Exodus 7-15 "A Series of Remarkable Events"

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Amen.

That song's a beautiful retelling of the story that we're actually looking at in Exodus this

morning.

It's another story of God's redemption, but it's not just one more story.

As we look through several of them together this summer, this is the foundational, the

prototypical story for God's Old Testament people.

The story they tell over and over in so many ways about their redeeming God.

I remember as a kid memorizing the midnight ride of Paul Revere.

I'm learning about the Boston Tea Party and the events surrounding that.

Hearing about that famous Patrick Henry speech, give me liberty or give me death.

And I heard those stories over and over.

They're passed down to our kids, right?

We learn about them.

They're stories that defined and shaped a nation that was built on freedom, right?

We tell them over and over.

We pass them down through the generations.

We share them to give our kids heroes to look up to.

Well, the stories that functioned like that for God's people were those of the Exodus.

When they were freed from slavery in Egypt by their hero, Yahweh, their redeeming God.

Let me pray for us and then we'll enter into this story together.

Father, we love these stories.

We're thankful for them.

Even more than that, we love you, God, our Father.

The one who cares for us.

The one who teaches us by his Spirit.

And so we ask that you this morning would show us more of yourself.

Not just a story.

But show us you, Father.

We ask it in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

I want you to actually experience being a part of this story that many of you have probably heard before.

So I want to ask you to do something this morning.

If you'll close your eyes for just a minute.

You won't have to keep them closed the whole sermon unless you enjoy sleeping through my sermons.

But as you have your eyes closed, imagine yourself as one of the Israelites in ancient Egypt.

Whoever you are, a young woman, an older man, a young child, a parent, a grandparent.

There you are in Egypt in your sandals and your cloak.

There's dust all around blowing through the air.

It's under your fingernails and all over.

Day after day, you wake up to make bricks again under the baking sun.

It's almost like making sandcastles for your kids at the beach.

But no, it's not like that.

Lose that picture.

It's very different from that.

You're not smiling.

You're not free to go inside and cool off.

Your Egyptian captors are cruel and harsh and you're forced to work even when your body aches.

As far as you can remember, it's always been like this.

Day after day, year after year, your parents and your grandparents for generation after generation,

they tell the same stories.

This is what you've done.

You've heard perhaps about a God, Yahweh.

He loves you, has promises for you, you've been told, but they seem like a distant fairy tale.

Perhaps just stories to make you feel better.

You've never seen anything remarkable or certainly not miraculous.

Just day after day after day, slaving away in the hot Egyptian desert.

But one day this man shows up claiming to have talked with Yahweh and saying he's going to lead you out of Egypt to God's promised land.

And you and the rest of your friends ignore him.

Oh, come on, stop messing with us.

Stop teasing us.

Exodus 6 says they wouldn't listen to him because the harsh slavery had broken their spirits.

You've lost hope in God.

Is that part of the story easier for some of you to picture, perhaps?

You can open your eyes if you haven't already.

Some of you are very, very patient with me and you kept your eyes closed that whole time.

But keep thinking of yourself through this sermon as that Israelite.

What happens after you laugh him off?

Moses leaves and heads over to Pharaoh and the plagues begin, right?

This is Exodus 7-10.

Over the next few weeks, the break from the normalcy of your life is incredible.

You experience things you've never seen or imagined before.

The powerful Nile River is turned to blood before your eyes.

Frogs, then gnats, then flies, later locusts covering Egypt.

Hail like you've never seen before coming hour after hour.

And time after time, you just marvel as Yahweh displays his unrivaled power over creation.

And over all the other Egyptian gods you've heard about.

Of course, turning the Nile to blood takes a swipe at Egyptian power.

But so does some of the other plagues.

Especially the ninth one.

Three days of darkness covering the land.

A land supposedly ruled by Ra.

The God of the sun.

The highest Egyptian god who can do absolutely nothing about the darkness.

You see firsthand Yahweh's mighty hand and outstretched arm.

The plagues themselves are a series of remarkable events that you're going to talk about and tell your children about for generations to come.

For the rest of your life, you're going to remember.

And you respond with awe and full of just amazement and humility.

How amazingly powerful and glorious and utterly unique is our God.

There's nobody like this.

How small and weak must we be compared to Him?

But then there's a final plague that shows you that this powerful God is not just powerful out there somewhere,

but He's worthy of your exclusive trust.

I want to suggest as Professor D.A. Carson does that you imagine yourself in a conversation with another Israelite the day before the first Passover.

You can be the fearful one or the confident one.

