 00:21:59.060 --> 00:22:00.700 and said to them, 00:22:00.820 --> 00:22:02.380 go up into the Negev 00:22:02.380 --> 00:22:04.220 and go up into the hill country 00:22:04.220 --> 00:22:06.420 and see what the land is 00:22:06.420 --> 00:22:07.720 and whether the people 00:22:07.720 --> 00:22:08.380 who dwell in it 00:22:08.380 --> 00:22:09.860 are strong or weak, 00:22:10.400 --> 00:22:11.779 whether they are few or many 00:22:11.779 --> 00:22:13.340 and whether the land 00:22:13.340 --> 00:22:14.060 that they dwell in 00:22:14.060 --> 00:22:14.759 is good or bad 00:22:14.759 --> 00:22:16.480 and whether the cities 00:22:16.480 --> 00:22:17.259 that they dwell in 00:22:17.259 --> 00:22:18.840 are camps or strongholds 00:22:18.840 --> 00:22:20.000 and whether the land 00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:20.800 is rich or poor 00:22:20.800 --> 00:22:21.640 and whether there are 00:22:21.640 --> 00:22:22.560 trees in it or not. 00:22:22.559 --> 00:22:24.759 Be of good courage 00:22:24.759 --> 00:22:27.059 and bring some of the fruit 00:22:27.059 --> 00:22:27.539 of the land. 00:22:28.779 --> 00:22:29.779 Now the time 00:22:29.779 --> 00:22:30.679 was the season 00:22:30.679 --> 00:22:31.919 of the first ripe grapes. 00:22:32.619 --> 00:22:33.779 So they went up 00:22:33.779 --> 00:22:34.740 and spied out the land 00:22:34.740 --> 00:22:35.399 from the wilderness 00:22:35.399 --> 00:22:36.000 of Zin 00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:36.700 to Rehob 00:22:36.700 --> 00:22:37.940 near Lebo Hamath. 00:22:38.419 --> 00:22:39.299 They went up 00:22:39.299 --> 00:22:40.200 into the Negev 00:22:40.200 --> 00:22:41.480 and came to Hebron, 00:22:41.659 --> 00:22:42.220 Ahaman, 00:22:42.539 --> 00:22:43.099 Sheshai, 00:22:43.460 --> 00:22:44.019 and Talmai. 00:22:44.019 --> 00:22:46.480 The descendants 00:22:46.480 --> 00:22:47.379 of Anak were there. 00:22:48.500 --> 00:22:49.220 Hebron was built 00:22:49.220 --> 00:22:50.019 seven years before 00:22:50.019 --> 00:22:50.740 Zoan in Egypt. 00:22:51.099 --> 00:22:51.740 And they came 00:22:51.740 --> 00:22:52.859 to the valley of Eshkol 00:22:52.859 --> 00:22:53.579 and cut down 00:22:53.579 --> 00:22:54.059 from there 00:22:54.059 --> 00:22:54.579 a branch 00:22:54.579 --> 00:22:55.420 with a single cluster 00:22:55.420 --> 00:22:55.839 of grapes 00:22:55.839 --> 00:22:56.759 and they carried it 00:22:56.759 --> 00:22:57.180 on a pole 00:22:57.180 --> 00:22:58.039 between two of them. 00:22:58.700 --> 00:22:59.400 They also brought 00:22:59.400 --> 00:23:00.139 some pomegranates 00:23:00.139 --> 00:23:00.680 and figs. 00:23:01.160 --> 00:23:01.940 That place was called 00:23:01.940 --> 00:23:02.779 the valley of Eshkol 00:23:02.779 --> 00:23:04.220 because of the cluster 00:23:04.220 --> 00:23:04.980 that the people 00:23:04.980 --> 00:23:05.319 of Israel 00:23:05.319 --> 00:23:06.079 cut down from there. 00:23:07.079 --> 00:23:07.960 At the end 00:23:07.960 --> 00:23:08.720 of forty days 00:23:08.720 --> 00:23:09.240 they returned 00:23:09.240 --> 00:23:09.960 from spying out 00:23:09.960 --> 00:23:10.379 the land 00:23:10.380 --> 00:23:11.500 and they came 00:23:11.500 --> 00:23:11.960 to Moses 00:23:11.960 --> 00:23:12.660 and Aaron 00:23:12.660 --> 00:23:13.200 and to all 00:23:13.200 --> 00:23:13.700 the congregation 00:23:13.700 --> 00:23:14.380 of the people 00:23:14.380 --> 00:23:14.820 of Israel 00:23:14.820 --> 00:23:15.380 in the wilderness 00:23:15.380 --> 00:23:16.020 of Paran 00:23:16.020 --> 00:23:16.920 at Kadesh. 00:23:17.800 --> 00:23:18.840 They brought back 00:23:18.840 --> 00:23:19.560 word to them 00:23:19.560 --> 00:23:20.360 and to all 00:23:20.360 --> 00:23:20.960 the congregation 00:23:20.960 --> 00:23:21.560 and showed them 00:23:21.560 --> 00:23:22.420 the fruit of the land. 00:23:23.420 --> 00:23:24.260 They said to them, 00:23:24.520 --> 00:23:25.660 We came to the land 00:23:25.660 --> 00:23:26.580 to which you sent us. 00:23:26.740 --> 00:23:27.820 It flows with milk 00:23:27.820 --> 00:23:28.140 and honey 00:23:28.140 --> 00:23:28.980 and this is the fruit. 00:23:29.940 --> 00:23:30.220 However, 00:23:30.380 --> 00:23:31.260 the people who dwell 00:23:31.260 --> 00:23:31.680 in the land 00:23:31.680 --> 00:23:32.240 are strong 00:23:32.240 --> 00:23:33.620 and the cities 00:23:33.620 --> 00:23:34.400 are fortified 00:23:34.400 --> 00:23:35.480 and very large 00:23:35.480 --> 00:23:36.360 and besides, 00:23:36.500 --> 00:23:37.300 we saw the descendants 00:23:37.300 --> 00:23:38.060 of Anak there. 00:23:38.700 --> 00:23:39.440 The Amalekites 00:23:39.440 --> 00:23:40.360 dwell in the land 00:23:40.359 --> 00:23:40.959 of the Negev. 00:23:41.240 --> 00:23:41.899 The Hittites, 00:23:42.059 --> 00:23:42.679 the Jebusites 00:23:42.679 --> 00:23:43.379 and the Amorites 00:23:43.379 --> 00:23:44.259 dwell in the hill country 00:23:44.259 --> 00:23:45.159 and the Canaanites 00:23:45.159 --> 00:23:46.339 dwell by the sea 00:23:46.339 --> 00:23:47.240 and along the Jordan. 00:23:48.919 --> 00:23:50.139 But Caleb quieted 00:23:50.139 --> 00:23:50.479 the people 00:23:50.479 --> 00:23:51.119 before Moses 00:23:51.119 --> 00:23:51.559 and said, 00:23:52.039 --> 00:23:53.240 Let us go up 00:23:53.240 --> 00:23:53.659 at once 00:23:53.659 --> 00:23:54.379 and occupy it 00:23:54.379 --> 00:23:55.359 for we are well able 00:23:55.359 --> 00:23:56.119 to overcome it. 00:23:57.539 --> 00:23:58.240 Then the men 00:23:58.240 --> 00:23:58.799 who had gone up 00:23:58.799 --> 00:23:59.339 with him said, 00:23:59.799 --> 00:24:00.559 We are not able 00:24:00.559 --> 00:24:01.079 to go up 00:24:01.079 --> 00:24:01.979 against the people 00:24:01.979 --> 00:24:03.079 for they are stronger 00:24:03.079 --> 00:24:03.659 than we are. 00:24:04.559 --> 00:24:05.379 So they brought 00:24:05.379 --> 00:24:05.919 to the people 00:24:05.919 --> 00:24:06.339 of Israel 00:24:06.339 --> 00:24:07.199 a bad report 00:24:07.199 --> 00:24:07.759 of the land 00:24:07.759 --> 00:24:08.859 that they had spied out 00:24:08.859 --> 00:24:09.240 saying, 00:24:09.240 --> 00:24:10.339 The land 00:24:10.339 --> 00:24:11.160 through which 00:24:11.160 --> 00:24:11.559 we have gone 00:24:11.559 --> 00:24:12.220 to spy it out 00:24:12.220 --> 00:24:12.859 is a land 00:24:12.859 --> 00:24:13.519 that devours 00:24:13.519 --> 00:24:14.140 its inhabitants 00:24:14.140 --> 00:24:15.380 and all the people 00:24:15.380 --> 00:24:16.359 that we saw in it 00:24:16.359 --> 00:24:17.339 are of great height 00:24:17.339 --> 00:24:19.000 and there we saw 00:24:19.000 --> 00:24:19.559 the Nephilim, 00:24:19.720 --> 00:24:20.400 the sons of Amak 00:24:20.400 --> 00:24:21.120 who come from 00:24:21.120 --> 00:24:21.579 the Nephilim 00:24:21.579 --> 00:24:22.400 and we seemed 00:24:22.400 --> 00:24:23.200 to ourselves 00:24:23.200 --> 00:24:24.579 like grass humpers 00:24:24.579 --> 00:24:26.339 and so we seemed 00:24:26.339 --> 00:24:26.819 to them. 00:24:28.359 --> 00:24:29.659 Then all the congregation 00:24:29.659 --> 00:24:31.059 raised a loud cry 00:24:31.059 --> 00:24:31.579 and the people 00:24:31.579 --> 00:24:32.480 wept that night 00:24:32.480 --> 00:24:33.319 and all the people 00:24:33.319 --> 00:24:33.720 of Israel 00:24:33.720 --> 00:24:34.480 grumbled against 00:24:34.480 --> 00:24:35.339 Moses and Aaron. 