Julie Carbone: Finding Rest in Yahweh | 08:02:26

God's good, isn't he? He's so good. The

world not so much. Although there is

lots of positive, but God is really

good. And and I've got a message that I

really feel is from God. So hopefully it

will encourage more than just one of

you. It'll encourage me, I'm sure. So

maybe I'm just preaching it to me.

Anyway, I'm going to pray.

Holy Spirit, thank you so much for this

opportunity,

Lord, for each of us to come to this

group of people, God, that just love you

and are trying to do life and are trying

to love others. And Holy Spirit, thank

you that you choose to to dwell in this

bunch of misfits and people that don't

get it right.

God, that you choose to be with us as we

go out into the world and live in our

hearts. Holy Spirit, we're just so

so uh I guess in awe and and honored

that you do that with us, but we we need

you. And I just pray this morning that

you will speak through the words that

I've chosen and God that you would speak

into people's lives in Jesus name. Amen.

Have you ever felt overwhelmed?

I thought you might go, you know, a

couple of you might go, "Oh, yeah."

You know, that feeling, that overwhelm,

that crushing sense of weight that

threatens to squeeze the life out of you

until there's nothing left. So, I'm not

just talking about going to the

supermarket and what peanut butter do I

get? Ben doesn't like that one and he

doesn't like that one and he's and I'm

but I'm trying to be healthy. You know,

he needs to be healthy and I just have

to choose for him. I'm not talking about

that overwhelm, although that is a

thing, I guess. I'm talking about that

feeling of hopelessness

when there when there's a situation in

your life where there's nothing you can

do. You've tried everything and there's

nothing. It's too big. You have no

answers. Now, I've always got an answer

for something as you can ask my family.

I think I need to adjust. There we go.

Bit closer to you, Carrie.

But, you know, um I had one of those

moments a few weeks ago.

Um and I won't go into the situation,

but I felt frustrated. I felt hopeless.

I felt exhausted. I felt overwhelmed. I

just wanted to curl up into a ball and

stop life. And just as I was

experiencing these feelings which you

can all relate to,

it reminded me of a story from the Bible

where these feelings were very present

and it came to me so clearly and I

couldn't shake this um I guess sense of

similarity in this Bible uh story. So I

looked it up and it's a small part of

the story of the Israelites before the

Exodus.

Oh, so everyone knows Abraham, Isaac,

and Jacob, God's chosen. Out of them, he

builds a nation, the Israelites. They do

really great for a while, and then they

end up in Egypt, which is also really

great. But then hundreds of years, I

think it's 400 years, they end up in

slavery and bondage to this Pharaoh,

king of Egypt.

And they're in an um difficult

situation. their slaves treated very

harshly.

But then God speaks to Moses. Everyone

knows the story of Moses.

Speaks to him and said, "You go set my

people free. I'm going to set them free.

You need to go and do it and make it

happen. Lead it." So he goes back to

Egypt and he tells Pharaoh, "Hey, you

need to set God's people free. they need

to go

and not be your slaves anymore. All

right? And of course, Pharaoh does not

go, "Oh, yeah. Okay, no worries." He

goes, "No, that's not going to happen.

These Israelites are too lazy. They're

obviously got time to talk about some

freedom plan. I'm going to make their

job even harder." So, he he he made

their task even harder. He he put

expectations on their daily life that

was impossible for them to fulfill. And

the slave masters well I have watched

Prince of Egypt so I know what happened.

Uh you know they whip them and beat

them. And I'm sure it did happen like

this. They were cruy treated by their

slave masters.

So the Israelites were like what the

flip?

You're meant to be setting us free. This

is worse. This is worse than before. We

We can hardly survive. We We have to

produce and work to such an extent that

it's impossible.

And

they were in a terrible situation. Now

obviously the circumstances of that is

vastly different to what I felt. But the

feelings that story like I just felt a

real connection with the feeling of

hopelessness and despair that they felt.

And in this situation, the Israelites

complain to Moses because he was the one

that caused all the trouble. He went to

Pharaoh. So they go to him and they go,

"Look what's happened. This is horrible.

We're meant to be set free, but oh my

gosh, this is worse than before." And so

what does Moses do? And we're going to

read a scripture in Exodus

5. We'll just put the right thing up

there.

5:22 and 23.

We'll get there. Oh, I I think I'm

pressing the wrong button. There we go.

It was my fault. I'm very sorry. Then

Moses went back to the to the Lord

because the Lord told him to do this.

So, that's fair. and protested, "Why

have you brought all this trouble on

your own people? Why did you send me?

