Good morning, church.
Would you turn with me to the book of Exodus, chapter 23.
That's page 64 in the Pew Bible.
We're going to look at verses 20 through 33.
Exodus 23, page 64.
So it's high school graduation season.
Congrats, high school seniors.
You know who you are.
Graduation is a bit of a climactic experience, isn't it?
You've come through to the other side of, in this case, high school.
In victory, you're done.
And there's no going back.
Praise the Lord.
It feels like you're on top of the world.
It's a good feeling.
But then, as the excitement dies down,
you realize that there's still a long road ahead.
College, work, dating, family, career,
it all still looms out there,
scary and big,
and at times, overwhelming.
Of course, that's not just for the high school graduates among us, right?
That feeling hits us at a lot of moments in life.
Retirement,
birth of a child,
taking a new job,
moving to a new city.
Well, in our text today,
we meet the people of Israel
at the foot of Mount Sinai.
And they, too,
have come through a similarly climactic experience.
God has rescued them from slavery in Egypt.
He's brought them through the Red Sea.
He's now spoken to them at Sinai.
They are on the top of the world.
But there's still a long road ahead.
After all,
they're still in the wilderness.
And they're not home yet.
Now, at the end of Exodus 23,
our text today,
God concludes the formal covenant at Sinai.
That is,
here are the final terms of God's binding relationship,
His covenant with His people.
So, let's hear what God has to say to His people
as they look out at the long road ahead.
Exodus 23, starting in verse 20.
Behold,
I send an angel before you
to guard you on the way
and to bring you to the place that I have prepared.
Pay careful attention to him
and obey his voice.
Do not rebel against him,
for he will not pardon your transgression,
for my name is in him.
But if you carefully obey his voice
and do all that I say,
then I will be an enemy to your enemies
and an adversary to your adversaries.
When my angel goes before you
and brings you to the Amorites
and the Hittites
and the Perizzites
and the Canaanites,
the Hivites
and the Jebusites
and I blot them out,
you shall not bow down to their gods
nor serve them
nor do as they do,
but you shall utterly overthrow them
and break their pillars in pieces.
You shall serve the Lord your God
and He will bless your bread and your water
and I will take sickness away from you.
None shall miscarry or be barren in your land.
I will fulfill the number of your days.
I will send my terror before you
and will throw into confusion
all the people against whom you shall come
and I will make all your enemies
turn their backs to you
and I will send hornets before you
which shall drive out the Hivites,
the Canaanites and the Hittites
from before you.
I will not drive them out
from before you in one year
lest the land become desolate
and the wild beasts multiply against you.
Little by little
I will drive them out from before you
until you have increased
and possess the land
and I will set your border
from the Red Sea
to the Sea of the Philistines
and from the wilderness
to the Euphrates
for I will give the inhabitants
of the land into your hand
and you shall drive them out before you.
You shall make no covenant
with them and their gods.
They shall not dwell in your land
lest they make you sin against me
for if you serve their gods
it will surely be a snare to you.
Let's pray together.
Heavenly Father,
we ask that you would grant us
the grace of your Holy Spirit
this morning
to understand
and to hear
what you are saying to us
through this word this morning.
Lord, we want to understand this text
in light of
the big picture
of what you've done for us in Christ.
So help us to do that
and help us not to be
callous
or feel fearful
or hard-hearted
as we come to you this morning
but would you
open up our minds
and our ears
and our hearts
to be receptive
to what you're saying
to each of us this morning.
Thank you for speaking to us, God.
We ask this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Well,
the sum
of the passage
that we just read
is that God
is going to send an angel
before his people Israel
to settle them safely
in the land of Canaan.
And with this promise
comes a warning.
And the warning is
don't worship
their false gods.
Serve me.
Serve the Lord God alone.
Now,
the conquest
of Canaan
as it's sometimes called
which eventually happens
in the book of Joshua
we have to keep in mind
that that is a unique
event
in redemptive history
in the Bible.
All Jewish
and Christian commentators
agree
that the conquest
was a one-time
command
not meant to be repeated
in other times
or places.