00:24:35.839 --> 00:24:36.720 The whole congregation 00:24:36.720 --> 00:24:37.220 said to them, 00:24:37.460 --> 00:24:38.819 Would that we had died 00:24:38.819 --> 00:24:39.720 in the land of Egypt 00:24:39.720 --> 00:24:40.679 or that we had died 00:24:40.679 --> 00:24:41.339 in this wilderness. 00:24:41.779 --> 00:24:42.339 Why is the Lord 00:24:42.339 --> 00:24:43.339 bringing us into this land 00:24:43.339 --> 00:24:44.259 to fall by the sword? 00:24:44.519 --> 00:24:45.179 Our wives 00:24:45.179 --> 00:24:45.879 and our little ones 00:24:45.879 --> 00:24:46.679 will become a prey. 00:24:47.519 --> 00:24:48.299 Would it not be better 00:24:48.299 --> 00:24:49.139 for us to go back 00:24:49.139 --> 00:24:49.740 to Egypt? 00:24:50.319 --> 00:24:50.960 And they said 00:24:50.960 --> 00:24:51.480 to one another, 00:24:51.679 --> 00:24:52.799 Let us choose a leader 00:24:52.799 --> 00:24:54.000 and go back to Egypt. 00:24:55.579 --> 00:24:56.839 Then Moses and Aaron 00:24:56.839 --> 00:24:58.059 fell on their faces 00:24:58.059 --> 00:24:59.339 before all the assembly 00:24:59.339 --> 00:25:00.159 of the congregation 00:25:00.159 --> 00:25:01.079 of the people of Israel. 00:25:01.639 --> 00:25:02.259 And Joshua, 00:25:02.379 --> 00:25:03.000 the son of Nun, 00:25:03.220 --> 00:25:03.759 and Caleb, 00:25:03.859 --> 00:25:04.639 the son of Jephunneh, 00:25:05.220 --> 00:25:06.159 who were among those 00:25:06.159 --> 00:25:07.059 who had spied out the land, 00:25:07.319 --> 00:25:08.259 tore their clothes 00:25:08.259 --> 00:25:09.039 and said to all 00:25:09.039 --> 00:25:09.700 the congregation 00:25:09.700 --> 00:25:10.659 of the people of Israel, 00:25:10.839 --> 00:25:12.319 The land which we passed 00:25:12.319 --> 00:25:13.259 through to spy it out 00:25:13.259 --> 00:25:15.279 is an exceedingly good land. 00:25:15.799 --> 00:25:17.019 If the Lord delights in us, 00:25:17.159 --> 00:25:18.019 he will bring us 00:25:18.019 --> 00:25:18.619 into this land 00:25:18.619 --> 00:25:19.379 and give it to us. 00:25:19.539 --> 00:25:20.559 A land that flows 00:25:20.559 --> 00:25:21.440 with milk and honey. 00:25:21.440 --> 00:25:23.539 Only do not rebel 00:25:23.539 --> 00:25:24.299 against the Lord 00:25:24.299 --> 00:25:25.700 and do not fear 00:25:25.700 --> 00:25:26.640 the people of the land 00:25:26.640 --> 00:25:28.000 for they are bread for us. 00:25:28.320 --> 00:25:28.980 Their protection 00:25:28.980 --> 00:25:29.940 is removed from them 00:25:29.940 --> 00:25:31.039 and the Lord is with us. 00:25:31.259 --> 00:25:32.120 Do not fear them. 00:25:33.100 --> 00:25:34.200 Then all the congregation 00:25:34.200 --> 00:25:35.120 said to stone them 00:25:35.120 --> 00:25:35.900 with stones. 00:25:37.160 --> 00:25:38.420 But the glory of the Lord 00:25:38.420 --> 00:25:39.380 appeared at the tent 00:25:39.380 --> 00:25:39.740 of meeting 00:25:39.740 --> 00:25:40.900 to all the people of Israel. 00:25:41.960 --> 00:25:43.320 And the Lord said to Moses, 00:25:43.559 --> 00:25:44.799 How long will this people 00:25:44.799 --> 00:25:45.559 despise me? 00:25:46.880 --> 00:25:47.920 And how long will they 00:25:47.920 --> 00:25:48.680 not believe in me 00:25:48.680 --> 00:25:50.240 despite all of the signs 00:25:50.240 --> 00:25:51.500 that I have done among them? 00:25:52.000 --> 00:25:53.000 I will strike them 00:25:53.000 --> 00:25:53.920 with the pestilence 00:25:53.920 --> 00:25:54.880 and disinherit them 00:25:54.880 --> 00:25:56.299 and I will make of you 00:25:56.299 --> 00:25:57.160 a nation greater 00:25:57.160 --> 00:25:58.700 and mightier than they. 00:25:59.839 --> 00:26:01.480 But Moses said to the Lord, 00:26:01.700 --> 00:26:02.720 Then the Egyptians 00:26:02.720 --> 00:26:03.500 will hear of it. 00:26:03.980 --> 00:26:04.880 For you brought up 00:26:04.880 --> 00:26:05.779 this people in your might 00:26:05.779 --> 00:26:06.460 from among them. 00:26:06.799 --> 00:26:07.579 And they will tell 00:26:07.579 --> 00:26:08.140 the inhabitants 00:26:08.140 --> 00:26:08.779 of this land, 00:26:09.299 --> 00:26:09.839 They have heard 00:26:09.839 --> 00:26:11.500 that you, O Lord, 00:26:12.059 --> 00:26:14.000 are in the midst 00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:14.579 of this people. 00:26:14.819 --> 00:26:15.440 For you, O Lord, 00:26:15.480 --> 00:26:16.460 are seen face to face 00:26:16.460 --> 00:26:16.960 and your cloud 00:26:16.960 --> 00:26:17.720 stands over them 00:26:17.720 --> 00:26:18.640 and you go out before them 00:26:18.640 --> 00:26:19.960 in a pillar of cloud by day 00:26:19.960 --> 00:26:21.540 and a pillar of fire by night. 00:26:21.880 --> 00:26:23.040 Now if you kill this people 00:26:23.040 --> 00:26:23.780 as one man, 00:26:24.160 --> 00:26:24.880 then the nations 00:26:24.880 --> 00:26:26.520 who have heard your fame 00:26:26.520 --> 00:26:27.380 will say it is because 00:26:27.380 --> 00:26:28.220 the Lord was not able 00:26:28.220 --> 00:26:28.960 to bring this people 00:26:28.960 --> 00:26:29.600 into the land 00:26:29.600 --> 00:26:30.920 that he swore to give them, 00:26:31.240 --> 00:26:32.020 that he has killed them 00:26:32.020 --> 00:26:32.540 in the wilderness. 00:26:33.220 --> 00:26:34.240 And now please let 00:26:34.240 --> 00:26:35.140 the power of the Lord 00:26:35.140 --> 00:26:36.620 be great as you have promised, 00:26:36.780 --> 00:26:37.380 saying the Lord 00:26:37.380 --> 00:26:38.600 is slow to anger 00:26:38.600 --> 00:26:39.440 and abounding 00:26:39.440 --> 00:26:40.380 in steadfast love, 00:26:40.660 --> 00:26:41.640 forgiving iniquity 00:26:41.640 --> 00:26:42.400 and transgression, 00:26:42.800 --> 00:26:43.860 but he will by no means 00:26:43.860 --> 00:26:44.780 clear the guilty, 00:26:45.200 --> 00:26:46.120 visiting the iniquity 00:26:46.120 --> 00:26:46.780 of the fathers 00:26:46.779 --> 00:26:47.379 on the children 00:26:47.379 --> 00:26:48.000 to the third 00:26:48.000 --> 00:26:48.940 and the fourth generation. 