Prison or Provision
CCCAG
(May 14th, 2017)
Scripture- Exodus 19:3-6
US Army Smart Book
Every few weeks, a new bus load of fresh teenagers roll into one of the Army’s basic training sites. The come from all over the northern hemisphere- from all states, all territories, all cultures that exist within our country.
Some are urban and have never seen a farm or a cow up close. Some are rural, and have never ridden a mass transit system, train or subway.
It’s a very diverse group, different ethnic, economic, and family backgrounds. Every person who comes has different ideas, different experiences, different ways of thinking and doing things.
The Army has a huge job to do in the next 10 weeks- to take all of those differences and eliminate them all until the end product is a United States Soldier. One of the ways that they do this is issuing a 500+ page small square book called your “Smart Book”. It contains everything you need to know to become a soldier, and every task you will be required to complete during your basic training.
They push you to have this book read and memorized in the ten weeks you are there. It is to be in your left thigh pocket at all times. Everytime you stand in line, or come to a stop for any length of time, you are to have your nose in your smart book memorizing it’s contents. Drill Sergeants are relentless in asking questions contained in your smart book, so you better know what it says or you will be on your face doing pushups until your arms fall off.
Why did they put such an emphasis on this?
The army needs to take each individual and get all of the differences that they brought with them from their old life gone- and sweep all of that away in the intensity of basic training, until all that was left was a highly motivated and disciplined soldier ready to perform the mission of the US Army.
In Exodus 19 Israel is in the same situation.
They just walked a few hundred miles through a desert, straight from being slaves in Egypt. Even though they had this in common, their personal experiences as slaves were very different. Some had it better than others.
You had household slaves, who didn’t know the harshness of the fields or the construction camps. For slaves, they had it fairly easy, and were probably the ones who complained the loudest whenever something went wrong in the desert.
You had taskmasters- Hebrews that worked for the Egyptians in making sure the other Israelites maintained their workload. Again, for slaves they had it pretty easy.
You had the artisans- those who painted, or worked with silver and gold to create the decorations for Pharaoh’s buildings.
You had the farmhands- slaves that worked the fields and shepherded cattle. A harder job to be sure, but not as bad as our last group.
You had the common labors. This is the picture most of us have in our minds when we think of slavery- They WERE the oppressed- they felt the whips, the heat of the day, and faced extreme danger in some instances moving large blocks of stone around. This was long before OSHA was around, and workplace deaths were common. They were the ones that appreciated their freedom the most.
Now take all of these perspectives and history-
People who had it relatively easy-
Ones who had positions of power-
Ones who got to use their gifting’s in make objects of extreme beauty
People who worked the fields or shepherded animals.
And…those who suffered the most and put them all into community together and send them marching out into the desert…what are you going get?
Chaos- infighting, complaining, confusion. They are in desperate need of something to bring them a sense of order and security.
God brings them to Mt Sinai because they need some basic training, and they need to be issued a little smart book so they understand who they are serving, How they are supposed to act, and what they are supposed to do with this new freedom.
Let’s look at what God has to say about why He has rescued them from Slavery in Egypt, and brought them to this desolate mountain in the middle of one of the largest deserts in the area.
Exodus 19:3-6
Then Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”
Prayer
This sermon is the first sermon in our series on the 10 Commandments. Our purpose today is to understand why God takes these people from slavery and gives them Law.
It’s a bit counterintuitive isn’t it- they lived under such strict conditions, why didn’t God say, “For the next 5 years, do whatever you want, and we will then revisit this whole law thing. Enjoy your freedom!”
Why did God take them from the parting of the Red Sea right to a mountain and give them these ten rules to live by?
We are going to look at why that’s the first thing God did, why it mattered then, and why the law of God still affects our lives today.
I. The law shows us Who God is
A. The first thing God wanted to show them is this- Deliverer
Verse 4- You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself
God is telling Moses that it is HIM who brought Israel out of Egypt- by HIS mighty hand. It wasn’t through the eloquence of Moses or Aaron, their great military strategy, or them outwitting Pharaoh.