Ever since I came to Pharaoh as your

spokesman, he has been even more brutal

to your people, and you have done

nothing to rescue them." Wow. He had a

really good relationship with God.

So, what is God's answer? I was um

intrigued. What did God say as an as a

some support and a solution? And what I

actually found I thought was unexpected.

So this is the next chapter. Exodus

Exodus 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6. God said to Moses, "Now

you'll see what I'll do to Pharaoh. With

a strong hand, he'll send them out free.

With a strong hand, he'll drive them out

of his land." God continues speaking to

Moses, reassuring him, "I am God. I

appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as

the strong God, but by my name God, I am

present. I was not known to them. I also

established my covenant with them to

give them the land of Canaan, the

country in which they lived as

sojourers.

But now I've heard the groanings of the

Israelites whom the Egyptians continue

to enslave, and I've remembered my

covenant.

Therefore, tell the Israelites, "I am

God. I will bring you out from under the

cruel, hard labor of Egypt. I will

rescue you from slavery. I will redeem

you, intervening with great acts of

judgment. I'll take you as my own

people, and I'll be God to you. You'll

know that I am God, your God, who brings

you out from under the cruel, hard labor

of Egypt. I'll bring you into the land

that I promised to give Abraham, Isaac,

and Jacob, and I'll give it to you as

your own country. I am God.

Firstly,

he reassured Moses of what was about to

happen.

He said, "Now you'll see what I'll do to

Pharaoh. With a strong hand, he'll send

them out. with a strong hand, he'll

drive them out of his land. That was the

first thing God did was he he almost

like a prophetic sort of this is what's

going to happen. And then he reminds

Moses of what he's already told him back

at the burning bush. Remember the

burning bush? I'm sure you weren't

there, but you know, Moses is out

looking after some sheep, sees a like a

tree or a bush that's on on fire. it's

not burning up. So he goes, "Oh, this is

unusual." So he goes over and has a look

and God speaks to him and gives him the

commands, tells him, "You need to go and

set my people free." So back then God

told him all this. We we will go back

then in Exodus three. So it's only three

chapters earlier. This is what this is

at the burning bush when God is speaking

to Moses. Then the Lord told him,

"I have certainly seen the oppression of

my people in Egypt. I've heard their

cries of distress because of their harsh

slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their

suffering. So I have come down to rescue

them from the power of the Egyptians and

lead them out of Egypt into their own

fertile and spacious land. It's a land

flowing with milk and honey, the land

where the Canaanites and all the itites

live. Look, the cry of the people of

Israel has reached me and I have seen

how harshly the Egyptians abuse them.

Now go for I'm sending you. You must

lead my people. So this is back then God

when God first speaks to Moses and he

tells them all of this. So go back to

back to when

Moses has gone spoken to Pharaoh.

Everything's really horrible. Go Moses

has gone back to God and said, "What are

you what are you doing?" God reminds him

of what he told him, the promises that

he had given him. And you know, these

promises, and you could spend a whole

message just looking at these because

these are incredible promises. And I

just want to point them out to you. I'm

not going to spend a lot of time on

them, but they're for us as well. I will

bring you out from under the cruel, hard

labor of Egypt.

I will rescue you from slavery.

I will redeem you, intervening with

great acts of judgment.

I will take you as my own people, and

I'll be God to you. You'll know that I

am God,

your God, who brings you out from under

the cruel, hard labor of Egypt,

and I'll bring you into the land that I

promised to give Abraham, Isaac, and

Jacob, and give it to you as your own.

But there's something else in this

passage that I want to focus on. In

chapter six, this passage, when Moses

had come looking for a response to the

overwhelming despair from the

Israelites, God says three times in

these couple of verses, he says these

words, I am God.

You know, this is really significant

because this is only the second time God

has used this phrase in the Bible. The

first time was back in gen in Exodus

Exodus 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3 when he first spoke to Moses

at the burning bush. Here God revealed

his name for the first time in the whole

Bible.

We're going to have a quick look. Exodus

Exodus 3:14–15

3:14-15.

This is back at the burning bush. It is

a bit confusing, but God replied to

Moses, "I am who I am. Say to this

people of Israel, I am has sent me to

you.

God also said to Moses, say this to the

people of Israel, Yahweh, the God of

your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the

God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, has sent

me to you. This is my eternal name, my

name to remember for all generations.