00:26:49.440 --> 00:26:50.299 Please pardon 00:26:50.299 --> 00:26:50.980 the iniquity 00:26:50.980 --> 00:26:51.599 of this people 00:26:51.599 --> 00:26:52.599 according to the greatness 00:26:52.599 --> 00:26:53.639 of your steadfast love, 00:26:53.899 --> 00:26:54.980 just as you have forgiven 00:26:54.980 --> 00:26:55.519 this people 00:26:55.519 --> 00:26:56.839 from Egypt until now. 00:26:57.940 --> 00:26:58.980 Then the Lord said, 00:26:59.079 --> 00:27:00.039 I have pardoned 00:27:00.039 --> 00:27:01.019 according to your word, 00:27:01.359 --> 00:27:02.700 but truly as I live 00:27:02.700 --> 00:27:03.960 and as all the earth 00:27:03.960 --> 00:27:04.500 shall be filled 00:27:04.500 --> 00:27:05.440 with the glory of the Lord, 00:27:05.680 --> 00:27:06.579 none of the men 00:27:06.579 --> 00:27:07.519 who have seen my glory 00:27:07.519 --> 00:27:08.200 and my signs 00:27:08.200 --> 00:27:09.059 that I did in Egypt 00:27:09.059 --> 00:27:09.819 and in the wilderness 00:27:09.819 --> 00:27:10.920 and yet have put me 00:27:10.920 --> 00:27:11.440 to the test 00:27:11.440 --> 00:27:12.539 these ten times 00:27:12.539 --> 00:27:13.899 and have not obeyed my voice 00:27:13.899 --> 00:27:15.099 shall see the land 00:27:15.099 --> 00:27:15.599 that I swore 00:27:15.599 --> 00:27:16.480 to give to their fathers. 00:27:16.779 --> 00:27:17.879 And none of those 00:27:17.879 --> 00:27:18.639 who despise me 00:27:18.639 --> 00:27:19.299 shall see it. 00:27:20.099 --> 00:27:21.319 But my servant Caleb, 00:27:21.460 --> 00:27:22.160 because he has 00:27:22.160 --> 00:27:22.839 a different spirit 00:27:22.839 --> 00:27:23.779 and has followed me fully, 00:27:23.839 --> 00:27:25.000 I will bring into the land 00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:26.240 into which he went 00:27:26.240 --> 00:27:27.160 and his descendants 00:27:27.160 --> 00:27:27.879 shall possess it. 00:27:29.039 --> 00:27:30.399 Now, since the Amalekites 00:27:30.399 --> 00:27:31.000 and the Canaanites 00:27:31.000 --> 00:27:31.680 dwell in the valleys, 00:27:32.240 --> 00:27:32.839 turn tomorrow 00:27:32.839 --> 00:27:33.460 and set out 00:27:33.460 --> 00:27:34.079 for the wilderness 00:27:34.079 --> 00:27:35.099 by way of the Red Sea. 00:27:37.420 --> 00:27:39.839 And then God repeats 00:27:39.839 --> 00:27:40.639 in verse 28, 00:27:40.879 --> 00:27:41.700 As I live, 00:27:41.779 --> 00:27:42.500 declares the Lord, 00:27:42.960 --> 00:27:43.740 what you have said 00:27:43.740 --> 00:27:44.379 in my hearing 00:27:44.379 --> 00:27:45.379 I will do to you. 00:27:46.000 --> 00:27:46.840 Your dead bodies 00:27:46.840 --> 00:27:47.440 shall fall 00:27:47.440 --> 00:27:48.060 in this wilderness 00:27:48.060 --> 00:27:50.060 and of all your number 00:27:50.060 --> 00:27:50.840 listed in the census 00:27:50.840 --> 00:27:51.660 from 20 years old 00:27:51.660 --> 00:27:51.980 and upward 00:27:51.980 --> 00:27:52.480 who have grumbled 00:27:52.480 --> 00:27:52.980 against me, 00:27:53.040 --> 00:27:53.940 not one shall come 00:27:53.940 --> 00:27:54.460 into the land 00:27:54.460 --> 00:27:55.640 where I swore 00:27:55.640 --> 00:27:57.140 that I would 00:27:57.140 --> 00:27:57.720 make you dwell. 00:27:57.720 --> 00:28:00.360 So, 00:28:00.360 --> 00:28:05.420 the spies go into the land, 00:28:06.220 --> 00:28:08.140 they're told to be 00:28:08.140 --> 00:28:08.839 of good courage, 00:28:09.140 --> 00:28:10.079 but they come back 00:28:10.079 --> 00:28:10.480 in fear. 00:28:12.960 --> 00:28:14.360 They bring a bad report 00:28:14.360 --> 00:28:16.640 and their fear 00:28:16.640 --> 00:28:17.259 goes viral 00:28:17.259 --> 00:28:20.579 and the people 00:28:20.579 --> 00:28:22.640 want to even stone them, 00:28:23.420 --> 00:28:25.559 Caleb and Joshua, 00:28:25.559 --> 00:28:26.460 with stones 00:28:26.460 --> 00:28:27.980 for having faith 00:28:27.980 --> 00:28:28.460 in God. 00:28:30.919 --> 00:28:34.059 And God ends up saying, 00:28:35.139 --> 00:28:37.539 you ask to die 00:28:37.539 --> 00:28:37.960 in the wilderness 00:28:37.960 --> 00:28:38.639 and that's what's 00:28:38.639 --> 00:28:39.059 going to happen. 00:28:40.179 --> 00:28:44.819 It is a chilling narrative. 00:28:44.819 --> 00:28:49.200 And it characterizes 00:28:49.200 --> 00:28:50.679 really Israel's 00:28:50.679 --> 00:28:51.220 entire time 00:28:51.220 --> 00:28:51.599 in the wilderness. 00:28:51.799 --> 00:28:52.399 God saves them 00:28:52.399 --> 00:28:52.859 from Egypt, 00:28:53.279 --> 00:28:54.339 makes this covenant 00:28:54.339 --> 00:28:55.200 relationship with them 00:28:55.200 --> 00:28:56.259 and yet they fail 00:28:56.259 --> 00:28:57.220 repeatedly again 00:28:57.220 --> 00:28:57.659 and again 00:28:57.659 --> 00:28:58.059 and again 00:28:58.059 --> 00:29:00.259 and they hear, 00:29:00.539 --> 00:29:01.339 even though they're 00:29:01.339 --> 00:29:01.939 on the cusp 00:29:01.939 --> 00:29:03.059 of the land of promise, 00:29:03.439 --> 00:29:03.939 the fulfillment 00:29:03.939 --> 00:29:04.839 of all these promises 00:29:04.839 --> 00:29:05.299 to Abraham 00:29:05.299 --> 00:29:06.220 400 years earlier, 00:29:06.359 --> 00:29:06.779 even so, 00:29:06.899 --> 00:29:08.119 they refuse to go in 00:29:08.119 --> 00:29:09.359 out of fear, 00:29:09.439 --> 00:29:09.659 really. 00:29:09.660 --> 00:29:14.240 And, 00:29:14.480 --> 00:29:16.060 like I've been asking, 00:29:17.700 --> 00:29:18.740 I want to ask 00:29:18.740 --> 00:29:19.240 of this text, 00:29:19.360 --> 00:29:20.700 what does it show us 00:29:20.700 --> 00:29:21.779 about our life 00:29:21.779 --> 00:29:22.380 of faith now? 00:29:24.820 --> 00:29:26.019 I think it's 00:29:26.019 --> 00:29:27.060 at least a few things. 00:29:29.140 --> 00:29:29.860 One is this, 00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:31.019 be of good courage. 00:29:34.060 --> 00:29:34.860 That's what Moses 00:29:34.860 --> 00:29:36.240 tells these spies 00:29:36.240 --> 00:29:37.080 right towards 00:29:37.080 --> 00:29:37.680 the very beginning. 00:29:37.680 --> 00:29:39.840 Are we making 00:29:39.840 --> 00:29:40.500 our decisions 00:29:40.500 --> 00:29:41.920 out of fear 00:29:41.920 --> 00:29:44.340 or based on faith 00:29:44.340 --> 00:29:45.220 in what God 00:29:45.220 --> 00:29:46.000 has promised us 00:29:46.000 --> 00:29:47.320 in scripture? 00:29:49.160 --> 00:29:50.320 Israel's disobedience 00:29:50.320 --> 00:29:50.660 here, 00:29:50.880 --> 00:29:51.860 which excludes them 00:29:51.860 --> 00:29:52.500 from the land, 00:29:53.400 --> 00:29:53.860 excludes that 00:29:53.860 --> 00:29:54.539 entire generation, 00:29:55.080 --> 00:29:55.759 their disobedience 00:29:55.759 --> 00:29:56.940 emerges from fear. 00:29:59.700 --> 00:30:00.660 So I think it's good 00:30:00.660 --> 00:30:01.700 for us to ask ourselves 00:30:01.700 --> 00:30:03.779 on occasion, 00:30:04.100 --> 00:30:06.539 what are you afraid 00:30:06.539 --> 00:30:07.120 of in life? 00:30:07.680 --> 00:30:08.120 Um, 00:30:08.440 --> 00:30:10.840 and I don't mean 00:30:10.840 --> 00:30:11.680 like spiders 00:30:11.680 --> 00:30:12.420 or snakes, 00:30:12.660 --> 00:30:12.900 you know, 00:30:13.180 --> 00:30:13.880 uh, 00:30:14.000 --> 00:30:14.680 or, 00:30:14.880 --> 00:30:15.500 uh, 00:30:15.500 --> 00:30:16.820 your closet 00:30:16.820 --> 00:30:17.460 when you leave it 00:30:17.460 --> 00:30:18.480 open and you're 00:30:18.480 --> 00:30:19.259 in bed and the lights 00:30:19.259 --> 00:30:19.519 are off. 00:30:19.600 --> 00:30:19.720 That, 00:30:19.820 --> 00:30:20.279 that's something 00:30:20.279 --> 00:30:20.600 for me. 00:30:20.840 --> 00:30:21.680 I don't mean that. 00:30:22.220 --> 00:30:22.660 Um, 00:30:23.220 --> 00:30:24.140 I, 00:30:24.140 --> 00:30:24.720 I mean, 00:30:24.799 --> 00:30:25.440 I mean the big 00:30:25.440 --> 00:30:25.820 things. 