Either way is fine.

The fearful one says,

Hey, how are you feeling about tonight?

And the friend says,

Tonight? What do you mean?

Well, the first one says,

I'm pretty anxious.

The death of the firstborn, it sounds pretty scary.

I mean, there's been some pretty strange stuff around here lately with all the flies and locusts and the hail.

I'm just pretty nervous about this whole angel of death thing.

I mean, I love my kids.

Well, didn't you kill a lamb?

And put the blood on your doorposts like Yahweh told you to do?

Well, yeah, of course I did.

But I'm just saying I won't be sleeping much tonight.

This Yahweh seems pretty powerful.

And I'm still pretty fearful about how that plays out for me.

And your friend says,

Well, I've got to tell you, I'm going to sleep well.

Yahweh told us what to do.

I've done it and I trust Him.

We've got nothing to worry about.

Now fast forward to the next morning after Passover has happened.

Let me ask you a question.

Which one of those, you or your friend, which one lost his firstborn son?

Neither, right?

Neither.

Why?

The angel of death passes over every one of those Israelite homes.

Why?

Because one family had a really strong faith and always trusted God and never wavered?

Because there were no doubts and fears present in that home?

No!

Why?

Because of the blood of the Lamb.

Put the blood of the Lamb on the doorway and death will pass right over.

It's the blood of the Lamb.

And so you wake up and you're all alive.

And you're rejoicing.

You're celebrating with your friends and neighbors in the streets.

And then you hear something else.

You're leaving Egypt.

All of you peck quickly.

You plunder the Egyptians.

You walk out of captivity together.

Thanks not to your great ingenuity.

Not because of your power.

But because of a God you've learned you can trust.

He redeems you from a situation you thought you would never escape.

Kids, maybe some of this Passover stuff is a little bit confusing to you.

What that means and how that works.

And that's okay because it will help you imagine what it would have been like to be a six-year-old or an eight-year-old or a ten-year-old.

That first Passover and all of a sudden instead of waking up in Egypt every day as a slave your life changes overnight.

Everything is different and you don't really understand what's going on.

And the fact that you would be confused or wouldn't understand is one of the main reasons why God tells us to keep telling this story.

The Passover actually becomes a new first month for God's people.

This is the beginning of chapter 12 now.

Their whole year has changed.

In the first month they're going to celebrate what happened.

Every year a celebration to remember this special night where they walked out of Egypt.

Why are we doing this each year?

You might ask your parents, right?

Why do we have this big celebration each year?

Exodus 12 at verse 24.

You shall observe this right as a statute for you and for your sons forever.

And when you come to the land that the Lord will give you as He has promised, you shall keep this service.

And when your children say to you, what do you mean by this service?

What's going on?

You shall say, it is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover.

For He passed over the houses of the people of Israel and Egypt when He struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.

Parents would tell their kids, we are free people.

No longer slaves in Egypt, not because we were wise, not because we were well organized, not because we had great heroes,

but because Yahweh is a redeeming God.

The hero of our story.

Our deliverer.

For even in our darkest days, nothing could stop Him.

He redeemed us.

He showed us that we could trust Him and that we must trust Him alone.

No other God was even close to Him.

And not even ourselves.

We could never have done what He did.

That's what Passover is about, kids.

And something else happens that day.

Perhaps as you're hurriedly packing your bags or beginning to walk out of Egypt,

all of a sudden Moses stands up front again.

Chapter 13, verse 11.

Moses says,

When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as He swore to you and your forefathers,

and shall give it to you,

you shall set apart to the Lord all that first opens the womb.

All the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be Yahweh's.

Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb,

or if you'll not redeem it, you shall break its neck.

Every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem.

And when in time to come your son asks you,

what does this mean?

You shall say to him,

By strength of hand, Yahweh brought us out of Egypt from the house of slavery.

For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go,

Yahweh killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt,

both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals.

Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all the males that first opened the womb,

but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.

It shall be as a mark on your hand,

or frontlets between your eyes.

For by a strong hand,

Yahweh brought us out of Egypt.

He's saying this God who delivered us

is worthy not merely of a ceremony

in the first month of the year,

but my wholehearted devotion

every moment of every day.

Here's another thing we're to do,

Moses says,

with the goal that you'll not forget

that this will shape your life.

Write it on your hand.

Some of you do that with your homework.

Why do you write yourself reminders on your hand?

Because you think,

I can't forget that,

and it washes off in the shower anyway sometimes.

But it's supposed to be right there where you won't forget.

Why would you put something right between your eyes?