And that means
we have to be careful
as we come to this text today
not to draw
the wrong conclusions
from a passage like this
as we think about
what it's saying to us.
After all,
we live in a different time
in a different place
in a different moment
in redemptive history.
With all that being said,
however,
that doesn't mean
that there aren't
some important lessons here
to be learned
for us.
And as a window
into that,
think about
where Israel is at
in the story
of salvation.
put yourself back
in their shoes
imaginatively.
Where are they?
The Israelites
are somewhere
between Egypt
and Canaan.
Right?
In other words,
they've been redeemed
but they're not yet home.
They've been baptized
through the Red Sea
but they've not yet
come to rest
in the promised land.
There are still,
as God tells them here,
many battles to come
and many trials to face.
Now,
spiritually speaking,
is not that true
of us,
the church,
today?
Christians, too,
have been redeemed.
We've been redeemed
through Christ's death
and resurrection.
The church has been baptized
through Christ's death
and resurrection.
But,
brothers and sisters,
we are not yet home.
We are not yet glorified
in the rest
God has in store for us.
There are still
many spiritual battles
to come
and many trials to face.
So,
what do we learn here then
for this road ahead?
Well,
the first resounding
message that we hear here
is that God
goes before us,
His people.
Notice that in verse 20
and verse 23,
God tells Israel twice
that His angel
will go before you.
Now,
briefly,
what are we to make
of this angel figure?
We've actually encountered
this angel a couple of times
so far in the book of Exodus.
We haven't spent a lot of time
thinking or talking
about this figure.
Back in chapter 3,
the angel showed up
at the call of Moses
in the burning bush.
And in chapter 14,
when Israel was crossing
the Red Sea,
this angel of the Lord
also shows up
protecting them
from the attacking
Egyptian armies.
Now,
here we're told
that this angel
once again
will guard them
and bring them
into the promised land.
Now,
angels in the Bible
are spiritual beings
who serve God's purposes
of redemption.
If you're a bit skeptical
about this whole
angel business,
on the one hand,
maybe you'll be comforted
to know that the Bible's
idea of angels
couldn't be further
from the popular imagination.
You know,
when you come to the Bible
and you hear
what angels are doing,
you know,
there's no fluffy wings.
There's no fat,
chubby little cherubs
with bows and arrows.
You know,
there's no Victorian women
in long flowing gowns
looking like they might
bring you some more milk
to put you to bed.
You know,
it's not Michael Landon
or that other lady
from Touched by an Angel,
you know,
who looks like they might
just be a really nice counselor,
someone you'd want
to knit a sweater with
and share a cup of tea.
Um,
no,
actually,
that's not the biblical
picture of angels at all.
Um,
angels are actually
beings of magnificent power
and beauty and glory.
Um,
and most people
end up falling down
and mistakenly
worshiping them
in the Bible.
Now,
what's more,
if what the Bible
says about angels
is true,
if you're wrestling
with that,
but think about it,
if what the Bible
says about angels
is true,
consider what that means
about God's love
for us.
Um,
and here's what I mean.
If there is a God,
and if that God
has created
not just a seen,
but also an unseen world
with creatures
full of His beauty
and power and joy
and an overflow
of His,
of His creative expression,
uh,
consider
that this God,
according to the Bible,
is willing
to marshal
even those highest,
most glorious,
heavenly beings
to carry out
His saving plan
for you.
In other words,
God doesn't withhold
any part of His creation,
seen or unseen,
from working for the good
for those He longs to save.
Isn't that an incredible message?
After all,
is it so hard to believe
that the God
who created
all the beauty
that we see
might also have
even more in store,
that there might be
an unseen transcendent realm
where this God
also displays
His beauty
and power
and majesty?
And is it not a wonder
to believe
that God in love
commands even
that transcendent part
of His creation
to minister to those
who are to inherit salvation?
Little folks like you and me.
Well, back to Exodus 23.
Clearly,
this particular angel
has a special role
to play in the story, right?
Notice how closely
he's identified
with God's presence
and activity.
God tells Israel
to obey His voice
in verse 21.
And then in verse 22,
look at that verse with me.