00:30:26.500 --> 00:30:26.940 Uh, 00:30:27.740 --> 00:30:28.880 afraid of being 00:30:28.880 --> 00:30:29.160 alone. 00:30:29.779 --> 00:30:30.259 Um, 00:30:30.600 --> 00:30:31.519 and yet, 00:30:31.920 --> 00:30:32.840 Jesus has promised 00:30:32.840 --> 00:30:33.460 to be with you 00:30:33.460 --> 00:30:33.940 to the end 00:30:33.940 --> 00:30:34.360 of the age. 00:30:34.359 --> 00:30:35.919 church and, 00:30:35.919 --> 00:30:36.919 and he's given 00:30:36.919 --> 00:30:38.139 you a family 00:30:38.139 --> 00:30:38.439 and, 00:30:38.439 --> 00:30:39.199 and brothers 00:30:39.199 --> 00:30:39.740 and sisters 00:30:39.740 --> 00:30:40.459 in, 00:30:40.519 --> 00:30:41.059 in the church. 00:30:41.339 --> 00:30:41.979 All, 00:30:41.979 --> 00:30:42.559 all of us 00:30:42.559 --> 00:30:43.139 adopted it. 00:30:43.359 --> 00:30:44.039 Uh, 00:30:44.039 --> 00:30:44.319 uh, 00:30:44.319 --> 00:30:50.460 financial insecurity. 00:30:51.159 --> 00:30:51.559 Um, 00:30:51.839 --> 00:30:52.379 you know, 00:30:52.460 --> 00:30:52.639 big, 00:30:52.859 --> 00:30:53.599 the big things, 00:30:53.819 --> 00:30:54.220 you know, 00:30:54.279 --> 00:30:54.859 um, 00:30:55.259 --> 00:30:55.839 the big things 00:30:55.839 --> 00:30:56.740 that shape how we, 00:30:57.019 --> 00:30:58.279 how we live our 00:30:58.279 --> 00:30:58.579 lives. 00:30:58.939 --> 00:30:59.339 Uh, 00:30:59.819 --> 00:31:00.339 what, 00:31:00.339 --> 00:31:00.579 what, 00:31:00.659 --> 00:31:01.319 what are we afraid 00:31:01.319 --> 00:31:01.559 of? 00:31:01.559 --> 00:31:02.639 And, 00:31:02.679 --> 00:31:03.419 and how might 00:31:03.419 --> 00:31:04.019 these fears 00:31:04.019 --> 00:31:05.720 lead in the same 00:31:05.720 --> 00:31:07.240 way to rebellion 00:31:07.240 --> 00:31:07.859 against God 00:31:07.859 --> 00:31:08.299 just as, 00:31:08.480 --> 00:31:09.159 just as it leads 00:31:09.159 --> 00:31:09.980 Israel to rebellion 00:31:09.980 --> 00:31:10.779 against God here. 00:31:11.659 --> 00:31:12.639 Israel was afraid 00:31:12.639 --> 00:31:13.319 that if they went 00:31:13.319 --> 00:31:13.980 into this land, 00:31:14.079 --> 00:31:15.099 these tremendous, 00:31:15.500 --> 00:31:16.019 uh, 00:31:16.220 --> 00:31:17.700 tremendously strong 00:31:17.700 --> 00:31:18.759 people in the land 00:31:18.759 --> 00:31:19.359 would, 00:31:19.440 --> 00:31:19.980 uh, 00:31:20.119 --> 00:31:20.960 would destroy them. 00:31:21.700 --> 00:31:22.440 And yet, 00:31:23.259 --> 00:31:23.700 they, 00:31:23.839 --> 00:31:24.599 they had seen 00:31:24.599 --> 00:31:26.000 God taking care 00:31:26.000 --> 00:31:26.279 of them, 00:31:27.039 --> 00:31:27.619 bringing them out 00:31:27.619 --> 00:31:28.039 of Egypt, 00:31:28.339 --> 00:31:28.960 and God had promised 00:31:28.960 --> 00:31:29.639 to give them the land. 00:31:29.779 --> 00:31:29.960 So, 00:31:30.799 --> 00:31:31.200 Caleb says, 00:31:31.200 --> 00:31:31.660 of course, 00:31:31.960 --> 00:31:32.180 if, 00:31:32.259 --> 00:31:32.620 if we, 00:31:32.720 --> 00:31:33.360 if we don't rebel 00:31:33.360 --> 00:31:34.039 against God, 00:31:34.140 --> 00:31:35.180 we'll certainly 00:31:35.180 --> 00:31:35.920 be able to go in. 00:31:36.840 --> 00:31:37.180 Um, 00:31:37.880 --> 00:31:40.120 as a side note, 00:31:40.240 --> 00:31:41.039 one might wonder, 00:31:41.779 --> 00:31:42.140 you know, 00:31:42.240 --> 00:31:43.660 driving them out 00:31:43.660 --> 00:31:44.059 of the land, 00:31:44.120 --> 00:31:44.900 this is very violent. 00:31:45.620 --> 00:31:45.940 Uh, 00:31:46.140 --> 00:31:46.420 well, 00:31:46.660 --> 00:31:47.519 Nick will be, 00:31:47.559 --> 00:31:48.400 uh, 00:31:48.400 --> 00:31:48.940 telling us all 00:31:48.940 --> 00:31:49.700 about that this morning. 00:31:50.259 --> 00:31:50.620 Uh, 00:31:50.680 --> 00:31:51.559 uh, 00:31:53.700 --> 00:31:54.460 and if this is 00:31:54.460 --> 00:31:55.100 something that troubles you, 00:31:55.160 --> 00:31:55.840 come back next week 00:31:55.840 --> 00:31:56.279 because we're talking 00:31:56.279 --> 00:31:57.039 about the book of Joshua. 00:31:57.660 --> 00:31:57.980 Um, 00:31:57.980 --> 00:32:02.539 we seemed to ourselves 00:32:02.539 --> 00:32:03.620 like grasshoppers, 00:32:03.740 --> 00:32:04.720 and so we seemed 00:32:04.720 --> 00:32:05.220 to them, 00:32:05.740 --> 00:32:06.140 um, 00:32:06.259 --> 00:32:07.019 the spies say. 00:32:08.200 --> 00:32:08.759 Uh, 00:32:09.039 --> 00:32:10.700 I, 00:32:10.799 --> 00:32:11.779 I think this shows us 00:32:11.779 --> 00:32:12.200 we need to, 00:32:12.319 --> 00:32:13.480 we need to understand 00:32:13.480 --> 00:32:14.099 ourselves 00:32:14.099 --> 00:32:15.160 and our circumstances 00:32:15.160 --> 00:32:18.259 not based on, 00:32:18.259 --> 00:32:18.640 on, 00:32:18.740 --> 00:32:19.279 uh, 00:32:19.720 --> 00:32:20.920 we need to interpret 00:32:20.920 --> 00:32:21.940 ourselves and our circumstances 00:32:21.940 --> 00:32:22.740 based on 00:32:22.740 --> 00:32:23.559 who God 00:32:23.559 --> 00:32:24.799 has revealed himself 00:32:24.799 --> 00:32:25.160 to be 00:32:25.160 --> 00:32:25.920 and what he says 00:32:25.920 --> 00:32:26.420 about us. 00:32:26.980 --> 00:32:27.460 Uh, 00:32:27.500 --> 00:32:28.100 and not the other 00:32:28.100 --> 00:32:28.519 way around. 00:32:29.400 --> 00:32:29.800 Um, 00:32:29.980 --> 00:32:30.560 here, 00:32:31.320 --> 00:32:31.960 Israel looks at 00:32:31.960 --> 00:32:32.700 their circumstances 00:32:32.700 --> 00:32:35.640 and says, 00:32:35.720 --> 00:32:36.920 this is such a scary, 00:32:37.060 --> 00:32:37.940 disastrous situation. 00:32:38.120 --> 00:32:39.420 We feel like grasshoppers. 00:32:39.680 --> 00:32:40.120 Therefore, 00:32:40.480 --> 00:32:40.920 uh, 00:32:41.300 --> 00:32:41.720 then, 00:32:41.880 --> 00:32:42.080 you know, 00:32:42.120 --> 00:32:42.900 they project that 00:32:42.900 --> 00:32:43.320 onto, 00:32:43.320 --> 00:32:44.100 um, 00:32:44.100 --> 00:32:44.980 the people in the land. 00:32:45.400 --> 00:32:45.940 If you look at the 00:32:45.940 --> 00:32:46.620 beginning of Joshua, 00:32:46.740 --> 00:32:47.019 actually, 00:32:47.100 --> 00:32:47.580 it's the other way, 00:32:47.640 --> 00:32:48.440 it's the other way around. 00:32:48.600 --> 00:32:48.840 Uh, 00:32:48.840 --> 00:32:49.720 at the beginning of Joshua, 00:32:49.880 --> 00:32:51.340 I put the Joshua 2.11. 