So that you'll always see it,

and always remember,

no matter what you're doing and where you are,

so it's always there in front of you, right?

Here's another thing that's going to do that.

Dedicate the firstborn to Yahweh.

Why?

Another chance to remember and tell the story

of which he is the hero.

I mean, imagine,

here you are a few years later,

and your family's had some tough financial years,

and your cow gives birth,

finally,

to a calf.

Yes!

Finally!

We're going to be okay in a little while.

We'll be able to eat.

We'll have resources.

And your father says,

hey, you know what we're going to do?

Let's sacrifice it to the Lord.

What?

Why?

Come on, Dad!

Because, daughter,

it's even more important

than being financially stable

to remember,

we owe him everything,

and we can trust him.

When your firstborn son is born,

rather than kill him,

sacrifice a lamb

to redeem your son.

Why?

We need that.

Why?

Because what's way more valuable

than that lamb

is being defined

as a people

wholly devoted to Yahweh

in all of life.

Write it on my head,

between my eyes,

on my hand,

on my front door,

everywhere I go.

I must remember that.

My children are his.

My finances are his.

My days and my hours are his.

Oh, God,

don't let me forget who I am.

How much I owe to you.

May that story shape

every moment of every day.

We're so excited about it.

We're so thankful.

But the joy of God's deliverance

is short-lived for you,

isn't it?

Just a few days after

walking out of Egypt,

you hear something behind you.

It's hoofbeats.

A lot of them.

There's a whole stampede

of something coming

and you look out

across the desert

and you see the armies of Egypt

and horses and chariots

chasing after you

and you're stuck

between them,

a faster,

stronger fighting force

and the raging waters

of the Red Sea

on the other side.

Deep down,

you knew it was too good

to be true, didn't you?

Why did you let yourself

get your hopes up?

I'm so angry

and I'm scared.

All that can happen now,

it's just a question

of whether I'm going to drown

or be killed with a sword.

Pharaoh drew near,

the people of Israel

lifted up their eyes

and behold,

the Egyptians were marching

after them

and they feared greatly

and the people of Israel

cried out to the Lord

and said to Moses,

is it because there are

no graves in Egypt

that you've taken us away

to die in the wilderness?

What have you done to us

in bringing us out of Egypt?

Is not this what we said

to you in Egypt?

Leave us alone

that we may serve

the Egyptians

for it would have been better

for us to serve the Egyptians

than to die

in the wilderness.

Some deliverer,

this Yahweh is,

just taunting us,

made us think

something good was happening

and it's just getting worse.

Look around.

There's no way out.

There's no way

Yahweh could deliver us

here.

And Moses says,

now you're right

where Yahweh needs you to be

to see who He really is.

Keep reading verse 13.

Moses said to the people,

fear not.

Stand firm

and see the salvation

of the Lord

which He will work for you today.

For the Egyptians

whom you see today

you shall never see again.

Yahweh will fight

for you

and you have

only

to be silent.

You only thought

you had learned

to trust Yahweh

that Passover night.

Sit back,

relax,

watch how great

a deliverer

He is.

He is the redeeming God

even when you look around you

and you're sure

that He's not.

He can rescue

even when you look

at what's going on

in your life

and say,

it can't get any worse.

It could never get better.

Nothing can rescue me.

There's no hope.

You know the story.

God

parts the Red Sea.

Those

Israelites

who trusted

and never wavered

in their faith

walk through

on dry ground

while you

and the rest

of those

who grumbled

against God

are destroyed

under the waves

of the Red Sea.

Nope,

nope,

that wasn't it.

That's not how it goes.

All of you,

all of you

walk

and feel

the dry

ground

beneath your feet.

every single

one of you,

most of whom

have just

grumbled

against God.

You walk

through the Red Sea

with the wind

blowing

and the sea

roaring

and walls

up on either

side of you.

Can you imagine

that,

walking through there?

The miracle

of God's provision

and maybe

what's equally

remarkable to you

is that

you're walking

through it.

You doubted

Him yesterday.

You yelled

at Him.

You gave up

on Him.

And

you still

find yourself

safe

in Him,

cared for

by Him.

And it's your

enemies

who are

crushed

by the waves

returning

over them.

You're really

safe

now.

So,

put yourself

there.

What happens

when your foot

hits the ground

on the other

side

of the Red Sea?

What do you do?

You sing,

of course.

You're pent up

anxiety

and fear

and just

overwhelmingly

bursts out

in passionate

worship

to Yahweh.

That's what

happens.