It was all God. He was their deliverer.
God was their deliverer then, and HE is still our deliverer now.
I’m in the medical field, and even I find myself falling into the trap of recommending a medical or worldly solution to a problem before I remember to recommend God, our deliverer to a person.
But that’s exactly what God wants us to do- come immediately to HIM and experience HIS deliverance.
God’s deliverance comes two ways-
1. Supernaturally- that is the miracle working power of God
I firmly believe in supernatural healing. I think everyone here believes in supernatural, miraculous healing as a principle. The problem is- Most of us who live in developed countries think it’s for someone else- which is why we don’t often see a lot of miraculous physical healings here in the United States versus someone in Uganda or Argentina being healed from diseases, trauma, and even being raised from the dead.
This isn’t just physical healing.
God wants to use HIS delivering power to
- Heal us emotionally
- Heal us spiritually
- Get us out of some messes we got ourselves into (being stuck in sin)
- Protect us from our enemies
- Bless us financially- get us out of debt. (holding on instead of letting go)
That is where the exercise of faith comes in.
A man is out walking on a trail near a cliff edge when the ground beneath him gives way and he starts to fall. I manages to grab ahold of a large root growing out the side of the cliff.
The man looks up and cries “God, Help Me!”
God replies, “Just let go of the root and I’ll catch you”
The man pauses and looks up again and says, “Is there anyone else up there?”
I think if we are honest, that’s how many of us treat this idea of God’s supernatural interventions in our lives.
God wants to use HIS power to do each of these things, but we have to believe that HE wants to do it, and that HE can do it.
2. 2nd way God delivers us is Through following the law
Psalm 119:5 Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees!
6 Then I would not be put to shame when I consider all your commands.
The video we had before sermon wonderfully illustrates what God’s law is to us- a fence keeping us safe from the minefield that exists outside of God’s will.
Too many people see God’s law as an arbitrary blockade that keeps you from having fun.
The spiritual reality is that It’s a fence that keeps us out of a minefield.
Sin is that landmine. When we chose to break God law, it’s like walking into a minefield.
I remember during the Gulf War and Operation Desert Storm one of the big three network reports asked General Schwarzkopf in very condensing tone about how dangerous a mindfield really was, and why the allied forces were taking so long clearing them.
The generals answer was pretty epic- “I’m going have my engineers place one landmine in the area the size of a football field and invite you to walk across it. Then you will understand why they are moving so slowly”
Sin is like that minefield. You never know when your straying past the protective fence of the law is going to blow up in your face. You may get across a few times with no problems, but sooner or later, “BOOM”.
God’s law is not an arbitrary set of restrictions given by a malevolent deity that wants to suck the fun out of our lives.
God’s law is a protective fence that keeps us from the minefield of crippling and possible lethal consequences of straying into the wrong areas.
We’ve looked at the two ways the God and the law deliver us, now lets look at
B. The second thing that the law shows about God is HIS Character
When I talk to missionaries that come here, or on the phone when they call to schedule a service they tell me one of the hardest struggles they have is making the message of Jesus relevant to the culture of the nation to which they are called.
Sally mentioned it several times last week some of the cautions they had to take to share Jesus among a Muslim culture.
I’ve spoken with other missionaries that do work among the Muslims, and one shared this example- you are a missionary in a Shite Muslim country (The stricter of the two branches of Islam).
The typical greeting when you meet someone is
A- Salam- Alakam. (peace be upon you)
The correct response depending on region is “Wa Allah Akamu Salam” (God’s peace be upon you)
You use the word Allah, which is simply Arabic for God, in the second greeting.
Some would not do that given that they don’t want to give any credence to Islam’s version of who God is. They find different ways of working around that cultural norm.
Now imagine the situation in the desert here-
God and Moses are facing a very similar situation here- imagine the struggle that Moses and God had bringing a people related through ancestry, but had very different experiences regarding their slavery-
Household and taskmaster’s slaves most likely had incorporated Egyptian worship into their worship of the Hebrew God. At this point in history, the Hebrew understanding of God and how to worship was not well defined anyway so there was probably a lot of wrong ideas and practices going on anyway which their time in Egypt only made worse.