00:32:51.700 --> 00:32:51.960 Uh, 00:32:51.960 --> 00:32:52.660 the people in the land 00:32:52.660 --> 00:32:53.560 are actually really scared 00:32:53.560 --> 00:32:53.980 of Israel. 00:32:54.500 --> 00:32:54.820 Uh, 00:32:55.160 --> 00:32:55.460 it's, 00:32:55.460 --> 00:32:56.000 it's not that 00:32:56.000 --> 00:32:57.400 they seem like grasshoppers. 00:32:57.759 --> 00:32:58.120 Um, 00:32:58.259 --> 00:32:59.340 it's that they were actually 00:32:59.340 --> 00:33:00.040 really scared of them. 00:33:00.540 --> 00:33:00.840 Uh, 00:33:01.600 --> 00:33:03.920 yeah, 00:33:03.980 --> 00:33:04.259 I, 00:33:04.259 --> 00:33:04.660 I think, 00:33:05.800 --> 00:33:06.300 um, 00:33:06.620 --> 00:33:08.320 you know, 00:33:08.320 --> 00:33:08.800 it's only, 00:33:08.880 --> 00:33:09.860 it's only Joshua and Caleb 00:33:09.860 --> 00:33:10.600 who understood their, 00:33:10.660 --> 00:33:11.279 their situation 00:33:11.279 --> 00:33:12.140 and who they are 00:33:12.140 --> 00:33:12.460 in, 00:33:12.560 --> 00:33:13.160 in the Lord, 00:33:13.540 --> 00:33:14.000 uh, 00:33:14.000 --> 00:33:14.360 correctly. 00:33:15.060 --> 00:33:15.500 Um, 00:33:16.279 --> 00:33:19.279 and so I think this, 00:33:19.400 --> 00:33:20.860 this text would have us 00:33:20.860 --> 00:33:21.440 ask ourselves, 00:33:21.440 --> 00:33:22.080 uh, 00:33:22.500 --> 00:33:22.820 is, 00:33:22.940 --> 00:33:24.019 is our sense of self 00:33:24.019 --> 00:33:24.720 in our, 00:33:24.720 --> 00:33:26.079 in our sense of our circumstances, 00:33:26.319 --> 00:33:27.000 uh, 00:33:27.200 --> 00:33:28.900 based on what God says about us? 00:33:29.779 --> 00:33:31.579 Or is it overly inflated 00:33:31.579 --> 00:33:32.819 or overly deflated 00:33:32.819 --> 00:33:34.139 because of, 00:33:34.139 --> 00:33:34.480 uh, 00:33:34.519 --> 00:33:35.819 a fixation on self, 00:33:35.900 --> 00:33:37.660 a kind of prideful fixation 00:33:37.660 --> 00:33:38.319 on ourselves 00:33:38.319 --> 00:33:39.279 and what we're thinking 00:33:39.279 --> 00:33:39.980 and feeling? 00:33:40.920 --> 00:33:41.220 Uh, 00:33:41.720 --> 00:33:43.420 God, 00:33:44.079 --> 00:33:44.680 you know, 00:33:44.700 --> 00:33:44.859 it, 00:33:45.400 --> 00:33:46.500 God made you 00:33:46.500 --> 00:33:47.799 in his very own image, 00:33:48.000 --> 00:33:48.319 uh, 00:33:48.319 --> 00:33:48.960 as we were talking about 00:33:48.960 --> 00:33:49.700 a few weeks ago. 00:33:49.700 --> 00:33:50.420 Uh, 00:33:51.319 --> 00:33:53.000 you are of inestimable value. 00:33:53.440 --> 00:33:54.759 If you belong to Jesus, 00:33:55.120 --> 00:33:55.319 you, 00:33:55.420 --> 00:33:56.420 you are a, 00:33:56.420 --> 00:33:56.720 a, 00:33:56.720 --> 00:33:58.100 a brother or sister 00:33:58.100 --> 00:34:00.500 of the very son of God, 00:34:00.500 --> 00:34:01.080 right? 00:34:01.480 --> 00:34:01.819 Uh, 00:34:02.900 --> 00:34:04.539 there, 00:34:04.539 --> 00:34:04.940 there's, 00:34:05.180 --> 00:34:08.840 having a sense of self 00:34:08.840 --> 00:34:09.320 that is like, 00:34:09.539 --> 00:34:09.820 well, 00:34:10.179 --> 00:34:10.940 I am, 00:34:11.000 --> 00:34:12.380 I am worthless 00:34:12.380 --> 00:34:14.280 or I am nothing, 00:34:14.780 --> 00:34:15.380 uh, 00:34:15.539 --> 00:34:15.940 as, 00:34:16.099 --> 00:34:17.300 as so many of us 00:34:17.300 --> 00:34:18.500 sometimes fall into, 00:34:18.860 --> 00:34:19.260 uh, 00:34:19.280 --> 00:34:20.400 is not really grounded 00:34:20.400 --> 00:34:20.740 on, 00:34:20.840 --> 00:34:21.519 on the truth. 00:34:21.599 --> 00:34:22.140 It's not grounded 00:34:22.140 --> 00:34:23.700 on what God says about us. 00:34:24.980 --> 00:34:26.400 And if we have this sense of, 00:34:26.539 --> 00:34:26.720 I, 00:34:26.820 --> 00:34:27.200 I'm, 00:34:27.360 --> 00:34:28.079 I'm the man 00:34:28.079 --> 00:34:29.619 and I'm better than everyone 00:34:29.619 --> 00:34:30.180 around me, 00:34:30.460 --> 00:34:31.079 uh, 00:34:31.280 --> 00:34:31.519 well, 00:34:31.960 --> 00:34:32.380 no, 00:34:32.480 --> 00:34:32.980 you're a creature. 00:34:33.340 --> 00:34:33.619 Uh, 00:34:33.619 --> 00:34:34.160 you're not God. 00:34:34.519 --> 00:34:34.780 You're, 00:34:34.840 --> 00:34:35.340 you're a creature. 00:34:35.960 --> 00:34:36.360 Um, 00:34:36.559 --> 00:34:37.800 God made you. 00:34:38.160 --> 00:34:38.599 Uh, 00:34:39.160 --> 00:34:40.720 you came from the dust 00:34:40.720 --> 00:34:41.440 and from the dust 00:34:41.440 --> 00:34:42.099 into the dust 00:34:42.099 --> 00:34:42.599 you will return. 00:34:43.179 --> 00:34:43.440 Uh, 00:34:43.559 --> 00:34:44.440 so that's, 00:34:44.639 --> 00:34:45.579 that's what I mean. 00:34:45.639 --> 00:34:45.839 Are, 00:34:45.839 --> 00:34:46.299 are we, 00:34:46.380 --> 00:34:47.380 are we constructing our, 00:34:47.480 --> 00:34:48.699 are we understanding ourselves, 00:34:49.059 --> 00:34:49.679 um, 00:34:49.739 --> 00:34:50.639 in light of what God 00:34:50.639 --> 00:34:51.639 says about us 00:34:51.639 --> 00:34:52.000 or, 00:34:52.119 --> 00:34:52.440 or, 00:34:52.440 --> 00:34:53.059 uh, 00:34:53.920 --> 00:34:55.159 does it come just out of a, 00:34:55.539 --> 00:34:55.920 uh, 00:34:55.920 --> 00:34:57.460 a fixation on ourselves 00:34:57.460 --> 00:34:58.119 and our own feelings? 00:35:01.059 --> 00:35:01.500 Um, 00:35:02.259 --> 00:35:04.819 then perhaps the most chilling 00:35:04.819 --> 00:35:06.299 line in this entire 00:35:06.299 --> 00:35:07.460 bit that, 00:35:07.579 --> 00:35:08.019 that I, 00:35:08.139 --> 00:35:08.839 that I read here, 00:35:09.480 --> 00:35:10.519 God says to Israel, 00:35:10.679 --> 00:35:11.880 what you have said 00:35:11.880 --> 00:35:12.619 and my hearing 00:35:12.619 --> 00:35:13.800 I will do to you. 00:35:15.860 --> 00:35:16.260 Um, 00:35:16.960 --> 00:35:18.960 Israel cries out, 00:35:19.019 --> 00:35:20.260 if only we had died 00:35:20.260 --> 00:35:20.960 in Egypt 00:35:20.960 --> 00:35:22.059 or in this wilderness. 00:35:23.140 --> 00:35:23.680 And God says, 00:35:23.800 --> 00:35:24.079 okay, 00:35:24.500 --> 00:35:25.619 if that's what you want, 00:35:25.900 --> 00:35:27.140 this entire generation 00:35:27.140 --> 00:35:28.000 will die in this wilderness. 00:35:29.599 --> 00:35:30.039 Uh, 00:35:30.220 --> 00:35:31.539 ultimately, 00:35:32.119 --> 00:35:34.119 I think this teaches us 00:35:34.119 --> 00:35:34.960 that God gives us 00:35:34.960 --> 00:35:35.740 what we really want, 00:35:35.840 --> 00:35:36.400 either God 00:35:36.400 --> 00:35:36.960 or not God. 00:35:36.960 --> 00:35:38.599 Um, 00:35:38.840 --> 00:35:40.720 we see this dynamic 00:35:40.720 --> 00:35:41.960 in Romans chapter one. 00:35:42.380 --> 00:35:42.880 Uh, 00:35:42.880 --> 00:35:43.900 there's this refrain 00:35:43.900 --> 00:35:45.159 of God saying, 00:35:45.340 --> 00:35:45.800 uh, 00:35:46.480 --> 00:35:46.760 he, 00:35:46.880 --> 00:35:47.059 he, 00:35:48.059 --> 00:35:49.220 Romans one describes, 00:35:49.340 --> 00:35:49.860 um, 00:35:50.260 --> 00:35:51.199 the pagan world 00:35:51.199 --> 00:35:52.099 that worships idols. 