What the angel says
and what God says
are almost interchangeable.
God says,
carefully obey His voice
and do all I say.
That's a very interesting
switch of pronouns.
And this angel seems
not just to convey
God's own voice,
but in verse 22,
this angel seems
to have God's own authority
to pardon
or not pardon transgression.
And then to top it all off,
God says,
my name is in Him.
That is God's revealed
character and glory
is somehow,
someway in this angel,
whatever that means.
In other words,
a closer identification
with God
couldn't be imagined.
is it any wonder
that many have looked back
at these Old Testament passages
about the angel of the Lord?
They've looked back
from the perspective
of the New Testament
and thought that
perhaps we are dealing
here with a pre-incarnate
appearance of Christ Himself,
God the Son,
the second person
of the Trinity.
Who else could be,
on the one hand,
distinguished from God?
Yes, it's different.
And yet at the same time,
so closely identified
with God.
But whether the angel
is actually
the pre-incarnate Christ
or not,
surely what we see
about this angel
in Exodus 23
ultimately finds
its fulfillment
in Christ the Lord.
God says,
my angel is going
to be with you
and go before you.
And the risen Lord Jesus
says to His disciples,
all authority on heaven
and earth belongs to me,
has been given to me,
and I'm with you always,
even to the end of the age.
If God was somehow
present with His people
through this angel,
how much more present
is God with us
in His own Son,
the risen Lord Jesus?
What good news that is,
that God is going
to be with us
in this personal,
present way.
And not just with us.
Notice what God says.
God says,
I'm not just going
to be with you,
but I'm going
to go before you.
And hasn't the Lord Jesus
truly gone before us?
He's gone before us
into the depths
of our human condition
when He took on flesh,
did He not?
And He went before us
in His temptation
in the wilderness
to know what it's like
to face trial
and temptation
and spiritual attack.
And He went before us
in His earthly life
as He ministered
and loved God
and loved others
and as He faced rejection
and as He faced challenge
and as He faced persecution.
And Jesus went before us
when He was arrested
and when He was crucified.
Jesus went before us
even into the grave.
And Christ went before us
into the new life
of resurrection.
and He went before us
into the heavenly places
when He ascended on high.
And we know that He will
go before us one day
when He returns
to make all things new.
Friends,
what good news
that Jesus is not just with us.
God is not just with us
in His Son
by His Spirit,
but God is always before us.
Blazing the trail ahead.
Clearing the way for us.
Our buffer and our shield.
Ultimately taking our sin,
giving us His righteousness,
filling us with His Spirit.
Now for the Israelites,
God's angel going before them
meant that God would ultimately
drive out all their enemies
and bring them safely home
to the promised land.
The victory against these warring tribes
that they would face
was assured.
The battle,
God said,
I would win it for you.
God will terrify their enemies.
He will throw them into confusion.
He will make them
turn their backs and run.
Again and again,
God says,
I will drive them out.
I will make sure
that you make it safely
all the way home.
And friends,
isn't that the nature,
the real nature
of the biblical message?
That God does something for us
that we can't do.
Our enemies are too strong
and our guilt
is too great
for us
to save ourselves.
We can't make things right
with God.
We can't bring ourselves
into the rest
God has for us
all on our own.
In fact,
it has to be
God's grace.
It has to be
God's action
on our behalf.
That's the only thing
that can assure us
of final
and complete salvation.
And that's meant
to give us hope
and encouragement
as we look at the long
spiritual road ahead.
You know,
maybe you sit here
and you look ahead
and you see
some of the challenges ahead.
Most of us
can't see
what challenges
are ahead.
And maybe
as you look ahead
you wonder,
man,
am I going to make it?
But we don't go alone.
God is before us.
Every battle,
every trial,
He is there
to guard us
and to bring us in.
But this promise
also comes
with a clarification
here in this text.
Yes,
God promises
to go before His people.
But the second thing
we learn from this passage
is that the battles
are actually going
to be won
little by little.
Look again
at verses 29 and 30.
They tell us
that when Israel
enters the land,
God won't drive out
the people all at once.