Now, God has many names that he is known

by. And I'm sure you all know this. And

they all tell us something about his

character. They don't just appear

randomly in the Bible. God uses them

strategically to reveal something

specific about himself that is needed

for that situation at that time. And

here's just a few of them because I want

you to want you to be encouraged this

morning how incredible God is. Elohim

that that means he is the creator. He is

all powerful. Adoni, he is our Lord, our

master.

El Shadai, God Almighty.

Eljon, the most high God.

Jehovah Gyra, the Lord will provide.

Jehovah Shalom, the Lord is peace.

Jehovah Rafa, the Lord who heals.

And Jehovah Rah, I don't know how you

say that. The Lord is my shepherd. These

are not just nice little names. These

are God's character,

how he is with you.

They reveal who he is. But this passage

in Exodus is significant because it is

here that God first uses the name

Yahweh.

Now Yahweh,

and I am not a theologian, but I'm going

to try and bring some I don't know

understanding.

Yahweh is said to be the proper covenant

name for God and occurs over 6,500 times

in the Bible. I didn't read that. I just

got that off the internet. Sorry.

There's a quote. I've found this article

by a guy called Michael Levra. I'm not

sure how to pronounce his last name.

He's a Presbyterian minister who's

written some books and and just what he

wrote in this article just seemed to

explain everything really well. So, I've

got a few quotes from him. Hopefully,

that's okay. The first one is this.

Yahweh is God's personal name. So

closely identified with his being that

many Orthodox Jews refuse to pronounce

it. Instead, saying Hashem or Adonai to

guard this name of sanctity. And you've

probably heard of that before. A lot of

Orthodox Jews don't even say that name.

Now, I want us to pause for a moment and

remember at what point in human history

did God choose to reveal this covenant

name? He's always been Yahweh, but he

didn't reveal that until this point in

history.

It is a point in history when the

Israelites were in bondage. They had

been slaves for hundreds of years. And

God promises to deliver them. He

actually promised it way back when um he

first told Abraham that he was going to

make a nation out of them. It had been

promised that they would live in

blessing and freedom. But here they are

at the pointy end of this actually

happening. And it just when it looks

like they're going to be freed when the

deliverer Moses has appeared,

their daily life conditions worsen.

When they start making noise to their

oppressors about having this freedom

that God promised,

their slave master, their ruler, the

holder of their chains, made their life

even worse. In this seemingly hopeless

situation, God tells them something new.

He says, "I am

Yahweh."

There is something about this revelation

of God that is lifechanging. and

something in this little name. I mean,

in this little statement and this name

that was the answer to the Israelites.

And I think there's something there for

us.

If we look at the original Hebrew, these

words imply a couple of things. And I do

want to touch on this because it just

I'm hoping we can take this and begin to

understand who God is in our life.

The words I am. Firstly,

if you look into the grammar, I suppose

that the meaning of these words, they

blatantly pronounce that God exists and

that he's always existed. And there's a

lot of um research and I don't know

theological whatevers that this talks

about his existence that he's all he has

no beginning. In fact, I've got that I

think.

No, that's not it. Ignore that. Michael

Le Fever, he says he has no beginning,

does not depend for a continued

existence on anything other than his own

self. A Dutch theologian, Herman Bavink,

he says God is independent, all

sufficient in himself and the only

source of all existence and life. Yahweh

is the name that describes this essence

and identity. Most clearly his name is

being. So this name I am, this name

Yahweh, that implies God has always

existed. He is the He is his own life

source. And I'm not going to go into all

of that. You can talk to Ben about that

because he's, you know, the pastor, but

these words also imply a further meaning

which I discovered which is awesome. In

the same article, Michael Lever goes on

to explain that this isn't just saying

that a thing is or that it exists. It's

saying there is a manifestation or an

expression of this thing

to state there was. So it's using the

word the word was which is the same type

of thing as am. There was light in

Genesis is to announce the manifestation

not just the existence of light. To say

the Lord hurled a great wind upon the

sea and there was a mighty tempest in

Jonah is to announce the appearance of a

storm as a result of God's wind. The

word was in these instances isn't just

saying light and wind ex exist, but that

there was a manifestation of light and

wind. Does that make sense? It's not

just going God's there. I am. He he he

is he exists. It is saying his

manifestation. He begins to show

himself. We discover who who he is.

And in the Hebrew language, so in in our

English language was means it's just

there. But in the Hebrew, it means a lot

more.

One more little technical thing. The

Hebrew being verb ha or whatever is not

the abstract um is not the abstract

Greek to be the mere existence per se.

To the Hebrew to be does not just mean

to exist but to be active to express

oneself in active being. Does this all

make sense? It's all a bit complicated.