Exodus 15,

Moses and the

people of Israel

sang this song

to the Lord

saying,

I will sing

to the Lord

for He

has triumphed

gloriously.

The horse

and His rider

He has thrown

into the sea.

The Lord

is my strength

and my song

and He

has become

my salvation.

This is my God

and I will praise Him.

My Father's God

and I will exalt Him.

Your right hand,

O Lord,

glorious in power.

Your right hand,

O Lord,

shatters

the enemy.

Who is like

You?

Yahweh

among the gods.

Who is like You?

Majestic in holiness,

awesome in glorious deeds,

doing wonders.

You have led

in Your steadfast love

the people

whom You have redeemed.

You have guided them

by Your strength

to Your holy abode.

The Lord

will reign

forever

and ever.

What a song.

What an event

like that

or a story

shapes who You are.

You sing about it.

Did you know

that Happy Birthday

is the most commonly

sung song

probably in your whole life?

You'll sing it

more than anything else.

But did you know

what number two is?

Anybody got any ideas?

Think.

Number two,

most commonly sung song,

there are different studies,

there's some debate,

but many studies show

that for many Americans,

number two,

is the Star Spangled Banner.

Francis Scott Key's song,

of course,

tells the story

of a key battle

for freedom.

This song's written

200 years ago, right?

It's a battle

he witnessed

in 1814

from a ship

in Baltimore Harbor

where by the dawn's

early light

he saw a flag

waving over

Fort McHenry

and he felt confident

and proud

that America

would continue

to be the land

of the free

and the home

of the brave.

And that song,

200 years after that,

has so defined

and shaped

the identity

of a nation

that we sing it a lot,

don't we?

We can't even have

a swim meet

or a baseball game

without it.

God gives a hymn book

to his Old Testament people

that has

150 songs in it.

You'd be shocked

at how many of them

sing about the events

of the Exodus.

They're easy to find

if you want to just

search for them

this afternoon,

but you could start

with Psalm 66,

76,

77,

78,

106,

136,

many others

all singing

about God's

redeeming work

in the deliverance

from Egypt.

This is the song

that defines

God's people.

They are

blood-covered,

precious children

of the uniquely

powerful,

redeeming God

who is always

working for their good

no matter how dire

things appear.

Is that the story

that defines

and shapes

your life?

Revelation tells us

that singing

of our redeeming God

is not merely

an Old Testament thing,

but something

that God's people

will do forever.

Look at this

chapter 15,

verse 3.

They sing the song

of Moses,

the servant of God,

and the song

of the Lamb,

saying,

great and amazing

are your deeds,

O Lord God,

the Almighty.

Just and true

are your ways,

O King of the nations.

Who will not fear,

O Lord,

and glorify your name?

For you alone

are holy.

All nations will come

and worship you,

for your righteous acts

have been revealed.

They will sing

the song of Moses

and of the Lamb.

It's the same song.

Because God's redemption

of His people

does one day

have an event

that surpasses

all the remarkable events

of the Exodus.

Yahweh,

God the Father,

sends Jesus,

His Son,

to die

as the Passover Lamb.

1 Corinthians 5.

His firstborn Son

dies

so that we

and our children

may live

and worship Him.

In other words,

the story

that gives us

our identity,

that shapes

our lives,

that we sing about,

that we tell our children

about over and over,

that we give our lives to

is the story

of Jesus.

The story

where He's the hero,

where He shows Himself

worthy of our trust,

our wholehearted devotion,

our passionate worship.

The story

where that same

redeeming God

rescues us

and fills us

with awe

and humility.

Can you feel yourself

in that story

a little bit more

this morning

as you feel your feet

after years

of painful

servitude

touching that

soil of freedom

on the other side

of the Red Sea?

Can you sing

verse 2

of that song?

The Lord is

my strength

and

my song.

He has become

my salvation.

This is my God

and I will praise Him.

My Father's God,

I will exalt Him.

Do you come here

weekly

and before Him

daily

to sing that

in your heart?

You realize

that's what we do

as we worship?

To proclaim

to ourselves,

to our children

and to the world

that our primary identity

is as blood-covered,

yes,

even blood-bought

and therefore

precious children

of the redeeming God?

Do you realize

that what we're doing

is we're declaring

to our hearts

that the redeeming God

is actually

still working

for our good

no matter what it looks

like around us

and what we're walking

through on that particular

day or week?

Even when we're sure

He's stopped,

even when we've given up

hope that He

still is working

for us,

our deliverance

may not be

as dramatic

or as visibly apparent

as the Red Sea.