It's going to be gradual.
Why?
Otherwise,
if all the people
just sort of disappeared,
the uninhabited land
would become
too much
for them to handle.
They weren't strong enough.
They weren't numerous enough
to be able
to manage
that much.
I think there's
a really,
really important
analogy here
to the Christian life.
How many of us
have been frustrated
by a besetting sin
and wondered why
God doesn't just
take it away?
But you know,
that is rarely
how God works
in the Christian life.
The process
of sanctification,
of growing
in godliness
and Christ-like
character
is gradual.
It's progressive.
It happens
little
by little.
God knew
that if he drove
out all the people
from Canaan
at once,
the land
would overwhelm
the Israelites.
You see,
God's wisdom
was so much
deeper than theirs.
Perhaps God
has his reasons
for not removing
all of your
besetting sins
all at once,
of making sure
that it's a process
of little
by little
growth.
You see,
there's a bigger
story
that you're a part of,
and God
is doing
a much
bigger
work
in your life
than you can imagine.
It's deeper
and it's longer
and it has
a much
greater end
than most of us
can conceive.
At the very least,
the Lord is teaching
you to depend
on him
each day,
to take up
the means
of grace
like prayer
and worship
and the Lord's
supper
and the filling
of your mind
with scripture
through reading
and meditation,
to take up
these means
of Christ
and to fight
the good fight
of the faith.
He's teaching
you to press
on in obedience
and trust,
to not be passive
in our spiritual
growth,
but active,
to keep in step
with the spirit,
to keep taking
off the old self
and putting on
the new self,
as Paul said
in Ephesians.
I sometimes think
what sort of person
I would be
had God simply
taken away
some of my
particular habitual
sins all at once.
And trust me,
there are still
many left in my life
that God has taken
care of.
I don't stand
before you
a completely
sanctified individual
this morning,
but,
you know,
I think had God
just given me
sort of instant
victory
over some of
these things,
I imagine
that I would
probably be
very proud.
Don't you think?
I wouldn't know
what it's like
to depend
on the Lord
each day.
I would be
probably a lot
more ingrained
in my natural
self-reliance.
I wouldn't know
what it's like
to call out
to Him
in prayer,
to wait on the Lord,
to look to Him
for daily grace.
And I certainly
wouldn't know
half so well
how to minister
to others
who struggle.
I would probably
be much more
impatient
and condescending.
So, friends,
God in His wisdom
gives us the victory
little by little
so that the fields
and the terrain
of our uncultivated
hearts don't come
back to overwhelm us.
I think there's
a special word here
to the discouraged
among us this morning.
Brothers and sisters,
don't be downhearted
by the little
by little nature
of the Christian life.
Don't be discouraged
that it's a process
of growth.
And if you feel
like you can't even
see the little
by little,
if it feels like
you're not growing
at all,
then I would
encourage you
to get with
an older,
more mature
Christian
who knows you
well
and ask them
what they see
in your life.
Often,
we aren't the best
judge of our
own spiritual state.
Often,
others can see
the little
by little growth
much better
than we can.
So, friends,
don't be discouraged
that the Christian life
is a process.
Expect it.
Look at what
God is teaching
you through
that little
by little
process of growth.
And perhaps
there's also
a word here
to the spiritually
complacent.
Friends,
are you in
the fight?
Notice at the
end of verse 31,
after God says,
I will drive them
out,
I will drive them
out numerous times,
then God says,
I will give the
inhabitants into
your hand
and you shall
drive them out
before you.
Yes,
the victory
ultimately belongs
to the Lord,
Lord,
but you do
have a responsibility,
a role to play
in your growth
and holiness.
So,
ask yourself
this morning,
am I concerned
at all
to engage
in this little
by little
growth?
Or have I
become complacent?
Friends,
do you care
at all
for the growth
of your fellow
church members?
believers?
Are you praying
and encouraging
them in this
battle to become
more like Christ?
Here,
the call of this
passage is to
get in the game,
to fight the good
fight,
to wake up
from your sleep.