In the name Yahweh, God made himself

known as a present being present with

and for his people.

And wherever God's presence is invoked,

that announcement is pregnant with the

certainty of his attention, his care,

his power, and his grace. Now, I've

labored on this

because it's incredible. When God says,

"I am," he's not just saying, "I am the

incredible God."

He's He wants to be in your life. He

wants to be his presence wants to he

wants to embody his presence in your

life here, right now. And it's not just

that, but it's all that he is and

everything that he represents. And

honestly, I don't think our minds really

understand.

But for the Israelites, this meant God

went on to set them free from their

bondage with incredible acts of power

and continue to provide for them in

myriads of ways as they journey to the

promised land. And then they lived there

for centuries.

So what does this actually mean for us,

for me? Does that all make sense about

God?

And I couldn't help but see some

similarities for us in this story. The

thing that the I guess the thing that

just glared at me is the Exodus. The

whole story of the Exodus. And if you've

not read it or if you haven't read it

for ages, I just encourage you to just

read read Exodus all about how God sets

them free because the Exodus is our is a

picture of our freedom walk. It is

symbolic of us and how God wants to set

us free. We are all captive to

something. We find ourselves doing and

thinking things we don't want to.

You know, it's interesting because even

when the for us to have a look at the

Israelites, we go, well, they are

slaves. It's obviously they're in

bondage. But, you know, even when they

were set free, they complained. if they

wanted to go back because sometimes the

familiar the devil you know sometimes

the familiar I've got an okay life I've

worked through some stuff and yeah I've

got a few battles but that's okay

sometimes that is more is more

comfortable and we don't want to be set

free even though in our heads we might

think we do and the Israelites were like

that a whole heap of them they wanted to

go back

behave sometimes we behave in a way that

we know is not good for us, but we're

compelled to by some other force. And of

course, we all would be familiar with

this passage in Romans when this is the

New Testament when Paul says, "So the

trouble is not with the law, for it is

spiritual and good. The trouble is with

me, for I am all too human, a slave to

sin. I don't really understand myself,

for I want to do what is right, but I

don't do it. Instead, I do what I hate.

But if I know that what I'm doing is

wrong, this shows that I agree that the

law is good. So I'm not the I'm not the

one doing it. It is sin living in me.

And I know that nothing good lives in

me. That is my sinful nature. I want to

do what is right, but I can't. I want to

do what is good, but I don't. I don't

want to do what is wrong, but I do it

anyway. But if I do what I don't want to

do, I'm not really the one doing it. It

is it is sin living in me that does it.

Can anyone relate to that?

In one way or another, we are held

captive. I know I am. I feel

restrictions and behaviors that I try to

change,

but I don't seem to be able to or I

change them for a while and then I just

go back.

Sometimes I feel exactly like Paul in

this passage, doing things and

responding in a way that I know I

shouldn't, in a way that is hurtful to

other the relationships and in a way

that hurts myself in my daily life. And

I don't want to be like this anymore.

And as I as I was preparing this

message, it all this all seemed to tie

into God's ultimate God's ultimate

purpose for mankind. And I just want to

give you a quick snapshot. Before the

fall, go back to Adam and Eve. God lived

with mankind. He walked in the garden.

There was no separation.

Then after the fall, but before ex

before this Exodus, God only met with

certain individuals in scattered

recorded events.

But then after the Exodus, you know what

happens? They eventually establish a

tabernacle which was a tent where

God would come and meet with the

children of Israel. He would actually

his presence would embody the temple. I

mean the tabernacle. And there's you

read it in Exodus. There's incredible

moments when God's presence comes and

descends on the tabernacle and people

can't even stand be

before him.

And then when they children of Israel

finally arrive in the promised land and

they live there for a bit, what do they

build there?

Temple. They build a temple. A beautiful

temple which has got so much gold in it.

Read Leviticus honestly. And what

happens in that place? God embodies the

temple. His presence comes to the

temple. his actual embodied presence.

So Jesus comes, he dies and resurrects.

What happens now?

Where does God embody? Where does he

come down?

Anyone

>> in us? The Holy Spirit. We don't need a

temple. We don't need a tabernacle. We

don't need the garden. God teaches he

his presence embodies us. The temple our

bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit

and God's name I am going back to that

contains within it this concept of God's

presence in and around us literally

being with us as we do life. And I guess

I want to settle that to say this that

God's plan for our lives has and always

will be closeness of relationship. He

wants to be close to us. He wanted it

with the Israelites.