Israel would learn

that too.

But this side

of the Red Sea

and the cross

of Calvary,

there should be

no more denying

that our Almighty God

is caring for us

and working

for our good.

There should be

instead singing

of it,

rejoicing in it,

trusting it

no matter what,

shaping our entire

lives around it.

There are a lot

of other stories

out there

competing

to define

and shape

our identities,

aren't there?

Is this one

the story

that you're living?

That you are

shaping your life

every day around,

not just Sunday?

Is it the story

of God as hero,

not the one

where you are

or you're trying

to be,

but also not the one

where hope is lost

because there seems

to be no way out?

Have His heroic deeds

led you consistently

into humility

and trust

and devotion

and worship?

And then is this

the story

you're telling?

Telling to your

neighbors

and the nations?

Yes!

But perhaps

particularly today,

telling to our

children.

Do they know

that when you

could do nothing

to rescue yourself

from your bondage

to death,

God sent His Son

and gave you life?

Do they know

that you're no hero

compared to God

and you're not just

okay with them

knowing that,

but you're passionate

about them seeing

Him as the one

worthy of their trust?

We've got VBS

this week.

Why burn a week

of your summer?

Really?

There's so few

of them anymore.

Why burn a week

of your summer?

Perhaps because

you believe

that the most

important thing

you could be doing

is telling that story

to the next generation.

I agree.

I'll be here

enjoying it.

But if that's true,

then that should

impact

every week

of every year

and every moment

of every day.

We ought to tell

that story

to our children

at home

daily.

because they hear

those competing stories

more often

than we do.

We ought to bring

them with us

to corporate worship

where they sing

and hear

of that story

faithfully.

We ought to pray

for and serve

in their Sunday

school classes

and their nurseries

where we tell

them that story

eagerly.

kids,

will y'all come

back down here

to the steps

one more time

for just a minute?

I want to talk

with you one more time.

Thanks for coming back.

I want y'all to listen

really closely

for me, okay?

I want to tell you

something really important.

Do you remember

when you sat up here

earlier and I had you

look out there

and see a picture

of how much

God loves you?

Do you remember that

when they all stood up

and you saw that picture?

I want you to know

there's another picture

of how much

God loves you

that you can see

from right here.

I need somebody

to help me out though.

Hey, Jason,

will you grab that bread

right there in front of you?

Will you bring that to me?

Jenna, will you get the cup

and bring it over here to me?

Thanks, Jason.

I'm going to tell you

about what these are now.

Now, some of you

already eat this with us

when we celebrate

the Lord's Supper.

And some of you

are still just learning

what it means

and so you're not going

to eat with us

when we celebrate.

And that's okay too, okay?

But for all of you,

what's really important

is for you to know

what this means, okay?

When we do this,

we do this because

it means that God

loves you so much.

This tells us

the story again

of how much Jesus

loves you,

that he loved you

so much

that he would

die for you.

because we're sinners,

right?

We don't always

love and obey God,

do we?

And we were supposed

to die because of that.

Did you know that?

That's what was supposed

to happen to us.

But you know how much

Jesus loves you?

Jesus loves you so much

that he died instead.

He took this bread

and a cup

with drink in it

and he sat

with his disciples

and you know

what he said to them?

He took the bread

and he broke it

like this

and he gave it

to his disciples

so that they could

eat it with him.

But you know

what he said?

He said,

this bread,

it's a picture for you

of my body

which is gonna be broken

instead of yours.

And he said,

every time you eat this,

I want you to remember that.

Hold this for me.

Hold one, Joe.

And then Jesus took this cup

and he said,

this cup is a picture,

my blood,

the promise for you

and my blood

that when you trust me

and my death for you,

you will live with me forever.

Just like the Israelites

when they put the blood

of the lamb on the door

and they didn't die,

they lived.

When you put my blood

on your heart,

your sins will be forgiven

and you will live forever

with God.

Kids, this is the story

that tells you

that you are always valuable,

that you're precious to God,

that he loves you so much

that Jesus would even come

and die for you.

Isn't that amazing?

That's what this means.

Let's pray together.

Jesus, thank you so much.

Thank you for giving us

not just a story,

but a true story

of a God who actually loves us

and who actually came

and died for us.

thank you for giving us

and who loves us.

Thank you for giving us

and who loves us

beyond what we can imagine,

that we can trust you

and be with you forever.

Father, would you use

this bread

and this juice

to teach us something

much more important

that we would never forget

how much you love us.

in Jesus' name,

amen.

For more information,

visit us online

at southwood.org.