And this leads us
to the third
and last lesson
of our passage,
the main exhortation
that God gives
to the Israelites
as they're poised
to enter
the promised land
is that they
must have
nothing to do
with the false
gods of the
people around
them.
In very stark
language,
God says,
when you encounter
their idolatrous
practices,
here's what I
want you to do.
I want you to
completely overthrow
them and smash
all their pillars
into pieces
and have nothing
to do with
their false
worship.
Verse 32
says,
don't make
any covenants
with any of
their gods.
Don't compromise
with them
in any way.
Otherwise,
he says,
it will be
a snare
to you.
Now,
that's an
interesting
little word
picture,
isn't it?
A snare.
Most of us
live in the
city or in the
suburbs,
so we don't
really go
hunting a lot.
Some of you
like to go
hunting.
I doubt
many of you
hunt with a
snare,
which is like
a small little
trap.
For a small
little animal.
And doesn't a
snare sort of
seem like a
harmless little
thing, right?
Something you
can kind of
easily avoid,
easily handle,
you just step
over it,
you watch out
for it,
until you get
caught,
until you get
stuck.
Idolatry and
sin are like
that, God
says.
You think you
can handle it.
You tell yourself
that you have
it under
control.
So what if I
indulge in a
little compromise
here or there?
It's no big
deal.
I'm not really
harming anyone.
And then,
it catches you.
It traps you.
That lustful look
here and there
becomes a
consuming
addiction.
indulging in
self-pity
every once in
a while
becomes a
deep-seated
bitterness
against God
and others.
Bending the
truth from
time to time
at work
becomes a
growing
cover-up
that spirals
out of
control.
That
hunger
for
whatever it
might be,
comfort or
approval
starts to
dominate all
of your
relationships,
your own
view of
yourself and
others in
the world.
What this
passage teaches
us is that
if you see
the sin in
your life,
if you see
the idols in
your own
heart,
those things
that are
taking the
place of
God in
your life,
the ultimate
drivers of
your motivation
and your
identity,
those good
things that
have become
ultimate
things,
if you see
those things
in your
heart,
the Lord
is telling
His people
here,
don't
compromise.
Be
unrelenting
in your
approach to
get rid
of them.
Back in the
fall, we
walked very
slowly through
Romans chapter
8, which is
a chapter of
much beauty
and power
and glory
and hope,
and in
the middle
of that
chapter,
Paul says,
here's what
you should
do with
your sinful
nature.
Kill it.
Put it to
death.
You know,
no one ever
finds a spot
of skin
cancer and
says,
no,
melanoma.
It's no big
deal.
I can handle
that.
You know,
I've got a lot
of freckles.
It's genetic.
I don't
tan.
I freckle,
and then I
burn.
No big deal.
I can handle
this.
No one says
that.
Why?
Because that
thing is going
to spread
before you
know it
to other
parts of
your body
and it's
going to
kill you.
Friends,
it's the
same with
the idols
of our
hearts.
Whether they
come from
within or
whether they
seep in
from the
outside,
they are
a snare
ready to
trap
and destroy
us.
And here's
the stark
thing about
this passage.
God says
if we
persist
in harboring
sin
and in
refusing to
heed God's
voice,
if we go
on in
unrepentant
idolatry,
thinking that
we can have
God's favor
and blatantly
disobey God
at the same
time,
then what
God says
earlier in
verse 21
will be
true of
us.
He will
not pardon
your
transgressions.
That's a
stark
verse.
But it's
a very
real warning.
If we
go on
refusing
to heed
God's
voice,
if we
persist
in
unrepentant
sin,
if we
never
humble
ourselves
before
Christ
as our
Savior
and as
our
much
needed
Lord,
if we
never
come to
God
and say,
I will
be done,
Lord,
then God
will turn
to us
and say,
I will
be done.
Go.
God
will not
pardon
our
transgressions.
However,
God
will
God
will
turn
from
self-reliance
and
self-direction
and idolatry
and sin
and turn
to Christ.
God
is rich
and abundant
in mercy.
God
does not
expect us
to be
sinless
in this
life.
That is
not what
God
requires.
God
doesn't
want
perfect
people
because
newsflash,
they don't
exist.