00:35:52.639 --> 00:35:53.199 Uh, 00:35:53.420 --> 00:35:53.780 and, 00:35:53.880 --> 00:35:54.840 and there's this refrain 00:35:54.840 --> 00:35:56.440 of God gave them up. 00:35:57.019 --> 00:35:57.539 Um, 00:35:58.199 --> 00:35:59.579 they exchanged the glory 00:35:59.579 --> 00:36:00.519 of the immortal God 00:36:00.519 --> 00:36:01.280 for images 00:36:01.280 --> 00:36:02.559 resembling mortal man 00:36:02.559 --> 00:36:03.119 and birds 00:36:03.119 --> 00:36:03.679 and animals 00:36:03.679 --> 00:36:04.579 and creeping things. 00:36:04.579 --> 00:36:06.299 Therefore, 00:36:06.460 --> 00:36:07.219 God gave them up 00:36:07.219 --> 00:36:08.759 in the lust of their hearts 00:36:08.759 --> 00:36:09.199 to one period. 00:36:09.799 --> 00:36:10.119 Uh, 00:36:10.460 --> 00:36:16.179 God 00:36:16.179 --> 00:36:17.900 ultimately gives us 00:36:17.900 --> 00:36:18.679 what we really want, 00:36:18.739 --> 00:36:19.179 whether God 00:36:19.179 --> 00:36:19.739 or not God. 00:36:20.259 --> 00:36:20.539 Uh, 00:36:21.139 --> 00:36:21.699 C.S. Lewis 00:36:21.699 --> 00:36:22.219 has this, 00:36:22.279 --> 00:36:23.279 has this great quote. 00:36:23.539 --> 00:36:24.039 I actually, 00:36:24.159 --> 00:36:25.539 I put a citation for it, 00:36:25.539 --> 00:36:26.079 but I actually couldn't 00:36:26.079 --> 00:36:27.119 track it down yesterday. 00:36:27.739 --> 00:36:28.139 Um, 00:36:28.380 --> 00:36:28.759 so, 00:36:29.000 --> 00:36:29.559 forgive me. 00:36:30.139 --> 00:36:30.500 Uh, 00:36:31.099 --> 00:36:32.460 it's either from somewhere 00:36:32.460 --> 00:36:33.259 in the great divorce 00:36:33.259 --> 00:36:34.400 or from near Christianity 00:36:34.400 --> 00:36:35.260 and I couldn't find it, 00:36:35.380 --> 00:36:36.260 but it's great. 00:36:36.559 --> 00:36:36.920 Uh, 00:36:36.960 --> 00:36:38.280 there are only two kinds 00:36:38.280 --> 00:36:39.280 of people in the end. 00:36:39.840 --> 00:36:41.119 Those who say to God, 00:36:41.559 --> 00:36:42.320 thy will be done 00:36:42.320 --> 00:36:45.079 and those to whom God says 00:36:45.079 --> 00:36:45.639 in the end, 00:36:46.240 --> 00:36:47.880 thy will be done. 00:36:49.300 --> 00:36:49.700 Um, 00:36:50.079 --> 00:36:51.840 and so this week, 00:36:51.860 --> 00:36:52.880 will we choose 00:36:52.880 --> 00:36:53.860 to live for God 00:36:53.860 --> 00:36:54.740 or for lesser things? 00:36:55.059 --> 00:36:55.559 Uh, 00:36:55.559 --> 00:36:56.800 because God will say to us, 00:36:56.800 --> 00:36:57.539 uh, 00:36:57.559 --> 00:36:58.059 in the end, 00:36:58.119 --> 00:36:59.200 thy will be done 00:36:59.200 --> 00:37:00.360 and either it'll be, 00:37:00.780 --> 00:37:01.099 uh, 00:37:01.099 --> 00:37:03.059 our will to, 00:37:03.159 --> 00:37:04.480 to walk with Jesus 00:37:04.480 --> 00:37:05.779 and live for him 00:37:05.779 --> 00:37:06.719 and love him 00:37:06.719 --> 00:37:08.039 and be loved by him. 00:37:08.599 --> 00:37:08.960 Uh, 00:37:09.199 --> 00:37:09.920 or, 00:37:10.059 --> 00:37:10.279 or, 00:37:11.000 --> 00:37:11.500 uh, 00:37:11.759 --> 00:37:12.860 for things that ultimately 00:37:12.860 --> 00:37:14.119 in the grand scheme of things 00:37:14.119 --> 00:37:14.380 don't, 00:37:14.500 --> 00:37:15.219 don't really matter, 00:37:15.219 --> 00:37:16.259 um, 00:37:16.339 --> 00:37:17.139 in comparison. 00:37:18.259 --> 00:37:18.739 Uh, 00:37:19.739 --> 00:37:21.279 in Numbers 13 and 14, 00:37:21.339 --> 00:37:21.839 what we just read 00:37:21.839 --> 00:37:22.239 takes us through 00:37:22.239 --> 00:37:23.719 a challenging aspect of that. 00:37:24.000 --> 00:37:25.299 Israel chooses not God. 00:37:25.880 --> 00:37:26.319 Uh, 00:37:26.320 --> 00:37:27.280 but then there's this, 00:37:27.380 --> 00:37:27.740 uh, 00:37:27.820 --> 00:37:28.160 in, 00:37:28.160 --> 00:37:29.200 in Luke 11, 00:37:29.760 --> 00:37:30.240 um, 00:37:31.660 --> 00:37:32.240 this, 00:37:32.240 --> 00:37:33.720 this ask and it will be given to you, 00:37:33.920 --> 00:37:34.780 seek and you will find, 00:37:34.920 --> 00:37:36.240 knock and it will be opened to you. 00:37:36.760 --> 00:37:37.240 Uh, 00:37:37.519 --> 00:37:37.780 and, 00:37:37.840 --> 00:37:38.460 and Jesus says, 00:37:38.800 --> 00:37:39.100 uh, 00:37:40.039 --> 00:37:40.780 if, 00:37:40.900 --> 00:37:42.180 if human parents, 00:37:42.500 --> 00:37:43.140 uh, 00:37:43.340 --> 00:37:45.580 like to give gifts to their children, 00:37:45.760 --> 00:37:47.680 how much more then will the heavenly father 00:37:47.680 --> 00:37:49.280 give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? 00:37:49.600 --> 00:37:49.780 Right? 00:37:49.900 --> 00:37:50.300 So, 00:37:50.760 --> 00:37:52.580 take heart, 00:37:52.720 --> 00:37:52.920 right? 00:37:53.000 --> 00:37:53.380 If, 00:37:53.440 --> 00:37:54.460 if we want to, 00:37:54.539 --> 00:37:55.300 to know, 00:37:55.300 --> 00:37:56.680 God 00:37:56.680 --> 00:37:58.100 and, 00:37:58.180 --> 00:37:59.840 and know his spirit, 00:38:00.720 --> 00:38:02.080 he will give them to us. 00:38:02.539 --> 00:38:02.860 Um, 00:38:02.860 --> 00:38:03.440 so it's, 00:38:03.580 --> 00:38:04.500 it's not just this, 00:38:04.660 --> 00:38:06.340 I'm not trying to just be super dour 00:38:06.340 --> 00:38:06.640 with, 00:38:06.760 --> 00:38:08.620 with this passage in Numbers 13 and 14. 00:38:08.720 --> 00:38:09.320 There's also this, 00:38:09.780 --> 00:38:11.160 a beautiful, 00:38:11.380 --> 00:38:12.220 amazing aspect of, 00:38:12.280 --> 00:38:14.019 if we want to be with God 00:38:14.019 --> 00:38:14.500 and know God 00:38:14.500 --> 00:38:15.019 and love God, 00:38:15.200 --> 00:38:16.580 then God says, 00:38:16.640 --> 00:38:16.900 yes, 00:38:17.120 --> 00:38:17.460 great. 00:38:17.860 --> 00:38:18.180 Um, 00:38:19.019 --> 00:38:21.500 and, 00:38:21.640 --> 00:38:21.960 uh, 00:38:22.420 --> 00:38:25.220 this last bullet that I put on here, 00:38:25.219 --> 00:38:26.159 and there's more than this, 00:38:26.239 --> 00:38:26.480 surely, 00:38:26.679 --> 00:38:27.819 of what this can, 00:38:28.199 --> 00:38:29.879 passage can teach us about the life of faith. 00:38:30.819 --> 00:38:31.219 Um, 00:38:31.739 --> 00:38:33.500 but God, 00:38:33.599 --> 00:38:35.659 God will accomplish his purposes for the church. 00:38:36.299 --> 00:38:36.579 Uh, 00:38:37.119 --> 00:38:39.399 God accomplished his purposes for Israel. 00:38:39.939 --> 00:38:41.159 Israel enters the land, 00:38:41.239 --> 00:38:41.599 ultimately. 00:38:42.099 --> 00:38:43.719 This generation dies in the wilderness, 00:38:44.439 --> 00:38:45.659 wandering around for 40 years, 00:38:45.759 --> 00:38:47.199 but ultimately they enter the land, 00:38:47.239 --> 00:38:48.579 and we're going to be talking about that next week. 00:38:48.579 --> 00:38:49.079 Um, 00:38:50.219 --> 00:38:51.199 God had promised. 