Exodus 17:1-8

Okay, so Exodus 17.

Back to Exodus 17.

That happens every once in a while.

It's just like life, you know, things break, things happen.

You roll with it.

Alright, so Exodus 17.

So if you remember, if you've been with us, if you haven't been with us, let me catch up a little bit.

This book of Exodus, second book of the Bible.

It's about the story of God's people.

They were enslaved for like 400 years in Egypt, and God finally heard their cries, and he definitely waited a period of time enough for them to be very, very frustrated, very uh desperate.

Um finally he acts on their behalf.

They had been down there in slavery, they've been making bricks, uh, brutal existence, just day after day, hour after hour of making bricks.

And God raises up this unlikely guy, Moses, to lead them out of slavery.

Um so they have, you have to imagine these people.

They have no Bible, they have no churches, uh, they they don't have a lot of real teachings at this point.

They're just a people that God is starting to lead and to take somewhere.

And so they're listening and they're following and then they're uh rebelling and they're forgetting, and then they're listening and following, and then they're rebelling, and they get frustrated and they grumble, and then they have a victory, and then they celebrate, and so it's all over the place.

Um, and and so all of it is this real great picture, it's a little bit a picture of our existence.

And all of this, uh, these crazy stories, they're they're leading them somewhere.

God is taking them out of Egypt through this wilderness, which should only take a few weeks, really, um, and it takes 40 years.

And it takes 40 years just because they keep settling in.

They just keep settling into different places, um, and they never they just never keep going.

They just keep settling in, they get frustrated with God, or they don't obey what he says, and they settle in somewhere.

And so we get this huge, long, drawn-out story.

Now, that the these stories are also giving us picture after picture of where God is taking humanity, and that is ultimately to Jesus.

And that's what we're seeing is in this story, week after week, picture after picture, we see how even then God is showing these snapshots, these snapshots for us to see that all of this is going somewhere.

All of this is coming to the incarnation of God coming into humanity in the person of Jesus.

So over and over again, these people they doubt, they're frustrated with God, and this is a real issue.

Frustration is a real issue, right?

Because stuff like we just experienced happens in life.

Like that was a great sermon illustration, I could just build off of that.

That happens, right?

Everything's working smoothly, and all of a sudden your direct box or your cable or whatever, like something doesn't work.

And there's frustration because God didn't do what you thought he should do.

He didn't show up like you thought he should show up.

Or you you have this sense of being wronged, this this loss.

Like, why would why would that happen?

Or you you look around and you think, man, I I've just gotten the raw, I've gotten a raw deal.

I didn't get that upbringing.

I didn't get that acceptance, that love.

I didn't get that education or that break in my career.

I didn't I didn't get that.

I got a raw deal.

I never received that opportunity.

Or maybe maybe it's just a low hum of resentment.

It's real subtle.

It's just it's just underneath the surface, and it's just this thought of life has not ended up being what I thought it would be.

And it's just a low hum of resentment against God.

I mean, I have a need, a real need, I have a prayer.

God's just not showing up to meet it.

I mean, why can't God answer that?

Like, I what's so hard about this prayer, my prayer?

These are real questions, these are real frustrations that are inside of us.

So, this place of frustration, this is where these people, the Hebrews, they they keep they keep getting to over and over.

They think it's gonna be one way, and they get there, and it's harder, that they wait longer, it doesn't work out like they want it to be, and they get frustrated.

And that's Exodus 17.

And I'll reread some that Jill read just to kind of get us to travel through the passage.

So, verses 1 and 2, all the congregation of the people of Israel, they moved on from the wilderness of sin by stages according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Referedim.

But there was no water for the people to drink.

Okay, so right away, like, not what I thought it would be.

This is not the life I thought it would be.

There's no water.

Pretty basic need that I need to survive.

And God, you're not providing it, and you led us here, and now you're not living up to what I think you should be in my timing, and I'm frustrated.

It says, Therefore, the people quarreled with Moses, that's their leader, quarreled with Moses and said, Give us water to drink.

And Moses said to them, Why do you quarrel with me?

Why do you, why do you test the Lord?

All right, so let's break this down a little bit.

There's a lot of really good stuff in here.

And when we look at this, we kind of know what's coming, right?

If you've been with us the last couple months, we've been reading these Exodus stories, and the pattern is set, right?

Things go well, there's like celebration, the people are happy, God leads them to the next step, and then at some point in that next step there's frustration.

We know what's gonna happen, right?

I mean, we know.

Like, and you almost sense it like when there's a celebration going on.

You know what's coming around the corner, and that there's gonna be frustration and grumbling again.

I was trying to think through like that moment when I feel like, oh, that's that's coming.

And I was thinking about a few weeks ago, maybe a month ago, Christy and I we went out to eat and we ate at um uh the Mexican place at Crog Market, Super Rica, yeah.