God
wants
humble
people
who
know
they
need
a
Savior
and
who
surrender
their
lives
to
him
in
willing
trust.
And
when
we
come
to
him
with
that
posture,
the
mercy
of
God
overflows
beyond
what we
could ask
or think.
In
verses
25 and
26,
listen
to how
God
woos
Israel
away from
the
worship
of
idols
to
serve
him
alone.
Look at
those
verses
again.
He
says,
you
shall
serve
the
Lord
your
God
and
he
will
bless
your
bread
and
your
water
and
I
will
take
sicknesses
away
from
you.
None
shall
miscarry
or be
barren
in
your
land.
I
will
fulfill
the
number
of
your
days.
It's
a
picture
of
total
flourishing.
Friends,
what
are you
looking
for
in
those
idols
of
your
heart
or
in
those
sins
that
you
harbor?
When
you're
driven
by a
need
for
success,
for
example,
what
is
you're
really
longing
for?
Acclaim,
affirmation,
a sense
of identity
and purpose,
a feeling
of worth?
What do
you seek?
When
God
says to
Old
Testament
Israel
that he's
going to
bless
him in
all
these
ways,
he's
trying to
teach
us
something.
He's
trying to
show
us
that
in
him
we
find
real
life
and
in
him
alone.
The
Old
Testament
promises
of
physical
or
material
blessing
for
serving
the
Lord
were
pointers
to
something
even
greater.
God
no
longer
promises
us
long
life
and
material
prosperity.
What
does
God
promise
us?
Resurrection
life.
eternal
life as
heirs
of a
new
creation.
You
know,
the
Old
Testament
Israelites
never
did
drive
out
the
Canaanites
completely.
They
persisted
in being
a snare
to them.
And they
never
did get
free
from the
false
gods
and the
idolatry
around
them.
But
then
Christ
lost.
Their
king,
our
king
came.
And he
went ahead
of us
and won
an even
greater
victory
and pioneered
away into
an even
better land.
And he's
defeated all
of our
enemies to
bring us
there.
Through
his own
blood,
Christ has
defeated
our sin
and death
and he
commands
everyone
everywhere
to turn
to him
and be
saved.
And he
promises
to go
before us
and to
bring us
all the
way home.
So
brothers and
sisters,
as we
look at
the road
ahead
and all
the
daunting
trials
that may
be in
store,
listen
to what
the book
of Hebrews
says.
It says,
lay aside
every weight
and the
sin which
clings so
closely
and let
us run
with endurance
the race
that is set
before us,
looking to
Jesus,
the pioneer
and perfecter
of our
faith,
the one
who goes
before us,
who for
the joy
that was
set before
him endured
the cross,
despising
the shame
and is
seated at
the right
hand of
the throne
of God,
reigning
in glory,
coming one
day to
bring all
things into
fullness and
to bring us
home safely.
Let's
pray.
Father,
perhaps as
we've
sat under
this passage
this morning,
we realize
that there
are some
areas of
our lives
where we
have been
too
compromising
with the
idols of
our world
around us
or the
secret sins
of our
own hearts.
Father,
we bring
those sins
before you
now in
the quiet
of our
hearts and
we ask
for your
forgiveness.
God,
help us
to see
that in
you and
in you
alone belongs
a real
blessing and
purpose and
joy.
God,
for many of
my brothers
and sisters
here this
morning who
are fearful
of the road
ahead or
who may be
discouraged,
encouraged by
their growth
and holiness
feeling that
they've just
not seen the
victory or the
conquest or the
growth that they
would like to
see.
Oh,
Lord,
by your
spirit would
you encourage
them this
morning.
Help them to
see that all
is not lost,
that even if
they've stumbled
for the
19th,
for the
20th,
for the
21st,
for the
100th time,
God,
you never
turn away
the broken
hearted and
the contrite.
God,
you are near
to us and
you promise
to carry us
through,
to go before
us.
Lord,
help us to
remember that
this week,
that you are
indeed before
us in all of
this earthly
pilgrimage.
We pray this
in Jesus' name.
Amen.