00:38:51.699 --> 00:38:52.059 God, 00:38:52.119 --> 00:38:53.379 God follows through on his promises. 00:38:55.879 --> 00:38:58.159 And God will follow through on his promises for the church. 00:38:58.719 --> 00:38:59.099 Nevertheless, 00:39:00.339 --> 00:39:03.139 an entire generation of Israelites excluded themselves, 00:39:03.859 --> 00:39:04.939 disqualified themselves, 00:39:05.259 --> 00:39:06.259 from, 00:39:06.399 --> 00:39:07.839 from enjoying God's purposes, 00:39:08.359 --> 00:39:08.839 uh, 00:39:08.960 --> 00:39:10.639 and from resting in the land. 00:39:11.419 --> 00:39:11.839 Um, 00:39:12.199 --> 00:39:13.319 and in the same way, 00:39:13.679 --> 00:39:14.000 uh, 00:39:14.000 --> 00:39:16.139 we can disqualify and exclude ourselves 00:39:16.139 --> 00:39:17.899 from God's purposes for the church 00:39:17.900 --> 00:39:20.300 through faithless disobedience. 00:39:21.260 --> 00:39:21.579 Um, 00:39:22.220 --> 00:39:24.160 I, 00:39:24.280 --> 00:39:26.039 we started this morning looking at Psalm 95. 00:39:26.720 --> 00:39:27.200 Uh, 00:39:27.519 --> 00:39:28.639 there's this bit in chapters, 00:39:28.880 --> 00:39:31.039 in Hebrews chapters three and four, 00:39:31.099 --> 00:39:32.119 I put a citation here. 00:39:32.360 --> 00:39:33.280 I'm not going to read it now, 00:39:33.340 --> 00:39:33.860 because it's really, 00:39:33.980 --> 00:39:34.200 it's, 00:39:34.260 --> 00:39:35.099 it's pretty dense, 00:39:35.340 --> 00:39:37.740 and it would take more than 10 minutes to really unpack it. 00:39:38.320 --> 00:39:38.660 Um, 00:39:39.119 --> 00:39:39.380 well, 00:39:39.539 --> 00:39:40.800 that bit in Hebrews, 00:39:40.960 --> 00:39:41.519 uh, 00:39:41.960 --> 00:39:43.160 takes this, 00:39:43.160 --> 00:39:44.280 um, 00:39:45.220 --> 00:39:45.740 this time, 00:39:45.860 --> 00:39:47.260 this disobedience in the wilderness, 00:39:47.260 --> 00:39:48.760 and applies it to the church, 00:39:48.780 --> 00:39:49.180 and says, 00:39:49.620 --> 00:39:50.020 uh, 00:39:50.500 --> 00:39:51.000 that, 00:39:51.380 --> 00:39:51.860 um, 00:39:52.080 --> 00:39:52.320 he, 00:39:52.320 --> 00:39:52.640 he, 00:39:52.640 --> 00:39:55.200 he connects Israel's rest in the promised land, 00:39:55.280 --> 00:39:57.980 from which a whole generation of Israelites excluded themselves. 00:39:58.240 --> 00:40:00.920 And he connects that to the Christians' heavenly rest, 00:40:01.100 --> 00:40:01.600 and says, 00:40:01.940 --> 00:40:02.380 uh, 00:40:02.420 --> 00:40:04.100 therefore strive to enter that rest, 00:40:04.200 --> 00:40:04.340 that, 00:40:04.400 --> 00:40:06.700 that you might not fall by the same sort of disobedience. 00:40:07.640 --> 00:40:08.120 Um, 00:40:09.700 --> 00:40:12.520 and I think there's more to it than just this, 00:40:12.520 --> 00:40:13.800 you know, 00:40:14.580 --> 00:40:15.580 heavenly rest thing. 00:40:15.579 --> 00:40:15.719 I, 00:40:15.719 --> 00:40:17.639 I don't want you to go away this morning and think, 00:40:17.639 --> 00:40:21.420 Alex is beating us over the head with a fear of hell or something. 00:40:21.920 --> 00:40:22.279 Um, 00:40:23.500 --> 00:40:24.039 because I, 00:40:24.079 --> 00:40:24.739 I think there's, 00:40:24.940 --> 00:40:26.119 there's even more to it. 00:40:26.500 --> 00:40:26.819 Um, 00:40:27.799 --> 00:40:29.960 God is doing amazing things in the world. 00:40:30.960 --> 00:40:31.319 Uh, 00:40:31.559 --> 00:40:35.239 the gospel is bearing fruit and increasing in the whole world, 00:40:35.340 --> 00:40:36.539 Paul writes in Colossians, 00:40:36.659 --> 00:40:36.900 and, 00:40:37.000 --> 00:40:38.440 and how much more so today? 00:40:38.719 --> 00:40:39.900 Paul's world was pretty small. 00:40:40.139 --> 00:40:41.360 Our world is much bigger. 00:40:41.360 --> 00:40:41.800 Uh, 00:40:41.800 --> 00:40:42.200 I, 00:40:42.200 --> 00:40:43.260 I'm reading a book right now, 00:40:43.500 --> 00:40:43.920 um, 00:40:43.920 --> 00:40:45.480 for a seminary class about, 00:40:46.000 --> 00:40:46.400 um, 00:40:46.780 --> 00:40:48.220 the role of, 00:40:48.380 --> 00:40:51.900 of the American church in the global mission of the church. 00:40:52.240 --> 00:40:52.720 And, 00:40:52.820 --> 00:40:55.079 and this author who has spent decades, 00:40:55.079 --> 00:40:55.740 uh, 00:40:56.320 --> 00:40:58.420 doing missionary work around the world, 00:40:58.420 --> 00:41:00.380 and working with missionaries and pastors around the world, 00:41:00.500 --> 00:41:04.720 is telling these incredible stories about what God is doing around the world, 00:41:04.800 --> 00:41:06.320 what he's seen God do around the world. 00:41:06.320 --> 00:41:06.880 Uh, 00:41:07.680 --> 00:41:07.880 and, 00:41:07.980 --> 00:41:08.960 and it can be hard for us to, 00:41:09.039 --> 00:41:09.660 to realize, 00:41:09.900 --> 00:41:10.180 uh, 00:41:10.180 --> 00:41:10.940 sometimes in, 00:41:10.980 --> 00:41:11.500 in New Haven, 00:41:11.980 --> 00:41:12.780 uh, 00:41:13.180 --> 00:41:15.180 the whole global scope of what God is doing. 00:41:15.940 --> 00:41:16.340 Um, 00:41:17.360 --> 00:41:17.519 he, 00:41:17.580 --> 00:41:18.220 he talks about, 00:41:18.220 --> 00:41:18.700 uh, 00:41:19.120 --> 00:41:21.900 walking down a street in Nigeria and, 00:41:21.900 --> 00:41:27.240 and just hearing worship and praise of God booming in the streets. 00:41:28.860 --> 00:41:30.360 You walk down the streets of New Haven, 00:41:30.480 --> 00:41:31.340 you don't hear on, 00:41:31.380 --> 00:41:32.080 on a Sunday morning, 00:41:32.460 --> 00:41:32.680 uh, 00:41:32.680 --> 00:41:33.940 unless you're right on State Street, 00:41:34.019 --> 00:41:34.940 right outside this church, 00:41:34.940 --> 00:41:36.679 you don't hear worship on Sunday mornings. 00:41:37.019 --> 00:41:37.220 But, 00:41:37.380 --> 00:41:38.400 he talks about in Nigeria, 00:41:38.760 --> 00:41:39.000 uh, 00:41:39.000 --> 00:41:39.159 there, 00:41:39.300 --> 00:41:39.420 there, 00:41:39.559 --> 00:41:39.780 the, 00:41:39.780 --> 00:41:40.059 the, 00:41:40.059 --> 00:41:42.900 the gospel is going out and increasing so much, 00:41:43.260 --> 00:41:43.760 uh, 00:41:44.240 --> 00:41:46.659 that you just hear booming worship. 00:41:46.760 --> 00:41:47.000 Of course, 00:41:47.119 --> 00:41:49.260 partly it's a PA system and speakers. 00:41:49.619 --> 00:41:50.019 Uh, 00:41:50.179 --> 00:41:52.820 but partly there's just so many people coming to, 00:41:52.880 --> 00:41:54.000 to know and love the Lord. 00:41:54.599 --> 00:41:55.000 Um, 00:41:55.659 --> 00:41:55.820 he, 00:41:55.880 --> 00:41:56.579 he talked to a, 00:41:56.579 --> 00:41:57.480 a pastor friend. 00:41:57.559 --> 00:41:57.679 I, 00:41:57.780 --> 00:41:57.920 I'm not, 00:41:57.980 --> 00:41:59.179 I'm not going to go on and on and on, 00:41:59.260 --> 00:41:59.380 but, 00:41:59.700 --> 00:42:00.059 uh, 00:42:00.139 --> 00:42:02.099 this one I found really striking and challenging. 