You haven't a Super Rica?

So to us, nice restaurant.

I know it's not like the nicest restaurant in Atlanta or anything, but to us, like big deal.

Like we get to go to Super Rica, we're pretty excited.

Nice restaurant, nice night out for just Christy and I.

And so we we get there and we get our table and we get our drinks, and then we get, and I don't know, food.

What did we have?

Ceviche?

Ceviche.

Ceviche?

Ceviche.

Ceviche?

I heard a little like there's some groans when I said it.

Is that like a like you've had this?

I'd never had it.

I mean, I can't even say it, I don't know much about it, but it was really good.

And so we're we have our drinks and we're eating this.

And then in comes to the table next to us, mind you, not across the restaurant.

That would have been fine.

Next to us, lovely couple, and a little five-year-old girl and little three-year-old girl.

We have little girls, we don't mind little girls, we're not thinking too much about it.

This isn't too bad.

They're not our kids, we don't have to pay too much attention to them or deal with them, right?

I mean, it's gonna work out, but you know what's coming.

It's a nice restaurant.

Like they they prepare your food and cook it.

Like they actually cook it, don't just warm it up.

They actually cook your food, and so you have to wait for it.

And so you know where this is going, and we're over there, we're having a good time with our little ceviche or ceviche or whatever it's called.

We're eating that, and we have our drinks, and we're having a good time, and we know what's going on at this table for these poor, poor people because you're like, man, should have gone to Chick-fil-A.

Like, should have gone.

They bring your food to your table there, too.

And so we're watching this and they do the coloring sheet, you know, and they order the food, and the water's not coming quick enough, and the food's not coming quick enough, and nothing is coming quick enough for a five-year-old and a three-year-old.

Now, the parents, you know, besides dealing with their kids, they understand.

Like, oh, we're a nice restaurant, the food's nicer, the food's better, it's better for us, it's gonna be well cooked, it's gonna be good food, like I can wait, I'm you know, I can handle this.

And the kids, it's just frustration is mounting and mounting and mounting because they have to wait and they don't understand it.

They're five and they're three, they don't understand it.

And so we see them go through the coloring sheets, and then we see them go through the iPad, and then we see them like under the table, we see them like all they're all over, right?

And you just see it coming, you know it's coming.

And I mean these loving little cute children just become little horrible nuisances by the end of this thing, and they're all over the place, right?

And it's a silly story, right?

But here's my point.

Like you'll probably kind of see it coming, is that's what, this is what life and the wilderness of this world is like.

And sadly, when it comes to understanding how everything works, we're not the adults, we're the children.

And so we're at this table, and across the table is the creator of our souls, the sovereign being of the universe, and he understands it, and he's fine, and he's got it, and he's working, he knows how everything's working, and in the right timing, it's all gonna come.

But in the meantime, we are frustrated.

We're frustrated with what's going on, we're frustrated that we're waiting, we don't understand it.

You can explain even when you explain it to us, we don't get it because we want what we want, and we want it when we want it.

And so there's all this frustration, there's all this grumbling.

And we can call it fragility or brokenness.

The Bible calls it sin.

I mean, sin isn't just all the bad things you've done, it's that, it is that, but it but it's it's deeper than that.

It's the position of the heart that thinks, God, you're just not cutting it.

I could do better than you.

You're really not doing that great of a job.

Okay, so a few points to give us some structure here.

Uh, point number one, I already mentioned it.

Number one, our lives are a wilderness.

Our lives are a wilderness.

Like, I so I love the world news.

I watch the world news uh pretty much every single night.

Let me fill you in, just in case you don't, I'll fill you in.

ISIS is awful, Syria's a mess, there's another evil shooting in California.

Things just aren't good.

Okay?

Pretty much you don't have to watch.

I'll just keep telling you that.

Things just aren't good, and there you have the news.

There's the world news for you.

There are wars, there are people hurting, there are refugees that need help.

And then you have our lives.

Right?

I mean, I mean this week we're we're down at um the the Marietta Square.

There's cute little kids and families everywhere, and kids are singing on the stage, and Santa comes in on a sleigh, and the tree gets lit up, and pretty much everybody there goes home to their comfortable houses with plenty of food, plenty of clothes.

And yet somehow we still find a way to be unhappy.

Like, how do we do this?

Like, how is this possible?

Like, all of this blessing, and still we find a way to be unhappy.

What is this?

What is this?

Well, it's the it's the wilderness of the world.

See, it doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter the house, it doesn't matter the car, the school, the friends, or even what president works out coming up.

It doesn't matter.

It will still be a journey of suffering.

The wilderness will always be there.

And now sometimes we feel it like really heavy, like crushing, like you can barely breathe.

You're just trying to get through the next hour.

And then sometimes life is great.

Or maybe it's that low hum.