So he established the tabernacle and the

temple. And he wants it with us, the

Holy Spirit. You know, this is the this

is the mic drop moment when God had to

set Israel free because he could never

live closely with them when they were in

bondage to some other ruler. When they

lived in captivity and served someone

else's agenda, he couldn't have the

closeness of relationship with them that

he wanted. And he wants closeness of

relationship with you that you will

never fully experience while you

remained in bondage and captivity.

You know, back to the beginning, this

overwhelmed feeling

for the Israelites as a result of us of

of their slave master. For us, it's as a

result of life or whatever situation is

demanding more from us that we can give.

God's answer to this is I am.

God manifest in your life, setting you

free and fulfilling his promises to you.

Remember his promises.

I will bring I don't know if I've got

them.

I will bring you out

from under cruel rule. Does anyone ever

feel like life's just hard and harsh and

cruel?

I will rescue you from slavery. God,

this is God's promise to each one of

you. I will redeem you. That is the

whole redemption story where Jesus came

and died so that you wouldn't be a slave

to sin, set you free. His resurrection

means that he has redeemed you eternity

with God. I will take you as my own

people and be your God. That is an

incredible promise.

To be your father, to be your friend, to

be your lover, to be your companion,

your comforter, your support,

your shepherd. These are all promises

that are so true.

And I'll bring you into the land I

promised and give it to you. You know,

it is so easy for us to just accept what

we have because we're in Australia. It's

pretty good. Why am I complaining? I

don't have any problems. It's okay. But

God wants more for your life. There is a

level of peace and love and joy that we

often don't experience. That is the

promised land for us. God might not

change your circumstances. He might not

make you a millionaire and and have no

no health issues, but he promises to

give you peace. That means that you can

get up in the morning and smile and be

grateful. He promises to give you joy,

strength, comfort, direction. These are

God's promises. And if you are not

experiencing them, there is more in God

for you. More in God. Just his name. I

am Jehovah.

Sometimes I think because we live after

the cross, we've forgotten all the the

the the wonder and the awe and the the

unspeakable incredibleness of God

because we have grace and it's so easy

to just live life. But I want to

encourage you this morning. These words

still apply to us.

He hasn't changed his mind. He wants

close relationship with each of us. You

know, there are no clear answers to

those overwhelming situations. And I

would love more than anything for every

difficult situation to go, "Well, if you

do this and this, it it'll all be

fixed." But there's no there's no

answers like that. But God promises to

embody your life and walk with you and

encourage you and help you.

God is present for you to discover. Not

for Ben to discover and tell you all

about him, but for you to discover for

yourself.

To seek out and find out who he really

is. And I'm really sorry, but you have

to do that. There's a scripture in

Jeremiah,

you will seek me and find me when you

seek me with all your heart. You you

doesn't matter how old, how young,

doesn't matter your situation, your

past, your health. You have to find God.

But he is easy to find. He says, "If you

if you seek for me, you will find me."

To seek and find out, to encounter his

manifest presence, it is not just empty

words.

to discover I am in your life because it

will look different than I am in my

life. There's this I think I've

mentioned this song before. It's by Abby

Gamboa, but there's a line in it which I

just love.

You hide things talking about God. You

hide things for me to discover. There's

secrets just two lovers know. You know,

there are things I know about Ben that

you guys hopefully will never know.

You do not know.

But I know them because we're close.

Because we spend time together. The ups

and downs, the good, the bad.

God's the same. You can read about him

in a book or listen to a sermon or talk

to someone and that can inspire you and

encourage you, but God wants you to

discover him. Like two lovers discover

each other at a level that no one else

can. You and God. You and God. I can't

say this enough. You and God. You and

God. And I know that I have got so much

more to discover from him.

You know one thing.

I hope that when I get to eternity,

maybe I'll die or maybe the rapture if

you still believe in that or I don't

know. But I hope when I one day when I

see Jesus face to face, I hope that I

don't go, "Oh, that's what he's like." I

hope that I go, "Ah, Jesus, I know you."

And I want to ask that to you. Do you

really know Jesus? Do you really know?

You know that you know when you get a

phone call if if Ben's away and he's

been away for a few days and he rings me

and I hear his voice and I just I know

him. Am I going to be like that with

Jesus, with God the Father? Am I going

to go, I know this?

You know, the overwhelm is not a sign to

pull back. Sometimes we do need to use

wisdom and change some things in uh

life. But that deep overwhelm when

there's things you can't change, things

you can't do and you just want to give

up, that is a sign to draw closer to

God. When you feel discouraged and it's

all too hard, it's a it's a sign to

discover Yahweh I am for yourself.

Thank you.