Artisans spent their whole lives making images of those Egyptian gods.
The farmers, herdsman and laborers probably viewed God simply as a deliverer, and didn’t really understand His character at all. 400 years!
So this 2nd way of seeing who God is through the law is that the law shows the moral Character of God, and who HE is. It is and was a clarification of God’s character and His personality to both them 3500 years ago and to us living in the 21st Century today.
The moral law- like the 10 commandments show us who God is-
HOLY, without flaw,
guided by love and
wanting to be intimately involved in our lives.
This is an essential understanding for us, because when we view the law as protective, and the lawgiver as having our own best interests in mind, the law stops feeling restrictive, but becomes liberating.
It becomes liberating because we trust that the lawgiver has our best interests in mind.
That is how the law helped the Israelites see exactly who God is regardless of their past experience, traumas, culture, or feelings. The law gave them an objective truth that painted the correct picture of Yahweh God in their minds.
After establishing God as deliverer and showing HIS character to His people,
The second reason God gave the law is
II. Make the people proper representations of Yahweh God
Ex 19:5. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’
Up to this point, the bible records only a few instances of God revealing Himself specifically to the patriarchs- Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob most recently. There was a general revelation of God through creation and through the biblical accounts of His interactions with these men, but no real sense of what God was like.
The law allowed people to see what the requirements were to be called the people of God.
The law was their smart book- everything they needed to know about their Father God was found within that law.
They treasured that law so much that they made knowing it their statement of faith-
4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord your God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
God wants His people to be reflections of who HE is. Through studying the Word of God found in the bible, God’s character will be formed in you as you follow Him in doing what the bible calls- working out your salvation.
Salvation is a Christian principle that means that when you come to saving faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior, He sets you free from the consequences of your sin. God picks you up out of that mindfield and sets you in a safe place.
Salvation is an event that happens immediately upon confessing your sins to God and asking Jesus into your heart to take the reins of your life.
Salvation is also a lifetime experience and process that the Holy Spirit takes us through to mold us and to shape us into God likeness. As the cleansing power of God continues to work, we should be changed to look more and more like Jesus every day.
That is what working out your salvation means- to yield and let the Holy Spirit infuse the very nature of God into your soul.
Just like that little smart book takes a raw civilian recruit and transforms him or her into a solider, God’s law is intended to transform us from the inside out to reflect exactly who HE is to the world, and to give evidence of that transforming power found in His Word.
A few scriptures that hammer that point home for us-
Psalm 119:11 I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
12 Praise be to you, Lord; teach me your decrees.
13 With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth.
14 I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches.
15 I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways.
The Apostle Paul takes this Old Testament idea and applies it to New Testament living when he said-
Romans 12:2
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
God wants us to represent Him as HE is, and there is no better way to do it then when we live in obedience.
The final thing God’s law is intended to show-
III. Reveal the people’s need For Jesus
Close your eyes and Consider the 10 commandments as a whole-
I’m going to read the condensed version
I. “I am the Lord your God, have no other Gods before me
II. “Do Not make for yourself an idol to worship
III. “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
IV. “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
V. “Honor your father and your mother
VI. “You shall not murder.
VII. “You shall not commit adultery.
VIII. “You shall not steal.
IX. “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
X. “You shall not look upon anything or anyone with selfish desire
I think if we are all honest with ourselves, we have broken every single one of those commandments….more than once.
Especially when you consider Jesus said these commandments are not just actions, but heart attitudes
The bible says that they who break even one of these commandments are guilty of breaking them all.
That’s why the Apostle Paul so boldly declared for us that “through the following of the law, no one can be made innocent in God’s sight”
Once you climb over the fence of God’s law, you are in a minefield and trapped there surrounded by death.
We need a savior.
Jesus Christ is that savior. He is the God man that took upon Himself the punishment for our sin, and died in our place so that through believing in Him and accepting His free gift of love we can be made acceptable in God’s sight.