Life is great, but still there might be a low hum, a subtle hum of resentment.

This suffering, it could have humbled the Hebrews.

You know, like get there and there's no water, and you just you break, and you're like, Lord, I need you, and you are in control and you're sovereign.

You've proven yourself over and over again.

You rescued us from the Red Sea, you brought us out of the suffering of slavery, you provided manna in the desert, like you've done all this, you can do it again.

But they don't do that at all.

Like there's no humbling and the breaking here.

Instead, they're pride of you're not living up to a God, I could do better.

That's what comes up.

And so what we see here is we see that that really in response to the wilderness of the world, we see that we can have open-handed cries, or we can have closed-handed demands.

And so an open-handed cry is just that, that you're crying out to God in humility, waiting, uh wanting an answer, but waiting in submission that you're not in complete control.

And they are legitimate cries of frustration, maybe even anger, but your hands are open to say, I'm angry, I'm frustrated, and yet I still know you are sovereign, you are good, and you have been faithful.

Then there's the Hebrews, there's often what we are, often, and that's those close-handed demands, you're frustrated, you demand an answer, and you're saying, God, you owe me.

You owe me.

And it's a position of pride.

It is the core of what sin is underneath behaviors and actions.

It's the core of a heart that opposes God's rule over your life.

So, verse number two, this is really interesting how this breaks down in the passage.

Verse number two, the people quarreled with Moses.

Now, the Hebrew word here for quarrel means to bring someone up on charges.

So it's not like the people are upset.

It's the people are upset and they're accusing him most likely of treason against the people of Israel, against their nation.

And so what they're saying when they say, where they're gonna quarrel with him, is they're saying, hey, we're bringing you up on charges, and we're gonna kill you.

We're gonna stone you.

We're gonna have a trial, and if you're found guilty, we're gonna stone you.

And so it's interesting Moses in response says, Why do you quarrel with me?

Why do you do this?

Why would you do this?

And then he says, like in the same breath, why do you test the Lord?

So they're putting Moses on trial, but Moses sees what's really going on.

See, they're putting Moses on trial, but really they're putting God on trial.

See, they're close-handed in demand, and in that, right?

I mean, you try to hold on to this, in that they're becoming bitter and more exhausted, or they could have become broken and dare to let go.

Like trying to trying to control everything is just so exhausting.

Trying to be God is so exhausting.

Verses 3 and 4, but the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, Why did you bring us out of Egypt to kill us and our children, our livestock with thirst?

So Moses cried to the Lord, What shall I do with these people?

They are almost ready to stone me.

It's like he knows what's coming.

He he knows there's a trial coming, and if he's guilty, they're gonna stone me.

It's crazy, right?

I mean, the Hebrews are saying to Moses, you've committed treason against us, leaning us out here, and things are going well, but really what's going on here is the people are committing treason against God.

And so the people are putting Moses on trial when really the people should be on trial are the people.

Because they're committing treason against God.

Because like us, they think, and it may be under that subtle surface, we think, God, God, I know I know how to run my life.

I could I could orchestrate the well-being of my loved ones better than you.

I could orchestrate the well-being of this church better than you.

Or I watch the world news, I'm pretty sure I could figure out Syria.

I'm pretty sure I could feed the hungry in Africa.

I'm pretty sure about that one.

Like, how dare McGuardy fire Mark Rick?

He's a Christian, right?

Like, how dare him be embarrassed in the media, right?

Like, how dare you?

Like, I could handle all of this so much better.

And all this is just like this under-the-surface sort of resentment, self-defication.

I could do better than you.

And intellectually, I'll nod along at church that you are in control, but in my heart, when I'm alone in my car or my head's on my pillow, God, you don't have it handled.

So I am subtly under the surface, under my religious actions, I'm suing you.

I'm putting you on trial.

And here's the point where you think that God would stick it to them.

Like you think, oh, this is it.

Like, I mean, his patience has got to be worn down at this point.

We get verse 5.

And the Lord said to Moses, Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, so people who would be making the decision for the trial, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile and go.

So that staff has everything to do with the symbol of authority, God's authority.

So somebody's gonna get it.

And then something happens.

Verse 6 Behold, I will stand before you.

There on the rock at Horeb.

And now maybe you could read right through that, we could blow right through that, and I mean think about it.

But the language here is the language of a servant standing before their master.

So God is saying, I'll stand there like I'm your servant.

You're the one committing treason, and yet I'll stand before you as your servant.

I'll take the hit.

Hit me.

That's what he says.

He says, Hit the rock on which I stand.

You hit me.

You've committed treason.

Instead of you taking the hit, I'll take the hit.

Hit me.

Second part of verse six, and you shall strike the rock, and the water shall come out of it, and the people would drink.

And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

So point number two, number one, our world's wilderness.

Number two, the good news, back to good news, there is a fountain for us in the wilderness.