00:42:02.240 --> 00:42:02.360 He, 00:42:02.360 --> 00:42:02.760 he, 00:42:02.760 --> 00:42:03.059 he taught, 00:42:03.179 --> 00:42:03.320 he, 00:42:03.320 --> 00:42:04.260 he tells about a story. 00:42:04.260 --> 00:42:05.960 He was talking to a pastor friend of his in, 00:42:05.960 --> 00:42:06.620 in Nigeria. 00:42:07.180 --> 00:42:07.500 And, 00:42:07.620 --> 00:42:07.900 uh, 00:42:08.400 --> 00:42:08.600 he, 00:42:08.640 --> 00:42:09.360 he asked him how he, 00:42:09.480 --> 00:42:10.320 how he became a Christian. 00:42:10.400 --> 00:42:10.580 He said, 00:42:10.620 --> 00:42:10.800 well, 00:42:11.140 --> 00:42:11.660 uh, 00:42:12.440 --> 00:42:15.080 God raised me from the dead by the hand of a missionary. 00:42:15.960 --> 00:42:16.620 And so then, 00:42:16.660 --> 00:42:17.480 then I became a Christian. 00:42:18.800 --> 00:42:19.280 I'm like, 00:42:19.340 --> 00:42:20.400 I'm reading this. 00:42:20.480 --> 00:42:21.400 I have to put the book down. 00:42:21.480 --> 00:42:21.560 Like, 00:42:21.620 --> 00:42:25.280 do I believe that God is actually working like that? 00:42:26.620 --> 00:42:26.940 I, 00:42:27.020 --> 00:42:27.400 I don't know. 00:42:27.480 --> 00:42:27.800 That's, 00:42:27.960 --> 00:42:28.340 uh, 00:42:28.800 --> 00:42:29.160 that's, 00:42:29.240 --> 00:42:30.440 that's something challenging for me. 00:42:30.440 --> 00:42:30.720 But, 00:42:31.039 --> 00:42:31.400 uh, 00:42:31.740 --> 00:42:32.320 nevertheless, 00:42:32.980 --> 00:42:33.639 I can, 00:42:33.720 --> 00:42:37.260 I can say God is doing things around the world and not just around the world, 00:42:37.300 --> 00:42:38.159 but here in New Haven too. 00:42:38.840 --> 00:42:39.320 Um, 00:42:39.639 --> 00:42:39.980 uh, 00:42:39.980 --> 00:42:43.720 pastor Matt sermon a couple of weeks ago, 00:42:43.720 --> 00:42:44.240 uh, 00:42:44.240 --> 00:42:46.639 he was talking about all of these ways that, 00:42:47.119 --> 00:42:47.440 um, 00:42:47.860 --> 00:42:50.519 that people in this very congregation are, 00:42:50.519 --> 00:42:51.340 uh, 00:42:52.019 --> 00:42:52.860 working to, 00:42:52.940 --> 00:42:55.340 to care for and include, 00:42:55.340 --> 00:42:56.079 uh, 00:42:56.079 --> 00:42:57.299 the marginalized and, 00:42:57.420 --> 00:42:59.239 and the poor and the outcast in, 00:42:59.299 --> 00:42:59.819 in this city. 00:43:00.539 --> 00:43:00.860 Uh, 00:43:01.840 --> 00:43:02.659 in the, 00:43:02.679 --> 00:43:04.659 the church is being the church here, 00:43:04.659 --> 00:43:05.360 here in New Haven. 00:43:05.900 --> 00:43:06.299 Um, 00:43:07.219 --> 00:43:07.519 and, 00:43:07.519 --> 00:43:07.699 and, 00:43:07.699 --> 00:43:08.019 and, 00:43:08.019 --> 00:43:11.559 and accomplishing what God wants for the church to be doing. 00:43:12.340 --> 00:43:12.819 Uh, 00:43:13.340 --> 00:43:16.380 will we, 00:43:16.639 --> 00:43:19.420 through fear, 00:43:19.420 --> 00:43:20.380 uh, 00:43:20.380 --> 00:43:23.460 and a faithless disobedience exclude ourselves from the, 00:43:23.460 --> 00:43:26.059 the joy of participating in, 00:43:26.079 --> 00:43:28.460 what God is doing in, 00:43:28.599 --> 00:43:29.699 in the world and in New Haven? 00:43:30.360 --> 00:43:30.699 Um, 00:43:30.980 --> 00:43:31.739 I, 00:43:31.799 --> 00:43:32.119 I think, 00:43:32.199 --> 00:43:32.960 I think that's, 00:43:33.500 --> 00:43:33.880 uh, 00:43:33.980 --> 00:43:37.880 I think that's a question that Israel's wilderness years would have us ask 00:43:37.880 --> 00:43:38.219 ourselves. 00:43:39.139 --> 00:43:39.500 Um, 00:43:39.940 --> 00:43:44.699 will we lift up our eyes to see what God is doing? 00:43:44.819 --> 00:43:45.139 Uh, 00:43:45.139 --> 00:43:47.719 just like how Jesus says to his disciples in John four, 00:43:47.799 --> 00:43:50.299 lift up your eyes and see the fields are white with harvests. 00:43:50.880 --> 00:43:51.199 Uh, 00:43:51.199 --> 00:43:52.340 God is doing amazing things. 00:43:52.440 --> 00:43:52.599 Will, 00:43:52.719 --> 00:43:55.579 will we participate or will we through fear? 00:43:55.579 --> 00:43:56.299 Um, 00:43:56.860 --> 00:43:58.360 stand on the sidelines. 00:43:59.239 --> 00:43:59.539 Um, 00:43:59.759 --> 00:44:02.639 all right. 00:44:02.900 --> 00:44:03.420 Uh, 00:44:03.539 --> 00:44:05.900 that was much more pontificating this morning than, 00:44:05.980 --> 00:44:06.500 than I actually, 00:44:06.739 --> 00:44:07.579 um, 00:44:07.579 --> 00:44:08.679 so we have about five minutes. 00:44:09.199 --> 00:44:09.639 Um, 00:44:10.659 --> 00:44:11.500 so are there any, 00:44:11.639 --> 00:44:11.980 uh, 00:44:12.219 --> 00:44:12.860 questions, 00:44:13.579 --> 00:44:13.920 comments, 00:44:14.159 --> 00:44:14.559 concerns? 00:44:15.400 --> 00:44:15.880 Um, 00:44:15.880 --> 00:44:25.280 okay. 00:44:25.280 --> 00:44:25.360 Okay. 00:44:26.480 --> 00:44:26.980 Well, 00:44:27.180 --> 00:44:27.680 um, 00:44:28.300 --> 00:44:28.900 let, 00:44:29.119 --> 00:44:29.539 let us, 00:44:29.539 --> 00:44:40.139 God, 00:44:40.259 --> 00:44:44.059 you are the rock of our salvation and, 00:44:44.059 --> 00:44:47.619 you saved your people, 00:44:47.719 --> 00:44:55.840 Israel from Egypt and you have saved us from sin and death and have brought us into this 00:44:55.840 --> 00:44:57.980 relationship with you to know you and love you. 00:44:57.980 --> 00:44:58.659 Um, 00:44:58.659 --> 00:44:58.980 um, 00:44:59.379 --> 00:45:02.039 Lord, 00:45:02.119 --> 00:45:02.899 help us to, 00:45:02.899 --> 00:45:02.940 um, 00:45:02.940 --> 00:45:06.259 to be a part of, 00:45:06.319 --> 00:45:07.219 of what you are doing, 00:45:07.480 --> 00:45:07.899 um, 00:45:08.480 --> 00:45:09.940 through your people. 00:45:10.779 --> 00:45:11.119 Um, 00:45:11.119 --> 00:45:13.379 help us to, 00:45:13.379 --> 00:45:13.980 uh, 00:45:13.980 --> 00:45:14.659 put aside, 00:45:14.659 --> 00:45:15.500 um, 00:45:15.859 --> 00:45:19.179 fears and uncertainties, 00:45:19.179 --> 00:45:20.000 uh, 00:45:20.000 --> 00:45:20.579 about you. 00:45:20.579 --> 00:45:22.119 Um, 00:45:22.799 --> 00:45:25.159 and today when we go upstairs and hear your voice, 00:45:25.579 --> 00:45:26.099 um, 00:45:26.519 --> 00:45:29.639 keep us from hardening our hearts to your word, 00:45:29.980 --> 00:45:30.659 um, 00:45:31.059 --> 00:45:32.219 as it's being preached, 00:45:33.139 --> 00:45:33.759 um, 00:45:34.039 --> 00:45:35.000 but soften us, 00:45:35.659 --> 00:45:36.440 um, 00:45:36.440 --> 00:45:37.340 that we might, 00:45:37.699 --> 00:45:38.460 um, 00:45:38.460 --> 00:45:42.199 be receptive in knowing and loving you and in, 00:45:42.199 --> 00:45:43.519 in walking in, 00:45:43.599 --> 00:45:44.659 in the ways that you've, 00:45:44.659 --> 00:45:45.219 um, 00:45:45.500 --> 00:45:49.639 appointed for us to do those good works that you have prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. 00:45:50.579 --> 00:45:51.900 Through Christ our Lord we pray. 00:45:52.460 --> 00:45:52.840 Amen.