A fountain of joy, life, relief, acceptance.

It's difficult, it's hard, the wilderness doesn't go away.

But within the wilderness, there is a fountain.

There is a love that says to you, you don't always have your act together, and you often commit treason against God, but he says to you, I'll stand before you.

I'll take the hit.

You deserve the hit, but I'll take the hit.

And number three, that leads us straight into point number three so we can understand this just a little bit more, what this how this works itself out.

Number three, we know this fountain because he knew our trial.

Paul cleans it up for us in the beginning of 1 Corinthians chapter 10.

1 Corinthians 10 · chapter mention

Listen, I mean, this is direct, directly coming from this story.

For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, if you remember that in early Exodus, and all passed through the sea, hello, Red Sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, that's the manna, and all drank the same spiritual drink, so all the hunger and the thirst we've had going on, for they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.

So maybe I need to I'll make it a little even clearer.

Because God humbled himself into our wilderness in his own incarnation and the person of Jesus, and he took the brokenness, and he took the sin, he took the shame upon himself, gives to us his righteousness.

Because of this, we're forever accepted by him.

We are forever beloved.

This is why the cross is a place of hope for those who understand it.

So I I'm a I'm a list guy, you know, like I'm just this is one of my notepads here.

I mean, there's just lists, and and I just make a list, turn the page, and and I l I keep one in my truck.

I have one of these in my truck, one on my desk.

Usually there's a list on the kitchen counter.

List people?

Anybody?

Can we just join together?

You're like, yes, I know that.

Now, uh there's different kinds of list people, I think.

I think you have um what I am is like multiple lists.

Right?

Anybody multiple lists all over?

Is anybody still consolidated to the one?

Just like one list.

Yeah, okay.

That we want the multiple lists want to be you, but we keep leaving lists in different ways.

Then we have to have a list.

Like I'm not, oh, I need to form a list of where I keep my lists.

And that's kind of how that works out.

So we do lists for anything, right?

I mean you do Christmas lists, hello, yeah.

I still keep a Christmas list.

I'm still that guy.

And so lists for anything, lists for what I need to do around the house, lists for errands, lists for what I need to do tomorrow for work, lists for uh where places I want to take my kids.

I'll make a list for anything.

Like if I'm thinking it, let's just make a list, and I like that.

That makes me feel very in control.

So I love that.

Just make a list.

Now, there's a different kind of list that we often we often keep.

And and this is this is sort of the list where we we take a notepad and we just kind of keep all the all the ways God's just sort of let us down.

Like he didn't show up for that.

Still waiting on that.

That time I was hungry, that time I was thirsty, that thing I've been trying.

To understand, and I still don't understand it.

I think I'm waiting for, I'm still waiting, I'm still alone.

I'm alone again.

I'm still hurting, I'm not any better.

And we keep this kind of list, and what we can think is, and it's so easy, we can think that when we do this, that it's as light as paper.

But when we do this, it we're not making a list and carrying around a piece of paper.

You know it's heavier than that, right?

Like it is, it's a brick.

We're not making lists on paper when we keep that kind of list with God.

We're not keeping lists, we're keeping it, it's like we're making lists on bricks and carrying around the bricks.

And the reason why is because when you play the list game with God, it doesn't work.

Because what about the good things in the wilderness?

Are you gonna consider those?

And if you're making God pay, which when you keep a list on him, is what you're doing.

You're saying, like, you owe me.

If you're making God pay for the bad things, then do you have to pay him for the good things?

And how are you gonna score that?

How much do you owe him?

How do you pay him back?

See, thinking of God as Santa Claus, receiving your list is not healthy.

It doesn't work.

And even thinking of God as Google, like enter the term and enter the question, and I can read as much as I want, and I'm gonna get up the full understanding, that doesn't work.

But thinking of God as a sovereign being of justice and love, of which you will never fully understand, that goes before you, even into the difficulty, in anticipatory providence for you, that anticipates your need of a savior from the trial that's due your treason.

Understanding that, that that works wonderfully.

So, my brothers and sisters, out of great love for you, he took the trial and he took the hit for you.

So that water would spill out for you, so that you can drink from the deep well of his sufficiency and his love that is in the person of Jesus.

We may never understand everything.

We may always be frustrated, but we don't approach him with fists, we approach him with open hands as we wait.

Let's pray together.

God, thank you for your love to us that in our frustration and our pride, as we think we could run things better, you do not make us earn our way back into relationship with you, but you stand before us.

And you took the trial.

What a great picture this morning is of whether we whether we feel it or not, whether we hear a word of love or not this morning, and our emotions that you've already spoken the word of love into this world.

That the person of Jesus is the ultimate word.

Took the trial, took the hit, took all of our sin and gave us all the righteousness we'll ever need to be fully and forever your beloved.

Give us faith and trust as we lack it so often.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.